Abdolkarim Soroush; Iran's Democratic Voice - Time Magazine
Time Magazine (April 2005) The TIME 100 is TIME's list of the men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world, with TIME archive dating back to 1923. Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people of 2005 in the world. Scott MacLeod has introduced Dr. Soroush as the Iran's democratic voice:
Abdolkarim Soroush is a dangerous man, as far as
Iran's ruling mullahs are
concerned. A Muslim activist during Ayatullah Khomeini's 1979 revolution
against the U.S.-backed Shah, the philosopher, 60, is the leading
intellectual force behind the Islamic republic's pro-democracy movement.
Drawing from both Western and Islamic sources, Soroush has laid
foundations for Islamic pluralism by challenging Khomeini's claim that
Iran's mullahs have a God-given
right to govern. Soroush counters that because religion is bound to be
interpreted by man, it is inevitably open to differing earthly
interpretations. Since 9/11, his writings have been central to the global
debate over Islam's compatibility with democracy. "Nobody studies modern
liberal Islam without studying Soroush," says Roy Mottahedeh, an
Islamic-history professor at Harvard University.
The 2005 TIME 100 is only available to TIME Magazine subscribers.
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