Theoretical Approaches to Inter-Religious Dialogue in Post-Revolutionary Iran

It is more than 30 years that the attendance in symposia and seminars on interreligious dialogues  have been on the agenda of some of Iran’s religious and social institutions. The activists who work in this area, are an important source of analysis in terms of knowledge and experience as well as the different approaches that they have chosen. So, the main question in this thesis is that the actors in this field, based on which basis of thought and the theoretical framework define, interpret and explain this type of dialogue? In fact, this research seeks to understand the knowledge and experience of actors and their interpretation about interfaith dialogue, and to provide a systematic analysis of it by constructing and systematizing its related general themes. Therefore, the research along with theoretical findings is analytical-descriptive in terms of purpose, using a qualitative approach. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interview techniques. The sampling method is purposeful and theoretical saturation criterion is an interview with 15 activists in the field. In the process of data analysis, a total of 10 themes were discovered and developed in the form of three fundamental approaches including traditional, critical, and cognitive. The study showed that the traditional foundationalists, having a insider religious glance at the issue of “the Other” and inter-religious dialogue, emphasize the absolute religious truth and they give priority to the religious beliefs and they introduce the dialogue as a route to guidance. Conversely, the look of critics to the inter-religious dialogue and “the Other” is an outsider look. They look to the dialogue as a moral, not merely a religious phenomena and distinguish between the theological meaning and the general meaning of dialogue. As well, they criticize the authoritarian and governmental view of dialogue and consider absolute theological and theocratic view an impediment to it. The cognitive approach, like the critics view, gives the originality to “the Other”. Instead, opposed to this view in which it is emphasized on theological pluralism which somehow gives importance to the diversity and plurality of doctrines and the equality of religions in truth, they emphasize the cultural pluralism and creating equal rights. This approach finds a reconsideration in understanding of “the Other” in the educational  system to be the most important way for the socialization of equal rights in the face of “the Other” religions in Iran.