TY - JOUR T1 - Critical explanation and analysis of authoritarian Islam TT - تبیین و تحلیل انتقادی اسلام اقتدارگرا JF - maaref-andishe JO - maaref-andishe VL - 16 IS - 63 UR - http://andishe.maaref.ac.ir/article-1-1845-en.html Y1 - 2020 SP - 53 EP - 72 N2 - Dr. Abdul Karim Soroush, on the subject of the relationship between religion and power, is of the view that Islam is a violent religion and the God of Islam is a powerful and violent ruler. He has introduced the Qur'an as a frightening letter and Muhammad as an armed mystic and a power-hungry and authoritarian prophet. Soroush also called the prophetic government a violent and authoritarian government; Thus, according to him to champion the political and governmental imitation of the prophetic government in today's world is a blunder and dangerous, for it would lead to the formation of authoritarian and violent governments. The authors of the paper attempts to examine his account from two intra-religious and extra-religious perspectives. In dealing with this problem, the authors of the research paper have applied analytical-critical method. The research findings show that some of the claims made by Dr. Soroush are weak and baseless, including that; Soroush has chosen a special interpretation of history, that is, the structure of the authoritarian Muhammad, and has looked at historical Islam only through this lens. Moreover, contrary to his claim, the Qur'an is a collection of good news and warnings, and many verses in it signify love, mercy and affection. Keywords Abdul Karim Soroush, Authoritarian Islam, Prophet of Islam, Prophetic Government, Comprehensive Moderate Islam. M3 ER -