Seminar Held at ATU: Western Civilization in Decline, Return to Divine Principles Needed

In a pre-conference seminar for the "Us and the West" conference at Allameh Tabataba'i University, academics argued that Western civilization is in a state of decline and that sustainable civilization depends on a return to divine and religious foundations. The event, held by the Office of the Supreme Leader's Representative, focused on analyzing the West through the lens of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's thought.

Hojjat-ul-Islam Sadegh Akbari-Agdam opened the session by stressing the need for a comprehensive critique of Western civilization across various disciplines in the humanities to fully grasp its intellectual and cultural dimensions. Dr Seyed Mohammad Tabatabai, a professor of International Relations, then traced the West's foundations to Hellenism (Greek thought) and Christianity. He argued that the Renaissance initiated a fundamental shift from a God-centered to a human-centered worldview. "When human criteria replace divine ones, society suffers from moral and cultural instability," he stated. Dr Tabatabai also noted that modern Western science is "indebted to the Islamic world" for preserving and translating Greek philosophy.

Dr Ali Adami, another faculty member, described Western civilization as being in a state of "agony," asserting that its core values, including liberal democracy and free-market capitalism, have failed. He claimed that humanism has led to consumerism and nihilism, and that the decline of the West presents a "historic opportunity" for Islamic civilization to play a central role in the world's future.

Dr Adami concluded that this moment allows for an Islamic-Iranian renaissance, urging academics to lead the way in rebuilding a civilizational model based on authentic values to serve as an alternative to the decaying Western system.