The Metaphysics of Pan-Islamism

A Philosophical Deconstruction of Iranian ‘Irfān-i Siyāsī and the Epistemic Veil of Indonesian Moderation

Abstract

This article deconstructs the contemporary crisis of Pan-Islamism, which has undergone a desacralization from the metaphysical essence of unity (waḥdah) into a pragmatic instrument of the nation-state. The research objective is to re-evaluate the spiritual foundation of Islamic political solidarity amidst global secular hegemony. Utilizing the framework of theopolitics of the absolute and neo-Sufism, this study performs a comparative-ontological analysis of two polar orientations: Iran’s ontology of resistance and Indonesia’s epistemology of moderation. This study asserts that Indonesia represents a desacralization crisis, where its moderation model acts as an epistemic hijab that reduces Islam’s transcendental energy into sociological harmony compromised by Western-liberal narratives. This decline is analyzed through the malady of al-wahn—excessive love for materiality—which erodes the ummah’s ontological courage. Conversely, Iran actualizes irfān-i siyāsī, a transformative mysticism grounded in waḥdah al-wujūd and futuwwah, integrating tazkiyah al-nafs with revolutionary struggle. The primary finding affirms that authentic Pan-Islamism is a logical consequence of theological negation (lā ilāha), suggesting that true Sufism is not an escapist retreat but zuhud-activism—a manifesto of liberation against modern idols of power. This spirit resonates with Malāmatiyyah-anarchism, a chivalrous courage (al-fatā) to resist structural injustice. The conclusion offers a re-orientation of Pan-Islamism rooted in ontological sovereignty, restoring politics as a sacred stage for Divine justice through a fusion of inner depth and concrete socio-political action.

References

Abbas, Qurratullain, Muhammad Shakeel Ahmad Siddiqui, and Rabia Basri. 2025. “Reconfiguring Muslim Identity: Millah, Nationalism, and the Islamic Unity Paradigm.” Journal for Current Sign 3 (3): 905–16. https://doi.org/10.63075/jcs.v3i3.296.

Abrar, Muhammad. 2025. “Filsafat Etika Mulla Sadra: Sintesis Antara Hikmah Muta’aliyah dan Tantangan Bioetika Kontemporer.” NIHAYAH: Journal of Islamic Studies 1 (2): 272–87. https://doi.org/10.65802/nihayah.v1i2.23.

Adısönmez, Umut Can, Recep Onursal, and Laçin İdil Öztığ. 2023. “Quest for Regional Hegemony: The Politics of Ontological Insecurity in the Saudi–Iran Rivalry.” Alternatives 48 (1): 91–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/03043754221138186.

Alagha, Joseph. 2015. “Al-Farabi’s Political Philosophy and Shī‘īsm.” The Maghreb Review 40 (3): 319–55.

Alharbi, Ahlam. 2025. “Spatiotemporal Solidarity Discourses and Practices in Islam: Mobilizing Identity in Crisis.” Critical Research on Religion 13 (2): 164–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503032251344348.

Ali, Jan A. 2023. “Modernity, Its Crisis and Islamic Revivalism.” Religions 14 (1): 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010015.

Arjmand, Muḥammad Ja‘far Javādī, ‘Alī Muḥammadī Maṣīrī, and Muḥammad Bāqir Makramī Pūr. 2021. “Resistance Orientation in the Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Journal of Contemporary Research on Islamic Revolution 3 (7): 97–122.

Azlan, Ariff Aizuddin. 2022. “Islam and Nationalism in the Thought of Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani.” Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization 12 (2): 212–24. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.122.15.

Azzuhri, Anggi. 2022. “Introducing Al-Farabi’s Political Philosophy to the Modern Politics: Correlating Al-Farabi’s Philosophy with the Modern Politics.” Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 7 (2): 22–34. https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v7i2.443.

Bădescu, Șerban-P. 2023. “Sufism in the Modern and Contemporary Iranian Politics.” Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Studia Europaea 68 (2): 227–48. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbeuropaea.2023.2.10.

Baizhuma, Samet, Bekzhan Meirbayev, Nagima Baitenova, and Ainul Asyraf Lokman. 2025. “The Revival of Al-Farabi’s Ethical Idea: Virtue and the Spiritual Foundations of Turkic-Islamic Civilization.” Journal of Al-Tamaddun 20 (2): 187–97. https://doi.org/10.22452/jat.vol20no2.13.

Barton, Greg, Ihsan Yilmaz, and Nicholas Morieson. 2021. “Religious and Pro-Violence Populism in Indonesia: The Rise and Fall of a Far-Right Islamist Civilisationist Movement.” Religions 12 (6): 397. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060397.

Bazzi, Emad. 2022. “The Mystic as a Political Leader: The Impact of ‘Irfān on Imam Khomeini’s Political Doctrine.” Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam 3 (2): 117–25. https://doi.org/10.37264/jcsi.v3i2.01.

Brew, Gregory. 2023. “Iran’s Quiet Revolution: The Downfall of the Pahlavi State Ali Mirsepassi (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2022). Pp. 242. 29.99 Paper. ISBN: 9781108725323.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 55 (1): 193–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/s002074382300034x.

Chande, Abdin. 2023. “Global Politics of Knowledge Production: The Challenges of Islamization of Knowledge in The Light of Tradition Vs Secular Modernity Debate.” Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam 6 (2): 271–89. https://doi.org/10.31538/nzh.v6i2.3502.

Cingöz, Murat, Fulya Özkan, Yavuz Selim Alkan, and Ramazan İzol. 2024. “Iran’s Axis of Resistance through the Lens of Ontological Security.” Third World Quarterly 45 (13): 1963–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2024.2398613.

Devji, Faisal. 2024. “Escaping the Global Event: Pan-Islam and the First World War.” Modern Intellectual History 21 (3): 503–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1479244324000209.

Didyk, Oksana. 2023. “Political Martyrdom Revisited: Iran’s Contemporary Perspective and Insights from the Woman-Life-Freedom Uprising.” The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies 41 (2). https://doi.org/10.22439/cjas.v41i2.7109.

Effendi, Rahmat. 2021. “Al-Asfār al-Arba‘at Sebagai Basis Metafisika Mullā Shadrā.” Tribakti: Jurnal Pemikiran Keislaman 32 (2): 333–52.

Es, Margaretha A. van, Nina ter Laan, and Erik Meinema. 2021. “Beyond ‘Radical’ versus ‘Moderate’? New Perspectives on the Politics of Moderation in Muslim Majority and Muslim Minority Settings.” Religion 51 (2): 161–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721x.2021.1865616.

Fatmal, Abd Bashir, Jurrahmah AB Yasin, Rahmawati, and Syamzan Syukur. 2025. “Epistemologi Reformisme Islam Abad Ke-19 di Mesir: Transformasi Historis Pemikiran Jamaluddin al-Afghani dan Muhammad Abduh.” Batuthah: Jurnal Sejarah Peradaban Islam 4 (2): 161–76. https://doi.org/10.38073/batuthah.v4i2.2818.

Fuad, Asrofil. 2025. “Pan-Islamism of Jamaluddin Al Afghani and as an Effort to Overcome the Destruction of Dynastic Politics: Analysis of Islamic Worldview.” LECTURES: Journal of Islamic and Education Studies 4 (3): 329–40. https://doi.org/10.58355/lectures.v4i3.155.

Fuchs, Simon Wolfgang. 2025. “The ‘Discovery’ of Modern Islam in East Germany after 1979: Iran, the Resurgence of Religion, and the Coming Crisis of Dependent Capitalism.” Die Welt Des Islams, July 8, 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700607-20250007.

Ghobadzadeh, Naser. 2022. “Wasatiyya Discourse in Shi’i Islam: Ayatollah Montazeri and Human Rights Jurisprudence.” Religions 13 (2): 126. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13020126.

Gökçe, Emrah Utku. 2024. “A Philosophical Inquiry into the Limits of Constructing Western-Centric International Relations Theory in Islam.” Marife Dini Araştırmalar Dergisi 24 (2): 309–35. https://doi.org/10.33420/marife.1531089.

Goldstein, Warren S. 2023. “Book Review: Narratives of Disenchantment and Secularization: Critiquing Max Weber’s Idea of Modernity.” Critical Research on Religion 11 (2): 250–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503032231174215.

Hadziq, Muhammad Fadhil, and Narul Hasyim Muzadi. 2025. “The Renewal of Islamic Thought in the Middle East and South Asia and Its Influence on the Independence of Islamic Countries.” Adabuna: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pemikiran 4 (2): 86–109. https://doi.org/10.38073/adabuna.v4i2.2582.

Hassan, Saleh, Fatima Abubakar, and Ikilima Abubakar Sherif. 2025. “The Ideological Dynamics of Pan-Islamism and Its Political Impact on Transnational Movements in the Contemporary Muslim World.” Nizham Journal of Islamic Studies 13 (02): 188–202. https://doi.org/10.32332/nizham.v13i02.11567.

Hefni, Wildani, Imam Mustofa, and Rizqa Ahmadi. 2025. “Looking for Moderate Fiqh: The Thought of Mohammad Hashim Kamali on the Reformation of Rigidity and Inflexibility in Islamic Law.” Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam 10 (1): 30–57. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v10i1.10694.

Inayatillah, Kamaruddin, and M. Anzaikhan. 2022. “The History of Moderate Islam in Indonesia and Its Influence on the Content of National Education.” Journal of Al-Tamaddun 17 (2): 213–26. https://doi.org/10.22452/jat.vol17no2.17.

Irawan, Redi, Agiel Laksamana Putra, and Hisam Sidqi. 2025. “Examining the Concept of Unity of Existence According to the Perspective of Islamic Philosophers and Mystics.” Sinergi International Journal of Islamic Studies 3 (2): 96–112. https://doi.org/10.61194/ijis.v3i2.754.

Irfan, Muhammad, Abd Rahim Yunus, and Susmihara Susmihara. 2024. “Sejarah Pembaharu Islam di Mesir: Jamaluddin Al-Afghani dan Muhammad Abduh.” AHKAM 3 (1): 86–105. https://doi.org/10.58578/ahkam.v3i1.2505.

Karingayi, Thaha Hamdan. 2025. “Islamic Political Thought and The Crisis of Global Governance: Towards a Non-Western Theory of Order.” International Journal of Islamic Khazanah 15 (1): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.15575/ijik.v15i1.49657.

Karmo, Elly. 2025. “The Axis of Resistance” and the War in Gaza. Quo Vadis?” Araucaria 27 (59): 29–59. https://doi.org/10.12795/araucaria.2025.i59.02.

Khomeini, Imam Ruhullah. 2000. “The Necessity of Islamic Government.” In Contemporary Debates in Islam: An Anthology of Modernist and Fundamentalist Thought, edited by Mansoor Moaddel and Kamran Talattof. Palgrave Macmillan US.

Krismono, Krismono, Supriyanto Abdi, and Syahmirwan Syahmirwan. 2025. “Negotiating Islam, Democracy and Pluralism: Islamic Politics and the State in Post-Reform Indonesia.” Mazahib 24 (1): 101–30. https://doi.org/10.21093/mj.v24i1.10078.

Krylov, German L. 2022. “The Doctrine of Wilayat Al-Faqih: Interpretations, Theoretical Base and Genesis.” Oriental Courier, no. 2 (September): 11–24. https://doi.org/10.18254/s268684310021596-3.

Machlis, Elisheva. 2022. “Continuity and Change in the Role of Mysticism under the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Sociology of Islam 9 (3–4): 189–207. https://doi.org/10.1163/22131418-09030002.

Mahatma, Masmuni. 2023. “Islamic Preaching and Its Significance in Realizing the Virtuous City (Al-Madinah Al-Fadhilah) in the Perspective of Al-Farabi.” Ilmu Dakwah: Academic Journal for Homiletic Studies 17 (1): 203–22. https://doi.org/10.15575/idajhs.v17i1.26150.

Manan, Nor Azizuddin Abdul, Muhammad Ainuddin Iskandar Lee Abdullah, and Mohd Dino Khairri Sharifuddin. 2025. “Malay Nationalism and The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party: Analysing the Party’s Role in Addressing Global Muslim Ummah Challenges and Conflicts.” Journal of International Studies 21 (2): 177–88. https://doi.org/10.32890/jis2025.21.2.9.

Mirzarakhimov, Bakhtiyor. 2025. “The Essence of the Concept of Wahdat Al-Wujud in Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi’s Sufism: An Analysis Based on the ‘Risalat Al-Wujudiyya.’” Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization 15 (1): 99–112. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.151.06.

Namazi, Rasoul. 2025. “The Intellectual and Political Landscape of Iran Before and After the 1979 Revolution: A Conversation with Michail Theodosiadis.” Dia-Noesis: A Journal of Philosophy 18 (2): 521–28. https://doi.org/10.12681/dia.43456.

Pahrudin, Ade, Wirdah Fachiroh, Sahabuddin Sahabuddin, Elsa Balqis Shafira, Ahmad Rizky Rinaldo, and Samarra Najwa. 2025. “Religious Moderation as a Framework for Peaceful Coexistence in Contemporary Islamic Thought.” Jurnal Fuaduna: Jurnal Kajian Keagamaan dan Kemasyarakatan 9 (1): 15–26. https://doi.org/10.30983/fuaduna.v9i1.9657.

Perdana, Cuanda Mitra, and Abdullah Abdullah. 2025. “Islamic Communication in Government: A Theorical and Practical Analysis.” International Journal of Education, Social Studies, and Management (IJESSM) 5 (1): 200–213. https://doi.org/10.52121/ijessm.v5i1.632.

Pirsalami, Fariborz Arghavani, Arash Moradi, and Hosein Alipour. 2024. “A Crisis of Ontological Security in Foreign Policy: Iran and International Sanctions in the Post–JCPOA Era.” Third World Quarterly 45 (3): 531–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2023.2267986.

Pochta, Yuriy M. 2024. “The Need to Overcome the Cultural Hegemony of the West in Political Science on The Example of the Problem of Contemporary Islamist Terrorism.” RUDN Journal of Political Science 26 (1): 7–17. https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-1438-2024-26-1-7-17.

Polosin, V. С. 2024. “Political Islam: Postscript.” ТЕОЛОГИЯ. Minbar. Islamic Studies 17 (1): 120–40. https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2024-17-1-120-140.

Qodır, Zuly. 2024. “Contemporary Islamic Thought in Indonesia 2010-2023: Contested Public Sphere.” Insight Turkey 26 (2): 299–318.

Rasyid, Arbanur, Muhammad Basyrul Muvid, Maulana Arafat Lubis, and Puji Kurniawan. 2022. “The Actualization of the Concept of National Fiqh in Building Religious Moderation in Indonesia.” Millah: Journal of Religious Studies 21 (2): 433–64. https://doi.org/10.20885/millah.vol21.iss2.art5.

Rāzānī, Ehsān, and Alī Mohammadzādeh. 2021. “Goftemān-e Hezhemonik-e Enqelāb-e Eslāmi va Khorde-Goftemān-hā-ye Daruni-ye Nezām-e Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān dar Dowrān-e Rahbari-ye Emām Khomeyni (Rahmatollāh Alayh).” Pazhūheshnāmeh-ye Enqelāb-e Eslāmī 11 (38): 91–113.

Ridha, Syaip Muhammad, Masoud Fahami, and Hossien Muttaqi. 2025. “Comparative Analysis Between Imam Khomeini and Nurcholish Madjid Thought on Islamic Unity.” Sinergi International Journal of Islamic Studies 3 (3): 165–76. https://doi.org/10.61194/ijis.v3i3.802.

Ruhullah, Mohammad Eisa, and Thameem Ushama. 2025. “Leadership in Islam: A Spiritual and Theological Doctrine.” Fikroh: Jurnal Pemikiran dan Pendidikan Islam 18 (1): 54–74. https://doi.org/10.37812/fikroh.v17i1.1737.

Saffari, Siavash. 2023. “Tawhid Paradigm and an Inclusive Concept of Liberative Struggle.” Religions 14 (9): 1088. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091088.

Saramifar, Younes. 2023a. “Memories, Piety and Formation of Civil Religions: Do Revolutionary Youth Sing along with the Memory Machine in Iran?” Memory Studies 16 (5): 1208–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980221101110.

Saramifar, Younes. 2023b. “Mute-Ability of the Past and the Culture of Martyrdom in Iran: Remembering the Iran–Iraq War and Civic Piety amongst the Revolutionaries of Postwar Generations.” History and Anthropology 34 (4): 541–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2021.1983563.

Sartika, Dani. 2021. “Islam Moderat Antara Konsep dan Praksis di Indonesia.” Tsamratul Fikri: Jurnal Studi Islam 14 (2): 183–98. https://doi.org/10.36667/tf.v14i2.532.

Setiawan, Asep Iwan, Yusuf Zaenal Abidin, Ridwan Rustandi, Ahmad Sarbini, and Rohmanur Aziz. 2026. “Transforming Religious Education Through Inclusivity: How Indonesian Pesantren Cultivate Moderate Islamic Values and Da’wah Practices.” Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam 9 (1): 70–92. https://doi.org/10.31538/nzh.v9i1.406.

Shabana, Ihab. 2022. “From an Understanding to a Securitizing Discourse: The British Left’s Encounter with the Emergence of Political Islam, 1978–2001.” Religions 13 (3): 206. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13030206.

Sholeh, Muhammad. 2023. “Actualization of Religious Moderation Values for Students at State Islamic University in Indonesia.” International Journal of Social Science and Religion (IJSSR), April 5, 133–48. https://doi.org/10.53639/ijssr.v4i1.166.

Sieg, George J. 2021. “The Esoteric Roots of the Iranian Revolution: The ‘Wardenship of the Jurist’ Through the Metanomian Shi’a of Ayatollah Khomeini (1902–1989).” In Innovation in Esotericism from the Renaissance to the Present, edited by Georgiana D. Hedesan and Tim Rudbøg. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67906-4_11.

Subchi, Imam, Zulkifli Zulkifli, Rena Latifa, and Sholikatus Sa’diyah. 2022. “Religious Moderation in Indonesian Muslims.” Religions 13 (5): 451. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050451.

Supandi, Muhammad Diaz, Muhammad Bili Syaputra, Hilmi Afthon, Aditya Rizki Pradana, and Ali Mahfuz Munawar. 2025. “The Caliphate Paradigm as an Antithesis to Imperialism: A Theological and Geopolitical Analysis in the Discourse of Islamic and Western Civilizations.” JIS: Journal Islamic Studies 3 (2): 119–30. https://doi.org/10.71456/jis.v3i2.1394.

Supriyadi, Ujang. 2023. “Yusuf Al-Qardhawi’s Thoughts and Their Implementation to Indonesian Society.” Jurnal Syntax Transformation 4 (12): 19–33. https://doi.org/10.46799/jst.v4i12.883.

Sya’bani, Mohammad Ahyan Yusuf. 2021. “Culture of Religious Moderation Through the Actualization of Islamic Education Wasatiyyah to Improve Religious Reconnection and Tolerance in Indonesia.” Proceedings of the 1st UMGESHIC International Seminar on Health, Social Science and Humanities (UMGESHIC-ISHSSH 2020), October 21, 528–36. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211020.075.

Sya’bani, Mohammad Ahyan Yusuf. 2024. “Contextualizing Islamic Religious Education in the 21st Century in Indonesia.” Al-Misbah (Jurnal Islamic Studies) 12 (1): 47–61. https://doi.org/10.26555/almisbah.v12i1.10167.

Syukri, Adenan, and Syahminan. 2025. “Reinterpreting Justice in Al-Farabi’s Political Philosophy: Relevance to Contemporary Islamic Human Rights Thought.” MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review 4 (1): 489–516. https://doi.org/10.32332/milrev.v4i1.10466.

Tari, Zeinab Ghasemi. 2025. “Challenging the Proxy Narrative: Hezbollah, Iran, and the Reimagining of Islamic Resistance in the Ummah.” Middle East Critique 34 (3): 359–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/19436149.2025.2524643.

Thibdeau, John C. 2025. “Enacting Mysticism in the World: Practical Sufism in the Tariqa Karkariyya and Alawiyya.” Religions 16 (2): 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020111.

Thodika, Shaheen Kelachan. 2023. “Iranian Islamic Revolution and the Transformation of Islamist Discourse in Southern India: 1979–1992.” Religions 14 (1): 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010130.

Usman, Miswari. 2022. “The Establishment of Mulla Sadra’s Philosophy: Main Concepts on Al-Hikmah Al-Muta’alliyah.” At-Tafkir 15 (2): 144–61. https://doi.org/10.32505/at.v15i2.4701.

Wahid, Abd, Mazlan Ibrahim, Bukhori Abdul Shomad, Andri Nirwana An, and Damanhuri Damanhuri. 2023. “Utilizing Zuhd Hadiths for Upper-Class Crime Prevention.” Jurnal Ilmiah Islam Futura 23 (2): 263–82. https://doi.org/10.22373/jiif.v23i2.17353.

Wastnidge, Edward, and Simon Mabon. 2024. “The Resistance Axis and Regional Order in the Middle East: Nomos, Space, and Normative Alternatives.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 51 (5): 954–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2023.2179975.

Yıldız, Tunahan, and Zana Çitak. 2022. “The International in Turkish Islamist Thought.” Millennium 51 (1): 129–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298221122882.

Yunus, Syahmi Aiman Mat, and Yusri Mohamad Ramli. 2025. “The Concept of Futuwwah in the Formation of Noble Character: Pendekatan Konsep Futuwwah dalam Pembentukan Akhlak Mulia.” TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World 18 (2): 99–116. https://doi.org/10.56389/tafhim.vol18no2.5.

Yusupova, Dildora. 2022. “‘Panislamism’ as a Political Factor.” Society and Innovation 3 (2): 199–209. https://doi.org/10.47689/2181-1415-vol3-iss2-pp199-209.

Zalnur, Muhammad, Abdul Basit, and Sasmi Nelwati. 2023. “Multicultural Islamic Education as an Indicator of Religious Moderation in Indonesia.” Edukasi Islami: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam 12 (04): 589–602. https://doi.org/10.30868/ei.v12i04.8265.

Zaprulkhan, Zaprulkhan, Zainul Abas, and Akbar Sarif. 2025. “Zuhd and Mahabbah: Liberating Modern Society from Spiritual Desolation and Moral Decadence.” Teosofi: Jurnal Tasawuf dan Pemikiran Islam 15 (1): 205–28. https://doi.org/10.15642/teosofi.2025.15.1.205-228.