al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-Ishtirakiya

al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-Ishtirakiya (Mazdakism Is the Origin of Socialism) is a polemical and religious work written by the Algerian scholar Abd al-Latif Sultani (d. 1404 AH / 1984 CE) to argue that modern socialism and communism are doctrinal extensions of the ancient Persian philosophy of Mazdakism al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-…+1.

Composition and Publication

Sultani began writing the work in Kouba, Algiers, completing its initial introduction on 3 Jumada al-Ula 1393 AH / 4 June 1973 CE, and finished the final fair copy at midday on Thursday, 20 Jumada al-Ula 1394 AH / 13 June 1974 CE al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-…+1. He dedicated the book to the memory of his father, Ali ibn al-Sultani al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-….

The first edition was published in 1394 AH / 1974 CE by Dar al-Kitab (also recorded as Dar al-Kutub) in Casablanca, Morocco, before circulating into Algeria in 1399 AH al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-…+1.

Scope and Structure

The book is structured into twelve major parts (abwab) encompassing various subchapters al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-…+1:

• Parts 1 and 2: Introduce the historical roots of Mazdakism, examining accounts from classical Muslim historians—such as al-Shahrastani, al-Mas'udi, al-Tabari, Ibn al-Nadim, Ibn Khaldun, al-Nuwayri, Ibn Nubata, and al-Malik al-Mu'ayyad—alongside Western orientalists such as Julius Wellhausen and Carl Brockelmann al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-…+1. These sections address the execution of Mazdak by Khosrow Anushirwan, analyze the linguistic derivations of shuyu'iyya (communism) and ishtirakiyya (socialism), and critique socialist claims regarding poverty alleviation al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-…+1.
• Parts 3 to 5: Contrast divine laws with foreign ideologies imported into post-independence Algerian society, addressing topics such as the spread of alcohol consumption under socialist leniency, political factionalism, critiques of secular writers like Kateb Yacine and Fadhila Mrabet, and criticism of public celebrations of Roman antiquities over Arab-Islamic identity al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-….
• Parts 6 and 7: Analyze the concept of wealth in Mazdakism and socialism, reject socialist interpretations of the companion Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, address the role attributed to Abd Allah ibn Saba, and present Islamic principles regarding labor, workers, and economic justice al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-….
• Parts 8 to 10: Discuss the clash between socialism and religious institutions, including Islamic judiciary, marital contracts, and religious endowments (awqaf); evaluate birth control policies; review Muslim governance; and criticize public religious statements by Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-….
• Parts 11 and 12: Address contemporary concepts of civilization, women's rights under Islam versus Western and socialist systems, and conclude with views cited from Ibn Hazm al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-….

Purpose and Reception

Sultani presented the work as a religious imperative to warn Muslims against accepting socialism as a substitute for Islamic law, arguing that its communal property and moral theories represented an ancient antinomian doctrine under modern guise al-Mazdakiya Hiya Asl al-…+1. Contemporaries noted that the work served as a targeted critique aimed at dismantling foreign ideological trends, appearing alongside complementary treatises such as Omar al-Arbawi's al-I'tisam bi-l-Islam Lamahat min Hayat al-Shay….