When writing about an influential figure, historians suggest first vising the person’s place of birth. The point is to understand what factors initially influence a person’s thoughts and actions. It could be that a person’s thoughts are somewhat shaped in their early life and are later fixated and reshaped in their intellectual life. This paper focuses on Ali Shariati (AS 1312–1356/AD 1933–1977), a contemporary Iranian thinker, and his opposition to philosophy and philosophers. His opposition had various reasons, but the current study analyzes the local roots which shaped his personality in his birthplace, Mashhad, Khurāsān. Mashhad was the birthplace to Maktab-i Tafkīk (the Separation School) from the beginning of the current Solar Hijri century. The School believed in a separation between Maʿrifat-i Qurāʾnī (the Quranic Cognizance), and philosophical and mystical understandings. The author indicates how the Separation School influenced Shariati’s anti-philosophical stance.

Keywords