Analysis of the Philosophical Nature of the Islamic Revolution Based on the Interconnection of the Four Causes and Monotheistic Worldview

This research is formulated with the aim of providing an analysis of the nature of
the Islamic Revolution of Iran, going beyond common political, social, and economic approaches. The main objective of the article is to explain the reality that the Islamic Revolution was not merely a reaction to political tyranny or material crises, but rather the product of a "paradigmatic shift" in Islamic political thought and the practical manifestation of a coherent political philosophy. The central issue of this research is the analysis of the organic interconnection between the abstract and philosophical foundations of the Revolution (including monotheistic worldview, epistemological principles, and value foundations) and its material and tangible causes (such as social grievances and identity crisis). In other words, the main question is how the nature of the Revolution can be analyzed within a philosophical framework in which material and spiritual factors are understood not as two separate domains, but as components of a single, unified, and intertwined whole. To answer this question, this article adopts an "analytical-philosophical" method, utilizing the theoretical framework of the "Aristotelian Four Causes" as its primary analytical tool. This classical model, also developed in Islamic philosophy, enables a multifaceted and profound analysis of complex phenomena. In this framework, the material cause of the Revolution is its potential substrate and intellectual-social context, which goes beyond economic poverty to encompass identity crisis, cultural assimilation, and the accumulation of society's religious demands. Its formal cause is the new form, structure, and identity that emerged after the Revolution in the shape of the "Islamic Republic" system, based on religious democracy and the Guardianship of the Jurist (Wilāyat al-faqīh). Its efficient cause was the driving force that actualized this potential, operating at two complementary levels: the charismatic leadership of Imam Khomeini and the agency of the millions of popular masses. Finally, the final cause of the Revolution, its ultimate goal and transcendent ideal—namely, the realization of the "Good Life" (ḥayāt ṭayyiba), the establishment of divine justice, independence, and the spiritual excellence of society—gave direction and meaning to all its other components. The main contribution of this research lies in its synthetic and integrative approach, which demonstrates how these different dimensions are connected within a coherent philosophical system. The research findings emphasize that the nature of the Islamic Revolution is an intertwined and inseparable combination of the four causes, in which the material causes had deep roots in philosophical and identity crises. This analysis shows that the principle of Monotheism (Tawḥīd) moves beyond an abstract belief to become the objective foundation of absolute divine sovereignty and the source of political legitimacy (formal and final cause); a matter that repaired the broken link between theoretical and practical monotheism in the history of Islamic political thought. Furthermore, the anthropological foundations of the Revolution, especially the concept of "man as God's vicegerent (Khalīfat Allāh)," act as a profound material cause, introducing man not as a passive being, but as an agent of divine sovereignty possessing a God-given right to determine his own destiny. Meanwhile, the theory of "Velayat-e Faqih" (Guardianship of the Jurist), as a continuation of divine guardianship and Imamate, constitutes the essence of the formal and efficient cause of the new political system, establishing the link between divine sovereignty and the people's will. The conclusion is that the Islamic Revolution of Iran is a phenomenon governed by a deep philosophical logic, in which the material and apparent causes were the effect and superstructure of a fundamental transformation in ontological and anthropological foundations. This event is the manifestation of a coherent system in which belief in the absolute sovereignty of God and the dignity of man as God's vicegerent is actualized through divine leadership and popular participation. Therefore, the nature of this Revolution is a successful example of a return to authentic religious foundations to present a new model of religious-democratic governance, in which faith and rationality, divine sovereignty and popular participation, are intertwined in a single structure. Finally, by analyzing the Islamic Revolution as a continuous identity (from its roots to the establishment of the system), contrary to common analyses that focus merely on the factors of its emergence, the present article incorporates the formal cause of the Revolution after its victory into its analysis.