Abstract

This paper offers a critical examination of anti-Semitic and anti-Bahá’í discourses in modern Iranian intellectual history through a focused analysis of the thought of Ahmad Fardid (1910–1994). Drawing on selected passages from Fardid’s published and archival works, it reconstructs the conceptual logic underpinning his hostility toward Jews and Bahá’ís, situating these attitudes within his broader philosophy of history and critique of modernity. Deeply influenced by Heideggerian thought, Fardid articulated a civilizational narrative centred on the notion of gharbzadegi (Westoxification), through which he interpreted modernity as a condition of metaphysical decline and estrangement from divine truth. Within this framework, he associated both “Jewish rationality” and the Bahá’í Faith with forces that sustain and intensify this historical deviation.

The paper argues that Fardid’s anti-Semitic and anti-Bahá’í positions are not incidental or merely rhetorical, but structurally embedded in his metaphysical and historical worldview. His conflation of Zionism with Jewishness, portrayal of Jews as agents of nihilism and global domination, and depiction of Bahá’ís as cosmopolitan and politically subversive reflect a broader pattern of ideological othering that merges theological, philosophical, and political registers. At the same time, the paper highlights the internal inconsistencies, generalisations, and lack of substantive engagement with primary sources that characterise his treatment of both communities.

To contextualise Fardid’s thought, the paper briefly examines similar anti-Bahá’í narratives in the works of Mirza Mehdi Khan Tabrizi (Zaeem al-Dowleh) and Fereydun Adamiyat, representing earlier phases of Iranian intellectual history. Through these comparative cases, it demonstrates how prejudice, limited knowledge, and the circulation of inherited accusations contributed to the normalisation of anti-Bahá’í (and, at times, anti-Jewish) sentiment across diverse intellectual milieus.

By placing Fardid within both Iranian intellectual history and broader debates on modernity, secularism, and historicism, the paper contributes to a more critical understanding of how exclusionary narratives are philosophically constructed and reproduced. It further argues that such discourses have not only marginalised these communities but have also obscured their intellectual and social contributions to Iranian society. Ultimately, the paper calls for a more nuanced and historically grounded engagement with religious minorities in the study of modern Iranian thought.