French Immersion

It took Shari’ati much time and thinking to adapt to his new environment. Upon his arrival in France, he started making connections with Iranian students living in Paris. They helped him navigate the new city and its culture, shaping his later explorations of the urban terrain. However, he eventually began avoiding Iranians and their social world. This forced him  to gradually venture out on his own to learn the French language and immerse himself in the culture. Some of his first experiences in Paris were at the locations mentioned in this section.

Address: 101 Boulevard Raspail Paris 75006

Shari’ati enrolled in French courses at the Alliance Francaise language institute when he first arrived in Paris.

Reference: Rahnema, Ali. An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shari’ati. I.B. Tauris & Co., 2014, p. 90.

Address: 4 Rue de Lille Paris 75006

Shari’ati spent his afternoons at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations* when he was enrolled in the French language courses at Alliance Francaise.

*INALCO is currently located at 65 Rue des Grands Moulins Paris 75013.

Reference: Rahnema, Ali. An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shari’ati. I.B. Tauris & Co., 2014, p. 90. / Shari'ati, Soussan. Beresad beh Dast-eh Pūrān-eh Azīzam. Tehran: Ābān, 1394, p. 32, 44.

Address: Paris

After his mornings attending French courses and afternoons at the library, Shari’ati walked along the Seine River for about an hour in the evenings. “At first glance,” he wrote, “the Seine sometimes looks like the Indus River (Sindhu) and at other times embodies the Red River. And at times it resembles the fervent and memorable twist and turns of the green Euphrates.”

Reference: Rahnema, Ali. An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shari’ati. I.B. Tauris & Co., 2014, p. 90. / Shari’ati, Ali. Kavīr. Tūs Publication, p. 279.

Address: 22 Avenue Robert Schuman Boulogne Billancourt 92100

Shari’ati and his friends participated in religious events and group therapy at Centre de Réarmement*—which they would refer to as Taslihāt-eh Akhlāq. The Center was committed to spiritual regeneration and upheld the four doctrinal principles of absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute objectivity, and absolute love based on faith. In a way this congregational space had become a Parisian alternative to the Center for the Propagation of Islamic Truths (Kānuūn-eh Nashr-eh Haqāyeq-eh Eslamī) founded by Shari’ati’s father, Muhammad-Taqi, for the provincial students from Mashhad.

*During an interview with Maryam, Naser Pakdaman stated that Hasan Qazi recalled being told to close their eyes and make a wish at one of the events at Centre de Réarmement. Apparently Shari’ati laughed at Kazem Rajavi's wish for his brother to get a scholarship to study in Paris.

Reference: Rahnema, Ali. An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shari’ati. I.B. Tauris & Co., 2014, p. 89.