Mostafa Malekian Information

Mostafa Malekian was born on June 2, 1956, in Shahreza, a city in the Isfahan province of Iran. He spent his primary and most of his secondary education in his hometown. After obtaining his diploma in mathematics in Tehran, he initially pursued technical and engineering studies, following the advice of his parents and pressure from relatives. In 1973, he began his university education in mechanical engineering at the University of Tabriz. However, after two years, he realized that his true passion lay in the humanities and that he couldn’t maintain a divide between his studies and his intellectual interests. As a result, he left engineering and took the university entrance exam again, securing the top position in the field of Islamic philosophy at the University of Tehran.

During his studies, Malekian found the classes of Morteza Motahhari to be among the few valuable courses in his field. He also attended classes by Mehrdad Bahar and Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub as an unofficial participant and was deeply influenced by them. He frequently visited the late Amir Hossein Yazdgerdi, a professor of Persian language and literature, and served as his research assistant. Near the end of his undergraduate studies, when he was only one semester away from graduation, he was arrested by the Pahlavi regime for possessing works by Ali Shariati and was subsequently expelled from the university. After the Islamic Revolution, he resumed his studies and graduated in July 1979. In the same year, he married Simin Saleh and moved to Qom to pursue Islamic studies, especially Islamic philosophy and mysticism.

Malekian continued his studies at the graduate level in philosophy at the University of Tehran, as encouraged by Dr. Mohammad Mofatteh, but eventually decided to withdraw from academic studies and focused on personal and religious scholarship. Already proficient in Arabic, he pursued advanced studies in Islamic philosophy, Islamic mysticism, jurisprudence, and Islamic legal theory in Qom while independently studying Western philosophy. He also took on teaching roles, including subjects not traditionally covered in seminary education, such as English. He resided in Qom for 18 years, from 1979 to 1997, while commuting to Tehran for teaching assignments.

Starting in 1986, Malekian began teaching at the University of Tehran’s Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, as well as at Imam Sadiq University. He was also invited to teach at Tarbiat Modares University and Sharif University of Technology, balancing roles across four institutions. In 1997, he moved back to Tehran, where he continued to maintain ties with Qom, contributing to the University of Mofid’s dissertation committee and teaching at the Teacher Training Center of the Qom Seminary, which was affiliated with the University of Qom. He also collaborated with the Imam Khomeini Educational Institute and served as a senior advisor to the Islamic Culture and Thought Research Institute’s Department of Philosophy and Islamic Theology. Since 2009, he has primarily focused on teaching at non-governmental institutions.

Published Works:

Authored Books:

• 2002: “A Path to Liberation: Essays on Rationality and Spirituality” (Rah-i be Rahayī), Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2002: “Tradition and Secularism” (with Abdolkarim Soroush, Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari, and Mohsen Kadivar), Tehran: Serat Cultural Institute
• 2003: “In the Passage of Wind and the Guardian of Tulip,” 2 volumes, Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2006: “Longing and Separation: Dialogue on Culture and Politics,” Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2010: “Our Fate, Our Choice” (with Saeed Hajjarian), Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2010: “The Tale of Desire: Essays on Rationality and Spirituality,” Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2018: “Earth Through the Lens of the Sky,” Tehran: Soroush Molana Cultural Institute, Doostan Publishing
• 2020: “Another Life: Lectures on Applied Ethics,” Tehran: Farzaneh Cultural Institute, Shour Publishing

Translated Books:

• 1999: “Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Relevance of His Philosophy to Religious Belief” by W. Donald Hudson, translated by Mostafa Malekian, Tehran: Grous Publishing
• 2002: “Journey into the Realm of the Soul: Essays and Discourses on Spirituality,” compiled and translated by Mostafa Malekian, Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2002: “Twentieth-Century Ethical Theory” by Stephen Darwall, Allan Gibbard, and Peter Railton, translated by Mostafa Malekian, Tehran: Sohravardi Research and Publication Office
• 2003: “Gabriel Marcel” by Sam Keen, translated by Mostafa Malekian, Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2006: “Enduring Love: Essays on Ethics,” Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2009: “Varieties of Religious Experience Revisited: A Meeting with William James” by Charles Taylor, translated by Mostafa Malekian, Tehran: Shour Publishing
• 2016: “Mortal Questions” by Thomas Nagel, translated by Mostafa Malekian and Javad Heidari, Tehran: Negahe Moaser Publishing
• 2021: “The Soul of Spinoza: A Cure for the Soul” by Neal Grossman, translated by Mostafa Malekian, Tehran: Doostan Publishing, Farzaneh Cultural Institute