ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the social aspects of empowerment. For Faḍlallāh, society is the sphere in which power is embodied and the instrument by which the community’s first concrete empowerment is realised. His social theory – embedded in his theology and spirituality of power – transforms individual power into a collective deployment of action. Social power could be seen as a mediator between the theory of power and its political application. It constitutes a transition from individual power – as put forward in his concept of theology and spirituality – and is a means of attaining political power through social mobilisation. By differentiating between weak and strong societies, Faḍlallāh’s aim was to convince his ShīꜤī followers of the self-sufficiency of the Islamic social formula and its potential for empowerment.
