From Qur’anic reflection to everyday responsibility

Rising for God, a book by Mojtaba Arab-Mazari Yazdi, explores the Qur’anic idea of rising for God—consciously taking responsibility and acting with a God-centered intention—and its relevance to personal life, the pursuit of justice, media work and social responsibility. The book grew out of a series of discussions the author held with students at Amirkabir University of Technology.

Rising for God, a book by Mojtaba Arab-Mazari Yazdi, explores the Qur’anic idea of rising for God—consciously taking responsibility and acting with a God-centered intention—and its relevance to personal life, the pursuit of justice, media work and social responsibility. The book grew out of a series of discussions the author held with students at Amirkabir University of Technology.

Published by International Publications, Rising for God opens with Verse 46 of Surah Saba in the Qur’an:

“Say: I advise you to do one thing: rise for God, two by two or individually, and reflect…”

Here, “rising for God” does not simply refer to a political movement or an act of protest. In the framework of the book, it means consciously taking responsibility and acting with a God-centered intention. Drawing on this verse, the author examines purposeful action, the role of divine intention, and their connection to individual and social responsibility.

The book’s central argument is that rising for God extends far beyond political movements or social protests. In the author’s view, it can find expression in many areas of life, from family, education and cultural and organizational activities to media, the pursuit of justice and public participation in social change.

The author regards rising for God as one of the key concepts of what is known in the intellectual discourse of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the “Imam’s school of thought”—a term referring to the body of ideas and ideals associated with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic. He argues that the concept should not remain a matter of theory, but should be carried into personal and social life.

The book is also presented as an effort to help university students, students of Islamic seminaries and socially active individuals better understand how Qur’anic concepts relate to the real challenges facing society.

From Student Discussions to a Published Book
The initial idea for Rising for God emerged about four years ago through a series of sessions with students active in the university’s Basij, a volunteer mobilization organization, at Amirkabir University of Technology. According to the author, the students’ strong engagement with the discussions, along with the questions and ideas that emerged from them, eventually led to the proposal to develop the material into a book.

Beyond Political Action
One of the book’s central themes is how purposeful action can take shape across different areas of life. From this perspective, rising for God is not limited to political movements or social protests; it can also find expression in cultural, educational, media and social activities.

The author considers the roles individuals play in both family and society—from mothers and teachers to managers, social activists and politicians. What matters, in this view, is the relationship between a person’s intention, sense of responsibility and manner of action and the framework of religious thought.

After examining intention and the nature of purposeful action, the book turns to historical experiences such as Iran’s Constitutional Revolution and the movement to nationalize the country’s oil industry. The Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911 led to the establishment of a constitutional system and the formation of a parliament. The oil nationalization movement of the 1950s was a political campaign aimed at nationalizing Iran’s oil industry and ending British control over it.

The book then examines such themes as striving in the path of God, the pursuit of justice, commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, rationality, spirituality, the community of believers and the role of the public in social change. In this framework, striving in the path of God is not limited to armed struggle; it carries the broader meaning of sustained effort and exertion in pursuit of God-centered goals.

Media as Part of the Action
Another theme of the book is the relationship between media work and social action, which the author addresses in the second chapter, titled “Narrating the Movement: Why Narrative Is Part of the Action Itself.”

The book states: “Media is not secondary to rising for God; it is part of the action itself.”
The author’s point is that media is not merely a tool for reporting on a movement after it has taken place. Telling its story, explaining its meaning and shaping public understanding of a social action are themselves part of that action. From this perspective, media work is not peripheral or secondary; the way a movement is narrated can itself contribute to its formation, direction and continuation.

The chapter therefore addresses such themes as narrative struggle, the importance of narrative in armed conflict, telling the story of technological efforts as a form of religious striving, and the relationship between acting for God and media work.

In the book’s framework, narrative struggle refers to a conscious effort to tell, explain and communicate the meaning of an event, movement or social action. The concept is particularly relevant to discussions in Iran about competing narratives and the broader “war of narratives” in the media sphere.

The author also discusses how scientific and technological efforts can be presented and understood as a form of religious striving. In this context, telling the story of technological striving refers to presenting scientific and technological efforts and achievements as a form of sustained effort in pursuit of goals understood within a religious framework.

Acting for God in media work, meanwhile, means that the motivation and direction of one’s work should, in the author’s view, be grounded in divine intention rather than driven primarily by personal interests, fame or individual goals.

The author also examines sincerity of intention in media work. In this context, sincerity of intention means acting with a genuine commitment to God and avoiding the elevation of self-promotion, fame or personal interests into the primary purpose of one’s actions. He asks how it is possible to maintain such an intention while remaining actively engaged in the media landscape and on social networks.

The book then turns to what it calls “unwarranted caution”—a condition that, the author argues, can sometimes lead active social and religiously motivated groups to abandon action altogether. From this perspective, concerns about possible harm should not, by themselves, become a reason for avoiding social responsibility.

The Pursuit of Justice Within the Bounds of Ethics and Reason
Alongside its call for social engagement, Rising for God addresses the limits and methods of such action. One of its themes is the relationship between the pursuit of justice and ethics, reason and spirituality.

By raising the question of how priorities should be determined when different social interests come into conflict, the author emphasizes the need to observe ethical and religious boundaries in the pursuit of justice. In this framework, achieving justice depends not only on the goal of social action but also on the intention behind it and the way it is pursued.

The book goes on to connect rising for God with justice and social equity by bringing together Verse 46 of Surah Saba and Verse 25 of Surah Al-Hadid, and considers the role of the public in advancing justice.

The author also distinguishes between the general responsibility of society and the role of those at the forefront of social action. He describes this continuing responsibility in terms of standing firm and taking sustained responsibility for upholding justice. Social responsibility, in other words, is not merely a momentary response, but requires continued presence and commitment to the pursuit of justice.

From Construction Jihad to Community-Based Institution Building
Another example discussed in the book is the Construction Jihad, an initiative established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that engaged volunteers and local communities in construction projects, rural development and efforts to address deprivation.

The author views this experience as an example of revolutionary institution-building and public participation in governance. The central question in this section is how public motivation and participation can be transformed into sustainable social movements and lasting institutions.

The author asks how society’s collective capacity can be taken beyond short-lived responses and channeled toward sustained reform and development.

From this perspective, ideas such as rising for God, religious striving and justice are not confined to a particular historical period. Rather, they are presented as concepts through which contemporary issues and the social responsibilities of individuals and groups can be understood.