From what I can gather, it is all super progressive-type thinking that is framed by Islam, albeit with a gentle sprinkling of anti-imperialist spices, but then again, Mr. Shari’ati’s worldview was forged in the raging flames of “western” imperialism. Don’t forget to check out a previous post with a few more excerpts from this book.
The following are excerpts that caught my attention from his lecture titled “The Philosophy of History: Cain and Abel”:
Cain is not inherently evil. His essence is the same as that of Abel, and nobody is inherently evil, for the essence of everyone is the same as the essence of Adam. What makes Cain evil is an anti-human social system, a class society, a regime of private ownership that cultivates slavery and mastery and turns men into wolves, foxes or sheep. It is a setting where hostility, rivalry, cruelty and venality flourish; humiliation and lordship—the hunger of some and the gluttony of others, greed, opulence and deception; a setting where the philosophy of life is founded on plundering, exploitation, enslavement, consuming and abusing, lying and flattering; where life consists of oppressing or being oppressed, of selfishness, aristocratic arrogance, hoarding, thievery and ostentation; where human relations are based on the giving and receiving of blows, on exploiting or being exploited; where human philosophy consists of maximum enjoyment, maximum wealth, maximum lust, and maximum coercion; where all things revolve around egoism and the sacrifice of all things to the ego, a vile, crude and avaricious ego.
Page 107
There’s a lot of this type of thinking. It made me think very deeply about the superficiality of modern-day consumer-driven society. Here is another excerpt that made me stop and think.
The transhistorical struggle between Abel and Cain is also the struggle between tauhid and shirk, between justice and human unity on the one hand, and social and racial discrimination on the other. There has existed throughout human history, and there will continue to exist until the last day, a struggle between the religion of deceit, stupefaction and justification of the status quo and the religion of awareness, activism and revolution. The end of time will come when Cain dies and the “system of Abel” is established anew. That inevitable revolution will mean the end of the history of Cain; equality will be realized throughout the world, and human unity and brotherhood will be established, through equity and justice. This is the inevitable direction of history. A universal revolution will take place in all areas of human life; the oppressed classes of history will take their revenge. The glad tidings of God will be realized: “We have willed that We should place under obligation those who have been weakened and oppressed on the earth, by making them the leaders of men and heirs to the earth” (Qur’an, 28:5).
This inevitable revolution of the future will be the culmination of the dialectical contradiction that began with the battle of Cain and Abel and has continued to exist in all human societies, between the ruler and the ruled. The inevitable outcome of history will be the triumph of justice, equity and truth.
Page 109
That pretty much speaks for itself, but there’s a footnote that appears at the bottom of the page that dives deeply into the definition of justice and equity.
Justice (‘adl) refers mostly to the legal relations between individuals and groups, on the basis of the laws laid down in society. Equity (qist) refers to the equal enjoyment by all men of the fruits of their labor and of their rights, whether or not this is recognized by law. Justice implies the existence of a judicial system, and equity relates to the structure of society. In order to have justice, the judiciary must be reformed; in order to have equity, the social system must be changed-not superficially, but in its fundamental structure.
Page 109
And then the lecture ends with a final thought that brings it all together for the reader (or audience), stressing that the responsibility—at all possible costs—of each individual person is to not remain apathetic to the vicissitudes of societal change.
It is the responsibility of every individual in every age to determine his stance in the constant struggle between the two wings we have described, and not to remain a spectator. While believing in a certain form of historical determinism, we believe also in the freedom of the individual and his human responsibility, which lie at the very heart of the process of historical determinism. We do not see any contradiction between the two, because history advances on the basis of a universal and scientifically demonstrable process of determinism, but “I” as an individual human being must choose whether to move forward with history and accelerate its determined course with the force of knowledge and science, or to stand with ignorance, egoism, opportunism in the face of history, and be crushed.
Page 109-10
Needless to say, this Ali Shari’ati guy definitely deserves more attention than he gets in the revolutionary west. If you’re interested in a copy of this book, grab it on Abebooks (even though it is owned by Amazon and we should be doing our best to ditch this monopoly at all costs!).
Faisaling.com 
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