Shariati had served his first term in jail upon his return from Paris in 1965, for his political activities there, and so knew the risk he was taking in raising political issues; indeed, lectures such as these were to cause the Hussainiyyah Irshad, where he lectured, to be closed down in 1973, and himself to be jailed again in 1975. Having said that, these writings do not give the impression of disguising a more directly political programme, and there is evidence that he deliberately withdrew from the political implications that certain of his supporters drew from his work in the early 1970s, when he refused to endorse, even implicitly, the activities of the Marxist fedayeen, who were supported by many who attended his lectures.
The reason for this may be found at the beginning of Approaches to the Understanding of Islam. Here Shariati explains his emphasis on intellectual work at a time when others were disparaging that in favour of action; he argues that Iranians complain about the problems besetting their society without understanding their causes, and that such an understanding, and planning on its basis, are required before any effective action can be undertaken.
