Technology Policy with an Islamic Approach in Iran: Institutional Analysis, Legislative Requirements, and Value-Oriented Strategies

The rapid technological transformations of recent decades have swiftly altered the world’s political, economic, social, and cultural structures and have made technology one of the most important drivers of change in governance. Fields such as information technology, biotechnology, energy, and artificial intelligence have not only created unprecedented opportunities for development but have also imposed complex threats to security, cultural identity, and social cohesion. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, technology is not merely a technical or economic matter; rather, as a value-oriented phenomenon it is intertwined with the society’s religious and cultural foundations, and its policy-making must be redefined within the framework of the requirements of Islamic governance. Despite the “General Policies of Science and Technology” promulgated by the Supreme Leader as an upstream document—emphasizing indices such as scientific authority, technological self-sufficiency, technological justice, and public access—the institutional structure of technology governance in the country still faces challenges such as duplication, overlapping mandates, weak inter-institutional coordination, and the absence of a single steering authority. The core problem of this study is how to design an indigenous and efficient model for technology policy and governance in Iran that both aligns with rapid global transformations and rests upon Islamic principles and values. The main objective is to conduct an institutional analysis of technology policy in Iran with a focus on the Islamic approach and to identify legislative requirements and value-oriented strategies for reforming and enhancing the governance structure in this domain. In addition to reviewing the status quo and institutional challenges, the study seeks to extract and integrate Islamic criteria and principles into technology policy and to present an appropriate theoretical and operational framework for addressing technological phenomena. At the theoretical level, the research




268                                                                    Islamic Governance Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2025




focuses on explaining the place of technology in Islamic thought, distinguishing among permissible (ḥalāl), prohibited (ḥarām), and necessary (wājib) technologies, and determining how the governance system should interact with each of these categories on the basis of public interest (maṣlaḥa) and the Sacred Law (al-sharīʿa). At the practical level, its aim is to create a pattern for synergy among policy-making, legislative, and oversight bodies and to remove points of conflict and overlap among their functions. The method is qualitative, combining documentary analysis, directed content analysis, and in-depth interviews with experts in Islamic sciences and technology policy. First, the study’s conceptual framework was developed using Grounded Theory based on data obtained from interviews with scholars of the Qom seminary. Upstream documents and laws—including the General Policies of Science and Technology, the Laws on Supporting and “Leaping” Knowledge-Based Production, the Law on the Permanent Provisions of Development Programs, resolutions of the Supreme Council of Science, Research, and Technology, and documents of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution—were purposively selected and deductively analyzed. To validate findings and extract solutions, two focus group sessions were held with eight experts in fiqh, governance, law, and science-and-technology policy, in which the status quo, research hypotheses, and reform proposals were discussed and assessed; participant selection prioritized disciplinary diversity and institutional neutrality to minimize organizational bias. The findings show that technology governance in Iran must simultaneously account for three principal axes: institutional structure, value orientation, and implementation challenges. Structurally, the multiplicity of responsible bodies and overlapping mandates, lack of coordination in policy-making, and weak oversight are serious obstacles to strategic coherence. From a value perspective, within Islamic thought technology is not neutral; it must be guided under ethical, legal (sharʿī), and social considerations and placed in the service of the community’s dignity, independence, and justice. The results indicate that technologies can be divided into three broad categories: permissible (ḥalāl) technologies that do not entail prohibited effects and whose use is licit; prohibited (ḥarām) technologies that engender corruption, undermine morality, or threaten the community’s security and must be restricted or eliminated;
and necessary (wājib) technologies whose acquisition and development are obligatory to preserve the existence and power of the Islamic society, such as defense and security technologies. The study further shows that technology-governance strategies should be designed along two principal spectra: developmental strategies for expanding ḥalāl and necessary technologies, and restrictive strategies for containing harmful and undesirable technologies. In the developmental spectrum, based on Qur’anic and hadith teachings, scientific advancement and innovation are not only permissible but a religious and social duty; Qur’anic verses such as “And prepare against them whatever force you can” (al-Anfāl 8:60) emphasize comprehensive preparedness in domains of power, including scientific and technological power. In the restrictive spectrum, confronting technologies that provide grounds for moral decay, economic dependency, or foreign political domination is deemed an intrinsic duty of Islamic governance. Accordingly, the study’s proposed model for technology governance in Iran includes re-engineering institutional roles and missions, strengthening the legislature’s lawmaking and oversight functions, establishing a national coordinating authority, and instituting indigenous technology-assessment mechanisms grounded in sharʿī criteria and Islamic values. By integrating policy-making, enhancing institutional accountability, and ensuring the realization of technological justice, this model can chart a developmental path that maximizes scientific and technological capacities while preventing cultural, ethical, and social harms.