Iranian scholar wins recognition at Mahathir Mohammed Award

Hadi Borhani, an Iranian professor of Palestinian Studies at the University of Tehran, has won recognition at the fifth edition of the prestigious international “Mahathir Mohammed Award.”

Borhani secured third place in the “Mahathir Mohammed Award for Intellectual Creativity,” a cultural and scientific event held this year under the theme “Palestine: A Pillar of Civilization Renaissance.”

The award is one of the annual events organized by Malaysia’s International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, which seeks to promote scientific research and ideas on critical issues while honoring contributors to Islamic and global thought and civilization.

Each year, the award is presented to researchers and intellectuals who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge and thought. It is chaired by Mahathir Mohammed, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, and named in recognition of his pivotal role in building a modern Malaysia.

In his paper, Islamic World: After and Under Zionism, Borhani examines the historical trajectory of the Muslim world, highlighting its periods of flourishing civilization and the impact of Zionism on its contemporary challenges.

Roulami Abdelhamid from Algeria and Egyptian professor Salah Abdul Raouf won first and second place, respectively.

Borhani explained that his research focuses on a major historical transformation in which the Muslim world has shifted from an era of civilizational prosperity to a present state marked largely by crisis and instability.

He noted that the first part of his study demonstrates how the ideological foundations of Zionism are inherently anti-Islamic and rooted in a zero-sum worldview, one that regards monopolizing Palestine and weakening the unity and civilizational strength of the Muslim world as prerequisites for the survival of Israel’s colonial project.

The second part of his research offers a practical analysis of Israel’s strategies, identifying five key areas: direct military aggression and occupation, enforced military and nuclear superiority, the internal destabilization of Muslim societies and states, discursive campaigns to distort the image of the Muslim world, and reliance on Western powers as instruments of pressure against Muslim countries.

Borhani concluded that any progress in the unity or strength of the Muslim world is perceived as an unacceptable loss for the Zionist project.

He emphasized that the Muslim world now stands at a decisive historical juncture, profoundly impacted by the expansion of Zionism and its regional repercussions.

He warned that neglecting the nature of this confrontation risks consolidating Zionist dominance and perpetuating the current state of civilizational crisis in the Muslim world.

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