Shariati believed that to truly fight capitalism, a society needs two concurrent revolutions: National Revolution: To end imperial domination.
He highlights Abu Dharr , a close companion of the Prophet, who stood against this accumulation, arguing that wealth must serve the people.
Shariati argues that over time, religious elites (clerics) created a "right-wing" version of Islam that made peace with capitalism, teaching the poor to accept their lot as "God-given" while the rich "cleansed" their wealth with minor rituals. Kapitalizm - Ali Ећeriati
His critique often took the form of a socio-historical narrative. Below is a story-like summary of Shariati's perspective on capitalism: The Story of the "Economic Animal"
For Shariati, history is a battlefield between two types of religion: Tawheed (unicity) and Shirk (polytheism/idolatry). In his view, Tawheed is the original message of all prophets—a call for a classless, just society where humans are God’s "vicegerents". On the other side, Shirk has historically been used by ruling classes (Pharaohs and oligarchies) to justify inequality by claiming that God ordained some to be masters and others to be slaves. Shariati believed that to truly fight capitalism, a
Shariati tells a "story" of how true Islam was gradually distorted into what he calls "Abluted Capitalism" . He points to the reign of the third caliph, Uthman, as a turning point where wealth began to accumulate in the hands of a few.
Economy becomes the new deity. To keep the machines running, capitalism must "modernize" people, but only in terms of consumption. It forces nations to abandon their cultural identities to become markets for Western goods, effectively turning humans into "economic animals". His critique often took the form of a
Man, once a "microcosm of God," is reduced to a "mere extension of a wrench".