Critical Analysis of the Absence and Return in the Thoughts of Bernard Lewis

Shiite studies of the Orientalists are generally organized for a variety of purposes and motives. Some of them have a phenomenal view and others have a biased view towards Shiite studies, especially toward Shiite saviorist approaches. What is covered in this article is the analysis and critique of “absence” and “return” as one of the characteristics of Shiite doctrine in the thoughts of Bernard Lewis. So far, no complete research has been carried out on the issue of absence and return in Shia from Lewis’s point of view. The method used in this paper is analytical-critical, and based on the written sources and political tendencies of Bernard Lewis. Lewis’s character and the process of appearance and evolution of absence and return in Shia (as the two basic strategies in Lewis’s thought), have been studies from the perspective of methodology and content analysis, which is prone to much criticism in Lewis’s thought.