معرفت فرهنگی اجتماعی

This study aims to identify and analyze Qur’anic teachings related to the component of “policy actors”. Employing a themati-research approach in Holy Qur’an, the study seeks to address an existing gap in the public policy literature concerning the epistemological foundations of policy actors, as illuminated by Qur’anic verses. The findings indicate that the Qur’an presents a dynamic, multi-layered, and multidimensional understanding of policy actors, in which actors are regarded as volitional agents possessing varying degrees of understanding, intention, will, moral legitimacy, and capacity for influence. From this perspective, policy actors are not limited to formal or institutional agents; rather, they encompass a broad spectrum of participants, including supporters, reformers, elites, opponents, hypocrites, and covert actors, whose roles are fluid and context-dependent. Furthermore, criteria such as existential disposition, commitment to values, alignment between discourse and action, resistance to influence and infiltration, interpretive authority, and the role of soft factors such as patience and trust in God are emphasized as key dimensions in evaluating policy agency. The results suggest that Qur’anic verses, by foregrounding the ethical, epistemological, and normative dimensions of agency, offer a stronger explanatory capacity for analyzing policy dysfunctions, deviations, and failures than many prevailing theoretical approaches in public policy studies. Overall, by advancing an Iranian–Islamic perspective, this study contributes to the theoretical enrichment of the public policy literature and supports the development of alternative analytical frameworks for the study of policy actors.