The present study aims to conduct a comparative examination of the approaches of two of the most prominent figures in French-language Shi'i studies, namely Henry Corbin (1903–1978 CE) and Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (b. 1955). The central problem of this research is to determine what influence Corbin's philosophical-phenomenological approach to the study of Shi'ism has exerted on Amir-Moezzi's perspective and methodology in reexamining the nature of early Shi'ism, and to what extent traces of Corbin's thought can be detected in Amir-Moezzi's works. The research hypothesis posits that Amir-Moezzi, while consciously drawing upon Corbin's intellectual and methodological foundations—particularly with respect to the valorization of esoteric texts and the hermeneutic layers of Shi'i teachings—ultimately transcends Corbin's transtemporal framework through the application of critical historiographical tools and comparative study of primary sources, thereby offering a distinct portrayal of the intellectual and doctrinal developments of Shi'ism during the first three Islamic centuries.
The necessity of this research is twofold, given that few studies to date have systematically and comprehensively compared the shared and divergent components of these two thinkers. Most studies have either been devoted separately to the exposition and critique of one of them, or, where comparison has been attempted, have focused on only limited aspects.
Furthermore, particular attention to Amir-Moezzi's "conscious and deliberate transition" from Corbin's purely philosophical and phenomenological approach toward historical-critical methods constitutes a turning point in the evolutionary trajectory of the Paris academic tradition—a development that has received insufficient analytical scrutiny in previous scholarship.
The method of the present research is descriptive-analytical and based on comparative analysis. Within this framework, Corbin's key positions—particularly in his seminal work En Islam  iranien: Aspects spirituels et philosophiques (In Iranian Islam: Spiritual and Philosophical Aspects)—have been extracted and formulated, and subsequently assessed and compared with Amir-Moezzi's views in such major works as The Spirituality of Shi'i Islam: Beliefs and Practices and The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam.
The points of convergence and divergence resulting from this comparison have been classified and analyzed under five thematic axes: (1) the application of shared terminology and its semantic import; (2) commonalities in Christology and Imamology; (3) examination of the historical origins of Shi'ism; (4) avoidance of reducing Shi'ism to a political issue; and (5) attention to the esoteric and supra-rational dimensions of Shi'i beliefs. The primary sources of this research comprise the published written works of both thinkers in French, as well as the available Persian translations of Amir-Moezzi's works.
The structure of the article, following the introduction and exposition of the research context, provides brief academic biographies of Henry Corbin and Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi in order to illuminate the intellectual and scholarly background of both thinkers. Subsequently, the five comparative axes mentioned above are examined in detail, and finally, the research findings are presented in the concluding section.
Among the principal achievements of this research is the provision of a more precise portrayal of the methodological transformation in French-language Shi'i studies. The findings indicate that Amir-Moezzi, despite his emphasis on employing historical methods in the study of early Shi'ism—which constitutes one of the distinguishing features of his approach as compared to Corbin—has reflected a broad resonance of Corbin's positions in his work. This includes the use of shared terminology such as "the esoteric guide" and "the religion of Ali", an emphasis on the commonalities between Christianity and Shi'i Islam from the perspective of the nexus between Christology and Imamology, attention to primary texts for the reconstruction of the formative stages of Shi'ism, avoidance of the politicization of Shi'i beliefs, and attention to the esoteric and supra-rational dimensions of Shi'i teachings.
In sum, this research demonstrates that Amir-Moezzi, while preserving the spirit of phenomenology in understanding "meaning," has enlisted the instrument of "history" to arrive at a more documented and more problematized account of early Shi'i identity, and in so doing, may be regarded as representing a methodological shift from pure phenomenology to critical historiography within the tradition of French-language Shi'i studies.