Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel (Persian: غلامعلی حداد عادل; born 9 May 1945)^[5] is an Iranian philosopher, conservative and principlist politician and former chairman of the Parliament. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council.

He was the first non-cleric in the post since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. He was one of the candidates in the 2013 presidential election but withdrew on 10 June, four days before the election.^[6][7] He is part of "neo-principalist" group in the Iranian political scene.^[8]

Haddad-Adel was born in Tehran on 9 May 1945 into a business family.^[9][10] He received a bachelor's degree in physics^[11] from the University of Tehran and also, a master's degree in physics from University of Shiraz. He also holds a PhD in philosophy^[11] from the University of Tehran which he received in 1975.

He studied Islamic philosophy under Morteza Motahhari and also under Sayyed Hossein Nasr who is famous for his critique of Marxism.

Following the Iranian Revolution Haddad-Adel became a member of the Islamic Republic Party and he served in many governmental posts, including deputy culture and Islamic guidance minister (1979) and deputy education minister (1982–1993).^[10] Since 1995 he has been serving as the head of the Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature (except for August 2004 – 2008).^[10] He is also the executive director of the Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation. He contributed to the establishment of the national Scientific Olympiads in Iran.

Haddad-Adel served at the Majlis for thirteen years, over four terms.^[10] He officially ranked as the 33rd candidate of Tehran in the 2000 parliamentary election after recounts by the Council of Guardians which led to an annulment of 700,000 Tehrani votes and the removal of Alireza Rajaei and Ali Akbar Rahmani from the top 30, and the withdrawal of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Haddad-Adel collected the most votes from Tehran four years later, while most Tehranis refused to vote in 2004 election because many reformist candidates where not allowed to run. He was supported by the Abadgaran alliance and became the Speaker of Parliament for one year beginning 6 June 2004, with 226 votes out of 259, running unopposed. He became the first non-clerical speaker since the revolution.^[11] Since 2008, he has been the advisor to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.^[10] In 2012, he ran for the Majlis speakership, but lost the bid.^[12]

He is also a member of the High Council of Cultural Revolution and the Expediency Discernment Council.

Haddad-Adel is also the second president of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature.^[16] His presidency at the academy has focused on language policy and planning, and promotion of the Persian language in all domains.^[17]

Haddad-Adel is a senior member in the conservative umbrella organizations Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran,^[18] as well as the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces (JAMNA)^[19] and is considered close to the Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution and the Society of Pathseekers of the Islamic Revolution.^[20]

According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Haddad-Adel has 51% approval and 27% disapproval ratings and thus a +24% net popularity; while 13% of responders don't know him.^[21]

One of Haddad-Adel's most significant views has been on the hijab in western civilization. According to him in the book of The Culture of Nakedness and the Nakedness of Culture, the issue of veiling and clothing in the West is problematic. He believes that materialism is the mentality which is governed by Western culture. The culture is based on the priority of material life, with no value in anything beyond materialism. The origin of materialism as a worldview is humanism, according to the renaissance.^[22] According to Haddad-Adel, religion serves an important role in Iranian education. Referring to the dominance of religious thought in education, he pointed out that religious education is one result of the victory of the Islamic revolution.^[23] He believes that the problem of human freedom is a permanent one. The problem itself has changed with the appearance of new theories in scientific and philosophic domains, particularly in the field of anthropology.^[24] He is also an admirer of the development of non-governmental higher education, and believes that developing such schools would lead to decreased demands on the administration of education and pedagogy.^[25]

Haddad-Adel's daughter married Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran.^[26][27] This has led to the popular belief that he is among the most trusted and backed allies of Ayatollah Khamenei.^[27]

• Farhang-e Berahnegi va Berahnegi-e Farhangi (Culture of Nudity and Nudity of Culture), Soroush, Tehran, 1981, translated into Urdu, Arabic, and Turkish.
• Haj: Namaaz-e Bozorg (Hajj: the Grand Prayer), Sana, Tehran, 2000.
• Daaneshnaame-ye Jahaan-e Eslam (The Encyclopaedia of the world of Islam), Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation, Volumes 2–6 (as supervisor), 1996–2001.
• Textbooks on sociology, social science, Civil studies and Qur'an, for high school and guidance schools.
• History & Histography, 2012 ISBN 978-1-908-43304-6
• Tafsir: Qur'anic Exegesis, 2012 ISBN 978-1-908-43300-8
• Hawza-Yi 'Ilmiyya Shi'I Teaching Institution: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam, 2012ISBN 978-1-908-43306-0
• Law: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam - Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (EWI), 2013 ISBN 978-1-908-43313-8
• Historians of the Islamic World, 2018 (Editor) ISBN 978-9-670-52642-3
• Muslim Organisations in the Twentieth Century: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam, 2022 (Editor) ISBN 978-1-908-43309-1
• Historical Sources of the Islamic World: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam - Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (EWI), 2013 ISBN 978-1-908-43311-4
• Sufism: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam, 2013 ISBN 978-1-908-43308-4

• In 2019 the organizers of The 17th Golden Pen Awards honored Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel as the Literary Figure of the Year.^[31]