Sabzevar is a city in the Central District of Sabzevar County, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is approximately 220 kilometers (140 mi) west of the provincial capital, Mashhad, in the northeastern part of the country.

Ali Shariati Mazinani was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century, and has been called the "ideologue of the Islamic Revolution", although his ideas did not end up forming the basis of the Islamic Republic.