A researcher in the Islamic Seminaries wrote that the narrations that have reached us from the Infallible Imams, constitute the raw materials and the main context of the jurisprudence of Islamic governance in the existing Shi’ah jurisprudential books. RNA – Words, like all phenomena of existence, undergo various changes over time and undergo various processes.
As a result of these processes and lexical changes, sometimes a special meaning and concept is placed in the form of various words and phrases and helps human beings to understand, comprehend and fulfill their purpose. It is based on this principle that words and terms play a very delicate, key and important role in creating the spiritual and cultural ties between human beings and the transmission of knowledge.
The special concept, which is now referred to as “Perspectives and Thoughts on Islamic Government” is one of the concepts that has been placed in the form of various words and terms over time and has been expressed in the language of Islamic muhaddiths (hadith specialists), faqihi (jurists), mufassirs (exegetes) and hakims (sages).
For this reason, its contents are known by various and various letters and titles, and in each era and time and in each of the sources and texts, a special interpretation has been assigned to it. As a series of contents on the subject is sometimes called ahkam al-sultaniyyah (the laws of Islamic governance) and amur al-sultaniyyah (the commands of Islamic government) and another time tanfidh al-ahkam (the implementation of rulings), qadhaya wal-ahkam (the cases and rulings) and akham al-qadha wal-hudud (the rulings of the cases and punishments) and it is sometimes referred to as wilayah al-faqih (guardianship of the jurisprudent) and other times, in a more general and general form, it has been referred to as masail al-wilayat (issues of guardianship), wilayat wal-siyasat (guardianship and politics).
As another group of authors has referred to it as law siyasat al-shari’ah (the politics of religious law), nadhm al-shari’ah (legal systems). Some well-known jurists and hadith specialists have also discussed issues related to this issue under the title of fil-ibadat wal-siyasat (in worship and politics) and finally the names of fiqh al-siyasiyyah (political jurisprudence) and fiqh al-hukumah al-Islamiyyah (jurisprudence of Islamic government) have recently become known which indicate a common and unified concept and meanings, and not multiple and different meanings that have been accepted throughout history and in the context of time along with the ups and downs of general jurisprudence, the jurisprudence of governance and change and transformation.
Here we will have a brief overview of the historical roots of the jurisprudence of governance in the era of textualism:
The jurisprudence of governance in the era of textualism
Undoubtedly, the basic principles and roots of the jurisprudence of Islamic governance , like any other Islamic issue, are in the Holy Quran and the sunnah (tradition) of the Messenger of God, the Prophet Muhammad, and the Purified Imams, and historically the emergence and formation of the jurisprudence of governance has always been synonymous with the emergence of “general Islamic jurisprudence.”
That is, the time of its origin and creation, like general jurisprudence, dates back to the age of prophecy and the revelation of the holy verses of the Holy Quran, because all the rules and regulations of Islam in the age of prophecy have been compiled and developed with the revelation of divine verses and the personal tradition of the Holy Prophet. Subsequent eras, with the life and traditions of the Imams, the jurisprudence of Islam has been established in the same direction and has been established based on the same principles and criteria.
The jurists of Islam in the age of the ghaybat al-kubra (the major occultation), according to the command of the Purified Imams who said:
علَينا إلْقاءُ الاُصول إلَيكُم، و عليكمُ التَّفْريعُ
“We provide you the general principles of religion and it is for you to elaborate the detailed points of law” only elaborated the detailed points of law based on “the inductive principles of the Imams” and in this way, they have deepened and expanded jurisprudential issues.
As is true of the emergence and expansion of all branches and issues of jurisprudence, the same applies to the emergence and expansion of the titles and issues of the jurisprudence of Islamic governance. Therefore, verses such as:
إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا
“I am making you the Imam of mankind” [2:124]
النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ
“The Prophet is closer to the faithful than their own souls” [33:6]
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّـهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
“There is certainly a good exemplar for you in the Apostle of God” [33:21]
أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ
“When God and His Apostle have decided on a matter” [33:36]
And other similar verses, the principle of wilayah (guardianship) and the general government of the Prophet of God over the Islamic society has been expressed very firmly and far from any ambiguity and has laid the foundation of political jurisprudence the jurisprudence and governance at the foundation of the Islamic jurisprudential system.
Following these verses, the verses of the legislation of the principal of the imamate (leadership) of the successors of the Prophet Muhammad such as:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّـهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
“Oh, you who have faith! Obey God and obey the Apostle and those vested with authority among you” [4:59]
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا
“Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion” [5:3]
And other similar verses have been revealed and have generalized imamate and wilayah from the person of the Prophet of Islam to his competent successors, who are the Infallibles from his generation and Ali ibn Abi Talib and have established the general imamate and wilayah as one of the inalienable rights and affairs of the Infallible Imam other than the Prophet.
Although the Infallible Imams became disillusioned during their lifetime and their right to rule and governorship was usurped by people without competent leadership and guardianship. However, this right is still reserved for them.
During the ghaybat al-sughra (the minor occultation) Guardian of the Era, Imam al-Mahdi, solved the problems of the people through the nuwwab al-arba’ah (the four deputies) and led the Islamic ummah on the path of the right of leadership and collected the religious funds and spent them on the necessary expenses. However, during the ghaybat al-kubra (the major occultation), he appointed just and qualified jurists as his na’ib al-aam (general deputies) to the position of guardianship and government in an indefinite and general manner, and left it to the Muslims to identify and select them.
The delegation of the guardianship of obedience, justice, accountability, imposing punishments and in general, the right to establish the Islamic government and managing the affairs of the Muslim community on the criteria of justice and equity and performing the duty of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, collecting religious funds and appropriate taxes and spending them in necessary cases and where it was of benefit to all, including the affairs and powers of the wali al-faqih (guardian-jurist) in the era of the occultation, which is one of the most important issues of the jurisprudence of Islamic governance .
As the sum of the Prophet’s foreign correspondence with the sultans, emperors, emirs and rulers of the time all over the world of that era, wherein he invited them to accept Islam in a special diplomatic and unconventional manner and all of them are known as the “Makatib al-Rasul” (Letters of the Prophet) and are one of the most important sources of the jurisprudence of Islamic governance in the field of foreign policy.
Similarly, the life of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib, during his five years of blessed and honourable rule, and the treaties and decrees of his rule to the governors and managers of the affairs of the country, especially his famous letter to Malik al-Ashtar al-Nakha’i and other companions, is considered the best evidence and raw material for Shi’ah jurisprudence of government, which has not been used properly. Nahj al-Balaghah (Peak of Eloquence) contains valuable principles of jurisprudence of government that, if applied, will bring growth and prosperity to the Islamic Ummah.
The sum of these materials, along with the narrations that have reached us from the Infallible Imams, constitute the raw materials and the main context of the jurisprudence of Islamic governance in the existing Shi’ah jurisprudential books. Accordingly, our jurisprudence of governance s a precious legacy that has survived from the time of the Prophet and the Infallible Imams and has been refined and developed in later periods.
Rasa News Agency