Draft:Political Jurisprudence
Political Jurisprudence (Arabic: الفقه السياسي) is a branch of the science of jurisprudence that deals with the discovery, extraction, and statement of religious rulings concerning political affairs. The discipline of political jurisprudence is considered the most practical branch of Islamic knowledge because it relates to all aspects of the lives of Muslims. The subject of political jurisprudence is the manner of communication between citizens, how citizens encounter the state, and the relations of the Islamic state with other states. In the contemporary era, with the expansion of waves of Islamism and the increasing importance of the relationship between religion and modernity, the knowledge of political jurisprudence has also gained double importance. The duty of political jurisprudence and the jurist specialized in political matters is considered to be the creation of methodical harmony between the changing realities of social life and the fixed religious texts.
Political jurisprudence is an Imamate-centered discipline formed based on a specific interpretation of the status and conditions of the Infallible Imam (a) in political life. This discipline has also grown under the influence of Sunni jurisprudence. Based on political-social developments, Shi'a political jurisprudence has been divided into several periods of formation, compilation, consolidation, and realization since its beginning during the time of the Prophet of Islam (s). Among the minimal and maximal attitudes toward jurisprudence, and consequently toward political jurisprudence, and also considering the various eras of Shi'a political jurisprudence, several individual, social, and governmental approaches have been depicted for it.
Political jurisprudence addresses issues such as types of political systems, theories of the state (such as the theories of absolute and constitutional monarchy), theories of Wilayat al-Faqih (appointive, elective, supervisory, and representative), as well as topics such as hisba affairs, the rights and duties of the state over the people, the rights and duties of the people toward the state, apostasy, cooperation with oppressive regimes, freedom, minority rights, issues related to the foreign policy of the Islamic state, and so on.
Conceptology and Subject
Relying on jurisprudential foundations and methods, political jurisprudence extracts Shari'a Rulings concerning political affairs,[1] which possess three characteristics: being social, intentional, and flexible.[2] The discipline of political jurisprudence is considered both a part of political science[3] and a part of the science of jurisprudence in the Islamic world.[4] This field is regarded as an interdisciplinary science produced from the intersection of the two fields of jurisprudence and politics within the epistemic system of Muslims;[5] for this reason, the definition of political jurisprudence has also varied according to the thinkers' attitude regarding the relationship between jurisprudence and politics.[6]
Some thinkers, by positing an identity relationship between jurisprudence and politics (the governmental jurisprudence attitude),[7] consider all jurisprudential rulings as observing the management of the affairs of society and the Islamic Ummah in political and social arenas.[8] It is said that Imam Khomeini is among the representatives of this attitude, who considers government to be the practical aspect of all chapters of jurisprudence.[9] In this view, political jurisprudence to be means the political nature of jurisprudence and includes all regulations for administering a country and a political system.[10]
In contrast, another view considers jurisprudence more comprehensive than politics and regards political jurisprudence as a part of the general science of jurisprudence.[11] This view encompasses topics such as government, Imamate, Caliphate, Jihad, Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, peace, cooperation with rulers, and relations with other countries, which are also called "al-ahkam al-sultaniyya" (the sultanic rulings).[12] Based on this view, political jurisprudence states the religious duties of the political life of a Muslim individual and the protocols of statecraft based on authoritative religious sources.[13]
The subject of the science of political jurisprudence is the examination of the manner of communication between citizens, the encounter of citizens with the state, and the relations of the Islamic state with other states, relying on the method of Ijtihad in political and social issues.[14] The goal of this science is the organization of political life in accordance with the general principles and rules of the Shari'a.[15]
Distinction with Governmental Jurisprudence
According to researchers, political jurisprudence is sometimes considered synonymous with governmental jurisprudence, while these two terms are different.[16] Governmental jurisprudence is a jurisprudential attitude that prioritizes the needs of religious government in deductions. This attitude is intended not as a part of jurisprudence, but as a governing approach over the whole of jurisprudence, and deductions must be based on the administration of the political system and the country. The scope of governmental jurisprudence includes all chapters and issues of jurisprudence (economic, cultural, legal, military, family, etc.), because government has various aspects and the ruler must examine all these issues to meet the needs of the government.[17] However, political jurisprudence is only a part of jurisprudential issues that specifically examines political subjects.[18]
Status and Importance in the System of Islamic Sciences
Given the link between religion and politics in Islamic thought, a special position has been given to political jurisprudence in the classification of Islamic Sciences,[19] and this science is considered coeval with Islamic civilization,[20] which in the middle period was considered part of the civil science of Muslims.[21] Political jurisprudence has been referred to as the most substantial part of the political knowledge of Muslims[22] and also the most practical part of Islamic sciences,[23] which replaced Greek political philosophy and addresses the explanation of political order, the design of institutions, and the management of political systems in the Islamic world.[24] Because of the centrality of religious texts in it, the science of political jurisprudence has been regarded as a factor to guarantee the material and spiritual happiness of Muslims.[25]
In the contemporary era, with the rise of contemporary Islamist waves and the consequent importance of the relationship between religion and politics—especially with the proposal of topics such as the relationship of religion with democracy and the modern state—political jurisprudence has also acquired double importance.[26] In the present era, due to the connection of jurists with the government and the necessity of responding to emerging issues such as partisanship, separation of powers, elections, legislation, etc., political jurisprudence has transformed from an individual state to a social and governmental form.[27]
According to Dawoud Firahi, a political science researcher, the organization and balance of other spheres of life is concomitant with the balance of the political order; for this reason, the duty of political jurisprudence, which is the explanation of a set of institutions and a political system to balance the rights and duties of the Muslim individual, becomes important.[28]
Characteristics
The characteristics enumerated for the science of political jurisprudence are:
- Imamate-centrality: This approach emphasizes the status and conditions of the Infallible Imam in founding and administering the state and society,[29] and considers it a duty to assist him in establishing truth and justice.[30]
- Being influenced by Sunni political jurisprudence: Shi'a political jurisprudence was founded during the period of power balance between the Buyids and the Abbasid Caliphate.[31] At that time, the Sunni jurisprudential schools had been formed, and their theological and methodological approaches—including the hadith-orientation of the Ash'arites and the rationalism of the Mu'tazilites—influenced Shi'a jurisprudential and theological schools, especially in Qom (the People of Hadith)[32] and Baghdad (the rationalists).[33][34]
- Being variable: Political jurisprudence acts as a bridge between fixed religious texts and the variable issues of society.[35] With the expansion of Islamic societies, new issues appeared that challenged the apparatus of political jurisprudence.[36] Dawoud Firahi believes the duty of political jurisprudence is to make religious text flow within the context of history; that is, by converting historical variable questions into general and fixed questions, extract the religious ruling from the religious texts.[37] Therefore, political jurisprudence and the political jurist must establish a systematic harmony between changing social realities and enduring religious texts.[38]
Different Periods of Political Jurisprudence
According to Dawoud Firahi, Shi'a political jurisprudence, following the general science of jurisprudence, has traversed a path different from Sunni jurisprudence. In his view, due to the distance of Shi'a jurisprudence from governmental issues, the individual part of Shi'a jurisprudence developed significantly more than its political part, and in contrast, its sultanic rulings have developed less.[39]
The history of developments in Shi'a political jurisprudence is divided into two general approaches:[40]
- Period of Formation and Compilation: Abbas-Ali Amid Zanjani, a researcher in the field of political jurisprudence, has divided the history of developments in political jurisprudence into two periods of formation and compilation, considering the publications of Shi'a jurists.[41] He traces the formation period to the era of the revelation of the Qur'an and the period of the Holy Prophet's (s) rule, and the compilation period to the developments of political jurisprudence in various eras of completing jurisprudential discussions and in the publications of jurists.[42]
- Political-Social Developments (Movement from Margin to Center of Power): Periodizing Shi'a political jurisprudence based on political-social developments and its movement from the margin of developments to the center and finally to the top of the political power pyramid is another approach in stating the eras of political jurisprudence.[43] According to this approach, Shi'a political jurisprudence is divided into the periods of formation (from the life of the Prophet of Islam in Medina to the occultation of the Imam of the Time), compilation (from the time of occultation to the beginning of the founding of the Safavid state), consolidation (from the founding of the Safavid government in the 10th century AH to the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran), and realization (the Islamic Republic of Iran system).[44]
The characteristic of the formation and compilation period is considered the preservation of Shi'a heritage and the Shi'a life (taqiyya) as well as supervision over society's events. In the consolidation period, the religious and political authority of Shi'ism enters from the margin into the center of political power. This period is the time of cooperation of Shi'a scholars with Shi'a sultans as well as supervision over their power. In the realization period, the founding of a political system based on the teachings of political jurisprudence and the model of Wilayat al-Faqih is addressed.[45]
Approaches
Among minimal and maximal attitudes toward jurisprudence—and consequently toward political jurisprudence—and also considering the various eras of Shi'a political jurisprudence, individual, social, and governmental approaches have been depicted for political jurisprudence.[46]
Individual Approach
Adopting the policy of taqiyya due to the restrictive social and political conditions of Shi'a jurists, a negative attitude toward political sovereignty due to the oppression of tyrannical rulers, and not tolerating the management of macro affairs of society by other than the Infallible Imam (a), caused a minimal attitude of Shi'a jurists toward the science of jurisprudence in the early centuries. Jurists in this period engaged in deduction only within the framework of meeting the individual issues of the duty-bound (mukallaf) and limited political issues to topics such as Friday Prayer, Sighting the crescent, hisba affairs, and so on.[47] According to Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, a contemporary Shi'a jurist in Iraq, Ijtihad in this period became associated with the face of the Muslim individual, not the face of the Muslim community.[48] Imam Khomeini believed that with the prevalence of the slogan of separation of religion from politics, jurisprudence became submerged in individual affairs and stayed away from interfering in important affairs of society.[49]
Social Approach
The necessity of responding to all political categories and the belief of some political thinkers in the non-separation of jurisprudence from politics created a new approach in the science of political jurisprudence.[50] In this approach, jurists, alongside the individual Muslim, also addressed the Islamic society and considered the legislation of some rulings such as religious limits and defensive preparedness in connection with collective identity.[51] The discussion of matters such as Nafy al-Sabil, Initial Jihad and Defensive Jihad, cooperation with Shi'a rulers, belief in Wilayat al-Faqih, and so on became prevalent in this period (the period of exiting taqiyya conditions concurrent with the rule of Shi'a dynasties).[52]
Governmental Approach
With the start of the political sovereignty of Shi'a jurists after the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, religion and politics were considered one, and the entire science of jurisprudence was placed at the service of meeting the needs of the government. This approach, with a maximal view toward political jurisprudence, has fundamental differences with a minimal attitude toward political jurisprudence.[53]
Issues
Numerous subjects and issues are examined in the science of political jurisprudence. The necessity and origin, goals, structure, elements, and types of political systems are among the topics addressed in the science of political jurisprudence.[54] Theories of the state in political jurisprudence such as the theory of absolute and constitutional monarchy and also theories of Wilayat al-Faqih (appointive, elective, supervisory, and representative) are examined in this science.[55] Among other topics discussed in political jurisprudence are hisba affairs, rights and duties of the state over the people, rights and duties of the people toward the state, apostasy, cooperation with oppressive regimes, freedom, minority rights, and issues related to the foreign policy of the Islamic state.[56]
Notes
- ↑ Mīraḥmadī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1395 SH, p. 35.
- ↑ Mīraḥmadī, Mulāḥaẓātī bar chālish-hā-yi fiqh-i siyāsī, 1392 SH, pp. 31-36.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 217.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, Fiqh wa siyāsat dar Īrān-i muʿāṣir, 1390 SH, vol. 1, p. 25.
- ↑ Mīraḥmadī, "Fiqh wa amr-i siyāsī", p. 118.
- ↑ Mīraḥmadī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1395 SH, pp. 28-29.
- ↑ Mahrīzī, Fiqh-pazhūhī, 1379 SH, book 1, p. 37.
- ↑ Farātī, Dānish-i siyāsī dar ḥawza-yi ʿilmiyya-yi Qum, 1390 SH, p. 220.
- ↑ Khomeinī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi Nūr, 1372 SH, vol. 21, p. 98.
- ↑ Mīraḥmadī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1395 SH, p. 30.
- ↑ Mīraḥmadī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1395 SH, p. 31.
- ↑ ʿAmīd Zanjānī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1367 SH, vol. 2, p. 41.
- ↑ Mīrmūsawī, "Iʿtibār wa qalamraw-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 55.
- ↑ Sayyidbāqirī, "Ijtihād wa bastar-hā-yi naẓariyya-pardāzī dar fiqh-i siyāsī-yi Shīʿa dar dawrān-i muʿāṣir", pp. 3-4; Lakzāyī, "Ṭarḥ-nāma-yi fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 10; Ṭāhirī and Ḥakamī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", pp. 19-20.
- ↑ Yūsufīrād, "Muqāyisa-yi falsafa-yi siyāsī wa fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 116.
- ↑ Mahrīzī, "Fiqh-i ḥukūmatī", pp. 141-142.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", pp. 159-160.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 160.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 237.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 237.
- ↑ al-Fārābī, Iḥṣāʾ al-ʿulūm, 1931 CE, p. 64.
- ↑ Ḥaqīqat, "Fiqh wa dīmūkrāsī", p. 35.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 155.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 237.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 154.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 237.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 157.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", pp. 233-234.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, Qudrat, dānish wa mashrūʿiyyat dar Islām, 1378 SH, p. 265.
- ↑ ʿAmīd Zanjānī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1367 SH, vol. 2, p. 41.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, Qudrat, dānish wa mashrūʿiyyat dar Islām, 1378 SH, p. 278.
- ↑ Kāẓimī Mūsawī, "Dawrahā-yi tārīkhī-yi tadwīn wa taḥawwul-i fiqh-i Shīʿa", pp. 15-17.
- ↑ Kāẓimī Mūsawī, "Dawrahā-yi tārīkhī-yi tadwīn wa taḥawwul-i fiqh-i Shīʿa", p. 18.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, Qudrat, dānish wa mashrūʿiyyat dar Islām, 1378 SH, p. 265.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 226.
- ↑ Lakzāyī, "Masāʾil-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 134.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, "Darāmadī bar fiqh-i siyāsī", pp. 224-226.
- ↑ Lakzāyī, "Masāʾil-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 134.
- ↑ Fīraḥī, Fiqh wa siyāsat dar Īrān-i muʿāṣir, 1390 SH, vol. 1, pp. 26-27.
- ↑ Ṭāhirī, "Sayr-i taḥawwul wa takāmul-i fiqh-i siyāsī dar adwār-i tatawwur-i fiqh-i siyāsī-yi Shīʿa", p. 56.
- ↑ ʿAmīd Zanjānī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1367 SH, vol. 2, p. 42.
- ↑ ʿAmīd Zanjānī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1367 SH, vol. 2, pp. 41-64.
- ↑ Waraʿī, "Justārī dar tārīkh wa adwār-i fiqh-i siyāsī-yi Shīʿa", p. 125; Ṭāhirī, "Sayr-i taḥawwul wa takāmul-i fiqh-i siyāsī dar adwār-i tatawwur-i fiqh-i siyāsī-yi Shīʿa", p. 76.
- ↑ Ṭāhirī, "Sayr-i taḥawwul wa takāmul-i fiqh-i siyāsī dar adwār-i tatawwur-i fiqh-i siyāsī-yi Shīʿa", pp. 61-75.
- ↑ Waraʿī, "Justārī dar tārīkh wa adwār-i fiqh-i siyāsī-yi Shīʿa", p. 125; Ṭāhirī, "Sayr-i taḥawwul wa takāmul-i fiqh-i siyāsī dar adwār-i tatawwur-i fiqh-i siyāsī-yi Shīʿa", pp. 74-75.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 162.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", pp. 163-164.
- ↑ al-Ṣadr, Hamrāh bā taḥawwul-i ijtihād, 1359 SH, p. 8.
- ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi Imām, 1378 SH, vol. 21, pp. 278-279.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", pp. 164-165.
- ↑ Montaẓerī, Dirāsāt fī wilāyat al-faqīh, 1409 AH, vol. 1, pp. 569-570.
- ↑ Īzdihī, "Māhiyyat-i fiqh-i siyāsī", pp. 164-165.
- ↑ Khorāsānī, "Tafāwut-i rawish-shinākhtī-yi fiqh-i siyāsī-yi sunnatī wa fiqh-i ḥukūmatī", p. 143.
- ↑ Lakzāyī, "Masāʾil-i fiqh-i siyāsī", p. 143.
- ↑ Mīraḥmadī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1395 SH, pp. 56-109.
- ↑ ʿAmīd Zanjānī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1367 SH, vol. 2, p. 41.
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