Legislative Guardianship

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Al-Wilāyat al-tashrīʿīyya (Arabic: الولاية التَشريعِيَّة, lit: legislative authority or guardianship) refers to the power to enact religious rulings. According to the doctrine of legislative guardianship, God has granted the Prophet (s) and Imams of the Shi'a (a) the authority to legislate on their own. However, there is disagreement among Shi'a scholars regarding this doctrine, with some accepting it and others rejecting it. Those who reject it believe that legislation is an exclusive authority of God. In hadith sources, the concept of legislative guardianship is referred to as the "delegation of religious affairs to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a)."

Legislative guardianship is used in another sense, which is endorsed by all Shi'a scholars. In this sense, the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) have authority over people’s lives and property, and their words must be obeyed.

Two Senses of Legislative Guardianship

Shi'a scholars use the term "legislative guardianship" in two distinct senses. The first sense pertains to the legislative right over people's lives and property. In this context, it means that God has granted the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) the authority to make decisions regarding the lives and property of people. For example, they may sell property as they see fit, and their decisions must be obeyed by the people.[1]

The second sense of legislative guardianship pertains to religious legislation. This means that the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) have the authority to enact religious rulings related to various aspects of life, such as acts of worship, economics, politics, judiciary, and more.[2] In essence, they have the right to issue religious rulings that determine whether something is halal or haram.[3] This concept is referred to as "God's delegation of religious affairs to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a)."[4]

The Controversial Problem in Legislative Guardianship

All Shi'a scholars accept the first sense of legislative guardianship regarding the Prophet (s) and Imams (a). This means that they agree that the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) have authority over the lives and property of the people, and that all worldly and hereafter affairs of the people are under their administration. As such, they must be obeyed in all these affairs.[5]

It is the second sense of legislative guardianship that is controversial among Shi'a scholars. The question that arises is whether anyone, including the Prophet (s) and Imams (a), aside from God, has the right to legislate. The debate centers around whether God has delegated the legislative right in religious affairs to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) or not.[6]

Opponents and Proponents of Legislative Guardianship (in the Sense of Delegation)

According to some Shi'a scholars, such as Ja'far Subhani and Safi Gulpayigani, no human being, including the Prophet (s) and Imams (a), has the right to legislate in Islam. They believe that this right is exclusive to God, who has not delegated it to anyone else.[7] However, legislative guardianship is acceptable in limited cases as specified in hadiths, where God has allowed only the Prophet (s) to legislate.[8] For example, according to a hadith, God had obliged daily prayers as two-rak'a prayers, but the Prophet added two rak'as to the noon, afternoon, and 'isha' prayers, and one rak'a to the evening prayer, and God approved his legislation.[9]

In contrast, scholars such as Gharawi Isfahani, Sayyid Ja'far Murtada 'Amili, and Husayni Tihrani believe that the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) have legislative authority over all religious affairs.[10]

Evidence adduced by the Opponents

Some of the opponents of the delegation of religious affairs to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) have adduced the following pieces of evidence:

  • The Quranic verse: "Judgement belongs only to Allah."[11]
  • The Quranic verse: "Those who do not judge by what Allah has sent down it is they who are the faithless."[12]
  • The Verse: "So judge between them by what Allah has sent down."[13]
  • Imam al-Baqir (a): "There are two types of judgment: judgment of God and judgment of the ignorant (jahilis)."[14]

Evidence adduced by the Proponents

Proponents of the legislative guardianship make recourse to hadiths in which religious affairs are said to have been delegated to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a). Sayyid Ja'far Murtada al-'Amili believes that these hadiths are frequently transmitted.[15] The following are examples of such hadiths.

  • Imam al-Sadiq (a): God trained His apostle with His love and then said, "and indeed you possess a great character." And then delegated the affair to him and said, "he who obeys God’s apostle has obeyed God." The Prophet (s) then delegated the affair to 'Ali (a) and entrusted him. We (Imams of the Shi'a) are the intermediaries between you and God the Glorious. God has established no good for anyone in disobeying us.[16]
  • Imam al-Sadiq (a): God the Glorious trained His apostle well, and having perfected his manners, God told him: "and indeed you possess a great character." He then delegated the affairs of religion and ummah to him to administer His servants."[17]

The Delegation in Sources of Hadiths

In some sources of hadiths, certain sections are dedicated to the issue of delegation of religious affairs to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a). A case in point is al-Kulayni’s al-Kafi, which involves a section on the "delegation of the affair of religion to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a)," in which ten relevant hadiths are cited.[18] Moreover, two sections of al-Saffar al-Qummi’s Basa'ir al-darajat are dedicated to this issue.[19]

Some scholars believe that delegation of religious affairs to the Prophet (s) and Imams (a) amounts to legislative guardianship or the authority to make religious legislations.[20] However, others interpret it as elaboration of the details of certain rulings that were already legislated by God and revealed to the Prophet (s).[21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ḥusaynī Mīlānī, al-Wilāya al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 49.
  2. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat, vol. 1, p. 97.
  3. ↑ Subḥānī, Wilāyat-i takwīnī wa tashrīʿī az dīdgāh-i ʿilm wa falsafa, p. 19.
  4. ↑ See: Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 25, p. 348; ʿĀmilī, al-Wilāya al-takwīnīyya wa al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 60-63.
  5. ↑ Ḥusaynī Mīlānī, al-Wilāya al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 49; Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat, vol. 1, p. 105-107.
  6. ↑ See: Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 25, p. 348; Subḥānī, Mafāhīm al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 610; Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat, vol. 1, p. 99, 100; Gharawī Iṣfahānī, Ḥāshiyat al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 379; ʿĀmilī, al-Wilāya al-takwīnīyya wa al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 60-63.
  7. ↑ Subḥānī, Mafāhīm al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 610; Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat, vol. 1, p. 99, 101.
  8. ↑ See: Subḥānī, Wilāyat-i takwīnī wa tashrīʿī az dīdgāh-i ʿilm wa falsafa, p. 20-21; Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat, vol. 1, p. 101-102.
  9. ↑ Subḥānī, Wilāyat-i takwīnī wa tashrīʿī az dīdgāh-i ʿilm wa falsafa, p. 21.
  10. ↑ Gharawī Iṣfahānī, Ḥāshiyat al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 379; ʿĀmilī, al-Wilāya al-takwīnīyya wa al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 60-63; Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Imām shināsī, vol. 5, p. 114, 179.
  11. ↑ Qur'an 12:40, 67; Qur'an 6:57.
  12. ↑ Qur'an 5:44.
  13. ↑ Qur'an 5:48.
  14. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 6, p. 407; Subḥānī, Mafāhīm al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 606-612.
  15. ↑ ʿĀmilī, al-Wilāya al-takwīnīyya wa al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 61.
  16. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 265.
  17. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 266; ʿĀmilī, al-Wilāya al-takwīnīyya wa al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 62.
  18. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 265-268.
  19. ↑ Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt, p. 378, 383.
  20. ↑ ʿĀmilī, al-Wilāya al-takwīnīyya wa al-tashrīʿīyya, p. 60-63.
  21. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 25, p. 348.

References

  • ʿĀmilī, al-Sayyid Jaʿfar al-Murtaḍā al-. Al-Wilāya al-takwīnīyya wa al-tashrīʿīyya. Second edition. Beirut: al-Markaz al-Islāmī li-l-Dirāsāt, 1428 AH.
  • Gharawī Iṣfahānī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Ḥāshiyat al-Makāsib. Qom: Dhawi l-Qurbā, 1427 AH.
  • Ḥusaynī Mīlānī, ʿAlī. Al-Wilāya al-tashrīʿīyya. Qom: Al-Ḥaqāʾiq, 1432 AH.
  • Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Imām shināsī. Mashhad: Allāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, 1418 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār al-jāmiʿa li-durar akhbār al-aʾimmat al-aṭhār. Third edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Ṣaffār, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Baṣāʾir al-darajāt fī faḍāʾil Āl Muḥammad. Edited by Muḥsin Kūchabāghī. Qom: Kitābkhāna-yi Āyat Allāh al-Marʿashī, 1404 AH.
  • Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Luṭf Allāh. Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat. Qom: Daftar-i Nashr-i āthār-i Āyat Allāh Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, 1391 Sh.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Mafāhīm al-Qurʾān. Qom: Muʾassisat Imām al-Ṣādiq (a), 1421 AH.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Wilāyat-i takwīnī wa tashrīʿī az dīdgāh-i ʿilm wa falsafa. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Imām al-Ṣādiq, 1385 Sh.
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