نشریه علوم سیاسی
سال چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 13، بهار 1380)

The nature and the existence of political Fiqh, in addition to its type and necessity of existence, its origin, function, and effects, and its relevance to politics, have received the attention of Moslem philosphers, who categorized Fiqh under politics and political sciences. This is an attempt to clarify the philosophy of political Fiqh in the framework of political philosophy.

According to Halabi, a theologian and jurist in fifth century (AH), a human being is a responsible creature who needs a guide to carry out his responsibilities. While Imam Mahdi was present, one had to refer to him for guidence, but in his absence one has to refer to a just Faqih. Thus, there is no other choice; all other ruling systems lacking legitimacy.

Karaki, an outstanding Faqih in 10th century (AH), was the first to cooperate with the Safavids, hence founding the basis for the convergence of the ulama and the state in the Safavid era. His theoretical contribution lies on the proposal of the theory of the Sovereignty of Faqih.With Karaki being scientifically and politically famous, his theory soon became wide-spread in this period and was even reflected in Shah Tahmasb's commandment in 937 (AH).Despite having a close relationship to the Safavids, Karaki was by no means after proving an independent legitimacy for them and for sultanate as a whole, though he believed supporting the Safavids was beneficial for the Shiites at that time.

Mohaghegh-e_Sabzevari_did_the_most_serious_contemplations over political life in the Safavid era, discussing various political systems from a pragmatic view point. Social life, law, just ruler, the objectives of state, utopian political system, defective political system, the charactristics of ruling system, the types of social classes and guilds, the organization of state, emphasis on the asceticism of political authorities, and the responsibilities and rights of people are the terms discussed and defined according to Sabzevari in this article.

Power, security, and liberty, considered as the objectives of political sovereignty by some scholars, are also incorporated in Naraghi's conception of justice. In his view, political power is a mere instrument for the application of justice, and providing security is a major function of state and can be maintained only in the light of justice. The citizens and members of the Islamic society, too, will benefit from equal social facilities and oportunities only through justice. Thus, justice is the essence of state and elements such as power, security, and liberty become meaningful only in the light of justice

The notion Welayat (sovereignty), is widely refered to in branches of Islamic sciences such as theology (Kalam), philosophy, jurisprudence (Fiqh) and mysticism (Irfan). Welayat interpreted as "the political management of the society" is a significant term in the Shiite political Fiqh and one would fail to comprehend the Shiite political system of ideas without having a true underestanding of this term. That is why Islamic jurists have discussed over the domain of the authority of ruling jurists only by assuming Welayat as political management. This notion has recently been subject to theoretical studies by some scholars among which Iman Khomayni presented a more efficent theory on the basis of which the Islamic Revolution was founded. This article attempts to clarify this notion in Shiite political system.

Ayatollah Beheshti assumes freedom to be the essence of human personality, believing that man has the right to choose, and the right to make and influence on his own life, environment and political system. People also have the right to vote, and to criticize authorities, and the possibility to react towards the undesireable. The authorities, too, at any level, have to be responsible to the people.

Nowadays, we face an organized network of concepts which can play an important role in organizing and explaining seemingly unrelated political ideas. One such key concept in political philosophy is "right" (haq). Infact, an intellectual's conception of a desireable political order is based on his conception of this notion. The present article is to study "right" as presented in Shahid Motahhari's works.

After the Iranian MashrootÅ Revolution, the Shiite Political Thought Faced a new era of much attention, contemplation and explanation, when religious scholars embarked on a new research project to address the new situation. The most serious attempt to deal with the theoretical gap and crisis in Islamic state was contributed by Imam Khomaini. In his theory of state, he conjoined the Shiite principle of Imamate, the jurisprudence principle, and human law, which brought about radical changes in the socio-political structure of the Islamic society. This article is to study Imam Khomaini's perspctive on the Islamic state.