A typological study of the relationship between religion and politics in the Shiite political thought

The present paper has two goals: classifying theories concerned with the relationship between religion and politics (and their institutions), explaining each of the theories with respect to their theoretical foundations. Based on a specific typology, the paper distinguishes the relationship between religion and politics from the relationship between the clergies and the state. With respect to religion and politics, some believe that religion deals with politics, with some others denying this kind of relationship. The former group is divided into the optimalists, the minimalists, and those belonging to the neutral space [Mantaghat-ol-Feragh], with the latter being classified into the believers and the anti-religious. The second part of the paper deals with the relationship between religion as an institution (the clergies and jurisprudents) and the state. This relationship may be in the form of merging (and unification), or interaction (and cooperation), or independence (and separation).