Jurisprudential(fiqhi) Principles of Right to Information

“Right to information” in the sense that citizens have the right to gain access to the information the governmental institutions have is among the rights that has been taken into serious consideration worldwide. In 1388 SH, when the “Publishing and Open Access to Information Act” was ratified, the right to information gained wide acceptance in positive law. According to this Act, all public and private institutions are obliged to provide people with any pieces of recorded information (with the exception of classified documents) upon request. In Islamic fiqh, there exist various sources such as traditions, biographies and life-style of the infallible Imams which can be referred to as arguments for the principle of the necessity of maintaining the Islamic system and people’s having right to general information. The present paper tries to cast light on the arguments in question and their implications for the subject “right to information”.