Imam Khomeini and the High Status of the Governmental Fiqh

Shiʿi fiqh as a long-lasting heritage of the past jurists(foqahā) is formulated and developed on the basis of certain fundamentals and principles which have been capable of meeting the needs of the Islamic society. Although Muslim jurists in various periods and due to some expediencies have paid special attention to the responsibility of answering and resolving religious questions of Muslim believers, this does not imply that fiqh is devouted to the personal affairs of responsible persons(mukallafun), but that the unchanging principles and fundamentals of fiqh are appropriate for the govermental fiqh to be applied by some Muslim jurists in running the affairs of the Muslim society in an efficient way and pushing it towards material and spiritual happiness. With the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of an Islamic political system based on Shiʿi fiqh, the ground was prepared for the potential and actual emergence and growth of such things as governmental fiqh in the light of priciples and fundamentals of Imam Khomeini's school of fiqh. Imam Khomeini's all-embracing view of fiqh, considering Islamic government as the practical philosophy of fiqh, introducing the thesis of the absolute authority of the Muslim jurist and putting emphasis on such constituents as expediency, time and place, governmental decree gave the Muslim jurists in times of occultation more scope for power and authority to run the desired religious and mundane affairs of the Islamic society in an efficient way which, in turn, will improve the efficiency of the religious system and will further strengthen the position of governmental fiqh in the realm of Shi’i fiqh.