The Nature of Religious Government according to Ayatollah Misbah and Sheikh Fadlulah Nuri

There has been much debate about the political thoughts of Islamic scholars and necessity of accepting the religious jurist's governance. For example, some of the researchers accuse such a jurist like ''Sheikh Fadlulah Nuri '' of supporting the kings. Some other believe that the theory of "guardianship of religious Jurist" is a recent innovation. Using a descriptive-analytic method, this paper which is based on a historical and library-based study, aims at recognizing the nature of religious government and sovereignty in Shia world according to the view of two leading faqihs: Ayatollah Misbah and Sheikh Fadlulah Nuri. Ayatollah Misbah, an ideological theorist of the Islamic Revolution, and Sheikh Fadlulah Nuri, the initiator of the legitimate constitutional governance in Qajariy period, both emphasize on the necessity of adhering to the "guardianship of religious Jurist" and establishing an Islamic government. Sheikh Fadlulah Nuri advocates the possibility of exercising authority by a Muslim jurist consult in the form of legitimate constitutional governance if possible, not it desired. Ayatollah Misbah, taking in to consideration the conditions of his period, sees that the Muslim jurist can exercise authority in the frame of the separation of powers in the Islamic Republic of Iran and have wide choices.