The Nature of Political Jurisprudence (Fiqh)

The association of the three elements “Imamate”, “community”, and “religiosity” within the social framework of Iran resulted in the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. The revolution paved the Shi’i thought with its main elements and ramifications to find its way into the political arena of the world. Thus, one can explain and defend the main element of the Shi’i society, i.e. the position of ‘Imamate’ and ‘guardianship’ (wilÁyah) by means of kalÁm and jurisprudence (fiqh). However, political jurisprudence inevitably makes its practical appearance widely in almost all components of politico-social system. It seems that nowadays the main question in political jurisprudence is not to be grounded in the possibility of the guardianship or authority of faqih. Rather, the explanation of the way in which this guardianship is exercised in society is considered to be the most fundamental task of political thought. Accordingly, in this article an attempt has been made at the first to touch on the nature of political jurisprudence in detail while giving definitions of fiqh and politics.