Welayate Faqih, the Constitution and the Issue of Legitimacy

One of the most important characteristics of Islamic revolution of Iran making it distinct from other revolutions and cases of social uprising even religious ones is that this revolution paved the ground for the implementation of unconditional welayate faqih based on Islamic-Shiite political thought. On the other hand it is the constitution of Islamic republic of Iran which regulates the social behavior. There are different viewpoints about how welayate faqih and the constitution are related and whether wali faqih's authority is limited or not. Some believe this authority is limited to items numerated in the constitution and believe legitimacy of his authority depends on the constitution's permission while others believe welayate faqih is beyond the constitution for reasons such as welayate faqih is who legitimizes the constitution and is beyond it. Both groups have offered reasons for their opinions which will be criticized and studied in this article. The chosen opinion will be offered as well.