The  Rule of Obligation and the Foreign Relations of the Islamic State

According to the jurisprudential ‘rule of obligation’, the ShiÝi people can make other Muslims with whom they transact, obliged to implement the precepts they have accepted. The most important reason behind this rule is the existence of the traditions which are originated in the issue of divorce. However, certain expressions included in these traditions and some others suggest the inclusion of this rule in various jurisprudential discussions.
At first appearance, the mentioned rule is peculiar to the transactions which can be carried out between ShiÝi people and Sunni people, but with much deliberation on the traditions with respect to the rule in question as well as on the instances to which faqihs refer in their discussion of the rule, it is made clear that this rule can be applicable to non-Muslims and accordingly the Islamic state can rely on it in its foreign relations and thereby can meet a part of Muslims’ interests.