From Saving the Government to Saving Social Discipline

This article sheds light on the origins of the Rule of saving the system (hifdh al-nidhām) in both theology and jurisprudence. The article insists the broader sense of the Rule and its close relationship with social order. While mentioning some examples of the Rule in juristic issues, the article explains the importance of a transcendental and virtue-based discipline as it is conceived in the Rule. Also the article clarifies the connection of the Rule with saving the government. According to the article, the implication of the Rule in Islamic jurisprudence is more connected with protection of social order in its broad sense. Although the Rule relates to saving and protecting a good government as a necessary element of the society, it is more protecting the disciplines and systems made by human being. The insistence of the rule on social order is not limited to Islamic society and/or saving an Islamic government. Therefore, every human discipline as far as it helps the survival of human being and the quality of its life should be respected. The article also points out the ideal concept of the discipline and the potentials of the Rule for making a better social order.