The Jurisprudential Principles of the Preference of Public Interests over Individual Interest by Referring to the Opinions of Imam Khomeini and Sheikh Tūsi

Since the preference of public interests over personal or individual interests is very useful in social discussions, it is deemed necessary to conduct a research which helps to explain and analyze the positions taken by Sheikh TÙsi and Imam Khomeini on the issues mentioned above. As many of the judicial decrees issued by contemporary Muslim jurists are rooted in the jurisprudential principles of Sheikh al-TÁÞifah and no one has raised discussions on this issue as deeply and insightfully as Imam Khomeini has, the present article has made a comparative study on the jurisprudential principles of these two great Muslim scholars. According to the opinions of the ShiÝa (Twelver’s) jurisprudence, especially Sheikh Tusi, and Imam Khomeini, judgements are subject to interests and this is a definite and certain matter in the ShiÝa jurisprudence. These two scholars maintain the belief that whenever there is a conflict between the public interests and personal or individual interests, according to the Quranic verses, traditions, and the rule “more important instances exclude the important ones”, the public interests takes precedence over the individual interests and the person who undertakes to make a distinction between these two kinds of interests is an Islamic judge. Of course, it should be noted that Imam Khomeini considers not only the ruler but also the common sense (usage), and the assumption of the wise people as valid in making a distinction between the public interest and individual interests and their preference of the former over the latter.