The Position of People in the Islamic Government from the Viewpoint of Allāmah Misbāḥ Yazdi: An Analysis

From among the important issues in every political system, the issue of the legitimacy of the ruling government as well as the position which was intended for the people in this political system is of paramount importance. Since, in the political system of Islam, the legitimacy in question is divine, the issue of people’s position has the utmost importance. From this respect, this issue has found clear expression in ʻAllāmeh Misbāh’s political works and the position of people has been illustrated from different perspectives. Drawing upon descriptive-analytic and focusing the attention on ʻAllāmeh Misbāh’s written works, this research work seeks to make an analysis of the position of people in the Islamic government. In answering the question “Given the divine legitimacy of government, in what areas of Islamic government do people play a decisive role?” the findings of the research show the fact that formation of Islamic government and its continuation depends on the role people play. On the other hand, people’s participation can take on different forms when supervision is exercised and informal Islamic establishments are created. Essentially, the political system of Islam is a democratic system which is free from the principles of the [western democracy] and its methodological harms.