An analytical study of the contemporary orientalists' views on the legitimacy of the formation of a government during the occultation of Imam Mahdi, with a focus on Imam Khomeini's theory i.e. the Guardianship of Islamic Scholars (Wilāyat al-Faqīh)

One of the issues that have been subject to changes and developments throughout the history of Islam is to determin the scope of duties and responsibilities of religious scholars, especially with the beginning of the disappearance of the twelfth Imam. With the passage of time and changing circumstances, Shi'a scholars, over time and under changing circumstances while maintaining their religious and jurisprudential responsibilities, have entered the political and social arena. And in the last phase of its development, the theory of “the Guardianship of Islamic Scholars” and the rule of jurists was proposed by some great scholars, including Sheikh al-Mufid, Mullah Ahmad Narāghi, and Imam Khomeini. Observing this change and developments in the area of responsibility of religious scholars, as well as observing the effectiveness of Imam Khomeini's model of governance as an objective example of the leadership of jurists, has led Orientalists to critique and examine this issue, especially after the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. The present article firstly focuses on the opinions of some contemporary Orientalists such as Colin Turner, Heinz Halm, and Martin Kramer and then, express their views on the formation of the Islamic government in the period of absence and their objections to this issue, especially the idea of the authority of the jurist with a descriptive-analytic approach, and the problems and criticisms against them are discussed below.