ماهنامه معرفت
سال بیست و هشتم شماره 8 (پیاپی 263، آبان 1397)

This article is an exposition of the commentary on Imam Ali's words about the characteristics of true Shiites. Among these characteristics are: contentment with what is predestined for them, not becoming vicious when angry, vulnerability to individual whims and not being subject to stinginess. Being selfish and stingy which means not sharing what one has with others is the source of many vices. Divine destiny implies that man gains profound knowledge and believes that God is omnipresent and His power is limitless and that nothing can be done without God's will. Therefore, a true Shiite fears no one other than God and never flatters or takes pride in what he possesses. Thus, man’s perfection is an outcome of man’s belief in the Unseen and understanding of the facts about the Unseen. The stronger this belief and more proud this knowledge, the closer to God man will be.

According to Fiqh, political security means "the tranquility and peace of influential figures” to gain political rights and perform political duties to achieve prosperity in this world and the hereafter. It can be measured by various indices. Political security indices are, in fact, the criteria of assessing the extent of the benefit a community gets from political security while comparing current situation with the ideal situation in order to design appropriate strategies and identify the type of duty. Therefore, the research findings which are based on a descriptive-analytical method show that according to Imamiyyah Fiqh, political security in Islamic society is measured by such criteria as: existence of government, just leadership, stability and public participation in social activities.

Authoritarianism is one of the new methods of governing that differs from classical dictatorial regimes. Using a descriptive and analytical approach, this paper seeks to show the universality of classical Muslim philosophers' view about the way of classifying governments to examine the nature of authoritarianism in Islamic political philosophy. The grounds for the beginning of authoritarianism and the method and purpose of authoritarianism are the issues which this paper has studied by relying on classical sources of Islamic political philosophy. The hypothesis of this paper is that overpowering city, which is a type of ignorant city, applies to authoritarianism. Therefore, if one wants to expound the nature of authoritarianism in Islamic political philosophy, one has to read about “the overpowering city”.

Justice and security are two essential prerequisites for social life. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this article seeks to demonstrate the relationship between political justice and national security and explain the profound impact of political justice on the components of national security from an Islamic perspective. Political justice which means people’s institutionalized and active participation in social-political life is the ideal way of exercising political sovereignty; because it is the source of legitimacy, stability and political institutionalization. National security represented in safeguarding political independence, preservation of fundamental values and political development is considered as the particular responsibility of the political system. In Islam, political independence, dominant values and political development are the major factors of building a secure and value-oriented society, to which Islamic teachings give special attention and on the fulfillment of which society emphasizes.

The importance of the administration of Islamic society in the age of occultation and the necessity of forming an Islamic state during this period is an important issue that has been a subject of speculation and inquiry since the beginning of the occultation. Using a descriptive-analytic method, this article seeks to prove the necessity of forming such a state by presenting Quranic and textual proofs. It concludes that many Quranic verses and narrations clearly demonstrate the necessity of the formation of an Islamic state in the age of occultation. Referring to the contradictory narrations, this paper shows that some of these narrations are weak and not based on authentic document. Some authentic narrations advocate positive uprisings and approved of them, explaining the indices of positive uprisings and negative uprisings. Other narrations which argue against staging any uprisings prior to The Savior uprising, cannot support their claim because it contradicts the other proofs and narrations, and the arguments they offer against staging non-divine uprisings based on discriminate use of religion and religious purposes, seem limited.

Policy making in political systems is always defined as a means for achieving the goals of governments. The role of community leaders is giving guidance and in this way they frame the policy of country. According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, the supreme leader has the highest position of authority in making major decisions about the policy making of the system, and his views are in accord with the principles and aspirations of the Islamic Revolution. The main question of the research is: what are the components of the policy making of Islamic system in the political thought of the supreme leader? The hypothesis of the paper is based on the assumption that, concerning the objective, idealistic and subjective models of policy making, the ideas which the supreme leader holds in this regard can be viewed from different angles. The research findings indicate that, the supreme leader considers that policy making covers four areas: social policy making, security policy making, defense policy making and Islamic policy making. All the four areas fall into the category of objective pattern. Using a descriptive-analytical method and referring to library resources, this paper seeks to confirm the mentioned hypothesis. 

The discussion about government and its origin and legitimacy is one of the topics raised in the political thought of Islam, which divides government into two types: divine and Taghut government. According to the political thought of Islam, a divine government is a government which is established by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and after the Prophet by his successors, the infallible Imams, and the source and legitimacy of this kind of government is God. But, another question is raised in the political thought of Islam, and that is: when the infallible Imam is not present among people, will the formation of government and enforcement of Islamic laws stop? There is a consensus of opinion among Shiite scholars that no government at the time of occultation is considered legitimate except which is ruled by a religious jurist. Since the Safavid period, in particular, many scholars have theorized and responded to the supposition that there is no discussion about government in the political thought of Islam. Among the scholars who advanced a theory in this regard is the late Ayatollah Seyed MirAbdolfattah Husseini Maraghei, one of the early scholars of the Qajar era. He believes that Islam is a religion of politics, there is a divine relationship between politics and Sharia, religious precepts cannot be dispensed with and government is one of the requisites of religion. He also mentions that government was first established by the Prophet and after the Prophet the responsibility was entrusted to the infallible Imams and that during the occultation of the infallible Imam, it is the religious jurist who has the right to form government and such a government has divine legitimacy. Using a descriptive-analytical method and gathering library and documentary data, this research develops the discussion about this subject.

Oppression and arrogance fall in the province of social relations, which indicates that the dominant party treats the other in a harsh way. The holy Quran gives special attention to this relationship. The Quran contrasts the phenomenon of oppression with the assumption of supreme power or arrogance. According to the Quran, arrogance first began with Satan's disobedience to the divine command, and then this kind of behavior polarization of society into oppression and arrogance, the Quran shows that confronting arrogance in rational and varied ways is at the heart of the prophets' mission. Therefore, in acquaintance with the characteristics of the arrogant and the effects and consequences of arrogance by relying on reliable sources is useful for confronting and combating this kind of destructive disposition and dislodging oppression from the society. Reflecting on the Quranic verses, narrations and lifestyle of the infallible Imams and making use of the text and presentation of the verses by relying on the views of the commentators, this paper uses a descriptive-analytical method to elucidate the methods of coping with arrogance in negotiation, toleration, enmity, intimidation, violent encounter, and dislodging oppression from the Islamic society. Adopting an appropriate approach to dealing with arrogance with the aim of empowering the society from within is the main purpose of conducting this study.

Among the heavenly books, the Qur'an is the only book which has been preserved from distortion and which is the guide to all human beings as long as this world exists and man lives. The comprehensiveness of the Quran as a book which responds to all human needs and its intelligibility as well as the interpretation of the Quran made by Prophet Muhammad and the infallible Imams have urged religious scholars to interpret the Quran over time and with the rising of new needs, using various sciences and so, its extent has increased over the time. The Quran commentary based on the commentator’s political-scientific expert knowledge is called “the study area of the political commentary of the Quran”—the question on which this article focuses, and like any scholarly piece of writing, it should have specific foundations, methods, principles and criteria for arranging the logical order of any piece of writing. The purpose of such a commentary may, first and foremost, be to recognize the only comprehensive international constitutional law concerning international relations and reject the claim of the duality of religion and political authority. Citing holy Quranic verses, and relying on library resources, the article attains the stated goals and seeks to briefly discuss the main pillars of this kind of commentary.