نشریه حکومت اسلامی
سال بیست و هفتم شماره 4 (پیاپی 106، زمستان 1401)

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.

Reference groups as social capitals of a society play a substantial role in the decline and growth (excellence) of society. Drawing upon descriptive-analytic method, the research seeks to explain the role these groups, especially rulers and scholars, play in the growth and decline of a society from the viewpoint of Imam Khomeini. The results of the research indicate that virtuous ruler, who is best exemplified in the Muslim guardian jurist, contributes to the progress and reform of society on the one hand, and rejects any from of illegitimate sovereignty and tyrrany on the other. Unrighteous rulers hinder the power of creativity in society and retard the progress of it. Righteous scholars play a decisive role in the growth and excellence of society by taking responsility for religion and society (awakening society); just as the unrighteous scholars, whether working in the Seminary [of Qum], the School of Religious Sciences, (such as false scholars and court mullahs) or working in universities (Westernized intellctualls and corrupt professors) have a big role in the decline of society. In addition to these cases, Imam Khomeini thinks of the silence of the elites as playing influential role in the decline of society having recourse to the three jurisprudential, cultural and civilization approaches.

After the glorious victory of Islamic Revolution of Iran, the attention of thinkers was focused on the question of the legitimacy and acceptability of the Islamic government. The primary motivation behind discussions raised by some thinkers on this issue was to explain the real nature of religious government. Others sought to give an arbitrary picture of the Islamic government. Still others interpret legitimacy of the Islamic government as identical to its acceptability. However, some others think of the legitimacy of the Islamic government as something distinct from its acceptability.
ʻAllāmah Misbāh, among others, felt a heavy responsibility to raise intense speculations as to the question of legitimacy and acceptability of the Islamic government, so he carried out extensive researches into the issue in question and provided those interested in this issue with his research findings.
In this article, the writer seeks to make clear ʻAllāmeh Misbāh’s view on this issue, trying to find an answer to the question why ʻAllāmeh Misbāh’s view of the legitimacy and acceptability of Islamic government has not fully understood or, rather, has misinterpreted by the critics and he thinks it necessary to give a clear answer to the questions and doubts raised by them.

Transparency is one of the applied political-moral terms which has to be precisely delineated and delimited in terms of the standards to which one refers to make a true judgment on its truth or falsity in different circumstances. The research question of this paper is that whether transparency in the Islamic government can be taken to be a major principle or not. If so, what is the standard of transparency in the Islamic government regarding different things? As a matter of fact, the main question of this research which has been conducted drawing upon analytic-citation method is that how far and to what extent the functions of a ruler in the religious government should be transparent and how one can set a criterion for the necessity or lack of necessity of transparency in the functions of rulers or in the structure of the government. Findings of the research demonstrate that the standard of justice-security, together with the Muslim guardian jurist’s authoritative (wilāī) judgement can be regarded as a standard for discerning the realm of transparency in the religious government. According to this standard, as long as transparency does not contradict justice, transparency is a matter of urgency, though in certain cases where justice is difficult to discern, another complementary standard which is to be presented is security. According to this complementary element, as long as security – in varying aspects – is not questioned, transparency is urgent. However, in certain cases, due to the conflicts of interests, security may also not be defining. In this case, the authoritative judgement of a Muslim gurdian jurist which functions as a virtuous paradigm, will delimit boundaries of transparency.

Human societies have always suffered from social crises, and because of this, they have sought to find strategies to resolve them. Given the infallibility of the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah, and his communication with the sources of revelation, the Prophet’s management in times of social crises is also the best model for humanity to follow. Drawing upon descriptive-analytic method as well as a research based on library documents, this article has studied the managerial measures of the Prophet in existing crises in three stages: before the crisis, during the crisis, and after the crisis. Cases as the formulation and centrality of law, explanation and clarification of social crisis are taken as measures before crisis in the Prophet’s lifestyle. To build social solidarity, to seek help from God, to attract political and social supports, to raise awareness and enhance insight are all the managerial measures taken during crisis in the Prophet’s lifestyle to overcome social crisis. Delimiting beliefs, getting into forceful confrontation with opposition forces, and improving the living condition of society have been introduced as measures after crisis, each of which plays a significant role in managing social crises.

Fulfilment of the sublime objectives of the perspicuous religion of Islam as a comprehensive religion and the seal of religions is indebted to the knowledge of divine laws and the enjoyment of systematic view of noble teachings of Islam. The legal system of Islam is not separated from the other creedal, cognitive, moral, cultural, political, economical, and educational systems. Zakāt which is considered as an Islamic charity tax finds its effective expressions in various realms of constitutional rights. This element in Islamic financial system is a mixture of creedal, moral, legal, political, and economical policy-makings. Proper payment of zakāt and fulfilment of other Islamic Laws (prescripts) involves two things: one is the discovery and explanation of prescripts, objectives, and plans of the Islamic Law (ShariÝah) and the other is a general view of the collection of Islamic laws and maintenance of their continuity. These two important things cannot be achieved without making use of precise means of Ijtihād (individual judgement). Drawing upon library sources and descriptive-analytic method, the present research explains how zakāt can be effective in certain fields of constitutional rights which are among the duties of the Islamic government. To illustrate varying aspects of what is considered to be zakāt in Islamic law-making bears evidence for the fact that various systems in the school of Islam are inseparable and result in synergy. According to the findings of this research, the role zakāt plays is evident in such things as fostering religious culture, strengthening the foundation of family and establishing social relations, educating and correcting criminals, reinforcing the institution of Imamate, organizing public affairs, and eradicating poverty.

Khums and zakāt are fixed taxes which must be paid for God’s sake and seeking proximity to God. The Shiʻa (Twelvers’) jurisprudents widely hold the view that tax payments that are done for God’s sake can be optional and personal and they hardly believe that Islamic taxes all belong to the Imams. Unlike this widely accepted view, Imam Khomeini explicitly asserts that monies paid as khums or zakāt are government budget and belong to the ruler of the Muslim community. Along with fixed taxes, people are obliged to pay unfixed taxes to their governments. If an Islamic government forms and people still are obliged to pay the two kinds of taxes, tax variation will occur according to which some people think it their legal or civil duty to pay taxes and others feel they are legally obliged to pay them. Due to these two payments at the same time, additional economic pressure imposes itself on certain classes of people in society who are religious, which brings about social discrimination. Drawing upon a descriptive-analytic method, the findings of the research suggest that those people who have paid their religious taxes under the Isalmic government and, because of this, they may have to shoulder the additional economic burden, can be declared exempt from paying certain common taxes. The aims of this research are to inform the addresses of the ways to prevent taxes of some kind at the same time, to eliminate discrimination, to pay taxes for God’s sake, and to reduce the cost of being religious in Islamic society.