Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists

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Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists, Velayat Faqih is a theory which all of the Ulema among Ja'fari jurisprudence (Fiqh of Twelvers) believe in it and It means authority to the religious scholar. But there are two interpretations. One of them is "Limited Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists". This interpretation make it very limited to judicial matters, to "Owghaf" (religious welfare).[1] The other one is "illimitable guardianship of the Islamic Jurists". It include all of the issues which Prophet of Islam and Shi'a Imam have the responsibility of its Guardianship like politics and ruling the country.

Most of the western media, who look at this issue from political viewpoint, called it Mullahcracy[2]. In their viewpoint the velayat-e faqih, meaning "rule by the jurisprudent" or "rule of the Islamic jurist," is the Islamic Republic's concept or theory of the state. Vali-ye faqih denotes an Islamic legal expert who exerts worldly power. The Supreme Leader is often referred to as the Faqih. [3]

Contents

[edit] Main idea

[edit] Limited guardianship of the Islamic Jurists

Ali Sistani does not subscribe to the absolute political dominance of mullahs.
Enlarge
Ali Sistani does not subscribe to the absolute political dominance of mullahs.

According to Ayatullah Sistani

"It means every jurisprudent (Faqih) has wilayah (guardianship) over non-litigious affairs. Non-litigious affairs are technically called "al-omour al-hesbiah". As for general affairs with which social order is linked, wilayah of a Faqih and enforcement of wilayah depend on certain conditions one of which is popularity of acceptability of Faqih among majority of momeneen." [4]. "

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has often been identified with the quietist school of thought, which seeks to keep religion out of the political sphere, despite his indirect but decisive role in most major Iraqi political decisions. [4] [5].

[edit] Illimitable guardianship of the Islamic Jurists

Walayat e Faqih (ولایت فقیه in Persian) is a religious way to view political cases and believes in God's approval of the leader. From its point of view, Allah (الله in Persian and Arabic) approves of the Supreme Leader and other mullahs. [citation needed]

According to it, those most knowledgeable about Islamic law (Shari'ah) should assume a guiding or leading political role in society. Wilayat conveys several intricate meanings which are deeply tied to their history. Morphologically, it is derived from the Arabic wilaya the verbal noun of waliyan: to be near and to have power over something. Technically, wilyat means rule, supremacy or sovereignty. In another sense, wilayat means friendship, loyalty, or guardianship (see Wali).[5]

[edit] History

This concept was first started by Ayatollah Molla Mohammad Mahdee Naraqi[6] in Iran who advocated a modest level of political actions for Islamic leaders — limited velayat-e-fqih.

In 1963, Ruhollah Khomeini revised this concept and removed the role of Iranian's Shah from governorship, which till then was believed as a part of putting Islamic rules into action. It was never put into action till 1979 by Iran's Islamic Revolution. But generally before then, by the time of Ayatollah Naraqi it was first produced and forced into Iran's royal law allowing Iranian ayatollahs to make sure that Islamic laws impacted the general laws of Iran. By the time of Iranian Constitutional Revolution (انقلاب مشروطه), Ayatollah Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri customized this theory to match with Iranian Majles of National Council, which was removed when he was executed by revolutionists.

Even till 1963, Khomeini also believed in a version of this idea,[citation needed] which allowed Shah to stay and rule the way Islam believed. But by 1963, knowing that Shah was never to let them gain political power, he revised this idea and presented a new version of the theory, leaving every bit of political power for the Islamic ruler and ensuring that all actions must be affected by his decisions.

[edit] In practice

Iran has become the first nation-state in history to put go from the principle of mullahcracy to its application with vital consequences on various aspects of life. According to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "Today, the [government of] the Iranian people is recognized as a model for all the peoples of the world....politicians, religious scholars, and scientists make requests in various manners, in order to benefit from the Iranian help, guidance, and support..."[6]

[edit] Political matters

After the Islamic Revolution the higher legislative chamber — Senate — was dismantled with the replacement of two new chambers. The first, the Assembly of Experts is exclusively seated by mullahs. The second, the Council of Guardians, has a half that must be comprised of mullahs. In addition, the Supreme Leader must be a cleric. Although, the lower legislative chamber or the Majles was preserved, its power is diminished as all bills that fly in the face of Shia Islam or the Islamic constitution will be vetoed by the Council of Guardians without recourse. Typically, the member of the Majles, who have to be vetted by mullahs in the first place before running for office, refrain from introducing anything controversial lest reprisal by the VEVAK the head of which must also be a mullah. The Islamic Cultural Revolution aided in cementing the mullahcracy.

Recently, attempts have been made to conceal the power of mullahs with the new speaker of Majles and president, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, respectively.

[edit] Mandatory Islamic education

Moreover, Islamic education is mandatory in schools. "All public school students, including non-Muslims, must study Islam," according to International Religious Freedom Report 2006[7] Furthermore, no one born to Muslim parents can enter a university without passing a test on Islam[7] and per sharia no abandoning of Islam is permissible as it constitutes apostasy. As a result, for example, one cannot study physics at a university without having attained a substantial understanding of Islam and Arabic.

[edit] Social impact

The theory also calls for a religious police funded by the state to monitor people's lives. The Islamic Republic delegates this task to Basij.

[edit] Economic implications

The preamble to the constitution rejects capitalism implicitly by asserting, "accumulation of wealth and maximization of profit" is not the objective. Consequently, private Iranian corporations in major industries such as oil, media, airline, automotive, et cetera are not sanctioned as such entities are nationalized.

Additionally, as an OPEC member, Iran need not worry even if technocrats don't have the ultimate say on public policy. Due to revenues pouring in from the oil commodity, it can withstand economic sanctions and not fret about "begging foreign investors to come into Iran."[8].

[edit] Criticism

The level of control of Islamic scholars has even been challenged by some Islamic scholars themselves like Grand Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri and Ayatollah Mohamed Hossein Kazemini Borujerdi.

[edit] Misunderstandings

1. There is a wide spectrum of ideas about Wilayat-Faqih among Jafari scholars and it is not limitted to two ideas mentioned above. The spectrum starts from guardianless activities (الامور الحسبیه) in Islamic society, such as unattended children, and ends to absolute authority (الولایه المطلقه) in all public matters.

2. Two types of Wilayah can be undertood. The first type of Wilayah which is mensioned in various chapters of Fiqh of Shia discussES about Wilayah over the deads and Wilayah over whom resembles dead, such as insane (سفيه), absentee (غائب), poor (فقير), etc. For example verse 33 of Sora 17 [9] refers to authority of heir of oppressed slain. This type of Wilayah can not be applied to a society because none of mentioned characteristics apply to human society. The second type of Wilayah which appears in principles of faith and kalam discusses about Wilayah over sagacious and wise people. The verse 55 of Sora 5 [10] implies the second type of Wilayah in Quran. The guardianship of jurisprudance can be underestood from this second type of Wilayah only. Believing Wilayat-Faqih is not the matter of following a marja but it should be underestood by reason and needs intellectual reason. This will guide us toward the concept of Wilayah of Fiqh or guardianship of jurisprudence which is essense of Wilayah of Faqih and should be discussed elsewhere.

3. Owqaf (اوقاف) is better to be translated as endowments. [11]

4. None of the Jafari scholars believe in illimitted guardianship but some of them believe absolute (مطلقه) one. They refer to the verse 62 of sora 24 [12] and believe that collective affairs (امر جامع) are under Wilayah of Faqih at most. Those scholars who believe in necessity of establishing Islamic state say that within the boundary of public affairs the Wilayah must be absolute, otherwise the state can not govern the country. See religious democracy.

5. The idea of Wilayat-Faqih is introduced in the Fiqh of Jafari famous text book Javaher-al-Kalem (جواهر الکلم) before the paper published by Ayatollah Molla Mohammad Mahdee Naraqi.

6. The majority of Shi'a accepted the late grand Ayatollah Hosain Borujerdi (1875 – 1962) as Marja'-e-Taqlid. It was only after his death that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini published his first political and social notice in which he invited all people to rise for Allah. This was due to the fact of his believing on Wilayah of Ayatollah Hosain Borujerdi.

7. Nobody believes that the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran is the best implementation in the framework of Wilayat-Faqih. In fact its chapter XIV has been entitled "The Revision of the Constitution" and it revised one time yet. [13] Also it is a good idea to separate the theory and practice and then discuss around them.

8. Ammendments to Article 44 [14] could ease the privatization of state-owned sectors and put an end to state monopoly over vital economic sectors.

[edit] See also

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ Interview with Grand Ayatollah Yusef Saanei Public Broadcasting Station Frontline; Feb. 2002
  4. ^ [3]
  5. ^ Ahmad Moussavi, The Theory of Vilayat-i Faqih
  6. ^ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: As Soon as Iran Achieves Advanced Technologies, It Has the Capacity to Become an Invincible Global Power 28 September 2006
  7. ^ a b International Religious Freedom Report 2006: Iran The U.S. State Department
  8. ^ No Mullah Left Behind The New York Times 13 February 2005
  9. ^ http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/017.qmt.html
  10. ^ http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/005.qmt.html
  11. ^ http://english.awqaf.ir/
  12. ^ http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/024.qmt.html
  13. ^ http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  14. ^ http://www.iran-daily.com/1385/2719/html/focus.htm

[edit] Further reading

  • Defying the Iranian Revolution: From a Minister to the Shah to a Leader of Resistance, Manouchehr Ganji, ISBN 0275971872

[edit] External links

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