Islamic republic

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An Islamic republic, is the same as an Islamic state,^[1] in Iran. For others however in its modern context has come to mean several different things, some contradictory to others. Theoretically, to many religious leaders, it is a state under a particular theocratic form of government advocated by some Muslim religious leaders in the Middle East and Africa. It is seen as a compromise between a purely Islamic Caliphate, and secular nationalism and republicanism. In their conception of the Islamic republic, the penal code of the state are required to be compatible with some laws of Sharia, and not a monarchy as many Middle Eastern states are presently. In other cases, it is merely a symbol of cultural identity, as was the case when Pakistan adopted the title under the constitution of 1956. In fact many argue that an Islamic Republic strikes a middle path between a completely secular and a theocratic (and/or Orthodox Islamic) system of government.

1 Iran
2 Other Islamic republics
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Iran

See also: politics of Iran

Iran is one of the first contemporary nations to formally attempt to follow this form of the government after an Islamic revolution. Iran is the prototypical Islamic republic.

According to the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran :

"The Islamic Republic is a system based on belief in:

1.the One God (as stated in the phrase "There is no god except Allah"), His exclusive sovereignty and the right to legislate, and the necessity of submission to His commands;

2.Divine revelation and its fundamental role in setting forth the laws;

3.the return to God in the Hereafter, and the constructive role of this belief in the course of man's ascent towards God;

4.the justice of God in creation and legislation;

5.continuous leadership (imamah) and perpetual guidance, and its fundamental role in ensuring the uninterrupted process of the revolution of Islam;

6.the exalted dignity and value of man, and his freedom coupled with responsibility before God; in which equity, justice, political, economic, social, and cultural independence, and national solidarity are secured by recourse to:

1.continuous ijtihad of the fuqaha' possessing necessary qualifications, exercised on the basis off the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Ma'sumun, upon all of whom be peace;

2.sciences and arts and the most advanced results of human experience, together with the effort to advance them further;

3.negation of all forms of oppression, both the infliction of and the submission to it, and of dominance, both its imposition and its acceptance.^[2]"

In the Islamic Republic of Iran (established in 1979), the Assembly of Experts (who can appoint or dethrone the Leader), the president and members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly are elected by direct vote of the citizens as per Iranian Constitution.^[3] Candidates approved by the Guardian Council are allowed to run for election. According to Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran on one hand Islam is the major criteria for laws. "All civil, penal financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria. This principle applies absolutely and generally to all articles of the Constitution as well as to all other laws and regulations, and the fuqaha' of the Guardian Council are judges in this matter." On the other hand "In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the affairs of the country must be administered on the basis of public opinion expressed by the means of elections, including the election of the President, the representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and the members of councils, or by means of referenda in matters specified in other articles of this Constitution."^[4] Iran's Islamic republic is in contrast to the constitutionally democratic (though currently authoritarian after Pervez Musharraf's coup d'état) and partially secular state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (proclaimed as an Islamic Republic in 1956) where Islamic laws are technically considered to override laws of the state, though in reality they rarely do.

[edit] Other Islamic republics

Pakistan was the first country to adopt Islamic prefix to define its republican status under the otherwise secular constitution of 1956. Interestingly enough, despite this definition, the country did not have state religion till 1973, when a new constitution, more democratic but less secular, was adopted.

Today, the creation of an Islamic State is the rallying cry for many Muslims, including those described as Islamists, all over the world. However the term itself has different meanings among various people. Many advocate the abolition of the monarchies of the Middle East, regimes which they believe to be overly authoritarian or otherwise repressive to Islam, in some cases, to be replaced with a unified and monolithic Caliphate^[5] and in other cases Islamic Republics along national lines. There are many Muslims to whom the idea of a republic, Islamic or secular, itself is an antithesis of the Islamic form of governance.

The nations of Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, and Pakistan all have "Islamic republic" in their full name, though they differ greatly in individual governments and laws. Pakistan for example, only uses the "Islamic" name on its passports and visas. All government documents are prepared under the name of the Government of Pakistan,However, Islamic republic is specifically mentioned in the Constitution of 1973.

Mauritania became an Islamic republic on 28 November 1958.