View source for Political Participation in Shiite Political Jurisprudence (book)

Author: Alireza Salehi


*'''Abstract'''
'''Political Participation in Shiite Political Jurisprudence''' (in persian: [https://ency.feqhemoaser.com/fa/view/%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%A9%D8%AA_%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C_%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D9%81%D9%82%D9%87_%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C_%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%B9%D9%87_(%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8) مشارکت سیاسی در فقه سیاسی شیعه]) written by [[Seyyed Sajjad izdehi]] is a jurisprudential research seeking to know the ideal type of [[Political participation|political participation]] and its characteristics from the perspective of Shiite political jurisprudence and its difference with non-Shiite readings. With an ijtihad approach, he has extracted the effective sharia components in the analysis of political participation from jurisprudential sources. According to him, political participation in order to determine destiny and macro decision-making has a large capacity in Shiite political jurisprudence.

The author considers the maximum ability of jurisprudence to respond to the issues and topics needed by all people in all times and places and in all matters, as well as the freedom of choice of people in determining their own destiny, as the basis and principles of political participation. He considers political participation to be the cognate of the establishment of the Islamic state. In addition, he believes that by dividing the existing systems into legitimate and illegitimate, in a legitimate political system formed under the rule of the infallible or his vicegerent, political participation is the responsibility of the people.

Referring to a series of verses about allegiance, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, cooperation on goodness and piety, as well as examining the theoretical and practical life of the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH) and the building of wisdom, he emphasizes the necessity of political participation of the elites and people under legitimate or illegitimate government whether it is positive or negative. He categorizes the solutions presented in the jurisprudence texts under the legitimate government in three stages: establishment of government and selection of rulers, support and proper administration of government and finally supervision and control of power. On the other hand, Taqiyyah Madarati considers interaction and cooperation with the oppressive ruler, criticism and disobedience of orders among the solutions of minimal and negative political participation in such systems.

Finally, by distinguishing between non-democratic political systems, based on democracy and religious democracy, the author discussed the capacities of political participation in each of these systems and believes that the ideal type of political participation is not only a right but also a duty of individuals in a democratic system. A religion takes place whose external manifestation has taken place in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Influenced by the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (a political system based on dual sovereignty) and the jurisprudence that supports it, the author of the book considers the legitimate and ideal Shiite system to be a system whose ruler is appointed by God. In addition, people accept such a ruler as the basis for his gaining power to provide such a view imagines a secondary role for people in political participation and sometimes reduces them to the level of a tool of governance.
==Overview==
The book Political Participation in Shiite Political Jurisprudence by Seyyed Sajjad Izadhey seeks to identify the ideal type of political participation based on the teachings of Shiite political jurisprudence and distinguish it from non-Islamic and non-Shiite readings. The advice of the leader of the Muslims_ enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, cooperation on goodness and piety, and the way of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Shiite imams aims to document political participation from the perspective of Shiite political jurisprudence. (p. 20)
According to the author, due to the necessity of political participation for governance in the contemporary era, on the one hand, and due to the introduction of this concept from Western political thought to the Islamic world, on the other hand, there has been a need to extract the foundations of political participation from within the teachings of Islamic Sharia (p. 22- 23) .He considered his goal in compiling this book to provide a Sharia-based explanation of the role of the people in the political system. (p. 23)
The author seeks answers to questions such as the nature and levels of political participation from the perspective of Shiite political jurisprudence, jurisprudential evidence and its solutions in the Islamic political system. It has a wide capacity in Shiite political jurisprudence. (p. 29)
===Methodology===
In this book, Izadhey has analyzed political participation by using Four Arguments and jurisprudential texts. The author's approach is jurisprudence and ijtihad, of course, due to significance, he did not take into account the documentary review of the traditions. On the contrary, he paid more attention to the well-known and justified traditions and elaborated on meanings to provide an image of political participation in a connected network. According to him, in Shiite jurisprudence, there are various titles in this domain, each of which has a distinct meaning and the concept of political participation will be derived from the mutual sharing of these titles. (p. 28)
===Structure and Content===
The book of political participation in Shiite political jurisprudence is presented in an introduction, four parts (eleven chapters) and a conclusion. In the introduction, it deals with topics such as goals, significance, innovation, research questions and hypotheses. In the first part, concepts such as political participation, elections and the conceptual network of political participation are explained. Next, under the title of principles, foundations and theoretical preparations, topics such as freedom of choice, the right to self-determination, the history of political participation, political participation under legitimate and illegitimate systems and the levels of political participation are discussed.
The second part of the research deals with the documentation of political participation from the perspective of Shiite political jurisprudence based on evidences including verses, traditions, theoretical and practical life of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH), reason and building of wisdom. Among the cited verses are verse 59 of Surah Nesa regarding obedience to a legitimate ruler, verses 151 and 152 of Surah Shoara regarding disobeying an illegitimate ruler, verses commanding enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, allegiance and cooperation.
The third part of the book deals with the solutions of political participation under the Islamic government and tyranny systems. Allegiance, elections, partisanship, monitoring and support are among the ways of political participation under the Islamic government. On the other hand, taqiyyah Madarati, interaction, cooperation, criticism and disobedience of orders have been analyzed as ways of political participation in tyranny systems. In the fourth part of the book, the author examines the capacities of political participation in each of the political systems based on democracy, [[Religious democracy|religious democracy]] and non-democratic.
==Explaining and describing political participation==
===Conceptual network of political participation===
According to Izadhey, the concept of political participation as a modern phenomenon has no background in traditional jurisprudence; therefore, it is not possible to refer to jurisprudential books to define it. Only by referring to chapters such as enjoining good and forbidding evil, crusade, cooperation, allegiance, etc., a comprehensive meaning of it can be provided. According to him, political participation is a set of activities and behaviors carried out by believers and citizens in order to influence the political environment and advance the society towards Islamic values and the realization of religious goals. Politically, he has identified a network of sub-concepts (commandment, allegiance, cooperation, parties, obedience to the leader) in Shiite political jurisprudence, which directly consider political participation and can be the connecting link of this macro-concept with other titles in Shiite political jurisprudence. (p. 57-50)
===Foundations of political participation===
The author of the book summarizes the basic principles of political participation which play an effective role in the results of research based on the Shiite political jurisprudence's view of political participation, in several cases. According to him, the maximum ability of jurisprudence to respond to the issues needed by all people in all times and places and in all matters, the freedom of people to choose in determining their own destiny (confirmed by verses and traditions) and handing over a part of this freedom to secure interests of society, having the right to self-determination based on religious teachings such as self-mastery and the characteristic of human choice, and ultimately the non-contradiction of the right of divine sovereignty with the right to self-determination of the people are among these principles and the foundations of realizing political participation in the Islamic society. (p. 74-59)
===Historical Cases of political participation in the Islamic state===
Izdehi considers the following cases as the political participation of Shiites and Muslims throughout the history of the Islamic state: (a) supporting the Prophet during his abode in Mecca; (b) accepting his treaty in Medina by Muslims; (c) advising Imam Ali (PBUH) to the caliphs; (d) the passive and occasional participation of Shiites during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and also after the occultation; and (e) the existence of some cooperation Shiite scholars agree with the tyranny Kings of Iran in the direction of supporting Shiites and people's participation in political affairs during the constitutional period and the Islamic Republic of Iran. (p. 74-81)
===Typology of Political participation===
According to the author, the people of the Islamic society cannot avoid participation in political and social affairs and depending on the type of government they live in, they should either have a supportive participation or engage in political activity in a competitive manner. (p. 82) By dividing political systems into Two legitimate and illegitimate types, he believes that in a legitimate political system that is formed under the rule of the infallible or his vicegerent (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), the people must have a supportive political participation. While participating in the process of determining their destiny, they are obliged to obey and help the ruler in moving forward. The goals of the system are political. According to the author, the first principle of participation under the tyranny system is sanctity. But in order to preserve the life and property of Shiites as well as to limit and monitor the power, examples of it are possible. According to him, if the laws of a religious society are regulated, that society will be legitimate and otherwise illegitimate, and the type of law will shape negative or positive political participation. (p. 91-93)
==Jurisprudential evidence of the necessity of political participation==
According to the author of the book, the principle of political participation is so clear and necessary that it does not require reasoning; Nevertheless, since participation in various systems is a function of the foundations and norms of that political system, therefore, expressing jurisprudential arguments is useful for showing the participatory approach of the Islamic system in all times and places, as well as proving the comprehensiveness of the teachings of jurisprudence in all aspects of life. (p. 106)
===Quranic evidence===
The verses that command obedience to legitimate rulers or forbid obedience to illegitimate rulers, as well as verses related to allegiance, enjoining good and forbidding evil, cooperation and consultation, and crusade are a collection of Quranic verses that the author of the book documents the necessity of participation. He knows the politics of the elites and the people both positively and negatively. (p. 107-116)
===practice of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH)===
The theoretical and practical history of the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH) as well as the history of Shiite scholars throughout history is another reason that the author cites for the necessity of political participation. Titles such as the position of the people in the selection of the ruler, the responsibility of all towards the socio-political situation, the obedience of the people and the elite towards the legitimate ruler and disobedience towards the illegitimate rulers, allegiance as a declaration of loyalty to the ruler, the collaborative functions of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil, The advice and benevolence of the people and the ruler towards each other, the consultation of the ruler with the people and the interaction and cooperation with the ruler, which is directly related to the political-social participation of the people. In connection with the issues related to the usurpation of the caliphate after the death of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), the biography of Imam Hassan and Imam Hussein (PBUH) in the face of the Umayyad caliphs and also the Shiite imams during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, the various manifestations of the political participation of the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH) ) during more than two centuries. (pp. 149-155)
===Rational reason and intellectual foundation===
According to the author of the book, the civility of human nature and the influence of the individual and the society on each other leads a person to actively participate in social affairs, and if a person acts passively towards the existing situation, he must wait for others to determine his destiny; Therefore, according to the judgment of human reason, he should make decisions in political affairs. In this regard, by expanding the concept of non-litigious matters to political affairs such as elections, he believes that the examples of non-litigious matters have changed along with social needs and various matters can be listed under non-litigious matters as political participation, which is one of the necessities of Islamic society (162-166). He also considers political participation as a prelude to achieving the goals of Sharia (166-1717) and many religious duties as obligatory. (pp. 173-175)
==Political participation solutions==
In the third part of the book, Izdehi has examined the solutions of political participation under legitimate and illegitimate systems. (p. 179)
===In legitimate government===
He categorizes the solutions presented in the jurisprudence texts under the legitimate government in three stages: establishment of government and selection of rulers, support and proper administration of the government, and finally supervision and control of power. Various Islamic principles have been used as tools to determine the ruler and establish the government. Therefore, it does not create legitimacy, but it shows the acceptance of the people. By virtue of divine legitimacy, they can be among the strategies of political participation in the Islamic society (p. 186 and 197). Support is useful and because it is the introduction of some sufficient obligations such as enjoining good and forbidding evil, it is considered obligatory. (p. 207-218)
According to him, a large part of the teachings of Shiite jurisprudence about political participation are devoted to support strategies which include obedience to the legitimate ruler, as well as taking over the executive affairs of the system by the elites and trying to manage the society better. (p. 218-223) .With the elites, experts and also the general public, it is considered as one of the support strategies (p. 223-232). Monitoring the power of the rulers and agents and limiting their power, by means of enjoying good and forbidding evil, as well as advising rulers, are among other strategies. Political participation is in Shiite jurisprudence texts which the author has extracted. (p. 252-232)
===In the Tyranny government===
According to the author, except for a limited period, Shiites have always lived under such systems. For this reason, their political participation has been different according to the conditions of the ruling political system. Moral piety, interaction and cooperation with an unjust infidel or Muslim ruler, criticizing and disobeying orders are the minimum political participation strategies that the author believes to be possible to implement under a certain system based on the traditions and the way of the Sharia. (p. 255-279) .Based on the logic of taqiyyah madarati, Izadhey asserts that the participation of believers with other citizens preserves their existence and prevents passivity. Occultation took place and it depends on the necessity of securing the rights of Shiites. Disobedience to the commands of an unjust ruler is if it is in the direction of helping them in their oppression and sin. On the other hand, it is possible to interact with them only in permissible and halal matters. (p. 279)
==The capacities of political participation in different political systems==
In the last part of the book, the author has discussed the capacities of political participation in each of these systems by differentiating between political systems not based on democracy, based on democracy and based on religious democracy. (p. 283-398)
According to him, in the political order of prophethood and imamate, he placed the order of prophethood and imamate, the order of jurisprudence, the order of caliphate, the order of monarchy and the order of governorship in Sharia law and monarchy in civil law. (p. 287-331) And also the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist of the people, although they do not play a role in legitimizing it; But they can participate in the position of monitoring and giving advice, as well as helping the ruler in the administration of government affairs. Because they are the people of settlement and contract, transference , consultation and overcoming (taghlib), and also play a role in removing the ruler. (p. 310-326). The author believes that in the political system of the dual rule of King and the jurist that happened during the Safavid and Qajar period, there was not much opportunity for people's participation and the main manifestation of political participation was that of the jurists who criticized, advised and supervised the rulers. (p. 327-331)
Izadhey proposes the political system of constitutional monarchy under the systems based on democracy and considers the constitution as the center of political participation in it. According to him, the equality accepted in this system has provided the basis for people's political participation on a wide scale, and its symbol is the parliament. (p. 340-354) He explains this system under two interpretations: the absolute guardianship of the jurist and the elective guardianship of the jurist. (p. 355-398) According to him, this type of system can only be established in societies where the majority of the population are Shiites and believers in the guardianship of the jurist, and the political participation of the people will be not only a right but also a responsibility for them. (p. 362-363)
==Book evaluation==
Some content and form points about the book Political Participation in Shiite Political Jurisprudence are noteworthy:
*The author of the book, influenced by the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the system of distribution of power resulting from it (a political system based on dual governance), considers the legitimate and ideal Shiite system to be a system whose ruler is appointed by God and the people accept such a ruler as the basis for gaining power. (pp. 70-73, 197, 218, 256, 293) Accordingly, people do not play a role in legitimizing the sovereignty and appointing the ruler, and their participation in political affairs is more about things such as obeying the ruler and helping him in doing things better will be limited. Therefore, people are given a secondary role and sometimes they are portrayed as a tool of governance. The presentation of this view about political participation in Shiite political jurisprudence is influenced by the jurisprudence of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is less compatible with the common views about the role of the people in government. In reverse, according to other jurisprudential views, the ruler gets both his legitimacy and acceptance from the people, and his authority will be limited to the law that has been approved by the people's representatives.
*In some topics of the book, the author seeks to document the system of distribution of power in the Islamic Republic of Iran (pp. 204-206) or that the incidents and events that happened in Iran_ especially during the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran_ have been documented in his analysis (pp. 94- 95)
*Dealing with minor topics in the process of discussion such as finding the roots of words (p. 183 and 270) and also bringing together the text and translating verses and traditions (p. 150, 221, 266-267) has made the book bulky and sometimes away from the main point of the discussion.
*The author's phrasing has made the contents of the book difficult to understand. For example, in many cases, the author made a sentence so long with many inflections that it covered half the page of the book or more.
[[fa:مشارکت سیاسی در فقه سیاسی شیعه (کتاب)]]
[[Category:Book review]]
[[category:Books on Political Fiqh]]
[[category:books by seyyed sajjad izdehi]]