Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din: Difference between revisions

'''Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din''' (1353-1421 AH) was a Shia jurist who wrote various jurisprudential works on the political system in Islam, women's issues, and hoarding. He believed that the evidence for the [[Theory of Wilayat al-Faqih|Guardianship of the Jurist]] was inconclusive, that there was no proof for the complete political deputyship of the jurist from the Infallible Imam, and that in this regard, one must suffice with the certain extent (qadr al-mutayaqqan). Based on this, the administration of government in an Islamic society, while observing the general principles of religion, is the responsibility of the people.

Shams al-Din completed his seminary studies in Najaf and attended the advanced jurisprudence (*kharij*) classes of [[Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim]] and [[Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei]]. After that, he engaged in intellectual and cultural activities in Lebanon for many years and also held the presidency of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council of Lebanon. He was also one of the writers for the Al-Adwa' magazine and a founder of the Islamic Dawa Party.

Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din was born on the 15th of Sha'ban, 1353 AH, in Najaf. His father, Sheikh Abd al-Karim, was a graduate of the Najaf seminary, and his lineage traced back to al-Shahid al-Awwal. At the advanced levels of seminary studies, Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din was a student of Sayyid Mohammad Rouhani, Sayyid Yusuf al-Hakim, and Sayyid Ali Allamah Fani Isfahani. He attended the advanced jurisprudence (*kharij*) classes of [[Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim]] and [[Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei]].<ref>Ansari Qomi and Amin, [https://jap.isca.ac.ir/article_2529_95ab1360f2ced5f72bd39b9047ae3b5c.pdf "Obituaries: Ayatollah Shams al-Din"], *Ayeneh-ye Pazhuhesh Magazine*, p. 127.</ref>

Alongside Sayyid Ismail al-Sadr, [[Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr]], Sayyid Murtada al-Askari, [[Sayyid Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah]], Abd al-Hadi al-Fadli, and [[Mohammad Mahdi Asefi]], he was one of the writers for the [[Al-Adwa' Magazine]], which was published with the support of Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim and was simultaneously opposed by some groups in the Najaf seminary.<ref>[http://iscq.ir/my_doc/iscq/my_files/midi/besat%201501.pdf "Ayatollah Asefi and the Dawa Party"], *Be'that Publication*, p. 2.</ref>

Among the existing theories of political jurisprudence, Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din, like [[Mehdi Haeri Yazdi]], while denying any special right for jurists in government, believes that the administration of government in an Islamic society, while observing the general principles of religion, is the responsibility of the people.<ref>Kamali Ardakani and Kadivar, "Democracy in the Views of Sheikh Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din and Dr. Mehdi Haeri Yazdi...", pp. 63-64.</ref> According to Shams al-Din, jurists in the period of the Imam's occultation (a) are appointed to two positions: judiciary and explaining the fixed religious rulings. Other positions, including political authority and state sovereignty, have not been established for them. He also believes that jurists are not the deputies of the Infallible Imam in managing political affairs and have no guardianship over the people, and the political destiny of the people is their own responsibility. In his view, jurisprudence (*fiqahah*) is not a condition for the presidency of an elected Islamic state, and all matters of the state, including the head of state, are determined by referring to public opinion.<ref>Kadivar, *Theories of Government in Shia Fiqh*, pp. 171-174, as quoted in Eta'at, "Political Participation in the Thought of Shia Jurists," p. 83.</ref>

According to Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din, [[human cloning]] is forbidden (*haram*) as a primary ruling. He refers to [[Quran 4:119]], in which changing God's creation is described as being in line with Satan's will. In Shams al-Din's view, human cloning leads to an inappropriate physical change, which is referred to as "changing creation" in the aforementioned verse.<ref>Shams al-Din, *Al-Istinsakh al-Janin*, p. 58, as quoted in: Qasemi, *Encyclopedia of Medical Jurisprudence*, vol. 2, pp. 557-558.</ref>

As researcher Seyyed Hassan Eslami has stated, Shams al-Din relies on the verse about changing creation, the principle of non-ownership of man over his body, and the [[Principle of Prohibition]] (*Asalat al-Hazr*) (as opposed to the [[Principle of Permissibility]] (*Asalat al-Ibahah*)) in this matter.<ref>Eslami, "Human Cloning from a Shia Perspective...", pp. 27-28.</ref> Eslami raises some criticisms of Shams al-Din's view, including that Shams al-Din considers human cloning an instance of inappropriate physical change and therefore an instance of [[Quran 4:119]], whereas if human cloning leads to the cloning of a healthy being, his argument will be incomplete; because in that case, cloning is not an instance of inappropriate change.<ref>Eslami, "Human Cloning from a Shia Perspective...", pp. 27-28.</ref>

Contrary to Shams al-Din, other Shia scholars believe that the reason for the lack of attention to Maqasidi jurisprudence among Shia jurists stems from reasons such as the belief in the impossibility of attaining the underlying reasons (*malakat*) for rulings and consequently the impossibility of attaining the real causes of rulings, the unsystematic nature of Maqasidi jurisprudence, the narrative richness of the school of Ahl al-Bayt, and the issuance of numerous narrations from the Shia Imams (a) condemning analogical reasoning (*qiyas*).<ref>Al-Husseini, *Al-Ijtihad wa al-Hayat*, p. 24, as quoted in: Qasemi, *Critique and Review of Maqasidi Fiqh from the Sunni Viewpoint*, p. 127.</ref>

He also, citing [[Quran 4:34]], believes that the phrase "Men are the protectors and maintainers of women" (*al-rijalu qawwamuna 'ala al-nisa'*) in the said verse must be explained alongside the condition "because of what they spend (to support them) from their means" (*wa-bima anfaqu min amwalihim*). Based on this, he believes that in addition to the man's guardianship over the woman being only in the marital relationship, the spending of wealth, i.e., paying for the woman's living expenses, must also be done by the man; otherwise, the man's guardianship (*qawwamiyyah*) over the woman will not exist.<ref>Vatani, *Rights and Duties of Spouses and...*, 2009, pp. 54-55.</ref>

* [[Nizam al-Hukm wa al-Idarah fi al-Islam (Book)|Nizam al-Hukm wa al-Idarah fi al-Islam]] (The System of Governance and Administration in Islam), is Shams al-Din's first work, written in 1954, and was the first political text in Arabic to address the issue of Islamic government in the modern era.<ref>Moradi, "Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din, His Life, Times, and Works," p. 131.</ref> The second edition of the book was published with additions about forty years after its first printing.<ref>Hosseini, "Bibliography of Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din," p. 15.</ref> He considered the evidence for the guardianship of the jurist inconclusive and believed that in this regard, one must suffice with the certain extent (*qadr al-mutayaqqan*), and there is no proof for the complete political deputyship of the jurist from the Infallible Imam. Consequently, Shams al-Din believes that Islamic government requires the election of the people. He also considers the [[Maqbula of 'Umar ibn Hanzalah]] to be an expression of the role and position of the people in determining the ruler, based on which the legitimacy of the government is indebted to the popular will.<ref>Qasemi, *Political Guardianship of Jurists*, 2013, pp. 139-141.</ref>

:::*Al-Sitr wa al-Nazar*, is about women's hijab.<ref>Hosseini, "Bibliography of Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din," p. 12.</ref>

:::*Ahliyyat al-Mar'a li-Tawalli al-Sultah*, about women's leadership, was published in Beirut in 1996.<ref>Hosseini, "Bibliography of Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din," p. 10.</ref>

:::*Huquq al-Zawjiyya wa Haqq al-'Amal lil-Mar'a*, which was published in Beirut in 1415 AH.<ref>Hosseini, "Bibliography of Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din," p. 12.</ref>

* *Al-Silm wa Qadaya al-Harb 'ind al-Imam 'Ali*: A study of Nahj al-Balaghah, published in Beirut in 1981, contains an examination of Imam Ali's (a) views on war and peace in relations between states and nations, which has also been translated into Persian.<ref>Hosseini, "Bibliography of Mohammad Mahdi Shams al-Din," p. 13.</ref>