Lawmaking

Author: Alireza Salehi

• abstract

From the point of view of some contemporary jurists, legislation and the formation of law-making institutions in Islamic societies were seen to be in conflict with the right of divine legislation; therefore, they opposed it. On the other hand, some jurists saw it in line with divine legislation and a solution for the implementation of the Sharia and started to internalize it in their jurisprudential system. After proposing the concept of law in its new meaning since the Iranian Constitutional Era until now, jurists have agreed on the need of the society and the government for law. However, the difference in attitudes about what law is and by whom and in what scope it should be approved caused confusion about the concept of law, as well as the legitimacy of the law-making institutions. Answering these questions based on the theoretical foundations that every jurist believes in has led to the adoption of opposing positions and fatwas about the legitimacy of legislation. The issue of legislation is not included under the usual chapters of jurisprudence in jurisprudence books. However, it has been studied in the form of monographs about topics related to the Islamic government, including the duties of the Islamic ruler and the legislative power, as well as the relationship between law and the Sharia. Legislation has been discussed in the two areas of customary and public matters, and the conversion of jurisprudential rules into law. Shia jurists have provided several opinions about the legitimacy of legislation in the area of public affairs. Some jurists, believing in the exclusiveness of the right to legislate to the Lawmaker, have considered the establishment of legislative bodies, including the parliament, to be against religious teachings. On the other hand, some jurists consider it necessary to legislate in the area of matters that are not mentioned in textual contents (Manṭiqah al-Firāgh). After the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, believing in the exclusiveness of the right to legislate to the Lawmaker, the jurists influential in this victory rejected independence in legislation. However, due to the government's need for laws, they have accepted the existence of legislative institutions, such as the parliament, under titles such as the planning and consultation council. The conversion of jurisprudential rules into binding law or the reflection of jurisprudence in the approved laws is also considered as one of the necessities of governance in the contemporary era. Creating a guarantee of execution for jurisprudential rulings is considered the main reason for turning jurisprudence chapters into binding laws. Nonetheless, some jurists did not consider it permissible to convert the rules of Sharia into law; because, in their opinion, the laws of Islam are clear and practicable and there is no need to re-legislate them. Assuming the permissibility of forming legislative institutions, to ensure the compatibility of approved laws with the Sharia and also to resolve the conflict between law and jurisprudence, solutions have been presented such as the first-rank law, the formation of institutions such as the Guardian Council and the Expediency Discernment Council and also settlement of the conflict with the governmental law.

Explanation of the issue, its status and importance

The word “law” has been considered the most important word in contemporary Iran, which has been the focus of disputes about politics and religion for nearly two hundred years. Legislation, particularly drafting the Constitution, is related to the regulation of relations between the ruling powers in the political system, preventing the government and rulers from aggression, limiting their power and regulating social relations between people. According to ‘Amīd Zanjānī, even monotheistic systems require new legislations despite the existence of the comprehensive divine comprehensive law; because, man has been given many powers in a wide range of permissible matters, as well as in the recognition and comparison of secondary topics, and law paves the way for man’s growth and development and the provision of justice and security. The approach of jurists to the issue of legislation from the very beginning during the Iranian Constitutional Era as well as during the era of the Islamic Republic of Iran has caused the formation of special types of legislative assemblies and also different conditions for legislation. The establishment of institutions supervising the legislative processes, the need to adapt approved laws to Islamic regulations and standards, the possibility of revoking laws by superior institutions and thus giving a secondary role to the legislative body, etc., are of the effects of these approaches on the legislative process in Islamic societies, particularly in Iran.

Previous literature

Legitimacy of legislation in its modern sense in socio-political affairs, as well as the necessity of converting jurisprudential rules into law, was raised in Shia jurisprudence in connection with general common rights and within the doctrine of Occultation. According to these theories, any type of government during the Occultation is an act of oppression and usurpation. However, managing public affairs and the necessities of life does not eliminate the need for government. For this reason, the king or the people should take charge of administering public affairs. During the Iranian Constitutional Era, when the administration of affairs was taken out of the hands of the king and transferred to the people, the issue of how to administer the society followed, and the need was felt for law and a lawmaker. In the face of the idea of seeking laws that entered Muslim’s atmosphere of thought and practice from Western countries, a number of jurists took a positive approach to internalize it in their jurisprudential systems. On the other hand, some jurists took a skeptical and sometimes negative approach. They either rejected the formulation of a Constitution and the formation of legislative institutions and the use of the word law or accepted it in a very limited scope. They entered into a conflict with the first group.

Position in contemporary jurisprudence

Islamic and Shia thinkers faced several questions and challenges when talking about the words of law and legislation; like, what does law refer to? With the comprehensive divine comprehensive law, is there a need for new legislations in the Islamic society? Where do the laws approved by legislative bodies get their legitimacy from? What are the conditions of validity of the approved laws? Do these laws have to comply with religious norms and regulations or is it enough to simply not oppose them? In cases of conflict between jurisprudence and law, which comes first? And, should jurisprudence be presented in the form of law in the Islamic government? The issue of legislation is not included under the usual chapters of jurisprudence in Shia jurisprudential texts. However, in the contemporary era and after the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, it has been examined in the form of monographs about topics related to the Islamic government, including the duties of the Islamic ruler and the legislative power, the relationship between law and the Sharia, and also under topics related to the powers of the guardian jurist.

Legitimacy of legislation

Legislation, or the enactment of laws, is a governmental act in which the government or the competent authorities of a country establish rules and regulations to regulate social relations and their relations with the people, and everyone is obliged to follow them. Legislation in the field the rules of Sharia is named as Tashrī‘ (تشریع), which is only done by God, and the rules are conveyed to people by prophets, Imams and their deputies.

Ambiguity about the concept of law

According to Dāvūd Fayarḥī, in Shia traditional and jurisprudential literature, the concept of law had a theological foundation and there was an identical relationship between the law and the Sharia. He believed that this understanding of law was common among the thinkers of the pre-Constitutional era; however, with the change of the concept of law in the years leading to the Constitutional movement, under the influence of modern ideas and, following that, the formation of law-making institutions in Iran, jurists presented different evaluations for this concept. The need for law to administer the government and the society was agreed upon by thinkers and jurists, and even those who were against the establishment of legislative institutions considered the existence of law as an essential need of human societies. The jurists’ difference of opinion was mostly due to their different attitudes about challenges such as: What is the nature of this law? By whom should it be compiled? And in what scope should it be approved? Such questions caused confusion about the concept of law among jurists, and answering them based on the theoretical foundations that each jurist believed in led to the adoption of conflicting fatwas about the legitimacy of the legislative process.

Opponents of legislation

When some jurists equated the term “Tashrī‘” in the field of Sharia with the term “law”, Muslims’ Constitution came to be considered as the very divine comprehensive law that provides for all the basic needs of man. They considered the constitution approved by the parliament to stand parallel to the Qur'an and believed that with its approval, heresy will find its way into religion. According to them, government instructions to meet daily needs do not take the title of law. Jurists such as Mohammad Hossein Tabrīzī and Faḍlullāh Nūrī believed that in order to meet the essential needs of the society and of the executive affairs of the government, the government or the ruler should formulate guidelines or regulations and name them with titles such as “social etiquette” or “duties of the government,” not “law”. According to them, this has nothing to do with legislation.

Proponents of legislation

Some jurists adopt a different approach to the concept of law. They talk of a different type of law, beside the divine comprehensive law, that relates to matters not mentioned in textual contents and permissible matters that the Mukallaf people have been made responsible about making laws for. Even people like Muhammad Hussein Ṭabāṭabā’ī believed that religion should not issue instructions in these areas (of variable rulings), and that with the change of the society, the law also changes. Also, Muhammad Hussein Nā’īnī and Muhammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr consider the establishment of legislative institutions to be necessary to maintain general interests. Moreover, some contemporary jurists, such as Mohammad Mu’min and Mohammad Taqī Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, believe that administration of the Islamic community requires the establishment of necessary institutions under the supervision of the guardian. According to jurists such as Rūḥullāh Najafī Iṣfahānī, Mīrzā Faḍl Ali Āqā (a jurist during the Persian Constitutional Era) and Makārim Shīrāzī (a contemporary jurist), this type of legislation applies general rulings to specific cases and monitors the processes of implementation of the Sharia.

Lawmaking authority

Shia jurists’ approach toward law-making institutions depends on their view about the concept of law. Some jurists believe that, according to the rule of “ما من واقعة الا و لله فیها حکم”, legislation in all matters is exclusive to God. This group of jurists, such as Muhammad Hussein Tabrīzī and Faḍlullāh Nūrī, believe that to provide the necessary needs of the society and of the executive affairs of the government, the government or the ruler should formulate guidelines or regulations and name them with titles such as “social etiquette” or “the duty of the government,” not “law”. On the other hand, the jurists who played a major role in the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, such as Imam Khomeini and Hussein-Ali Muntaẓirī, despite believing in the exclusiveness of the right to legislate to God, accepted legislative institutions, such as the parliament, as planning and counselling entities. Along with these jurists, there are jurists such as Mīrzā Nā’īnī and Mohammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr who consider the establishment of law-making institutions to be necessary to maintain general interests. They further believe that the Sharia has entrusted the responsibility of decision-making in a wide range of permissible matters and in determining secondary rulings to man and public consultation. Depending on the conditions of time and place, and the variety of interests, these decisions and rulings will change. Among the contemporary jurists, as well, those such as Mohammad Mu’min and Mohammad Taqī Miṣbāḥ Yazdī believe that the administration of the Islamic society requires the establishment of necessary institutions under the supervision of the guardian.

Legislative areas

In Shia jurisprudential and legal texts, the legitimacy of legislation has been discussed in the two areas of “customary and public matters (not mentioned in textual contents)” and “jurisprudential rulings (mentioned in textual contents).” Based on their attitude towards the concept of law, Shia jurists have investigated the legitimacy or illegitimacy of legislation in these two areas.

Legislation in the area of customary and public matters

Template:Main Jurists differ on the legitimacy of legislation in the area of customary matters, about which there is no specific statement in religious texts and which are also called “منطقة الفراغ” (manṭaqat al-Firāgh). Some jurists considered legislation and the formation of legislative bodies to be against the Sharia, particularly during the Iranian Constitutional Era, such as Mohammad Hossein Tabrīzī, Sheikh Faḍlullāh Nūrī, and Abūlḥassan Najafī Marandī, and in the later period, such as Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Hosseini Tehrani. This group of jurists have cited various reasons for this; for example that new legislations and particularly a Constitution are not required by Muslims because of the existence of a divine comprehensive law, that legislation is incompatible with Prophethood and finality of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), that non-Muslims may find domination over Muslims by forming the parliament, that parliament members’ interference in public matters is not legitimate and also that the majority vote is a false belief. On the other hand, jurists such as Mīrzā Nā’īnī and Mohammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr divide the affairs of the Mukallaf people into the two areas of matters mentioned in textual contents and matters not mentioned in them and acknowledge the existence of comprehensive divine laws in the area of matters mentioned in the texts. They believe that in a wide range of permissible matters and in the explanation of secondary rulings about which there is no text, the responsibility of decision-making has been left to man. According to them, there is a need for legislation in the area of customary and public matters and also in the area of rulings that are controversial among jurists. They consider the codification of laws to be a rational way that is approved by the Lawmaker and is obligatory as the prelude to obligations. For this reason, they consider it necessary to have some kind of legislative institution in the society. The jurists who were influential in the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, such as Imam Khomeini and Hussein-Ali Muntaẓirī, believed that legislation in Islam consisted of the three stages of legislation, recognition and planning. In their opinion, the right to legislate is exclusive to God, and after the announcement of the laws by the Prophet (PBUH), recognizing the divine rules and extracting them from the resources of religion is done by the Imams (AS) and through the ijtihad of the jurists. According to them, in the Islamic government, the parliament does not have the right to legislate. Rather, its special duty is to recognize the issue, provide consultation and make a plan on how to implement the Sharia, and adapt new events with religious standards.

Turning jurisprudential rules into law

Template:Main Turning jurisprudential rules or the Sharia into law is considered as one of the necessities of governance in contemporary Islamic societies. In this process, jurisprudential rules turn into law, for which governmental requirements and guarantees of implementation (civil, administrative and criminal) are determined. Shia and Sunni scholars are more inclined to permit turning jurisprudential rules into law with certain conditions, and in some cases they even consider it necessary in the current era. Conversely, some jurists believe that it is not permissible to turn jurisprudential rules into law; because, according to them the laws of Islam are clear and enforceable and there is no need to re-legislate them. Converting jurisprudential rules into binding laws based on the theory of permissibility has certain conditions and requirements, the non-observance of which undermines the effectiveness of jurisprudence for the administration of society. Among these conditions are the adoption of fatwas in accordance with the principle of justice, paying attention to fatwas that create efficient laws, explicitness of the words of the law that is derived from jurisprudence, giving authenticity to the law against the fatwa, and avoiding uncommon statements and fatwas. Jurisprudence researchers have also listed obstacles for this type of legislation, which include lack of a governmental perspective on jurisprudence, differences between fatwas and the plurality of authorities, and the uncertainty of the standard fatwa.

The relationship between law and Sharia

Template:Main Researchers of religion have depicted the relationship between law and Sharia in various ways. Sometimes, the approved law is totally compatible with the Sharia and, sometimes, it is completely against it. There are also times when it neither agrees, nor disagrees with it, whether it is enacted by a lawful government or by an unlawful one. In this regard, jurists are faced with questions such as: Who is responsible for matching the approved law with religious standards? And, if we considered the law to be valid, in cases where there is a conflict between the law and jurisprudence, what are the solutions to resolve the conflict? After the Iranian Constitutional Revolution in Iran, in order to solve this problem, the second principle of the constitutional amendment, called the first-rank law, was added to the constitutional law. According to this principle, five jurists must confirm the compatibility of laws approved by the parliament with the regulations and standards of the Sharia. With the victory of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, the incompatibility between Sharia and the law, which had been a problem for jurists since the Constitutional era, became visible again. Solutions to overcome this problem were presented by the drafters of the Constitution. The formation of the Guardian Council to adapt the laws of the parliament to the standards of Sharia through ways such as referring to the standard fatwa, the establishment of the Expediency Discernment Council to resolve the disputes between the Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Iranian Parliament) and the Guardian Council and solving problems that cannot be solved by normal means, as well as the establishment of the governmental ruling institution were among these solutions.

Important study resources

Template:Main In contemporary jurisprudence books, sections are dedicated to the issue of legislation in the Islamic government. One of the first works documenting legislative processes based on religious teachings is the book Tanbīh al-Umma va Tanzīh al-Millah by Mohammad Hossein Gharavī Na’īnī. Also, in the second volume of the book Dirāsāt fī Vilāyat al-Faqīh va Fiqh al-Daulah al-Islāmīyyah written by Hossein-Ali Muntazirī, this issue is discussed within the examination of the duties of the legislative power. On the other hand, works have been written to reject law and legislation in Islam, among which we can refer to the treatises written by the opponents of the Iranian Constitutional Movement, such as Risāli-yi Ḥurmat-i Mashrūṭih, Tazkirat al-Ghāfil, Kashf al-Murād, etc. There are also books and articles that have been written independently about the validity and position of legislation in contemporary Shia jurisprudence. The books Ta’ammulāt-i Fiqhī dar Ḥuzi-yi Qānūnguḏārī and Fiqh va Qānūn; ’Īdihā, Pīshnahādhā va Rahiḥalhā-yi Ravishī, the collected text of scientific meetings of the Islamic Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, are examples of these books.

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