ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT
Year:2013 | Volume:18 | Issue:3 (69)|Papers Count:8

Anfal or ‘the Spoils’ is a religious term applied to such properties as the top parts of the mountains, jungles, mines, dead lands, etc. which are at the disposal of the leader of Islamic society after being appointed to the position, to spend it on administering Islamic community. The leadership of Islamic community, when one of the infallible Imams is present, is taken over by the infallible Imam himself. For the same reason, and according to the traditions, the Spoils are at his disposal and nobody is entitled to take possession of them without his prior consent. However, in the period of Major Occultation, if there exists an Islamic government, and if, for example, as a superior system of government, the authority of community is taken over by a qualified religious jurist, the Spoils, as a constituent of a political government, are also at his disposal and the people, in deciding how to use these properties and to what extent they can take possessions of them, have to observe the laws and regulations of the Muslim community in which they live. However, in case there exists no Islamic society in the period of Major Occultation, according to the traditions, and as the unity of criterion requires, all people can make use of these properties and take possessions of them. In this way, the role a political government plays in explaining the jurisprudential judgments, especially the ones on the Spoils, becomes clear.

Discussions on government, the qualification of a ruler, his jurisdiction and the legitimacy of a government, are important issues which have been a matter of concern for some religious jurists. Mirza Abulqasim Qomi, ranks very high among Shi’i faqihs in the early Qajar Dynasty whose political and jurisprudential views and opinions are significant in this regard. This article, at the outset, seeks to study Muhaqeq Qomi’s view of the government, its necessity as well as various systems of government and goes on to explore his opinions about the authority of religious jurist in the periods of Occultation. In his works, one can see that he has offered two systems of government, one is what he terms Istihqaqi, or just government by the prophets and infallible Imams and the other Imtehani or arrogant or unjust government. In his further division, these two systems of government represent legitimate and illegitimate governments respectively. As for the authority of religious jurist, he holds that all jurists or faqihs have appointed authority in the periods of Occultation. Though one can deduce the political authority of religious jurists in the periods of Occultation in some of his works, he has not made a clear statement about it.

The emergence of Sufis (the dervish) in the early Safavid Dynasty with its subsequent religious changes has occupied a remarkable position in the history of Iran. This incident is so important that even the orientalists have made a careful study of its various aspects, from its coming to power to its downfall. The most important characteristic of the Safavid Dynasty, from Shah Ismail I (907-930 A. H.) to Shah Sultan Hussein(1105-1135 A.H.), the last of the kings in this dynasty, whose rule lasted over 200 years, can be taken as making Shi’ism be recognized as the official religion of the country. This official recognition was proclaimed to the public by Shah Ismail I which in turn opens a new chapter to the history of Iran’s developments.The present article is, in fact, a research work which seeks to study the causes for interaction and co-operation between certain religious scholars and the authorities in the Safavid government, drawing upon library sources and available documents as its method of research. The most important finding of this research makes it possible to have a good understanding of the social and temporal conditions, the influence of the past scholars over the successors, the need to legal laws, the way out of dissimulation, the dissemination of the rightful Shi’i school of thought, and, in general, the prevailing cultural and social atmosphere of society under the rule of the Safavid. These issues have to be carefully studied if one seeks to explore and explain the causes for the interaction between religious scholars and the authorities of Safavid Dynasty, after Shi’ism being recognized by Shah Ismail as the official religion of the country.

Ideals have always been significantly far away from realities of human life. To get as much nearer to these realities as possible has been a matter of major concern for thinkers and scientists throughout history. The history of Shi‘ism in Iran provides a ground for the study of the issue at hand.This research is intended to study and analyze the history of Iran (formerly Persia), especially in the last five centuries, from the beginning of Safavid Dynasty to the advent of the Islamic Revolution, in order to detect whether the intended ideals have been fulfilled. This provide us with a paradigm that makes it possible to have a better understanding of the forthcoming future events and to discover what the logic of changes in the history of Shi‘ism in Iran (after the Muslim conquest of Persia) would be.The analysis has been made here draws upon an allegorical model, i.e. the model of khal’ and lubs,. In this allegory, two concepts are involved: realities and ideals. Realities have to be taken as identical to some tightened or shabby clothes that are stripped of the body of ideals (khal’) and fine good clothes are put on (lubs) instead.Shi’i ideals are, in essence, dynamic, progressive and self-correcting when they occur in every historical process and approach their points of perfection and self-realization in the heart of realities in terms of their relations to the khal’ and lubs of realities.The research seeks to cast light on the fact that, having exposed to the ideals, the history of Shi‘i Iran makes it possible for the Iranian to establish their own desired political and social system, which is nothing but a system based on the ‘authority of religious jurist’.

No doubt, knowledge or cognition serving as a criterion on which the analysis and evaluation of human consciousness are based has a pivotal role in forming man’s view of the existence, in illustrating man’s particular system of thought as well as in processing ideas, paradigms, policies and strategies, norms, and insights. Hence, it seems very essential to trace and discover the criterion of knowledge in the proposed theories about various human realms, a criterion that occupies a highest position when it is used as a yardstick for making a distinction between legal and political systems, and a judgment on their efficiency.In this article, the main issue is to make clear the real position of people by showing the real criterion of knowledge. This, in turn, makes it possible to evaluate and criticize the criterion of knowledge in the political thought of the West, thus providing us with a test of true knowledge and the ways to attain it in accordance with the Qur’anic teachings, on the one hand, and to analyze the political position of people influenced by these two systems of thought on the other.

The discussion on ‘justice’ is one of the fundamental issues in the Islamic political philosophy. The discussion on the idea of value and the origin of justice has been a challenging and controversial one. The main question of this research is “What is ‘Allameh DabaDabai’s view of the subject in question?” Despite the fact that there have been differences of opinion among interpreters about ‘Allameh’s view in this regard, the findings of the present research show that ‘Allameh’s words that the principle of justice has its roots in man’s disposition of exploiting people and of making profits is not a value judgment by ‘Allameh himself. In fact, ‘Allameh intended to cast light on the fact that it is a requirement of man’s original nature or disposition devoid of religion to act that way. Therefore, he maintains that man’s nature has to be cultivated by religion. If that is the case, the views of Shahid Ayatollah MuDahhari, Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi, and Ayatollah Jawadi Amuli converge with that of ‘Allameh DabaDabai. The only difference is that each of these figures looks at the subject in question from a different angle.