Over the few years that led to the creation of the constitutional law of the Islamic
republic of Iran, I (the author) noticed a series of ambiguous and often
contradictory points in its contents. Discovering the roots and the causes of such
contradictions became my priority. After the Iranian Revolution (1979)
intellectuals were confronted with very new experiences. For example, Shi'ah has
always been a minority in the history of Islam. Therefore, Shi 'ah Fuqaha never
experienced direct rule over people. Direct pressures from this new experience
brought about the desire and the need for a shift in certain interpretations of the
Shi'ah tradition. It became evident that religious laws did not have in them the
power and the wisdom to provide answers to the issues and dilemmas of the
modern times, hence the need for a fresh approach.
One such issue was the discussion of legitimacy of power. 18 years on, the heated
debate is still ongoing. Traditional Shi'ah theorists believed that all rulers are
illegitimate except the one that represents the 12th Imam who has been absent for
the last 1000 years. According to Shi'ah, this representation can only be made by
elite clergy who have the ability to understand, fully, the history of Islam and
Shi'ah. They also claim that Shari 'ah laws must be implemented in their entirety
and according to the teachings of Qur'an and the 12 Infallible Imam. They further
argue that the people as a whole have no role in determining the legitimacy of the
ruler, as He has been appointed to implement divine laws and people must obey.
With time, though, such attitudes were modified. Especially after the Islamic
revolution in Iran (1979), new interpretations began to surface. Discussion of
three fundamental elements relating to the shift of the Islamic viewpoints during
the last 100 years and in particular after the Iranian revolution (1979) forms the
main body of this thesis. These are:
" Divine law
" Divine Ruler
" Role of the People
The hypothesis of the thesis is that fundamental philosophical positions on all of
the above three issues have been the subject of change and modification, to some
extent and according to "time" and "place". This change does not reflect the
abandoning of the Islamic faith by Muslims, but rather indicates the ability of this
dynamic religion to modify itself with time'. These changes have also been
associated with varying degrees of ambiguity and contradiction, which will be the
subject of detailed discussions in this work. Viewpoints of other outstanding
scholars who tried to address these issues will also be presented.
Two theories have been expressed in relation to the shift in the Shi'ah political
thinking;
" Islam's ability to adapt with "time" and "place" and new issues
" "Change", in itself, defies the very existence of religion
Both theories have been the subject of extensive debates. Traditional Muslims and
Non-Muslims criticise Islam for supporting the latter view, whereas revivalists
sympathise with the former. It must be mentioned also that reference throughout
1 Iqbal. Enayat. Lambton
II
this work is only made to those scholars who have used Islamic sources for their
reasoning, i. e., not to many others who have engaged in these discussions as
independent figures. Also discussed- will be the traditional Islam represented by
the majority of the Assembly of the Islamic Experts (Majles-i Khobregan) which in
effect was the main creator of the Iranian Constitution. / Ministry of Culture and Higher Education of Iran
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/4345 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Mohammadi, Mohammad |
| Contributors | O'Connell, James |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Department of Peace Studies |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
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