A Comparative Study of the Legitimacy of the Political System from the Perspective of Imam Khomeini (RA) and Dr. Mehdi Haeri Yazdi

Shirazi, Ali

A Comparative Study of the Legitimacy of the Political System from the Perspective of Imam Khomeini (RA) and Dr. Mehdi Haeri Yazdi

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ali Shirazi

Faculty Member, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

The debate on the legitimacy of political systems has always been a priority in political thought. This issue is doubly sensitive in Islamic political thought because it deals with religious belief and faith of the people. Two completely different views in this field, namely the theory of "Velayat al-Faqih" of Imam Khomeini and the theory of "Wakalat al-Mushara" of Mehdi Haeri Yazdi, are compared in this article. This comparison reveals the essential difference in the views of both jurists towards the legitimacy of the government, more than anything else, from the ontological aspect and, consequently, the sanctity or non-sanctity of politics and governance, and explains the consequences of each of these views. Imam Khomeini considers the government as a divine matter and the people as its implementers rather than legitimizers, and Haeri Yazdi identifies the government as a matter inherently subordinate to the set of human reason and outside the framework of revealed recommendations. Other differences in the area of legitimacy between these two thinkers can be found in matters such as the issue of ownership, the origin of political subordination, and the characteristics of the ruler.

Keywords

Legitimacy

Political System

Islamic Ontology

Subjects

Political Thoughts of the Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran

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