A Great Question

One of the important problem that i am reminded of for an Islamic rule is posed by current Iranian crisis. Even though situation is very specific to Iran and Twelver Shi'ism the lesson can be passed on any theocratic government. At the heart of the conflict in Iran lies quite an important ideological question, a question which has split the clergy and the faithful.

The question is thus - is ultimate authority over affairs of the state lies with God or with Ummah (The people). And if we believe it is with God, will that state need a religious ruler. And if God is to give guidance through a spiritual ruler, who will make sure the ruler is just and not a tyrant.

Now, Twelver Shi'ism differs from the Sunni tradition in a handful of important ways — not only in its belief in who was the legitimate heir to the Prophet Muhammad's leadership of the community of the faithful after his death, but also in its attitudes toward political authority and devotion. But one of the most important differences is the Shi'ite tradition's unique practice of ijtihad — the use of independent reasoning to pass new religious rulings. This is absent in Sunni tradition which limits possibility of political adaptability of Islamism to politics.

That much is clear is the very history of the Islamic Republic. In the early 1970s, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini deviced a new model for Shia government. Khomeini was a marja al-taqlid (a model of emulation), and he interpreted the Koran and Hadith to conclude that God had decreed for Islamic government — in the absence of the Twelfth Imam, who would return one day in the messianic tradition and launch his own reign of justice. Khomeini called this vision of the clergy being given authority over governance "velayat-e faqih", or guardianship of the jurist. This religious ruling is frowned upon by "traditional" ayatollahs, who advocated withdrawal of clergy from politics - so called quetism; to this school Grand Ayatollah Sistani of Iraq belongs. Because of its position of non-interference most of the queitist clergy was sidelined during the time of Islamic revolution, and was of no importance to ideological machine of Iranian Khomeinist state. However a more politically active "liberal" clergy also existed in Iran - from the time of 1906 revolution, clergy that empowered women, - to this school Grand Ayatollah Montazeri belongs.