ABSTRACTS

 

Sharia, Expediency and Rule; a Survey of the Islamic Republic’s Potentialities in the Management  of Structural Challenges

Dr. Asqar Eftekhari

A common unfavorable condition in the third world is that a lot of  political systems, by being extremely committed to security and stability purposes, are unable to let in any structural change and consequently create an unflexible form  that won’t accept the peripheral demands or respond appropriately to them. On this permise a lot of critics considered the Islamic Republic of Iran as a  defeated endeavor and assumed that it would decline very soon due to its internal conflicts. But in practice one could see the contrary since from the very start the Islamic Republic experienced various structural changes that few third world countries had witnessed. Among these one can refer to the Expedirncy Council as an important institution that has played efficient roles in the path of national purposes.

In this article the writer adopts the theoretical framework of Huntington’s “Institutional development” and Parson’s “dynamic constancy”, and discusses the formation, development and continuation of the activity of the Expediency Council as a structural experience in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Key expressions: dynamic constancy – institutionalism – Expediency council – shiite  political expediency.

 

The Status of People in the Thought and Political Practice of Shiite Ulamas from “Tanbakoo” Movement to the Islamic Revolution (A case study of Ayatollahs Mirzaye Shirazi, Naeeni, Modarress and Imam Khomeini)

Dr. Nasser Jamalzadeh

The article shows that the more we proceed from the eras of Tanbakoo and Mashrootyat movements to the Islamic Revolution, the more we can see a reliance on the role of people in government in the political thought of Ulamas (or Islamic jurisprudents). They consequently request a more participation of people in shaping governments and because of their high status as religious and spiritual leaders they are easily heeded by the masses to the extent that one could obviously see the latter’s taking part in determining their fate . The ultimate condition exists in the post-Islamic Revolution era when people’s political participation in forming governments has become institutionalized and shows itself as a right and, even more, as a duty.

Key expressions: People-Shiite Ulamas,  Majlis(The parliament), political participation, Ulamas’political thought, Mirzaye Shirazi, Naeeni, Modarress, Imam Khomeini.

 

Democracy; A Survey of one Theory in Two Legal Systems

Dr. Mohsen Esmaeeli

Democracy is a controversial concept in law and political philosophy. Its attractiveness in different countries gives rise to a fundamental question: Can it be internalized in each culture on the basis of native values or it is to be considered as a monolithic theory that demands either a total submission or rejection. In our country the first question to be asked was about the way republicanism and Islamism were to be combined. It was then ensued by the theory of “religious democracy”. Meanwhile there have been some who have definitely rejected this relationship by branding it as a sort of heresy. The present article tries to make a survey of the origins and consequences of democratic theory in the west, and to prove the fact that according to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s constitution, the system has been approved as a method of managing the community but disapproved as a worldview.

Key expressions: democracy – republicanism – the Declaration of Guman Rights – Constitution – religious democracy.

 

The Islamic Foundations of the Sovereignty Right of the People in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic

Dr. Ali Sabbaghian

The positive consequence of the Islamic Revolution is the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran which is in its turn epitomized in its Constitution. This has sanctioned people’s sovereignty as the cause and origin of the government’s power. Since the designers of the Constitution were mostly from among Islamic jurisprudents, the foundations of the sovereignty right of the people were indispensably rooted in religious doctrines. This article intends to demonstrate those doctrines that were of major concern for the designers of the Constitution.

Key expressions: The Constitution,  people’s sovreignty right , Man as a representation of God on Earth, the dignity of man, equality, liberty, consultation, rejection of dictatorship , enjoining the virtuous and prohibiting evil acts.

 

The Islamic Republic and Shiite Political Thought Challenges

Dr. Ali Akbar Kamali Ardakani

The political thought among moslems whether shiites or sunnis remained stagnant until recent decades, hence speculations about an “Islamic Government” is a new phenomenon in the field of political and jurisprudential shiite thought that has occurred after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. This has resulted, in numerous challenges. One should notice that shiite political thought is a scattered combination of different jurisprudential, theological, and philosophical discussions, all far apart from the modern political thought. The shiite scholars are teying to present their speculation in this regard based on one of the given approaches, but the substantical differences that exist makes them offer widely different responses about the most appropriate government.

Key expressions: Political thought – Islamic government – shiite – political jurisprudence – political philosophy.

 

The Universality of Liberalism and the Paradox of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dr. Farshad Shariat

The article demonstrates the interaction between republicanism and Islamism as the major political doctrine in the Islamic Revolution and its confrontation with the universalization of liberalism.

It centers on detecting the true nature of liberalism and analyzing the instruments adopted by the Islamic Republic in its attempt to achieve both conditions simultaneously. It then shows the way the Islamic Republic has taken independent steps in the process of modern civilization.

Key expressions: Liberalism – Republicanism – Islamism – Universaliztion – The Islamic Republic.

 

The Ethical Foundations of the Islamic Republic of Iran Towards its Opponents, a case study

Dr.Ali  Akbar Alikhani

The article is based on the assumption that religious governments in general and Islamic governments including the Islamic Republic of Iran in particular, should be committed to ethical norms in the field of politics, since ethics is an inseparable part of divine revelations. One challenging task of every regime is how to deal with its political opponents, hence, the significance of commitment to ethics.

The article demonstrates Imam Ali’s moralistic political stance towards his opponents in six parts and compares it with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. Reference to Imam Ali is because of the fact that IRI as a Shiite regime feels itself bound to follow his path as an ultimate model.

Key expressions: Islamic Republic – ethics, politics – Imam Ali – political opponents – Islamic political thought.

 

The Legitimacy of the Rule of Impeccable Imams and that of the Islamic Jurisprudents according to Shahid Motahhari

Maghsood Ranjbar

Ligitimacy is a major theme discussed in political philosophy . In this article there is a quick survery of this concept and various Islamic viewpoints about the basis of political legitimacy together with an elaboration on Shahid Motahhari’s view about the legitimacy of an Islamic government. The essence of the latter’s view is a distinction between this kind of rule during Impeccable Imams’ presence and during their absence . He further maintains that in the first instance the legitimacy of the rule is divine whereas in the second condition it is democratic .

Key expressions: legitimacy, Imam , political leadership , the leadership of the supreme jurisprudent (Velayat-e-Faghih)

 

The Correlative Reasons in Islamism and Secularism

Morteza Bahrani

A major issue in the discourses pertaining to Islamism and Secularism is the method of reasoning in each. The reasons offered are typically of three kinds : rational, devotional and  historical . Both groups have recourse to these three methods very seriously . These methods have been used both positively to confirm the claims of each side and negatively to contradict those of the opponent. A study of certain examples of those reasonings and heir categorization into rational, devotional and historical kinds reveals the similarity of the premises on both sides . In other words none of the claims has superiority to the other as far as the kind of reasoning is concerned . It’s only through a multilateral and interdisciplinary study that one may detect sufficiency , contradiction or superiority in those reasonings.

Key expressions: religion, politics, Islamism, secularism. epistemology.