<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1979959575268777686</id><updated>2011-04-21T19:51:58.705-07:00</updated><title type='text'>penggali khasanah politik islam</title><subtitle type='html'>Politeia Press adalah sebuah lembaga nir-laba. Politeia press adalah bagian dari kelompok diskusi yang didirikan pada tahun 2005 di Yogyakarta oleh kelompok kecil yang berminat pada usaha pengkajian seputar pemikiran dan gerakan politik Islam.  Lembaga ini bergerak dibidang pengkajian dan penelitian</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Akhmad Satori, S.IP., M.S.I</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10162413634737027621</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>12</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1979959575268777686.post-4994825822857636377</id><published>2007-12-28T19:20:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-12-28T19:36:16.447-08:00</updated><title type='text'>article terorisme...</title><content type='html'>&lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;Paradise Now,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote1anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote1sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt; Antara Jihad dan Terorisme:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;Interpretasi Terhadap Kasus &lt;i&gt;Suicide Bombing&lt;/i&gt; di Indonesia&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;M i s k i&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prolog&lt;/b&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Agama dewasa ini tampil dengan sosok yang menakutkan, aksi-aksi kekerasan kerap kali terjadi atas nama agama. &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Juergensmeyer menyatakan agama berperan besar memberikan motivasi dan justifikasi terhadap aksi-aksi kekerasan yang selama ini terjadi.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote2anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote2sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Misalnya saja, konflik abadi antar agama, apa yang kita sebut dengan &lt;i&gt;neverending-conflict&lt;/i&gt;, antara Israel dan Palestina, serangkaian bom bunuh diri di Israel yang juga tak jarang menewaskan warga sipil biasa, teror gas beracun Aum Shinrikyo pimpinan Asahara Shoko di Jepang (1990-an), kekerasan rezim Taliban di Afghanistan atas nama ketaatan terhadap syari'at Islam sebagai hukum negara, kekerasan kelompok ektremis Yahudi Israel, pimpinan Rabi Mei Kahape atas warga Arab Palestina, bunuh diri masal pada Peoples Temple pimpinan Jim Jones di Guyana (1970-an), dan pada gerakan David Koresh di Texas (1990-an). Puncaknya adalah serangan terorisme ke WTC 11 September di Amerika Serikat yang menewaskan ribuan manusia yang tak tahu apa-apa; bom Bali yang mewaskan lebih dari 180 orang; ledakan bom di Hotel JW Marriot, Jakarta dan tempat-tempat lainnya.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Namun, Sejak serangan 11 September 2001, opini dunia memberikan kesan bahwa konotasi teroris itu adalah Islam fundamentalis,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote3anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote3sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; opini dunia didominasi oleh Amerika Serikat. Pemberian nama &lt;i&gt;(labelling)&lt;/i&gt; teroris kepada kelompok Islam tertentu semakin kuat dan meluas sehubungan dengan tuduhan kepada jaringan al-Qaeda adalah jaringan teroris internasional yang terdapat di seluruh dunia, khususnya di Asia Tenggara termasuk Indonesia.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote4anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote4sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;  Dengan ini tampak jelas apa yang dikatakan oleh Samuel Huntington dengan istilah &lt;i&gt;the clash of civilization, &lt;/i&gt;istilah ini bukan saja membangkitkan semangat perang salib baru antara Islam dan Barat, akan tetapi juga menimbulkan kebingungan, siapa sebenarnya yang disebut teroris?. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Tuduhan pada kelompok Islam ini menjadikan cap yang tidak baik bagi umat Islam. Seakan penggunaan kekerasan dengan cara menakut-nakuti orang dalam rangka mencapai tujuan tertentu merupakan suatu hal yang lekat dengan Islam. Terhadap tuduhan ini setidaknya ada tiga kalangan yang menanggapinya; &lt;i&gt;Pertama,&lt;/i&gt; membenarkan dan memahami tuduhan itu mengingat perangai sebagian umat Islam yang tidak amat toleran dengan produk pemikiran, wacana dan kebudayaan yang tidak bersumber pada teks suci Islam secara tekstual. &lt;i&gt;Kedua,&lt;/i&gt; menolak keras tuduhan itu, mengingat tuduhan itu belum disertai dengan bukti yang kuat dan dianggap hanya upaya memojokkan umat Islam. &lt;i&gt;Ketiga,&lt;/i&gt; meminta kepada Amerika agar tidak mengeneralisasi bahwa Islam tidak identik dengan teroris, karena banyak sekali umat Islam yang memiliki faham moderat.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote5anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote5sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;5&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Islam dan terorisme jelas tidak ada kaitannya, menurut Azyumardi Azra, ia mengatakan bahwa terorisme sebagai kekerasan politik sepenuhnya bertentangan dengan etos kemanusiaan agama Islam. Islam mengajarkan etos kemanusiaan yang sangat menekankan etos kemanusiaan universal, Islam mengajarkan umatnya untuk berjuang mewujudkan perdamaian, keadilan dan kehormatan, akan tetapi perjuangan itu haruslah tidak dengan cara-cara kekerasan atau terorisme.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote6anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote6sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Setiap perjuangan untuk keadilan harus dimulai dengan premis bahwa keadilan adalah konsep universal yang harus diperjuangkan dan dibela setiap manusia. Islam memang mengajarkan dan menjustifikasi kepada muslim untuk berperang &lt;i&gt;(harb&lt;/i&gt;) dan menggunakan kekerasan &lt;i&gt;(qital)&lt;/i&gt; terhadap para penindas dan musuh-musuh Islam, dan pihak luar yang menunjukkan sikap permusuhan atau tidak mao berdampingan secara damai dengan Islam dan kaum muslimin.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote7anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote7sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;7&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Hemat penulis, istilah teror dan terorisme lebih punya kaitan erat dengan kegiatan intelijen. Lembaga-lembaga intelijen termashur seperti Mossad (Israel), CIA (AS), MI-6 (Inggris), dan dulu KGB (Uni Sovyet), punya taktik dan strategi menciptakan gerakan-gerakan intelejen dan kontra-intelijen dalam berbagai cara. Termasuk teror dan kontrateror&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="fr-FR"&gt;. Aksi-aksi terorisme yang selama ini terjadi, diasosiasikan dengan jihad dalam &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Islam, Jihad sering disamakan dengan &lt;i&gt;holy war&lt;/i&gt; (perang suci) dalam konteks kristen Eropa; perang melawan orang kafir, yang lebih parah lagi adalah pengkaburan makna jihad yang banyak dan beragam itu, jihad selalu diartikan sebuah konfrontasi fisik. Tentu saja, secara politis ada &lt;i&gt;political interest&lt;/i&gt; untuk mendiskreditkan kelompok agama tertentu.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Di Indonesia, istilah teror dan terorisme dikaitkan dengan produk pendidikan pesantren,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote8anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote8sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;8&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; tentu saja tuduhan itu ditolak oleh kalangan masyarakat pesantren. Pesantren memang memiliki sejarah kuat dan panjang dalam angkat senjata melawan kolonialis-imperialis Belanda (juga Jepang), sejak awal abad 16 hingga penghujung abad 19. Santri dan kiai mengganti kitab dengan senjata. Mereka menggemakan &lt;i&gt;jihad fi sabilillah&lt;/i&gt; dalam artian melawan kezaliman dan kejahatan penjajah.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote9anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote9sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;9&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Maka, terlalu riskan menyebutkan pesantren sebagai lembaga pendididkan dalam menciptakan teror dan terorisme di Indonesia, sebab tidak ada kitab-kitab pesantren yang mengajarkan cara merakit bom, cara menggalang pasukan, cara melatih diri (&lt;i&gt;i'dad&lt;/i&gt;) menghadapi &lt;i&gt;jihadul qitaal&lt;/i&gt;. Dan jika ada alumni pesantren terkait dengan tindakan terorisme, itu jelas di luar pesantren. Sehingga tak dapat mengait-ngaitkan pesantren yang pernah dijadikan tempat belajar seseorang tersangka pelaku teror. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Aksi-aksi terorisme yang dilakukan kawanan teroris Dr. Azhari dalam lima tahun terakhir ini, selalu berakar pada konsep ”jihad” dalam Islam. Dimulai dari Bom Bali jilid I 12 Oktober 2002 yang menewaskan ratusan nyawa; ledakan bom di Hotel JW Marriot, Jakarta dan tempat-tempat lainnya, sampai yang baru-baru ini terjadi yaitu kasus bom bunuh diri &lt;i&gt;(suicide bombing)&lt;/i&gt; dalam Bom Bali jilid II, sekaligus deretan pemboman lain, kasus-kasus penyerangan, kekerasan, bahkan permusuhan terhadap pihak lain &lt;i&gt;(the others) &lt;/i&gt;kerap kali terjadi. Inilah problem ketika agama dijadikan legetimasi sebuah kepentingan kelompok agama tertentu, dan ketika jihad dimaknai sebagai sikap ofensif dengan dalih mendapatkan balasan sorga, maka sesungguhnya yang terjadi adalah krisis wacana keagamaan, bahkan krisis nurani kemanusiaan.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Dengan latar belakang realita diatas, tulisan ini akan menganalisis kasus &lt;i&gt;Suicide Bombing&lt;/i&gt; (bom bunuh diri) yang merupakan era baru terorisme di Indonesia, apakah hal tersebut merupakan jihad atau terorisme?, bagaimana sebenarnya konsep jihad dalam Islam, dan bagaimana pandangan Islam terhadap terorisme, apakah terorisme sama dengan jihad?. Untuk membahas labih lanjut penulis menggunakan pendekatan teologis-sosiologis, yakni bagaimana doktrin agama tentang jihad, serta bagaimana aspek-aspek sosiologis praktek kekerasan yang sering kali mengatasnamakan agama, yang dalam bahasa Barat merupakan aksi terorisme.   &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Suicide Bombing:&lt;/i&gt; Era Baru Terorisme di Indonesia&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Peledakan bom di depan Kedutaan Besar Australia di Kuningan, Jakarta (2004), semakin mempertegas kenyataan bahwa era bom bunuh diri benar-benar tidak hanya lahir, tetapi ada dan hidup di Indonesia. Heri Kurniawan atau Heri Golun adalah pelaku peledakan bom bunuh diri di depan Kedubes Australia. Ada yang berpendapat bahwa sebenarnya era bom bunuh diri di Indonesia dimulai dengan peledakan bom di Kuta, Bali (2002). &lt;span lang="da-DK"&gt;Tetapi, hal itu masih samar-samar atau terkesan ”diingkari” untuk diakui karena berbagai alasan. Kemudian baru-baru ini terjadi Tragedi peledakan bom di R.AJA’s Bar and Restaurant di Kuta Square dan Jimbaran Bali, telah mengajak banyak pihak memasuki sebuah kenyataan bahwa memang  bom bunuh diri benar-benar sudah lahir di Indonesia. Ini sebuah kenyataan yang tidak mungkin dimungkiri atau ditutupi lagi. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="da-DK"&gt;Bunuh diri (bahasa Inggrisnya &lt;i&gt;suicide &lt;/i&gt;yang berasal dari bahasa Latin &lt;i&gt;sui caedere,&lt;/i&gt; yang juga berarti bunuh diri) adalah sebuah tindakan mengakhiri hidup dirinya sendiri. Agama apa pun memandang tindakan itu adalah sebuah dosa dan bila dilihat dari kacamata hukum adalah sebuah kejahatan. Akan tetapi, beberapa budaya memandang tindakan itu sebagai cara terhormat untuk keluar dari situasi yang tanpa pengharapan atau memalukan.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify" lang="da-DK"&gt; Kematian menjadi komponen dan tujuan utama dari tindakan bunuh diri dan bukannya hanya merupakan konsekuensi yang hampir pasti. Karena itu, peledakan bom bunuh diri lebih dipandang sebagai peledakan bom ketimbang bunuh diri. Itulah sebabnya, ada yang menganggap dan bahkan berkeyakinan bahwa aksi peledakan bom bunuh diri adalah sebuah pengorbanan diri, sebuah kematian suci.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify" lang="da-DK"&gt; Masuk kategori apa peledakan bom bunuh diri di Indonesia? Apakah mereka memperjuangkan lahirnya sebuah negara baru, seperti di Palestina atau Sri Lanka? Negara apa yang mereka perjuangkan? Bukankah sudah ada Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia?! Apakah aksi itu perwujudan balas dendam? Balas dendam kepada siapa? Apakah bagian dari permainan politik? Kepentingan politik siapa dan ditujukan kepada siapa? Apakah aksi itu bermisikan kepentingan agama? Yang dapat dikategorikan sebagai jihad?.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify" lang="da-DK"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Isu Terorisme: Sebuah Hegemoni Politik Amerika&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Istilah teror dan terorisme merupakan dua istilah yang berbeda, tetapi sebenarnya berasal dari Yunani yang sama yaitu &lt;i&gt;terror&lt;/i&gt; dan &lt;i&gt;terrere &lt;/i&gt;yang artinya ketakutan mendalam. Namun jika dilihat dari motode kekerasan, kedua istilah tersebut dibedakan pengertiannya. Aksi teror merupakan aktifitas bercorak spontan dan tidak terorganisir rapi dan cendrung bersifat perorangan. Sebaliknya terorisme bersifat sistematis, terorganisir rapi dilakukan oleh sebuah organisasi atau kelompok sebagai pelaku dari aktifitas teror tersebut. Tidak semua bentuk teror dapat disebut sebagai terorisme. Menurut Richard Bagun, terorisme adalah puncak aksi kekerasan (&lt;i&gt;terrorism is the apex violence&lt;/i&gt;).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote10anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote10sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Menurut &lt;i&gt;Ensyclopaedia of Crime and Justice&lt;/i&gt;, terorisme adalah ancaman atau penggunaan kekerasan untuk tujuan-tujuan politik oleh perorangan atau kelompok, dimana tindakan itu menentang terhadap kekuasaan pemerintah, ditujukan untuk menimbulkan intimidasi ketimbang menimbulkan korban dengan segera.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote11anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote11sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;11&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Sedangkan Dam Smith mengatakan, terorisme adalah penggunaan kekerasan yang melawan hukum atau ancaman kekerasan yang melawan hukum, dengan tujuan untuk memaksa dan mengintimidasi pemerintah atau kelompok sosial tertentu dalam rangka mencapai tujuan yang umumnya adalah tujuan politik, agama, atau ideologi.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote12anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote12sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;12&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Pengertian terorisme pada mulanya adalah tindakan kekerasan disertai dengan sadisme yang dimaksudkan untuk menakut-nakuti lawan. Akan tetapi dalam kamus adikuasa (baca: Amerika Serikat) terorisme adalah tindakan protes yang dilakukan oleh negara-negara atau kelompok kecil. Makanya, sulit untuk menyetujui definisi umum terhadap bentuk kekerasan bermotivasi politik yang secara umum dikenal dengan terorisme, karena masing-masing situasi harus dilihat dalam konteksnya sendiri, dan juga sering dikatakan untuk memahami terorisme harus dipahami pula apa yang terjadi, pada siapa, dimana, bagaimana, mengapa dan dengan momentum apa serta efeknya.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote13anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote13sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Sejak aksi terorisme 11 September 2001 yang meruntuhkan dua menara kembar, WTC dan Pentangon, dan dugaan Osama bin Laden berada dibalik aksi itu, maka struktur politik masyarakat internasional berubah dramatis, setidaknya ada dua gambaran yang "terbaca" dalam wacana yang berkembang di masyarakat internasional, &lt;i&gt;Pertama,&lt;/i&gt; radikalisme dan terorisme yang dialamatkan masyarakat barat terhadap umat Islam. &lt;i&gt;Kedua,&lt;/i&gt; gerakan terorisme yang diwakili masyarakat barat terus menjadi pemicu lahirnya &lt;i&gt;resistensi&lt;/i&gt; kaum radikalis lantaran sikap nagara adidaya dan PBB yang tidak peduli terhadap keadilan yang terus berlangsung.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote14anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote14sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;14&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Perang melawan terorisme-pun kerap kali dilancarkan oleh Amerika Serikat, terorisme sebagai isu politik, lebih dipergunakan sebagai usaha untuk memperoleh dukungan Negara-negara Barat untuk menempatkan citra negatif Islam.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote15anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote15sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Amerika Serikat sekehendak hati menuduh dan menekan negara-negara yang dianggap memiliki potensi terorisme. Pernyataan George W. Bush, &lt;i&gt;”ether you are with us, or you are with terrorist” &lt;/i&gt;memposisikan negara berpenduduk Muslim pada kondisi yang dilematis. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="text-indent: 1.27cm; margin-bottom: 0.21cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Sebagian umat Islam memandang salah satu cara yang strategis untuk melumpuhkan Hegemoni Amerika dan Barat adalah dengan cara melakukan tindakan terorisme. Kegagalan sistem global ini akibat permainan negara kapitalis yang secara struktur dan sitem memiskinkan dunia ketiga termasuk dunia Islam. Lagi pula secara nyata dapat dilihat bagaimana permainan licik Amerika dan Barat dalam melakukan  neo imperialisme dan konolialisme. Perbaikan sistem pada wilayah periferal tidak akan berhasil. Karena kebangkrutan dan ketidakadilan yang dialami hanya sebagai imbas permainan global. Maka langkah stretegis sdalah mengacaukan sumber sekenariator global dalam hal ini Amerika melalui simbol ekonomi dan kebesarannya. Dengan Alasan ini apakah tidak boleh melakukan kekerasan dalam mencapai kemakmuran dan keadilan. Korban terorisme tidak sebanding dengan korban kemiskinan, ketertidasan dan ketidak adilan dalam jangka yang panjang.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;   &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;------------yuuyui6&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Memahami Jihad dalam Islam&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Kata jihad secara etemologi berasal dari kata: &lt;/span&gt;جاهد- يجاهد-مجاهدة-وجهادا &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;yaitu mengerahkan segenap tenaga dan kemampuan dalam wujud perkataan dan tindakan.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote16anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote16sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;16&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Dan juga berasal dari kata: &lt;/span&gt;جهد-يجهد-جهدا &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;atau &lt;/span&gt;اجتهد &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;yang mempunyai makna bersungguh-sungguh.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote17anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote17sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;17&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Selain itu term  &lt;/span&gt;الجهد  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;berarti &lt;/span&gt;الطاقة &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;dan &lt;/span&gt;المشقة  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;yang bermakna kekuatan, kemampuan dan kesulitan, kepayahan disebabkan setiap orang yang berjihad harus melawan musuh dengan mengerahkan kekuatan untuk mempertahankan dan membela diri.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote18anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote18sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Sedangkan jihad secara terminologi, sebagaimana dijelaskan oleh ulama’-ulama’ mazhab fiqh, Hanafi, Maliki, Syafi’i, Hanbali, antara lain: &lt;i&gt;Pertama,&lt;/i&gt; Mazhab Hanafi dalam &lt;i&gt;Fathu al-Qadir&lt;/i&gt;, juz 5/187, Ibnu Hamam mengatakan yang  dimaksud dengan jihad adalah mengajak orang kafir kedalam pelukan Islam dan memeranginya jika mereka menolak. &lt;i&gt;Kedua, &lt;/i&gt;Mazhab Hanbali, makna jihad diperuntukkan kepada orang-orang muslim yang memerangi orang-orang kafir yang tidak terikat dalam perjanjian (damai) demi menegakkan ajaran Allah SWT. Jihad juga berarti datangnya orang Islam kepada orang kafir untuk mengajak mereka memeluk agama Allah atau masuknya orang Islam ke daerah kafir untuk tujuan serupa.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote19anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote19sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; &lt;i&gt;Ketiga,&lt;/i&gt; Mazhab Syafi’i, Syafi’i mengatakan, jihad adalah berperang di jalan Allah.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote20anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote20sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;20&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; Selain itu Ibnu Hajar juga mengatakan bahwa ditinjau dari hukum syara’ jihad berarti mengerahkan segenap kemampuan untuk memerangi orang-orang kafir.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote21anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote21sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;21&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt; &lt;i&gt;Keempat,&lt;/i&gt; Mazhab Hanbali, jihad adalah memerangi orang kafir&lt;/span&gt; (Lih. &lt;i&gt;Mathalib uli an-Nuha,&lt;/i&gt; juz 2, hlm. 497)&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Sedangkan jihad menurut Abu al-’Ala al-Maududi, adalah salah satu sistem kerohanian Islam yang lima, sholat, puasa, zakat, haji, dan jihad. Jihad adalah usaha manusia muslim dengan sekuat tenaga untuk meneyebarluaskan kalimatullah dan menjunjung tinggi, dan melaksanakannya di muka bumi dengan menyingkirkan segala perintang, baik melalui kata-kata yang terucap (lisan), maupun dengan kekuatan senjata, dengan tujuan agar manusia hidup dengan penuh dedikasi dan berkorban demi jiwa dan raga.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote22anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote22sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt; Dari beberapa pengertian di atas, bisa ditarik kesimpulan bahwa jihad mengandung dua pengertian yaitu pengertian umum dan pengertian khusus. Pengertian umum sebagaimana disebutkan diatas ditemukan dalam perjuangan Rosulullah priode Mekkah dan Madinah. Dalam al-Qur'an jihad seperti ini terdapat dalam surat antara lain: Q.S. al-Furqan:52, dan Q.S. al-Hajj: 78.  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Jihad dalam pengertian khusus yaitu ”perang melawan musuh”. Pengertian khusus inilah yang dibicarakan secara luas dalam kitab-kitab fiqh dan selalu dikaitkan dengan &lt;i&gt;qital&lt;/i&gt; (pertempuran), &lt;i&gt;harb&lt;/i&gt; (peperangan),dan &lt;i&gt;ghazwah&lt;/i&gt; (ekspedisi).&lt;/span&gt; Uraian-uraian figh tentang jihad disusun dalam rangka &lt;i&gt;jus ad bellum &lt;/i&gt;atau &lt;i&gt;jus in bello,&lt;/i&gt; perang adil atau perang suci,  perang defensif atau ofensif, sebagian besar merupakan hasil dari usaha sistematisasi solusi-solusi pragmatis yang diambil pada masa Nabi dan kemudian tumbuh menjadi kodifikasi hukum yang rapi. Titik lemahnya terletak pada kegagalan menangkap regulasi moral yang &lt;i&gt;non-contingent&lt;/i&gt; seolah-olah variabel atau kriteria yang paling krusial dibalik jihad adalah mandat ilahi untuk melancarkan peperangan.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote23anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote23sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;23&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;    &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Kata jihad dalam al-Qur'an disebutkan sebanyak 43 kali&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="fi-FI"&gt;, antara lain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;: QS. Al-Baqarah: 198, 190, 191, 192, 218, 273. QS. Ali 'Imran: 142, 156. QS. An-Nisa': 74, 95, 96. QS. Al-Maidah: 35, 54. QS. Al-Anfal: 61, 65, 72, 74, 75. QS. At-Taubah: 19, 20, 24, 41, 44, 81, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93. QS. An-Nahl: 110, QS. Al-Hajj: 78. QS. Al-Furqan: 52. QS. Al-Qashash: 6. QS. Al-Hujurat: 15. QS. Al-Mumtahanah: 1. QS. Al-Shaf: 11.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote24anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote24sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;  Kata jihad dalam al-Qur'an diartikan secara beragam sebagaimana terdapat dalam ayat-ayat diatas, dengan ini menunjukkan kata jihad tidak bisa hanya hanya diartikan dengan satu pengertian saja.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="fi-FI"&gt;Jihad merupakan kewajiban bagi umat muslim&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote25anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote25sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Namun kewajiban jihad tersebut sudah diatur tahapan-tahapannya dalam al-Qur'an, sehingga umat Islam dalam melaksanakan jihad harus mengikuti apa yang telah diatur dalam al-Qur'an, sebab dikhawatirkan apabila tidak mengikuti aturan dalam al-Qur'an, umat Islam akan melampaui batas, inilah kemudian yang menjadi persolan antara jihad dan aksi terorisme di zaman modern sekarang ini, adapun fase-fase berjihad antara lain:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Fase pertama,&lt;/i&gt; pada masa awal kebangkitan Islam Allah swt. memerintahkan untuk menahan diri untuk tidak melancarkan peperangan dengan orang kafir. Pada waktu itu umat Islam hanya diperintahkan untuk mengerjakan shalat dan membayar zakat sebagaimana dijelasakan dalam QS. An-Nisa': 77. Fase pertama ini juga merupakan taktik dakwah Rasulullah, memberikan kesempatan pada orang-orang musyrik Mekkah agar mereka masuk Islam tanpa harus mengadakan peperangan.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote26anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote26sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;   &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Fase kedua, &lt;/i&gt;memerangi orang yang berbuat zalim terhadap kaum muslimin, jihad dalam bentuk perang semacam ini sering disebut dengan defensif, dengan artian bahwa umat Islam dalam hal ini bukan yang memulai peperangan terlebih dahulu, atau umat Islam bukan pihak penyerang. Karena peperangan yang demikian merupakan sikap mempertahankan diri dari serangan musuh. Dan ini merupakan taktik peperangan untuk mempertahankan diri agar umat Islam tidak dibantai sewenang-wenang oleh orang kafir.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote27anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote27sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Fase ketiga,&lt;/i&gt; fase ini Allah swt. Memerintahkan memerangi orang kafir dan melakukan penyerangan terhadap mereka. Sebagaimana perintah yang terdapat dalam QS. At-Taubah: 29. karena kezaliman yang terus dilakukan oleh orang kafir, serta sikap mereka yang masih mempertahankan sikap kekafirannya.  &lt;i&gt;  &lt;/i&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Terorisme dalam Pandangan Islam&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Secara etemologi tindakan teror disebut dengan &lt;i&gt;Irhab&lt;/i&gt;, orangnya disebut &lt;i&gt;Irhaby&lt;/i&gt; (teroris), sedangkan pahamnya disebut &lt;i&gt;Irhabiyyah&lt;/i&gt; (terorisme). Lafadz إرهاب dan إرهابيون / إرهابى dalam Bahasa Arab mempunyai makna terorisme.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote28anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote28sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Dalam al-Qur’an terdapat beberapa kata yang berakar pada kata tersebut.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote29anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote29sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Pengertian terorisme dalam konteks “islam” sebagaimana disampaikan oleh “Lembaga Fiqh Islam” di Makkah. Terorisme (&lt;i&gt;al-irhab &lt;/i&gt;) adalah permusuhan yang dilakukan oleh individu, kelompok atau negara yang &lt;i&gt;dhalim&lt;/i&gt; terhadap manusia. Bentuk terorisme juga mencakup ancaman, menakut-nakuti, pembunuhan tanpa hak, hal yang berkaitan dengan &lt;i&gt;hirabah, &lt;/i&gt;mengganggu keamanan jalan raya dan aksi pembegalan &lt;i&gt;(Qath` at-Tariq), &lt;/i&gt;terorisme mencakup semua tindak kekerasan, baik terhadap individu maupun kelompok dan bertujuan untuk mendatangkan rasa takut terhadap manusia atau menghalangi (mengganggu) kehidupan atau kehormatan, serta rasa aman mereka, termasuk diantaranya merusak lingkungan atau salah satu pelayanan umum atau milik masyarakat.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote30anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote30sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Terorisme Bukanlah Jihad: Interpretasi terhadap Kasus-kasus &lt;i&gt;Suicide Bombing&lt;/i&gt; di Indonesia &lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Ketika berbicara terorisme maka yang yang ada dibenak kita adalah sekelompok orang berjenggot, berpakaian jubah putih, kemana-mana membawa pedang, yang siap mati syahid dengan balasan sorga, dan selalu dikaitkan dengan kelompok Islam fundamentalis, radikal, ekstrimis, dll. Ironisnya jihad pada zaman modern ini sering dihubungkan dengan terorisme, apa sebenarnya hubungan jihad dengan terorisme? Apakah jihad sebagai &lt;i&gt;jus ad bellum,&lt;/i&gt; perang keadilan, bisa diterima dalam prinsip-prinsip &lt;i&gt;jus in bello&lt;/i&gt;, hukum-hukum humaniter perang, atau batas-batas perang yang boleh dilakukan di masa kontemporer?&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote31anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote31sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Memang pengasosian jihad dengan terorisme di zaman sekarang ini, tidak lain disebabkan kenyataan bahwa jihad dalam pengertian perang melibatkan elemen-elemen kekerasan yang dapat dikategorisasikan sebagai terorisme.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote32anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote32sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Pada tanggal 16 Desember 2003 MUI mengeluarkan fatwa, yang salah satu poinnya adalah fatwa tentang terorisme. MUI membedakan antara terorisme dengan jihad. Untuk memperjelas perbedaan itu, MUI membedakannya dengan menjelaskan tiga sisi penting: sifat, tujuan, dan cara. Untuk lebih mudah, lihat gambar berikut:&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote33anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote33sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;table style="font-family: georgia;" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0" width="529"&gt;  &lt;col width="81"&gt;  &lt;col width="166"&gt;  &lt;col width="238"&gt;  &lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr valign="top"&gt;   &lt;td width="81"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="166"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Teror&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="238"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Jihad&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr valign="top"&gt;   &lt;td width="81"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Sifat&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="166"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Merusak    dan Anarkis &lt;i&gt;(al-Ifsad wa al-fawdha’).&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="238"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Perbaikan    &lt;i&gt;(al-ishlah)&lt;/i&gt; sekalipun dilakukan dengan perang.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr valign="top"&gt;   &lt;td width="81"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Tujuan&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="166"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Menciptakan    rasa takut dan menghancurkan pihak lain.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="238"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Menegakkan    agama Allah atau membela pihak yang dizalimi.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr valign="top"&gt;   &lt;td width="81"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Cara&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="166"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Dilakukan    tanpa aturan dan sasaran tanpa batas.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td width="238"&gt;    &lt;p class="western" align="justify"&gt;Dilakukan    dengan mengikuti aturan syari’at dengan sasaran musuh  yang    jelas.&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;/td&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;    &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Secara eksplisit MUI menolak kekerasan atas nama agama atau kekerasan dengan menggunakan simbol-simbol Islam yang pada dasarnya merugikan umat Islam itu sendiri. MUI juga membedakan antara bom bunuh diri&lt;i&gt; (qatl al-nafs/&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt; suicide bombing)&lt;/i&gt;&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;dengan syahid &lt;i&gt;(istisyhadiyyah)&lt;/i&gt; dengan penjelasan sebagai berikut: &lt;i&gt;Pertama,&lt;/i&gt; dari segi tujuan, bunuh diri dilakukan untuk kepentingan dirinya sendiri; sedangkan perbuatan &lt;i&gt;istisyhad&lt;/i&gt; dilakukan untuk kepentingan agama dan umatnya. &lt;i&gt;Kedua,&lt;/i&gt; dari segi sikap, pelaku bunuh diri bersikap pesimis, sedangkan pelaku &lt;i&gt;istisyhad &lt;/i&gt;bersikap optimis dan cita-citanya untuk mengharapkan ridho Allah. &lt;i&gt;Ketiga,&lt;/i&gt; dari segi hukum, bom bunuh diri dihukumi haram, sedangkan &lt;i&gt;istisyhad &lt;/i&gt;adalah &lt;i&gt;mubah&lt;/i&gt; (boleh).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote34anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote34sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;     &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;Isu terorisme yang dikumandangkan oleh Amerika serikat, adalah isu politis demi menguatkan ideologi kapitalisme ekonomi Amerika Serikat. Konfrontasi Amerika terhadap dunia Islam sehingga melahirkan spirit jihad di dunia Islam, inilah mungkin yang disebut terorisme oleh Amerika, akan tetapi Amerika juga dipandang sebagai teroris dengan membumi hanguskan Irak tanpa dasar yang jelas. Perang yang dilancarkan Amerika dengan alasan perdamaian dunia, dengan memberantas jaringan al-Qaeda yang menghancurkan Negara Afghanistan, membumi hanguskan Irak dengan alasan memerangi senjata nuklir yang mengakibatkan ribuan umat muslim mati, sekarang tuduhan tidak beralasan kepada Negara Islam Iran tentang senjata nuklir. Hemat penulis, sebenarnya terorisme di Indonesia terjadi disebabkan karena ketidak adilan Amerika terhadap Negara-negara muslim yang kemudian muncul rasa ukhuwah islamiyahnya.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Kekecewaan yang paling mendalam bagi sebagian umat muslim Indonesia adalah ketika terjadi pembantaian terhadap umat Islam di Poso, tidak mendapatkan penanganan yang serius dari pemerintah Indonesia, sehingga menimbulkan balas dendam untuk dapat membunuh non muslim yang melahirkan aksi &lt;i&gt;Istisyhadiyyah&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote35anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote35sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;i&gt;.&lt;/i&gt; Aksi &lt;i&gt;Istisyhadiyah&lt;/i&gt; di zaman modern ini biasanya dilakukan dengan cara bom mubil, bom bunuh diri &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;i&gt;(suicide bombing), &lt;/i&gt;menabrakkan kapal ke gedung bertingkat, dll. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Aksi semacam ini menimbulkan kontrovesial dikalangan ulama’, ada yang mengatakan aksi itu merupakan jihad melawan orang kafir dan ada juga yang mengatakan aksi bunuh diri merupakan dosa besar dan tidak dapat dibenarkan dalam ajaran Islam. Dianatara ulama’ yang paling vokal menanggapi aksi &lt;i&gt;istishadiyyah &lt;/i&gt;adalah ulama’ dan sarjana Islam Yordania, sekitar 27 orang menandatangani keputusan masalah ini. Nama-nama ulama’ tersebut diantaranya: Muhammad Abu Faris mantan anggota parlemen Yordanaia dari partai Ikhwanul Muslimin, Hammam Said pakar hadis yang juga anggota parlemen Yordania, Ahmad Naufal da’i kondang dan ahli tafsir, Salah al-Khalidi pakar ilmu al-Qur’an yang beberapa karyanya telah diterjemahkan kedalam bahasa Indonesia, dan Yusuf Qardawi, menjelaskan status aksi &lt;i&gt;istisyhadiyyah&lt;/i&gt; yang dilakukan HAMAS merupakan jihad dan bukan tindakan bunuh diri yang sering diberitakan oleh media.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote36anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote36sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Bolehnya aksi &lt;i&gt;istishadiyah&lt;/i&gt; karena berdasarkan argumen mereka yang mengatakan bahwa aksi tersebut sudah dikenal sejak masa kenabian, terrefleksi pada keberanian menghadapi musuh dengan tujuan menghancurkan mereka dan memperoleh &lt;i&gt;syahid fi sabilillah&lt;/i&gt;. Salah satunya adalah hadis nabi yang menjelaskan peristiwa pada perang Yamamah, ketika orang-orang bani Hanifah bertahan di benteng di kebun Musailamah yang dikenal dengan kebun ar-Rahman atau kebun kematian. Al-Barra bin Malik berkata kepada sahabat-sahabatnya, ”letakkan aku ditempat pelemparan biasanya memakai batu untuk diarahkan ke musuh dan lemparkan aku menuju sasaran, kemudian mereka melemparkannya, lalu ia menyerang musuh hingga terbuka pintu benteng tersebut untuk kaum muslimin.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote37anc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote37sym"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Dengan ini aksi &lt;i&gt;istishadiyyah&lt;/i&gt; di Indonesia tidak bisa disamakan dengan aksi-aksi yang terjadi di Palestina umumnya di daerah Timur Tengah. Aksi disana lebih kepada ingin terlepas dari kezaliman dan ketidak adilan yang dilancarkan orang kafir, memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka agar tetap surviev dalam menegakkan syri’at Islam di daerah itu. Aksi-aksi bom yang dilakukan oleh kelompok Dr. Azhari tidak dapat dikatakan aksi &lt;i&gt;Istishadiyyah&lt;/i&gt;, karena mereka melakukan aksi tersebut dalam kondisi damai, yang jadi sasaran bom mereka bukan tempat atau markas musuh melainkan tempat-tempat umum, hotel, kantor-kantor dan yang jadi korban adalah orang-orang yang tidak berdosa, seperti Satpam, anak kecil, ibu-ibu dan orang-orang yang tdak bersalah lainnya. Oleh karena itu aksi bom tersebut tidak tersebut mati syahid, sekalipun pelakunya mengklaim hal itu jihad.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Jadi, Jihad dan aksi bombing (teror) dua kalimat yang saling kontradiksi dan tidak akan ada titik temu antara keduanya apalagi diparalelkan. Disamping itu aksi bunuh diri (QS:4 : 29) dalam bentuk aksi teror atau membunuh orang lain (QS:17 :33) adalah merupakan perbuatan yang dilarang oleh Allah dan juga melanggar hak azasi manusia. Dalam Islam jangankan membunuh orang, berbuat &lt;i&gt;dharar&lt;/i&gt; (kurusakan)  terhadap diri sendiri dan  orang lain juga tidak boleh sebagai disebut dalam kaedah azas &lt;i&gt;La dharara wa  la dhirara&lt;/i&gt; yakni larangan berbuat apa saja yang membahayakan Agama Islam. Dari apa yang diuraikan diatas dapat disimpulkan bahwa perbuatan bom bunuh diri di Indonesia ini bukanlah perbuatan jihad dengan balasan sorga, akan tetapi termasuk perbuatan teror yang mati bunuh diri  balasannya neraka. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Epilog&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.5cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Terorisme yang berjalan selama ini sering di identifikasikan sebagai implementasi perjuangan nilai keagamaan yang disebut dengan &lt;i&gt;jihad. &lt;/i&gt;Jihad adalah sebuah prilaku yang sangat dianjurkan dalam agama. Perjuangan melawan kemungkaran dalam bentuk apapun harus diperjuangkan. Bentuk perjuangan &lt;i&gt;jihad &lt;/i&gt; bisa dalam bentuk kekerasan sebagaimana yang terjadi dalam sejarah Islam. Pengeboman wilayah tertentu yang menjadi simbol berkuasanya “&lt;i&gt;mungkarat” &lt;/i&gt;merupakan salah satu kekerasan dalam &lt;i&gt;jihad.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.5cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;Namun yang menjadi Problem adalah, bagaimana kekerasan yang dilakukan bukan berdasarkan etika kemanusiaan. Kekerasan jihad yang berjalan dalam sejarah kenabian didasarkan pada aturan-aturan tertentu yang mempertimbangkan kemanusiaan, semisal larangahn membunuh anak, perempuan dan orang tua. Sementara terorisme yang berjalan selama ini  berjalan dalam konteks kekerasan diluar nilai etis dalam jihad. Pengeboman, ancaman dan perusakan lainnya tidak melakukan pembunuhan dan perusakan musuh yang secara nyata. Terkadang berefek pada pembunuhan pada manusia yang sebagian justru haram dibunuhnya. Seperti anak-anak,  sesama muslim, orang tua dan wanita yang tidak berdosa. Dari paparan diatas dapat disimpulkan bahwa melakukan kekerasan dengan bentuk aksi terorisme yang selama ini berjalan, tidak dibenarkan dalam Islam. Untuk mencapai sebuah kemaslahatan haruslah digunakan cara-cara yang mengedepankan nilai keadilan dan kemanusiaan. Tafsir sempit atas teks Agama sebagai alat pembenaran pada sebuah gerakan teroris, akan mereduksi makna Islam itu sendiri&lt;i&gt;. &lt;/i&gt;Revisi tafsir lebih mengedepankan amalan agama yang bersifat Humanistik. Sehingga Islam bukan sebagai penghambat kedamaian tetapi sebagai instrumen dan pendorong semangat keadilan dan kedamaian sebagaiman tujuan global Islam yang &lt;i&gt;rahmatan lil alamin&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;    &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt;              &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Daftar Pustaka&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; Mark Juergensmeyer, &lt;i&gt;Terror in The Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence&lt;/i&gt; (Terj.). Yogyakarta: Trawang Press, 2003.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Abduh Zulfidar Akaha (ed.), &lt;i&gt;Terorisme Konspirasi anti Islam&lt;/i&gt;. Jakarta: Pustaka al-Kautsar, 2002.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Azyumardi Azra, &lt;i&gt;Pergolakan Politik Islam, dari Fundamentalisme, Moderinisme hingga Post-Modernisme&lt;/i&gt;. Jakarta: Paramadina. 1996.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Abdul Wahid, &lt;i&gt;Kejahatan Terorisme Perspektif Agama, HAM, dan Hukum.&lt;/i&gt; Bandung: PT Refika Aditama, 2004.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Luis Ma'luf, &lt;i&gt;al-Munjid fi al-Lughah wa al-'Alam.&lt;/i&gt; Beirut: Dar al-Masyriq, 1986.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;A. Warson Munawwir, &lt;i&gt;Kamus al-Munawwir.&lt;/i&gt; Surabaya: Pustaka Progresif, 2002.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Ibn Manzhur, &lt;i&gt;Lisan al-Arab,&lt;/i&gt; Jilid 3. Mesir: Dar al-Misriyah, tt.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Ibrahim al-Bajuri, &lt;i&gt;Hasyiyah al-Bajuri ‘ala ibn Qasim al-Ghazy,&lt;/i&gt; Juz II. Semarang: Thoha Putra, tt.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Ahmad bin ‘Ali Ibnu Hajar al-Asqalani, &lt;i&gt;Fathu al-Bari Syarh Sahih lil al-Imam Abi Abdillah Muhammad Ibnu Isma’il al-Bukhari,&lt;/i&gt; Maktabah Salafiya. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Abu al-’Ala al-Maududi, &lt;i&gt;Pokok-pokok Pandangan Hidup Muslim,&lt;/i&gt; Terj. Osman Ralibi. Jakarta: Bulan Bintang, 1992.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Hasan Hanafi, &lt;i&gt;Al-Ushuliyyah wa Al-‘Ashr,&lt;/i&gt; dalam Hasan Hanafi dan Abid al-Jabiry. &lt;i&gt;Hiwar Al-Masyriq wa Al-Maghrib&lt;/i&gt;, Beirut, Muassasah Al-‘Arabiyyah, 1990.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Samsurizal Panggabean, "Makna Jihad dalam al-Qur'an", dalam Jurnal&lt;b&gt; Islamika,&lt;/b&gt; No. 4 April-Juni 1994.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Muhammad Fu'ad Abd al-Baqi, &lt;i&gt;al-Mu'jam al-Mufahras li al-Fadzil al-Qur'an.&lt;/i&gt; Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1978.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Abu Bakar, "Jihad dalam al-Qur'an, Suatu Kajian dengan Pendekatan Tafsir Maudlu'i", dalam Jurnal &lt;b&gt;Dialogia,&lt;/b&gt; Vol. 2 Juli-Desember 2004.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Abd al-Baqi Ramdlan, &lt;i&gt;al-Jihad Sabiluna.&lt;/i&gt; Solo: Pustaka Alaq, 1990.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Richard Bagun, &lt;i&gt;Indonesia di Peta Terorisme Global, &lt;/i&gt;dalam Moh. Arif Setiawan,&lt;i&gt; Kriminalisasi Tereorisme di Indonesia dalam era Globalisasi,&lt;/i&gt; artikel pada &lt;b&gt;Jurnal Hukum&lt;/b&gt;, edisi nomor : 21 vol. 9 2002.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Sanford H. Kadis, &lt;i&gt;Ensyclopaedia of Crime and justice,&lt;/i&gt; 1983. dalam Hanafi Amrani, “Kebijakan Kriminalisasi terhadap Terorisme”, Makalah pada Seminar Regional, Pembahasan di seputar RUU anti Terorisme Tinjauan Politik dan Hukum, Fakultas Hukum UII, Yogyakarta, 14 Maret 2001. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Jourdan Pust, "Divisional Focus", dalam Yonah Alexander and Saymour Max Well Finger (ed.), &lt;i&gt;Terorism : Interdisiplinery Perspektives&lt;/i&gt;. New York : John Jay Press, 1977.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Abdullah Ahmed An-Na'im, &lt;i&gt;Dekontruksi Syari'ah, Wacana Kebebasan Sipil, Hak Asasi Manusia dan Hubungan Internasional dalam Islam, &lt;/i&gt;alih bahasa Ahmad Suaedi dan Amirudin ar-Rani, cet. 2. Yogyakarta: LKiS, 1997.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Jawahir Tantowi, &lt;i&gt;Islam, Politik dan Hukum&lt;/i&gt;. Yogyakarta: Madyan Press, 2002.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Luthfi Assyaukani, &lt;i&gt;Politik, HAM, dan Isu-isu Teknologi dalam Fiqh Kontemporer&lt;/i&gt;. Jakarta: Pustaka Hidayah, 1998.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Nawal Hail Takruri, &lt;i&gt;Aksi Bunuh Diri atau Mati Syahid,&lt;/i&gt; Terj. Muhammad Arif Rahman dan Muhammad Suharsono. Jakarta: Pustaka al-Kautsar, 2002.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: -1.27cm; font-family: georgia;" align="justify"&gt; Poltak Partogi Nainggolan, &lt;i&gt;Terorisme Dan Tata Dunia Baru&lt;/i&gt;, Jakarta: Pusat Pengkajian dan Pelayanan Informasi DPR-RI, 2002.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: georgia;" class="western" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote1"&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote1sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote1anc"&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Judul ini terinspirasi oleh judul film "Paradise Now"  sebuah film yang menggambarkan perjuangan pemuda Palestina dalam  memperjuangkan hak-haknya melawan kekejaman Isra'il. Film ini  setidaknya menunjukkan &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;kepada dunia luar apa  makna sesungguhnya dibalik aksi bom bunuh diri yang banyak dilakukan  oleh para pemuda dan kaum militan Palestina. Dalam ideologi mereka,  tindakan tersebut adalah jihad, sesuatu yang mulia dan heroik serta  menjadi jalan tercepat menuju Surga.  &lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote2"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote2sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote2anc"&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Mark Juergensmeyer, &lt;i&gt;Terror in The Mind of God: The Global Rise of  Religious Violence&lt;/i&gt; (Terj.), (Yogyakarta: Trawang Press, 2003),  hlm. 6. buku ini membahas tentang kekerasan dan fenomena kebangkitan  agama yang selama ini terjadi, tentu saja buku ini perlu diberi  catatan kritik, karena teror bisa mengatasnamakan apa saja, bukan  hanya faktor agama, tapi ada faktor-faktor yang lain, seperti  ekonomi, politik, ketimpangan budaya, derasnya arus globalisasi,  dll. yang satupun tidak pernah disinggung dalam buku ini.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote3"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote3sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote3anc"&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;  Istilah “Islam fundamentalis” awalnya dicetuskan sebagai  signifier bagi gerakan Salafiyyah Jamaluddin al-Afghani. Istilah ini  dicetuskan karena bahasa Eropa tidak punya istilah padanan yang  tepat untuk menerjemahkan istilah Salafiyah. Hasan Hanafi mengatakan  bahwa term “Islam Fundamentalis” adalah istilah untuk menunjuk  gerakan kebangkitan Islam, revivalisme Islam dan gerakan Islam  kontemporer yang sering digunakan peneliti Barat lalu sering  digunakan oleh banyak pemikir. (Hasan Hanafi, &lt;i&gt;Al-Ushuliyyah wa  Al-‘Ashr,&lt;/i&gt; dalam Hasan Hanafi dan Abid al-Jabiry. &lt;i&gt;Hiwar  Al-Masyriq wa Al-Maghrib&lt;/i&gt; (Beirut, Muassasah Al-‘Arabiyyah,  1990), hlm. 23.   &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote4"&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote4sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote4anc"&gt;4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Abduh Zulfidar Akaha (ed.), &lt;i&gt;Terorisme  Konspirasi anti Islam&lt;/i&gt; (Jakarta: Pustaka al-Kautsar, 2002), hlm.  31. &lt;/span&gt;Fenomena yang diidentifikasikan sebagai gerakan teroris  itu muncul ditengah hegemoni Barat dalam hampir semua bidang.  Sementara disisi yang lain,  praktek tersebut kalau benar dilakukan  oleh kelompok Islam militan, hal itu dilakukan oleh kelompok  minoritas yang secara politis tertindas dan sedang memperjuangkan  eksistensi diri dan kelompoknya. Apabila tesis ini diangkat maka  akan menimbulkan sebuah pertanyaan kategoris. Persoalan teroris itu  fenomena Agama atau fenomena sosial. Dengan kata lain bila hal itu  fenomena sosial, maka salah satu sebabnya mungkin adalah ketimpangan  sosial. Tetapi apabila secara filosofis bentuk gerakan yang  dilakukan semata-mata dilandasi doktrin Agama dan berorietasi pada  perjuangan ideologi yang lahir atas interpretasi agama maka itu bisa  dianggap fenomena Agama, yang akhir-akhir sebagian orang menyebutnya  dengan jihad. &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote5"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.25cm; text-indent: 0cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote5sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote5anc"&gt;5&lt;/a&gt;  Nusron Wahid, &lt;i&gt;Islam, Demokrasi dan Terorisme,&lt;/i&gt; Kompas 28 Juni  2003&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote6"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote6sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote6anc"&gt;6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Azyumardi Azra, &lt;i&gt;Pergolakan Politik Islam, dari  Fundamentalisme, Moderinisme hingga Post-Modernisme&lt;/i&gt; (Jakarta:  Paramadina. 1996), hlm. 146.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote7"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote7sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote7anc"&gt;7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Abdul Wahid, &lt;i&gt;Kejahatan Terorisme Perspektif Agama, HAM, dan Hukum&lt;/i&gt;  (Bandung: PT Refika Aditama, 2004), hlm. 42.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote8"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote8sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote8anc"&gt;8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Pesantren yang dicap sebagai sarang teroris  diantaranya adalah pesantren PP al-Mukmin Ngruki Solo, karena  keterlibatan alumni pesantren ini dengan aksi-aksi terorisme di  Indonesia, selain itu, karena pesantren ini diasuh oleh seorang Amir  jama’ah Islamiyah di Asia Tenggara yang merupakan tangan kanan  jaringan organisasi teroris internasional al-Qaeda.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote9"&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="text-indent: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote9sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote9anc"&gt;9&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Nama-nama Pangeran Diponegoro bersama Kiai Maja  dan Sentot Alibasyah, adalah perpaduan trio birokrat nasionalis,  figur ulama, dan panglima perang, yang mengobarkan Perang Diponegoro  (1825-1830). Perang terbesar dan terberat bagi Belanda di Pulau  Jawa. Begitu pula, Imam Bonjol  pada Perang Padri  di Sumatra Barat,  Teuku Umar pada Perang Aceh, Kiai Hasan pada  peristiwa Cimareme,  Garut, Kiai Haji Zaenal Mustopa pada peristiwa melawan Jepang di  Singaparna, Tasikmalaya.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote10"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote10sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote10anc"&gt;10&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Richard Bagun, &lt;i&gt;Indonesia di Peta Terorisme Global, &lt;/i&gt;dalam Moh.  Arif Setiawan,&lt;i&gt; Kriminalisasi Tereorisme di Indonesia dalam era  Globalisasi,&lt;/i&gt; artikel pada &lt;b&gt;Jurnal Hukum&lt;/b&gt;, edisi nomor : 21  vol. 9 2002, hlm. 71. &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote11"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote11sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote11anc"&gt;11&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Sanford H. Kadis, &lt;i&gt;Ensyclopaedia of Crime and justice,&lt;/i&gt; 1983,  hlm. 1530. dalam Hanafi Amrani, “Kebijakan Kriminalisasi terhadap  Terorisme”, Makalah pada Seminar Regional, Pembahasan di seputar  RUU anti Terorisme Tinjauan Politik dan Hukum, Fakultas Hukum UII,  Yogyakarta, 14 Maret 2001. &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote12"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote12sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote12anc"&gt;12&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Dan Smith, &lt;i&gt;On Terror and Terrorism,&lt;/i&gt; 2001, &lt;i&gt;Ibid.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote13"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote13sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote13anc"&gt;13&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Jourdan Pust, "Divisional Focus", dalam Yonah Alexander  and Saymour Max Well Finger (ed.), &lt;i&gt;Terorism : Interdisiplinery  Perspektives&lt;/i&gt; (New York : John Jay Press, 1977), hlm. 19,  Abdullah Ahmed An-Na'im, &lt;i&gt;Dekontruksi Syari'ah, Wacana Kebebasan  Sipil, Hak Asasi Manusia dan Hubungan Internasional dalam Islam,  &lt;/i&gt;alih bahasa Ahmad Suaedi dan Amirudin ar-Rani, cet. 2  (Yogyakarta: LKiS, 1997), hlm. 295-296.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote14"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote14sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote14anc"&gt;14&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Jawahir Tantowi, &lt;i&gt;Islam, Politik dan Hukum&lt;/i&gt; (Yogyakarta: Madyan  Press, 2002), hlm. 64.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote15"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote15sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote15anc"&gt;15&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;i&gt;Ibid.&lt;/i&gt;, hlm. 67.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote16"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote16sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote16anc"&gt;16&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Luis Ma'luf, &lt;i&gt;al-Munjid fi al-Lughah wa  al-'Alam&lt;/i&gt; (Beirut: Dar al-Masyriq, 1986), &lt;/span&gt;hlm. &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;106.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote17"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote17sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote17anc"&gt;17&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  A. Warson Munawwir, &lt;i&gt;Kamus al-Munawwir&lt;/i&gt; (Surabaya: Pustaka  Progresif, 2002), hlm. 217.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote18"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote18sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote18anc"&gt;18&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Ibn Manzhur, &lt;i&gt;Lisan al-Arab,&lt;/i&gt; Jilid 3  (Mesir: Dar al-Misriyah, tt.), hlm. 133.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote19"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote19sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote19anc"&gt;19&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  &lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;Ibrahim al-Bajuri, &lt;i&gt;Hasyiyah al-Bajuri ‘ala  ibn Qasim al-Ghazy,&lt;/i&gt; Juz II (Semarang: Thoha Putra, tt.), hlm.  267.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote20"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote20sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote20anc"&gt;20&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Lihat,  Ibrahim al-Bajuri, &lt;i&gt;Hasyiyah al-Bajuri…, Ibid., &lt;/i&gt;hlm. 261.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote21"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote21sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote21anc"&gt;21&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Ahmad bin ‘Ali Ibnu Hajar al-Asqalani, &lt;i&gt;Fathu al-Bari Syarh  Sahih lil al-Imam Abi Abdillah Muhammad Ibnu Isma’il al-Bukhari,&lt;/i&gt;  Maktabah Salafiya. &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote22"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote22sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote22anc"&gt;22&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Abu al-’Ala al-Maududi, &lt;i&gt;Pokok-pokok Pandangan Hidup Muslim,&lt;/i&gt;  Terj. Osman Ralibi (Jakarta: Bulan Bintang, 1992), hm. 94-96.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote23"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote23sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote23anc"&gt;23&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Samsurizal Panggabean, "Makna Jihad dalam al-Qur'an",  dalam Jurnal&lt;b&gt; Islamika,&lt;/b&gt; No. 4 April-Juni 1994, hlm. 99.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote24"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" align="left"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote24sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote24anc"&gt;24&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Muhammad Fu'ad Abd al-Baqi, &lt;i&gt;al-Mu'jam al-Mufahras li al-Fadzil  al-Qur'an&lt;/i&gt; (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1978), hlm. 183.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote25"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" align="left"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote25sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote25anc"&gt;25&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Terdapat perbedaan antara sifat wajibnya jihad, apakah &lt;i&gt;fardu 'ain&lt;/i&gt;  atau &lt;i&gt;fadu kifayah. &lt;/i&gt;Hal ini tergantung pemaknaan tentang jihad  itu sendiri, jika jihad diartikan sebagai perang fisik maka hukumnya  &lt;i&gt;fardu kifayah,&lt;/i&gt; akan tetapi jika diartikan dalam pengertian  yang umum yaitu mengerahkan segenap kemampuan untuk mengharap ridla  Allah maka hukumnya &lt;i&gt;fardu 'ain.&lt;/i&gt; Karena hal ini siapa saja  bisa melakukannya.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote26"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote26sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote26anc"&gt;26&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Abu Bakar, "Jihad dalam al-Qur'an, Suatu Kajian dengan  Pendekatan Tafsir Maudlu'i", dalam Jurnal &lt;b&gt;Dialogia,&lt;/b&gt; Vol.  2 Juli-Desember 2004, hlm. 20.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote27"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote27sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote27anc"&gt;27&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Abd al-Baqi Ramdlan, &lt;i&gt;al-Jihad Sabiluna&lt;/i&gt; (Solo: Pustaka Alaq,  1990), hlm. 26.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote28"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote28sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote28anc"&gt;28&lt;/a&gt;  Asad al-Kalili, &lt;i&gt;Kamus Indonesia Arab&lt;/i&gt;, cet. I (Jakarta: Bulan  Bintang, 1987) hlm. 563.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote29"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote29sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote29anc"&gt;29&lt;/a&gt;  Al-A’raf (7) : 116, 154, Al-Anfal (8) : 60, Al-Baqoroh (2) : 40,  An-Nahl (16) : 51, Al-Qashash (28) : 32, Al-Hasyr (29) : 13,  Al-Anbiya’ (21) : 90, Al-Hudud (57) : 27, Al-Ma’idah (5) : 82,  At-Taubah (9) : 31, At-Taubah (9) : 34.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote30"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; text-indent: 0cm;" align="left"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote30sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote30anc"&gt;30&lt;/a&gt;  Shahifah Rabitah, 4 Syawal 1422 H 18 Januari 2002.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote31"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote31sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote31anc"&gt;31&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span lang="sv-SE"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Azyumardi  Azra, &lt;i&gt;Pergolakan Politik, &lt;/i&gt;hlm. 146.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;   &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote32"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote32sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote32anc"&gt;32&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;i&gt;Ibid.,&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote33"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote33sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote33anc"&gt;33&lt;/a&gt;  Jaih Mubarok, “Fatwa tentang Protes Politis di Indonesia” dalam  Kamaruddin Amin, dkk. (ed.) &lt;i&gt;Quo Vadis Islamic Studies in  Indonesia Current Trends and Future Challanges&lt;/i&gt; (Jakarta: Depag  RI, 2006), hlm. 122.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote34"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;"&gt;&lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote34sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote34anc"&gt;34&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;i&gt;Ibid., &lt;/i&gt; hlm. 123.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote35"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote35sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote35anc"&gt;35&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Istisyhadiyyah &lt;/i&gt;adalah  mengharap dan berusaha mendapatkan mati syahid dengan cara terbunuh  di jalan Allah, sebagaimana yang disyari’atkannya.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote36"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote36sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote36anc"&gt;36&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;  Luthfi Assyaukani, &lt;i&gt;Politik, HAM, dan Isu-isu Teknologi dalam Fiqh  Kontemporer&lt;/i&gt; (Jakarta: Pustaka Hidayah, 1998), hlm. 9-11.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: georgia;" id="sdfootnote37"&gt;  &lt;p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;" align="justify"&gt;  &lt;a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote37sym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;amp;postID=4994825822857636377#sdfootnote37anc"&gt;37&lt;/a&gt;  Nawal Hail Takruri, &lt;i&gt;Aksi Bunuh Diri atau Mati Syahid,&lt;/i&gt; Terj.  Muhammad Arif Rahman dan Muhammad Suharsono (Jakarta: Pustaka  al-Kautsar, 2002), hlm. 17.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1979959575268777686-4994825822857636377?l=politeiapress.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/feeds/4994825822857636377/comments/default' title='Poskan Komentar'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;postID=4994825822857636377&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Komentar'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/4994825822857636377'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/4994825822857636377'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/2007/12/article-terorisme.html' title='article terorisme...'/><author><name>Akhmad Satori, S.IP., M.S.I</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10162413634737027621</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1979959575268777686.post-701435276182685869</id><published>2007-11-25T20:07:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-11-25T20:09:28.635-08:00</updated><title type='text'>New Articel2</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;Konsep Ibnu Khaldun Tentang&lt;br /&gt;Pemerintah dan Negara&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Akhmad Satori, S.IP&lt;br /&gt;05.234.339&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A. Pendahuluan&lt;br /&gt;Ibnu Khaldun adalah seorang ahli pikir Islam yang jenius dan termasyhur dikalangan intelektual modern.  Dalam karya-karya Ibnu Khaldun dapat dilihat penguasaanya terhadap berbagai disiplin Ilmu Pengetahuan, seperti sejarah, sosiologi, dan Politik, sehingga tidak mengherankan apabila Ibnu Khaldun dikategorikan menjadi ahli sejarah, sosiologi dan politik. Bahkan banyak orang yang mengatakan bahwa Ibnu Khaldun adalah makhluk yang paling penting dan paling terhormat dalam alam semesta.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dalam mengemukakan konsep politiknya Ibnu Khaldun tidak dapat lepas dari kenyataan yang dihadapi dan dialaminya.  Disatu pihak ia melihat ikatan-ikatan bermasyarakat, bernegara dan berperadaban pada umumnya sebagai sesuatu yang berkembang terlepas dari agama, tetapi dipihak lain Ibnu Khaldun adalah seorang muslim dan tentu saja sangat mempengaruhi sikapnya dalam memandang masalah Tuhan, manusia dan masyarakat.  Walaupun begitu dalam catatan Deliar Noer, Ibnu Khaldun cukup objektif dalam mengemukakan pemikiran-pemikirannya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tulisan ini akan mencoba memberikan deskripsi mengenai konsep yang ditawarkan oleh Ibnu Khaldun mengenai Negara dan pemerintah, dengan fokus kajian thesis utamanya mengenai Ashabiyah dan perannya dalam pembentukan negara, kejayaan dan keruntuhannya.  Kemudian pada bagian akhir tulisan ini, penulis mencoba melihat  dan mencermati lebih mendalam relevansi teori dan pemikiran yang dibangun oleh Ibnu Khaldun terhadap perkembangan negara modern.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;B.   Biografi dan Setting Sosial Ibnu Khaldun&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun bernama lengkap Waliudin Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakar Muhammad bin Khaldun al-Hadrami, lahir di Tunisia, 1 Ramadhan 732 H/ 27 Mei 1332 M.  Ia berasal dari Hadramaut (Yaman), dan silsilahnya sampai kepada salah seorang sahabat Nabi Muhammad SAW, Wali bin Hujr dari Kabilah Kindah.  Cucu Wali bernama Khalid bin Usman memasuki daerah Andalusia pada abad ke-3 H.  Anak cucu Khalid bin Usman ini kelak membentuk keluarga bani Khaldun, asal nama Ibu Khaldun.  Bani Khaldun ini tumbuh dan berkembang di kota Qarmunah (Carmona) di Andalusia (Spanyol), selanjutnya hijrah ke Isybilia (Sevilla), tempat banyak anak cucu Bani Khaldun menduduki jabatan penting dalam pemerintahan&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Pada masa kecilnya di Tunisia, ia belajar berbagai cabang Ilmu Pengetahuan, seperti mantik, filsafat, fiqih, dan sejarah. Ia juga menghafal al-Qur’an serta mempelajari ilmu bahasa dan tajwid.  Guru pertamanya adalah ayahnya sendiri, dan selanjutnya ulama Andalusia yang karena kemelut di Andalusia hijrah ke Tunisia, bersamaan dengan naiknya Abu al-Hasan, Pemimpin Bani Marin (1347). Studinya terhenti ketika tiba-tiba sebagian belahan dunia timur terjangkit wabah pes, pada 797 H/ 1348 M, sehingga banyak tokoh politik dan ulama yang hijrah ke Andalusia&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4"&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun menghabiskan lebih dari dua pertiga umurnya di kawasan Afrika Barat laut, yang sekarang ini berdiri negara-negara Tunisia, Aljazair dan Maroko serta Andalusia yang terletak di ujung selatan Spanyol.  Pada zaman ini kawasan tersebut tidak pernah menikmati sebuah stabilitas dan ketenangan politik, sebaliknya merupakan kancah perebutan dan kekuasaan antar dinasti dan juga pemberontakan sehingga kawasan itu atau sebagian darinya sering berpindah tangan dari satu dinasti ke dinasti yang lain.  Kenyataan tersebut sangat mewarnai hidup dan karir Ibnu Khaldun&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5"&gt;[5]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun meniti kariernya dibidang Pemerintahan dan politik di kawasan Afrika Barat dan Andalusia selama hampir seperempat abad.  Dalam kurun waktu itu lebih dari sepuluh kali dia berpindah jabatan dan seringkali bergeser loyalitas dari satu dinasti ke dinasti yang lain dan dari satu pengusaha ke pengusaha yang lain pada dinasti yang sama.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6"&gt;[6]&lt;/a&gt;  Pada usia 21 tahun (751 H/ 1350 M), ia diangkat sebagai sekretaris Sultan al-Fadl dari Dinasti Hafs, tetapi ia kemudian berhenti karena penguasa ini kalah perang (753 H/1352 M), dan Ibnu Khaldun pun terdampar di kota Baskara, Maghribi Tengah (Aljazair).  Disini ia berusaha bertemu dengan Abu Anan dari Bani Marin, dan pada tahun 755 H/ 1354 ia diangkat menjadi anggota majelis Ilmu pengetahuan, dan kemudian menjadi sekretaris sultan.  Jabatan ini di pegangnya sampai tahun 763 H/1361 M dengan dua kali sempat dipenjara sampai saat Wazir Usman bin Abdullah marah kepadanya dan memerintahkannya untuk meninggalkan Tunisia. Ia pin pergi ke Granada pada tahun 764 H/ 1363 M tempat sultan Bani Ahmar memerintah.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7"&gt;[7]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Ketika hubungannya dengan Sultan mengalami keretakan, ia berpindah haluan kepada Abu Abdillah Muhammad, pemimpin Bani Hafs yang kemudian mengangkatnya sebagai Perdana Menteri merangkap khatib negara, sampai Bijayah jatuh tangan Sultan Abu al-Abbas Ahmad.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8"&gt;[8]&lt;/a&gt;.   Pada masa ini, Ibnu Khaldun di angkat lagi sebagai perdana menteri, sampai ia pergi ke Baskarah.  Di Baskarah ini ia berkirim surat untuk memberikan dukungan kepada Sultan Tilmisan dari Bani Abdil Wad, Abu Hammu.  Sultan memberikan jabatan penting di dalam kesultanannya, tetapi ditolak oleh Ibnu Khaldun. Dan mengusulkan kakaknya yang bernama Yahya untuk menjadi  pengganti posisinya.  Namun demikian, Ibnu Khaldun tetap membantunya mengumpulkan beberapa suku untuk memihak kepada Abu Hammu melawan Abu Abbas.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9"&gt;[9]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Setelah mengabdi kepada pemerintah yang satu dengan yang lain, Ibnu Khaldun merasa lelah dalam petualangan politiknya.  Ketika Abu Hamu memintanya untuk mencari dukungan politik  dari para suku lebih banyak, dia memanfaatkan kesempatan ini untuk meninggalkan politik.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10"&gt;[10]&lt;/a&gt;  Sekalipun usahanya tidak pernah lelah namun dia gagal membawa perdamaian diantara negara-negara kecil di Afrika dan memutuskan untuk mengasingkan diri di Oran, pinggiran kota Tunisia, disinilah selama empat tahun dia mencurahkan dirinya untuk meneliti sejarah dan menulis Muqaddimah.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11"&gt;[11]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Pada tahun 780 H/1378 M, Ibnu Khaldun kembali ketanah airnya, Tunisia.  Disana ia merevisi kitab al-Ibar–nya.  Kemudian pada tahun 784 H/1382 M a berangkat ke Iskandariyah, Mesir, untuk menghindari kekacauan politik di Maghribi, kemudian ia pergi ke Kairo.  Di Kairo Ibnu Khaldun mengambil jalur di dunia pendidikan, selain sebagai seorang hakim di pengadilan.  Disini ia sangat disukai karena penjelasannya yang mengesankan mengenai berbagai fenomena sosial.  Ibnu Khaldun wafat pada tahun 808 H/ 1406 M, tak lama setelah ditunjuk keenam kalinya sebagai hakim.  Dia dimakamkan dikawasan pemakaman orang sufi di Kairo.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12"&gt;[12]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;C. Corak Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun.&lt;br /&gt;            Berbicara mengenai pemikiran seorang tokoh, maka kita tidak bisa melepaskan diri dari dua hal yaitu epistimologi dan teori.  Secara garis besar ada dua aliran pokok dalam epistemologi. Pertama adalah idealisme atau lebih populer dengan sebutan rasionalism, yaitu aliran pemikiran yang menekankan pentingnya akal, idea sebagai sumber ilmu pengetahuan, peran panca indera dinomor duakan.  Sedang aliran yang kedua adalah realism atau empiricism yang lebih menekankan pancaindera sebagai sumber sekaligus alat untuk memperoleh ilmu pengetahuan., sedang peran akal dinomorduakan&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13"&gt;[13]&lt;/a&gt;  Dalam sejarah filsafat, Plato (427-347 SM) dan Aristoteles (384-322 SM) merupakan prototype cikal bakal pergumulan antara kedua aliran tersebut&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14"&gt;[14]&lt;/a&gt;.  Lalu dimanakan posisi Ibnu Khaldun diantara dua aliran tersebut?.&lt;br /&gt;            Idealisme dan realisme adalah bentuk–bentuk gaya berfikir atau dengan menggunakan istilah thougt style.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15"&gt;[15]&lt;/a&gt;  Seringkali konsep tersebut dipertentangkan dan seakan akan keduanya tidak bisa didamaikan. Ibnu Khaldun menganggap kedua-duanya sama pentingnya.  Baginya apa yang harus terjadi sebenarnya sama dengan apa yang ada. Namun keduanya harus dipisahkan, masing-masing harus ditempatkan pada tempatnya tersendiri dan dijaga dari percampuradukan oleh bidang lain.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16"&gt;[16]&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun hidup di abad ke-14, dalam setiap pemikiranya tidak bisa lepas dari keadaan masanya, ia dipandang sebagai pemikir yang realis dan rasionalis, pemikirannya begitu rasional disamping tidak mengabaikan naql.  Pada dirinya terdapat perpaduan antara rasio dan naql yang serasi.  Menurut beberapa penulis, ibnu khaldun adalah pengikut al-Ghazali, dan menurut sebagian yang lain ia merupakan pengikut Ibnu Rusyd.  Dengan kombinasi untuk dari kedua corak pemikiran ini yang telah ada sebelumnya Ibnu Khaldun membangun teori yang sangat modern.&lt;br /&gt;            Dalam karyanya Muqaddimah, Ibnu Khaldun membangun logika-logika yang realistik, sebagaimana pengganti logika lama yang sangat idealistik.  Ibnu Khaldun berbeda dengan Machiavelli, sekalipun mereka membedakan diri dari intelektual sezaman mereka, terutama dalam menghadapi peristiwa sosial sebagai kerangka acuan yang benar-benar realistis.  Machaivelli  menolak idealisme dan menerima realisme, sedangkan Ibnu Khaldun tidak meremehkan makna sesuatu yang ideal dan relegius. Yang paling tidak disukainya adalah campur tangan idealisme agama dalam masalah-masalah kehidupan yang nyata.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17"&gt;[17]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dari sini terlihat dengan jelas karakteristik pemikirannya yang realistik dan melepaskan pengaruh idealistik dalam memahami fenomena kemasyarakatan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;D.   Ashabiyah&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18"&gt;[18]&lt;/a&gt; : Thesis Ibnu Khaldun Tentang Masyarakat&lt;br /&gt;            Salah satu sumbangan yang genuine, dari Ibnu Khaldun adalah teorinya mengenai Ashabiyah dan perannya dalam pembentukan negara, kejayaan dan keruntuhannya. Konsep ashabiyah ini merupakan poros utama dalam teori-teori sosial Ibnu Khaldun.  Menurut ibnu Khaldun ashabiyah lahir dari hubungan-hubungan darah (blood ties) dan ikatan yang menumbuhkannya.  Ikatan darah memunculkan perasaan cinta terhadap saudara dan kewajiban untuk menolong dan melindungi mereka dari tindak kekerasan.  Semakin dekat hubungan darah dan seringnya kontak diantara mereka, maka ikatan-ikatan dan solidaritas akan semakin kuat.  Tetapi sebaliknya semakin renggang hubungan  tersebut maka ikatan-ikatan tersebut akan semakin melemah. &lt;br /&gt;            Adapun tugas ashabiyah dalam kehidupan kemasyarakatan  menurut Ibnu Khaldun sangat dominan.  Ashabiyahlah yang telah menjadi motor dari kekuasaan dan karena itu dapat dikatakan yang menjadi penggerak utama dari sejarah manusia adalah ashabiyah. Ibnu Khaldun berpandangan tujuan ashabiyah adalah untuk mewujudkan al-mulk, karena ashabiyah mampu memberkan perlindungan, menumbuhkan pertahanan bersama, sanggup mendsarkan tuntutan-tuntutan dan kegiatan lain.  Dengan kata lain bahwa tujuan dari ashabiyah adalah superioritas (at-taghalul al-mulk).  &lt;br /&gt;            Dalam kehidupan bernegara (nation), Ibnu Khaldun melihat terdapat dua kekuatan dominan yang membentuk nasib-nasib mereka.  Kekuatan pertama adalah kekuatan primitif dan utama yang oleh Ibnu Khaldun disebut dengan Ashabiyah, atau elemen-elemen pengikat masyarakat, solidaritas sosial atau perasaan kelompok yang mampu menyatukan masyarakat, sebuah negara maupun sebuah kerajaan dan dalam kelompok yang lebih luas, dapat disamakan dengan patriotisme.  Akan tetapi patriotisme dan ashabiyah bukanlah merupakan sinonim meskipun dalam bentuk yang paling ekstrimnya, patriotisme adalah bentuk lain dari ashabiyah sebagaimana yang digambarkan oleh Ibnu Khaldun&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19"&gt;[19]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Ashabiyah akan muncul dan berkembang ketika perasaan untuk melindungi diri membangkitkan sense of kindship (rasa kekeluargaan) yang kuat dan mendorong manusia untuk menciptakan hubungan antara yang satu dengan yang lain.  Hal ini adalah kekuatan vital bagi suatu negara dimana dengannya, mereka akan tumbuh dan berkembang dan jika melemah, maka mereka akan mengalami kemunduran.  Kekuatan kedua adalah agama, Ibnu Khaldun mengembangkan suatu solideritas yang tanpanya negara tidak akan bisa eksis.  Agama merupakan pendukung ashabiyah dan pada dasarnya juga memperkuat ashabiyah, dengan kekuatan relegius ini bangsa arab dapat membangun suatu peradaban yang besar&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20"&gt;[20]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Sungguh demikian, menurut Ibnu Khaldun, apabila ashabiyah dan agama terhadap proses timbal balik, maka peranan ashabiyah dalam mendapatkan politik akan sangat besar dan memiliki kekuatan besar untuk menciptakan integritas kekuatan politik.  Sebaliknya apabila ashabiyat dan agama tidak beriringan maka kekuatan besarnya akan sirna begitu saja.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;D.   Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun tentang Negara dan Pemerintahan&lt;br /&gt;a.  Asal Mula Negara &lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun memulai pembicaraan mengenai negara berdasarkan pada kenyataan bahwa manusia adalah mahluk yang hidup berkelompok dan saling memerlukan bantuan.  Hal ini dilakukan manusia untuk bisa bertahan hidup dan untuk mendapatkan rasa aman.  Oleh karenanya diperlukan kerjasama antara sesama manusia.  Kerjasama tersebut membentuk suatu organisasi kemasyarakatan.  Dari sinilah Ibnu Khaldun mengatakan bahwa organisasi kemasyarakatan (al-itjma’ al-insani) adalah merupakan keharusan.  Karenanya, peradaban&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21"&gt;[21]&lt;/a&gt; umat manusia itu tidak lepas dari organisasi masyarakat tersebut.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22"&gt;[22]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Seperti yang telah di kemukakan diatas, Ibnu Khaldun berpandangan bahwa adanya organisasi kemasyarakatan merupakan suatu keharusan bagi hidup masyarakat, karena sesungguhnya manusia memiliki watak hidup bermasyarakat.  Tatanan sosial akan berubah dalam suatu masyarakat, sehingga masyarakat yang lain senantiasa kemudian mengikuti faktor-faktor yang di miliki oleh masyarakat pertama, yaitu menyangkut iklim, cuaca, tanah, makanan, sumber tambang, kemampuan berfikir, jiwa dan emosi mereka.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23"&gt;[23]&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;            Setelah organisasi kemasyarakatan terbentuk dan peradaban merupakan suatu kenyataan di duna ini, maka masyarakat membutuhkan seseorang dengan pengaruhya dapat bertindak sebagai penengah dan pemisah antara anggota masyarakat.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24"&gt;[24]&lt;/a&gt;  Menurutnya, peran sebagai penengah dan pemisah hanya dapat dilakukan oleh seseorang dari anggota masyarakat itu sendiri.  Seseorang tersebut harus berpengaruh kuat atas anggota-anggota masyarakat, harus mempunyai kekuasaan dan otoritas atas mereka sehingga tidak seorangpun di antara anggota masyarakat dapat mengganggu atau menyerang sesama anggota masyarakat yang lain.  Tokoh yang mempunyai kekuasaan, otoritas dan wibawa tersebut adalah raja, khalifah atau kepala negara.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25"&gt;[25]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;b.  Kedudukan dan Syarat-Syarat Kepala Negara&lt;br /&gt;            Berbicara tentang kedudukan kepala negara, seperti yang telah di kemukakan diatas. Ibnu Khaldun berpandangan bahwa kehadiran seorang pemimpin baik itu seorang raja atau kepala negara&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26"&gt;[26]&lt;/a&gt; sebagai penengah, pemisah dan sekaligus pemegang otoritas itu merupakan suatu keharusan bagi kehidupan bersama dalam suatu masyarakat atau negara, hal ini didasarkan pada ajaran agama yang mengatakan bahwa tugas manusia adalah memelihara kelestarian dan kemakmuran alam semesta dan seisinya termasuk umat manusia selain itu manusia juga bertugas untuk melakukan perbuatan yang bersifat membangun dunia ini.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27"&gt;[27]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Namun demikian, pandangannya mengenai arti penting seorang pemimpin dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat tidak hanya berdasarkan pada wahyu Tuhan atau ajaran agama, sebagaimana yang disebut diatas.  Tetapi lebih di tekankan pada hasil pengamatannya terhadap perkembangan kehidupan.  Dalam pandangannya seseorang yang dapat bertindak sebagai raja haruslah memiliki superioritas atau keunggulan, sehingga mempunyai otoritas untuk mengambil keputusan.  Hal ini sangat berkaitan dengan syarat-syarat untuk menduduki sebagai kepala negara.  lalu apakah syarat-syarat sebagai kepala negara tersebut? &lt;br /&gt;            Menurut Ibnu Khaldun, syarat-syarat kepala negara ialah:  Pertama, ia harus berpengetahuan di sertai kesanggupan untuk mrengambil keputusan-keputusan sesuai syariat. Kedua, ia harus seorang yang adalah artinya bersifat jujur, berpegang pada keadilan, dan pada umumnya mempunyai sifat-sifat moral yang baik, sehingga kata-katanya dapat dipegang dan ucapannya dapat dipercaya.  Adalah  juga menunjukan tentang ketentuan-ketentuan yang harus dipenuhi sebagai seseorang yang tahu akan kewajibannya, misalnya dalam menjadi saksi.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28"&gt;[28]&lt;/a&gt;  Ketiga, ia mempunyai kesanggupan dalam menjalankan tugas-tugas yang dituntut oleh seorang kepala negara, termasuk melaksanakan hukuman-hukuman yang diputuskan secara konsekuen. Ia harus menegakan hukum dan harus juga sanggup untuk, kalau perlu pergi dan memimpin perang.  Keempat, ia secara fisik dan mental harus bebas dari cacat-cacat yang tidak memungkinkan ia menjalankan tugas sebagai kepala negara dengan baik. &lt;br /&gt;            Sebuah syarat lagi yang sering dikemukakan oleh banyak pihak dalam kalangan Islam pada masa Ibnu Khaldun dan masa sebelumnya ialah kepala negara itu haruslah seorang keturunan Quraisy, dari suku Muhammad.  tentang ini Ibnu Khaldun berpendapat bahwa syarat tersebut bergantung pada sikap rasa golongan Arab sehingga syarat keturunan Quraisy itu  tidak dapat dipertahankan lagi.&lt;br /&gt;c.   Pengangkatan Kepala Negara&lt;br /&gt;            Dalam pemikirannya mengenai negara, Ibnu Khaldun sebenarnya tidak menjelaskan secara terperinci mengenai mekhanisme pengangkatan kepala negara, namun seperti yang dijelaskan dalam Munawir Sadjali&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29"&gt;[29]&lt;/a&gt;, Ibnu Khadun menyebutkan salah  satu syarat untuk menduduki kepala negara, khalifah ataupun imam, menurutnya seorang calon harus dipilih oleh ahlul hal wa al-aqdi, yaitu orang-orang yang mempunyai kompetensi, di samping syarat-syarat lain seperti yang telah dijelaskan diatas. &lt;br /&gt;            Kemudian dalam menjalankan kekuasaannya seorang kepala negara akan sangat membutuhkan dukungan dari (1) Para professional di bidang birokrasi, termasuk didalamnya para cendekiawan atau kaum terpelajar, yang dapat menata dan menjalankan roda pemerintahan sehari-hari,  dan (2) kekuatan tentara yang dapat lebih efisien dalam menjaga negara dan kekuasaannya dari setiap ancaman atau gangguan dari luar.&lt;br /&gt;d.   Tipologi Negara&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun menemukan suatu tipologi negara dengan tolok ukur kekuasaan.  Ia membagi negara menjadi dua kelompok; pertama, negara dengan ciri kekuasaan alamiah (al-mulk al-thabiy),  yang kedua negara dengan ciri kekuasaan politik (al-mulk al-siyasyi).  Tipologi negara pertama ditandai dengan kekuasaan sewenang-wenang (depotisme) dan cenderung pada hukum rimba.  Disini keunggulan dan kekuatan sangat berperan dan prinsip keadilan sangat diabaikan dan pada gilirannya akan membentuk suatu negara yang tidak berperadaban.&lt;br /&gt;            Tipe negara kedua yaitu Negara dengan ciri-ciri kekuasaan politik di kelompokan lagi menjadi tiga tipe yaitu&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30"&gt;[30]&lt;/a&gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;1.  Negara hukum demokrasi Islam (siyasat diniyat),&lt;br /&gt;2.  Negara hukum sekuler (siyasat aqliyat), dan&lt;br /&gt;3.  Negara Republik ala Plato (siyasat madaniyat)&lt;br /&gt;            Negara hukum demokrasi Islam (siyasat diniyat) adalah negara yang menjadikan syariah (hukum Islam) sebagai fondasinya.  Malcom Kerr, menamakannya dengan Istilah nomokrasi Islam.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31"&gt;[31]&lt;/a&gt; Karakteristik Siyasah Diniyah menurut Ibnu Khaldun ialah selain al-Qur'an dan al-Hadist, akal manusiapun sama-sama berperan dan berfungsi dalam kehidupan Negara.&lt;br /&gt;            Menurut Ibnu Khaldun, Tipe negara yang paling baik adalah nomokrasi Islam, karena siyasah aqliyah (negara sekuler) hanya, mendasarkan pada hukum sebagai hasil rasio manusia tanpa mengindahkan hukum dengan sumber wahyu.  Sedangkan Siyasat Madaniyat (Republik Plato) merupakan suatu negara yang diperintah oleh segelintir orang dari golongan elit atas sebagian besar golongan budak yang tidak mempunyai kekuatan politik.&lt;br /&gt;            Yang menarik dari klasifikasi Ibnu Khaldun mengenai tipologi Negara ialah pendekatanya dengan menggunakan kekuasaan sebagai a generik term dan pembagian kekuasaan itu menurut krateria untuk menentukan tipe kelompok apa dari suatu siyasi.  Disini bisa dipahami tampaknya Ibnu Khaldun berpegang pada suatu hipotesis makin tinggi tingkat peradaban manusia, makin baik tipe negaranya.  Tetapi menurutnya ciri ideal suatu Negara adalah kombinasi antara syariat dengan kaidah-kaidah hokum yang diterapkan manusia berdasarkan atas akalnya.  Tetapi penggunaan akal tersebut tetap merujuk pada syariat.  Jadi suatu tingkat peradaban tinggi semata-mata bukan berarti ideal.&lt;br /&gt; e.   Tahap Perkembangan Negara      &lt;br /&gt;            Adapun mengenai umur suatu negara, Ibnu Khaldun mengatakan bahwa  masyarakat manusia akan berjalan mengikuti tahap-tahap berjenjang, seperti halnya tahapan yang dilalui manusia sejak lahir hingga ia kemudian wafat.  Begitu pula dengan negara, sama dengan individu memiliki umur yang alami.  Umur suatu negara biasanya hanya tiga generasi dengan hitungan satu generasi sama dengan empat puluh tahun, maka dengan demikian umur suatu negara menurutnya adalah seratus dua puluh tahun.  Umur tiga generasi tersebut dibagi menjadi empat tahapan, yang harus dilalui oleh masyarakat tersebut.&lt;br /&gt;            Pertama, tahap primitive (al-badawah).  Perhatian individu dalam tahap ini hanyalah tertuju kepada penghidupannya.  Dia memiliki sifat yang keras untuk menghidupi dirinya, bahkan siap mencaplok orang lain dengan kejam. Tanda lainya adalah fanatisme terhadap keturunannya. Kedua, tahap kepemilikan (al-mulk).  Pada tahap ini, kekuasaan masyarakat terpusat pada tangan seseorang, keluarga atau suatu golongan.  Fanatisme pada tahap ini dilakukan secara terang-terangan.  Bahkan selalu melekat pada jiwa setiap manusia.  Masyarakat pada tahap ini, beralih dari penghematan ke pemborosan, dari masyarakat yang primitive ke masyarakat yang beradab.&lt;br /&gt;            Ketiga, tahap beradab dan kemakmuran. Pada tahap ini, individu masyarakat telah melupakan makna kekarasannya. Mereka telah meninggalkan fanatisme dan kesukaan berperangnya. Dan mereka telah meninggalkan masa produktifnya, sehingga memberatkan negara.  Kemampuan penguasa menurun, tetapi keterlibatan mereka dalam bersenang-senang meningkat. Keempat, adalah tahap kelemahan, kerusakan akhlak, dan kemunduran.  Pada tahap ini, negara menjadi mangsa yang empuk untuk diserang musuh dari luar.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32"&gt;[32]&lt;/a&gt;          Setelah mengalami keempat tahapan tersebut, maka pada akhirnya semua negara akan mengalami kehancuran. Kehancuran ini menurut Ibnu khaldun  merupakan hal yang alamiah, pada akhirnya semua negara akan runtuh dan akan digantikan oleh negara lain.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;E.  Relevansi Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun terhadap perkembangan Negara Modern&lt;br /&gt;            Seperti apa yang telah di uraikan diatas, Ibnu Khaldun menjelaskan persoalan jatuh bangunnya kekuasaan.  Menurut pandangannya kekuasaan akan jatuh apabila melupakan solidaritas kelompok pendukungnya, sebaliknya akan tetap bertahan selama solidaritas tersebut tetap terjaga dengan baik.  Solidaritas inilah yang menggerakan dan mendorong orang untuk terus maju dan mencapai tujuan.&lt;br /&gt;            Perspektif Ibnu Khaldun diatas penulis kira bisa digunakan sebagai tool of analysis runtuhnya kekuasaan rezim Orde Baru, dalam pandangannya, kekuasaan yang dijalankan oleh Orde Baru ini adalah tipe kekuasaan yang dominatif, dan refresif.  Masyarakat di bawah kekuasaan seperti ini akan hidup dalam tekanan rasa takut.  Kondisi seperti ini bisa menyebabkan hilangnya ashabiyah suatu kelompok masyarakat terhadap pemimpin yang sebelumnya didukung.  Seiring dengan itu, kekuasaannya pun menjadi semakin terpusat, meninggalkan solidaritas rakyat sebagai modal politiknya dan menggantikan solidaritas tersebut dengan tentara dan birokrasi sebagai basis utama pendukungnya.  Selain itu kekusaan Orde Baru telah tenggelam dalam gaya hidup bermewah mewah, akibatnya kekuasaan kemudian tidak lagi berdiri atas mandat rakyat, tetapi melalui kekuatan tentara dan birokrasi yang merekayasa kekuasaan atas nama rakyat. Menurut Ibnu Khaldun, apabila sebuah kekuasaan telah tenggelam dalam hidup bermewah-mewah dengan melakukan korupsi dan penyitaan hak milik rakyat, maka 'ashabiyah' yang semula mengantarkan nya kepuncak kekuasaan negara segera akan hancur.&lt;br /&gt;            Apabila ashabiyah yang dimiliki oleh penguasa telah melemah maka ia akan segera digantikan oleh ashabiyah lain yang lebih kuat.  Sekalipun dalam memperebutkan kekuasaan Negara akan terjadi pertarungan antar tokoh dengan basis pendukung yang berbeda-beda.  Namun hanya tokoh yang mempunyai ashabiyah yang kuatlah yang bisa merebut kekuasaan.  Ashabiyah yang paling kuat terbentuk melalui penggabungan dari beberapa ashabiyah yang kecil.  Atau, seorang pemimpin yang mempunyai ashabiyah lemah melakukan koalisi antar ashabiyah lemah yang lain membentuk ashabiyah yang lebih kuat.&lt;br /&gt;            Disini, dapat disimpulkan bahwa setidaknya ada tiga hal dalam persfektif Ibnu Khaldun yang menyebabkan jatuhnya kekuasaan Orde Baru, yaitu pertama, karena kekuasaannya semakin terpusat; kedua, meninggalkan ashabiyah rakyat dan menggantikanya dengan tentara dan birokrasi sebagai basis utama pendukung kekuasaannya semakin terpusat; dan ketiga, karena kekuasaan Orde Baru tenggelam dalam kemewahan dengan melakukan korupsi dan merampas hak rakyat.&lt;br /&gt;             Tidaklah heran bila fenomena yang sekarang terjadi adalah maraknya gerakan separatisme yang ‘menggugat’ integrasi wilayah republik Indonesia.  Lepasnya Timor Timur dari wilayah negara kesatuan , tuntutan merdeka di beberapa daerah, pengibaran bendera GAM, di Aceh, munculnya gerakan separatis Papua Merdeka di bumi Papua, dan berbagai gerakan separatis lainya, adalah bukti nyata betapa lemahnya solidaritas nasional kita.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;F.  Penutup&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun adalah seorang politisi yang sangat memahami dunia politik di dunia Islam pada abad keempat belas.  Dengan melihat terjadinya keruntuhan dan kelemahan yang menimpa dunia Islam pada umumnya ketika itu, dan mengamati sendiri kemunduran kebudayaan Arab-Islam di Andalusia di bawah tekanan pasukan Spanyol, tidaklah mengherankan bila pemikirannya mengenai negara dan pemerintahan sangat realistik dan terpengaruh oleh setting sosial politik yang terjadi pada masa itu. &lt;br /&gt;            Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun tentang perkembangan negara bisa menjadi contoh betapa ia sangat pesimistis melihat eksistensi negara, ia cenderung mengakui bahwa segala sesuatu itu pada akhirnya akan hancur, termasuk negara.  Menurutnya pada akhirnya negara akan mengalami proses dialektika, hal ini bisa dilihat ketika Ibnu Khaldun menjelaskan mengenai kelima tahap perkembangan negara.  Yang menarik adalah bila kita cermati lebih mendalam pemikiran-pemikiran yang dibangun oleh Ibnu Khaldun, kiranya bisa kita lihat relevansi teori-teori tersebut apabila di aplikasikan kedalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Karena itu kiranya pemikiran-pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun perlu lebih di elaborasi lebih mendalam dan diperdebatkan secara kritis. Wallahualam&lt;br /&gt;Daftar Pustaka&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Abdullah, M. Amin, Aspek Epistemologis Filsafat Islam, dalam Irma Fatimah (ed.), Filsafat Islam : Ontologis, Epistemologis, Aksiologis, Historis, Prosfektif,               Yogyakarta : LESFI, 1992.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Afandi, Hakimul Ikhwan, Akar Konflik Sepanjang Zaman : wlaborasi Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun, Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar, 2004.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Baali, Fuad dan Ali Wardi, Ibnu Khaldun dan Pemikiran Islam, alih bahasa, Ahmad Thaha, Jakarta : Pustaka Firdaus, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jhon L. Esposito (ed), Ensiklopedi Dunia Islam Modern, Jilid I ( Bandung : Penerbit Mizan, 2001),&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Khudhairi, Zainab, Filasafat Sejarah Ibnu Khaldun, alih bahasa Ahmad Rafi’. Cet.I; Bandung : Pustaka, 1987.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Myers, Eugene. A, Zaman Keemasan Islam : Para Ilmuwan Muslim dan Pengaruhnya Terhadap Dunia Barat, alih bahasa, M. Maufur al-Khoiri, Yogyakarta : Fajar Pustaka Utama, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Noer, Deliar, Pemikiran Politik Barat. Cet. IV. Bandung : Mizan Pustaka, 2001&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Raliby, Osman, Ibnu Khaldun Tentang Masyarakat dan Negara.  Cet. IV. Jakarta : Bulan Bintang,1978.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sjadzali, Munawir., Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Suharto, Toto, Epistemologi Sejarah Kritis Ibnu Khaldun, Yogyakarta : Fajar Pustaka Baru, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zainuddin, Rahman, Ilmu Sejarah, Sosial dan Politik, dalam Ensiklopedi Tematis Dunia Islam, Edisi II; Jakarta : PT Ichtiar Baru Van Hoeve, 2002.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;----------   , Kekuasaan dan Negara : Pemikiran Politik Ibnu Khaldun, Jakarta : Gramedia Pustak Utama, 1992.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Edisi RevisiKonsep Ibnu Khaldun Tentang&lt;br /&gt;Pemerintah dan Negara&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Disusun untuk Kuliah Presentasi&lt;br /&gt;Pemikiran Politik dalam Islam&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dosen pengampu :&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Abd. Salam Arief, M. A.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oleh :&lt;br /&gt;Akhmad Satori, S. IP.&lt;br /&gt;05.234.339&lt;br /&gt;                                   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PROGRAM PASCASARJANA&lt;br /&gt;KONSENTRASI STUDI POLITIK DAN PEMERINTAHAN DALAM ISLAM&lt;br /&gt;UIN SUNAN KALIJAGA YOGYAKARTA&lt;br /&gt;2006&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;  Franz Rosental mengungkapkan kekagumannya sebagai berikut : "Agak sukar membayangkan adanya suatu bentuk prestasi yang lebih baik lagi bagi gagasan dan bahan Ibnu Khaldun itu" lihat Ibnu Khaldun, I, xx dalam Rahman Zainuddin, Kekuasaan dan negara Pemikiran Politik, Ibnu Khaldun (Jakarta : Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1992) ,h. 55&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt; Deliar Noer, Pemikiran Politik di Negeri Barat, (Jakarta : CV. Rajawali, 1982), h.53&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt; Rahman Zainuddin,, Ilmu Sejarah, Sosial dan Politik, dalam Ensiklopedi Tematis Dunia Islam, Edisi II; Jakarta : PT Ichtiar Baru Van Hoeve, 2002, h. 274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4"&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt; Rahman.Zainuddin, Ilmu Sejarah, Sosial dan Politik....., Ibid., hlm.274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5"&gt;[5]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm 90-91&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6"&gt;[6]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara….,Ibid., hlm 91-92&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7"&gt;[7]&lt;/a&gt; Rahman.Zainuddin, Ibid., hlm 274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8"&gt;[8]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm 274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9"&gt;[9]&lt;/a&gt; Fuad Baali dan Ali Wardi, Ibnu Khaldun dan Pemikiran Islam, alih bahasa, Ahmad Thaha, (Jakarta : Pustaka Firdaus, 1989). hlm.22&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10"&gt;[10]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan Afandi, Akar Konflik Sepanjang Zaman : Elaborasi Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun, (Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar, 2004.), hlm 29&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11"&gt;[11]&lt;/a&gt;  Muqaddimah, adalah karya Ibnu khaldun yang terkenal merupakan bagian dari kitab al-Ibar merupakan pengantar karya sejarahnya yang memuat asas-asas baru ilmu sejarah, karya ini kemudian dihadiahkan kepada sultan negeri Tunisia, yang kemudian dikenal dengan “Naskah Tunis” dalam Khudhairi, Zainab, Filasafat Sejarah Ibnu Khaldun, alih bahasa Ahmad Rafi’. Cet.I; (Bandung : Pustaka, 1987).hal. 15. lihat juga Osman Raliby, Ibnu Khaldun Tentang Masyarakat dan Negara, Cet. IV. (Jakarta : Bulan Bintang,1978). hlm 20&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12"&gt;[12]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm. 31&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13"&gt;[13]&lt;/a&gt; Sebagian pemikir memasukan aliran ketiga yaitu institusi.  Aliran ini menekankan peran intuisi di atas indera dan rasio. Lihat dalam M. Amin Abdullah, Aspek Epistemologis Filsafat Islam, dalam Irma Fatimah (ed.), Filsafat Islam : Ontologis, Epistemologis, Aksiologis, Historis, Prosfektif, (Yogyakarta : LESFI, 1992) hlm.28&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14"&gt;[14]&lt;/a&gt;  Ibid., hlm.39&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15"&gt;[15]&lt;/a&gt; Thought style (gaya-pikir) adalah istilah yang di kemukakan oleh Karl Mannheim, istilah ini juga diterjemahkan dengan “thought-model,” yang artinya prakonsepsi-prakonsepsi atau kategori-kategori yang implisit yang membentuk kerangka acuan (atau perspektif) darimana seseorang memandang dunia. Hal ini sangat berhubungan dengan sikap mental, karenanya tidak cukup kiranya hanya mengklasifikasikan masyarakat sebagai suatu yang idealis  atau yang realis tanpa mempelajari bagaimana kedua kecenderungansikap mental ini berkembang. Fuad Baali, dan Ali Wardi, Ibnu Khaldun dan Pemikiran Islam, alih bahasa, Ahmad Thaha, (Jakarta : Pustaka Firdaus, 1989).hlm.2&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16"&gt;[16]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan Afandi, Akar Konflik….hlm, 48&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17"&gt;[17]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm 48&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18"&gt;[18]&lt;/a&gt; Ashabiyah berasal dari kata ‘ashaba’ yang artinya mengikat dan ashabah (ikatan).  Ashabiyah menunjuk pada ikatan sosial budaya yang dapat digunakan untuk mengukur kekuatan kelompok sosial. Ashabiyah juga dapat dipahamai sebagai solideritas sosial, dengan penekanan pada kesadaran, kepaduan dan persatuan kelompok. Lihat dalam Jhon L. Esposito (ed), Ensiklopedi Dunia Islam Modern, Jilid I ( Bandung : Penerbit Mizan, 2001), hlm.198, &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19"&gt;[19]&lt;/a&gt; Eugene. A. Myers, Zaman Keemasan Islam : Para Ilmuwan Muslim dan Pengaruhnya Terhadap Dunia Barat, alih bahasa, M. Maufur al-Khoiri, (Yogyakarta : Fajar Pustaka Utama, 2003), hlm 72.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20"&gt;[20]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid.,hlm.73&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21"&gt;[21]&lt;/a&gt; Istilah peradaban dalam atmosfir pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun merupakan pemahaman atas konsepnya yang disebut ‘umran’ yaitu segala sesuatu yang mencakup karya manusia dalam hidup bermasyarakat dan kemakmuran alam, lihat dalam  Hakimul Ikhwan Afandi, Akar Konflik Sepanjang Zaman : Elaborasi…hlm. 89&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22"&gt;[22]&lt;/a&gt;  Ibid., hlm 89                                                                                                                                                 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23"&gt;[23]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm.99&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24"&gt;[24]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid.,hlm. 92&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25"&gt;[25]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm 92&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26"&gt;[26]&lt;/a&gt; Mengenai kepala negara ini perlu dijelaskan bahwa Ibnu Khaldun tidak membedakan pengertian khalifah dan imam.  Khalifah menurut pandangannya  adalah orang yang menjadi pengganti Nabi dalam bidang politik.  Baginya khalifah adalah seorang yang mempunyai otoritas di bidang politik namun demikian khalifah bisa menjadi seorang pengemban agama juga, jadi  menurutnya tidak ada pemisahan antara kehidupan sekuler dan agama. Menurutnya, jabatan khalifah ini yaitu khilafah, dapat juga disebut imamah, dikepalai seorang Imam.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27"&gt;[27]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan…,Ibid, hlm. 93, lihat juga Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm.101.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28"&gt;[28]&lt;/a&gt; Lihat Deliar Noer, Pemikiran Politik Barat. Cet. IV. Bandung : Mizan Pustaka, 2001&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29"&gt;[29]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm.102.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30"&gt;[30]&lt;/a&gt; Malcom Kerr, Islamic reform : the political and legal theories of Muhammad abduh and Muhammad Rasyid Rida, (Berkeley and Los Anggles : University of Calivornia Press, 1966) h. 29 dalam Rahman Zainuddin, Kekuasaan dan negara Pemikiran Politik, Ibnu Khaldun (Jakarta : Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1992&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31"&gt;[31]&lt;/a&gt; Istilah Nomokrasi Islam menurut Malcom Kerr ialah tipe Negara yang mempunyai karakteristik berdasarkan hokum islam sebagai dasar fondasinya, dalam Negara ini demokrasi didasarkan pada hokum al-Qur'an dan al-Hadist, selain itu akal manusiapun sama-sama berperan dan berfungsi dalam kehidupan Negara., inilah tipe Negara ideal menurut Ibnu Khaldun, lihat Kerr….ibid.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32"&gt;[32]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan …,Ibid.,hlm&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1979959575268777686-701435276182685869?l=politeiapress.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/feeds/701435276182685869/comments/default' title='Poskan Komentar'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;postID=701435276182685869&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Komentar'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/701435276182685869'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/701435276182685869'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-articel2_25.html' title='New Articel2'/><author><name>Akhmad Satori, S.IP., M.S.I</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10162413634737027621</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1979959575268777686.post-5657033873111800829</id><published>2007-11-25T20:07:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-11-25T20:08:48.344-08:00</updated><title type='text'>New Articel2</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;Konsep Ibnu Khaldun Tentang&lt;br /&gt;Pemerintah dan Negara&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Akhmad Satori, S.IP&lt;br /&gt;05.234.339&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A. Pendahuluan&lt;br /&gt;Ibnu Khaldun adalah seorang ahli pikir Islam yang jenius dan termasyhur dikalangan intelektual modern.  Dalam karya-karya Ibnu Khaldun dapat dilihat penguasaanya terhadap berbagai disiplin Ilmu Pengetahuan, seperti sejarah, sosiologi, dan Politik, sehingga tidak mengherankan apabila Ibnu Khaldun dikategorikan menjadi ahli sejarah, sosiologi dan politik. Bahkan banyak orang yang mengatakan bahwa Ibnu Khaldun adalah makhluk yang paling penting dan paling terhormat dalam alam semesta.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dalam mengemukakan konsep politiknya Ibnu Khaldun tidak dapat lepas dari kenyataan yang dihadapi dan dialaminya.  Disatu pihak ia melihat ikatan-ikatan bermasyarakat, bernegara dan berperadaban pada umumnya sebagai sesuatu yang berkembang terlepas dari agama, tetapi dipihak lain Ibnu Khaldun adalah seorang muslim dan tentu saja sangat mempengaruhi sikapnya dalam memandang masalah Tuhan, manusia dan masyarakat.  Walaupun begitu dalam catatan Deliar Noer, Ibnu Khaldun cukup objektif dalam mengemukakan pemikiran-pemikirannya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tulisan ini akan mencoba memberikan deskripsi mengenai konsep yang ditawarkan oleh Ibnu Khaldun mengenai Negara dan pemerintah, dengan fokus kajian thesis utamanya mengenai Ashabiyah dan perannya dalam pembentukan negara, kejayaan dan keruntuhannya.  Kemudian pada bagian akhir tulisan ini, penulis mencoba melihat  dan mencermati lebih mendalam relevansi teori dan pemikiran yang dibangun oleh Ibnu Khaldun terhadap perkembangan negara modern.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;B.   Biografi dan Setting Sosial Ibnu Khaldun&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun bernama lengkap Waliudin Abdurrahman bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakar Muhammad bin Khaldun al-Hadrami, lahir di Tunisia, 1 Ramadhan 732 H/ 27 Mei 1332 M.  Ia berasal dari Hadramaut (Yaman), dan silsilahnya sampai kepada salah seorang sahabat Nabi Muhammad SAW, Wali bin Hujr dari Kabilah Kindah.  Cucu Wali bernama Khalid bin Usman memasuki daerah Andalusia pada abad ke-3 H.  Anak cucu Khalid bin Usman ini kelak membentuk keluarga bani Khaldun, asal nama Ibu Khaldun.  Bani Khaldun ini tumbuh dan berkembang di kota Qarmunah (Carmona) di Andalusia (Spanyol), selanjutnya hijrah ke Isybilia (Sevilla), tempat banyak anak cucu Bani Khaldun menduduki jabatan penting dalam pemerintahan&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Pada masa kecilnya di Tunisia, ia belajar berbagai cabang Ilmu Pengetahuan, seperti mantik, filsafat, fiqih, dan sejarah. Ia juga menghafal al-Qur’an serta mempelajari ilmu bahasa dan tajwid.  Guru pertamanya adalah ayahnya sendiri, dan selanjutnya ulama Andalusia yang karena kemelut di Andalusia hijrah ke Tunisia, bersamaan dengan naiknya Abu al-Hasan, Pemimpin Bani Marin (1347). Studinya terhenti ketika tiba-tiba sebagian belahan dunia timur terjangkit wabah pes, pada 797 H/ 1348 M, sehingga banyak tokoh politik dan ulama yang hijrah ke Andalusia&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4"&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun menghabiskan lebih dari dua pertiga umurnya di kawasan Afrika Barat laut, yang sekarang ini berdiri negara-negara Tunisia, Aljazair dan Maroko serta Andalusia yang terletak di ujung selatan Spanyol.  Pada zaman ini kawasan tersebut tidak pernah menikmati sebuah stabilitas dan ketenangan politik, sebaliknya merupakan kancah perebutan dan kekuasaan antar dinasti dan juga pemberontakan sehingga kawasan itu atau sebagian darinya sering berpindah tangan dari satu dinasti ke dinasti yang lain.  Kenyataan tersebut sangat mewarnai hidup dan karir Ibnu Khaldun&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5"&gt;[5]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun meniti kariernya dibidang Pemerintahan dan politik di kawasan Afrika Barat dan Andalusia selama hampir seperempat abad.  Dalam kurun waktu itu lebih dari sepuluh kali dia berpindah jabatan dan seringkali bergeser loyalitas dari satu dinasti ke dinasti yang lain dan dari satu pengusaha ke pengusaha yang lain pada dinasti yang sama.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6"&gt;[6]&lt;/a&gt;  Pada usia 21 tahun (751 H/ 1350 M), ia diangkat sebagai sekretaris Sultan al-Fadl dari Dinasti Hafs, tetapi ia kemudian berhenti karena penguasa ini kalah perang (753 H/1352 M), dan Ibnu Khaldun pun terdampar di kota Baskara, Maghribi Tengah (Aljazair).  Disini ia berusaha bertemu dengan Abu Anan dari Bani Marin, dan pada tahun 755 H/ 1354 ia diangkat menjadi anggota majelis Ilmu pengetahuan, dan kemudian menjadi sekretaris sultan.  Jabatan ini di pegangnya sampai tahun 763 H/1361 M dengan dua kali sempat dipenjara sampai saat Wazir Usman bin Abdullah marah kepadanya dan memerintahkannya untuk meninggalkan Tunisia. Ia pin pergi ke Granada pada tahun 764 H/ 1363 M tempat sultan Bani Ahmar memerintah.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7"&gt;[7]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Ketika hubungannya dengan Sultan mengalami keretakan, ia berpindah haluan kepada Abu Abdillah Muhammad, pemimpin Bani Hafs yang kemudian mengangkatnya sebagai Perdana Menteri merangkap khatib negara, sampai Bijayah jatuh tangan Sultan Abu al-Abbas Ahmad.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8"&gt;[8]&lt;/a&gt;.   Pada masa ini, Ibnu Khaldun di angkat lagi sebagai perdana menteri, sampai ia pergi ke Baskarah.  Di Baskarah ini ia berkirim surat untuk memberikan dukungan kepada Sultan Tilmisan dari Bani Abdil Wad, Abu Hammu.  Sultan memberikan jabatan penting di dalam kesultanannya, tetapi ditolak oleh Ibnu Khaldun. Dan mengusulkan kakaknya yang bernama Yahya untuk menjadi  pengganti posisinya.  Namun demikian, Ibnu Khaldun tetap membantunya mengumpulkan beberapa suku untuk memihak kepada Abu Hammu melawan Abu Abbas.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9"&gt;[9]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Setelah mengabdi kepada pemerintah yang satu dengan yang lain, Ibnu Khaldun merasa lelah dalam petualangan politiknya.  Ketika Abu Hamu memintanya untuk mencari dukungan politik  dari para suku lebih banyak, dia memanfaatkan kesempatan ini untuk meninggalkan politik.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10"&gt;[10]&lt;/a&gt;  Sekalipun usahanya tidak pernah lelah namun dia gagal membawa perdamaian diantara negara-negara kecil di Afrika dan memutuskan untuk mengasingkan diri di Oran, pinggiran kota Tunisia, disinilah selama empat tahun dia mencurahkan dirinya untuk meneliti sejarah dan menulis Muqaddimah.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11"&gt;[11]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Pada tahun 780 H/1378 M, Ibnu Khaldun kembali ketanah airnya, Tunisia.  Disana ia merevisi kitab al-Ibar–nya.  Kemudian pada tahun 784 H/1382 M a berangkat ke Iskandariyah, Mesir, untuk menghindari kekacauan politik di Maghribi, kemudian ia pergi ke Kairo.  Di Kairo Ibnu Khaldun mengambil jalur di dunia pendidikan, selain sebagai seorang hakim di pengadilan.  Disini ia sangat disukai karena penjelasannya yang mengesankan mengenai berbagai fenomena sosial.  Ibnu Khaldun wafat pada tahun 808 H/ 1406 M, tak lama setelah ditunjuk keenam kalinya sebagai hakim.  Dia dimakamkan dikawasan pemakaman orang sufi di Kairo.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12"&gt;[12]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;C. Corak Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun.&lt;br /&gt;            Berbicara mengenai pemikiran seorang tokoh, maka kita tidak bisa melepaskan diri dari dua hal yaitu epistimologi dan teori.  Secara garis besar ada dua aliran pokok dalam epistemologi. Pertama adalah idealisme atau lebih populer dengan sebutan rasionalism, yaitu aliran pemikiran yang menekankan pentingnya akal, idea sebagai sumber ilmu pengetahuan, peran panca indera dinomor duakan.  Sedang aliran yang kedua adalah realism atau empiricism yang lebih menekankan pancaindera sebagai sumber sekaligus alat untuk memperoleh ilmu pengetahuan., sedang peran akal dinomorduakan&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13"&gt;[13]&lt;/a&gt;  Dalam sejarah filsafat, Plato (427-347 SM) dan Aristoteles (384-322 SM) merupakan prototype cikal bakal pergumulan antara kedua aliran tersebut&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14"&gt;[14]&lt;/a&gt;.  Lalu dimanakan posisi Ibnu Khaldun diantara dua aliran tersebut?.&lt;br /&gt;            Idealisme dan realisme adalah bentuk–bentuk gaya berfikir atau dengan menggunakan istilah thougt style.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15"&gt;[15]&lt;/a&gt;  Seringkali konsep tersebut dipertentangkan dan seakan akan keduanya tidak bisa didamaikan. Ibnu Khaldun menganggap kedua-duanya sama pentingnya.  Baginya apa yang harus terjadi sebenarnya sama dengan apa yang ada. Namun keduanya harus dipisahkan, masing-masing harus ditempatkan pada tempatnya tersendiri dan dijaga dari percampuradukan oleh bidang lain.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16"&gt;[16]&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun hidup di abad ke-14, dalam setiap pemikiranya tidak bisa lepas dari keadaan masanya, ia dipandang sebagai pemikir yang realis dan rasionalis, pemikirannya begitu rasional disamping tidak mengabaikan naql.  Pada dirinya terdapat perpaduan antara rasio dan naql yang serasi.  Menurut beberapa penulis, ibnu khaldun adalah pengikut al-Ghazali, dan menurut sebagian yang lain ia merupakan pengikut Ibnu Rusyd.  Dengan kombinasi untuk dari kedua corak pemikiran ini yang telah ada sebelumnya Ibnu Khaldun membangun teori yang sangat modern.&lt;br /&gt;            Dalam karyanya Muqaddimah, Ibnu Khaldun membangun logika-logika yang realistik, sebagaimana pengganti logika lama yang sangat idealistik.  Ibnu Khaldun berbeda dengan Machiavelli, sekalipun mereka membedakan diri dari intelektual sezaman mereka, terutama dalam menghadapi peristiwa sosial sebagai kerangka acuan yang benar-benar realistis.  Machaivelli  menolak idealisme dan menerima realisme, sedangkan Ibnu Khaldun tidak meremehkan makna sesuatu yang ideal dan relegius. Yang paling tidak disukainya adalah campur tangan idealisme agama dalam masalah-masalah kehidupan yang nyata.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17"&gt;[17]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dari sini terlihat dengan jelas karakteristik pemikirannya yang realistik dan melepaskan pengaruh idealistik dalam memahami fenomena kemasyarakatan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;D.   Ashabiyah&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18"&gt;[18]&lt;/a&gt; : Thesis Ibnu Khaldun Tentang Masyarakat&lt;br /&gt;            Salah satu sumbangan yang genuine, dari Ibnu Khaldun adalah teorinya mengenai Ashabiyah dan perannya dalam pembentukan negara, kejayaan dan keruntuhannya. Konsep ashabiyah ini merupakan poros utama dalam teori-teori sosial Ibnu Khaldun.  Menurut ibnu Khaldun ashabiyah lahir dari hubungan-hubungan darah (blood ties) dan ikatan yang menumbuhkannya.  Ikatan darah memunculkan perasaan cinta terhadap saudara dan kewajiban untuk menolong dan melindungi mereka dari tindak kekerasan.  Semakin dekat hubungan darah dan seringnya kontak diantara mereka, maka ikatan-ikatan dan solidaritas akan semakin kuat.  Tetapi sebaliknya semakin renggang hubungan  tersebut maka ikatan-ikatan tersebut akan semakin melemah. &lt;br /&gt;            Adapun tugas ashabiyah dalam kehidupan kemasyarakatan  menurut Ibnu Khaldun sangat dominan.  Ashabiyahlah yang telah menjadi motor dari kekuasaan dan karena itu dapat dikatakan yang menjadi penggerak utama dari sejarah manusia adalah ashabiyah. Ibnu Khaldun berpandangan tujuan ashabiyah adalah untuk mewujudkan al-mulk, karena ashabiyah mampu memberkan perlindungan, menumbuhkan pertahanan bersama, sanggup mendsarkan tuntutan-tuntutan dan kegiatan lain.  Dengan kata lain bahwa tujuan dari ashabiyah adalah superioritas (at-taghalul al-mulk).  &lt;br /&gt;            Dalam kehidupan bernegara (nation), Ibnu Khaldun melihat terdapat dua kekuatan dominan yang membentuk nasib-nasib mereka.  Kekuatan pertama adalah kekuatan primitif dan utama yang oleh Ibnu Khaldun disebut dengan Ashabiyah, atau elemen-elemen pengikat masyarakat, solidaritas sosial atau perasaan kelompok yang mampu menyatukan masyarakat, sebuah negara maupun sebuah kerajaan dan dalam kelompok yang lebih luas, dapat disamakan dengan patriotisme.  Akan tetapi patriotisme dan ashabiyah bukanlah merupakan sinonim meskipun dalam bentuk yang paling ekstrimnya, patriotisme adalah bentuk lain dari ashabiyah sebagaimana yang digambarkan oleh Ibnu Khaldun&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19"&gt;[19]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Ashabiyah akan muncul dan berkembang ketika perasaan untuk melindungi diri membangkitkan sense of kindship (rasa kekeluargaan) yang kuat dan mendorong manusia untuk menciptakan hubungan antara yang satu dengan yang lain.  Hal ini adalah kekuatan vital bagi suatu negara dimana dengannya, mereka akan tumbuh dan berkembang dan jika melemah, maka mereka akan mengalami kemunduran.  Kekuatan kedua adalah agama, Ibnu Khaldun mengembangkan suatu solideritas yang tanpanya negara tidak akan bisa eksis.  Agama merupakan pendukung ashabiyah dan pada dasarnya juga memperkuat ashabiyah, dengan kekuatan relegius ini bangsa arab dapat membangun suatu peradaban yang besar&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20"&gt;[20]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;            Sungguh demikian, menurut Ibnu Khaldun, apabila ashabiyah dan agama terhadap proses timbal balik, maka peranan ashabiyah dalam mendapatkan politik akan sangat besar dan memiliki kekuatan besar untuk menciptakan integritas kekuatan politik.  Sebaliknya apabila ashabiyat dan agama tidak beriringan maka kekuatan besarnya akan sirna begitu saja.         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;D.   Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun tentang Negara dan Pemerintahan&lt;br /&gt;a.  Asal Mula Negara &lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun memulai pembicaraan mengenai negara berdasarkan pada kenyataan bahwa manusia adalah mahluk yang hidup berkelompok dan saling memerlukan bantuan.  Hal ini dilakukan manusia untuk bisa bertahan hidup dan untuk mendapatkan rasa aman.  Oleh karenanya diperlukan kerjasama antara sesama manusia.  Kerjasama tersebut membentuk suatu organisasi kemasyarakatan.  Dari sinilah Ibnu Khaldun mengatakan bahwa organisasi kemasyarakatan (al-itjma’ al-insani) adalah merupakan keharusan.  Karenanya, peradaban&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21"&gt;[21]&lt;/a&gt; umat manusia itu tidak lepas dari organisasi masyarakat tersebut.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22"&gt;[22]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Seperti yang telah di kemukakan diatas, Ibnu Khaldun berpandangan bahwa adanya organisasi kemasyarakatan merupakan suatu keharusan bagi hidup masyarakat, karena sesungguhnya manusia memiliki watak hidup bermasyarakat.  Tatanan sosial akan berubah dalam suatu masyarakat, sehingga masyarakat yang lain senantiasa kemudian mengikuti faktor-faktor yang di miliki oleh masyarakat pertama, yaitu menyangkut iklim, cuaca, tanah, makanan, sumber tambang, kemampuan berfikir, jiwa dan emosi mereka.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23"&gt;[23]&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;            Setelah organisasi kemasyarakatan terbentuk dan peradaban merupakan suatu kenyataan di duna ini, maka masyarakat membutuhkan seseorang dengan pengaruhya dapat bertindak sebagai penengah dan pemisah antara anggota masyarakat.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24"&gt;[24]&lt;/a&gt;  Menurutnya, peran sebagai penengah dan pemisah hanya dapat dilakukan oleh seseorang dari anggota masyarakat itu sendiri.  Seseorang tersebut harus berpengaruh kuat atas anggota-anggota masyarakat, harus mempunyai kekuasaan dan otoritas atas mereka sehingga tidak seorangpun di antara anggota masyarakat dapat mengganggu atau menyerang sesama anggota masyarakat yang lain.  Tokoh yang mempunyai kekuasaan, otoritas dan wibawa tersebut adalah raja, khalifah atau kepala negara.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25"&gt;[25]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;b.  Kedudukan dan Syarat-Syarat Kepala Negara&lt;br /&gt;            Berbicara tentang kedudukan kepala negara, seperti yang telah di kemukakan diatas. Ibnu Khaldun berpandangan bahwa kehadiran seorang pemimpin baik itu seorang raja atau kepala negara&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26"&gt;[26]&lt;/a&gt; sebagai penengah, pemisah dan sekaligus pemegang otoritas itu merupakan suatu keharusan bagi kehidupan bersama dalam suatu masyarakat atau negara, hal ini didasarkan pada ajaran agama yang mengatakan bahwa tugas manusia adalah memelihara kelestarian dan kemakmuran alam semesta dan seisinya termasuk umat manusia selain itu manusia juga bertugas untuk melakukan perbuatan yang bersifat membangun dunia ini.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27"&gt;[27]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Namun demikian, pandangannya mengenai arti penting seorang pemimpin dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat tidak hanya berdasarkan pada wahyu Tuhan atau ajaran agama, sebagaimana yang disebut diatas.  Tetapi lebih di tekankan pada hasil pengamatannya terhadap perkembangan kehidupan.  Dalam pandangannya seseorang yang dapat bertindak sebagai raja haruslah memiliki superioritas atau keunggulan, sehingga mempunyai otoritas untuk mengambil keputusan.  Hal ini sangat berkaitan dengan syarat-syarat untuk menduduki sebagai kepala negara.  lalu apakah syarat-syarat sebagai kepala negara tersebut? &lt;br /&gt;            Menurut Ibnu Khaldun, syarat-syarat kepala negara ialah:  Pertama, ia harus berpengetahuan di sertai kesanggupan untuk mrengambil keputusan-keputusan sesuai syariat. Kedua, ia harus seorang yang adalah artinya bersifat jujur, berpegang pada keadilan, dan pada umumnya mempunyai sifat-sifat moral yang baik, sehingga kata-katanya dapat dipegang dan ucapannya dapat dipercaya.  Adalah  juga menunjukan tentang ketentuan-ketentuan yang harus dipenuhi sebagai seseorang yang tahu akan kewajibannya, misalnya dalam menjadi saksi.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28"&gt;[28]&lt;/a&gt;  Ketiga, ia mempunyai kesanggupan dalam menjalankan tugas-tugas yang dituntut oleh seorang kepala negara, termasuk melaksanakan hukuman-hukuman yang diputuskan secara konsekuen. Ia harus menegakan hukum dan harus juga sanggup untuk, kalau perlu pergi dan memimpin perang.  Keempat, ia secara fisik dan mental harus bebas dari cacat-cacat yang tidak memungkinkan ia menjalankan tugas sebagai kepala negara dengan baik. &lt;br /&gt;            Sebuah syarat lagi yang sering dikemukakan oleh banyak pihak dalam kalangan Islam pada masa Ibnu Khaldun dan masa sebelumnya ialah kepala negara itu haruslah seorang keturunan Quraisy, dari suku Muhammad.  tentang ini Ibnu Khaldun berpendapat bahwa syarat tersebut bergantung pada sikap rasa golongan Arab sehingga syarat keturunan Quraisy itu  tidak dapat dipertahankan lagi.&lt;br /&gt;c.   Pengangkatan Kepala Negara&lt;br /&gt;            Dalam pemikirannya mengenai negara, Ibnu Khaldun sebenarnya tidak menjelaskan secara terperinci mengenai mekhanisme pengangkatan kepala negara, namun seperti yang dijelaskan dalam Munawir Sadjali&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29"&gt;[29]&lt;/a&gt;, Ibnu Khadun menyebutkan salah  satu syarat untuk menduduki kepala negara, khalifah ataupun imam, menurutnya seorang calon harus dipilih oleh ahlul hal wa al-aqdi, yaitu orang-orang yang mempunyai kompetensi, di samping syarat-syarat lain seperti yang telah dijelaskan diatas. &lt;br /&gt;            Kemudian dalam menjalankan kekuasaannya seorang kepala negara akan sangat membutuhkan dukungan dari (1) Para professional di bidang birokrasi, termasuk didalamnya para cendekiawan atau kaum terpelajar, yang dapat menata dan menjalankan roda pemerintahan sehari-hari,  dan (2) kekuatan tentara yang dapat lebih efisien dalam menjaga negara dan kekuasaannya dari setiap ancaman atau gangguan dari luar.&lt;br /&gt;d.   Tipologi Negara&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun menemukan suatu tipologi negara dengan tolok ukur kekuasaan.  Ia membagi negara menjadi dua kelompok; pertama, negara dengan ciri kekuasaan alamiah (al-mulk al-thabiy),  yang kedua negara dengan ciri kekuasaan politik (al-mulk al-siyasyi).  Tipologi negara pertama ditandai dengan kekuasaan sewenang-wenang (depotisme) dan cenderung pada hukum rimba.  Disini keunggulan dan kekuatan sangat berperan dan prinsip keadilan sangat diabaikan dan pada gilirannya akan membentuk suatu negara yang tidak berperadaban.&lt;br /&gt;            Tipe negara kedua yaitu Negara dengan ciri-ciri kekuasaan politik di kelompokan lagi menjadi tiga tipe yaitu&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30"&gt;[30]&lt;/a&gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;1.  Negara hukum demokrasi Islam (siyasat diniyat),&lt;br /&gt;2.  Negara hukum sekuler (siyasat aqliyat), dan&lt;br /&gt;3.  Negara Republik ala Plato (siyasat madaniyat)&lt;br /&gt;            Negara hukum demokrasi Islam (siyasat diniyat) adalah negara yang menjadikan syariah (hukum Islam) sebagai fondasinya.  Malcom Kerr, menamakannya dengan Istilah nomokrasi Islam.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31"&gt;[31]&lt;/a&gt; Karakteristik Siyasah Diniyah menurut Ibnu Khaldun ialah selain al-Qur'an dan al-Hadist, akal manusiapun sama-sama berperan dan berfungsi dalam kehidupan Negara.&lt;br /&gt;            Menurut Ibnu Khaldun, Tipe negara yang paling baik adalah nomokrasi Islam, karena siyasah aqliyah (negara sekuler) hanya, mendasarkan pada hukum sebagai hasil rasio manusia tanpa mengindahkan hukum dengan sumber wahyu.  Sedangkan Siyasat Madaniyat (Republik Plato) merupakan suatu negara yang diperintah oleh segelintir orang dari golongan elit atas sebagian besar golongan budak yang tidak mempunyai kekuatan politik.&lt;br /&gt;            Yang menarik dari klasifikasi Ibnu Khaldun mengenai tipologi Negara ialah pendekatanya dengan menggunakan kekuasaan sebagai a generik term dan pembagian kekuasaan itu menurut krateria untuk menentukan tipe kelompok apa dari suatu siyasi.  Disini bisa dipahami tampaknya Ibnu Khaldun berpegang pada suatu hipotesis makin tinggi tingkat peradaban manusia, makin baik tipe negaranya.  Tetapi menurutnya ciri ideal suatu Negara adalah kombinasi antara syariat dengan kaidah-kaidah hokum yang diterapkan manusia berdasarkan atas akalnya.  Tetapi penggunaan akal tersebut tetap merujuk pada syariat.  Jadi suatu tingkat peradaban tinggi semata-mata bukan berarti ideal.&lt;br /&gt; e.   Tahap Perkembangan Negara      &lt;br /&gt;            Adapun mengenai umur suatu negara, Ibnu Khaldun mengatakan bahwa  masyarakat manusia akan berjalan mengikuti tahap-tahap berjenjang, seperti halnya tahapan yang dilalui manusia sejak lahir hingga ia kemudian wafat.  Begitu pula dengan negara, sama dengan individu memiliki umur yang alami.  Umur suatu negara biasanya hanya tiga generasi dengan hitungan satu generasi sama dengan empat puluh tahun, maka dengan demikian umur suatu negara menurutnya adalah seratus dua puluh tahun.  Umur tiga generasi tersebut dibagi menjadi empat tahapan, yang harus dilalui oleh masyarakat tersebut.&lt;br /&gt;            Pertama, tahap primitive (al-badawah).  Perhatian individu dalam tahap ini hanyalah tertuju kepada penghidupannya.  Dia memiliki sifat yang keras untuk menghidupi dirinya, bahkan siap mencaplok orang lain dengan kejam. Tanda lainya adalah fanatisme terhadap keturunannya. Kedua, tahap kepemilikan (al-mulk).  Pada tahap ini, kekuasaan masyarakat terpusat pada tangan seseorang, keluarga atau suatu golongan.  Fanatisme pada tahap ini dilakukan secara terang-terangan.  Bahkan selalu melekat pada jiwa setiap manusia.  Masyarakat pada tahap ini, beralih dari penghematan ke pemborosan, dari masyarakat yang primitive ke masyarakat yang beradab.&lt;br /&gt;            Ketiga, tahap beradab dan kemakmuran. Pada tahap ini, individu masyarakat telah melupakan makna kekarasannya. Mereka telah meninggalkan fanatisme dan kesukaan berperangnya. Dan mereka telah meninggalkan masa produktifnya, sehingga memberatkan negara.  Kemampuan penguasa menurun, tetapi keterlibatan mereka dalam bersenang-senang meningkat. Keempat, adalah tahap kelemahan, kerusakan akhlak, dan kemunduran.  Pada tahap ini, negara menjadi mangsa yang empuk untuk diserang musuh dari luar.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32"&gt;[32]&lt;/a&gt;          Setelah mengalami keempat tahapan tersebut, maka pada akhirnya semua negara akan mengalami kehancuran. Kehancuran ini menurut Ibnu khaldun  merupakan hal yang alamiah, pada akhirnya semua negara akan runtuh dan akan digantikan oleh negara lain.    &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;E.  Relevansi Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun terhadap perkembangan Negara Modern&lt;br /&gt;            Seperti apa yang telah di uraikan diatas, Ibnu Khaldun menjelaskan persoalan jatuh bangunnya kekuasaan.  Menurut pandangannya kekuasaan akan jatuh apabila melupakan solidaritas kelompok pendukungnya, sebaliknya akan tetap bertahan selama solidaritas tersebut tetap terjaga dengan baik.  Solidaritas inilah yang menggerakan dan mendorong orang untuk terus maju dan mencapai tujuan.&lt;br /&gt;            Perspektif Ibnu Khaldun diatas penulis kira bisa digunakan sebagai tool of analysis runtuhnya kekuasaan rezim Orde Baru, dalam pandangannya, kekuasaan yang dijalankan oleh Orde Baru ini adalah tipe kekuasaan yang dominatif, dan refresif.  Masyarakat di bawah kekuasaan seperti ini akan hidup dalam tekanan rasa takut.  Kondisi seperti ini bisa menyebabkan hilangnya ashabiyah suatu kelompok masyarakat terhadap pemimpin yang sebelumnya didukung.  Seiring dengan itu, kekuasaannya pun menjadi semakin terpusat, meninggalkan solidaritas rakyat sebagai modal politiknya dan menggantikan solidaritas tersebut dengan tentara dan birokrasi sebagai basis utama pendukungnya.  Selain itu kekusaan Orde Baru telah tenggelam dalam gaya hidup bermewah mewah, akibatnya kekuasaan kemudian tidak lagi berdiri atas mandat rakyat, tetapi melalui kekuatan tentara dan birokrasi yang merekayasa kekuasaan atas nama rakyat. Menurut Ibnu Khaldun, apabila sebuah kekuasaan telah tenggelam dalam hidup bermewah-mewah dengan melakukan korupsi dan penyitaan hak milik rakyat, maka 'ashabiyah' yang semula mengantarkan nya kepuncak kekuasaan negara segera akan hancur.&lt;br /&gt;            Apabila ashabiyah yang dimiliki oleh penguasa telah melemah maka ia akan segera digantikan oleh ashabiyah lain yang lebih kuat.  Sekalipun dalam memperebutkan kekuasaan Negara akan terjadi pertarungan antar tokoh dengan basis pendukung yang berbeda-beda.  Namun hanya tokoh yang mempunyai ashabiyah yang kuatlah yang bisa merebut kekuasaan.  Ashabiyah yang paling kuat terbentuk melalui penggabungan dari beberapa ashabiyah yang kecil.  Atau, seorang pemimpin yang mempunyai ashabiyah lemah melakukan koalisi antar ashabiyah lemah yang lain membentuk ashabiyah yang lebih kuat.&lt;br /&gt;            Disini, dapat disimpulkan bahwa setidaknya ada tiga hal dalam persfektif Ibnu Khaldun yang menyebabkan jatuhnya kekuasaan Orde Baru, yaitu pertama, karena kekuasaannya semakin terpusat; kedua, meninggalkan ashabiyah rakyat dan menggantikanya dengan tentara dan birokrasi sebagai basis utama pendukung kekuasaannya semakin terpusat; dan ketiga, karena kekuasaan Orde Baru tenggelam dalam kemewahan dengan melakukan korupsi dan merampas hak rakyat.&lt;br /&gt;             Tidaklah heran bila fenomena yang sekarang terjadi adalah maraknya gerakan separatisme yang ‘menggugat’ integrasi wilayah republik Indonesia.  Lepasnya Timor Timur dari wilayah negara kesatuan , tuntutan merdeka di beberapa daerah, pengibaran bendera GAM, di Aceh, munculnya gerakan separatis Papua Merdeka di bumi Papua, dan berbagai gerakan separatis lainya, adalah bukti nyata betapa lemahnya solidaritas nasional kita.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;F.  Penutup&lt;br /&gt;            Ibnu Khaldun adalah seorang politisi yang sangat memahami dunia politik di dunia Islam pada abad keempat belas.  Dengan melihat terjadinya keruntuhan dan kelemahan yang menimpa dunia Islam pada umumnya ketika itu, dan mengamati sendiri kemunduran kebudayaan Arab-Islam di Andalusia di bawah tekanan pasukan Spanyol, tidaklah mengherankan bila pemikirannya mengenai negara dan pemerintahan sangat realistik dan terpengaruh oleh setting sosial politik yang terjadi pada masa itu. &lt;br /&gt;            Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun tentang perkembangan negara bisa menjadi contoh betapa ia sangat pesimistis melihat eksistensi negara, ia cenderung mengakui bahwa segala sesuatu itu pada akhirnya akan hancur, termasuk negara.  Menurutnya pada akhirnya negara akan mengalami proses dialektika, hal ini bisa dilihat ketika Ibnu Khaldun menjelaskan mengenai kelima tahap perkembangan negara.  Yang menarik adalah bila kita cermati lebih mendalam pemikiran-pemikiran yang dibangun oleh Ibnu Khaldun, kiranya bisa kita lihat relevansi teori-teori tersebut apabila di aplikasikan kedalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Karena itu kiranya pemikiran-pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun perlu lebih di elaborasi lebih mendalam dan diperdebatkan secara kritis. Wallahualam&lt;br /&gt;Daftar Pustaka&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Abdullah, M. Amin, Aspek Epistemologis Filsafat Islam, dalam Irma Fatimah (ed.), Filsafat Islam : Ontologis, Epistemologis, Aksiologis, Historis, Prosfektif,               Yogyakarta : LESFI, 1992.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Afandi, Hakimul Ikhwan, Akar Konflik Sepanjang Zaman : wlaborasi Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun, Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar, 2004.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Baali, Fuad dan Ali Wardi, Ibnu Khaldun dan Pemikiran Islam, alih bahasa, Ahmad Thaha, Jakarta : Pustaka Firdaus, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jhon L. Esposito (ed), Ensiklopedi Dunia Islam Modern, Jilid I ( Bandung : Penerbit Mizan, 2001),&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Khudhairi, Zainab, Filasafat Sejarah Ibnu Khaldun, alih bahasa Ahmad Rafi’. Cet.I; Bandung : Pustaka, 1987.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Myers, Eugene. A, Zaman Keemasan Islam : Para Ilmuwan Muslim dan Pengaruhnya Terhadap Dunia Barat, alih bahasa, M. Maufur al-Khoiri, Yogyakarta : Fajar Pustaka Utama, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Noer, Deliar, Pemikiran Politik Barat. Cet. IV. Bandung : Mizan Pustaka, 2001&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Raliby, Osman, Ibnu Khaldun Tentang Masyarakat dan Negara.  Cet. IV. Jakarta : Bulan Bintang,1978.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sjadzali, Munawir., Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Suharto, Toto, Epistemologi Sejarah Kritis Ibnu Khaldun, Yogyakarta : Fajar Pustaka Baru, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zainuddin, Rahman, Ilmu Sejarah, Sosial dan Politik, dalam Ensiklopedi Tematis Dunia Islam, Edisi II; Jakarta : PT Ichtiar Baru Van Hoeve, 2002.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;----------   , Kekuasaan dan Negara : Pemikiran Politik Ibnu Khaldun, Jakarta : Gramedia Pustak Utama, 1992.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Edisi RevisiKonsep Ibnu Khaldun Tentang&lt;br /&gt;Pemerintah dan Negara&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Disusun untuk Kuliah Presentasi&lt;br /&gt;Pemikiran Politik dalam Islam&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dosen pengampu :&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Abd. Salam Arief, M. A.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oleh :&lt;br /&gt;Akhmad Satori, S. IP.&lt;br /&gt;05.234.339&lt;br /&gt;                                   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PROGRAM PASCASARJANA&lt;br /&gt;KONSENTRASI STUDI POLITIK DAN PEMERINTAHAN DALAM ISLAM&lt;br /&gt;UIN SUNAN KALIJAGA YOGYAKARTA&lt;br /&gt;2006&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;  Franz Rosental mengungkapkan kekagumannya sebagai berikut : "Agak sukar membayangkan adanya suatu bentuk prestasi yang lebih baik lagi bagi gagasan dan bahan Ibnu Khaldun itu" lihat Ibnu Khaldun, I, xx dalam Rahman Zainuddin, Kekuasaan dan negara Pemikiran Politik, Ibnu Khaldun (Jakarta : Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1992) ,h. 55&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt; Deliar Noer, Pemikiran Politik di Negeri Barat, (Jakarta : CV. Rajawali, 1982), h.53&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt; Rahman Zainuddin,, Ilmu Sejarah, Sosial dan Politik, dalam Ensiklopedi Tematis Dunia Islam, Edisi II; Jakarta : PT Ichtiar Baru Van Hoeve, 2002, h. 274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4"&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt; Rahman.Zainuddin, Ilmu Sejarah, Sosial dan Politik....., Ibid., hlm.274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5"&gt;[5]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm 90-91&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6"&gt;[6]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara….,Ibid., hlm 91-92&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7"&gt;[7]&lt;/a&gt; Rahman.Zainuddin, Ibid., hlm 274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8"&gt;[8]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm 274&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9"&gt;[9]&lt;/a&gt; Fuad Baali dan Ali Wardi, Ibnu Khaldun dan Pemikiran Islam, alih bahasa, Ahmad Thaha, (Jakarta : Pustaka Firdaus, 1989). hlm.22&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10"&gt;[10]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan Afandi, Akar Konflik Sepanjang Zaman : Elaborasi Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun, (Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar, 2004.), hlm 29&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11"&gt;[11]&lt;/a&gt;  Muqaddimah, adalah karya Ibnu khaldun yang terkenal merupakan bagian dari kitab al-Ibar merupakan pengantar karya sejarahnya yang memuat asas-asas baru ilmu sejarah, karya ini kemudian dihadiahkan kepada sultan negeri Tunisia, yang kemudian dikenal dengan “Naskah Tunis” dalam Khudhairi, Zainab, Filasafat Sejarah Ibnu Khaldun, alih bahasa Ahmad Rafi’. Cet.I; (Bandung : Pustaka, 1987).hal. 15. lihat juga Osman Raliby, Ibnu Khaldun Tentang Masyarakat dan Negara, Cet. IV. (Jakarta : Bulan Bintang,1978). hlm 20&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12"&gt;[12]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm. 31&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13"&gt;[13]&lt;/a&gt; Sebagian pemikir memasukan aliran ketiga yaitu institusi.  Aliran ini menekankan peran intuisi di atas indera dan rasio. Lihat dalam M. Amin Abdullah, Aspek Epistemologis Filsafat Islam, dalam Irma Fatimah (ed.), Filsafat Islam : Ontologis, Epistemologis, Aksiologis, Historis, Prosfektif, (Yogyakarta : LESFI, 1992) hlm.28&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14"&gt;[14]&lt;/a&gt;  Ibid., hlm.39&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15"&gt;[15]&lt;/a&gt; Thought style (gaya-pikir) adalah istilah yang di kemukakan oleh Karl Mannheim, istilah ini juga diterjemahkan dengan “thought-model,” yang artinya prakonsepsi-prakonsepsi atau kategori-kategori yang implisit yang membentuk kerangka acuan (atau perspektif) darimana seseorang memandang dunia. Hal ini sangat berhubungan dengan sikap mental, karenanya tidak cukup kiranya hanya mengklasifikasikan masyarakat sebagai suatu yang idealis  atau yang realis tanpa mempelajari bagaimana kedua kecenderungansikap mental ini berkembang. Fuad Baali, dan Ali Wardi, Ibnu Khaldun dan Pemikiran Islam, alih bahasa, Ahmad Thaha, (Jakarta : Pustaka Firdaus, 1989).hlm.2&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16"&gt;[16]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan Afandi, Akar Konflik….hlm, 48&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17"&gt;[17]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm 48&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18"&gt;[18]&lt;/a&gt; Ashabiyah berasal dari kata ‘ashaba’ yang artinya mengikat dan ashabah (ikatan).  Ashabiyah menunjuk pada ikatan sosial budaya yang dapat digunakan untuk mengukur kekuatan kelompok sosial. Ashabiyah juga dapat dipahamai sebagai solideritas sosial, dengan penekanan pada kesadaran, kepaduan dan persatuan kelompok. Lihat dalam Jhon L. Esposito (ed), Ensiklopedi Dunia Islam Modern, Jilid I ( Bandung : Penerbit Mizan, 2001), hlm.198, &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19"&gt;[19]&lt;/a&gt; Eugene. A. Myers, Zaman Keemasan Islam : Para Ilmuwan Muslim dan Pengaruhnya Terhadap Dunia Barat, alih bahasa, M. Maufur al-Khoiri, (Yogyakarta : Fajar Pustaka Utama, 2003), hlm 72.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20"&gt;[20]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid.,hlm.73&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21"&gt;[21]&lt;/a&gt; Istilah peradaban dalam atmosfir pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun merupakan pemahaman atas konsepnya yang disebut ‘umran’ yaitu segala sesuatu yang mencakup karya manusia dalam hidup bermasyarakat dan kemakmuran alam, lihat dalam  Hakimul Ikhwan Afandi, Akar Konflik Sepanjang Zaman : Elaborasi…hlm. 89&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22"&gt;[22]&lt;/a&gt;  Ibid., hlm 89                                                                                                                                                 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23"&gt;[23]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm.99&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24"&gt;[24]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid.,hlm. 92&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25"&gt;[25]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., hlm 92&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26"&gt;[26]&lt;/a&gt; Mengenai kepala negara ini perlu dijelaskan bahwa Ibnu Khaldun tidak membedakan pengertian khalifah dan imam.  Khalifah menurut pandangannya  adalah orang yang menjadi pengganti Nabi dalam bidang politik.  Baginya khalifah adalah seorang yang mempunyai otoritas di bidang politik namun demikian khalifah bisa menjadi seorang pengemban agama juga, jadi  menurutnya tidak ada pemisahan antara kehidupan sekuler dan agama. Menurutnya, jabatan khalifah ini yaitu khilafah, dapat juga disebut imamah, dikepalai seorang Imam.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27"&gt;[27]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan…,Ibid, hlm. 93, lihat juga Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm.101.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28"&gt;[28]&lt;/a&gt; Lihat Deliar Noer, Pemikiran Politik Barat. Cet. IV. Bandung : Mizan Pustaka, 2001&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29"&gt;[29]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara : Ajaran, sejarah dan Pemikiran, (Jakarta :Universitas Indonesia Press, 1990), hlm.102.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30"&gt;[30]&lt;/a&gt; Malcom Kerr, Islamic reform : the political and legal theories of Muhammad abduh and Muhammad Rasyid Rida, (Berkeley and Los Anggles : University of Calivornia Press, 1966) h. 29 dalam Rahman Zainuddin, Kekuasaan dan negara Pemikiran Politik, Ibnu Khaldun (Jakarta : Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1992&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31"&gt;[31]&lt;/a&gt; Istilah Nomokrasi Islam menurut Malcom Kerr ialah tipe Negara yang mempunyai karakteristik berdasarkan hokum islam sebagai dasar fondasinya, dalam Negara ini demokrasi didasarkan pada hokum al-Qur'an dan al-Hadist, selain itu akal manusiapun sama-sama berperan dan berfungsi dalam kehidupan Negara., inilah tipe Negara ideal menurut Ibnu Khaldun, lihat Kerr….ibid.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32"&gt;[32]&lt;/a&gt; Hakimul Ikhwan …,Ibid.,hlm&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1979959575268777686-5657033873111800829?l=politeiapress.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/feeds/5657033873111800829/comments/default' title='Poskan Komentar'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;postID=5657033873111800829&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Komentar'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/5657033873111800829'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/5657033873111800829'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-articel2.html' title='New Articel2'/><author><name>Akhmad Satori, S.IP., M.S.I</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10162413634737027621</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1979959575268777686.post-379009849198066296</id><published>2007-11-25T19:57:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-11-25T20:05:57.604-08:00</updated><title type='text'>New Articel</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;IBN TAIMIYAH DAN PEMIKIRAN POLITIKNYA&lt;br /&gt;Oleh: A. Saifuddin&lt;br /&gt;A.     Pendahuluan&lt;br /&gt;Ketika  mendengar dan berbicara tentang sosok Ibn Taimiyah, maka terbersit di ingatan penulis komentar-komentar para kiyai dan ustadz ketika masih di pondok pesantren bahwa tokoh yang satu ini meskipun 'alim tapi karena banyak menghujat dan bahkan mengkafirkan para ulama, ia dianggap kafir, zindiq, dan term-term semacamnya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt; Akibatnya tokoh ini tidak begitu dikenal (dimajhulkan) di kalangan pesantren yang begitu kuat memegangi tradisi ahl al-sunnah wa al-jama'ah. Tidak mengherankan pula jika penulis yang dibesarkan di kalangan pesantren baru sedikit mengetahui tokoh ini ketika sudah di bangku kuliah.&lt;br /&gt;Namun, terlepas dari kontroversi sosok seorang Ibn Taimiyah, menurut penulis, tidak bijak jika kemudian melupakan dan tidak mau mempelajari pemikiran-pemikirannya, terutama yang berkaitan dengan politik—sebagai bidang yang menonjol ia bahas—karena sikap a-priori dan asumsi-asumsi yang kita bangun belum tentu sepenuhnya mengandung kebenaran. Sebaliknya, akibat yang ditimbulkan adalah sangat jelas, yaitu kerugian besar bagi kita, umat Islam, kalau mengesampingkan pemikiran-pemikiran tokoh ini.&lt;br /&gt;Bagaimanapun juga, pemikiran politik Ibn Taimiyah memiliki relevansi yang jelas dengan zaman modern. Dengan mengkaji pemikiran-pemikirannya diharapkan banyak kesimpangsiuran bisa dihilangkan dari pemikiran politik di dunia Islam pada masa kini. Studi yang dinamis dan kritis terhadap pemikiran politik Ibn Taimiyah sangat dibutuhkan pada masa sekarang ini.&lt;br /&gt;B.     Biografi Ibn Taimiyah&lt;br /&gt;Ibn Taimiyah memiliki nama lengkap Abu Abbas Ahmad bin Abd Halim bin Abd al-Salam Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Taimiyah. Ia lahir di Harran, Syria pada hari senin 10 Rabiul Awal tahun 661 H/22 Januari 1263 M. dan wafat di Damaskus pada malam senin, 20 Zulkaidah 728 H/26 September 1328 M.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ibn Taimiyah lahir dari sebuah keluarga terpelajar dan sangat Islami serta dihormati dan disegani oleh masyarakat luas pada zamannya. Ayahnya, Syihab al-Din Abdul Halim ibn Abd as-Salam, adalah seorang ulama besar yang mempunyai kedudukan tinggi di Masjid Agung Damaskus. Kakeknya, syekh Majd ad-Din Abi al-Barakat Abd as-salam ibn Abd Allah juga seorang 'alim terkenal yang ahli tafsir, ahli hadis, ahli ushul fiqh, ahli nahwu, dan pengarang. Pamannya dari pihak bapak, Syaraf ad-Din Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Halim adalah seorang cendekiawan Muslim populer dan pengarang yang produktif pada masanya. Sedangkan adik laki-lakinya ternyata juga dikenal sebagai ilmuan Muslim yang ahli dalam bidang kewarisan Islam, ilmu-ilmu hadis dan ilmu pasti.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Di samping belajar dan berguru kepada ayah dan pamannya, Ibn Taimiyah juga belajar kepada sejumlah ulama terkemuka seperti Syams ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Maqdisi, seorang faqih ternama dan hakim agung pertama dari kalangan mazhab Hambali di Syria, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Qawi ibn Badran al-Maqdisi al-Mardawi, seorang muhaddis, faqih, nahwiyy, dan mufti serta pengarang terpandang pada masanya, al-Manja' ibn Usman ibn asy-Syaibani. Selain itu, Ibn Taimiyah juga berguru kepada Zainab binti Makki al-Harrani, Syekh Syams ad-Din al-Asfihani asy-Syafi'i, Abd ar-Rahim ibn Muhammad al-Bagdadi, dan sejumlah ulama lain, baik yang terbilang kecil maupun tergolong besar, yang jumlahnya puluhan bahkan ratusan orang.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4"&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pada masa Ibn Taimiyah hidup, Islam sedang mengalami kemunduran. Di sebelah Timur, kaum Muslimin dikalahkan dan dihancurekan tentara Mongol, dan di sebelah Barat mereka akhirnya terusir dari Spanyol. Akibatnya banyak kaum cerdik pandai mengungsi ke negeri-negeri yang lebih aman seperti ke Kairo dan Damaskus. Termasuk yang mengungsi adalah keluarga Ibn Taimiyah. Di Damaskus, keluarga Ibn Taimiyah kemudian menjadi tokoh-tokoh terkemuka karena pengabdian mereka kepada ilmu pengetahuan Islam.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5"&gt;[5]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Setelah menguasai ilmu yang memadai, bahkan lebih dari itu, Ibn Taimiyah, yang telah menjadi mufti sejak sebelum berumur 20 tahun itu, mengabdikan ilmunya demi kepentingan Islam dan umat penganutnya. Sewaktu ayahnya wafat pada tahun 682 H/1284 M., ia yang waktu itu belum menamatkan studi formalnya dalam usia 21 tahun, menggantikan jabatan penting ayahnya sebagai Direktur Madrasah Dar al-Hadis as-Syukkariyah. Selain itu, Ibn Taimiyah juga harus menggantikan kedudukan ayahnya sebagai guru besar hadis dan fiqh Hambali di beberapa madrasah terkenal yang ada di Damaskus. Mulai dari sinilah karir Ibn Taimiyah selalu meningkat dari tahun ke tahun, sejak dari 'alim kelas lokal dan kemudian nasional sampai akhirnya menjadi ulama besar yang berkaliber regional dan bahkan internasional.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6"&gt;[6]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dalam hal keagamaan, pada masa Ibn Taimiyah terdapat empat mazhab fiqh besar yang dijadikan rujukan umat Islam dan sudah sangat established, yaitu mazhab Maliki, Hanafi, Syafi'i, dan mazhab Hambali. Dalam hal teologi, paham al-Asy'ari dan al-Maturidi sangat mendominasi. Pada masa itu pula, muncul banyak tokoh-tokoh mistik dengan akrobatik-akrobatik spiritual mereka yang terlampau yakin dengan penafsiran bid'ah mereka, taqlid mutlak di dalam masalah-masalah kepercayaan, di dalam metode pemahaman, dan di dalam menerima hukum-hukum syari'ah beserta kesimpulan-kesimpulannya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7"&gt;[7]&lt;/a&gt; Dalam kondisi yang demikian Ibn Taimiyah mengumandangkan kebebasan berijtihad, dan anjuran untuk kembali kepada al-Qur'an, sunnah dan praktik-praktik as-salaf as-salih. Oleh sebab itu, maka konflik tidak bisa dihindarkan dengan para penentang-penentangnya yang tidak sepaham dengannya dan merasa terancam eksistensinya.&lt;br /&gt;Konflik awal dalam masalah keagamaan antara Ibn Taimiyah dan para penentangnya adalah ketika orang-orang Hamah meminta pendapat (fatwa) nya mengenai sifat-sifat Allah yang disebutkan di dalam al-Qur'an. Ibn Taimiyah memberikan jawaban dalam bentuk risalah yang berjudul ar-Risalah al-Hamawiyah. Risalah inilah yang memicu protes para fuqaha yang diketuai Qadhi Jalaluddin dari mazhab Hanafi di Damaskus. Ibn Taimiyah dihadapkan kepada para hakim dan ahli hukum terkemuka untuk mempertanggungjawabkan fatwa tersebut. Terjadilah perdebatan sengit yang akhirnya dimenangkan oleh Ibn Taimiyah. Peristiwa ini merupakan awal dari konflik intelektual yang seru di kemudian hari.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8"&gt;[8]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sementara awal keterlibatan Ibn Taimiyah dalam masalah politik adalah ketika ia memprotes keras keputusan pemerintah (Gubernur Siria) yang tidak menjatuhkan hukuman mati kepada Assaf an-Nasrani, seorang Kristen berkebangsaan Suwayda', padahal Assaf telah menghina Nabi Muhammad saw. Hanya karena Assaf mau memeluk agama Islam ketimbang dijatuhi hukuman mati. Menurut Ibn Taimiyah, siapapun yang telah menghina Rasulullah, tidak peduli ia Muslim atau bukan, harus dihukum mati. Karena protes dan sikap tegasnya itu akhirnya Ibn Taimiyah harus meringkuk di dalam penjara 'Adrawiyyah di Damaskus.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9"&gt;[9]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Walhasil, sesungguhnya dalam diri Ibn Taimiyah terkumpul kualitas manusia unggul seperti mujaddid, seorang egalitarianisme radikal, orator dan agitator ulung, dan panglima yang gagah berani. Hanya saja sikapnya yang menentang arus membuatnya banyak 'dimusuhi' oleh ulama-ulama lainnya. Menurut Qomaruddin Khan alasan utama munculnya tantangan terhadap pendapat-pendapat Ibn Taimiyah terutama sekali karena ia tidak dapat mengendalikan amarahnya, sering mengucapkan kata-kata yang pedas, dan bertekad akan menyerang musuh-musuhnya, meskipun menurut Khan, sifat Ibn Taimiyah tersebut lebih disebabkan polemik-polemik yang menyakitkan hatinya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10"&gt;[10]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Melihat sepak terjang dan pemikiran-pemikirannya seyogyanya Ibn Taimiyah sangat populer di kalangan umat Islam seluruhnya, sejajar dengan tokoh-tokoh Muslim lain yang sangat populer seperti al-Ghazali, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rusyd dan lain sebagainya. Tapi kenapa Ibn Taimiyah tidak sepopuler yang semestinya? Tampaknya di antara sebab-sebab yang membuat ia tidak setenar yang seharusnya adalah Ibn Taimiyah tergolong profil ulama dengan gaya pemikiran dan tulisan yang amat polemis, pendapatnya sangat kontroversial dan selalu menentang arus utama, di samping itu, ia juga merupakan tokoh aktiivis sosial dan kegamaan yang radikal dengan pikiran-poikiran orisinal yang pada masanya sukar atau belum waktunya bisa dipahami oleh umum.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11"&gt;[11]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;C.     Pemikiran Politik Ibn Taimiyah&lt;br /&gt;Pemikiran politik Ibn Taimiyah yang penting bisa ditemukan dalam karya-karyanya antara lain: Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyah fi Naqd Kalam al-Syi'ah wa al-Qadariyah. Buku ini ditulis untuk mengkounter karya Ibn al-Muthahhar al-Hilli, buku yang lain adalah Minhaj al-Karamah fi Ma'rifat al-Imamah, kemudian al-Siyasah al-Syar'iyah fi Ishlah al-Ra'i wa al-Ra'iyyah, meskipun buku ini lebih banyak berisi peraturan-peraturan administrasi Islam ketimbang politik, namun di dalamnya dapat kita temukan ide-ide yang sangat penting mengenai politik. Karya lainnya adalah al-Hisbah fi al-Islam. Dalam buku ini dijumpai pernyataan-pernyataan mengenai hakekat dan fungsi negara. Tulisan-tulisan lainnya berserakan dalam bentuk risalah dalam rangka polemiknya dengan para penentangnya. Salah seorang muridnya, Ibn al-Qayyim, menulis buku berjudul al-Thuruq al-Hukmiyah fi al-Siyasah al-Syar'iyah. Namun, buku ini lebih banyak membahas prosedur pengadilan daripada teori politik atau pemerintahan.&lt;br /&gt;Sementara buku yang ditulis sarjana Barat mengenai Ibn Taimiyah adalah karya Henry Laoust dalam bahasa Perancis berjudul "Les Doctrines Sociales et Politiques d' Ibn Taymiyyah". Buku ini merupakan studi paling serius dan teliti mengenai Ibn Taimiyah. Buku yang lebih merupakan karya ensiklopedis mengenai Ibn Taimiyah ini ditulis dengan menggunakan kerangka ilmiah dan sangat metodologis, meski sangat sering mengandung prasangka orientalis.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12"&gt;[12]&lt;/a&gt; Sayang sekali buku ini tidak sampai kepada penulis baik dalam bentuk aslinya maupun tarjamahannya.&lt;br /&gt;Untuk mengetahui pokok-pokok pemikiran politik Ibn Taimiyah dan supaya lebih mudah memahaminya akan kami paparkan dalam bentuk pointer-pointer sebagai berikut:&lt;br /&gt;1.     Asal Usul dan Sifat Negara&lt;br /&gt;a.       Menegakkan Negara&lt;br /&gt;Pemikir-pemikir Muslim memandang masalah ini dalam bentuk yang berbeda-beda. Kaum Sunni menyatakan bahwa menegakkan negara (imamah) bukanlah salah satu asas dan praktik agama seperti yang diyakini oleh orang-orang Syi'ah. Menurut mereka, imamah adalah salah satu dari detail-detail (furu') yang berhubungan dengan perbuatan orang-orang beriman, karena menurut pendapat mereka, kepada ummah diperintahkan untuk mengangkat seorang imam melalui al-sam' (tradisi).&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13"&gt;[13]&lt;/a&gt; Yang dimaksud dengan al-sam', menurut Qomaruddin Khan, adalah al-Qur'an , sunnah dan ijma'.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14"&gt;[14]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pandangan golongan Mu'tazilah sangat bertentangan dengan pandangan Sunni. Mu'tazilah berpendapat bahwa keharusan menegakkan imamah dapat dibuktikan oleh akal pikiran.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15"&gt;[15]&lt;/a&gt; Sementara golongan Syi'ah juga menolak akal pikiran karena dianggap tidak mencukupi. Mereka berpendapat bahwa imamah adalah "lutf" (berkah) Allah kepada hamba-hamba-Nya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16"&gt;[16]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ibn Taimiyah sendiri lebih sependapat dengan Sunni. Ia menyatakan bahwa mengatur urusan-urusan umat termasuk kewajiban-kewajiban agama yang terpenting. Tetapi tidak berarti agama tidak bisa tegak tanpa adanya negara. Kepentingan manusia, menurutnya, tidak bisa terpenuhi kecuali dengan bergabung menjadi suatu masyarakat, mengumpulkan kepentingan satu sama lain. Ketika berkumpul maka harus ada pemimpin.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17"&gt;[17]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ibn Taimiyah tidak mendasarkan pada metode ijma' sebagai alasan kewajiban mendirikan negara. Tetapi ia lebih menekankan kepada upaya mewujudkan kesejahteraan umat manusia (social welfare) dan melaksanakan syari'at Islam (iqamat al-Syari'ah al-Islamiyyah). Dengan demikian, sebetulnya Ibn Taimiyah tidak menganggap penting sistem khilafah. Menurutnya, institusi khilafah boleh ditiadakan, yang penting tujuan-tujuan positif bisa dicapai.&lt;br /&gt;Sedemikian yakinnya Ibn Taimiyah terhadap keharusan otoritas negara sehingga ia mengatakan bahwa sesungguhnya raja adalah bayangan Allah di atas bumi, dan uangkapannya yang lain bahwa enam puluh tahun di bawah kekuasaan imam yang tiran itu lebih baik daripada satu malam tanpa seorang imam (chaos/vacuum of power).&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18"&gt;[18]&lt;/a&gt; Agaknya dalam hal ini Ibn Taimiyah lebih suka menggunakan teori stabilitas.&lt;br /&gt;b.      Pengangkatan Kepala Negara&lt;br /&gt;Ibn Taimiyah tidak secara tegas merumuskan mekanisme pengangkatan kepala negara. Dia hanya menyebutkan bahwa sebetulnya tidak terlalu penting membicarakan sistem pengangkatan kepala negara. Menurutnya, yang penting adalah bahwa orang yang menduduki jabatan itu harus benar-benar amanah dan adil.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19"&gt;[19]&lt;/a&gt; Karena pentingnya dua hal ini, sehingga di awal bukunya, al-Siyasah al-Syari'yah, ia secara khusus membahas doktrin amanah dan keadilan bagi mereka yang menduduki jabatan. Ibn Taimiyah mensyaratkan dua hal bagi kepala negara, yaitu memiliki kualifikasi kekuatan (al-quwwah) dan integritas (al-amanat).&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20"&gt;[20]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kekuatan dan integritas ini menurut Ibn Taimiyah diperoleh melalui cara mubaya'ah yang diberikan oleh ahl al-Syawkah&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21"&gt;[21]&lt;/a&gt; yang efektif kepada raja/kepala negara. Ini berarti bahwa dukungan umat muncul sebagai akibat wajar dari bay'ah tersebut, bukan sebagai prosedur terpisah yang diperlukan itu sendiri. Mubaya'ah ini nantinya akan berfungsi menjadi semacam kontrak sosial yang mengikat antara raja/kepala negara dan rakyat. Sedangkan yang dimaksud ahl al-Syawkah sendiri menurut Ibn Taimiyah adalah semua orang, tanpa memandang profesi dan kedudukan mereka, dihormati dan ditaati oleh masyarakat&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22"&gt;[22]&lt;/a&gt;. Barangkali pada zaman sekarang ini ahl al-Syawkah bisa ndisamakan dengan DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat).&lt;br /&gt;Menurut Qomaruddin Khan hanya Ibn Taimiyahlah yang telah memberikan perspektif yang tepat kepada konsep syawkah ini. Ibn Taimiyah menolak teori tradisional mengenai kekhalifahan dan mengembangkan sebuah teori tersendiri mengenai negara. Konsep atau teori ini pada gilirannya nanti ditransformasikan oleh Ibnu Khaldun ke dalam teorinya yang terkenal mengenai 'asabiyah.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23"&gt;[23]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Meskipun Ibn Taimiyah mensyaratkan dua hal kepada calon penguasa atau kepala negara, namun apabila penguasa atau kepala negara yang ideal (memiliki kualifikasi kekuatan dan integritas) tidak bisa diperoleh, menurut Ibn Taimiyah harus diangkat orang yang paling sesuai untuk pekerjaan itu. Tetapi, menurutnya hal itu hanya bersifat sementara, dan bahwa setelah itu kaum Muslim harus berusaha memperbaiki keadaan mereka supaya dapat memenuhi ajaran-ajaran Islam.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24"&gt;[24]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dalam hal penunjukan atau pengangkatan pembantu-pembantunya, Ibn Taimiyah berpendapat, bahwa seorang kepala negara harus berusaha mencari orang-orang yang secara objektif betul-betul memiliki kecakapan dan kemampuan untuk jabatan-jabatan tersebut, dan jangan karena terpengaruh faktor-faktor subjektif seperti hubungan kekeluargaan dan lain sebagainya.&lt;br /&gt;Tampaknya Ibn Taimiyah memaknai kata amanah dalam dua pengertian. Pertama, amanah diartikan kepentingan-kepentingan rakyat yang merupakan tanggung jawab kepala negara untuk mengelolanya. Kedua, amanah diartikan kewenangan pemerintah yang dimiliki oleh kepala negara.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25"&gt;[25]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dengan persyaratan yang demikian, maka Ibn Taimiyah tidak mensyaratkan calon kepala negara harus dari suku Quraisy. Persyaratan ini (suku Quraisy) bertentangan dengan al-Qur'an yang mengakui persamaan derajat sesama manusia, meskipun ada hadis yang dijadikan landasan terhadap persyaratan suku Quraisy tersebut.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26"&gt;[26]&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;c.       Tugas Kepala Negara&lt;br /&gt;Tugas utama dan mendasar seorang kepala negara adalah menciptakan kemaslahatan bersama dalam wujud menjalankan amanah sebaik-baiknya dan menciptakan keadilan semaksimal mungkin. Dengan demikian, maka tujuan negara adalah 1) sebagai alat untuk menjalankan syari'at Islam di tengah-tengah kehidupan umat manusia sebaik-baiknya, 2) berfungsi untuk menciptakan kemaslahatan bersama secara hakiki, lahir dan batin seluruh rakyat, dan 3) merupakan lembaga yang harus bertanggung jawab dalam menjalankan amanah dan menciptakan keadilan.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27"&gt;[27]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;d.      Bentuk Negara/Pemerintahan&lt;br /&gt;Ibn Taimiyah lebih cenderung kepada bentuk pemerintahan demokratis. Pendapatnya ini disimpulkan dari penolakannya terhadap sistem khilafah dan juga terhadap model Syi'ah (imamah). Hanya saja demokratis yang dikehendaki Ibn Taimiyah adalah demokratis konstitusional yang berlandaskan nilai-nilai syari'at&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28"&gt;[28]&lt;/a&gt;. Model seperti ini, menurut Ibn Taimiyah, bisa merealisasikan nilai-nilai keadilan. Bukankah Allah mengirimkan utusan-utusan-Nya supaya kita bersikap adil baik berhubungan dengan hak-hak Allah maupun dengan hak-hak manusia sebagaimana firman-Nya:&lt;br /&gt;…Dan kami ciptakan besi yang padanya terdapat kekuatan yang hebat dan berbagai manfaat bagi manusia, (supaya rela mempergunakan besi itu) dan supaya Allah mengetahui siapa yang menolong (agama)-Nya dan Rasul-rasul-Nya padahal Allah tidak melihatnya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29"&gt;[29]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2.     Negara Nubuwwah dan Khilafah Nubuwwah&lt;br /&gt;Tesis pokok Ibn Taimiyah mengenai negara kenabian adalah bahwa Nabi Muhammad saw. hanyalah seorang Nabi, bahwa segala aktifitasnya tercakup ke dalam fungsi kenabiannya, dan bahwa institusi imamah tidak berada di luar fungsi tersebut dan tidak pula merupakan rukun iman.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30"&gt;[30]&lt;/a&gt; Pada masa Nabi masih hidup imamah tidak diperlukan, konsep imamah muncul setelah wafatnya Nabi. Ibn Taimiyah memiliki alasan-alasan yang kuat untuk membedakan rejim nubuwwah dengan negara Islam yang lahir setelah Muhammad meninggal dunia. Seorang raja, menurutnya, kepatuhan rakyat kepadanya karena ia adalah seorang raja. Tetapi, kita tentu menyadari bahwa Muhammad harus dipatuhi bukan karena dia seorang kepala negara tetapi karena dia adalah Rasul Allah.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31"&gt;[31]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sebenarnya inti tesis Ibn Taimiyah di atas dikarenakan pertama, penyangkalannya terhadap teori ilahiah mengenai imamah yang dikemukakan kaum Syi'ah, sedang ia tidak menyangkal fakta sejarah bahwa Nabi Muhammad adalah seorang imam yang sejati. Kedua, menurutnya, kaum Muslimin tidak pernah mementingkan sesuatupun juga melebihi iman. Ketiga, bahwa detail-detail penataan negara tidak perlu disebutkan di dalam al-Qur'an. Negara, menurutnya, harus dinamis dan progresif di dalam sifat dan kondisinya.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32"&gt;[32]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Berkaitan dengan khilafah Nubuwwah, Ibn Taimiyah menyatakan bahwa perkataan khilafah, seperti terdapat di dalam al-Qur'an dan sunnah, tidak mengandung signifikansi religius dan politik.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33"&gt;[33]&lt;/a&gt; Mengenai empat sahabat (Abu Bakar, Umar, Utsman, dan Ali), Ibn Taimiyah lebih suka menyebtunya sebagai khalifah an-Nubuwwah.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34"&gt;[34]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Menurut penulis persoalan apakah perkataan khilafah di dalam al-Qur'an maupun hadits mengandung signifikansi religius dan politik atau tidak memang masih menjadi perdebatan, bahkan kalau Ibn Taimiyah telah secara tegas menyatakan tidak. Tetapi bahwa khilafah itu pernah ada dalam sejarah perpolitikan Islam terlepas dari sebutan yang digunakan sebagai penggantinya juga merupakan sesuatu yang tidak bisa terbantahkan dan hal ini juga diakui oleh Ibn Taimiyah. Menurutnya khilafah pernah ada di dalam sejarah sebagai sebuah institusi politik.&lt;br /&gt;D.    Implikasi Pemikiran Politik Ibn Taimiyah Terhadap Pemikiran Politik Islam Modern&lt;br /&gt;Ibn Taimiyah yang bermadzhab Hambali dalam banyak—meskipun tidak semua—perkara hukum dan teologis, dan seorang penganut Salafiyah pada bidang yang lebih luas, sangat berpengaruh kuat di kalangan Sunni konservatif dan, dalam periode modern, di kalangan kaum liberal dan konservatif. Sejumlah gagasan Ibn Taimiyah relevan dengan masyarakat dan politik karena menurutnya agama dan negara berkaitan erat (al-Islam al-din wa al-daulah). Gagasan-gagasannya tersebut ada yang bermakna positif tapi banyak juga yang berimplikasi negatif. Di antara gagasannya yang berimplikasi negatif misalnya, dia mendefinisikan orang Mongol sebagai kafir walaupun mereka memiliki wacana Islam publik. Dia memiliki antipati umum kepada ahl al-kitab.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35"&gt;[35]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pemikiran takfir semacam ini, di zaman modern, banyak diikuti oleh gerakan-gerakan militan-radikal seperti tampak pada pemikiran-pemikiran Hasan al-Banna dan sayyid Qutb dengan konsepnya yang terkenal "jahiliyah modern". Pemikiran Ibn Taimiyah  juga menjadi inspirasi bagi Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj, juru bicara intelektual dari kelompok yang merekayasa pembunuhan atas Anwar Sadat. Dalam sebuah risalahnya yang berjudul al-Risalah al-Faridhah, ia mengutip fatwa Ibn Taimiyah  tentang orang Mongol sebagai preseden dalam takfirnya terhadap penguasa dan otoritas religius kontemporer.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36"&gt;[36]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Implikasi positif dari pemikiran politik Ibn Taimiyah misalnya dalam hal pemahamannya yang tidak kaku terhadap konsep khilafah. Menurutnya, model negara boleh apa saja asalkan bisa merealisasikan tujuan-tujuan sebuah negara, yaitu kemaslahatan umat manusia, menciptakan keadilan dan menegakkan syari'at Allah. Berkaitan dengan konsep kepala negara (khalifah), Ibn Taimiyah memberi peluang bagi adanya pluralisme dalam dunia Islam. Ibn Taimiyah berpendapat bahwa umat Islam tidak harus mempunyai hanya seorang khalifah, tetapi dibolehkan adanya beberapa khalifah dan beberapa negara yang menjadi daerah kekuasaan masing-masing khalifah itu.&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn37" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37"&gt;[37]&lt;/a&gt; Pandangan yang cukup realistis mengingat pada masa Ibn Taimiyah secara de facto tidak hanya terdiri dari satu kekhalifahan, tetapi terdiri dari lebih satu kekhalifahan dan beberapa kerajaan atau dinasti.&lt;br /&gt;Menurut penulis banyak orang yang menjadikan pendapat atau pemikiran Ibn Taimiyah sebagai sandaran dalam tindakannya yang negatif karena ketidakmengertian atau paling tidak telah terjadi kesalahan dalam memahami pemikiran Ibn Taimiyah walaupun dalam kasus-kasus tertentu penulis juga sependapat bahwa ada pemikiran Ibn Taimiyah yang berpotensi menimbulkan hal-hal baik pandangan maupun sikap yang negatif dan merugikan.&lt;br /&gt;E.     Penutup&lt;br /&gt;Pemikiran politik seseorang memang akan sangat dipengaruhi oleh lingkungan sosio-religius di mana seseorang tinggal dan berinteraksi, termasuk pemikiran politik Ibn Taimiyah. Ibn Taimiyah yang hidup pada masa dunia Islam sedang mengalami puncak disintegrasi poltiik, dislokasi sosial dan dekadensi akhlak serta moral jelas sangat berpengaruh terhadap model pemikiran-pemikiran politiknya. Jika demikian halnya, maka konsep takfirnya terhadap orang-orang Mongol, meskipun sudah masuk Islam, bisa dipahami. Apalagi dia dan keluarganya harus mengungsi ke Damaskus karena serangan tentara Tartar yang sangat bengis dan kejam.&lt;br /&gt;Pemikiran politik Ibn Taimiyah begitu amat penting di dalam sejarah politik Islam, bahkan hingga saat ini. Tesisnya yang mengatakan bahwa rejim yang ditegakkan Nabi adalah rejim nubuwwah dan bukan imamah, sedang imamah baru ada setelah Nabi wafat, perlu senantiasa dikaji. Wallahu 'A'lam.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DAFTAR PUSTAKA&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Amin, Muhammad, Ijtihad Ibn Taimiyah Dalam Bidang Fikih Islam, Jakarta: INIS, 1991.&lt;br /&gt;Esposito, John L., Ensiklopedi Oxford-Dunia Islam Modern, penerj. Eva Y.N., Femmy Syahrani, Jarot W., Poerwanto, Rofik S., cet. 1. Bandung: Mizan, 2001.&lt;br /&gt;Hamadah, Abdul Ghani, Fadh al-Dzakirin wa al-Raddu 'Ala al-Munkirin. Suria: t.p., 1971.&lt;br /&gt;Katsir, Ibn, al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah, jilid IX juz 14. Beirut Lebanon: Dar al-Fikr, t.th.&lt;br /&gt;Khan, Qomaruddin, The Political Thought of Ibn Taimiyah, 2nd edition. Pakistan: Islamic Research  Institute, 1985.&lt;br /&gt;Madjid, Nurcholish, Khazanah Intelektual Islam. Jakarta: Bulan Bintang, 1994.&lt;br /&gt;Rojak, Jeje Abdul, Politik Kenegaraan Pemikiran al-Ghazali dan Ibn Taimiyah, cet. 1. Surabaya: Bina Ilmu, 1999.&lt;br /&gt;Sjadzali, Munawir, Islam dan Tata Negara Ajaran , Sejarah dan Pemikiran, edisi 5. Jakarta: UI Press, 1993.&lt;br /&gt;Taimiyah, Ibn, al-Siyasah al-Syar'iyah fi Ishlahi al-Ra'i wa al-Ra'iyyah, cet. 2. Mesir: Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi, 1951.&lt;br /&gt;---------, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyah fi Naqd Kalam al-Syi'ah wa al-Qadariyah, jilid 1. Kairo: Maktabah Dar al-'Urubat, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;---------, Majmu' Rasail, al-Hisbah. Kairo: t.tp., 1323.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt; Hal ini tidak terlepas dari proyek besar Ibn Taimiyah yang ingin memberantas praktik-praktik bid'ah, khurafat, tahayul dan mistik yang menurutnya menjadi pangkal penyebab kemunduran dan kejatuhan Islam dan umat Islam.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt; Ibn Katsir, al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah, jilid IX juz 14, (Beirut Lebanon: Dar al-Fikr, t.th), halm. 135-136. Lihat juga Muhammad Amin, Ijtihad Ibn Taimiyah Dalam Bidang Fikih Islam, (Jakarta: INIS, 1991), halm. 7.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt; Amin, Ijtihad, halm. 7-8.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4"&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 9-10.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5"&gt;[5]&lt;/a&gt; Qomaruddin Khan, The Political Thought of Ibn Taimiyah, 2nd edition, (Pakistan: Islamic Research  Institute, 1985), halm. 2.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6"&gt;[6]&lt;/a&gt; Amin., Ijtihad, halm. 12.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7"&gt;[7]&lt;/a&gt; Khan, The Political, halm. 5-6.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8"&gt;[8]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 7. Konflik selanjutnya misalnya dengan kaum sufi yang disponsori Ibn 'Ata' as-Sukandari. Untuk mengetahui komentar-komentar penentangnya, penulis kutipkan pernyataan al-ustadz Abdul Ghani Hamadah. Ia menyatakaan bahwa orang-orang ahli bid'ah mengagungkan dirinya sendiri. Mereka berkata kami adalah peniolong sunnah, kami salafiyun, kami mujaddidun sebagaimana yang dikatakan oleh guru mereka, Ibn Taimiyah. Padahal sebenarnya merekalah ahli bid'ah dari golongan yang sesat karena 1) penyimpangan mereka dari imam mazhab yang empat dan dari jumhur ulama kaum Muslimin, 2) paham antrophomorpisme/tajsim mereka terhadap sifat-sifat Allah, dan 3) mengkafirkan ulama-ulama dan auliya terkemuka. Hamadah juga mengutip komentar-komentar ulama mengenai diri Ibn Taimiyah, mislanya 'Alauddin al-Bukhari mengatakan bahwa Ibn Taimiyah kafir, Zainuddin al-Hambali menyebutnya kafir, imam as-Subki mengkafirkan Ibn Taimiyah karena ia telah mengkafirkan umat Islam dan menyerupakan mereka dengan kaum Yahudi dan Nasrani di dalam tafsirnya, Ibn Hajar menyebut Ibn Taimiyah sebagai hamba yang ditelantarkan, disesatkan, dibutakan, dibisukan, dan dihinakan Allah dan komentar-komentar ulama lainnya. Periksa al-Ustadz Abdul Ghani Hamadah, Fadh al-Dzakirin wa al-Raddu 'Ala al-Munkirin (Suria: t.p., 1971), halm. 22-23.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9"&gt;[9]&lt;/a&gt; Amin, Ijtihad, halm. 13.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10"&gt;[10]&lt;/a&gt; Khan, The Political,halm. 5.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11"&gt;[11]&lt;/a&gt; Jeje Abdul Rojak, Politik Kenegaraan Pemikiran al-Ghazali dan Ibn Taimiyah, cet. 1 (Surabaya: Bina Ilmu, 1999), halm. 126.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12"&gt;[12]&lt;/a&gt; Khan, "Pendahuluan", halm. ii.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13"&gt;[13]&lt;/a&gt; Ibn Taimiyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyah fi Naqd Kalam al-Syi'ah wa al-Qadariyah, jilid 1 (Kairo: Maktabah Dar al-'Urubat, 1962), halm. 26.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14"&gt;[14]&lt;/a&gt; Khan, The Political,halm. 24.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15"&gt;[15]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 25.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16"&gt;[16]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 28.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17"&gt;[17]&lt;/a&gt; Ibn Taimiyah, al-Siyasah al-Syar'iyah fi Ishlahi al-Ra'i wa al-Ra'iyyah, cet. 2 (Mesir: Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi, 1951), halm. 172-173.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18"&gt;[18]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 173.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19"&gt;[19]&lt;/a&gt; Disebutkan bahwa Allah menolong pemerintahan yang adil walaupun yang dimiliki oleh orang-orang kafir dan tidak menolong pemerintahan yang sewenang-wenang walaupun yang dimiliki oleh orang-orang Muslim. Lihat Ibn Taimiyah, Majmu' Rasail, al-Hisbah (Kairo: t.tp., 1323), halm. 36. Riwayat yang lain menyebutkan bahwa sehari bersama seorang pemimpin yang adil itu lebih utama daripada beribadah enam puluh tahun. Lihat juga Ibn Taimiyah, al-Siyasah, halm. 22.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20"&gt;[20]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 20.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21"&gt;[21]&lt;/a&gt; Konsep ahl al-Syawkah yang dikemukakan oleh Ibn Taimiyah berbeda dengan konsep yang pernah diajukan oleh al-Ghazali. Menurut al-Ghazali ahl al-Syawkah adalah para penguasa yang sedang berkuasa pada masanya. Dalam konteks al-Ghazali yang dimaksud adalah para penguasa Turki dari Dinasti Saljuq yang menjadi penguasa di kota Baghdad.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22"&gt;[22]&lt;/a&gt; Khan, The Political,halm. 234.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23"&gt;[23]&lt;/a&gt; Khan, The Political halm. 235.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24"&gt;[24]&lt;/a&gt; Ibn Taimiyah, As-Siyasah, halm. 13-21.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25"&gt;[25]&lt;/a&gt; Munawir Sjadzali, Islam dan Tata Negara Ajaran , Sejarah dan Pemikiran, edisi 5. (Jakarta: UI Press, 1993), halm. 85-86.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26"&gt;[26]&lt;/a&gt; Pendapat Ibn Taimiyah ini bertentangan dengan pendapatnya sendiri yang tertuang dalam bukunya, Minhaj. Ia menerangkan syarat-syarat di dalam pemilihan seorang imam, yaitu: 1) harus dari suku Quraisy, 2) harus diangkat melalui konsultasi di antara orang-orang Muslim, 3) harus mendapatkan sumpah setia dari orang-orang Muslim, dan 4) harus bersifat adil. Periksa Ibn Taimiyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah fi Naqd Kalam al-Syi'ah wa al-Qadariyah, jilid 2. (Kairo: Maktabah Dar al-'Urubat, 1962), halm. 86-89.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27"&gt;[27]&lt;/a&gt; Rojak, Politik, halm. 166-167.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28"&gt;[28]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 179. Tampaknya pemikiran Ibn Taimiyah ini di kemudian hari menjadi inspirasi bagi Sayyid Abu A'la Maududi untuk menyusun teori politiknya. Menurut Maududi sistem politik Islam bukan teokrasi dan bukan pula demokrasi sebagaimana di Barat. Menurutnya sistem politik Islam lebih merupakan perpaduan antara keduanya sehingga bisa disebut dengan teo-demokrasi. Lebih lengkapnya lihat Maududi, Political Theory of Islam, (Lahore: Islamic Publications Limited, 1960).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29"&gt;[29]&lt;/a&gt; Al-Qur'an, 57:25.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30"&gt;[30]&lt;/a&gt; Khan, The Political,halm. 54.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31"&gt;[31]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 57-58.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32"&gt;[32]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 56.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33"&gt;[33]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 137.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34"&gt;[34]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 146.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35"&gt;[35]&lt;/a&gt; John L. Esposito, Ensiklopedi Oxford-Dunia Islam Modern, penerj. Eva Y.N., Femmy Syahrani, Jarot W., Poerwanto, Rofik S., cet. 1 (Bandung: Mizan, 2001), halm. 244.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36"&gt;[36]&lt;/a&gt; Ibid., halm. 245.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn37" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1979959575268777686#_ftnref37" name="_ftn37"&gt;[37]&lt;/a&gt; Nurcholish Madjid, Khazanah Intelektual Islam, (Jakarta: Bulan Bintang, 1994), halm. 42.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1979959575268777686-379009849198066296?l=politeiapress.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/feeds/379009849198066296/comments/default' title='Poskan Komentar'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1979959575268777686&amp;postID=379009849198066296&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Komentar'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/379009849198066296'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1979959575268777686/posts/default/379009849198066296'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://politeiapress.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-articel.html' title='New Articel'/><author><name>Akhmad Satori, S.IP., M.S.I</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10162413634737027621</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1979959575268777686.post-8834117263332254518</id><published>2007-11-21T21:52:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-11-21T21:58:54.575-08:00</updated><title type='text'>About Islam Shia</title><content type='html'>Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;Ahmad Vaezi&lt;br /&gt;Published by&lt;br /&gt;Islamic Centre of England&lt;br /&gt;2004&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;First published in the UK by Islamic Centre of England&lt;br /&gt;140 Maida Vale, London W9 1QB, UK&lt;br /&gt;Tel: 020-7604 5500&lt;br /&gt;Fax: 020-7604 4898&lt;br /&gt;Email: ic-el@ic-el.org&lt;br /&gt;Homepage: www.ic-el.org&lt;br /&gt;ISBN: 1-904934-01-3&lt;br /&gt;Copyright © 2004 Islamic Centre of England&lt;br /&gt;All rights reserved&lt;br /&gt;CONTENTS&lt;br /&gt;Introduction 6&lt;br /&gt;Chapter One - Islam and Politics 10&lt;br /&gt;What is a “Religious Government”? 10&lt;br /&gt;Rejection of Islamic Government 13&lt;br /&gt;The First Argument 16&lt;br /&gt;Second Argument 21&lt;br /&gt;Third Argument 25&lt;br /&gt;Categorizing Social Alterations 27&lt;br /&gt;Flexibility of the Islamic Legal System 30&lt;br /&gt;Rational Management versus Juristic Management 33&lt;br /&gt;Objectives of an Islamic State 36&lt;br /&gt;Implementation of the Shari'a 36&lt;br /&gt;To Enjoin the Good and Forbid the Evil 38&lt;br /&gt;Spheres of Islamic Political Thought 48&lt;br /&gt;i) Political Theology 49&lt;br /&gt;ii) Political Philosophy 49&lt;br /&gt;iii) Political Ethics 50&lt;br /&gt;iv) Political Jurisprudence 50&lt;br /&gt;Chapter Two - What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 53&lt;br /&gt;The Concept of Imamate 54&lt;br /&gt;Imam as “Wali” 56&lt;br /&gt;The Theory of Caliphate 60&lt;br /&gt;The Meaning of Wilayat al-Faqih 66&lt;br /&gt;1. Wilayat al-Qaraba 66&lt;br /&gt;2. Wilayat al-Qada’ 67&lt;br /&gt;3. Wilayat al-Hakim 67&lt;br /&gt;4. Wilayat al-Mutlaqa (The Absolute Authority) 67&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;4&lt;br /&gt;5. Wilayat al-Usuba 67&lt;br /&gt;i) Making a Decree (Al-Ifta) 68&lt;br /&gt;ii) To Judge (Al-Qada) 69&lt;br /&gt;Hisbiya Affairs (Al-Umur al-Hisbiya) 69&lt;br /&gt;1 - Political - Devotional (Ibady) Orders and Prayers 71&lt;br /&gt;2 - Legal Punishment (Hudud) 72&lt;br /&gt;3 - Islamic Taxes 72&lt;br /&gt;4 - Jihad (Holy War) and Defense 72&lt;br /&gt;Some Misconceptions 74&lt;br /&gt;The Historical Background 78&lt;br /&gt;Multiplicity in Wilayat 86&lt;br /&gt;The Dominion of the Wali al-Faqih 88&lt;br /&gt;Al-Wilayat al-Mutlaqa 92&lt;br /&gt;i) Divine Laws (Al-Hukm as-Shari’) 93&lt;br /&gt;ii) The Judge's Command (Al-Hukm al-Qadi) 94&lt;br /&gt;iii) Governmental Orders (Al-Hukm al-Wilai) 94&lt;br /&gt;iv) Al-Hukm al-Awaly and al-Hukm al-Sanavy 95&lt;br /&gt;Wilayat al-Faqih and other Ideas of Guardianship 99&lt;br /&gt;Chapter Three - Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 103&lt;br /&gt;Traditional Evidences for Wilayat al-Faqih 104&lt;br /&gt;A Signet Letter (Tuqih) from the Absent Imam 104&lt;br /&gt;Maqbula of Umar ibn Hanzala 107&lt;br /&gt;The Tradition of Abu Khadija 109&lt;br /&gt;The Second Tradition: Saduqs’ Morsala. 113&lt;br /&gt;The Third Tradition:&lt;br /&gt;The Fuqaha are the Trustees of the Prophets 114&lt;br /&gt;The Fourth Tradition: The Ulema are the Rulers 114&lt;br /&gt;The Fifth Tradition: Imam Hussain’s Sermon 115&lt;br /&gt;The Sixth Hadith:&lt;br /&gt;The Fuqaha are the Fortress of Islam 116&lt;br /&gt;Wilayat al-Amma as Hisbah 116&lt;br /&gt;Introduction 5&lt;br /&gt;The Rational Argument 119&lt;br /&gt;The Characteristics of Wali al-Faqih and&lt;br /&gt;the Problem of ‘A‘lamiya’ 123&lt;br /&gt;Ijtihad (Proficiency in Islamic Jurisprudence) 123&lt;br /&gt;Justice 125&lt;br /&gt;Prudence, Trustworthiness, Administrative&lt;br /&gt;Facilities and Courage 126&lt;br /&gt;Knowledge 126&lt;br /&gt;The External Justification. 129&lt;br /&gt;Criticism of Guardianship 137&lt;br /&gt;Chapter Four - Islam and Democracy 143&lt;br /&gt;What is Democracy? 146&lt;br /&gt;Democracy and Liberalism 151&lt;br /&gt;Benefits of Democracy 153&lt;br /&gt;Foundations of Democracy 155&lt;br /&gt;Intrinsic Equality 157&lt;br /&gt;Priority of the Will of the Majority over Rightness 159&lt;br /&gt;Personal Autonomy 163&lt;br /&gt;Limited Democracy versus Pure Democracy 168&lt;br /&gt;What is the Conception of a ‘Religious Democracy’? 170&lt;br /&gt;Smoothing the Path to Religious Democracy 173&lt;br /&gt;Religious Democracy and its Critics 182&lt;br /&gt;Religious Democracy is Paradoxical 182&lt;br /&gt;Usurpation of God's Sovereignty 185&lt;br /&gt;The Problem of Legal Equality 194&lt;br /&gt;Reconciling Islam and Liberal Democracy 196&lt;br /&gt;Final Word 209&lt;br /&gt;Bibliography 212&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;6&lt;br /&gt;Introduction&lt;br /&gt;Contemporary discourse concerning the political role and&lt;br /&gt;application of Islam is deeply influenced by the west, as it is&lt;br /&gt;largely considered as either a positive or negative reaction to&lt;br /&gt;the western way of life. Confronted by the emerging&lt;br /&gt;technical and military superiority, economic achievements&lt;br /&gt;and apparent affluence of western society, Muslims have&lt;br /&gt;been forced to address the challenge of modernity and the&lt;br /&gt;various dimensions that accompany it. As a result, the need&lt;br /&gt;to review and redefine the Islamic position has become&lt;br /&gt;necessary, a discussion which has established two main&lt;br /&gt;streams of political thought amongst Muslim scholars and&lt;br /&gt;intellectuals.&lt;br /&gt;Firstly, there are those who advocate a “liberal”&lt;br /&gt;interpretation of Islam and strive to demonstrate its&lt;br /&gt;compatibility with the underlying values of modernism and,&lt;br /&gt;more precisely, the western political system. Supporters of&lt;br /&gt;this stream see their interests and objectives in secular terms;&lt;br /&gt;many adopt ideologies such as nationalism, pan-Arabism,&lt;br /&gt;socialism and Marxism, frequently disconnecting themselves&lt;br /&gt;from classical Islamic political thought.&lt;br /&gt;The second stream of thought, often categorised as&lt;br /&gt;revivalism or fundamentalism, embody an extreme reaction&lt;br /&gt;to the spread of western ideas throughout the Muslim world.&lt;br /&gt;Its followers totally reject parliamentary liberalism, amongst&lt;br /&gt;other western ideologies, and advocate the comprehensive&lt;br /&gt;adoption of the sources of divine revelation as a means to&lt;br /&gt;end the West’s hegemony, whilst overcoming present&lt;br /&gt;difficulties faced by Muslim societies.&lt;br /&gt;The reflexive nature of these two streams offers little beyond&lt;br /&gt;a positive or negative reaction to modernism and the western&lt;br /&gt;Introduction 7&lt;br /&gt;way of life (specifically in the political field). Followers of&lt;br /&gt;the former adopt a secular approach; providing an optimistic&lt;br /&gt;analysis of western political values, either endorsing them or&lt;br /&gt;assuming them as Islamic concepts. In short, this attitude&lt;br /&gt;provides no potential for the development or evolution of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic political heritage. On the other hand, despite strong&lt;br /&gt;aspirations to establish a pure Islamic society and&lt;br /&gt;government, revivalism and fundamentalism fail to provide&lt;br /&gt;a complete or unambiguous model for this ideal society.&lt;br /&gt;Many revivalists have attempted to reform the political&lt;br /&gt;theory of traditional Sunni jurist’s (i.e. the theory of&lt;br /&gt;Khilafah or Caliphate) whilst other, more excessive versions&lt;br /&gt;of fundamentalism (such as the Taliban movement) present&lt;br /&gt;an aggressive, oppressive and backward image of the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;model.&lt;br /&gt;Born amidst shallow and ultimately reactionary Islamic&lt;br /&gt;political ideologies, the theory of “Wilayat al-Faqih”&lt;br /&gt;constituted an entirely new direction and mode of thinking.&lt;br /&gt;This conception of Islamic governance, formally embodied&lt;br /&gt;in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is&lt;br /&gt;distinguished by its close connection to Shia political&lt;br /&gt;doctrine and the successful amalgamation of shari’a and&lt;br /&gt;democracy. It composes the authority of an Islamic legal&lt;br /&gt;system, the political guardianship of a just and capable&lt;br /&gt;Mujtahid (jurist) and the democratic role of the people in the&lt;br /&gt;distribution of political power. Within the framework of the&lt;br /&gt;traditional Shi’a doctrine of Imamat, this political doctrine&lt;br /&gt;reconciles the authority of religion and the authority of the&lt;br /&gt;people.&lt;br /&gt;There are many misunderstandings concerning the theory of&lt;br /&gt;Wilayat al-faqih, its historical background and political&lt;br /&gt;justification, the role of people and what separates it from&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;8&lt;br /&gt;other Islamic political theories (such as that of the&lt;br /&gt;Caliphate). The primary function of this book is to clarify&lt;br /&gt;these different dimensions and dispel any ambiguities&lt;br /&gt;surrounding this version of the Islamic state.&lt;br /&gt;The wilayat al-faqih (guardianship of the scholars) is a&lt;br /&gt;religious model of government. It is therefore essential to&lt;br /&gt;discuss why we are in need of a ‘religious state’ and to take&lt;br /&gt;full account of the implications and justifications of this&lt;br /&gt;model in the contemporary world. Chapter one addresses the&lt;br /&gt;definition of a ‘religious government’ and explores the&lt;br /&gt;relationship between Islam and politics. It also assesses the&lt;br /&gt;principal arguments presented by various Muslim thinkers,&lt;br /&gt;particularly those who are opposed to the concept of an&lt;br /&gt;Islamic government.&lt;br /&gt;Chapter two intends to clarify the doctrine of wilayat alfaqih,&lt;br /&gt;its historical background, what distinguishes it from&lt;br /&gt;other political theories, and its connection to the traditional&lt;br /&gt;religious authority of the Islamic jurists (Marja’a Taqleed),&lt;br /&gt;to whom ordinary Shia refer to and whose decrees they&lt;br /&gt;follow on religious affairs. All scholars and jurists accept&lt;br /&gt;that the Marja’a has a duty to act as vicegerent on behalf of&lt;br /&gt;the absent, infallible Imam. However, it is the scope of&lt;br /&gt;authority in this vicegerency that is contentious. The second&lt;br /&gt;chapter aims to expound and develop this discussion,&lt;br /&gt;thereby explicating the role of a jurist in the model of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-faqih.&lt;br /&gt;As a political theory of state, wilayat al-faqih maintains the&lt;br /&gt;collective vicegerency of the faqih adil (a just or trustworthy&lt;br /&gt;jurist), which is the maximum scope of his authority. The&lt;br /&gt;third chapter will discuss the justifications of this theory and&lt;br /&gt;expound some of the traditional evidence provided by highranking&lt;br /&gt;jurists who support the doctrine of wilayat al-faqih.&lt;br /&gt;Introduction 9&lt;br /&gt;Liberal democracy remains the prevalent political theory of&lt;br /&gt;our time. The final chapter of this book will deal with the&lt;br /&gt;dichotomy that arises between the concept of Islamic&lt;br /&gt;democracy, embodied in the theory of wilayat al-faqih, and&lt;br /&gt;the liberal interpretation of the democratic system, which&lt;br /&gt;exists in the majority of western countries today.&lt;br /&gt;It is my hope that these four chapters will provide the reader&lt;br /&gt;with a comprehensive outline of Shia political thought in&lt;br /&gt;general, and the modern incarnation of this political thought,&lt;br /&gt;which is embodied in the constitution of the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;Republic of Iran, in particular.&lt;br /&gt;At the end I would like to thank Dr: Seyyed Muhammad&lt;br /&gt;Marandi who encouraged me for writing the book and kindly&lt;br /&gt;undertook the final editing. I am grateful to Eskandar Khalili&lt;br /&gt;for typing and editing the manuscript of chapters three and&lt;br /&gt;four. Thanks also to Yasmin Merchant and Jondab who&lt;br /&gt;typed chapters one and two. I am grateful to all my friends&lt;br /&gt;and colleagues in Islamic center of England especially&lt;br /&gt;Shaikh Muhsen Araki and Shaikh Hamid Hadji Haidar for&lt;br /&gt;encouragement and offering helpful advice.&lt;br /&gt;Ahmad Vaezi&lt;br /&gt;Cambridge University&lt;br /&gt;February 2004&lt;br /&gt;Chapter One&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics&lt;br /&gt;What is a “Religious Government”?&lt;br /&gt;The influence of religion upon politics is not a phenomenon&lt;br /&gt;that is confined solely to the Islamic world. However, it is&lt;br /&gt;impossible for any political theorist to ignore the role of&lt;br /&gt;Islam in the public lives of Muslims. Its considerable impact&lt;br /&gt;upon the politics of Muslim nations can be attributed to the&lt;br /&gt;strong inclination of the population towards it, and thus the&lt;br /&gt;powerful voice that it is given by them. Leaman writes:&lt;br /&gt;One of the comments which writers on Islamic&lt;br /&gt;Political Philosophy often make is that it is&lt;br /&gt;irremediably conservative. Even the so-called&lt;br /&gt;modernizers have in mind some sort of theocracy, a&lt;br /&gt;state in which religion plays a leading role.1&lt;br /&gt;It is obvious that any legal system requires a government to&lt;br /&gt;adopt it and the apparatus of a state to implement and&lt;br /&gt;enforce it. Therefore, Islamic Law (shari’a) is also in need of&lt;br /&gt;a state for its sanction and application. However, the key&lt;br /&gt;concern then becomes whether or not all theories shaped in&lt;br /&gt;the history of Islamic political thought are actually seeking&lt;br /&gt;the establishment of an “Islamic state”. The two&lt;br /&gt;aforementioned factors; that Islam is a vital and necessary&lt;br /&gt;aspect of a Muslim’s culture, and that the shari’a requires&lt;br /&gt;1 Oliver Leaman, A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy, Polity Press,&lt;br /&gt;1999, p. 134.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 11&lt;br /&gt;political power and authority in order to be implemented,&lt;br /&gt;might bring one to the conclusion that all political systems in&lt;br /&gt;the Islamic world were historically religious governments.&lt;br /&gt;Although there are obvious difficulties associated with&lt;br /&gt;finding a precise and agreed definition of a “religious&lt;br /&gt;government”, it is essential to distinguish between various&lt;br /&gt;levels of state commitment to a specific religion. The&lt;br /&gt;minimal degree of dedication would be that a government&lt;br /&gt;did not prevent its people from undertaking their religious&lt;br /&gt;rituals and practices. On the other hand, a maximized&lt;br /&gt;relationship between religion and politics requires the total&lt;br /&gt;commitment and adherence of a state to the contents of a&lt;br /&gt;specific religion. Obviously, many varying degrees of&lt;br /&gt;religious authority could be supposed between these two&lt;br /&gt;extremes.&lt;br /&gt;Official definitions of a “religious state” focus on a series of&lt;br /&gt;prescribed characteristics and functions embodied by this&lt;br /&gt;model of political system. These may be related to&lt;br /&gt;individual characteristics, such as a governor necessarily&lt;br /&gt;belonging to a specific religion or social class, similar to the&lt;br /&gt;governments of European states throughout the Middle&lt;br /&gt;Ages. One might also define a religious government&lt;br /&gt;according to its partial or prejudicial favour towards a&lt;br /&gt;particular religion. Consequently, a religious state uses its&lt;br /&gt;military, political and economic power to promote and&lt;br /&gt;strengthen the position and followers of that specific faith.&lt;br /&gt;This draws our attention to a few, specific aspects of a&lt;br /&gt;religious government. However, it fails to adequately&lt;br /&gt;introduce what most contemporary Islamic political&lt;br /&gt;movements and doctrines have in mind when they apply the&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;12&lt;br /&gt;term “Islamic State”, which is perhaps most effectively&lt;br /&gt;described as the maximum realization of a religious state.&lt;br /&gt;An Islamic government’s primary aim is to establish a truly&lt;br /&gt;Islamic society. Islam does not consider society to be merely&lt;br /&gt;a collection of individuals. Rather, it deems that society also&lt;br /&gt;consists of their social relationships and the social order in&lt;br /&gt;which these individuals exist. These are perhaps the most&lt;br /&gt;definitive factors of a society, as different societies are&lt;br /&gt;categorized as being just or unjust, developed or&lt;br /&gt;undeveloped and complex or plain, according to their social&lt;br /&gt;formations and their systems of rights and duties. Financial&lt;br /&gt;sources, social advantages and the structure of the prevailing&lt;br /&gt;political system, are all part of the complex web of social&lt;br /&gt;relationships that contribute to the makeup of society.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, an Islamic society, by definition, is an ideal&lt;br /&gt;society in which social order is established and regulated&lt;br /&gt;according to underlying Islamic values, teachings and&lt;br /&gt;rulings.&lt;br /&gt;An Islamic government is one that accepts and admits the&lt;br /&gt;absolute authority of Islam. It seeks to establish an Islamic&lt;br /&gt;social order according to the contents of Islam,&lt;br /&gt;implementing the shari’a, while attempting to direct its&lt;br /&gt;political decisions and public functions according to the&lt;br /&gt;aims and values of Islam.&lt;br /&gt;This understanding of an Islamic state obviously faces&lt;br /&gt;criticism, especially from those who adopt more secular&lt;br /&gt;political ideologies. The following pages will assess some of&lt;br /&gt;the contentious aspects surrounding this theory of Islamic&lt;br /&gt;governance.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 13&lt;br /&gt;Rejection of Islamic Government&lt;br /&gt;Opponents of Islamic governance can be divided into two&lt;br /&gt;major categories: The first of these are the supporters of&lt;br /&gt;secularism, who contend that religion must be completely&lt;br /&gt;separate from worldly affairs. In their eyes, the concept of a&lt;br /&gt;religious state is backward and outdated. They maintain that&lt;br /&gt;this model of political system must be confined to a time&lt;br /&gt;when human beings lacked the knowledge or experience to&lt;br /&gt;organize their social order and were in need of religion to&lt;br /&gt;arrange their legal, economic and cultural relationships.&lt;br /&gt;However, secularism is not a doctrine that merely addresses&lt;br /&gt;the relationship between religion and politics. Essentially, it&lt;br /&gt;is a radical approach to the role of religion and revelation in&lt;br /&gt;shaping human knowledge. Secular rationality maintains that&lt;br /&gt;the human intellect is capable of forming its own knowledge&lt;br /&gt;independent of revelation. According to this, reason in itself&lt;br /&gt;is self-sufficient and autonomous. Hence, mankind is&lt;br /&gt;capable of constructing natural and human sciences as well&lt;br /&gt;as philosophy, law and ethics without the aid of God or&lt;br /&gt;religion.&lt;br /&gt;Secular thinking, therefore, leaves very little scope for&lt;br /&gt;religion. According to secularist thought, every instance in&lt;br /&gt;which the human intellect is capable of gaining knowledge&lt;br /&gt;exists as part of the exclusive realm of the human being,&lt;br /&gt;without any need for faith or revelation. Such reasoning&lt;br /&gt;constrains the role of religion to regulating the individual&lt;br /&gt;relationship between man and his creator, while isolating it&lt;br /&gt;from the social and political order. This is because social&lt;br /&gt;relationships form part of “human” affairs and not “divine”&lt;br /&gt;affairs; they are “extra-religious” as opposed to “intrareligious”.&lt;br /&gt;Law, economy and political decisions as well as&lt;br /&gt;the formations of our social structures and systems of rights&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;14&lt;br /&gt;and duties are all considered as merely dealing with the&lt;br /&gt;relationship between man and man, not man and God.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, religion in these cases must delegate everything&lt;br /&gt;to human reasoning and science.&lt;br /&gt;This concise overview of secular thinking illustrates that the&lt;br /&gt;reduction of secularism to a political doctrine, which purely&lt;br /&gt;insists on the separation of faith from politics, is incorrect.&lt;br /&gt;The isolation of religion from politics is but one of the many&lt;br /&gt;accomplishments of secular rationality. Advocates of this&lt;br /&gt;view insist on the disengagement of religion, not only from&lt;br /&gt;politics, but also from ethics, art, law, philosophy and the&lt;br /&gt;sciences. Consequently, they advocate not only a secular&lt;br /&gt;state, but secular laws, a secular culture, a secular science&lt;br /&gt;and so on.&lt;br /&gt;Whereas the first approach delegates a limited scope for&lt;br /&gt;religion, the second group of opponents have no argument&lt;br /&gt;with those who believe it cannot be restricted to merely&lt;br /&gt;having a limited, fixed or previously determined capacity. In&lt;br /&gt;principle, they agree that no one has the right to confine the&lt;br /&gt;contents and the implementation of Islam to private life, or&lt;br /&gt;more precisely, to the individual relationship between man&lt;br /&gt;and God. The central concern of the second group, however,&lt;br /&gt;is that although Islam embodies certain values and ideas, it is&lt;br /&gt;not composed of both spirituality and politics. Thus it has&lt;br /&gt;not specified any particular form of government and&lt;br /&gt;Muslims are free to support any regime they desire.&lt;br /&gt;So the fundamental distinction that arises between these two&lt;br /&gt;groups is that, while secularists argue that religion and&lt;br /&gt;politics must remain separate, the second faction contend&lt;br /&gt;that Islam does not in any way oblige it’s followers to&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 15&lt;br /&gt;establish it in the political realm. They attempt to&lt;br /&gt;demonstrate that Islam has no connection to politics by&lt;br /&gt;concentrating on the Holy Qur’an and early Islamic history,&lt;br /&gt;arguing that it is a purely spiritual doctrine, as opposed to a&lt;br /&gt;spiritual and political one. Secularists, on the other hand,&lt;br /&gt;focus on the demands of modernity, the inability of religion&lt;br /&gt;to conduct and organize the contemporary world, and its&lt;br /&gt;failure to overcome the complications presented by&lt;br /&gt;modernism. Therefore, it is crucial to clarify whether or not&lt;br /&gt;Islam compelled its followers to establish an Islamic&lt;br /&gt;government, and whether or not Islam is indeed capable of&lt;br /&gt;regulating modern society.&lt;br /&gt;No credible Muslim thinker advocates the segregation of&lt;br /&gt;religion from worldly affairs, as the secular tradition would&lt;br /&gt;insist, reducing it to little more than a personal relationship&lt;br /&gt;between man and God. In fact, very few Islamic intellectuals&lt;br /&gt;appeal to secular rationality other than to insist on the&lt;br /&gt;separation of religion from socio-political relationships (i.e.&lt;br /&gt;restricting the scope of religion and extending the role of&lt;br /&gt;reasoning in public life). Although these thinkers do not&lt;br /&gt;explicitly call themselves secular, their attitudes towards the&lt;br /&gt;issue of Islam and politics obviously have common&lt;br /&gt;characteristics with those of secularists.&lt;br /&gt;Having introduced the two main critical attitudes towards&lt;br /&gt;Islamic government, the following pages will examine the&lt;br /&gt;central arguments presented by adherents to these two&lt;br /&gt;schools of thought, beginning with the reasons provided that&lt;br /&gt;reject any original connection between Islam and politics.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;16&lt;br /&gt;The First Argument&lt;br /&gt;In his famous book “Islam and the Foundations of&lt;br /&gt;Government” (Al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm) Shaykh Ali Abd&lt;br /&gt;al-Raziq2 (1888-1966) sought to justify the separation of&lt;br /&gt;religion and political authority on the basis of religious&lt;br /&gt;evidences. He argued that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)&lt;br /&gt;did not intend to establish a political state in Madina and that&lt;br /&gt;Islam did not support the rise of any particular social system.&lt;br /&gt;This assertion totally contradicted the traditional belief,&lt;br /&gt;which held that the Hijrah (migration to Madina in 622)&lt;br /&gt;marked the beginning of the Prophet’s political activity and&lt;br /&gt;the realization of Islamic governance. Abd al-Raziq argued&lt;br /&gt;that the Prophet was the bearer of a religious message; he&lt;br /&gt;did not have a government, nor did he seek to establish a&lt;br /&gt;kingdom in the political sense or anything synonymous with&lt;br /&gt;it. Rather, his authority was sacred, derived from God so that&lt;br /&gt;he could deliver the divine revelation. According to Abd al-&lt;br /&gt;Raziq, this did not entail political leadership; it was the&lt;br /&gt;mandate of a Prophet and not of a Sultan.&lt;br /&gt;To justify his view, Abd al-Raziq refers to several verses of&lt;br /&gt;the Qur’an. He believes that according to these, the Prophet&lt;br /&gt;Muhammad (pbuh) was only a messenger, commissioned to&lt;br /&gt;deliver God’s revelation to the people and nothing else.&lt;br /&gt;2 Born in Egypt, a disciple of Shaykh Abduh, Abd al-Raziq studied at&lt;br /&gt;Oxford University and was a senior member of al-Azhar University, an&lt;br /&gt;authorative centre of Sunni learning. His short, but controversial book&lt;br /&gt;caused many debates in religious and political circles. Al-Azhar&lt;br /&gt;immediately condemned Abd al-Raziq’s work; he was thrown out of the&lt;br /&gt;university and dismissed from his position as a religious judge.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 17&lt;br /&gt;We have sent you only to give good news and to warn.&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 17, Verse 105]&lt;br /&gt;The duty of the messenger is to convey the message&lt;br /&gt;clearly. [Chapter 27, Verse 54]&lt;br /&gt;Yet we have sent you only to give good tidings and to&lt;br /&gt;warn. [Chapter 25, Verse 56]&lt;br /&gt;Tell him: I am only a warner. [Chapter 27,Verse 92]&lt;br /&gt;Abd al-Raziq argues that if the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)&lt;br /&gt;had other roles, such as that of a political leader, then the&lt;br /&gt;Qur’an would clearly have announced them.3 In order to&lt;br /&gt;justify his position, he argues that every state requires a&lt;br /&gt;political structure that contains specific institutions and&lt;br /&gt;administrations, but that Muhammad’s leadership was&lt;br /&gt;devoid of these necessary elements of government. In fact,&lt;br /&gt;according to this point of view, political authority only&lt;br /&gt;appeared in the Islamic community following the demise of&lt;br /&gt;the Messenger of God. Consequently, striving for the&lt;br /&gt;establishment of a government is not considered part of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic teachings.4&lt;br /&gt;However, contrary to Abd al-Raziq’s opinion, there is a&lt;br /&gt;mass of historical evidence that clearly demonstrates the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet’s role as both a political and religious leader. In fact,&lt;br /&gt;many western thinkers, such as Anthony Black, agree that&lt;br /&gt;the Prophet’s objective was not merely to establish a new&lt;br /&gt;identity by replacing old tribal customs. According to these&lt;br /&gt;3 Islam wa Usul al-Hukm, Cairo 1925, p. 73.&lt;br /&gt;4 Ibid., pp. 62-64.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;18&lt;br /&gt;thinkers, he addressed political power as well as spiritual&lt;br /&gt;and cultural authority. Black writes:&lt;br /&gt;His purpose was to construct out of tribal&lt;br /&gt;confederacies a new people driven by his own sense of&lt;br /&gt;moral mission. Judaism had preached an allembracing&lt;br /&gt;(ethnic) law, While Christianity had&lt;br /&gt;preached spiritual (universal) brotherhood. But,&lt;br /&gt;neither seriously addressed the problem of military&lt;br /&gt;power and political authority; both had accepted life&lt;br /&gt;under alien, pagan rule. Muhammad preached&lt;br /&gt;spiritual brotherhood, plus an all-embracing law, and&lt;br /&gt;universal political control to be achieved.5&lt;br /&gt;The activities of the Prophet Muhammad following the&lt;br /&gt;Hijrah brought about revolutionary changes to the Arabian&lt;br /&gt;Peninsula. These cannot simply be interpreted as the&lt;br /&gt;ordinary behavior of a religious leader. Included here are&lt;br /&gt;concise examples of his political deeds, which could not&lt;br /&gt;have been issued without political authority.&lt;br /&gt;He assembled a number of hostile tribes and forged them&lt;br /&gt;into a new community (ummah). This is essentially a&lt;br /&gt;political endeavor, which is embodied in what Montgomery&lt;br /&gt;Watt refers to as the “Constitution of Medina”, a document&lt;br /&gt;that outlines the nature of the state that the Prophet was&lt;br /&gt;intending to establish. The charter incorporates articles&lt;br /&gt;concerning the rights and duties of the various tribes and&lt;br /&gt;social groupings that formed this new society, including&lt;br /&gt;5 Anthony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought, Edinburgh&lt;br /&gt;University Press, 2001, p. 10.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 19&lt;br /&gt;their obligations regarding one another, criminal events and&lt;br /&gt;the rights of non-Muslim members of this community.6&lt;br /&gt;He delegated both religious and political responsibilities to&lt;br /&gt;his companions. Some, such as Amr ibn Hazm, were sent to&lt;br /&gt;lead the prayers and teach the people about the Qur’an.&lt;br /&gt;Whilst others, such as Abu Musa al-Ashari and Saed ibn&lt;br /&gt;Aas, were dispatched as representatives to collect taxes&lt;br /&gt;(zakat), arbitrate disputes and punish criminals as well as to&lt;br /&gt;educate people about Islam. Sometimes, the Prophet would&lt;br /&gt;assign companions to exclusively governmental capacities,&lt;br /&gt;such as when he sent Abu Sufyan to gather taxes in Najran,&lt;br /&gt;while Amr ibn Hazm remained his religious representative&lt;br /&gt;in that region.7&lt;br /&gt;The Prophet (pbuh) was a general, a diplomat and a judge.&lt;br /&gt;He led the army, entered into treaties and agreements with&lt;br /&gt;various tribes, and passed judgment in criminal cases. Issues&lt;br /&gt;such war, diplomatic relations and legal arbitration are all&lt;br /&gt;obviously included in political authority and have no&lt;br /&gt;connection to a specifically spiritual mandate.&lt;br /&gt;Furthermore, it is unreasonable to compare the structures of&lt;br /&gt;a modern state and the Prophet’s authority in Madina in&lt;br /&gt;order to determine whether he established a political state.&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Senhoury, for example, argues that the political order&lt;br /&gt;established in Madina adequately met the demands of a&lt;br /&gt;simple tribal community, thus there was no need to establish&lt;br /&gt;6 Montgomery Watt, Islamic Political Thought, p. 5.&lt;br /&gt;7 Tabary, Tareekh al-Rasul wa al-Malik (History of Messengers and&lt;br /&gt;Kings), volume 3, p. 318.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;20&lt;br /&gt;a complex social order when the Prophet’s political system&lt;br /&gt;was appropriate to the requirements of his age and society.8&lt;br /&gt;Some thinkers, such as Abid al-Jaberi, contend that because&lt;br /&gt;the word “dawlat” (state) was not adopted as a political term&lt;br /&gt;until the beginning of the Abbasid-era, the political concept&lt;br /&gt;of an Islamic state did not exist either. According to Al-&lt;br /&gt;Jaberi, the Prophet (pbuh) established an “ummah” as&lt;br /&gt;opposed to a state. However, although it may be true that the&lt;br /&gt;term dawlat was not prevalent in Arab vocabulary at the&lt;br /&gt;time of the Prophet, it is not the name that constitutes a state.&lt;br /&gt;Rather, it is the nature of the authority that establishes an&lt;br /&gt;Islamic government, thus it is irrelevant whether the term&lt;br /&gt;“state” was adopted or not.&lt;br /&gt;Although Abd al-Raziq refers to several verses of the Qur’an&lt;br /&gt;in order to justify his opinion, which is that the Prophet&lt;br /&gt;(pbuh) had no role beside that of a messenger, the verses that&lt;br /&gt;he submits as evidence do not confine the character of the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet to a single attribute. A clear distinction must be&lt;br /&gt;made between a relative restriction and an absolute or&lt;br /&gt;definite restriction. The latter confines the character of a&lt;br /&gt;subject to one feature, whilst the former refers to a&lt;br /&gt;restriction in a limited scope of attributes. For example,&lt;br /&gt;someone supposes that x is both a writer and a poet. You&lt;br /&gt;correct his opinion by telling him that ‘x is only a writer’.&lt;br /&gt;However, this does not mean that x has no other qualities&lt;br /&gt;apart from being a writer, because your statement restricts&lt;br /&gt;his character in relation to only two attributes.&lt;br /&gt;8 Ahmed Abd al-Razig al-Senhoury, Fiqh ul-Khilafah wa Tataworeha&lt;br /&gt;(The Jurisprudence of Caliphate and Development), Cairo, 2nd Edition,&lt;br /&gt;1993, p. 82.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 21&lt;br /&gt;All the verses to which Abd al-Raziq refers fall into the first&lt;br /&gt;category, which is that of relative restriction. They are&lt;br /&gt;merely emphasizing that the Prophet has no responsibility&lt;br /&gt;towards those who disbelieve in his call. Certainly, the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet as a human being has many other qualities and&lt;br /&gt;duties. Therefore, emphasis upon one issue within a specific&lt;br /&gt;context does not nullify the possibility of other tasks or&lt;br /&gt;characteristics. Take, for example, following verses:&lt;br /&gt;O Prophet, urge the believers to war. [Chapter 8,&lt;br /&gt;Verse 65]&lt;br /&gt;And judge (rule) between them by what Allah has&lt;br /&gt;revealed, and do not follow their low desires. [Chapter&lt;br /&gt;5, Verse 49]&lt;br /&gt;Your Wali is none but Allah and his Messenger.&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 5, Verse 55]&lt;br /&gt;And We did not send a messenger except that he&lt;br /&gt;should be obeyed…. [Chapter 4, Verse 64]&lt;br /&gt;Second Argument&lt;br /&gt;Aside from those who subscribe to a view similar to that of&lt;br /&gt;Abd al-Raziq, other opponents of the Islamic state accept&lt;br /&gt;that the Prophet did, in fact, establish a political order&lt;br /&gt;following his migration to Madina. However, they also&lt;br /&gt;maintain that this does not constitute an intrinsic connection&lt;br /&gt;between Islam and politics. The emergence of the Prophet’s&lt;br /&gt;authority in Madina is considered as little more than a&lt;br /&gt;historical event; a specific situation in which the social and&lt;br /&gt;political circumstances necessitated this endeavor, rather&lt;br /&gt;than a religious duty that was included in divine revelation.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;22&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Haery seems to adopt a similar opinion in the following&lt;br /&gt;passage, in which he emphasizes that the Prophet’s&lt;br /&gt;government was formed upon the consensus of the people&lt;br /&gt;and then later endorsed by God. He writes:&lt;br /&gt;Some previous Prophets, especially the Prophet of&lt;br /&gt;Islam, besides the exalted position of Prophethood&lt;br /&gt;had undertaken governing people and committing&lt;br /&gt;political affairs. We have to know that since people&lt;br /&gt;compelled them with no anticipate inclination, these&lt;br /&gt;political authorities and special circumstances forced&lt;br /&gt;them to accept, the Political authority cannot be taken&lt;br /&gt;into account as part of God’s revelation.9&lt;br /&gt;To support this point of view regarding the Prophet’s&lt;br /&gt;authority, Haery refers to the following verse of the Qur’an:&lt;br /&gt;Certainly Allah was well pleased with the believers&lt;br /&gt;when they swore allegiance to you under the tree.&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 48, Verse 18]&lt;br /&gt;He, and others who adopt a comparable opinion, insist that&lt;br /&gt;although God endorsed the pledge of allegiance (bay’a)&lt;br /&gt;given to the Prophet, His approval is not enough to make the&lt;br /&gt;establishment of political authority an Islamic objective.10&lt;br /&gt;However, the relationship between Islam and politics and the&lt;br /&gt;historical events precluding the creation of an Islamic social&lt;br /&gt;order are two entirely separate and distinct topics. Studying&lt;br /&gt;the latter requires a precise analysis of the historical, social&lt;br /&gt;and cultural context in that era. Whereas the former&lt;br /&gt;9 Mehdi Haery Yazdi, Hekmat wa Hokumat, London: Shadi Publication,&lt;br /&gt;1995, p. 143.&lt;br /&gt;10 Ibid., p. 152.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 23&lt;br /&gt;necessitates a comprehensive evaluation of the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;ideology to determine whether or not it encompasses a&lt;br /&gt;political dimension and if it has the potential to be&lt;br /&gt;practically applied. Thus, the correlation of historical stages&lt;br /&gt;and circumstances to the process of forming a government is&lt;br /&gt;entirely separable from our present debate, which concerns&lt;br /&gt;the Islamic political system. Hence, many contemporary&lt;br /&gt;Muslim scholars, such as Muhammad Ammareh, who is an&lt;br /&gt;advocate of the Islamic state, come to the following&lt;br /&gt;conclusion:&lt;br /&gt;Even though the generous Qur’an did not explicitly&lt;br /&gt;[make it] incumbent upon Muslims to form a religious&lt;br /&gt;government [it obliged them] with some duties [that]&lt;br /&gt;would be impossible to fulfill without the&lt;br /&gt;establishment of an Islamic State. 11&lt;br /&gt;Both Dr. Haery and Muhammad Ammareh maintain that the&lt;br /&gt;pledge of allegiance (bay’a) given by the tribal&lt;br /&gt;representatives of Madina to the Prophet, during the year&lt;br /&gt;prior to his emigration from Mecca, was the keystone of his&lt;br /&gt;government. However, this theory, which introduces the&lt;br /&gt;allegiance (bay’a) of the people as the root of the Prophet’s&lt;br /&gt;political authority, confronts two difficulties. The first is that&lt;br /&gt;the contract of bay’a was a prevailing custom amongst the&lt;br /&gt;Arabs, which occurred for a variety of reasons; the pledge of&lt;br /&gt;bay’a to a political leader or tribal chief was only one of&lt;br /&gt;these. Accordingly, it is essential that we assess the content&lt;br /&gt;of these pledges used to support the arguments of Dr Haery&lt;br /&gt;and Muhammad Ammareh.&lt;br /&gt;11 Muhammad Amareh, Al-Elmaniya wa Nehzatona, Cairo: Dar al-&lt;br /&gt;Shorugh, 1986, p. 35.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;24&lt;br /&gt;The pledge mentioned in Chapter 18 of the Qur’an, known&lt;br /&gt;as “Bay’a rezwan”, occurred at Hudaybiyah, near Mecca, in&lt;br /&gt;the sixth year after Hijrah. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)&lt;br /&gt;and a number of his followers were en-route to perform the&lt;br /&gt;pilgrimage to Mecca, when Meccan polytheists who wished&lt;br /&gt;to prevent them from entering the city confronted them.&lt;br /&gt;Under these dangerous circumstances, a number of believers&lt;br /&gt;pledged allegiance to the Prophet so as to reassure him that&lt;br /&gt;they would remain by his side and protect him from the&lt;br /&gt;enemies of Islam. This pledge was merely a reaffirmation of&lt;br /&gt;their loyalty in a difficult situation, rather than the&lt;br /&gt;acknowledgement of the Prophet’s political authority.&lt;br /&gt;Furthermore, it took place five years after the establishment&lt;br /&gt;of the Islamic state in Madina, thus it seems strange to&lt;br /&gt;consider this event the original root of his government.&lt;br /&gt;What is often referred to as the second pledge of allegiance&lt;br /&gt;known as “bay’a al-Aqabeh” also has no connection to the&lt;br /&gt;nomination of a ruler. Comparing it to the negotiations that&lt;br /&gt;took place at Saqifa, prior to the appointment of Abu Bakr,&lt;br /&gt;explicitly demonstrates that the pledge of al-Aqabeh was not&lt;br /&gt;a recognition of the Prophet’s political authority. The&lt;br /&gt;negotiations at Saqifa were concerned with leadership&lt;br /&gt;following the death of Muhammad (pbuh). Hence, the bay’a&lt;br /&gt;at Saqifa merely served as an election, whereas the pledge of&lt;br /&gt;al-Aqabeh was regarding the protection and safety of the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet; the representatives of Madina promised to resist the&lt;br /&gt;polytheists and protect the Prophet as they would their own&lt;br /&gt;families.&lt;br /&gt;The second difficulty confronted by the supporters of this&lt;br /&gt;argument, arises from several verses of the Holy Qur’an&lt;br /&gt;which delegate and approve the guardianship (wilayat) of&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 25&lt;br /&gt;the Prophet over the believers, with no reference to any&lt;br /&gt;anticipated acceptance from the people; therefore indicating&lt;br /&gt;that his authority is indeed divine. These verses shall be&lt;br /&gt;discussed in greater detail later, but for now we shall&lt;br /&gt;mention a few:&lt;br /&gt;The Prophet has a greater claim on the faithful that&lt;br /&gt;they have on themselves. [Chapter 33, Verse 6]&lt;br /&gt;Only Allah is your guardian (Wali) and His Apostle.&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 5, Verse 55]&lt;br /&gt;Third Argument&lt;br /&gt;Another prevailing argument, employed by secularists to&lt;br /&gt;undermine the theory of a religious government focuses on&lt;br /&gt;the ambitions of those who support an Islamic state (i.e. the&lt;br /&gt;establishment of an ideal social order according to Islam and&lt;br /&gt;the application of the shari’a to all facets of society).&lt;br /&gt;Secularists, who adopt this line of reasoning, contend that a&lt;br /&gt;religious social order is an incompatible thesis because it is&lt;br /&gt;confronted by an inherent difficulty known as “the problem&lt;br /&gt;of accommodation”. To justify this argument, they rely on&lt;br /&gt;two premises:&lt;br /&gt;Social, economic and cultural relationships undergo constant&lt;br /&gt;change and development: There is a significant difference&lt;br /&gt;between our contemporary lifestyles and the lifestyles of&lt;br /&gt;previous generations in areas such as transportation,&lt;br /&gt;commerce, education and so on. Thus social formation is&lt;br /&gt;essentially variable and no one can expect a society to&lt;br /&gt;remain stable for a prolonged period of time.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;26&lt;br /&gt;Religion is fixed, unchanging and stable: Every religion is&lt;br /&gt;confined to a specific period of history; as it was founded&lt;br /&gt;upon the demands, circumstances and problems of a&lt;br /&gt;particular age. Religion is an event that happened in a&lt;br /&gt;determined time and place, which cannot be repeated.&lt;br /&gt;Consequently, the message of every religion is inflexible and&lt;br /&gt;has no capacity for adaptation to new situations.&lt;br /&gt;Thus, a secularist would argue that because religion is a&lt;br /&gt;fixed and unchanging set of ideas, it is entirely incapable of&lt;br /&gt;accommodating changes to social relationships, which are in&lt;br /&gt;turn fundamentally unfixed and variable. It is entirely&lt;br /&gt;reasonable to admit that religion is able to form a social&lt;br /&gt;order, which is influenced by its conventions and ethics, but&lt;br /&gt;only at a time when social circumstances would permit such&lt;br /&gt;an influence. For example, in the time when Islam emerged,&lt;br /&gt;it was able to adequately meet the demands of the historical&lt;br /&gt;period. Thus, Islam succeeded in establishing a civilization&lt;br /&gt;during that era. However, it seems paradoxical to suppose&lt;br /&gt;that Islam is capable of effectively shaping social order&lt;br /&gt;under any circumstances and at any time. The core of this&lt;br /&gt;reasoning is that social associations and relationships are&lt;br /&gt;fluid and open to regular changes; no one is able to prevent&lt;br /&gt;these social alterations and thereby narrow them to a fixed&lt;br /&gt;religious form and structure. In summary, secularists assert&lt;br /&gt;that although shari’a has within it the competence and&lt;br /&gt;capability to deal with social formations similar to those&lt;br /&gt;existing at the time when Islam appeared, there are serious&lt;br /&gt;obstacles for the application of shari’a to contemporary&lt;br /&gt;social configurations.&lt;br /&gt;Such an assessment is based on the presupposition that the&lt;br /&gt;conception of a religious state leaves no room for adaptation&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 27&lt;br /&gt;or the endorsement of social changes. Therefore, the&lt;br /&gt;response to this argument will discuss three significant&lt;br /&gt;points;&lt;br /&gt;·  An evaluation of this interpretation of social&lt;br /&gt;changes.&lt;br /&gt;·  Aspects of the Islamic legal system, which have&lt;br /&gt;been overlooked by secularists who subscribe to this&lt;br /&gt;opinion, that render it both dynamic and flexible.&lt;br /&gt;·  A clarification of what is meant by the&lt;br /&gt;accommodation of shari’a and the precise definition&lt;br /&gt;of the establishment of “Islamic social order”&lt;br /&gt;Categorizing Social Alterations&lt;br /&gt;No one can dispute the fluidity and variable nature of social&lt;br /&gt;relationships. Changes occur both radically over a short&lt;br /&gt;period of time, and gradually over a more prolonged period.&lt;br /&gt;They have numerous dimensions and affect various aspects&lt;br /&gt;of human life. As far as the present discussion is concerned,&lt;br /&gt;which is the role of religion in a well ordered society; the&lt;br /&gt;legal and moral dimensions are the most important ones that&lt;br /&gt;should be considered.&lt;br /&gt;From a legal perspective, every social order and its assorted&lt;br /&gt;characteristics confront many questions. An efficient legal&lt;br /&gt;system must be able to overcome these problems and&lt;br /&gt;introduce a competent framework, which is able to respond&lt;br /&gt;to new developments that are the result of social alterations.&lt;br /&gt;In order to practically implement a religion that&lt;br /&gt;encompasses social interactions, it becomes crucial to&lt;br /&gt;institute a dynamic legal structure that is able to organize&lt;br /&gt;their juridical aspects. Because the aim of a religious state is&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;28&lt;br /&gt;to harmonize social order according to a religious legal&lt;br /&gt;system, it is therefore essential to understand the nature of&lt;br /&gt;the legal aspect of social alterations.&lt;br /&gt;Establishing a truly Islamic society and regulating social&lt;br /&gt;relationships according to the Islamic ideology cannot,&lt;br /&gt;however, be confined to merely the legal aspects of this&lt;br /&gt;transformation. The moral and cultural outcomes of such a&lt;br /&gt;revolution are fundamental as well. An Islamic government&lt;br /&gt;must maximize the role of moral virtues, Islamic values and&lt;br /&gt;true humanity in social relationships. Advocates of the&lt;br /&gt;Islamic state believe that religious aims and values,&lt;br /&gt;stemming from moral virtues and true humanity, can lead&lt;br /&gt;human society towards a higher level of existence. However,&lt;br /&gt;the argument that denies the possibility of harmonizing&lt;br /&gt;social order according to Islamic laws and values usually&lt;br /&gt;attempts to reduce the discussion to a purely legal one,&lt;br /&gt;attempting to illustrate that the Islamic legal system is&lt;br /&gt;incapable of accommodating social changes.&lt;br /&gt;Those who subscribe to this argument presuppose that social&lt;br /&gt;alterations result in entirely new legal problems that have no&lt;br /&gt;previous precedent. Hence, they argue that a religious legal&lt;br /&gt;system, because of its unchanging nature, cannot deal with&lt;br /&gt;the problems that it will be frequently confronted by.&lt;br /&gt;Social changes ultimately give rise to two areas of legal&lt;br /&gt;discourse. The first stems from an entirely new social&lt;br /&gt;phenomenon, of which there is no previous record. Every&lt;br /&gt;legal system must define its position with regard to these.&lt;br /&gt;For instance, the invention of computers and the&lt;br /&gt;development of information technology require fresh&lt;br /&gt;legislation. Another example is transplantation, a new&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 29&lt;br /&gt;technique in medicine that requires jurists to clarify the legal&lt;br /&gt;aspect of this new medical ability, such as the laws regarding&lt;br /&gt;the exchange of natural organs between human beings. The&lt;br /&gt;significant factor with this first group, is that they require&lt;br /&gt;more than merely the application of old and current laws to&lt;br /&gt;new situations, rather, they require a set of absolutely new&lt;br /&gt;laws and up-to-date legislation.&lt;br /&gt;Secondly, there are those social transformations that, despite&lt;br /&gt;the fact they are new, have emerged from pre-existing&lt;br /&gt;relationships and associations, consequently these social&lt;br /&gt;phenomena are new in form and not in content. Accordingly,&lt;br /&gt;they do not require totally new legislation or a fresh set of&lt;br /&gt;laws; jurists could and would categorize them according to&lt;br /&gt;previous legal precedents. For instance, previously there&lt;br /&gt;existed only a few types of companies, whereas at present&lt;br /&gt;there are many forms of commercial relationships. However,&lt;br /&gt;these are not new legal phenomena. They are distinguished&lt;br /&gt;from previous kinds of companies essentially in form,&lt;br /&gt;because they are merely new structural designs.&lt;br /&gt;In short, with regard to analyzing social alterations, we must&lt;br /&gt;adopt the following conclusion. From a juridical perspective,&lt;br /&gt;social changes cannot be restricted to a single definition.&lt;br /&gt;Generally speaking, two streams of social transformation&lt;br /&gt;can be identified in this regard. On the one hand, there are&lt;br /&gt;the cases of completely new legal phenomena that are&lt;br /&gt;without previous record, while on the other there are those&lt;br /&gt;that possess obvious connections or similarities to previous&lt;br /&gt;and familiar elements within the existing legal framework,&lt;br /&gt;though they may have each adopted a partially, or entirely&lt;br /&gt;new form.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;30&lt;br /&gt;Flexibility of the Islamic Legal System&lt;br /&gt;The precise criticism introduced by this argument against the&lt;br /&gt;concept of an “Islamic state”, when we are confined to the&lt;br /&gt;juridical aspect, is that the Islamic legal system is incapable&lt;br /&gt;of coping with social transformations. Hence, because it is&lt;br /&gt;inflexible and unable to meet the juridical requirements of&lt;br /&gt;new circumstances, it cannot possibly satisfy the legal&lt;br /&gt;demands of human society.&lt;br /&gt;In order to efficiently cope with the various societal&lt;br /&gt;relationships it will inevitably encounter, every legal system&lt;br /&gt;prerequires the existence of flexible elements in its&lt;br /&gt;methodology and basic foundations. Although the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;legal system does not contain these factors, it is essential that&lt;br /&gt;we realize that it has aspects that provide it with the capacity&lt;br /&gt;to meet and fulfill all the juridical requirements presented by&lt;br /&gt;the two aforementioned categories of social change.&lt;br /&gt;The Islamic legal system is fully equipped to deal with the&lt;br /&gt;first category of social changes. Even though the historical&lt;br /&gt;advent of Islam occurred during a specific time and in a&lt;br /&gt;specific place, it is quite reasonable to extrapolate a&lt;br /&gt;universal, ahistorical and timeless legal framework for&lt;br /&gt;different aspects of social relationships. Many legal aspects&lt;br /&gt;of social alterations can, in fact, remain stable in spite of&lt;br /&gt;their formal changes. This enables Islamic law (shari'a) to&lt;br /&gt;form a general juridical framework for the various categories&lt;br /&gt;of social associations. In reference to different sections of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic law, there exist a selection of unchanging, absolute&lt;br /&gt;and general rules that, at any time and place, all Muslims are&lt;br /&gt;obliged to respect; they are required to harmonize their&lt;br /&gt;public and private relationships with these rules. For&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 31&lt;br /&gt;example, in commercial affairs there are some general rules&lt;br /&gt;as follows:&lt;br /&gt;It is incumbent upon believers to fulfill their contracts and&lt;br /&gt;obligations:&lt;br /&gt;O you who believe! Fulfill the obligations. [Chapter 5,&lt;br /&gt;Verse 1]&lt;br /&gt;Some types of contracts and commercial agreements are&lt;br /&gt;prohibited because they include unlawful profit such as&lt;br /&gt;usury:&lt;br /&gt;Allah has allowed trading and forbidden usury.&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 2, Verse 275]&lt;br /&gt;Lawful commercial and financial contracts and covenants&lt;br /&gt;must fulfill some general conditions such as mutual consent&lt;br /&gt;without coercion and must not be subject to false methods of&lt;br /&gt;attaining wealth, for example, gambling:&lt;br /&gt;O you who believe! Do not devour your property&lt;br /&gt;among yourselves falsely, except that it be trading by&lt;br /&gt;your mutual consent. [Chapter 4, Verse 29]&lt;br /&gt;These examples of obligations, prohibitions and conditions&lt;br /&gt;concerning one aspect of social life, even though they do not&lt;br /&gt;embrace all the Islamic edicts in this field, help us to&lt;br /&gt;confront developing models of contracts. New forms of&lt;br /&gt;contracts, whether they are altered versions of familiar and&lt;br /&gt;prevailing models or entirely original ideas without previous&lt;br /&gt;record, can be categorized as either lawful or unlawful&lt;br /&gt;according to these three principals and so on. For instance,&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;32&lt;br /&gt;“insurance” is an example of an entirely new contract, while&lt;br /&gt;purchasing books via an online bookstore is merely a new&lt;br /&gt;method of trading which, although formally different, is a&lt;br /&gt;continuation of a particular category of business. When all&lt;br /&gt;these new forms of contracts adopt and fulfill the framework&lt;br /&gt;that has been drawn by shari'a, they are considered lawful.&lt;br /&gt;The other important aspect concerning the flexibility of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic law emerges when we take into consideration the&lt;br /&gt;role of covenant and promise in this context. Some verses of&lt;br /&gt;the Qur’an order Muslims to fulfill their promises when they&lt;br /&gt;enter into a covenant or agreement:&lt;br /&gt;And fulfill the promise, surely every promise shall be&lt;br /&gt;questioned about. [Chapter 17, Verse 34]&lt;br /&gt;This Islamic principle enables an Islamic state to enter into&lt;br /&gt;international conventions, in order to make use of their&lt;br /&gt;advantages, even though some of these conventions are&lt;br /&gt;concerned with completely new forms of social&lt;br /&gt;relationships, such as maritime laws or laws governing&lt;br /&gt;airlines and international trade, of which there is no previous&lt;br /&gt;record in the shari'a.&lt;br /&gt;The doctrine of “Ijtihad”, which is the deduction of laws&lt;br /&gt;through reference to Islamic sources, enables a qualified&lt;br /&gt;Jurist (faqih) to deduce responses to both old and new&lt;br /&gt;questions. Every qualified faqih is free to issue new decrees&lt;br /&gt;with regards to subjects that have no previous record&lt;br /&gt;amongst other Imami jurists; thereby providing the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;legal system with a high degree of flexibility, which enables&lt;br /&gt;it to confront new situations and circumstances. This&lt;br /&gt;potential is reinforced in view of jurists who subscribe to a&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 33&lt;br /&gt;doctrine that advocates the absolute guardianship of the&lt;br /&gt;well-qualified faqih (wilayat-a-mutlaqih). This doctrine&lt;br /&gt;insists that the trustworthy jurist, who is responsible for&lt;br /&gt;Muslim society, has the right to legislate according to&lt;br /&gt;specific conditions. This subject will be discussed further in&lt;br /&gt;the next chapter.&lt;br /&gt;Rational Management versus Juristic Management&lt;br /&gt;Misconceptions surrounding the implementation of shari’a&lt;br /&gt;and the role of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) in governing a&lt;br /&gt;state and it’s society, have given rise to two opposing&lt;br /&gt;groups, who erroneously come to the conclusion that the&lt;br /&gt;Islamic method of governance is completely incompatible&lt;br /&gt;with “rational management”, which prevails in most modern&lt;br /&gt;states. This group is divided into two categories; the first of&lt;br /&gt;which insists that Muslims in the modern world must submit&lt;br /&gt;to the organization of their economic, political, social and&lt;br /&gt;cultural affairs through rational and technical management.&lt;br /&gt;In this model of regulation, the human intellect, technology&lt;br /&gt;and the sciences have authority, while religion remains&lt;br /&gt;separate from worldly affairs. Therefore all public decisions&lt;br /&gt;and the organizing of the fundamental structures of society&lt;br /&gt;are fulfilled according to the rational form of authority.&lt;br /&gt;The second group, however, advocates the total authority of&lt;br /&gt;religion and attempts to organize social affairs by presenting&lt;br /&gt;absolute “juristic management”. This model of management,&lt;br /&gt;according to them, ignores the role of humanistic sources of&lt;br /&gt;knowledge and instead insists that the solution to all&lt;br /&gt;problems must emanate solely from Islamic jurisprudence&lt;br /&gt;(fiqh). In other words, this school of thought endeavors to&lt;br /&gt;replace rationality and reference to scientific means, with&lt;br /&gt;religion and purely juristic solutions.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;34&lt;br /&gt;It was indicated previously that this misleading&lt;br /&gt;interpretation for the role of Islamic jurisprudence with&lt;br /&gt;regards to social management and the making of political or&lt;br /&gt;economic decisions, arises from a misunderstanding of the&lt;br /&gt;term “religious state” and “religious social order”. This&lt;br /&gt;misconception of a religious society and state grants a&lt;br /&gt;foothold to the critics who wish to portray the Islamic state&lt;br /&gt;as backward and ignorant of the demands of the&lt;br /&gt;contemporary world and who depict Islam as a system that&lt;br /&gt;denies human knowledge, rationality and progress.&lt;br /&gt;Adopting the Islamic ideology and applying its laws and&lt;br /&gt;aims in order to harmonize different aspects of life is one&lt;br /&gt;thing, and ignorance of human knowledge and rationality is&lt;br /&gt;another. Drawing such a sharp and distinctive line between&lt;br /&gt;juridical and rational management is purely fictitious, as it&lt;br /&gt;overlooks any possible cooperation between these two&lt;br /&gt;methods, while incorrectly assuming that a religious state’s&lt;br /&gt;model of government does not overlap with that of a nonreligious&lt;br /&gt;state’s in any way, shape or form (When in fact all&lt;br /&gt;states are burdened with similar responsibilities).&lt;br /&gt;Consequently, this third model would enjoy the advantages&lt;br /&gt;of both methods of management and combine rationality&lt;br /&gt;with respect to the ultimate authority of religion. The&lt;br /&gt;unusual, and irrationally narrow distinction between the two&lt;br /&gt;models of management, fails to provide any definite reason&lt;br /&gt;to suppose that the integration of religious authority and&lt;br /&gt;rationality is either impossible or incompatible. According to&lt;br /&gt;the history of Islamic thought, the Shia and Mutazali schools&lt;br /&gt;have always believed in rationalism. They endorse the role&lt;br /&gt;of the human intellect as a significant source of religious&lt;br /&gt;knowledge alongside Islamic evidence (Qur’an and hadith).&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 35&lt;br /&gt;Rationality is included with Islamic sources and reasoning is&lt;br /&gt;taken into account as a part of religious knowledge.&lt;br /&gt;It is necessary to emphasize that organizing social&lt;br /&gt;relationships, in its full scope, involves many facets. These&lt;br /&gt;include legislation, politics and policymaking as well as&lt;br /&gt;industrial-economic planning, social services and education.&lt;br /&gt;It is incorrect to suppose that, under an Islamic government,&lt;br /&gt;these functions and tasks would be undertaken exclusively&lt;br /&gt;by jurists and that all types of social, economic and cultural&lt;br /&gt;difficulties would be resolvable by jurisprudence. In fact, the&lt;br /&gt;fundamental distinction between an Islamic state and a&lt;br /&gt;secular one should be based on the acceptance or denial of&lt;br /&gt;the authority of Islam in social affairs, rather than the denial&lt;br /&gt;of rationality and scientific knowledge. An Islamic authority&lt;br /&gt;would address the needs of a society according to the criteria&lt;br /&gt;laid down by Islam; the extent to which jurisprudence and&lt;br /&gt;shari’a influence this depends on the depth to which Islam&lt;br /&gt;has defined the subject matter. For instance, the role of&lt;br /&gt;shari’a is greater in legislation than in policy making or&lt;br /&gt;international politics. The various elements of an Islamic&lt;br /&gt;government must harmonize and adapt their functions,&lt;br /&gt;policies and decisions to the contents of Islam, though they&lt;br /&gt;are able to employ their reasoning and scientific knowledge&lt;br /&gt;wherever it is required.&lt;br /&gt;In conclusion, the allegation that Islam is somehow unable&lt;br /&gt;to cope with social progress or changes to various aspects of&lt;br /&gt;human existence is false. Islam cannot be confined to a&lt;br /&gt;specific time or set of circumstances, as it has within it the&lt;br /&gt;capacity to guide humanity towards happiness at all times.&lt;br /&gt;However, Islam’s ability to adapt to the demands of various&lt;br /&gt;social formations and situations should not be taken to mean&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;36&lt;br /&gt;that Islam has a passive attitude towards alternative&lt;br /&gt;lifestyles. It is illogical to assume that every kind of cultural,&lt;br /&gt;social or economic relationship can be universally endorsed&lt;br /&gt;by Islam, for it has timeless rules, values and objectives that&lt;br /&gt;disagree with certain types of associations and lifestyles.&lt;br /&gt;This approach is not the product of essential links to a&lt;br /&gt;specific model of social formation or a particular social&lt;br /&gt;order. Rather, it is an active and dynamic attitude that&lt;br /&gt;emerges from a set of unchanging rules and principals that&lt;br /&gt;are not restricted to a specific age or generation.&lt;br /&gt;Objectives of an Islamic State&lt;br /&gt;Ideological aims and functions are an essential part of any&lt;br /&gt;political system, as they serve to distinguish and separate it&lt;br /&gt;from alternative doctrines. Objectives such as creating a&lt;br /&gt;welfare state and extending education or promoting&lt;br /&gt;prosperity and defending a nation’s borders are not specific&lt;br /&gt;to any one model of political system. In fact, almost all&lt;br /&gt;political theories commonly emphasize upon these targets.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, it is necessary that we define the unique&lt;br /&gt;objectives of a religious government and discuss how they&lt;br /&gt;set it apart from other political systems.&lt;br /&gt;Implementation of the Shari'a&lt;br /&gt;The application of Islamic laws and rulings is a fundamental&lt;br /&gt;aspect of the religious state. A government that neglects the&lt;br /&gt;shari’a cannot be considered a legitimate Islamic authority;&lt;br /&gt;as such a notion is paradoxical and ultimately selfcontradicting.&lt;br /&gt;The Holy Qur’an obliges the believers to&lt;br /&gt;implement, protect and respect Islamic laws in all spheres of&lt;br /&gt;their public and private lives. For example, take the&lt;br /&gt;following verses:&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 37&lt;br /&gt;And we have revealed to you the Book with the Truth,&lt;br /&gt;verifying what is before it of the book and a guardian&lt;br /&gt;over it, therefore, judge between them by what Allah&lt;br /&gt;revealed. [Chapter 5, Verse 48]&lt;br /&gt;And whoever does not judge by what Allah has&lt;br /&gt;revealed, they are the unbelievers. [Chapter 5, Verse&lt;br /&gt;44]&lt;br /&gt;Allah raised prophets as bearers of good news and&lt;br /&gt;warners, and He revealed with them the book with&lt;br /&gt;truth, that it might judge between people in that in&lt;br /&gt;which they differed. [Chapter 2, Verses 2 &amp;amp; 3]&lt;br /&gt;These are the limits of Allah, so do no exceed them,&lt;br /&gt;and whoever exceeds the limits of Allah, these it is&lt;br /&gt;that are the unjust. [Chapter 2, Verse 229]&lt;br /&gt;And if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer&lt;br /&gt;it to Allah and His messenger. [Chapter 4, Verse 59]&lt;br /&gt;For the government and citizens of the Islamic state to fulfill&lt;br /&gt;this duty, it becomes essential for the state’s laws to be&lt;br /&gt;consistent with the shari’a and it’s ruling system to be&lt;br /&gt;founded upon the principals of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).&lt;br /&gt;As pointed out, many modern Muslim intellectuals have&lt;br /&gt;criticized this jurisprudential conception, insisting that&lt;br /&gt;shari’a must be separated from governance, public affairs&lt;br /&gt;and the shaping of the system of human rights and duties&lt;br /&gt;that regulate society. They maintain that these should be&lt;br /&gt;governed according to human sciences, rationality and an&lt;br /&gt;extra-religious conception of human rights, rather than&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;38&lt;br /&gt;through Islamic jurisprudence. This ultimately secular&lt;br /&gt;approach belittles the importance of the shari’a and its&lt;br /&gt;practical necessity in an Islamic state. This approach shall be&lt;br /&gt;further assessed in the final chapter when considering the&lt;br /&gt;arguments of those who seek to reconcile Islam with liberal&lt;br /&gt;democracy.&lt;br /&gt;To Enjoin the Good and Forbid the Evil&lt;br /&gt;Islam has made it incumbent upon believing men and&lt;br /&gt;women to establish a healthy society, which is purified of&lt;br /&gt;corruption and wrongdoing and conducts itself correctly and&lt;br /&gt;avoids injustice. This duty is embodied in the principal of&lt;br /&gt;“al-amr’ bi’l maruf’ wal-nahi an al-munkar” (Enjoining the&lt;br /&gt;good and forbidding the evil) that is mentioned in the&lt;br /&gt;following verses of the Qur’an:&lt;br /&gt;And from among you there should be a party who&lt;br /&gt;invite to good and enjoin what is right and forbid the&lt;br /&gt;wrong and these it is that shall be successful. [Chapter&lt;br /&gt;3, Verse 104]&lt;br /&gt;And (as for) the believing men and the believing&lt;br /&gt;women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin&lt;br /&gt;good and forbid evil. [Chapter 9, Verse 71]&lt;br /&gt;Calling people to what is right and preventing injustice is the&lt;br /&gt;joint responsibility of the state and its citizens. An Islamic&lt;br /&gt;government cannot remain neutral concerning the moralreligious&lt;br /&gt;conditions of society. Also, as well as being&lt;br /&gt;accountable for affairs such as security, welfare and social&lt;br /&gt;order, the government is also charged with maintaining&lt;br /&gt;human virtues, common good, morality and religious&lt;br /&gt;commitment. Unlike most contemporary political theories,&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 39&lt;br /&gt;especially those formed upon the traditions of liberalism,&lt;br /&gt;Islam does not support the concept of a ‘limited state’.&lt;br /&gt;According to this liberal approach, the authority of a&lt;br /&gt;government is limited by the scope and framework defined&lt;br /&gt;by liberalism and it’s interpretation of human rights and&lt;br /&gt;social justice, which are connected to the underlying values&lt;br /&gt;of liberal doctrine. Consequently, the government is&lt;br /&gt;rendered unable to adopt a partial position with regards to&lt;br /&gt;morality, religion or ethics. Whether someone is moral or&lt;br /&gt;immoral, religious or irreligious, these are regarded as&lt;br /&gt;individual matters that the individual is able to choose as he&lt;br /&gt;pleases. Only if the individual break the law or violates the&lt;br /&gt;rights of others is the liberal government allowed to interfere&lt;br /&gt;in their affairs.&lt;br /&gt;However, it must be pointed out that the duty of a religious&lt;br /&gt;government, regarding the moral-religious position of&lt;br /&gt;society, does not allow Muslim rulers or citizens to impose&lt;br /&gt;Islamic beliefs and values upon others. Religious tolerance is&lt;br /&gt;a significant characteristic of the Islamic ideology; a fact to&lt;br /&gt;which history testifies. For example, the Jews and Christians&lt;br /&gt;of the Spanish Peninsula enjoyed the same rights, security&lt;br /&gt;and prosperity afforded to all citizens of the Islamic state, as&lt;br /&gt;did many other ethnic and religious minorities throughout&lt;br /&gt;the domain of Islam at that time.&lt;br /&gt;The nature of a religious government’s responsibility&lt;br /&gt;regarding the moral condition of society is concerned&lt;br /&gt;primarily with decision-making, legislation and government&lt;br /&gt;policy. An Islamic state is obliged to maximize the&lt;br /&gt;opportunities to promote spirituality, moral values and&lt;br /&gt;individual virtues, while providing the people with a stable&lt;br /&gt;environment in which to attain a comfortable, safe and&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;40&lt;br /&gt;fruitful existence. Essentially, its role is to maintain a&lt;br /&gt;healthy social atmosphere. People are free to adopt their own&lt;br /&gt;beliefs and opinions, but in public they must respect and&lt;br /&gt;abide by Islamic laws. For instance, it is not the duty of an&lt;br /&gt;Islamic government to monitor the private lives of it’s&lt;br /&gt;people to discover whether or not they drink alcohol, but no&lt;br /&gt;one is allowed to publicly consume the substance, as this&lt;br /&gt;would damage the social environment, and it is the&lt;br /&gt;responsibility of an Islamic authority to protect society from&lt;br /&gt;corruption and immorality.&lt;br /&gt;From the Islamic view the problem of happiness and&lt;br /&gt;wickedness eventually rests on the choice made by the&lt;br /&gt;individual. Almighty God says:&lt;br /&gt;Surely we have shown him the way; he may be&lt;br /&gt;thankful or unthankful. [Chapter 76, Verse 3]&lt;br /&gt;That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood,&lt;br /&gt;and those who believe follow the truth from their&lt;br /&gt;Lord. [Chapter 47, Verse 3]&lt;br /&gt;Therefore an individual is allowed to adopt his or her&lt;br /&gt;personal wishes and ideas in private, but these cannot be&lt;br /&gt;allowed to infringe upon the moral health and stability of&lt;br /&gt;society. Nothing must prevent the government and believers&lt;br /&gt;from striving to create desirable social circumstances, or&lt;br /&gt;promoting Islamic values in order to remove the obstacles in&lt;br /&gt;the path of a truly correct and fulfilling lifestyle.&lt;br /&gt;Modern political doctrines tend to emphasize human rights,&lt;br /&gt;rather than human goods. For them, it would be more&lt;br /&gt;desirable and practical if we concentrated on defining the&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 41&lt;br /&gt;mutual duties of the rulers and the ruled according to the&lt;br /&gt;rights of human beings. This is because other concepts such&lt;br /&gt;as happiness, virtue and social good are often ambiguous,&lt;br /&gt;subjective and controversial. For example, there is a strong&lt;br /&gt;tradition in political thought that amongst the members of&lt;br /&gt;any polity there is a common good and the function of the&lt;br /&gt;government is to determine and actualize this. However,&lt;br /&gt;adversaries argue that there are a number of significant&lt;br /&gt;difficulties regarding the idea of a “common good”.&lt;br /&gt;Modernist political thinkers usually ask “what is a common&lt;br /&gt;good? and how are we to know what it is?” Robert Dahl&lt;br /&gt;says:&lt;br /&gt;Every attempt I have seen to prescribe the common&lt;br /&gt;good is either too limited to be generally accepted or&lt;br /&gt;too general to be very relevant and helpful. 12&lt;br /&gt;The Islamic doctrine approaches this problem of “common&lt;br /&gt;good” by extending it beyond the boundaries of a&lt;br /&gt;community. Not only do the members of a community have&lt;br /&gt;a common good but also all human beings have a common&lt;br /&gt;good. Islam believes that human beings share common&lt;br /&gt;inclinations and needs, which they are able to fulfill&lt;br /&gt;correctly through their own actions with the aid of a&lt;br /&gt;desirable, just and true Islamic government.&lt;br /&gt;To Protect True Freedom of Human Beings&lt;br /&gt;Liberty is arguably one of the most important underlying&lt;br /&gt;values upon which contemporary western political thought is&lt;br /&gt;founded. Although there are contending analyses regarding&lt;br /&gt;the nature of freedom amongst western thinkers, liberals&lt;br /&gt;12 Robert Dahl, Democracy and its Critics, Yale University Press, 1989, p.&lt;br /&gt;283&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;42&lt;br /&gt;traditionally recognize individual freedom as the most&lt;br /&gt;fundamental human value and they define and evaluate all&lt;br /&gt;other values according to their relationship with it.13 Because&lt;br /&gt;most people, especially in the west, adopt a liberal&lt;br /&gt;conception of liberty, they often have reservations about&lt;br /&gt;whether a truly religious government can promote the&lt;br /&gt;freedom of its subjects. At a glance, it may seem strange to&lt;br /&gt;suppose that Islam, with its binding nature and limitations,&lt;br /&gt;could act as an effective safeguard of human freedom. But&lt;br /&gt;before proceeding with this discussion, it is appropriate to&lt;br /&gt;explore and assess the liberal theory of freedom.&lt;br /&gt;Also known as the negative view of liberty, the liberal&lt;br /&gt;conception of freedom has come to be understood as the&lt;br /&gt;absence of coercion. This definition of freedom emanates&lt;br /&gt;from the works of thinkers such as Hobbes and Bentham,&lt;br /&gt;who envisaged it merely as the absence of external, physical&lt;br /&gt;or legal impediments. However, this theory fails to&lt;br /&gt;acknowledge less immediate or obvious obstacles to&lt;br /&gt;freedom, such as lack of awareness, false consciousness,&lt;br /&gt;repression or other inner factors of this kind. In fact, it insists&lt;br /&gt;that to speak of such inner factors as relevant to the issue of&lt;br /&gt;freedom, is to abuse words. The only clear meaning that can&lt;br /&gt;be given to this perception of freedom is the absence of&lt;br /&gt;external obstacles.14&lt;br /&gt;13 For instance Immanuel Kant in ‘Theory and practice’ defines justice as&lt;br /&gt;‘the restriction of each individual’s freedom so that it harmonizes with the&lt;br /&gt;freedom of everyone else’. For him justice is more than a condition in&lt;br /&gt;which external freedom is guaranteed to all, it is a condition of maximum&lt;br /&gt;liberty for all.&lt;br /&gt;Allen Rosen, Kant’s Theory of Justice, Cornell University Press, 1993, pp.&lt;br /&gt;9-11.&lt;br /&gt;14 Charles Taylor, “What’s Wrong with Negative Liberty?” in&lt;br /&gt;Contemporary Political Philosophy, Robert E. Goodin (ed), Blackwell,&lt;br /&gt;1997, p. 418.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 43&lt;br /&gt;Alternatively, the positive view of liberty asserts that&lt;br /&gt;freedom involves the realization of some specific capacities,&lt;br /&gt;abilities and powers. And it implies that if these are not&lt;br /&gt;realized, then the individual is not truly free, even if he or&lt;br /&gt;she is not subject to external coercion. Whereas negative&lt;br /&gt;freedom is best described as ‘freedom from’ (compulsion),&lt;br /&gt;positive freedom can be termed as ‘freedom to’, meaning&lt;br /&gt;that an individual must be free to realize his capabilities.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, it is necessary for positive freedom to adopt a&lt;br /&gt;theory concerning human nature and a set of ideas about&lt;br /&gt;human needs and abilities.15&lt;br /&gt;Taylor maintains that the positive perception of freedom&lt;br /&gt;concerns the exercising of control of ones life:&lt;br /&gt;Doctrines of positive freedom are concerned with a&lt;br /&gt;view of freedom which involves essentially the&lt;br /&gt;exercising of control over one’s lives; one is free only&lt;br /&gt;to the extent that one has effectively determined&lt;br /&gt;oneself and the shape of ones life. The concept of&lt;br /&gt;freedom here is an exercise-concept.16&lt;br /&gt;According to the Islamic conception of human nature, we&lt;br /&gt;are subject to various desires and capacities. Those who&lt;br /&gt;follow merely their natural instincts will remain in the prison&lt;br /&gt;of their low desires, unable to realize their potential. But&lt;br /&gt;those who exercise control over themselves and strive for&lt;br /&gt;self-purification, rather than merely obeying their impulses,&lt;br /&gt;are truly free. The Qur’an says:&lt;br /&gt;15 Rymond Plant, Modern Political Thought, Blackwell, 1991, p. 222-3.&lt;br /&gt;16 Charles Taylor, Contemporary Political Philosophy, Blackwell, 1997,&lt;br /&gt;p. 419.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;44&lt;br /&gt;Have you considered the one who takes his low&lt;br /&gt;desires as his Master; Allah has made him err having&lt;br /&gt;knowledge and has set a seal upon his ear, his heart&lt;br /&gt;and placed a covering upon his eyes. Who can then&lt;br /&gt;guide him after Allah? Will you not then be mindful?&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 45, Verse 23]&lt;br /&gt;Then know that they only follow their low desires, and&lt;br /&gt;who is more erring than he who follows his low&lt;br /&gt;desires without any guidance from Allah? Surely&lt;br /&gt;Allah does not guide the unjust people. [Chapter 28,&lt;br /&gt;Verse 50]&lt;br /&gt;From this perspective, namely the positive interpretation of&lt;br /&gt;freedom, Islam should be recognized as a perfect form of&lt;br /&gt;guidance from Allah and a divine means to achieve true&lt;br /&gt;human freedom. The Qur’an says:&lt;br /&gt;Those who follow the Apostle Prophet, the ummi,&lt;br /&gt;whom they find written down with them in the Taurat&lt;br /&gt;[Torah] and the Injeel [Gospel], (who) enjoins them&lt;br /&gt;good and forbids them evil, and makes things lawful&lt;br /&gt;to them the good things and makes unlawful to them&lt;br /&gt;impure things, and removes from their burden and the&lt;br /&gt;shackles which were upon them, so (as for) those who&lt;br /&gt;believe in him and honor him and help him, and&lt;br /&gt;follows the light which has been sent down with him,&lt;br /&gt;there is it that are the successful. [Chapter 7, Verse&lt;br /&gt;157]&lt;br /&gt;This verse among many others like it, state that the&lt;br /&gt;revelation received by the Prophet was sent as guidance to&lt;br /&gt;all mankind. That Islam is able to free human beings from&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 45&lt;br /&gt;the shackles placed upon them by their low desires, to raise&lt;br /&gt;them from a state of ignorance (concerning God and the&lt;br /&gt;hereafter) and to elevate them to a position of enlightenment&lt;br /&gt;and progress. By submitting oneself to the divine revelation&lt;br /&gt;and teachings of the Prophet, the individual is making an&lt;br /&gt;obvious commitment to worship and obey God, to control&lt;br /&gt;oneself and to accept certain limitations. In other words,&lt;br /&gt;Islam is a religion; a way of life that encompasses both&lt;br /&gt;spiritual and worldly aspects, thus obliging its followers to&lt;br /&gt;follow a specific lifestyle. This disagrees with the liberal&lt;br /&gt;‘negative’ conception of human liberty, because it&lt;br /&gt;establishes boundaries and limitations upon freewill. But&lt;br /&gt;according to the Islamic point of view, these limitations help&lt;br /&gt;them to attain true freedom embodied in spiritual life and&lt;br /&gt;nearness to Allah.&lt;br /&gt;In conclusion, one of the key objectives of an Islamic state is&lt;br /&gt;to prepare a desirable social condition, so that people are&lt;br /&gt;able to realize their full capacities, and thus free themselves&lt;br /&gt;from burdens. This self-realization means that people can&lt;br /&gt;promote their individual virtues and prepare themselves for&lt;br /&gt;the ultimate salvation.&lt;br /&gt;Establishing a just society and respecting human equality&lt;br /&gt;Justice (Adl) and Equality (Qest) are two of the most&lt;br /&gt;important aspects of the Islamic ideology. There are many&lt;br /&gt;verses of the Qur'an that oblige the believers to treat people&lt;br /&gt;equally and to deal with them justly.&lt;br /&gt;Certainly we sent our apostles with clear arguments,&lt;br /&gt;and sent down with them the book and the balance&lt;br /&gt;that men may conduct themselves with equity.&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 57, Verse 25]&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;46&lt;br /&gt;Surely Allah commands you to make over trusts to&lt;br /&gt;their owners and that when you judge rule between&lt;br /&gt;people you judge with justice. [Chapter 4, Verse 58]&lt;br /&gt;O you who believe, be maintainers of justice, bearers&lt;br /&gt;of witness of Allah's sake, though it may be against&lt;br /&gt;your own-selves or your parents or near relatives, if&lt;br /&gt;he be rich or poor, Allah is nearer to them in&lt;br /&gt;compassion; therefore, do not follow low desires, lest&lt;br /&gt;you deviate; and if your swerve or turn aside, then&lt;br /&gt;surely Allah is aware of what you do. [Chapter 4,&lt;br /&gt;Verse 135]&lt;br /&gt;These concepts of justice and equality encompass many&lt;br /&gt;different aspects of individual and public affairs. With&lt;br /&gt;specific regard to politics, they require the government to&lt;br /&gt;ensure that all people are granted an equal entitlement to&lt;br /&gt;citizenship, protection, the rights granted by Islam, and the&lt;br /&gt;benefits that accompany it, regardless of their ethnicity,&lt;br /&gt;beliefs or talents.&lt;br /&gt;However, the establishment of a society upon justice and&lt;br /&gt;equality does not require ‘legal equality’. Meaning that it&lt;br /&gt;does not need to adopt a legal system that endorses universal&lt;br /&gt;and indiscriminate rights and duties for all members of that&lt;br /&gt;society. In fact, in its most precise definition, legal equality&lt;br /&gt;is clearly impractical. All contemporary legal systems adopt&lt;br /&gt;legal inequalities within their structures of rights and duties.&lt;br /&gt;In politics for example, no democratic state allows children&lt;br /&gt;to vote, while in economics the salary of a qualified expert is&lt;br /&gt;greater than that of a labourer. Equally so, the Islamic legal&lt;br /&gt;system, which was revealed as divine law, includes legal&lt;br /&gt;inequalities. These arise in cases such as that of inheritance,&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 47&lt;br /&gt;where the share of a woman is less than that of a man.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, social justice and fair governance cannot be&lt;br /&gt;defined as merely overlooking all categories of inequality.&lt;br /&gt;Instead, Islamic social justice is realized by the correct and&lt;br /&gt;complete implementation of the Islamic laws (shari’a) and&lt;br /&gt;values without exception.&lt;br /&gt;Thus an Islamic state is distinguished by the objectives&lt;br /&gt;stated above, which have been laid down by the Qur’an and&lt;br /&gt;Islamic traditions. Other objectives include the eradication&lt;br /&gt;of tyranny, the promotion of tolerance and peaceful coexistence&lt;br /&gt;with non-Muslims in Islamic territory, the&lt;br /&gt;dissemination of knowledge amongst the people and the&lt;br /&gt;creation of a welfare society in order to decrease the&lt;br /&gt;economic divide between the rich and the poor. Finally, it is&lt;br /&gt;also essential that the Islamic government should be led by a&lt;br /&gt;just and well-qualified leader, so that it may realize it’s&lt;br /&gt;fundamental aims. This is emphasized in the following&lt;br /&gt;tradition of Imam Rida (peace be upon him):&lt;br /&gt;Some of the reasons behind appointments of lawful&lt;br /&gt;amirs (holders of authority) by God and making their&lt;br /&gt;obedience obligatory are as follows: Firstly, people&lt;br /&gt;would feel duty bound to follow certain rulers that&lt;br /&gt;would rescue them from corruption. It is not possible&lt;br /&gt;to follow such rulers unless power is entrusted on a&lt;br /&gt;trustee ruler. Secondly, prosperity of nations depends&lt;br /&gt;on the existence of rulers who try to solve their&lt;br /&gt;temporal and spiritual problems. God, the Wise, never&lt;br /&gt;leaves His creatures without a guide. The third reason&lt;br /&gt;is that, in the absence of a right leader and guide, the&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;48&lt;br /&gt;religious commandments and orders would be&lt;br /&gt;ruined.17&lt;br /&gt;Spheres of Islamic Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;At present, there is a significantly broad scope for political&lt;br /&gt;debates. Many scholars and intellectuals examine various&lt;br /&gt;spheres of political thought such as political philosophy,&lt;br /&gt;political ideology, political science and political systems.&lt;br /&gt;Thinkers who explore the relationship between Islam and&lt;br /&gt;politics are usually interested by what sort of political&lt;br /&gt;knowledge Islam provides, whether or not Islam supports&lt;br /&gt;political philosophy or advocates a specific political&lt;br /&gt;ideology and whether or not Islamic sources support a&lt;br /&gt;particular form of political system.&lt;br /&gt;Historically, Islamic political thought has been concerned&lt;br /&gt;with leadership; the means of appointing a political authority&lt;br /&gt;and the qualities that a ruler must possess. One might&lt;br /&gt;suppose that Islam has restricted the discussion to a&lt;br /&gt;particular area of debate, and that it therefore overlooks&lt;br /&gt;many serious political concerns. However, it is necessary for&lt;br /&gt;us to distinguish between the political heritage of Muslim&lt;br /&gt;thinkers and what is provided by the contents of Islam. The&lt;br /&gt;political heritage of Muslims is embodied in the works of a&lt;br /&gt;selection of prominent Shia and Sunni jurists, philosophers&lt;br /&gt;and theologians, whose disciplines can be placed into four&lt;br /&gt;major categories: “political theology”, “political&lt;br /&gt;philosophy”, “political jurisprudence” and “political ethics”.&lt;br /&gt;It is essential that we briefly review these aspects of Islamic&lt;br /&gt;17 Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Babwayh (al-shaykh al-Saduq), Ellal al-&lt;br /&gt;Shariah, Qom: Maktiba Davari, p. 253.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 49&lt;br /&gt;political thought in order to clarify the perspective and&lt;br /&gt;nature of the discussions in the following chapters.&lt;br /&gt;i) Political Theology&lt;br /&gt;The nature of Islamic political debates has been deeply&lt;br /&gt;influenced by a long history of theological (kalam)&lt;br /&gt;disagreement between Shia and Sunni scholars. Shia&lt;br /&gt;political thought, the original and oldest Islamic political&lt;br /&gt;theory, is essentially theological because its primary concern&lt;br /&gt;is leadership; the characteristics of the rightful leader and the&lt;br /&gt;correct method of identifying and appointing him. The Shia&lt;br /&gt;school of thought does not restrict these issues to a solely&lt;br /&gt;political or juridical (fiqh) discussion, rather they are&lt;br /&gt;considered a fundamental component of the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;ideology. Imamate is the focal point of this aspect of&lt;br /&gt;political thought and many books have been written by an&lt;br /&gt;assortment of thinkers from different sects on this topic.&lt;br /&gt;ii) Political Philosophy&lt;br /&gt;Political philosophy refers to a set of political consequences&lt;br /&gt;that are inferred from fundamental metaphysical-moral&lt;br /&gt;issues. The political writings of Al-Farabi are a typical&lt;br /&gt;example of Islamic achievements in this field. By definition,&lt;br /&gt;political philosophy should remain independent of any&lt;br /&gt;particular religious system or set of beliefs, as it is based&lt;br /&gt;upon metaphysical and rational foundations. However,&lt;br /&gt;Islamic political philosophers have formed deeply rational&lt;br /&gt;grounds for many Islamic doctrines before applying these as&lt;br /&gt;religious-philosophical premises in their political&lt;br /&gt;philosophy.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;50&lt;br /&gt;To deny the validity of Islamic political philosophy is to&lt;br /&gt;ignore the philosophical and ideological aspects of political&lt;br /&gt;issues. Many philosophical problems in politics have a close&lt;br /&gt;relationship with religion. And there are many Islamic&lt;br /&gt;teachings that offer, either directly or indirectly, suitable&lt;br /&gt;answers to some essential questions in political philosophy.&lt;br /&gt;iii) Political Ethics&lt;br /&gt;Political ethics (or the morals of politics) refers to a series of&lt;br /&gt;writings from Muslim scholars, who have attempted to&lt;br /&gt;advise and guide rulers to a successful and just method of&lt;br /&gt;government. These prescriptions were usually accompanied&lt;br /&gt;by stories of previous kings and rulers. They were&lt;br /&gt;collections of Islamic teachings, Greek philosophy and some&lt;br /&gt;elements of Persian literature. Examples of these include&lt;br /&gt;“Siyasat Nameh” (Book of Government) of Nidham al-Mulk&lt;br /&gt;(1020-1092), and “Nasihat al-Mulk” (Advice to King) of&lt;br /&gt;Ghazzali (1058-1111).&lt;br /&gt;iv) Political Jurisprudence&lt;br /&gt;Muslim jurists (fuqaha) adopted the method of political&lt;br /&gt;jurisprudence (or “fiqh ul-siyasi”) to explicate and define the&lt;br /&gt;Islamic political system and juridical aspects of political&lt;br /&gt;affairs. They discussed the duties of rulers over their&lt;br /&gt;subjects, the means for appointing and the grounds for&lt;br /&gt;dismissing of political leaders, the personal qualities that an&lt;br /&gt;Imam or Deputy (caliph) should possess, and the&lt;br /&gt;relationship between different elements of the government to&lt;br /&gt;one another. Political jurisprudence overlaps political&lt;br /&gt;theology in several areas, such as the discussion concerning&lt;br /&gt;leadership. However, political jurisprudence is distinguished&lt;br /&gt;by its methodology and the large scope of its subject matter.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Politics 51&lt;br /&gt;“Al-ahkam as-sultaniyya”, written by the jurist Al-Mawardi&lt;br /&gt;between 1045 and 1058, is a good example of this facet of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic political heritage.&lt;br /&gt;The assumption that Islam has a political ideology implies&lt;br /&gt;that it is impossible for one of these disciplines of political&lt;br /&gt;thought to illuminate its dimensions in isolation from the&lt;br /&gt;others. Ideology, as a political term, refers to a collection of&lt;br /&gt;ideas and instructions that are capable of directing political&lt;br /&gt;action. Every political ideology includes ultimate aims and&lt;br /&gt;offers a particular form of political regime that emphasizes&lt;br /&gt;upon specific norms, values and rights in order to draw a&lt;br /&gt;framework for all political affairs. In summary, a political&lt;br /&gt;ideology is a set of ideas that is considered as a decisive&lt;br /&gt;solution for the political aspects of human life. It attempts to&lt;br /&gt;adjust and arrange political relationships according to&lt;br /&gt;determined ideas and directives. Every political ideology&lt;br /&gt;ultimately relies upon political philosophy, because it must&lt;br /&gt;express its position according to fundamental politicalphilosophical&lt;br /&gt;issues, namely questions concerning human&lt;br /&gt;nature, the concept of justice, freedom and it’s limitation and&lt;br /&gt;the relationship between liberty and equality and so on.&lt;br /&gt;From this brief exploration of political ideology, it becomes&lt;br /&gt;clear how extensive the dimensions of a comprehensive&lt;br /&gt;political theory might be. Thus, any explanation of Islamic&lt;br /&gt;political ideology must develop all four aspects of Islamic&lt;br /&gt;political heritage; especially regarding political philosophy&lt;br /&gt;and jurisprudence.&lt;br /&gt;However, it is not the intention of this book to explicate the&lt;br /&gt;entire Islamic political system, including the wide disputes&lt;br /&gt;and disagreements amongst the various Islamic sects and&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;52&lt;br /&gt;movements. The focus of the following pages will be on&lt;br /&gt;Imami political theory, which is known as the doctrine of&lt;br /&gt;Imamate in the age of the present, infallible Imam, and as&lt;br /&gt;“wilayat al-faqih” in the age of the absent Imam. Although,&lt;br /&gt;in order to keep this book concise, the political ideology&lt;br /&gt;shall not be discussed in great depth, the most important&lt;br /&gt;aspects of it will be clarified. The content and debate of the&lt;br /&gt;next chapters will be a composition of theological,&lt;br /&gt;philosophical and mostly Islamic juridical (fiqh) discussions.&lt;br /&gt;Chapter Two&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih?&lt;br /&gt;The doctrine of wilayat al-faqih forms the central axis of&lt;br /&gt;contemporary Shia political thought. It advocates a&lt;br /&gt;guardianship-based political system, which relies upon a just&lt;br /&gt;and capable jurist (faqih) to assume the leadership of the&lt;br /&gt;government in the absence of an infallible Imam. However,&lt;br /&gt;although the guardianship of a high-ranking religious scholar&lt;br /&gt;is universally accepted amongst all Shia theories of&lt;br /&gt;governance, any disagreement is focused on the details such&lt;br /&gt;as the role of the jurist and the scope of his authority.&lt;br /&gt;Because the theory of wilayat al-faqih has emerged from&lt;br /&gt;Imamate - which constitutes a cornerstone of Shi’ism – it is&lt;br /&gt;necessary to understand this political doctrine within the&lt;br /&gt;context of this concept of leadership. By comparing it to the&lt;br /&gt;tradition political theory of Sunni jurists – the doctrine of&lt;br /&gt;caliphate – and characterizing it’s major features, we will be&lt;br /&gt;able to better understand and appreciate the doctrine of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-faqih.&lt;br /&gt;In order to overcome the ambiguities surrounding the&lt;br /&gt;relationship between wilayat al-faqih and the position of an&lt;br /&gt;Islamic jurist as a source of guidance and imitation (Marja’a&lt;br /&gt;e-taqleed), it is necessary to discuss the various dimensions&lt;br /&gt;of guardianship in the absence of the infallible Imam. Also&lt;br /&gt;in order to respond to those who suppose that this doctrine is&lt;br /&gt;an entirely new thesis, which has only recently appeared in&lt;br /&gt;Shia jurisprudence, and argue that it opposes the traditional&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;54&lt;br /&gt;position of scholars and jurists, it is vital to briefly explain&lt;br /&gt;the historical background of wilayat al-faqih amongst the&lt;br /&gt;Imami Shia School of Islamic thought.&lt;br /&gt;The Concept of Imamate&lt;br /&gt;The political status of the Imams is an essential component&lt;br /&gt;of Imami Shi’ism. They are considered to be the true&lt;br /&gt;successors of the most noble Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),&lt;br /&gt;and those who subscribe to this Islamic perspective believe&lt;br /&gt;that any successor must be appointed by Allah, through his&lt;br /&gt;Prophet. However, there are those who attempt to reduce&lt;br /&gt;Imamism to a merely political attitude, a party that supports&lt;br /&gt;Imam Ali (pbuh) and his family as the sole legitimate&lt;br /&gt;successor to the Holy Prophet. Hence many Sunni scholars&lt;br /&gt;define Shi’ism as follows:&lt;br /&gt;Shia are those who especially follow Ali and maintain&lt;br /&gt;his leadership and succession of the Prophet by his&lt;br /&gt;appointment (nass) and testament openly (publicly) or&lt;br /&gt;privately, and also believe that Ali’s authority (awla)&lt;br /&gt;never goes out of his descendants.1&lt;br /&gt;But the political authority of the Imams does not imply that&lt;br /&gt;their role and status are restricted to governance or&lt;br /&gt;leadership. For their followers, the Imams represent the&lt;br /&gt;highest level of piety and they embody the same qualities as&lt;br /&gt;exemplified by the most noble Messenger of God. As&lt;br /&gt;Anthony Black describes them:&lt;br /&gt;1 Abdul-Karim Shahrestany, Al-Melal wal-Nehal, Cairo, 1956, volume 1,&lt;br /&gt;p. 131.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 55&lt;br /&gt;The twelve Imams themselves, and above all the&lt;br /&gt;present twelfth or hidden Imam, were held to be&lt;br /&gt;necessary to the constitution of the Universe and of&lt;br /&gt;true religion. The Imam is God’s proof (Hujjah:&lt;br /&gt;guarantee), he is the pillar of the Universe, the ‘gate’&lt;br /&gt;through whom God is approached. Knowledge of&lt;br /&gt;revelation depends upon him.2&lt;br /&gt;Some of the qualities attributed to the Imams, such as “proof&lt;br /&gt;of God” (Hujjah) and “the guardian” (Wali), which are&lt;br /&gt;discussed later, refer to their great authority and are essential&lt;br /&gt;to understanding Shia political thought. Ayatollah Khomeini&lt;br /&gt;described “proof of God” as follows:&lt;br /&gt;A ‘proof of God’ is one whom God has designated to&lt;br /&gt;conduct affairs, all his deeds, actions, and sayings&lt;br /&gt;constitute a proof for the Muslims. If someone&lt;br /&gt;commits an offence, will be made to the ‘proof’ for&lt;br /&gt;adducing evidence and formulating the charge. If the&lt;br /&gt;‘proof’ commands you to perform a certain act, to&lt;br /&gt;implement the penal provisions of the law in a certain&lt;br /&gt;way, or to spend the income derived from booty,&lt;br /&gt;zakat, and sadaqa in a certain manner and if you fail&lt;br /&gt;to obey him in any of these respects, then God&lt;br /&gt;Almighty will advance a ‘proof’ against you on the&lt;br /&gt;day of Judgment.3&lt;br /&gt;The Imams are considered to be the successors of the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet (pbuh) and the rightful recipients of his authority.&lt;br /&gt;This is not because they are from his family; rather, it is&lt;br /&gt;2 Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought, p. 41.&lt;br /&gt;3 Ruhollah Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, Hamid Algar (tr), Berkeley:&lt;br /&gt;Mizan Press, 1981, p. 86.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;56&lt;br /&gt;because they are pious, obedient to Allah and embody&lt;br /&gt;characteristics that are pre-required for this level of&lt;br /&gt;religious-political leadership. Equally so, they are not&lt;br /&gt;appointed by any popular consensus; Imamate is instituted&lt;br /&gt;by divine installation (nasb); only Allah truly knows who&lt;br /&gt;possesses the qualities required to fulfill this duty, therefore&lt;br /&gt;only He is capable of appointing them. Shia considers&lt;br /&gt;Imamate, like Prophethood, to be a fundamental belief, and&lt;br /&gt;obedience to the authority of their Imam a religious&lt;br /&gt;obligation. Other than receiving divine revelation, which is&lt;br /&gt;specifically for the prophets, the Imams have all the&lt;br /&gt;qualities, duties and authority of the Prophet (pbuh).&lt;br /&gt;Political and religious guidance emanate from them and they&lt;br /&gt;are guardians over the believers. This is a manifestation of&lt;br /&gt;Allah’s guardianship over human beings.&lt;br /&gt;In addition to this, the concept of guardianship is another&lt;br /&gt;crucial element of Shia political doctrine.&lt;br /&gt;Imam as “Wali”&lt;br /&gt;In many verses of the Qur’an, God introduces himself as&lt;br /&gt;“Guardian of the Believers” (Wali ul-Mumineen):&lt;br /&gt;Allah is the Guardian of the believers. [Chapter 3,&lt;br /&gt;Verse 68]&lt;br /&gt;Allah is the Guardian of those who believe. [Chapter&lt;br /&gt;2, Verse 257]&lt;br /&gt;Allah suffices as a Guardian. [Chapter 4, Verse 45]&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 57&lt;br /&gt;And according to several verses of the Qur’an, this&lt;br /&gt;guardianship has been delegated to the Prophet, so his&lt;br /&gt;authority is rooted in the aforementioned Divine authority:&lt;br /&gt;Only Allah is your Guardian (Wali) and His Apostle.&lt;br /&gt;[Chapter 5, Verse 55]&lt;br /&gt;The Prophet has a greater claim on the faithful than&lt;br /&gt;they have on themselves. [Chapter 33, Verse 6]&lt;br /&gt;Verses such as these illustrate that the authority and&lt;br /&gt;guardianship of the Prophet was originally established and&lt;br /&gt;legitimized by Allah’s appointment. Following this&lt;br /&gt;interpretation, the followers of the Imams provide a large&lt;br /&gt;number of traditions and historical evidence that confirm the&lt;br /&gt;delegation of the Imams, by Allah, through the Prophet (the&lt;br /&gt;doctrine of appointment) as “guardians of the believers”&lt;br /&gt;(Wali ul-Mumineen). Although the consequences of this&lt;br /&gt;doctrine will be considered over the following pages, at this&lt;br /&gt;point it would be helpful to discuss the meaning of the terms&lt;br /&gt;“Wali” and “Wilayat” and their usage, especially with&lt;br /&gt;regards to jurisprudence (fiqh).&lt;br /&gt;Arabic lexicographers have mentioned several meanings for&lt;br /&gt;the word “Wali”, such as:&lt;br /&gt;1. Friend&lt;br /&gt;2. Supporter&lt;br /&gt;3. Devoted&lt;br /&gt;4. Protector.&lt;br /&gt;There are a series of words derived from the root of “Wali”,&lt;br /&gt;for instance “Wilayat”, “Mawla” and “Mawala Alayh”. By&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;58&lt;br /&gt;considering the context to which these are applied, it&lt;br /&gt;becomes apparent that they apply to the situation that&lt;br /&gt;someone’s affairs have been taken charge of by someone&lt;br /&gt;else. Therefore, whoever takes charge of these affairs is the&lt;br /&gt;latter’s Wali, and consequently it is often applied to&lt;br /&gt;governance as well.4&lt;br /&gt;When the term “Wilayat” is attributed to the Imams, it&lt;br /&gt;carries the implications of “mastership”, “sovereignty” and&lt;br /&gt;“lordship”. This is to indicate the authority of the Imam over&lt;br /&gt;the believers, who are subject to his guardianship. Imami&lt;br /&gt;theologians refer to the Qur’an (especially Chapter 5, Verse&lt;br /&gt;55) and prophetic traditions to support the exclusive&lt;br /&gt;authority (wilayat) of the Imams.&lt;br /&gt;The absolute authority and guardianship of Allah (wilayat&lt;br /&gt;al-mutlaqih) forms a central pillar of Imami political&lt;br /&gt;thought, which maintains that whoever wishes to exercise&lt;br /&gt;this authority must be appointed by Him. It is this idea that&lt;br /&gt;distinguishes Imamism from all other political theories and&lt;br /&gt;even other sects of Shi’ism; because although all schools of&lt;br /&gt;Shia thought agree that the Imam is subject to divine&lt;br /&gt;appointment through the Prophet, only Imamism tries to&lt;br /&gt;sustain this approach under circumstances when the&lt;br /&gt;infallible Imam is absent. In this doctrine, it is Allah alone&lt;br /&gt;who holds the absolute authority and He has explicitly&lt;br /&gt;appointed the Prophet and a number of believers (his family,&lt;br /&gt;4 Lewis writes:&lt;br /&gt;‘vali and vilayat are the Turkish pronunciation of the active participle and&lt;br /&gt;verbal noun of the Arabic root w-l-y, ‘to be near’ and hence ‘to take&lt;br /&gt;charge of’; they mean respectively, governor, and governorship or&lt;br /&gt;province’.&lt;br /&gt;Bernard Lewis, The Political Language of Islam, The University of&lt;br /&gt;Chicago Press, 1988, no. 22, p. 123.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 59&lt;br /&gt;i.e. the Ahlul-Bayt) as guardians (Wali), who are entrusted&lt;br /&gt;with authority over the Muslims.&lt;br /&gt;Only God is your Wali and His Apostle and those who&lt;br /&gt;believe. Who perform prayer and pay alms while they&lt;br /&gt;bow. [Al-Qur’an, Chapter 5, Verse 55]&lt;br /&gt;The last phrase, “those who believe”, according to Shia&lt;br /&gt;commentators refers to the Imams, whose wilayat was&lt;br /&gt;instituted through their appointment by the Prophet.5&lt;br /&gt;However, what truly distinguishes the Imami political&lt;br /&gt;doctrine from all other forms of Shia political thought&lt;br /&gt;emerges from the Imami concept of leadership during the&lt;br /&gt;period of greater occultation; in which the Twelfth Imam is&lt;br /&gt;absent. The Imami creed adopts a system of vicegerency,&lt;br /&gt;whereby the authority (wilayat) is entrusted to the just and&lt;br /&gt;capable scholar (faqih e-adil), who acts as a deputy to the&lt;br /&gt;absent Imam. Thus, the guardianship of a jurist is&lt;br /&gt;legitimized and his authority is related to the original and&lt;br /&gt;absolute authority of Allah. A clear distinction must be&lt;br /&gt;drawn, however, between the authority of Imamate and the&lt;br /&gt;guardianship of the scholars. The Imams, whose authority is&lt;br /&gt;established upon their explicit designation by the Prophet,&lt;br /&gt;delegate and entrust a degree of their authority to those who&lt;br /&gt;possess specific qualities (such as justice and jurisprudence&lt;br /&gt;in the case of the fuqaha). So whereas the Imams were&lt;br /&gt;specifically appointed as guardians of legitimate authority,&lt;br /&gt;the jurists (fuqaha) are not explicitly selected by name, but&lt;br /&gt;5 For more information about the verse and some debates that have arisen&lt;br /&gt;by the verse among Shi’a and Sunni scholars refer to:&lt;br /&gt;Abdul Husayn Sharafud-Din, Al-Muraja’at, Yasin T. al-Jibouri (tr),&lt;br /&gt;World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League (WABIL), pp. 173-180.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;60&lt;br /&gt;rather implicitly chosen as those who possess the correct&lt;br /&gt;qualities for leadership.&lt;br /&gt;The scope of a jurist ‘s authority and the realm of his&lt;br /&gt;vicegerency constitute the most essential, while&lt;br /&gt;simultaneously controversial element of Imami political&lt;br /&gt;thought. However, before entering this crucial debate, it is&lt;br /&gt;important to distinguish Imami political doctrine from the&lt;br /&gt;political system advocated by the traditional Sunni Jurists,&lt;br /&gt;which is the doctrine of Caliphate.&lt;br /&gt;The Theory of Caliphate&lt;br /&gt;Despite the common disagreement amongst their schools of&lt;br /&gt;jurisprudence, Sunni jurists have traditionally advocated a&lt;br /&gt;specific theory of state known as Caliphate; a doctrine that,&lt;br /&gt;both as a political theory and significant historic reality,&lt;br /&gt;dominated the Islamic community for a considerable amount&lt;br /&gt;of time. In the interests of the present discussion, it is&lt;br /&gt;necessary to differentiate between the theory of Caliphate&lt;br /&gt;and the doctrine of Imamism.&lt;br /&gt;Caliph essentially means successor, or one who assumes a&lt;br /&gt;position previously held by another. However, this word is&lt;br /&gt;not confined to the context of political authority, so a caliph&lt;br /&gt;may not simply be the successor of a previous governor, but&lt;br /&gt;also someone who is definitely appointed as a deputy and&lt;br /&gt;entrusted with authority by the person who appoints him,&lt;br /&gt;somewhat synonymous with ‘deputy’ or ‘vicegerent’.6&lt;br /&gt;Historically, the early Muslims are said to have applied the&lt;br /&gt;title of Khalifa to the first four rulers after the Prophet&lt;br /&gt;6 Montgomery Watt, Islamic Political Thought, pp. 32-33.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 61&lt;br /&gt;(Pbuh). In it’s most basic meaning, the Khalifa is one who&lt;br /&gt;exercises governance in place of the Prophet. Abu-Bakr was&lt;br /&gt;once approached by a man, who asked him “Are you the&lt;br /&gt;deputy of the messenger of Allah?” to which Abu-Bakr&lt;br /&gt;replied, “No.” The man asked, “So who are you”? Abu-&lt;br /&gt;Bakr answered, “I am the successor of the Prophet.”7&lt;br /&gt;Montgomery Watt writes:&lt;br /&gt;Since Abu-Bakr was not appointed by the Prophet&lt;br /&gt;except to deputize for him in leading the public&lt;br /&gt;prayers, the phrase “Khalifa of the messenger of&lt;br /&gt;God” cannot have meant ‘deputy’. The primary&lt;br /&gt;meaning must have been merely ‘successor’.8&lt;br /&gt;Although many rulers of the Ummayid dynasty attempted to&lt;br /&gt;attach a divine status to the title of successor (Caliph), Sunni&lt;br /&gt;Jurists generally consider the Caliph to be a legitimate ruler&lt;br /&gt;who governs and directs the state and it’s society. His&lt;br /&gt;appointment is dependant upon specific qualities that the&lt;br /&gt;ruler must possess, however there is no universal agreement&lt;br /&gt;as to what these characteristics must be.&lt;br /&gt;This source of disagreement initiated the first political&lt;br /&gt;divergence amongst the Muslims, which precipitated,&lt;br /&gt;sustained and continues to sustain a theological debate with&lt;br /&gt;focuses on legitimate leadership following the death of the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet (pbuh). However, the theory of Caliphate was not&lt;br /&gt;enshrined until the reign of the Abbasids, when it was&lt;br /&gt;devised and formulated by Sunni Jurists. Black writes:&lt;br /&gt;7 Ibn Assir, Al-Nehaya, Volume 1, p. 315.&lt;br /&gt;8 Montgomery Watt, Islamic Political Thought, p. 33.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;62&lt;br /&gt;An articulate community, traditionalist political&lt;br /&gt;theory was finally formulated in the first half of the&lt;br /&gt;eleventh century. Its doctrine of the vicegerency met&lt;br /&gt;the requirements of the emerging religious community&lt;br /&gt;by radically scaling down expectations placed on the&lt;br /&gt;deputy, while retaining the legitimacy of the ‘Abbasids&lt;br /&gt;as leaders of the Muslims. The first four rightly&lt;br /&gt;guided (Rashidun) deputies were now placed in a&lt;br /&gt;special category. The immediate motive was to&lt;br /&gt;safeguard the ‘Abbasids Caliphate against&lt;br /&gt;alternatives, Shia Imamism or Isma’ilism.9&lt;br /&gt;The first, and most significant Sunni Jurist who attempted to&lt;br /&gt;systemize the doctrine of Caliphate within an Islamic&lt;br /&gt;juridical framework was Abu’l Hasan Al-Mawardi (Basra&lt;br /&gt;979 – Baghdad 1058). He was a Shafi’i judge in Nishapur,&lt;br /&gt;and later became the chief Justice of Baghdad. In his famous&lt;br /&gt;book “al-ahkam as-sultaniyya” (the laws of governance), al-&lt;br /&gt;Mawardi attempts to legitimize the authority of the Abbasid&lt;br /&gt;government, while striving to justify the use of coercion as&lt;br /&gt;an implement of governance. He argued that a caliph is&lt;br /&gt;divinely entrusted with authority in political, as well as&lt;br /&gt;religious affairs.10&lt;br /&gt;He writes:&lt;br /&gt;God …ordained for the people a leader through whom&lt;br /&gt;he provided for the vicegerency of the Prophet and&lt;br /&gt;through whom he protected the religious association;&lt;br /&gt;and he entrusted government to him, so that the&lt;br /&gt;management of affairs should proceed (on the basis&lt;br /&gt;of) right religion…The leadership became the&lt;br /&gt;9 Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought, p. 84.&lt;br /&gt;10 Ibid., p. 87.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 63&lt;br /&gt;principle upon which the bases of the religious&lt;br /&gt;association were established, by which the well-being&lt;br /&gt;of the people was regulated.11&lt;br /&gt;When examining this perspective, it is important to realize&lt;br /&gt;that the traditional advocates of Caliphate are often inspired&lt;br /&gt;and influenced by the Ash’ari School of Islamic thought.&lt;br /&gt;This particular doctrine emphasizes divine predestination&lt;br /&gt;(taqdir) and the will of God as a unique agent in the world.&lt;br /&gt;Naturally, the fundamental principle of this doctrine brings&lt;br /&gt;them to the conclusion that one person, solely by the will of&lt;br /&gt;Allah, will succeed to gain political authority.&lt;br /&gt;Abu’l-Fadl Bayhaqi (995-1077) writes:&lt;br /&gt;Know that the Lord most high has given one power to&lt;br /&gt;the Prophets and another power to Kings, and he has&lt;br /&gt;made it incumbent upon the people of the earth that&lt;br /&gt;they should submit themselves to the two powers and&lt;br /&gt;should acknowledge the true way laid down by God.12&lt;br /&gt;Al-Ghazzali in his Advice to kings says:&lt;br /&gt;God has singled out two groups of men and given&lt;br /&gt;them preference over others: one group is the&lt;br /&gt;Prophets and the other is kings. Prophets he sends to&lt;br /&gt;His servants to lead them to Him and Kings to&lt;br /&gt;restrain them from (aggression against) each other.13&lt;br /&gt;11 The paragraph is translated in:&lt;br /&gt;Ann K. S Lambton, State and Government in Medieval Islam, Oxford&lt;br /&gt;University Press, 1981, p. 85.&lt;br /&gt;12 Bernard Lewis, The Political Language of Islam, p. 134.&lt;br /&gt;13 Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought, p. 94.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;64&lt;br /&gt;This outlook, which assumes that the authority of a Caliph&lt;br /&gt;includes everything and that they are naturally predestined&lt;br /&gt;according to the eternal will of God, is naturally compatible&lt;br /&gt;with the opinion currently adopted by contemporary Sunni&lt;br /&gt;Jurists, who argue that Allah and the Prophet did not appoint&lt;br /&gt;a particular person or persons as rulers over the Muslims.&lt;br /&gt;After all, the logical consequence of this concept of&lt;br /&gt;predestination and unique divine agency is that it doesn’t&lt;br /&gt;matter who governs or how he obtains authority, for in any&lt;br /&gt;case and circumstance it would be subject to the will of God.&lt;br /&gt;This is the first distinction between Shi’a political thought&lt;br /&gt;and the doctrine of Caliphate. For Imamites the legitimate&lt;br /&gt;authority must be designated - directly or indirectly - by&lt;br /&gt;God.&lt;br /&gt;The second distinction that must be made, however,&lt;br /&gt;concerns the method of appointing a Caliph. Imami political&lt;br /&gt;theory maintains that there is only one legitimate means to&lt;br /&gt;designate authority; divine installation. Even the&lt;br /&gt;guardianship of just and capable jurists (faqih adil) is&lt;br /&gt;established upon this basis; they are the vicegerents of the&lt;br /&gt;absent Imam, whose divine leadership is established by&lt;br /&gt;explicit designation, and who implicitly entrusted them with&lt;br /&gt;the guardianship of his followers. All of this authority, of&lt;br /&gt;course, is bestowed by Almighty God who has absolute&lt;br /&gt;authority and guardianship over all of creation.&lt;br /&gt;In rejecting the explicit appointment of a successor to the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet, Sunni Jurists maintain that there are several means&lt;br /&gt;by which a caliph may be elected, which means there is no&lt;br /&gt;unique way to legitimize political power. Instead, they&lt;br /&gt;accept the appointment of the first four caliphs following the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet’s death as a religious source to sanction political&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 65&lt;br /&gt;authority. Consequently, according to Sunni interpretations,&lt;br /&gt;a caliph may be elected either by a few of the elites (e.g.&lt;br /&gt;some outstanding companions of the Prophet), by the&lt;br /&gt;explicit designation of his predecessor, or by an appointed&lt;br /&gt;council (shura).&lt;br /&gt;The fact that many of the contemporary political positions of&lt;br /&gt;that time had been secured by coercion and military power,&lt;br /&gt;created a serious obstacle for the theory of caliphate and&lt;br /&gt;many Sunni scholars attempted to find a means to justify&lt;br /&gt;these authorities. For example, Al-Mawardi attempted to&lt;br /&gt;legitimize the authority of de facto rulers by designating&lt;br /&gt;them as government ministers (wazir) and commanders&lt;br /&gt;(amir), whom the caliph had to recognize.14&lt;br /&gt;Finally, the third distinction arises, which is concerned with&lt;br /&gt;the qualities that a leader must possess. According to the&lt;br /&gt;doctrine of Shi’ism, an Imam is not merely a political leader;&lt;br /&gt;rather he is also a religious leader who undertakes the&lt;br /&gt;exposition of divine sciences. Like the Prophet, he must&lt;br /&gt;embody the highest moral and intellectual qualities, such as&lt;br /&gt;immunity from sin and infallible knowledge. However, there&lt;br /&gt;is a wide-ranging disagreement amongst Sunni scholars&lt;br /&gt;regarding the characteristics of a caliph. Commonly, they do&lt;br /&gt;not believe that a candidate must be sinless, or enjoy&lt;br /&gt;infallible knowledge. In some cases, justice and fairness are&lt;br /&gt;not considered necessary, and obedience is required of even&lt;br /&gt;an unjust or oppressive tyrant. Al-Ghazzali says:&lt;br /&gt;An evil doing and barbarous Sultan, so long as he is&lt;br /&gt;supported by military force (shawka) so that he can&lt;br /&gt;only be deposed with difficulty, and that the attempt to&lt;br /&gt;14 Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought, p.88.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;66&lt;br /&gt;depose him would create unendurable civil strife,&lt;br /&gt;must necessarily be left in possession, and obedience&lt;br /&gt;must be rendered to him.15&lt;br /&gt;A general and significant feature of Sunni political thinking&lt;br /&gt;is that there is no procedure for the people to depose an&lt;br /&gt;unjust ruler. Rather, the grounds on which he may be&lt;br /&gt;removed are considerably reduced. For instance, Al-&lt;br /&gt;Baghdadi (d. 1037) said that allegiance (bay’a) might only&lt;br /&gt;be revoked on grounds of heresy, incapacitation,&lt;br /&gt;imprisonment or serious injustice; although the latter is not&lt;br /&gt;accepted as a cause for disobedience by most Sunni&lt;br /&gt;scholars.16&lt;br /&gt;Although Imami political theory does not require a wali alfaqih&lt;br /&gt;to be sinless or infallible, it does mention&lt;br /&gt;characteristics such as justice, fairness and expertise in&lt;br /&gt;jurisprudence as necessary qualities. This is because the&lt;br /&gt;jurists (fuqaha) are not only moral and legal experts they are&lt;br /&gt;also representatives of the hidden Imam.&lt;br /&gt;The Meaning of Wilayat al-Faqih&lt;br /&gt;The words “wali” and “wilayat” have the same root (w-l-y).&lt;br /&gt;From it’s primary meaning of “to be near or close to&lt;br /&gt;someone or something”, is derived the general meanings “to&lt;br /&gt;be in charge”, “to govern” and “to exercise authority”. In&lt;br /&gt;Islamic juristic (fiqh) terminology, the term “wilayat” has&lt;br /&gt;several usages. Some of these are as follow:&lt;br /&gt;1. Wilayat al-Qaraba&lt;br /&gt;15 Ibid., p. 104.&lt;br /&gt;16 Ibid., p. 85.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 67&lt;br /&gt;This type of authority (Wilayat) is given to a father or&lt;br /&gt;paternal grandfather over minors and those who are insane&lt;br /&gt;(even after the age of adolescence). This authority to act as a&lt;br /&gt;guardian is based on relationship.&lt;br /&gt;2. Wilayat al-Qada’&lt;br /&gt;According to Imami Jurisprudence, the infallible Imam&lt;br /&gt;originally possessed the sole authority to judge amongst the&lt;br /&gt;people based upon God’s law and revelation. At this time,&lt;br /&gt;however, a just and capable faqih may undertake this&lt;br /&gt;responsibility with the Imam’s permission.&lt;br /&gt;3. Wilayat al-Hakim&lt;br /&gt;In this case, authority is given to a regular administrator of&lt;br /&gt;justice (hakim), to supervise the interests of a person who is&lt;br /&gt;unable to take care of his own affairs; such as a fool or an&lt;br /&gt;insane person. Whoever does not have a guardian (wali),&lt;br /&gt;jurists say: al-hakim is the guardian of those who have no&lt;br /&gt;guardian.&lt;br /&gt;4. Wilayat al-Mutlaqa (The Absolute Authority)&lt;br /&gt;According to textual evidences, such as verse 6 of Chapter&lt;br /&gt;33 of the Qur’an, Imami scholars believe that the Prophet&lt;br /&gt;and Imams have divine authority over the people. The verse&lt;br /&gt;states that the Prophet has more rights over the believers&lt;br /&gt;than they have over themselves; thus his discretionary&lt;br /&gt;authority is effective amongst the people. This same&lt;br /&gt;authority, according to Shia beliefs, is also bestowed upon&lt;br /&gt;the Imams.&lt;br /&gt;5. Wilayat al-Usuba&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;68&lt;br /&gt;According to Sunni jurists, this authority is connected to&lt;br /&gt;inheritance; it encompasses a class of inheritors. This&lt;br /&gt;category of wilayat is not accepted by Imami scholars.&lt;br /&gt;According to Imami doctrine, absolute authority (wilayat al-&lt;br /&gt;Mutlaqa al-Elahiya) remains with the Absent Imam, even&lt;br /&gt;during his greater occultation. Therefore, in order to exercise&lt;br /&gt;authority, every just and capable faqih requires the sanction&lt;br /&gt;of the Imam, who is in turn designated by God as the&lt;br /&gt;possessor of absolute authority and guardianship.&lt;br /&gt;Although all Imami scholars generally agree upon the&lt;br /&gt;doctrine of Vicegerency (Niyabat) that emphasizes the role&lt;br /&gt;of capable jurists as deputies of the Absent Imam, who are&lt;br /&gt;entrusted with a degree of his authority. However, the&lt;br /&gt;crucial issue is the scope and extent of this vicegerency and&lt;br /&gt;in which affairs the jurists have authority.&lt;br /&gt;In order to clarify the dimensions of this discussion, it is&lt;br /&gt;necessary to examine the traditional roles and functions that&lt;br /&gt;qualified jurists undertake as deputies of the Imam.&lt;br /&gt;i) Making a Decree (Al-Ifta)&lt;br /&gt;With regards to guidance in rulings and religious duties, it is&lt;br /&gt;necessary for those who lack sufficient knowledge of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic law and the legal system (shari'a) to refer to the&lt;br /&gt;opinions of a jurist (faqih). The jurist who issues legal and&lt;br /&gt;juridical decrees is known as a “Marja’a taqleed”, and the&lt;br /&gt;term meaning to follow or imitate their opinion is “taqleed”.&lt;br /&gt;There is no disagreement amongst scholars regarding the&lt;br /&gt;application of this function by a well-qualified jurist. After&lt;br /&gt;all when a person has questions on a particular topic, it is&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 69&lt;br /&gt;only natural for them to refer these to an expert in this field,&lt;br /&gt;not only in the sphere of religion, but in all aspects of life.&lt;br /&gt;For this reason, although the jurist must possess certain&lt;br /&gt;qualities to assume this role, there is no need for the express&lt;br /&gt;permission of an Imam. In other words this function should&lt;br /&gt;not be mentioned as an example of the Imam ‘s authority&lt;br /&gt;and a type of wilayat.&lt;br /&gt;ii) To Judge (Al-Qada)&lt;br /&gt;It is legally established that a just faqih is able to mediate&lt;br /&gt;disputes and judge in legal cases. Imamis believe that this&lt;br /&gt;function (wilayat al-qada or al-hukuma) is encompassed&lt;br /&gt;within the Imam’s divine authority. Hence, only those who&lt;br /&gt;have his permission may assume this role. Imam as-Sadiq&lt;br /&gt;(pbuh) referred to the administration of justice (hukuma) as a&lt;br /&gt;constitutional right and duty of the Imam:&lt;br /&gt;Beware of the Hukuma (administration of justice).&lt;br /&gt;Indeed, al-Hukuma belongs to the Imam who is&lt;br /&gt;knowledgeable in matters of judicial decisions (qada)&lt;br /&gt;and who is the just one (al-adil) among the Muslims,&lt;br /&gt;like the Prophet or his legatee.17&lt;br /&gt;Imami jurists commonly agree that this responsibility&lt;br /&gt;(wilayat al-qada) is entrusted to the just faqih as a deputy of&lt;br /&gt;the Imam.&lt;br /&gt;Hisbiya Affairs (Al-Umur al-Hisbiya)&lt;br /&gt;The Prophet (pbuh) said:&lt;br /&gt;17 Abdulaziz Sachedina, The Just Ruler, Oxford University Press, 1988, p.&lt;br /&gt;129.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;70&lt;br /&gt;The sultan is the wali of the one who does not have a&lt;br /&gt;wali.18&lt;br /&gt;According to this hadith, the sultan is the guardian (wali) of&lt;br /&gt;those who need a guardian to for a particular reason. For&lt;br /&gt;example, when the father of a minor or an insane person&lt;br /&gt;dies. Imami jurists extend this role to a set of affairs that&lt;br /&gt;require an authorized guardian to oversee them; these are&lt;br /&gt;known as al-umur al-hisbiya, and include religious&lt;br /&gt;endowments, inheritance and funerals (as well as those&lt;br /&gt;mentioned above). Although all Imami jurists accept the&lt;br /&gt;legality and necessity of this role, they disagree as to&lt;br /&gt;whether or not he is appointed by the shari’a or because he is&lt;br /&gt;naturally the best suited for the role. Some maintain that&lt;br /&gt;there is no expressed permission stemming from Islamic&lt;br /&gt;traditions to justify the authority of a jurist in such cases&lt;br /&gt;(hisbah). However, though the shari’a is silent, this does not&lt;br /&gt;mean that issues of hisbah do not need to be attended to.&lt;br /&gt;And a faqih who has knowledge of the shari’a and is just and&lt;br /&gt;pious, logically has priority over all others in these cases.&lt;br /&gt;These three functions only form a fraction of the Imam’s&lt;br /&gt;authority; in the history of Imami Shi’ism, marja’aiyya&lt;br /&gt;(authorative reference) has largely been restricted to these&lt;br /&gt;central roles (especially the first). However, the religious&lt;br /&gt;authority and duties of an Imam as a guardian (wali) extend&lt;br /&gt;far beyond the three functions mentioned above. Those who&lt;br /&gt;believe in universal vicegerency (wilayat al-amma) maintain&lt;br /&gt;that the role of the faqih is not restricted to merely a few&lt;br /&gt;religious duties, but rather he has the same authority as the&lt;br /&gt;Imam. He has the right and duty to lead the Shia community&lt;br /&gt;18 Muhammad Baqer Majlesi, Behar al-Anwar (110 volumes), Tehran,&lt;br /&gt;1985, Kitab al-Elm, Chapter 1, Hadith 29.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 71&lt;br /&gt;and undertake the full function and responsibilities of an&lt;br /&gt;infallible Imam.&lt;br /&gt;In addition to the administration of justice (wilayat al-qada)&lt;br /&gt;and ‘hisbah’, the Imam also has the right to exercise&lt;br /&gt;governmental, juridical and economic duties. The political&lt;br /&gt;nature of these duties consequently implies that the Imam is&lt;br /&gt;the leader and ruler of Muslim society (wilayat al-siyasiyya).&lt;br /&gt;Those who advocate wilayat al-amma extend the scope of&lt;br /&gt;the faqih’s authority to the following duties:&lt;br /&gt;1- Political- Devotional (Ibady) Orders and Prayers&lt;br /&gt;Imami fuqaha emphasize that performing certain religious&lt;br /&gt;ceremonies, such as leading the prayers of Eid al-Adha and&lt;br /&gt;Eid al-Fitr, in addition to the prayer of Jum’ah (Friday), can&lt;br /&gt;only be lead by an Imam or one who has been designated by&lt;br /&gt;Him. This view presupposes that leading the prayers is a&lt;br /&gt;political-religious position and a function of the true Imam.&lt;br /&gt;For instance, Shaykh al-Mufid19 says:&lt;br /&gt;It is well established that every imperfect being needs&lt;br /&gt;someone who can discipline him so that he will&lt;br /&gt;refrain from evil acts…He should also be the one who&lt;br /&gt;will protect Islamic territory and will assemble the&lt;br /&gt;people in order to convene the Jum'ah and the Eid&lt;br /&gt;prayers.20&lt;br /&gt;19 Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu’man, known as Mufid is one of&lt;br /&gt;the greatest Imami faqih and theologian. He was born in Dujal, some sixty&lt;br /&gt;miles from Baghdad, in the year 949 or 950AD. His basic and elementary&lt;br /&gt;training and studies was under his father. He went to Baghdad at the age&lt;br /&gt;of twelve. Among his books in fiqh is al-Muqni’a, on which Tusi wrote a&lt;br /&gt;commentary-Tahdhib al-Ahkam (one of the four major books of Imami&lt;br /&gt;Shi’ism).&lt;br /&gt;20 Shaykh Al-Mufid, Al-Ershad, Tehran, 1972, p. 674.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;72&lt;br /&gt;In addition, the formal affirmation of the new moon for&lt;br /&gt;religiously important occasions (e.g. Shawal for Eid al-Fitr),&lt;br /&gt;requires the endorsement of a just and capable Imam (Imam&lt;br /&gt;adil).&lt;br /&gt;2-Legal Punishment (Hudud)&lt;br /&gt;It is established in Islamic traditions that the application of&lt;br /&gt;legal punishment (hudud) requires the sanction of an Imam.&lt;br /&gt;Considering that some categories of legal punishment&lt;br /&gt;involve pain, injury or death, whoever is entrusted with this&lt;br /&gt;duty, must have the legitimate authority to deal with these&lt;br /&gt;issues. The administration of justice and application of legal&lt;br /&gt;punishment obviously require political authority, otherwise&lt;br /&gt;they are impossible to enforce both legitimately and&lt;br /&gt;consistently. Functions that involve the administration of&lt;br /&gt;justice, such as determining compensation (diyat), dividing&lt;br /&gt;inheritance and affairs such as retaliation (qisas), also belong&lt;br /&gt;to the Imam.&lt;br /&gt;3 - Islamic Taxes&lt;br /&gt;The collection and distribution of taxes is one of the most&lt;br /&gt;important functions of any government, therefore those who&lt;br /&gt;have the right to fulfill this duty also have political authority&lt;br /&gt;(wilayat al-siyasiyya). Sunni jurists generally maintain that a&lt;br /&gt;sultan (deputy), who has political power, can receive taxes&lt;br /&gt;such as zakat. Imami fuqaha, on the other hand, believe that&lt;br /&gt;the Imam has the sole entitlement to receive Islamic taxes&lt;br /&gt;(zakat, sadaqa, kharaj) and decide how they should be spent.&lt;br /&gt;4 - Jihad (Holy War) and Defense&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 73&lt;br /&gt;Unlike a number of Sunni jurists, who consider fighting&lt;br /&gt;unbelievers for the expansion of the Islamic state as a form&lt;br /&gt;of “Jihad”. The scope of Jihad is not so broad amongst&lt;br /&gt;Imami jurists who, in order to prevent the abuse of this&lt;br /&gt;concept by corrupt political authorities, insist that the&lt;br /&gt;permission of the Imam is a necessary condition for Jihad.&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh Tusi says:&lt;br /&gt;It is imperative that the Imam should be the one to&lt;br /&gt;commence Jihad against unbelievers (kuffar).21&lt;br /&gt;Sachedina explains why there is no justification for Jihad&lt;br /&gt;without permission of the Imam in the Imami point of view:&lt;br /&gt;The original purpose of Jihad, then according to the&lt;br /&gt;Imami, was not preserved under the Caliphate. What&lt;br /&gt;had caused the Jihad to drift away from the Qur’anic&lt;br /&gt;purpose was the coming to power of unjust and&lt;br /&gt;unrighteous authority claiming to undertake Jihad in&lt;br /&gt;the name of God. Of the two main purposes of Jihad,&lt;br /&gt;namely to call upon the people to respond to God’s&lt;br /&gt;guidance, and to protect the basic welfare of the&lt;br /&gt;community, the first purpose, according to all the&lt;br /&gt;Imami Jurists, required the presence of the just Imam&lt;br /&gt;or the person deputized by such an authority. This&lt;br /&gt;was to guarantee that Jihad against unbelievers was&lt;br /&gt;undertaken strictly for the cause of God.22&lt;br /&gt;These four categories of authority and function introduce an&lt;br /&gt;essential issue in determining the scope of a vicegerent ‘s&lt;br /&gt;21 Muhammad ibn Hassan Tusi, Al-Mabsut fi Fiqh al-Imamiya, Tehran,&lt;br /&gt;1958, Volume 2, p. 9.&lt;br /&gt;22 Abdulaziz Sachedina, The Just Ruler, p. 110.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;74&lt;br /&gt;authority. If an Imam has delegated his authority and duties&lt;br /&gt;entirely to a just and capable jurist (faqih) as his deputy&lt;br /&gt;during the period of greater occultation, the guardianship&lt;br /&gt;(wilayat) of fuqaha would be universal (amma). Universal&lt;br /&gt;guardianship implies that the Islamic society is in need of a&lt;br /&gt;wali to lead and organize it’s affairs, regardless of whether&lt;br /&gt;an infallible Imam is present or not.&lt;br /&gt;Wilayat al-faqih can be defined as an authority entrusted to&lt;br /&gt;learned fuqaha so that they may direct and advise the&lt;br /&gt;Muslim ummah in the absence of an infallible Imam. This&lt;br /&gt;authority is derived from the Imam, who is al-Hujjah (the&lt;br /&gt;proof of God), therefore it is incumbent to obey their&lt;br /&gt;commands as the only legitimate authority. However, there&lt;br /&gt;remains some ambiguity surrounding the scope of the&lt;br /&gt;authority (wilayat) that has been delegated to the fuqaha.&lt;br /&gt;The concept of wilayat encompasses many degrees of&lt;br /&gt;authority. The highest form of authority (wilayat) bestowed&lt;br /&gt;upon the faqih is the universal type (wilayat al-amma),&lt;br /&gt;whereas the most basic form is embodied in the authority to&lt;br /&gt;undertake ‘hisbah’ and ‘qada’ (the administration of justice).&lt;br /&gt;Some people make the mistake of assuming that wilayat alfaqih&lt;br /&gt;refers only to the universal authority, when in fact it&lt;br /&gt;refers to the total scope of the scholar’s vicegerency in the&lt;br /&gt;absence of an infallible Imam.&lt;br /&gt;Some Misconceptions&lt;br /&gt;At this point, it is necessary to address two common&lt;br /&gt;misconceptions surrounding wilayat al-faqih. Many people&lt;br /&gt;erroneously assume that it is something new and in essence&lt;br /&gt;distinguishable from the traditional status of marja’aiyya.&lt;br /&gt;This misunderstanding is caused by a lack of attention to the&lt;br /&gt;definitions of and the relationship between ‘wilayat’ and&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 75&lt;br /&gt;‘marja’aiyya’ and the distinction between ‘fatwa’ and&lt;br /&gt;‘hukm’ (the commands of faqih as wali)&lt;br /&gt;The role of a marja’a taqleed is widely considered to be&lt;br /&gt;solely a juridical authority to whom the Muslim community&lt;br /&gt;may refer to in the case of religious questions and&lt;br /&gt;commandments concerning the practical side of Islam (fiqhi&lt;br /&gt;questions). However, this definition is not comprehensive; it&lt;br /&gt;concentrates exclusively on one of the legitimized functions&lt;br /&gt;of a jurist, while overlooking the others. As we mentioned&lt;br /&gt;previously, the faqih has at least three significant functions;&lt;br /&gt;as an expert in Islamic law and jurisprudence, he is entitled&lt;br /&gt;to undertake ‘ifta’. However, as an appointed deputy of the&lt;br /&gt;Imam, he has the authority (wilayat) to exercise ‘hisbah’ and&lt;br /&gt;‘qada’. Accordingly, every faqih is entitled to issue a decree&lt;br /&gt;(fatwa) and, at the same time, to be appointed as ‘wali’ to&lt;br /&gt;undertake specific functions. When the jurist administers&lt;br /&gt;justice or acts as a legal guardian to a ‘mawla alayh’&lt;br /&gt;(someone who is without a legal guardian) he is known as a&lt;br /&gt;‘wali’ or ‘hakim al-shar’ and when he is referred to in&lt;br /&gt;religious (fiqh) issues, he is usually called ‘marja’a taqleed’.&lt;br /&gt;A necessary distinction must be made between a ‘fatwa’&lt;br /&gt;(decree) issued by a faqih in his capacity as a religious&lt;br /&gt;authority (marja’a) and a ‘hukm’ (order) issued by him as a&lt;br /&gt;wali and ‘hakim’ (guardian or ruler).&lt;br /&gt;A ‘fatwa’ is classified as a decree issued by the jurist based&lt;br /&gt;on his deductions from Islamic sources. He attempts to&lt;br /&gt;determine the position of the shari’a and divine&lt;br /&gt;commandments with regards to a specific issue, in which his&lt;br /&gt;opinion will be adopted by those who submit to his religious&lt;br /&gt;authority (muqalid). On the other hand, a ‘hukm’ is an order&lt;br /&gt;issued by a wali regarding a particular set of circumstances,&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;76&lt;br /&gt;the Islamic legal system and interests of the Muslims.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, it is not merely due to his deduction from a&lt;br /&gt;religious source, though he must respect the shari’a when&lt;br /&gt;issuing a hukm. The hukm is intended to effectively&lt;br /&gt;organize and resolve difficulties within Muslim society.&lt;br /&gt;Another key issue concerns the relationship between the first&lt;br /&gt;function of the faqih, which is ifta, and the other duties that&lt;br /&gt;are subject to his wilayat (guardianship). Theoretically, these&lt;br /&gt;two elements seem independent and entirely separable from&lt;br /&gt;one another, but can they really be disassociated?&lt;br /&gt;Suppose that there were one hundred just and capable&lt;br /&gt;scholars, who fulfilled the qualities required to assume the&lt;br /&gt;role of wali and marja’a. It is not obligatory upon all of them&lt;br /&gt;as an ‘individual duty’ (wajib al-ainy) to assume&lt;br /&gt;responsibility for all three functions of a faqih? The answer&lt;br /&gt;is negative. Performing these functions is a ‘sufficient&lt;br /&gt;necessary’ (wajib al-kefai), which means that if a number of&lt;br /&gt;them were to undertake these three duties, then the others&lt;br /&gt;would no longer be obliged to issue a ‘fatwa’, to judge or to&lt;br /&gt;act as a guardian (if the others are meeting the requirements&lt;br /&gt;of the community). In conclusion, although ever faqih&lt;br /&gt;potentially could become marja’a and wali, only a few of&lt;br /&gt;them will effectively assume these functions.&lt;br /&gt;At its highest degree, the universal vicegerency of the jurist&lt;br /&gt;(wilayat al-amma) also encompasses political authority&lt;br /&gt;(wilayat al-siyasiyya). Some adversaries of the doctrine&lt;br /&gt;maintain that the meaning of ‘wilayat’ (guardianship) in&lt;br /&gt;Imami jurisprudence is essentially incompatible with&lt;br /&gt;political authority. They argue that, according to the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;legal system, ‘guardianship’ requires the existence of a&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 77&lt;br /&gt;‘mawla alayh’ (one who is need of a guardian), which in&lt;br /&gt;definition refers to those who are impotent in their affairs,&lt;br /&gt;whereas political authority cannot presuppose that the&lt;br /&gt;subjects of a government fall into this category. Therefore&lt;br /&gt;the guardianship of a faqih is limited in scope and has no&lt;br /&gt;connection to political authority.23&lt;br /&gt;The term ‘wilayat’ is used in two cases in the Qur’an and&lt;br /&gt;Islamic traditions; firstly there are circumstances when a&lt;br /&gt;‘mawla alayh’ is unable to discharge his or her own affairs&lt;br /&gt;(in cases of insanity, incapacity or immaturity) – this is umur&lt;br /&gt;al-hisbah. The second involves the authority of the Imam to&lt;br /&gt;administer justice (wilayat al-qada) and collect taxes.&lt;br /&gt;However this case does not presume any disability on behalf&lt;br /&gt;of the ‘mawla alayh’. Although people are generally able to&lt;br /&gt;manage their own private affairs, there remain matters in&lt;br /&gt;every society that require the existence of a reliable, credible&lt;br /&gt;and just authority to undertake and supervise them. The&lt;br /&gt;Qur’an introduces Allah, the Prophet and (according to the&lt;br /&gt;Shia perspective) the Imams as guardians (wali) over the&lt;br /&gt;believers. Clearly these verses consider the believers (mawla&lt;br /&gt;alayh) in need of divine guidance and leadership, and not as&lt;br /&gt;impotents who need supervision in all of their personal&lt;br /&gt;affairs.&lt;br /&gt;The authority and guardianship of the faqih is a social duty,&lt;br /&gt;which is delegated to them. Consequently it neither gives&lt;br /&gt;them an increased status in humanity, nor decreases the&lt;br /&gt;status of people who admit the guardianship of a just and&lt;br /&gt;capable faqih. Imam Khomeini says:&lt;br /&gt;By authority we mean governance, the administration&lt;br /&gt;of the country and the implementation of the sacred&lt;br /&gt;23 Mehdi Haery Yazdi, Hekmat wa Hokumat, p. 177.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;78&lt;br /&gt;laws of the shari'a. This constitutes a serious and&lt;br /&gt;difficult duty but does not earn anyone an&lt;br /&gt;extraordinary status or raise him above the level of&lt;br /&gt;common humanity. In other words, authority here has&lt;br /&gt;the meaning of a government, administration and&lt;br /&gt;execution of law, contrary to what many people&lt;br /&gt;believe, it is not a privilege but a grave&lt;br /&gt;responsibility.24&lt;br /&gt;The Historical Background&lt;br /&gt;Universal guardianship (wilayat al-amma) is undoubtedly&lt;br /&gt;the most fundamental element of Imami political doctrine in&lt;br /&gt;the era of occultation (ghaibat). Therefore, it is essential to&lt;br /&gt;understand what position the most learned Imami jurists&lt;br /&gt;have historically adopted regarding this concept. Moreover,&lt;br /&gt;it is often speciously conceived that wilayat al-amma is a&lt;br /&gt;new development in Islamic thought, which has no origins&lt;br /&gt;amongst the early Imami jurists. However, a brief survey of&lt;br /&gt;its historical background in Imami jurisprudence reveals not&lt;br /&gt;only the weakness of this supposition, but it also illustrates&lt;br /&gt;that wilayat al-amma is a concept widely endorsed by many&lt;br /&gt;outstanding jurists.&lt;br /&gt;When examining a historical account of scientific studies, it&lt;br /&gt;is easy to overlook two important points. Firstly, we often&lt;br /&gt;assume that our predecessors approached a problem from the&lt;br /&gt;same perspective and with the same clarity as we do.&lt;br /&gt;However, this expectation is rarely validated with regards to&lt;br /&gt;debates on subjects such as politics, which encompass&lt;br /&gt;various dimensions that each constitutes an area of&lt;br /&gt;specialized research (such as philosophy and ideology).&lt;br /&gt;24 Islam and Revolution, pp. 62-63.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 79&lt;br /&gt;Therefore it is hardly correct to suppose that political&lt;br /&gt;thinkers in the past necessarily followed the same problem&lt;br /&gt;or methodology as contemporary intellectuals. Secondly,&lt;br /&gt;although scholars today are freely able to write and express&lt;br /&gt;their own ideas, this often leads us to mistakenly expect that&lt;br /&gt;the social and political climate was the same for previous&lt;br /&gt;scholars, who in fact lived under illegitimate and often&lt;br /&gt;oppressive governments. They were thus often forced to&lt;br /&gt;practice precautionary dissimulation (taqiyyah) and were&lt;br /&gt;unable to explicitly state their opinions.&lt;br /&gt;There are two strands of thought amongst the supporters of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-amma. There are those who explicitly and directly&lt;br /&gt;insist that the vicegerency of a faqih is universal. While on&lt;br /&gt;the other hand, some scholars maintain that a learned jurist&lt;br /&gt;may be entrusted to undertake a number of duties in addition&lt;br /&gt;to the primary three of ifta, qada and hisbah.&lt;br /&gt;The latter of these two opinions usually occurs in the early&lt;br /&gt;period of Shia jurisprudence. Until the emergence of the&lt;br /&gt;Safawid dynasty in Iran, the Shia community existed as a&lt;br /&gt;minority, without political power. Hence, the universal&lt;br /&gt;authority of a faqih, ruling and political jurisprudence had&lt;br /&gt;very little bearing on the circumstances of the Shia, which is&lt;br /&gt;why the fuqaha devoted less attention to discussing matters&lt;br /&gt;of political theory and the duties of a ruler.&lt;br /&gt;When taking into account the opinions of these learned&lt;br /&gt;scholars, it is important to recognize that they not only state&lt;br /&gt;their personal opinion (ijtihad) concerning the scope a&lt;br /&gt;jurist‘s guardianship, but also maintain that this opinion is in&lt;br /&gt;accordance with the general consensus (ijmaa) of the Imami&lt;br /&gt;fuqaha. This reinforces the assumption that jurists who were&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;80&lt;br /&gt;historically silent regarding political issues, such as&lt;br /&gt;governance and universal authority, remained so due to the&lt;br /&gt;social and political circumstances of the time (taqiyyah).&lt;br /&gt;Regarding the first school of thought regarding wilayat alamma,&lt;br /&gt;one of the most important Imami jurists, al-&lt;br /&gt;Muhaqqiq al-Karaki25 says:&lt;br /&gt;Imami fuqaha have consensus on the point that the&lt;br /&gt;fully qualified faqih, known as a mujtahid, is the&lt;br /&gt;deputy (nayib) of the infallible ones (peace be upon&lt;br /&gt;them) in all the affairs attendant upon the deputyship.&lt;br /&gt;Hence, it is obligatory to refer to him in litigation and&lt;br /&gt;accept his verdict. If necessary, he can sell the&lt;br /&gt;property of the party who refuses to pay what he is&lt;br /&gt;due...rather, if it were not for the wilayat al-amma&lt;br /&gt;many of the Shia community’s affairs and needs would&lt;br /&gt;remain undone.26&lt;br /&gt;25 Ali ibn Abd al-A’l who is better known as Muhaqqiq al-Karaki or even&lt;br /&gt;the second Muhaqqiq-researcher- (after Helli who is famous as the first&lt;br /&gt;Muhaqqiq in fiqh) died in 937/1530. He was originally from Jabal Amel,&lt;br /&gt;south Lebanon. He like the first and the second shahid (martyr) completed&lt;br /&gt;his studies in Sham and Iraq and different centers of Sunni learning before&lt;br /&gt;coming to Iran during the reign of the Safavid denasty (Shah Tahmasb). In&lt;br /&gt;this period of Iran‘s history the authority of Imami scholars had been&lt;br /&gt;increased and Karaki had a great status in administration of justice. He&lt;br /&gt;established a great seminary (Hawza) in Qazvin and Isfahan consequently&lt;br /&gt;Iran once again became center of Imami jurisprudence. One of his famous&lt;br /&gt;books in fiqh is ‘Jame ul-Maqasid’ which is a commentary on the book of&lt;br /&gt;Allama al Helli-Qawaid.&lt;br /&gt;26 The articles (al-Rasayel) of Mhaqqiq al-Karaki, edited by Muhammad&lt;br /&gt;al-Hassun, the first collection (Al-Ressala fi al-Salat ul-Jom’a), Qom,&lt;br /&gt;1409AH, pp, 142, 143&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 81&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh Muhammad Hassan27, The author of an&lt;br /&gt;encyclopedic work in Imami fiqh, ‘Jawahir al-Kalam’&lt;br /&gt;writes:&lt;br /&gt;…carrying out Islamic sentences and implementing&lt;br /&gt;religious injunctions is obligatory at the era of&lt;br /&gt;occultation. Being the deputy of the Imam (Pbuh) in&lt;br /&gt;many cases rests with the fuqaha. The faqih’s social&lt;br /&gt;status is the same as the Imam. There is no difference&lt;br /&gt;between him and the Imam (Pbuh) in this respect.&lt;br /&gt;[The verdict of] Our fuqaha on this issue [is]&lt;br /&gt;unanimous; in their works they frequently underscore&lt;br /&gt;the idea of referring to a guardian/governor (hukm)&lt;br /&gt;who is the agent and representative of the Absent&lt;br /&gt;Imam. If the fuqaha are not to have the general&lt;br /&gt;vicegerency, all the affairs of the Shia will remain&lt;br /&gt;unattended. Those who surprisingly raise objections&lt;br /&gt;about the wilayat al-amma of the faqih, then seem to&lt;br /&gt;be ignorant of jurisprudence and the words of the&lt;br /&gt;infallible ones; they have not pondered these words&lt;br /&gt;and their meanings28.&lt;br /&gt;Hajj Aqa Reza Hamedani29 also maintains that wilayat alamma&lt;br /&gt;is a unanimous concept amongst Shia jurists:&lt;br /&gt;27 He was of Arab descent and died in 1849. Shaikh Muhammad spent&lt;br /&gt;thirty years to complete his great work (al-Jawahir) which the last print of&lt;br /&gt;the book in Iran includes forty three volumes. It is a commentary on the&lt;br /&gt;book of Muhaqqiq al-Helli (al-Sharay‘).&lt;br /&gt;28 Muhammad Hassan, Jawahir al-Kalam, Tehran: Dar al-Kotob al-&lt;br /&gt;Islamiya, 1398AH, Volume 21, pp. 396-397.&lt;br /&gt;29 Died in 1904 the author of some significant books in Imami&lt;br /&gt;jurisprudence such as ‘Mesbah al-faqih’.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;82&lt;br /&gt;In any case, there is no doubt that the fuqaha of&lt;br /&gt;integrity (Jame al-Sharayeti), who have all the&lt;br /&gt;perfect, necessary qualities to undertake the&lt;br /&gt;vicegerency are the deputy of the Imam of the time in&lt;br /&gt;such matters. Our fuqaha have testified to this in&lt;br /&gt;their works. Their statements indicate that they regard&lt;br /&gt;the vicegerency of faqih in all matters as indisputable&lt;br /&gt;so much so that some of them have taken consensus&lt;br /&gt;(Ijmaa) to be the pivotal proof of the faqih’s general&lt;br /&gt;guardianship (neyabat al-amma).30&lt;br /&gt;As we discussed earlier, many jurists attribute duties to the&lt;br /&gt;faqih that require him to be entrusted with universal&lt;br /&gt;authority. The evidences regarding the appointment of a&lt;br /&gt;faqih as a deputy of them Imam cover many chapters of fiqh,&lt;br /&gt;the explanation of which would require many pages.&lt;br /&gt;However, in the interests of our discussion, we will examine&lt;br /&gt;only a few of them here. Shaykh al-Mufid (334-413 A.H)&lt;br /&gt;asserts that the application of legal punishment (hudud) is&lt;br /&gt;one of the key functions of a faqih:&lt;br /&gt;It is the duty of the ruler of Islam (Sultan al-Islam)&lt;br /&gt;who is appointed by Almighty God to implement&lt;br /&gt;hudud. Sultan al-Islam is the infallible Imams from&lt;br /&gt;Muhammad’s (Pbuh) family or the rulers and&lt;br /&gt;governors (Hukm) who are designated by them. They&lt;br /&gt;have entrusted this duty to the fuqaha where&lt;br /&gt;possible.31&lt;br /&gt;30 Hajj Aqa Reza Hamedani, Mesbah al-Faqih, The Chapter of Khums,&lt;br /&gt;Volume 14, p. 291.&lt;br /&gt;31 Muhammad ibn Nu’man (al-Mofid), Al-Moqni’a, p. 810.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 83&lt;br /&gt;Early Imami jurists applied titles such as ‘sultan al-Islam’,&lt;br /&gt;‘hukm’ and ‘wali’ to the Imams. Many of these, such as&lt;br /&gt;sultan al-Islam, originally belong to the infallibles (Prophet&lt;br /&gt;and Imams) and so seldom apply to others. However, the&lt;br /&gt;majority of them also refer to those who are the appointed&lt;br /&gt;deputies of the Imam as well. For instance, Fakhr al-&lt;br /&gt;Muhaqqiqeen32 says:&lt;br /&gt;The meaning of ‘hakim’ here is the just ruler (al-&lt;br /&gt;Sultan al-adil) or his deputy. When there is no access&lt;br /&gt;to the Sultan or his particular deputy, it is the role of&lt;br /&gt;a well-qualified faqih…so when the author (Allamah&lt;br /&gt;Hilli) says “when there is no hakim” he means by&lt;br /&gt;‘hakim’ all these three [above].33&lt;br /&gt;Muhaqqiq al-Karaki also endorses the above interpretations&lt;br /&gt;of ‘hakim’. He writes:&lt;br /&gt;Al-hakim refers to an infallible Imam or his particular&lt;br /&gt;deputy. In the era of occultation, the Imam’s general&lt;br /&gt;deputy (al-nayb al-amm) is the well qualified&lt;br /&gt;jurist…It should be noted that when the fuqaha use&lt;br /&gt;the term (hakim) unconditionally, it exclusively refers&lt;br /&gt;to a well qualified faqih.34&lt;br /&gt;It is important to remember that ‘judge’ is not synonymous&lt;br /&gt;with ‘hakim’. This is because the application and&lt;br /&gt;enforcement of legal punishments, in the view of Imami&lt;br /&gt;scholars, is delegated to the governor (hakim) and not the&lt;br /&gt;32 He is Muhammad the son of Allama Helli. His famous book on fiqh is&lt;br /&gt;‘Eidhah al-Fawaid’ which is a commentary of his father ‘s book (al-&lt;br /&gt;Qawaid). He died in 771AH.&lt;br /&gt;33 Fakhr al-Muhaqqiqeen, Eidhah al-Fawaid, Volume 2, p.624.&lt;br /&gt;34 Al-Jami ul-Maqasid, Volume 11, Kitab ul-wasaya, pp. 266-267.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;84&lt;br /&gt;judge (qada). Hafs ibn Qiyas asked Imam as-Sadiq (pbuh):&lt;br /&gt;“Who is in charge of punishment, the ruler or a judge?” To&lt;br /&gt;which the Imam replied: “The application of hudud is due to&lt;br /&gt;he whom has hukm (who governs)”.35&lt;br /&gt;This distinction clearly indicates that the application of legal&lt;br /&gt;punishments (hudud) requires full political authority; which&lt;br /&gt;in turn necessitates universal guardianship (wilayat alamma).&lt;br /&gt;A view that is supported by many Imami jurists,&lt;br /&gt;such as al-Karaki:&lt;br /&gt;The reliable well qualified Jurist who can issue legal&lt;br /&gt;decisions is designated by the Imam. Accordingly his&lt;br /&gt;rulings are effective and it is obligatory to assist him&lt;br /&gt;in the administration of al-Hudud and al-qada, among&lt;br /&gt;the people. It is not proper to say that the Jurist is&lt;br /&gt;designated for administration of Justice and for giving&lt;br /&gt;legal decisions only, and that the Jum’ah prayer is a&lt;br /&gt;matter outside the scope of these two responsibilities.&lt;br /&gt;Such an opinion is extremely weak because the jurist&lt;br /&gt;has been appointed as al-hakim, by the Imams, which&lt;br /&gt;is well documented in the traditions.36&lt;br /&gt;As we discussed, the Jum’ah prayer is a political function,&lt;br /&gt;which, in the view of the Imami jurists, belongs to the Imam.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, every Imami jurist who believes that the fuqaha&lt;br /&gt;are able to fulfill this function during the period of&lt;br /&gt;occultation (ghaibat), would also have admit to the validity&lt;br /&gt;of wilayat al-amma.&lt;br /&gt;35 Shaikh Hur al-A’meli, Muhammad ibn Hassan, Wasael al-Shi’a, Qom:&lt;br /&gt;Ahl ul-Bait Institution, 1412 AH, Volume18, p. 220.&lt;br /&gt;36 The Just Ruler, p. 196.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 85&lt;br /&gt;Moreover, if the authority of the faqih is not confined to the&lt;br /&gt;role of legal arbitration and guardianship, then the Imami&lt;br /&gt;mujtahid may say that the fuqaha have the authority to&lt;br /&gt;collect Islamic taxes, which is an obvious indication of&lt;br /&gt;universal authority. The first shaheed (martyr)37 says:&lt;br /&gt;It is said that it is obligatory to give ‘zakat’ to the&lt;br /&gt;jurist during the occultation if he asks for it himself or&lt;br /&gt;through his agents because he is the deputy of the&lt;br /&gt;Imam, just as the collector of the taxes is. Rather,&lt;br /&gt;however, it is more appropriate to state that his&lt;br /&gt;vicegerency on behalf of the Imam is applicable in all&lt;br /&gt;those matters in which the Imam himself has&lt;br /&gt;authority; whereas the collector is the agent of the&lt;br /&gt;Imam only in a particular function.38&lt;br /&gt;The second shaheed39 also believes that the Islamic taxes&lt;br /&gt;(zakat) should be delivered to the Imam, or to the trusted&lt;br /&gt;Jurist during occultation. He later explains why the zakat&lt;br /&gt;should be given to the faqih:&lt;br /&gt;One must bear in mind that he (the faqih) is appointed&lt;br /&gt;in the interest of the public, and if he were to be&lt;br /&gt;37 He is Muhammad ibn Makki who was born in south Lebanon-Jabal&lt;br /&gt;Amil- in 734AH. Fakhr ul-Mohaqqeqin was one of his teachers. He was&lt;br /&gt;martyred as a result of a fatwa issued by a Maliki jurist, supported by&lt;br /&gt;Shafei, in the year 786.He has written some significant books in fiqh such&lt;br /&gt;as ‘Luma’h’, ‘Durrus’, ‘Dhikra’ and ‘Bayan’.&lt;br /&gt;38 Translated in ‘The Just Ruler’ from Jawaher al- Kalam, Volume 15, p.&lt;br /&gt;422.&lt;br /&gt;39 Shaikh Zain ul-Din is one of greatest Shi’a jurists. He was born in 911&lt;br /&gt;AH and was expert in Sunni jurisprudence as well. One of his important&lt;br /&gt;works is a commentary on the first Shaheed’s work (Luma’h) and it is a&lt;br /&gt;strange coincidence that the author and the commentator both were&lt;br /&gt;executed and martyred.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;86&lt;br /&gt;dishonest there would occur harm to those who were&lt;br /&gt;entitled to receive the zakat. 40&lt;br /&gt;In concluding the historical background of wilayat al-amma,&lt;br /&gt;it is necessary to re-emphasize that this doctrine is widely&lt;br /&gt;supported by later Imami jurists. Who, explicitly and more&lt;br /&gt;clearly than their predecessors, support the universal&lt;br /&gt;authority of a faqih. A number of these jurists, and their&lt;br /&gt;works, are as follows:&lt;br /&gt;·  Mullah Ahmad al-Naraqi, in his work Awaid al-&lt;br /&gt;Ayyam, chapter ‘Wilayat al-fuqaha’, Page 529.&lt;br /&gt;·  Sayyid Mirfattah al-Maraqi in al-Anavin Page.355.&lt;br /&gt;Al-Bahr al-Ulum in Bolqatol al-faqih, Volume 3,&lt;br /&gt;Page.231.&lt;br /&gt;·  Shaykh Abd al-Allah Mamaqani in Risala al-Anam&lt;br /&gt;fi hukm e-amwal al-Imam, Page 14.&lt;br /&gt;·  Mirza al-Nayyini in ‘Al-Makaseb wa al-Bai’, edited&lt;br /&gt;by Shaykh Muhammad Amali, Volume 1, Page 336.&lt;br /&gt;·  Sayyid Muhammad Hussain Borujerdi in al-Badr al-&lt;br /&gt;Zahir fi salat al-Jum’a, Page 71.&lt;br /&gt;·  Sayyid Muhammad Reza Gulpaayigani in ‘al-&lt;br /&gt;Hedaya ela man Lahu al-Wilayat, Page 46.&lt;br /&gt;Multiplicity in Wilayat&lt;br /&gt;Although according to Imami political doctrine, authority&lt;br /&gt;(wilayat) is bestowed upon a deputy (wali) by the infallible&lt;br /&gt;Imam, there is an important distinction between the specific&lt;br /&gt;designation of a deputy and the ‘general’ designation of a&lt;br /&gt;number of deputies. While there was an explicit nomination&lt;br /&gt;40 Ibid.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 87&lt;br /&gt;for each of the Imams to undertake leadership, and for the&lt;br /&gt;vicegerency of the four deputies during the minor absence,&lt;br /&gt;the guardianship of the jurists during the greater absence is a&lt;br /&gt;‘general’ designation. This means that no faqih is&lt;br /&gt;exclusively appointed as ‘wali’ and deputy; all Imami jurists&lt;br /&gt;who are just and qualified in fiqh (ijtihad) have the right to&lt;br /&gt;exercise the Imam’s authority as his deputies. Accordingly,&lt;br /&gt;universal authority has been entrusted to many jurists in&lt;br /&gt;every age and generation. Inevitably, this multiplicity means&lt;br /&gt;that the Imami theory of leadership could be confronted by&lt;br /&gt;the problem of disturbances and conflict, as polarization&lt;br /&gt;between various sources of decision-making naturally results&lt;br /&gt;in differences and chaos. In the context of the present&lt;br /&gt;discussion, it is important to assess how the universal theory&lt;br /&gt;of guardianship might address such issues.&lt;br /&gt;In most cases, multiplicity does not present any serious&lt;br /&gt;problem regarding the functions of the fuqaha. It is&lt;br /&gt;unrealistic to insist that all cases of ‘hisbah’ need to be&lt;br /&gt;undertaken by a single jurist. Likewise, there is no reason to&lt;br /&gt;expect uniformity in ‘Marja’aiyya’ and the administration of&lt;br /&gt;justice. The fundamental difficulty arising from multiplicity,&lt;br /&gt;however, is that of political authority and leadership (wilayat&lt;br /&gt;al-siyasiyya).&lt;br /&gt;The best way to approach this concern is to consider the&lt;br /&gt;status of the fuqaha who are entitled to political authority.&lt;br /&gt;Wilayat al-faqih defines the criteria required of a ruler, and&lt;br /&gt;maintains that anyone who fulfils these qualities has the&lt;br /&gt;right to govern. In principal, authority (wilayat) does not&lt;br /&gt;demand any extra conditions. However, to be practically&lt;br /&gt;applied such authority requires suitable political&lt;br /&gt;circumstances and the recognition of the people. According&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;88&lt;br /&gt;to Imami doctrine, if Muslims appoint a just and capable&lt;br /&gt;jurist as their leader, then other fuqaha are obliged to support&lt;br /&gt;him and obey his orders, so long as he fulfils the qualities of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat. This situation is comparable to the relationship&lt;br /&gt;between judges; when one is responsible for a specific case,&lt;br /&gt;though other judges are entitled in principal to perform the&lt;br /&gt;same role, they have no right to interfere in his judgment.&lt;br /&gt;Shia traditions discuss the appointment of the fuqaha as&lt;br /&gt;deputies of the Imam, but they do not endorse or design a&lt;br /&gt;particular method to acknowledge or elect one or more&lt;br /&gt;jurists who possess the wilayat. Article 107 of the&lt;br /&gt;constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, suggests the&lt;br /&gt;following process:&lt;br /&gt;The task of appointing the leader shall be vested with&lt;br /&gt;the experts elected by the people. The experts will&lt;br /&gt;review and consult among themselves concerning all&lt;br /&gt;the religious men possessing the qualifications&lt;br /&gt;specified in Article 5 and 109. In the event they find&lt;br /&gt;one of them better versed in Islamic regulations or in&lt;br /&gt;political and social issues or possessing general&lt;br /&gt;popularity…they shall elect him as the leader.&lt;br /&gt;The Dominion of the Wali al-Faqih&lt;br /&gt;When considering that wilayat al-faqih represents the&lt;br /&gt;keystone of Imami political doctrine in the Era of Greater&lt;br /&gt;Occultation, it is essential that we assess the scope and&lt;br /&gt;domain of its authority. For our present subject, we must&lt;br /&gt;take into account the power of other religious authorities&lt;br /&gt;amongst the Imamis; the marja’ai. Does the wali al-faqih&lt;br /&gt;have authority (wilayat) only over those who accept him as&lt;br /&gt;their marja’a, or those who imitate marja’ai that support the&lt;br /&gt;idea of wilayat al-amma?&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 89&lt;br /&gt;Aside from the relationship between the wali al-faqih as a&lt;br /&gt;political leader and other fuqaha as marja’ai, it is also&lt;br /&gt;important to gauge the authority of the wali al-faqih&lt;br /&gt;regarding the shari’a. Is he only able to issue orders within&lt;br /&gt;the framework of the Islamic legal system, or is he fully&lt;br /&gt;authorized to make decisions even if they contradict the&lt;br /&gt;shari’a? In other words, is his license as a ruler defined by&lt;br /&gt;the shari’a, or is his authority above the shari’a and therefore&lt;br /&gt;absolute?&lt;br /&gt;We can structure our analysis around two significant&lt;br /&gt;aspects; the people’s respect for his orders, and his respect&lt;br /&gt;for the Islamic legal system (shari’a). However, before&lt;br /&gt;proceeding with this discussion, we should review two&lt;br /&gt;important points.&lt;br /&gt;Firstly, unlike Imamate, which is considered as a&lt;br /&gt;fundamental aspect of belief (aqueeda) in Shi’ism, wilayat&lt;br /&gt;al-faqih is a juridical (fiqh) subject matter. What&lt;br /&gt;distinguishes a fiqhi discussion from a theological (kalam)&lt;br /&gt;one, is that while the latter concerns issues of belief&lt;br /&gt;(disagreement upon which would render an individuals&lt;br /&gt;belief imperfect), the former is legal and thus subject to&lt;br /&gt;divergence of opinion even amongst the scholars of a&lt;br /&gt;particular Islamic sect (as disagreement in these issues does&lt;br /&gt;not invalidate belief). Hence, there can be disagreement on&lt;br /&gt;the universal authority of the jurist, as a juridical (fiqh)&lt;br /&gt;discussion and such disputes are not concerned with faith&lt;br /&gt;(iman).&lt;br /&gt;Secondly, a necessary distinction must be made between a&lt;br /&gt;fatwa (religious decree) and hukm (order). As previously&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;90&lt;br /&gt;stated, a decree, deduced from Islamic sources and issued by&lt;br /&gt;a qualified faqih – fatwa – is valid and reliable for those who&lt;br /&gt;refer to him as their marja’a taqleed (religious authority),&lt;br /&gt;thus it is binding upon them to obey his fatwa. However,&lt;br /&gt;those who refer to other scholars as religious authorities are&lt;br /&gt;not obliged to observe this ruling. But an order (hukm)&lt;br /&gt;issued by the wali al-faqih is binding upon all Muslims, not&lt;br /&gt;merely his followers, regardless of how far his political&lt;br /&gt;authority might reach. Therefore, a command issued by a&lt;br /&gt;jurist as wali al-qada in the administration of justice is&lt;br /&gt;obligatory for everyone, even other fuqaha, because the just&lt;br /&gt;and capable jurist is appointed as hakim (wali). This opinion&lt;br /&gt;is supported by a tradition from Imam as-Sadiq (pbuh), in&lt;br /&gt;which Umar ibn Hanzala transmits that the Imam prohibited&lt;br /&gt;his followers (Shia) to recourse to a tyrannical or illegitimate&lt;br /&gt;authority (taghut) to resolve their affairs. Instead they are&lt;br /&gt;obliged to refer to one who relates the traditions of the&lt;br /&gt;Ahlul-Bayt and knows what is lawful and prohibited (i.e. a&lt;br /&gt;faqih). Imam as-Sadiq (pbuh) said:&lt;br /&gt;I have appointed him a hakim over you. If such a&lt;br /&gt;person orders (judges) according to our ruling and&lt;br /&gt;the person concerned does not accept it, then he has&lt;br /&gt;shown contempt for the ruling of God and rejects us;&lt;br /&gt;and he who rejects us, actually rejects Allah and such&lt;br /&gt;a person is close to association [Shirk] with Allah.41&lt;br /&gt;In this tradition, Imam as-Sadiq (pbuh) addresses the role of&lt;br /&gt;a just faqih (hakim) who has been entrusted with authority&lt;br /&gt;by the infallible Imam. According to this hadith, the people&lt;br /&gt;are not allowed to recourse to an illegitimate or oppressive&lt;br /&gt;41 Muhammad ibn Hassan al-Tusi, Tahzib al-Ahkam, Kitab ul-Qad’a,&lt;br /&gt;Volume 6, p. 218, Hadith 514.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 91&lt;br /&gt;authority for the resolution of their problems. Instead they&lt;br /&gt;are required to refer to the wali (hakim) and obey his&lt;br /&gt;decisions, regardless of whether or not he is their marja’a&lt;br /&gt;taqleed.&lt;br /&gt;Such as solution, however, hardly seems convincing for&lt;br /&gt;those who do not accept wilayat al-amma. One might argue&lt;br /&gt;that the wali al-faqih issues commands (hukm) based upon&lt;br /&gt;his own opinion (fatwa) that the authority of the jurist is&lt;br /&gt;universal (wilayat al-amma), while according to the view of&lt;br /&gt;another marja’a the scope of a jurists authority is limited and&lt;br /&gt;he is not designated to undertake political affairs. According&lt;br /&gt;to this view, the tradition of Umar ibn Hanzala and others do&lt;br /&gt;not include these kinds of orders.&lt;br /&gt;However, this reasoning presents obvious problems that&lt;br /&gt;extend far beyond the governmental orders (hukm) of a&lt;br /&gt;jurist. For instance, when administering justice (wilayat alqada)&lt;br /&gt;a faqih issues an order according to his own religious&lt;br /&gt;decree (fatwa), however there is no excuse for people to&lt;br /&gt;disregard or disobey his command on the grounds that he is&lt;br /&gt;not their marja’a. This is because the authority to judge (alqada)&lt;br /&gt;and the authority to issue decrees (al-ifta) are&lt;br /&gt;independent of one another, thus the role of the judge cannot&lt;br /&gt;be infringed by the edict of a marja’a (as the marja’a is not&lt;br /&gt;the judge of that legal case). Furthermore, although the&lt;br /&gt;opponents of wilayat al-amma maintain that the designation&lt;br /&gt;of the faqih as the Imam’s deputy does not extend to&lt;br /&gt;political authority (wilayat al-siyasiyya), this surely cannot&lt;br /&gt;imply that if the people elect a just and capable faqih as their&lt;br /&gt;leader, instead of an unjust person, that his leadership is&lt;br /&gt;some how illegitimate and people are free to disobey. We&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;92&lt;br /&gt;will return to this point in the next chapter when examining&lt;br /&gt;the authority of a faqih endorsed by ‘hisbah’.&lt;br /&gt;We noted earlier that the debate surrounding the authority of&lt;br /&gt;the wali al-faqih has two significant aspects. The second of&lt;br /&gt;these – the relationship between the faqih’s commands and&lt;br /&gt;shari’a – is a very new discussion in Imami political&lt;br /&gt;jurisprudence, whereas the first aspect has been discussed by&lt;br /&gt;many fuqaha. Imam Khomeini was perhaps the first Imami&lt;br /&gt;faqih who explicitly and publicly discussed the connection&lt;br /&gt;between governmental orders (ahkam al-hukmati) and&lt;br /&gt;Islamic laws (ahkam al-shari’). He firmly advocated the&lt;br /&gt;absolute authority of the faqih (wilayat al-mutlaqa) and it is&lt;br /&gt;essential that we briefly clarify the definition of this term to&lt;br /&gt;avoid any misconceptions.&lt;br /&gt;Al-Wilayat al-Mutlaqa&lt;br /&gt;When one first encounters the idea that a jurist has an&lt;br /&gt;unlimited and absolute scope of authority (wilayat almutlaqa)&lt;br /&gt;in issuing governmental orders, it is easy to dismiss&lt;br /&gt;the model of political regime as “absolutism”, which is&lt;br /&gt;defined in the Oxford political dictionary as follows:&lt;br /&gt;Originally (1733) a theological concept referring to&lt;br /&gt;God's total power to decide about salvation. Extended&lt;br /&gt;to politics indicating a regime in which the ruler&lt;br /&gt;might legitimately decide anything. Usually applied to&lt;br /&gt;monarchical regimes of the early modern period.42&lt;br /&gt;42 Iain McLean, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, Oxford&lt;br /&gt;University Press, 1996, p. 1.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 93&lt;br /&gt;This misinterpretation often leads to the false assumption&lt;br /&gt;that there are no controls, restrictions or limitations upon the&lt;br /&gt;powers of the faqih; his authority is unquestionable and he&lt;br /&gt;can exert himself without regard to the demands of the&lt;br /&gt;shari'a or the interests of his people. He has no duty to&lt;br /&gt;respect the various kinds criteria and standards for his&lt;br /&gt;governance. This is similar to a dictatorial model of&lt;br /&gt;government, which is an absolute rule unrestricted by law,&lt;br /&gt;constitution or other political, religious or moral factors&lt;br /&gt;within the society and state. Clearly this interpretation of&lt;br /&gt;absolute authority is not correct even when considering the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet (pbuh) and the Infallible Imams. A faqih as wali&lt;br /&gt;must meet certain criteria, one of which is justice. The above&lt;br /&gt;conception of wilayat al-mutlaqa obviously contradicts the&lt;br /&gt;idea of justice and such a person has no legitimate authority&lt;br /&gt;(wilayat) over believers. The precise and correct&lt;br /&gt;understanding of ‘wilayat al-mutlaqa’ has a close&lt;br /&gt;relationship to discussion about the nature and various kinds&lt;br /&gt;of ‘command’ (hukm) in Imami Jurisprudence, especially&lt;br /&gt;the faqih’s injunction as wali (al-hukm al-hukmati) and its&lt;br /&gt;position among commands of shari'a.&lt;br /&gt;i) Divine Laws (Al-Hukm as-Shari’)&lt;br /&gt;This refers to a set of rules and commands legislated by God&lt;br /&gt;and expressed to people through the Prophet Muhammad&lt;br /&gt;and his successors. Hukm al-Shari’ is usually divided by&lt;br /&gt;Muslim Jurists into two divisions. The first part is called ‘alahkam&lt;br /&gt;al-taklifi’ which is the laws of duty and in turn&lt;br /&gt;divides into five divisions (obligation, prohibition,&lt;br /&gt;desirability, undesirability and permissibility or ‘mubah’).&lt;br /&gt;The second part is called ‘al-ahkam al-waz'i’ which&lt;br /&gt;establishes specific relationships and situations (waz') that&lt;br /&gt;are subject to particular divine laws. For instance, marriage,&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;94&lt;br /&gt;ownership, purity and uncleanness are all situations that the&lt;br /&gt;Islamic legal system endorses and defines in particular&lt;br /&gt;matters and circumstances - usually al-hukm al-waz'i is&lt;br /&gt;subject to particular laws of duty. Divine laws also are called&lt;br /&gt;the first order laws (al-ahkam al-awaliya) because deeds and&lt;br /&gt;things by themselves - with no regard to temporal and&lt;br /&gt;unexpected accidents - are subjects to these laws and&lt;br /&gt;legislation of Islam.&lt;br /&gt;ii) The Judge's Command (Al-Hukm al-Qadi)&lt;br /&gt;Even though the legal decision of Judge (faqih) is issued&lt;br /&gt;with consideration of the shari'a and decrees of Islam, it is&lt;br /&gt;not a component of the shari'a. The judge’s role is merely&lt;br /&gt;the execution (tanfidh) and application of Islamic law to&lt;br /&gt;juridical cases. In administration of justice, the faqih as&lt;br /&gt;Judge does not deduce Islamic laws rather he attempts to&lt;br /&gt;apply the most appropriate laws to the situation.&lt;br /&gt;iii) Governmental Orders (Al-Hukm al-Wilai)&lt;br /&gt;Supporters of universal authority (wilayat al-amma) do not&lt;br /&gt;restrict the orders (hukm) of the faqih to merely the&lt;br /&gt;administration of justice. As a hakim, the jurist may issue&lt;br /&gt;orders and it is incumbent upon all Muslims, even other&lt;br /&gt;fuqaha, to obey them. These include his edicts concerning&lt;br /&gt;the beginning of Ramadhan or the application of legal&lt;br /&gt;penalties (hudud). The best examples of orders that fall into&lt;br /&gt;this category are the governmental commands that the faqih&lt;br /&gt;may issue as the political leader of a society. The wali alfaqih&lt;br /&gt;may issue orders regarding situations that he&lt;br /&gt;recognizes as affecting the interests of Islam, Muslims and&lt;br /&gt;Islamic laws and values. A situation may arise in which the&lt;br /&gt;wali al-faqih can issue an order based on the interest&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 95&lt;br /&gt;(maslahat) of the people, even though in principal the action&lt;br /&gt;would not otherwise be compulsory in shari’a.&lt;br /&gt;Two crucial questions arise regarding these orders. The first&lt;br /&gt;concerns the nature of the order; whether the governmental&lt;br /&gt;command is categorized as the ‘first order’ of the shari’a, or&lt;br /&gt;as the ‘second order’ (al-akham as-sanavy). The second&lt;br /&gt;question concerns the scope of such orders. A faqih may&lt;br /&gt;issue an obligatory or prohibitive order regarding matters&lt;br /&gt;that are considered permissible (mubah) and for which there&lt;br /&gt;is no prior obligation (for doing or not doing it) in Islamic&lt;br /&gt;law. However, a dispute arises about whether or not the&lt;br /&gt;faqih may issue orders that disregard the commands of the&lt;br /&gt;shari’a. Since the answer to the latter of these questions&lt;br /&gt;emerges from the former, it is necessary to explain what we&lt;br /&gt;mean by ‘second order’ commands (akham as-sanavy).&lt;br /&gt;iv) Al-Hukm al-Awaly and al-Hukm al-Sanavy&lt;br /&gt;The actions that we commit according to our free will are&lt;br /&gt;subject to one of the following categories in shari’a, namely&lt;br /&gt;obligation (wajib), prohibition (haraam), desirability&lt;br /&gt;(mustahab), undesirability (makruh) and simple&lt;br /&gt;permissibility (mubah). These ‘first order’ laws (al-ahkam&lt;br /&gt;al-awaly) are determined by the law giver (hakim) upon&lt;br /&gt;considering the essence and natural status of deeds and&lt;br /&gt;things. However, in exceptional situations and under&lt;br /&gt;circumstances in which people should not or cannot respect&lt;br /&gt;previous legislations, new rulings must be issued. These&lt;br /&gt;temporal laws are legislated according to the demands made&lt;br /&gt;by exceptional situations, and are called laws of 'the second&lt;br /&gt;order' (al-ahkam al-sanavy). They are secondary and&lt;br /&gt;temporal because people must revert to obeying the first&lt;br /&gt;order laws as soon as the exceptional circumstances return to&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;96&lt;br /&gt;normal. For instance, according to shari'a it is not&lt;br /&gt;permissible for Muslims to eat “carrion” (dead animals) or&lt;br /&gt;the meat of animals not ritually slaughtered. It is a first order&lt;br /&gt;command, but in a dire situation when a person has nothing&lt;br /&gt;to eat at all, God permits him or her to eat such meat, this&lt;br /&gt;permission is a second order law. The Qur’an says:&lt;br /&gt;He has only forbidden you what dies of itself, and&lt;br /&gt;blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any&lt;br /&gt;other (name) other than (that of) Allah has been&lt;br /&gt;invoked, but whoever is driven to necessity, not&lt;br /&gt;desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon&lt;br /&gt;him. [Chapter 2, Verse 173]&lt;br /&gt;Fuqaha usually cite ‘necessity’ (ezterar), damage (zarar),&lt;br /&gt;distress and constriction (usr wa haraj), disorder of the&lt;br /&gt;Muslim's system (ekhtelal al-nidham) and compulsion&lt;br /&gt;(ekrah) as the major exceptional topics that demand and&lt;br /&gt;require second order laws, as reasons for reverting to laws of&lt;br /&gt;‘the second order’. The prevailing conception amongst&lt;br /&gt;Imami Jurists emphasizes that the governmental orders&lt;br /&gt;should be issued by the faqih only in one of the&lt;br /&gt;aforementioned exceptional situations because al-hukm alhukmati&lt;br /&gt;is but a second order command.&lt;br /&gt;When we consider this opinion, the answer to the second&lt;br /&gt;question – which is the relationship between governmental&lt;br /&gt;order and shari'a - is very clear. In a normal situation, the&lt;br /&gt;faqih has no right to issue orders in opposition to obligatory&lt;br /&gt;(either haraam or wajib) first order laws, even if the interest&lt;br /&gt;(maslahat) of the Muslims demands thus. In other words,&lt;br /&gt;interest as such cannot justify governmental orders when&lt;br /&gt;they are on the contrary with Islamic obligatory laws.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 97&lt;br /&gt;However, situations in which the interest (maslahat)&lt;br /&gt;becomes so serious that ignorance of it could cause&lt;br /&gt;significant damage, distress and constriction or disorder,&lt;br /&gt;would allow the Wali al-faqih to issue these orders.&lt;br /&gt;Ayatollah Khomeini, in a revolutionary view, stated that&lt;br /&gt;although the implementation of shari'a is very important, it is&lt;br /&gt;not the ultimate goal. Islamic laws (shari'a) serve as a means&lt;br /&gt;to achieve the primary aim embodied in the protection of&lt;br /&gt;Islam and the extension of Justice. For him the Islamic State&lt;br /&gt;is not merely one part of Islam amongst others, but it is&lt;br /&gt;Islam itself. Consequently the significance of Islamic laws is&lt;br /&gt;overshadowed by the significance of protecting the Islamic&lt;br /&gt;system and the interest (maslahat) of Islam. He expressed&lt;br /&gt;the view during his lectures in Iraq - the seminary of Najaf -&lt;br /&gt;years before the Islamic Revolution in Iran.&lt;br /&gt;After the Islamic Revolution in Iran he explored this view&lt;br /&gt;more explicitly. In his famous letter to Ayatollah Khamenei&lt;br /&gt;(the current wali al-faqih), he insists that the authority of the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet and Imams to govern is not only a first order divine&lt;br /&gt;law but also it has priority over others such as praying,&lt;br /&gt;fasting, Hajj and so on. He writes:&lt;br /&gt;The government or the absolute guardianship (alwilayat&lt;br /&gt;al-mutlaqa) that is delegated to the noblest&lt;br /&gt;messenger of Allah is the most important divine laws&lt;br /&gt;and has priority over all other ordinances of the law.&lt;br /&gt;If the powers of the government restricted to the&lt;br /&gt;framework of ordinances of the law then the&lt;br /&gt;delegation of the authority to the Prophet would be a&lt;br /&gt;senseless phenomenon. I have to say that government&lt;br /&gt;is a branch of the Prophet's absolute Wilayat and one&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;98&lt;br /&gt;of the primary (first order) rules of Islam that has&lt;br /&gt;priority over all ordinances of the law even praying,&lt;br /&gt;fasting and Hajj...The Islamic State could prevent&lt;br /&gt;implementation of everything - devotional and nondevotional&lt;br /&gt;- that so long as it seems against Islam's&lt;br /&gt;interests.43&lt;br /&gt;Unlike conditional authority (wilayat al-muqayada) that&lt;br /&gt;restricts the right of the faqih for issuing governmental&lt;br /&gt;orders solely in permissibility cases (mubahat), wilayat almutlaqa,&lt;br /&gt;by definition, is a juridical view concerning the&lt;br /&gt;dominion of the just faqih to issue governmental orders even&lt;br /&gt;if it is in opposition with some obligatory Islamic laws.&lt;br /&gt;As has become clear from the current discussion, the&lt;br /&gt;meaning of wilayat al-mutlaqa is totally different from&lt;br /&gt;‘absolutism’ and the establishment of a totalitarian and&lt;br /&gt;dictatorial government. Some qualifications and conditions&lt;br /&gt;are essential for the wali al-faqih such as justice, piety and&lt;br /&gt;the necessary socio-political perspicacity. So, if he fails to&lt;br /&gt;meet one of them, he will be dismissed. In the constitution of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic Republic of Iran a group of experts elected by&lt;br /&gt;people supervise and control the leader. This constitution in&lt;br /&gt;article 111 says:&lt;br /&gt;Whenever the leader becomes incapable of fulfilling&lt;br /&gt;his constitutional duties, or loses one of the&lt;br /&gt;qualifications mentioned in Article 5 and 109, or it&lt;br /&gt;becomes known that he did not possess some of the&lt;br /&gt;qualifications initially, he will be dismissed. The&lt;br /&gt;43 Sahife’ Noor (letters and lectures of Ayatollah Khomeini), Volume 20,&lt;br /&gt;p. 170.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 99&lt;br /&gt;authority of determination in this matter with the&lt;br /&gt;experts specified in Article 108.&lt;br /&gt;As I indicated before, in Imami Political Jurisprudence&lt;br /&gt;‘wilayat al-mutlaqa’ is a new term. Imami fuqaha usually&lt;br /&gt;use other terms such as ‘wilayat al-amma’ and ‘neyabat al-&lt;br /&gt;Amma’ to refer to the authority of faqih. Imam Khomeini&lt;br /&gt;applied the term publicly, then in 1990 it was enshrined in&lt;br /&gt;the constitution of Islamic Iran. Article 57 says:&lt;br /&gt;The power of government in the Islamic Republic are&lt;br /&gt;vested in the legislature, the judiciary, and the&lt;br /&gt;executive powers, functioning under the supervision of&lt;br /&gt;the absolute religious leader and the leadership of the&lt;br /&gt;ummah.&lt;br /&gt;Wilayat al-Faqih and other Ideas of Guardianship&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps Plato was the first political theorist who presented a&lt;br /&gt;comprehensive guardianship model of government. In the&lt;br /&gt;‘Republic’, he states that political knowledge is a supreme&lt;br /&gt;art that aims to realize the good of the community. Attaining&lt;br /&gt;that knowledge requires serious training. Thus, men and&lt;br /&gt;women must be carefully selected and rigorously trained in&lt;br /&gt;order to achieve excellence in the art and science of politics.&lt;br /&gt;This serious training renders a few of them a class of ‘true&lt;br /&gt;philosophers’44, who deserve to rule the society. Therefore,&lt;br /&gt;44 Grube maintains that Plato does not mean by ‘philosopher king’ the&lt;br /&gt;professional sense that at present the word ‘philosopher’ purport, he says:&lt;br /&gt;‘Plato does not mean that the world should be ruled by pale&lt;br /&gt;metaphysicians from the remoteness of their studies, he is maintaining that&lt;br /&gt;a statesman needs to be a thinker, a lover of truth, beauty and the Good,&lt;br /&gt;with a highly developed sense of values’.&lt;br /&gt;Plato, Plato’s Republic, G.M.A. Grube (tr), Indianapolis, 1974, n 13,&lt;br /&gt;p.133.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;100&lt;br /&gt;the ideal Republic will come into existence if a class of&lt;br /&gt;guardians (Philosopher Kings) rules over it.&lt;br /&gt;In the history of political thought, various interpretations of&lt;br /&gt;the guardianship model of the State have been suggested,&lt;br /&gt;Marxist-Leninism and all the political ideologies which&lt;br /&gt;believe in an organized group of revolutionaries, a vanguard,&lt;br /&gt;who possess the sufficient knowledge and commitment to&lt;br /&gt;overcome capitalism and to lead the working class to&lt;br /&gt;establish a socialist and non-class society are samples of the&lt;br /&gt;guardianship political theory.&lt;br /&gt;Obviously, Shia political doctrine should be categorized as a&lt;br /&gt;guardianship model of government because it believes that&lt;br /&gt;only those who have specific qualifications (infallible ones&lt;br /&gt;or their deputies) have a right to govern the community. For&lt;br /&gt;Imamism the problem of leadership is not the question of&lt;br /&gt;people’s elections. People have to accept and believe in&lt;br /&gt;divinely designated leadership just like the Prophecy in&lt;br /&gt;order for it to be practical. Since the fuqaha are generally&lt;br /&gt;designated as guardians, the role of the people within the&lt;br /&gt;period of occultation increases. They have a duty to&lt;br /&gt;acknowledge their governor among the fuqaha directly or&lt;br /&gt;through a selected group of fuqaha. Nevertheless, this&lt;br /&gt;participation of people does not render wilayat al-faqih a&lt;br /&gt;purely democratic and non-guardianship theory of State.&lt;br /&gt;Robert Dahl is quite right when he states that:&lt;br /&gt;No single interpretation can do justice to the&lt;br /&gt;variations among the many different visions of&lt;br /&gt;guardianship.45&lt;br /&gt;45 Robert Dahl, Democracy and its Critics, Yale University Press, 1989, p.&lt;br /&gt;55.&lt;br /&gt;What is Wilayat al-Faqih? 101&lt;br /&gt;However, what he mentions at the beginning of his&lt;br /&gt;discussion could be recognized as the central point of the&lt;br /&gt;vision of guardianship:&lt;br /&gt;The assumption by democrats that ordinary people&lt;br /&gt;are qualified, they, (advocates of guardianship) say&lt;br /&gt;ought to be replaced by the opposing proposition that&lt;br /&gt;rulership should be entrusted to a minority of persons&lt;br /&gt;who are specially qualified to govern by reason of&lt;br /&gt;their superior knowledge and virtue.46&lt;br /&gt;Indeed, the theory of ‘wilayat al-faqih’, which is in&lt;br /&gt;embodied in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the first actual&lt;br /&gt;experience of Shia political ideology, is mixed between&lt;br /&gt;guardianship and democracy. While the authority of the&lt;br /&gt;faqih and the supervision of Islamic laws and values over all&lt;br /&gt;political and social functions of the government emphasise&lt;br /&gt;the guardianship dimension of this political system, the&lt;br /&gt;approval of representative democracy and the participation&lt;br /&gt;of people in electing members of the Assembly of Experts&lt;br /&gt;(who choose and can remove the wilayat al-faqih’),&lt;br /&gt;parliament, president and many parts and local councils,&lt;br /&gt;show the democratic aspect of this political ideology. Article&lt;br /&gt;56 of the constitution emphasizes people’s sovereignty:&lt;br /&gt;Absolute sovereignty over the word and man belongs&lt;br /&gt;to God, and it is He who has made man master of his&lt;br /&gt;own social destiny. No one can deprive man of this&lt;br /&gt;Divine right, nor subordinate it to the vested interests&lt;br /&gt;of a particular individual or group. The people are to&lt;br /&gt;46 Ibid., p. 52.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;102&lt;br /&gt;exercise this Divine right in the manner specified in&lt;br /&gt;the following Article.&lt;br /&gt;This chapter aimed to clarify the conception of wilayat alfaqih&lt;br /&gt;and its historical background amongst Imami jurists.&lt;br /&gt;The next chapter will concentrate on the problem of&lt;br /&gt;justification and examine how the advocates of this political&lt;br /&gt;theory legitimize it.&lt;br /&gt;Chapter Three&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih?&lt;br /&gt;In the previous chapter, we encountered the absolute priority&lt;br /&gt;of God as a fundamental component of Imami political&lt;br /&gt;doctrine. After all, it is He who has accorded the Holy&lt;br /&gt;Prophet and the Imams (peace be upon them) the authority&lt;br /&gt;to lead and govern the Islamic society (ummah), and&lt;br /&gt;‘wilayat al-faqih’ is an extension of this authority. However,&lt;br /&gt;while the wilayat of the Imams has traditionally been&lt;br /&gt;verified according to Islamic theology (kalam), the&lt;br /&gt;guardianship of the jurists (wilayat al-faqih) is almost&lt;br /&gt;exclusively discussed within the sphere of jurisprudence&lt;br /&gt;(fiqh). Hence the universal authority of the faqih (wilayat alamma)&lt;br /&gt;must be substantiated according to ijtihad (juridical&lt;br /&gt;reasoning). This method shall be referred to as an “internal&lt;br /&gt;justification” as it is intended to convince those who already&lt;br /&gt;accept the basic principals of the Shia creed. On the other&lt;br /&gt;hand, wilayat al-faqih, as a political model of guardianship,&lt;br /&gt;must be able to justify itself amongst other political&lt;br /&gt;ideologies; especially the democratic theories that essentially&lt;br /&gt;criticize any guardianship form of state. This approach is&lt;br /&gt;what we shall refer to as the “external justification” for the&lt;br /&gt;theory of wilayat al-faqih, and we shall return to it later.&lt;br /&gt;The internal justification relies primarily on religious&lt;br /&gt;traditions narrated from the Holy Prophet and Imams,&lt;br /&gt;although some jurists also refer to rational arguments as&lt;br /&gt;well. Consequently, from the basis of Islamic jurisprudence,&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;104&lt;br /&gt;the authority of the faqih may be established according to&lt;br /&gt;sunnah (traditions) and reason (daleel al-aql).&lt;br /&gt;Traditional Evidences for Wilayat al-Faqih&lt;br /&gt;Imami jurists usually refer to a set of reports from the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet Muhammad and the Imams to establish wilayat alamma&lt;br /&gt;for the fuqaha. We shall examine a few of them here.&lt;br /&gt;A Signet Letter (Tuqih)1 from the Absent Imam&lt;br /&gt;One of the most reliable traditions adduced by scholars2 for&lt;br /&gt;the purpose of this discussion is a report from the twelfth&lt;br /&gt;and absent Imam (May God hasten his reappearance).&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh al-Sadiq transmits in his book ‘Ikmal al-Deen wa&lt;br /&gt;itmam an-Ni'ma’ that Ishaq ibn Yaqub wrote a letter to the&lt;br /&gt;absent Imam asking him about some concerns that he had.&lt;br /&gt;The Imam's deputy (Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Umari)&lt;br /&gt;conveyed the letter to him. The Imam replied:&lt;br /&gt;As for events that may occur (al-hawadith al-waqi'a)&lt;br /&gt;[when you may need guidance] refer to the&lt;br /&gt;transmitters (ruwat) of our teachings who are my&lt;br /&gt;hujjah (proof) to you and I am the proof of God&lt;br /&gt;(Hujjatullah) to you all.3&lt;br /&gt;1 Tuqih as a word means seal and signature and in Islamic historical books&lt;br /&gt;and in the history of Hadith the term applies to the letters issued by Imams&lt;br /&gt;especially letters and decrees of the absent Imam declared through his four&lt;br /&gt;particular deputies.&lt;br /&gt;2 For example, Shaikh Muhammad Hassan in Jawaher al-Kalam, Volume&lt;br /&gt;15, p. 422, Shaikh Morteza Ansari in al-Aada wa al-Shahadat, p. 46,&lt;br /&gt;Shaikh Morteza Haeri in Salat al-Jum’a, p. 154, Kashif al-Qeta in al-&lt;br /&gt;Ferdus al-A’la, p. 54.&lt;br /&gt;3 Shaikh al-Saduq, Ikmal al-Din, Ali Akbar al-Qafari (ed), Qom, 1405AH,&lt;br /&gt;Volume 2, Chapter 45, p. 483.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 105&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh al-Tusi also transmits the narration in the book ‘al-&lt;br /&gt;Qayba’4 and other collections of Imami ahadith report the&lt;br /&gt;tradition from the books mentioned above.&lt;br /&gt;Advocates of wilayat al-faqih often refer to the second part&lt;br /&gt;of the tradition, namely, “they are my proof to you, and I am&lt;br /&gt;the proof of God to you all” to establish the authority of the&lt;br /&gt;fuqaha. However, some scholars (such as Imam Khomeini)&lt;br /&gt;maintain that the first part of the hadith may also be used to&lt;br /&gt;establish the authority of the faqih. The first section of this&lt;br /&gt;narration encourages people to ask those who relate the&lt;br /&gt;traditions of the Imams (peace be upon them) about any new&lt;br /&gt;occurrences that they encounter. It is highly unlikely that&lt;br /&gt;Ishaq ibn Yaqub asked the Imam about what was to be done&lt;br /&gt;regarding religious questions; even ordinary Shia would&lt;br /&gt;know that in these cases of fiqh (jurisprudence) one should&lt;br /&gt;refer to the fuqaha (jurists). In fact, according to some&lt;br /&gt;narrations, people would recourse to the students of an Imam&lt;br /&gt;during his lifetime. Therefore, Ishaq must have been&lt;br /&gt;referring to something other than this by his question about&lt;br /&gt;‘al-hawadith al-waqi’a’, Imam Khomeini says:&lt;br /&gt;What is meant by hawadith al-waqi'a is rather the&lt;br /&gt;newly arising problems that affect the people and&lt;br /&gt;Muslims. The question Ishaq ibn Yaqub was implicitly&lt;br /&gt;posing was this: now that we no longer have access to&lt;br /&gt;you, what should we do with respect to social&lt;br /&gt;problems? What is our duty?5&lt;br /&gt;It is necessary to establish what the Imam meant by ‘ruwat’&lt;br /&gt;(narrators), when he commands his followers to refer to the&lt;br /&gt;4 Muhammad ibn Hassan al-Tusi, Kitab al-Qayba, Qom, 1411AH, p. 290.&lt;br /&gt;5 Imam Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, p. 85.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;106&lt;br /&gt;narrators of traditions with respect to these new&lt;br /&gt;circumstances. After all, it is self evident that people who&lt;br /&gt;merely transmit traditions and narrate what they have seen&lt;br /&gt;and heard, without a comprehensive understanding of the&lt;br /&gt;science of ahadith or jurisprudence, are not qualified to&lt;br /&gt;undertake this duty. Therefore the Imam must have been&lt;br /&gt;referring to the fuqaha (jurists) who are experts in the&lt;br /&gt;interpretation and explanation of Islamic sources.&lt;br /&gt;We mentioned earlier that most Imami jurists usually refer to&lt;br /&gt;the second part of this tradition to establish the guardianship&lt;br /&gt;of the jurists. The statement makes clear that fuqaha (ruwat)&lt;br /&gt;act as the proof (hujjah) of the Imam in all matters in which&lt;br /&gt;the Imam acts as the proof of Allah. Imam Khomeini&lt;br /&gt;describes a ‘proof of God’ (or hujjah) as someone who God&lt;br /&gt;has designated to conduct affairs; all his deeds, actions and&lt;br /&gt;sayings constitute a proof for the Muslims. If the proof&lt;br /&gt;commands you to perform a certain act and you fail to obey&lt;br /&gt;him, or if despite the existence of the proof, you turn to&lt;br /&gt;oppressive authorities for the solution of your affairs, then&lt;br /&gt;God almighty will advance a proof against you on the Day&lt;br /&gt;of Judgment.6&lt;br /&gt;In summary, being a hujjat implies the authority of one over&lt;br /&gt;his followers, and hence the injunctions of the holder of such&lt;br /&gt;a status must be complied with. Since the Imam as God's&lt;br /&gt;hujjat (the ‘proof’ that Allah will not accept any excuses for&lt;br /&gt;disobeying) has designated the fuqaha as his hujjah, the&lt;br /&gt;commands and directives of the fuqaha are as those of the&lt;br /&gt;Imam.&lt;br /&gt;6 Ibid., p. 86.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 107&lt;br /&gt;With regards to its chain of transmission (sanad), the only&lt;br /&gt;issue that arises is the existence of Ishaq ibn Yaqub. There is&lt;br /&gt;no particular attestation of him found in the Imami books of&lt;br /&gt;biography (Ela al-Rejal). Hence the question may be raised,&lt;br /&gt;how can we be certain that the letter was really issued by the&lt;br /&gt;Imam and that Ibn Yaqub received the letter? There is a&lt;br /&gt;difference between reporting an ordinary transmission and&lt;br /&gt;the claim that one has received a special letter from the&lt;br /&gt;Imam in the era of the minor occultation, during which,&lt;br /&gt;access to him is only possible through his appointed deputy.&lt;br /&gt;The key point, however, is that many great Imami scholars&lt;br /&gt;such as Shaykh Sadiq, Shaykh Tusi and specially Shaykh&lt;br /&gt;Kolayni, who were alive during the era of the minor&lt;br /&gt;occultation (and were experts in ahadith) mention the&lt;br /&gt;tradition as ‘tuqih’ which is sufficient evidence for a valid&lt;br /&gt;chain of transmission.7&lt;br /&gt;Maqbula of Umar ibn Hanzala&lt;br /&gt;According to the science of ahadith, the ‘maqbula’ is a&lt;br /&gt;narration that has been accepted by fuqaha as a valid&lt;br /&gt;tradition without examining the authenticity or weakness of&lt;br /&gt;its chain of transmission. In other words, even though some&lt;br /&gt;of those who appear as its transmitters may be weak and&lt;br /&gt;unreliable, some evidences that support the soundness of the&lt;br /&gt;text compel the fuqaha to ignore such weakness.&lt;br /&gt;Umar ibn Hanzala, who was a disciple of Imam as-Sadiq&lt;br /&gt;(pbuh) said:8&lt;br /&gt;7 Seyed Kazim Haeri, Wilayat al-Amr fi asr al-Qayba, Qom, Majma al-&lt;br /&gt;Fikr al-Islami, 1415AH, pp. 123-124.&lt;br /&gt;8 Shaikh al-Kolayni reports the tradition in Al-Kafi, Kitab al-Fazl al-Elm,&lt;br /&gt;Chapter of Ekhtelaf al-Hadith, Volume 1, p. 67 also Al-Tusi, Tahzib al-&lt;br /&gt;Ahkam , Kitab al-Qada, Volume 6, p. 218, Hadith 514.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;108&lt;br /&gt;I asked Imam Sadiq whether it was permissible for&lt;br /&gt;two of the Shia who had a disagreement concerning a&lt;br /&gt;debt or an inheritance to seek the verdict of the ruler&lt;br /&gt;or judge. He replied: 'anyone who has recourse to&lt;br /&gt;taghut [i.e. The illegitimate ruling power], whatever&lt;br /&gt;he obtains as a result of their verdict, he will have&lt;br /&gt;obtained by forbidden means, even if he has a proven&lt;br /&gt;right to it. For he will have obtained it through the&lt;br /&gt;verdict and judgment of the taghut, the power that&lt;br /&gt;almighty God has commanded him to disbelieve in.&lt;br /&gt;“They wish to seek justice from illegitimate powers,&lt;br /&gt;even though they have been commanded to disbelieve&lt;br /&gt;therein”. [Al-Qur’an, Chapter 4, Verse 60]&lt;br /&gt;Umar ibn Hanzala then asked what was the correct action for&lt;br /&gt;two the Shia to take under such circumstances. Imam Sadiq&lt;br /&gt;replied:&lt;br /&gt;They must seek out one of you who narrates our&lt;br /&gt;traditions, who is versed in what is permissible and&lt;br /&gt;what is forbidden, who is well acquainted with our&lt;br /&gt;laws and ordinances, and accept him as judge and&lt;br /&gt;arbiter, for I appoint him as hakim [judge].9&lt;br /&gt;No Imami jurist disputes that this tradition firmly establishes&lt;br /&gt;the authority of a faqih with regards to the administration of&lt;br /&gt;justice (wilayat al-qada). However, many leading scholars&lt;br /&gt;such as Mirza al-Nayini, Sayyid Mohammad Reza&lt;br /&gt;Gulpaayigani, Shaykh al-Ansari10 and Imam Khomeini&lt;br /&gt;believe that the text does not confine the authority of a faqih&lt;br /&gt;9 Translated in Islam and Revolution, p. 93.&lt;br /&gt;10 In Kitab al-Qada wa al-Shahadat, p. 48.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 109&lt;br /&gt;to wilayat al-qada. They assert that the Imam designated the&lt;br /&gt;faqih as trustees of universal authority (wilayat al-amma)&lt;br /&gt;when he said: “I appoint him [faqih] as hakim [judge]”&lt;br /&gt;However, a judge's role is not limited to merely resolving&lt;br /&gt;disagreements amongst the people; their conflicts and&lt;br /&gt;disagreements compel them to not only recourse to judges,&lt;br /&gt;but also to possessors of political power. The tradition of&lt;br /&gt;Imam Sadiq (pbuh) unconditionally prohibits any referral to&lt;br /&gt;illegitimate authorities (taghut) and there is no reason to&lt;br /&gt;assume that the Imam solely commanded his followers not&lt;br /&gt;to refer to judges appointed by an illegitimate government,&lt;br /&gt;while allowing them to recourse to the same government for&lt;br /&gt;the regulation of their affairs. By appointing the faqih as&lt;br /&gt;hakim, the Imam made it incumbent upon all Shia to refuse&lt;br /&gt;any kind of recourse to illegitimate authority. Hence in all&lt;br /&gt;aspects of disagreement it is necessary for them to refer to a&lt;br /&gt;faqih, whether it is in a governmental or judicial capacity.&lt;br /&gt;There are no problems surrounding this hadith’s chain of&lt;br /&gt;transmission. All of the transmitters (Muhammad ibn Yahya,&lt;br /&gt;Muhammad ibn al-Hussain, Muhammad ibn Isa, Safvan ibn&lt;br /&gt;Yahya and Dawood ibn al-Husayn) are reliable. And&lt;br /&gt;although there is no specific confirmation that Umar ibn&lt;br /&gt;Hanzala himself existed, fuqaha generally accept this and&lt;br /&gt;other transmissions from him.&lt;br /&gt;The Tradition of Abu Khadija&lt;br /&gt;Fuqaha such as Imam Khomeini and Shaykh Muhammad&lt;br /&gt;Hassan11 appeal to a famous transmission that was narrated&lt;br /&gt;by Abu Khadija (who was one of Imam Sadiq's&lt;br /&gt;11 In Jawaher al-Kalam, Volume 21, p. 395 and Volume 40, p. 17.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;110&lt;br /&gt;companions), to argue in favor of wilayat al-amma. The&lt;br /&gt;tradition is mentioned by Shaykh Tusi, Shaykh Sadiq, and&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh Kolayni. According to them, Abu Khadija said:&lt;br /&gt;I was commanded by the Imam [Ja'far as-Sadiq&lt;br /&gt;(pbuh)] to convey the following message to our&lt;br /&gt;friends [Shia]: 'when enmity and dispute arise among&lt;br /&gt;you, or you disagree concerning the receipt or&lt;br /&gt;payment of a sum of money, be sure not to refer the&lt;br /&gt;matter to one of these malefactors for judgment.&lt;br /&gt;Designate as judge and arbiter someone amongst you&lt;br /&gt;who is acquainted with our junctions concerning what&lt;br /&gt;is permitted and what is prohibited, for I appoint such&lt;br /&gt;a man as judge over you. Let none of you take your&lt;br /&gt;complaint against another of you to the tyrannical&lt;br /&gt;ruling power.12&lt;br /&gt;The explanation of the argument here is similar to the&lt;br /&gt;previous narration. Even though the Imam says: “I appoint&lt;br /&gt;such a man as judge”, a statement that explicitly concerns&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-qada, it is essential to recognize that the final&lt;br /&gt;section of this transmission is not merely a repetition. Rather&lt;br /&gt;it is a prohibition of recourse to tyrannical authorities in&lt;br /&gt;matters relating to the executive. In the first instance, the&lt;br /&gt;Imam has commanded his followers to turn away from&lt;br /&gt;illegitimate judges, while in the second he has prohibited&lt;br /&gt;them from referring to other illegitimate powers with regard&lt;br /&gt;to non-judicial issues. This indicates that the appointment of&lt;br /&gt;a faqih is necessary in all matters of judgment and of&lt;br /&gt;government.&lt;br /&gt;12 Al-Kolayni, Al-Foru’ men al-Kafi, Kitab al-Qada, Volume 7, p. 412;&lt;br /&gt;Al-Tusi, Al-Tahzib, Kitab al-Qada, Volume 6, p. 303; Shaikh al-Saduq,&lt;br /&gt;Man la Yahzoruhu al-Faqih, Volume 3, p. 2.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 111&lt;br /&gt;Many experts in the field of biography (Elm al-Rejal) testify&lt;br /&gt;that Abu Khadija is a trustworthy narrator. In addition, the&lt;br /&gt;hadith is well known amongst the fuqaha and classified as&lt;br /&gt;mashureh (famous), consequently there is no problem&lt;br /&gt;regarding its chain of transmission.&lt;br /&gt;One might suppose that the designations issued by Imam&lt;br /&gt;Sadiq in the previous two traditions are temporal and limited&lt;br /&gt;to his lifetime. This possibility is based on the assumption&lt;br /&gt;that his successors may have dismissed the fuqaha from&lt;br /&gt;authority, just as the successors of a ruler may dismiss his&lt;br /&gt;previous commands. However, this supposition obviously&lt;br /&gt;overlooks the status of Imams within Imami Shi’ism; their&lt;br /&gt;commands and instructions are not equitable to those of an&lt;br /&gt;average ruler and their orders must be obeyed both during&lt;br /&gt;their lifetime and after their death. Furthermore, Imam as-&lt;br /&gt;Sadiq referred to a verse of the Qur’an (4:60), which ordains&lt;br /&gt;disbelief in taghut (oppressive authority) and prohibits any&lt;br /&gt;recourse to illegitimate government as a ground for his&lt;br /&gt;designation of the fuqaha as ‘hakim’. This is a strong&lt;br /&gt;indication that his edict is not restricted to a specific time,&lt;br /&gt;and that it is forever obligatory for people to turn away from&lt;br /&gt;tyrannical authorities.&lt;br /&gt;These three traditions are considered reliable and act as solid&lt;br /&gt;foundations for the establishment of wilayat al-amma.&lt;br /&gt;Nevertheless there are some disagreements amongst Imami&lt;br /&gt;jurists pertaining to the transmission and interpretation of the&lt;br /&gt;texts. Most critics maintain that the above-mentioned&lt;br /&gt;traditions confirm little more than the administration of&lt;br /&gt;justice (wilayat al-qada) by the fuqaha.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;112&lt;br /&gt;Aside from the three aforementioned traditions, advocates of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-amma also appeal to a set of transmissions that,&lt;br /&gt;although too weak to prove the universal guardianship of the&lt;br /&gt;faqih by themselves, certainly reinforce and verify the&lt;br /&gt;doctrine.&lt;br /&gt;The First Tradition: The Sound Transmission of Qadah&lt;br /&gt;Ali bin Ibrahim, from his father, from Hamad bin Eisa from&lt;br /&gt;Qadah (Abd al-Allah bin Maimun) from Imam Sadiq (pbuh),&lt;br /&gt;who narrated the Prophet (pbuh) as saying:&lt;br /&gt;The superiority of the learned man over the mere&lt;br /&gt;worshipper is like that of the full moon over the stars.&lt;br /&gt;Truly the ulema (scholars) are the heirs of the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet (pbuh); the prophets bequeathed not gold&lt;br /&gt;(dinar) and silver (dirham) instead they bequeathed&lt;br /&gt;knowledge, and whoever acquires it has indeed&lt;br /&gt;acquired a generous portion of their legacy.13&lt;br /&gt;According to this tradition, the just and pious religious&lt;br /&gt;scholars (ulema) are the heirs of the Prophet; consequently,&lt;br /&gt;they must fulfil all the attributes and responsibilities that&lt;br /&gt;Allah designated for him (aside from receiving the divine&lt;br /&gt;revelation). Hence they are entrusted with maintaining his&lt;br /&gt;authority (wilayat) and the integrity of Islam. And, as has&lt;br /&gt;become clear from previous discussions, the Prophet has&lt;br /&gt;been appointed as the guardian and leader of the ummah. As&lt;br /&gt;the Qur’an says:&lt;br /&gt;The Prophet has higher claims over the believers than&lt;br /&gt;their own selves. [Chapter 33, Verse 6]&lt;br /&gt;13 Shaikh al-Kolayni, Al-Kafi, The Book of Virtue of Knowledge, Volume&lt;br /&gt;1, p. 34.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 113&lt;br /&gt;So his right to rule and govern over the believers is also&lt;br /&gt;entrusted to the scholars.&lt;br /&gt;Critics believe that the tradition discusses the knowledge&lt;br /&gt;rather than the status of the prophets. So the scholars are the&lt;br /&gt;heirs of the Prophet in the field of knowledge. The hadiths’&lt;br /&gt;chain of transmission is sound and the fuqaha usually accept&lt;br /&gt;it.&lt;br /&gt;The Second Tradition: Saduqs’ Morsala14.&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh Saduq in several of his many books mentions the&lt;br /&gt;following hadith:&lt;br /&gt;Imam Ali narrated the Prophet (pbuh) saying: “O&lt;br /&gt;God! Have mercy on those that succeed me”&lt;br /&gt;[Kholaphayi]. He repeated this twice and was then&lt;br /&gt;asked: “O Messenger of Allah, who are these that&lt;br /&gt;succeed you?” He replied: “They are those that come&lt;br /&gt;after me, transmit my traditions and practice and&lt;br /&gt;teach them to the people after me.”15&lt;br /&gt;The interpretation of this tradition is similar to the previous&lt;br /&gt;one. Those who are successors of the Prophet (pbuh) should&lt;br /&gt;have his status (in all areas apart from those such as&lt;br /&gt;receiving divine revelation), as Imam Khomeini says:&lt;br /&gt;To be a successor means to succeed to all the&lt;br /&gt;functions of Prophethood. In this respect, what is&lt;br /&gt;14 In the study of hadith the terminology for a transmission in which the&lt;br /&gt;name of the first transmitter or a number of them has not been mentioned&lt;br /&gt;is called ‘morsal’.&lt;br /&gt;15 Uyun al-Akhbar al-Reda, volume 2, chapter, 31, p. 37 also Ma‘ani al-&lt;br /&gt;Akhbar, p. 374 also Man la Yahzurohu al-Faqih, Volume 4, p. 420.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;114&lt;br /&gt;implied by the sentence, ‘O God! Have mercy on my&lt;br /&gt;successors’ is not less than what is implied by the&lt;br /&gt;sentence: ‘Ali is my successor’, since the meaning of&lt;br /&gt;successorship is the same in both cases.16&lt;br /&gt;The Third Tradition: The Fuqaha are the Trustees of the&lt;br /&gt;Prophets&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh Kolayni mentions the following hadith from the&lt;br /&gt;Prophet (pbuh):&lt;br /&gt;The fuqaha are the trustees of the Prophets, as long as&lt;br /&gt;they do not concern themselves with the world&lt;br /&gt;(dunya). The Prophet was asked: ‘what is the sign&lt;br /&gt;with their concern to this world?’ He replied: ‘By&lt;br /&gt;seeing whether they follow Kings (sultans). If they do&lt;br /&gt;that, then fear for your religion’.17&lt;br /&gt;The argument is that the fuqaha are trustees of the Prophet&lt;br /&gt;not merely with respect to deducing Islamic laws, but with&lt;br /&gt;all the duties and functions of the Prophet (pbuh) and this&lt;br /&gt;encompasses the establishment of a religious government&lt;br /&gt;and a just social system.&lt;br /&gt;The Fourth Tradition: The Ulema are the Rulers&lt;br /&gt;Amody transmits a tradition from the Commander of the&lt;br /&gt;faithful, Ali (pbuh):&lt;br /&gt;The ulema [scholars] are the rulers [hakim] over&lt;br /&gt;people.18&lt;br /&gt;16 Imam Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, p. 72.&lt;br /&gt;17 Kolayni, al-Kafi, Volume 1, p. 46.&lt;br /&gt;18 Amodi, Qorar al-Hekam, Volume 1, p. 137, 506.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 115&lt;br /&gt;The meaning of this tradition explicitly supports wilayat alamma,&lt;br /&gt;but the chain of transmission is weak.&lt;br /&gt;The Fifth Tradition: Imam Hussain’s Sermon&lt;br /&gt;During a sermon about enjoining good and forbidding evil,&lt;br /&gt;Imam Hussein (pbuh) addressed the scholars and said:&lt;br /&gt;…The disaster that has befallen you is greater than&lt;br /&gt;what has befallen others, for the true rank and degree&lt;br /&gt;ulema has been taken away from you. The&lt;br /&gt;administration of the country and the issuing of orders&lt;br /&gt;should actually be entrusted to religious scholars&lt;br /&gt;(ulema) who are guardians of the rights of God and&lt;br /&gt;knowledgeable about Gods ordinances concerning&lt;br /&gt;what is permitted and what is forbidden. But your&lt;br /&gt;position has been usurped from you, for no other&lt;br /&gt;reason than you have abandoned the pivot of truth&lt;br /&gt;and have disagreed about the nature of the sunnah,&lt;br /&gt;despite the existence of clear proofs. If you were&lt;br /&gt;strong in the face of torturing and suffering and&lt;br /&gt;prepared to endure hardship for God’s sake, then all&lt;br /&gt;proposed regulations would be brought to you for&lt;br /&gt;your approval and for you to issue.19&lt;br /&gt;If it were not for the weakness of its chain of transmission,&lt;br /&gt;the tradition would have been the most explicit verification&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-amma.&lt;br /&gt;19 Harrani ibn Shobeh, Tohaf al-Uqul, Qom, 1404AH, Volume 1, p. 238.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;116&lt;br /&gt;The Sixth Hadith: The Fuqaha are the Fortress of Islam&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh Kolayni mentions the tradition from Imam Kazim&lt;br /&gt;(pbuh):&lt;br /&gt;Believers who are fuqaha are the fortresses of Islam,&lt;br /&gt;like the encircling walls that protect a city.20&lt;br /&gt;The statement, which is that the fuqaha are the fortresses of&lt;br /&gt;Islam, means that fuqaha have a duty to protect Islam. They&lt;br /&gt;must do whatever is necessary to fulfil that duty hence they&lt;br /&gt;need to follow the Prophet as a good example for every&lt;br /&gt;believer. The Qur’an says:&lt;br /&gt;Certainly there is for you in them a good example, for&lt;br /&gt;him who fears Allah and the last day. [Chapter 60,&lt;br /&gt;Verse 6]&lt;br /&gt;The Prophet (pbuh) as the fortress of Islam did not restrict&lt;br /&gt;himself for training and teaching to protect Islam, rather he&lt;br /&gt;undertook socio-political duties and functions as well, hence&lt;br /&gt;all the tasks entrusted to the Prophet Muhammad must also&lt;br /&gt;be fulfilled by the well qualified fuqaha, as a matter of duty&lt;br /&gt;to become the true fortresses of Islam.&lt;br /&gt;Wilayat al-Amma as Hisbah&lt;br /&gt;By referring to textual evidences (the Qur’an and ahadith),&lt;br /&gt;advocates of universal authority (wilayat al-amma) intend to&lt;br /&gt;illustrate that well qualified fuqaha not only have priority&lt;br /&gt;over others to govern the believers, but are also explicitly&lt;br /&gt;designated as guardians (wali) of the Muslim community.&lt;br /&gt;However, some Imami jurists maintain that even when you&lt;br /&gt;20 Al-Kolayni, Al-Kafi, Volume 1, p. 38.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 117&lt;br /&gt;overlook the traditional proofs of wilayat al-faqih, one can&lt;br /&gt;establish the same authority for the faqih by considering&lt;br /&gt;‘hisbah’. Although this method of reasoning cannot confirm&lt;br /&gt;the designation of the faqih as wali, it does emphasize the&lt;br /&gt;priority of the fuqaha to undertake these social duties and&lt;br /&gt;makes clear that their authority is legitimate.&lt;br /&gt;‘Hisbah’ as a word literally means reward or spiritual wage,&lt;br /&gt;and it is usually applied to deeds that are done to please God&lt;br /&gt;and seek heavenly reward (thawab). In Islamic&lt;br /&gt;jurisprudence, this term refers to something that God is not&lt;br /&gt;willing to ignore or overlook. For instance, there are people&lt;br /&gt;who are minors or suffer from insanity, who are unable to&lt;br /&gt;discharge their own affairs and need someone to take care of&lt;br /&gt;them. If they have no father or grandfather, someone else&lt;br /&gt;should undertake their responsibilities and since these who&lt;br /&gt;prepare themselves to be in charge of their affairs do that for&lt;br /&gt;the sake of God, it is called ‘hisbah’.&lt;br /&gt;There is an important difference between ‘hisbah’ and what&lt;br /&gt;is referred to as sufficient necessity (wajib al-kefai).&lt;br /&gt;Sufficient necessity is an obligation that everyone one can&lt;br /&gt;fulfil, but if undertaken by a sufficient number of&lt;br /&gt;individuals, other people are relieved of their duty, whereas&lt;br /&gt;‘hisbah’ should be undertaken by the faqih. If a qualified&lt;br /&gt;jurist is not available, then only the just believers (mumineen&lt;br /&gt;adil) have the right to be in charge of such affairs.&lt;br /&gt;Having clarified the meaning of ‘hisbah’, we will now&lt;br /&gt;examine an argument that presupposes the extension of its&lt;br /&gt;denotation. People who adopt this line of reasoning argue&lt;br /&gt;that ‘hisbah’ is not restricted to its traditional examples such&lt;br /&gt;as in the case of minors and the insane. Rather, the&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;118&lt;br /&gt;philosophy and reasoning behind such a role demand its&lt;br /&gt;extension to social and political affairs. This argument has&lt;br /&gt;two major premises:&lt;br /&gt;Muslims are obliged to observe the instructions and&lt;br /&gt;prohibitions of Islam in all areas of their personal and social&lt;br /&gt;lives, and some of these realistically require the authority&lt;br /&gt;and apparatus of a state in order to be practically&lt;br /&gt;implemented. Furthermore, it is impermissible for the&lt;br /&gt;believers to allow illegitimate and unjust rulers to govern&lt;br /&gt;their society, while they have the potential to manage their&lt;br /&gt;own affairs independently. From a juridical perspective, this&lt;br /&gt;premise is universally accepted.&lt;br /&gt;A just faqih must undertake the duty of social and political&lt;br /&gt;guardianship for two reasons: either that the traditional&lt;br /&gt;evidences supporting wilayat al-amma are sound, or the just&lt;br /&gt;faqih has priority over others to undertake this duty. The&lt;br /&gt;reason behind this is that no one has the right to establish his&lt;br /&gt;authority over another unless they are qualified to undertake&lt;br /&gt;the duty of ‘hisbah’ (guardianship). And the protection of&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Islamic society is an instance of ‘hisbah’, which&lt;br /&gt;means God is not willing to ignore or overlook it,&lt;br /&gt;consequently well-qualified fuqaha have priority over&lt;br /&gt;ordinary people to bear this responsibility. In other words,&lt;br /&gt;necessarily someone has to undertake the function. We have&lt;br /&gt;two options; either to delegate the authority to those who&lt;br /&gt;have no professional knowledge about Islam or approve the&lt;br /&gt;authority of a just faqih. We have natural misgivings about&lt;br /&gt;the former when the later is feasible. Therefore, the fuqaha&lt;br /&gt;have a duty and a right to fulfil it.21&lt;br /&gt;21 Seyed Kazim Haeri, Wilayat al-Amr fi Asr al-Qayba, p. 96.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 119&lt;br /&gt;Despite the traditional arguments illustrating that the fuqaha&lt;br /&gt;have been designated as wali, this argument merely&lt;br /&gt;establishes the priority of a faqih to be in charge of&lt;br /&gt;governmental affairs similar to other cases of hisbah.&lt;br /&gt;The Rational Argument&lt;br /&gt;Recourse to rational argument has a long history amongst&lt;br /&gt;Shia scholars. Some believe that the rational theory was first&lt;br /&gt;adopted by the Zaydi Shia, al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim (785 -&lt;br /&gt;Medina 860), who argued that divinely appointed political&lt;br /&gt;authority is necessary due to the imperfections of human&lt;br /&gt;nature.22 Mullah Ahmad Naraqi (d. 1829), the author of&lt;br /&gt;‘Avaed al-Ayyam’, was the first Imami jurist who appealed&lt;br /&gt;to logical reasoning to support the concept of universal&lt;br /&gt;authority (wilayat al-amma).&lt;br /&gt;This approach adopts a similar structure to those rational&lt;br /&gt;arguments upon which Shia scholars base the necessity of&lt;br /&gt;Prophethood and Imamate; that it was necessary for God to&lt;br /&gt;appoint some people as Prophets and Imams in order to&lt;br /&gt;provide divine guidance to mankind. Therefore it is only&lt;br /&gt;reasonable to assume that in the absence of such infallible&lt;br /&gt;guidance, God would entrust the responsibilities of religious&lt;br /&gt;and political leadership to those people best qualified to&lt;br /&gt;undertake it as deputies of the absent, infallible Imam.&lt;br /&gt;Two strands of argument are presented as a justification of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-faqih. The first of which is an argument consisting&lt;br /&gt;entirely of rational premises without reference to the Qur’an&lt;br /&gt;or traditions, while the second is an argument established by&lt;br /&gt;22 Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought, p. 40.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;120&lt;br /&gt;a combination of reasoning and textual evidences. However,&lt;br /&gt;purely rational arguments are generally unable to&lt;br /&gt;definitively establish the prophecy or leadership of a&lt;br /&gt;particular person. Rational arguments must typically consist&lt;br /&gt;of universal, certain and necessary premises, and&lt;br /&gt;consequently, pure reasoning can prove the necessity of&lt;br /&gt;Prophethood and Imamate, although these rational&lt;br /&gt;arguments often encompass an explanation of qualifications&lt;br /&gt;that the ideal leader should have (e.g. sinless or just).&lt;br /&gt;Although there are many different lines of reasoning, it will&lt;br /&gt;suffice here to mention a few of them. In his volume&lt;br /&gt;concerning theology, Avecina (Ibn Sina) presents a&lt;br /&gt;discussion based on the necessity of a well-organised social&lt;br /&gt;order in order to establish the necessity of prophets.23&lt;br /&gt;Although this argument has naturally been appealed to by&lt;br /&gt;Muslim scholars and philosophers in order to establish and&lt;br /&gt;define Prophethood, the addition of some premises gives it&lt;br /&gt;the potential to confirm the necessity of its continuation in&lt;br /&gt;the vicegerency of the fuqaha. The structure of modified&lt;br /&gt;version of the proof is as follows:&lt;br /&gt;1. Man is a social being and therefore necessarily needs&lt;br /&gt;social order to overcome many of his conflicts and&lt;br /&gt;affairs.&lt;br /&gt;2. Human social life and order should be designed so that it&lt;br /&gt;provides individual social happiness.&lt;br /&gt;3. A set of adequate and perfect laws and the existence of&lt;br /&gt;one who is capable of executing these laws and leading&lt;br /&gt;society are two necessary conditions for the&lt;br /&gt;establishment of an ideal society.&lt;br /&gt;23 Ibn Sina, Al-Shefa, The book of Al-Elahiyat, The 10th Article, Chapter&lt;br /&gt;2, p. 487.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 121&lt;br /&gt;4. It is not in the power of human beings to establish an&lt;br /&gt;ideal, just, and truly well-ordered society without the aid&lt;br /&gt;of God and His divine laws.&lt;br /&gt;5. To avoid any deficiency, interference or possession of&lt;br /&gt;God’s message (revelation), the Prophets who delivers&lt;br /&gt;His message must be infallible.&lt;br /&gt;6. The explanation of the contents of the perfect religion&lt;br /&gt;and the execution of its laws prerequisite the&lt;br /&gt;appointment of infallible Imams.&lt;br /&gt;7. When there is no access to infallible Imams for attaining&lt;br /&gt;the above-mentioned aim (3), the leaders who are just&lt;br /&gt;and are expert in religious knowledge (Just faqih).24&lt;br /&gt;The first four premises prove the necessity of prophecy and&lt;br /&gt;that it is necessary for God to send prophets. The sixth one&lt;br /&gt;extends the reasoning to the question of Imamate and the&lt;br /&gt;necessity of an infallible Imam. And the final premise&lt;br /&gt;establishes the necessity of a qualified religious leader in the&lt;br /&gt;era of the absent Imam.&lt;br /&gt;Another rational argument has been presented by Ayatollah&lt;br /&gt;Borujerdi who applied some historical and religious&lt;br /&gt;premises in his reasoning.&lt;br /&gt;1. The leader and ruler of a society must be entrusted with&lt;br /&gt;the protection of social order and meet the essential&lt;br /&gt;needs of the people.&lt;br /&gt;2. Islam has paid attention to those essential needs and has&lt;br /&gt;legislated suitable laws. The ruler (wali) of Islamic&lt;br /&gt;society is responsible for the execution of these laws.&lt;br /&gt;24 Abdullah Javadi Amoli, Wilayat ul-Faqih, Qom: Esra Publication,&lt;br /&gt;1378AH, pp. 151-152.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;122&lt;br /&gt;3. Within the early period of Islam, the Prophet (pbuh) and&lt;br /&gt;the Imams (pbut) were the legitimate political leaders&lt;br /&gt;and the organisation of political and social affairs was&lt;br /&gt;their duty.&lt;br /&gt;4. The need to regulate social relationships according to&lt;br /&gt;divine laws and values is not confined to a specific&lt;br /&gt;period of time. Rather it is a crucial need for every age&lt;br /&gt;and generation. Certainly when infallible Imams were&lt;br /&gt;present amongst people, they appointed reliable people&lt;br /&gt;as their representatives to undertake Shia social affairs&lt;br /&gt;and prevent their followers from recourse to tyrannical&lt;br /&gt;governments (taghut) for their affairs. The assumption&lt;br /&gt;that Imams encouraged people to avoid referring to&lt;br /&gt;taghut without presenting an alternative solution to their&lt;br /&gt;problems is illogical.&lt;br /&gt;Considering the previous premise, it is also logical that just&lt;br /&gt;fuqaha should be appointed as their representatives and&lt;br /&gt;deputies in the era of greater absence because there are only&lt;br /&gt;three possibilities:&lt;br /&gt;·  A non-faqih (one who is not a just faqih) is designated&lt;br /&gt;as the Imam’s deputy. This supposition is obviously&lt;br /&gt;unwise and impractical, as a person lacking the essential&lt;br /&gt;knowledge or qualifications would be unable to provide&lt;br /&gt;guidance.&lt;br /&gt;·  In the era of occultation, Imami have a duty to avoid any&lt;br /&gt;recourse to illegitimate government for their social&lt;br /&gt;affairs, however the Imams did not introduce any&lt;br /&gt;alternative point of reference. This theory is equally&lt;br /&gt;impractical.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 123&lt;br /&gt;·  The Imam has designated the just faqih as his deputy to&lt;br /&gt;undertake these affairs and that is what we are seeking.25&lt;br /&gt;Before concluding the internal justifications of wilayat alfaqih,&lt;br /&gt;it is necessary for the sake of our discussion to&lt;br /&gt;examine what qualifications a deputy of the Imam must&lt;br /&gt;have. Although we have previously mentioned that only a&lt;br /&gt;well-qualified jurist may be considered the Imam’s deputy&lt;br /&gt;(neyab), we have not yet discussed what qualifications he&lt;br /&gt;requires according to Islamic sources, i.e. Qur’an and&lt;br /&gt;Sunnah.&lt;br /&gt;The Characteristics of Wali al-Faqih and the Problem of&lt;br /&gt;‘A‘lamiya’&lt;br /&gt;When compared to other political doctrines, Imami political&lt;br /&gt;thought has some significant advantages. For example, when&lt;br /&gt;it insists that the ruler of the society must possess specific&lt;br /&gt;characteristics. In modern democratic systems, factors such&lt;br /&gt;as popularity, being telegenic and having the support of a&lt;br /&gt;powerful party and large corporations are the most important&lt;br /&gt;factors, while individual virtues and qualifications are often&lt;br /&gt;neglected. Shia political thought, on the other hand, makes&lt;br /&gt;the personal characteristics of a political leader an essential&lt;br /&gt;factor. Some of these are as follows.&lt;br /&gt;Ijtihad (Proficiency in Islamic Jurisprudence)&lt;br /&gt;Since the implementation of Islamic laws and values in the&lt;br /&gt;various aspects of social life are one of the most important&lt;br /&gt;aims of an Islamic state, the ruler must naturally have&lt;br /&gt;25 Hussain Borujerdi, Al-Badr al-Zaher fi Salat ul-Jom‘a wal-Mosafer,&lt;br /&gt;Qom, 1367AH, pp. 72-78.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;124&lt;br /&gt;expertise and knowledge in Islamic thought in order to be&lt;br /&gt;able to make socio-political decisions and issue orders&lt;br /&gt;according to the Islamic point of view. Many traditional&lt;br /&gt;proofs of wilayat al-amma insist that the wali (hakim) must&lt;br /&gt;be a faqih:&lt;br /&gt;In maqbula of Umar ibn Hanzala, Imam Sadiq (pbuh) says:&lt;br /&gt;They must seek out one of you who narrates our&lt;br /&gt;traditions, who is versed in what is permissible and&lt;br /&gt;what is forbidden, who is well acquainted with our&lt;br /&gt;laws and ordinance, and accept him as judge and&lt;br /&gt;arbiter, for I appoint him as hakim.26&lt;br /&gt;In the tradition of Abu Khadija too, Imam says:&lt;br /&gt;Designate as judge and arbiter someone among you&lt;br /&gt;who is acquainted with our injunctions concerning&lt;br /&gt;what is permitted and prohibited.27&lt;br /&gt;In a signed letter the Absent Imam (may Allah hasten his&lt;br /&gt;reappearance) writes:&lt;br /&gt;As for events that may occur, refer to the transmitters&lt;br /&gt;of our teachings.28&lt;br /&gt;As we have already discussed, these titles and attributes&lt;br /&gt;correspond with a just and competent faqih’s (mujtahid)&lt;br /&gt;abilities, and not those who merely transmit traditions.&lt;br /&gt;26 Muhammad Hassan Hor al-A’meli, Wasael al-Shi’a, Qom: Ahl ul-Bait&lt;br /&gt;Institution, 1412AH, Volume 27, p. 137.&lt;br /&gt;27 Al-Kafi, Volume 7, p. 412.&lt;br /&gt;28 Shaikh al-Saduq, Ikmal al-Din, Volume 2, p. 483.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 125&lt;br /&gt;Justice&lt;br /&gt;Justice is a quality required of all forms of authority and&lt;br /&gt;leadership in Imami political doctrine; judges and prayer&lt;br /&gt;leaders must all be considered fair and capable, and their&lt;br /&gt;roles are considerably less than those who rule an entire&lt;br /&gt;state. In addition, the Qur’an teaches Muslims to have no&lt;br /&gt;inclination and cooperation with unjust people and&lt;br /&gt;tyrannical authorities:&lt;br /&gt;And do not incline to those who are unjust, lest the&lt;br /&gt;fire shall touch you, and you have no guardians&lt;br /&gt;beside Allah, then shall you not be helped. [Chapter&lt;br /&gt;11, Verse 113]&lt;br /&gt;In some verses of the Qur’an Allah Almighty invites the&lt;br /&gt;believers to show their disobedience to unjust people, those&lt;br /&gt;who commit great sins:&lt;br /&gt;And do not obey the bidding of the extravagant,&lt;br /&gt;(those) who make mischief in the land and do not act&lt;br /&gt;right. [Chapter 26, Verses 151-152]&lt;br /&gt;Do not follow him whose heart we have made&lt;br /&gt;unmindful to our remembrance and he follows his low&lt;br /&gt;desires and his case is one in which due bounds are&lt;br /&gt;exceeded. [Chapter 18, Verse 28]&lt;br /&gt;Although justice has not been stipulated in the traditional&lt;br /&gt;proofs of wilayat al-faqih examined in the course of this&lt;br /&gt;subject, the Qur’an and a number of transmissions criticize&lt;br /&gt;unjust rulers and those who are obedient to tyrannical&lt;br /&gt;governors. They also maintain that a community founded on&lt;br /&gt;Islamic laws and teachings, cannot be run by someone who&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;126&lt;br /&gt;does not believe in or behave in accordance to justice. To&lt;br /&gt;cite an example, Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (A) said to&lt;br /&gt;Muhammad b. Muslim:&lt;br /&gt;O Muhammad, surely the unjust rulers and those who&lt;br /&gt;follow them are separated from God’s religion.&lt;br /&gt;Certainly they went astray, and led many astray.29&lt;br /&gt;Prudence, Trustworthiness, Administrative Facilities,&lt;br /&gt;and Courage&lt;br /&gt;Such qualities are obvious requirements of any appropriate&lt;br /&gt;political leader, thus there is no need to mention evidences&lt;br /&gt;regarding them.&lt;br /&gt;Knowledge&lt;br /&gt;Many evidences stipulate that a trustee of Islamic political&lt;br /&gt;authority must be amongst the most knowledgeable (‘alem),&lt;br /&gt;competent and qualified of Islamic scholars. This criterion is&lt;br /&gt;somewhat contentious however, as many of the traditions&lt;br /&gt;mentioned in it’s support have weak chains of transmission.&lt;br /&gt;According to the book of Solaim b. Qais, Ali (p) says:&lt;br /&gt;Does anyone deserve to be the ruler (caliph) over the&lt;br /&gt;ummah except one who is most knowledgeable of&lt;br /&gt;God’s book (Qur’an) and the Prophet (pbuh)’s&lt;br /&gt;traditions (sunnah). Allah says in the Qur’an (10:35),&lt;br /&gt;“Is he then, who guides to the truth, more worthy to&lt;br /&gt;29 Al-Kafi, Volume 1, p. 184.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 127&lt;br /&gt;be followed, or he who himself does not go aright&lt;br /&gt;unless he is guided?30&lt;br /&gt;It is transmitted from the Prophet (pbuh) that he said:&lt;br /&gt;One who leads his people, while there are among&lt;br /&gt;them more knowledgeable than he, their sovereignty&lt;br /&gt;(the people’s) would begin to decline forever.31&lt;br /&gt;As we mentioned in the previous chapter, a just faqih has&lt;br /&gt;various functions. Some of them like the administration of&lt;br /&gt;justice (qada) and ‘hisbah’ are categorized as ‘wilayat’,&lt;br /&gt;whilst others such as ‘ifta’ do not require a designation from&lt;br /&gt;the Imam. In the context of the present subject, it is essential&lt;br /&gt;to determine which of these functions is dependant on&lt;br /&gt;‘alamiyat’ (being the most knowledgeable).&lt;br /&gt;Reference to Imami jurists’ decrees shows that those who&lt;br /&gt;consider ‘alamiyat as a condition have merely concentrated&lt;br /&gt;on ‘ifta’. Ayatollah Sayyid Kazim Yazdi, the author of ‘al-&lt;br /&gt;‘urwat ul-wuthqa’ writes:&lt;br /&gt;With regard to a mujtahid’s functions, none of them&lt;br /&gt;are restricted by al-‘alamiya but taqleed (ifta). The&lt;br /&gt;matter of his wilayat however, is not conditioned by&lt;br /&gt;al-‘alamiya.32&lt;br /&gt;Many great Imami jurists who have commented upon this&lt;br /&gt;important book (al-urwat ul-wuthqa), such as Ayatollahs&lt;br /&gt;30 Solaim ibn Qais Al-Helali, Kitab al-Solaim, Tehran: Dar al-Kotob al-&lt;br /&gt;Islamiya, p. 118.&lt;br /&gt;31 Barqi, Al-Mahasin, Volume 1, p. 93.&lt;br /&gt;32 Al-Urvat ul-Wosqa, The Chapter of Ijtihad wal-Taqlid, Question 68.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;128&lt;br /&gt;Haery, Mirza al-Nayini, Aqa Ziya al-Araki, Sayyid Abul-&lt;br /&gt;Hassan al-Esfahani, Burujerdi, Khomeini, Khui, Milani, and&lt;br /&gt;Gulpaayigani, do not add any marginal notes to this decree&lt;br /&gt;of Yazdi, which means they agree with him that the&lt;br /&gt;functions of the faqih that exercises his authority (wilayat)&lt;br /&gt;are not conditioned by being the most knowledgeable.&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh al-Ansari also maintains that ‘alamiya is not&lt;br /&gt;necessary in the designation of a faqih as wali (hakim)’.&lt;br /&gt;Every just faqih has the right to undertake affairs which&lt;br /&gt;require justified authority (wilayat). He believes that only&lt;br /&gt;when fuqaha have different decrees (fatwa) the decree of the&lt;br /&gt;one who is most knowledgeable (‘alam) has priority over&lt;br /&gt;others.33&lt;br /&gt;Shaykh Muhammad Hassan, the author of ‘Jawahir al-&lt;br /&gt;Kalam’, also believes that the traditional proofs, which state&lt;br /&gt;that the fuqaha are designated as ‘wali’ and the deputies of&lt;br /&gt;the Imam, emphasize on the professional knowledge about&lt;br /&gt;Islam (fiqahat) and not upon the ‘most knowledgeable’ as&lt;br /&gt;the condition of a faqih’s wilayat.34&lt;br /&gt;Essentially with regards to some functions of the faqih such&lt;br /&gt;as ‘qada’, it seems incredible if one supposes that it is&lt;br /&gt;conditioned on ‘alamiya because this implies on a very large&lt;br /&gt;scale that the Shia community has only one faqih who has&lt;br /&gt;legitimate authority to judge.&lt;br /&gt;Finally, we have indicated that ‘Ijtihad’ has various aspects&lt;br /&gt;and therefore it is quite reasonable to assume ‘X’ is the most&lt;br /&gt;33 Shaikh al-Ansari, Taqlid, Published by International Congress of Shaikh&lt;br /&gt;al-Ansari publications, p. 67.&lt;br /&gt;34 Jawahir al-Kalam, Volume 40, pp. 44-45&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 129&lt;br /&gt;knowledgeable (a’lem) in chapters of Islamic jurisprudence&lt;br /&gt;concerning worship (such as praying and fasting), while ‘Y’&lt;br /&gt;is a’lem in the chapters of transactions (moamelat) and ‘Z’ is&lt;br /&gt;the most knowledgeable in the context of the administration&lt;br /&gt;of justice and punishment (hudud). Consequently, we have&lt;br /&gt;to take into account the relationship between a function that&lt;br /&gt;a faqih wants to undertake and the kind of knowledge that is&lt;br /&gt;a prerequisite to that function. There is no sufficient reason&lt;br /&gt;to convince us that one who is the most knowledgeable in&lt;br /&gt;chapters of worship would be able to perform the function of&lt;br /&gt;‘qada’ better than a faqih who is most knowledgeable in&lt;br /&gt;administration of justice.&lt;br /&gt;On the other hand, ijtihad and fiqahat are but one&lt;br /&gt;characteristic that a leader of the Islamic society should&lt;br /&gt;have. There is no reason to concentrate on the priority of&lt;br /&gt;‘a’lem’ and thereby ignore other qualifications that walis&lt;br /&gt;(fuqaha) must possess, which might provide them with the&lt;br /&gt;necessary abilities and characteristics of a ruler. Certainly, in&lt;br /&gt;a situation wherein a few faqih are completely equal in all&lt;br /&gt;qualifications of leadership except ijtihad, one might claim&lt;br /&gt;that the authority of a’lem has priority over others,&lt;br /&gt;especially when he is the most knowledgeable in socialpolitical&lt;br /&gt;aspects of Islamic law. But it should be noted that&lt;br /&gt;even this is merely a ‘rational preference’, because as the&lt;br /&gt;author of Jawaher al-Kalam indicated, the traditional proofs&lt;br /&gt;of wilayat al-faqih are silent about alamiya as a condition of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat.&lt;br /&gt;The External Justification.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;130&lt;br /&gt;Many political theories are known as ‘guardianship’ in spite&lt;br /&gt;of the profound differences they have with one another. By&lt;br /&gt;guardianship, we mean a political system in which the state&lt;br /&gt;is governed by qualified rulers (guardians). The ruler or&lt;br /&gt;rulers are not subject to election and do not come to office&lt;br /&gt;through free election. They deserve to govern the people due&lt;br /&gt;to their specific qualifications and abilities. Therefore, the&lt;br /&gt;delegation of authority in a guardianship model of state is&lt;br /&gt;not due to a democratic process, but rather to the qualities of&lt;br /&gt;a guardian. Advocates of guardianship commonly believe&lt;br /&gt;that the entrustment of political power to a highly qualified&lt;br /&gt;minority, who has exceptional expertise, guarantees the&lt;br /&gt;interests and good of the people. Although the followers of&lt;br /&gt;guardianship disagree about the qualifications the guardians&lt;br /&gt;must have, or about the interpretation of happiness and&lt;br /&gt;people’s good. This is why the guardianship supported by&lt;br /&gt;Plato is rationally different from the Marxist Leninist&lt;br /&gt;interpretation of it. Plato’s guardians are a minority of wellqualified&lt;br /&gt;philosophers, whereas the latter’s are an organized&lt;br /&gt;group of revolutionaries.&lt;br /&gt;There are many arguments to justify guardianship over&lt;br /&gt;democracy. Although on the other hand, guardianship in turn&lt;br /&gt;faces many criticisms, especially from advocates of&lt;br /&gt;democracy. So if we admit that ‘wilayat al-faqih’ is a&lt;br /&gt;political doctrine belonging to the guardianship model of&lt;br /&gt;state, it must be able to overcome its critics and eventually&lt;br /&gt;establish itself as a reasonable, rational and legitimate&lt;br /&gt;political doctrine. That is what is meant by ‘external&lt;br /&gt;justification’, which, contrary to ‘internal justification’, does&lt;br /&gt;not rely on religiously accepted reasoning.&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 131&lt;br /&gt;First of all, we must assess why and how ‘wilayat al-faqih’&lt;br /&gt;poses as a guardianship regime. According to this theory of&lt;br /&gt;state, a just, capable and pious jurist, who possesses a&lt;br /&gt;number of qualities, has legitimate authority to govern the&lt;br /&gt;society in the era of occultation (ghaibat). This obviously&lt;br /&gt;indicates that other kinds of experts and average people have&lt;br /&gt;no equal access to the highest political office and only&lt;br /&gt;specific experts (jurists) have the right and the opportunity to&lt;br /&gt;attain the highest level of political leadership. Moreover,&lt;br /&gt;they are not elected by people, but are instead designated by&lt;br /&gt;Imams as ‘wali’ and possessors of the authority.&lt;br /&gt;On the other hand, the unique example of this political&lt;br /&gt;system, whose detailed blueprints are embedded in the&lt;br /&gt;constitution of the Islamic republic of Iran, does not adopt a&lt;br /&gt;pure system of guardianship. After all, it’s constitution&lt;br /&gt;respects a limited democratic processes in that the majority&lt;br /&gt;of governmental institutions, even the political leadership is&lt;br /&gt;chosen through elections. According to article 107, a group&lt;br /&gt;of elected experts (a few jurists are elected by people every&lt;br /&gt;seven years) shall elect a well-qualified faqih as the political&lt;br /&gt;leader. Both the authority of shari'a (wilayat al-faqih) and&lt;br /&gt;the sovereignty of the people in this political regime make it&lt;br /&gt;a mixture of democracy and guardianship. Hence it should&lt;br /&gt;be categorized as a ‘meritocracy’, because it does not go&lt;br /&gt;hand in hand with all the standards of guardianship. What&lt;br /&gt;distinguishes this model of ‘meritocracy’ from guardianship&lt;br /&gt;is the role of the people in participating in the distribution of&lt;br /&gt;political power and in shaping political decisions through&lt;br /&gt;their representatives. However, people and their&lt;br /&gt;representatives are not religiously free to delegate the&lt;br /&gt;political authority to a non-faqih or those who have no&lt;br /&gt;tendency to rule, legislate and execute within the framework&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;132&lt;br /&gt;of divine laws and Islamic values and teachings.&lt;br /&gt;Consequently, in this meritocracy, a just Imami jurist as&lt;br /&gt;‘wilayat al-faqih’ and a group of fuqaha as the ‘guardian&lt;br /&gt;council’, supervise and control the decisions and functions&lt;br /&gt;of representatives and bureaucrats, who are themselves&lt;br /&gt;subject to the democratic process. The central discussion&lt;br /&gt;here concerns the relationship between ‘wilayat al-faqih’ and&lt;br /&gt;what traditionally are stated as the foundation and&lt;br /&gt;justification of the guardianship. We must now evaluate&lt;br /&gt;whether these foundations are adequate to cite as&lt;br /&gt;justifications of ‘wilayat al-faqih’ and how could this&lt;br /&gt;doctrine overcome the critiques of guardianship.&lt;br /&gt;Some advocates of guardianship hold that ordinary people&lt;br /&gt;lack the necessary qualifications for ruling. They seem to&lt;br /&gt;lack much understanding of their own basic needs, interests&lt;br /&gt;and good. Many of them are unable or unwilling to do&lt;br /&gt;whatever may be necessary to attain deep knowledge about&lt;br /&gt;their own needs and good as well as the appropriate means&lt;br /&gt;to achieve these needs and goods. In conclusion, people have&lt;br /&gt;no political competence to govern themselves. Their&lt;br /&gt;deficiency is partly in knowledge, partly in virtue i.e. strong&lt;br /&gt;tendencies to seek good ends; hence they are not qualified to&lt;br /&gt;govern. This approach undermines the fundamental ground&lt;br /&gt;of democracy and supports the idea that guardians who have&lt;br /&gt;sufficient political competence should govern people.&lt;br /&gt;Obviously, the doctrine of ‘wilayat al-faqih’ does not rely on&lt;br /&gt;the political incompetence of people to justify the priority of&lt;br /&gt;the faqih’s authority. Neither in traditional proofs of ‘wilayat&lt;br /&gt;al-faqih’ nor in the rational ones, do Imami scholars stress&lt;br /&gt;on people’s deficiencies. Some rational proofs of ‘wilayat alfaqih’&lt;br /&gt;depend on the belief that it is not in the power of&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 133&lt;br /&gt;human beings to establish an ideal, ordered society with no&lt;br /&gt;aid of God’s revelation. Clearly, this premise expresses the&lt;br /&gt;deficiency of human beings as such, and not simply the&lt;br /&gt;imperfection of ordinary people, confirming the competence&lt;br /&gt;of a small minority as guardians. Indeed, this deficiency&lt;br /&gt;justifies man’s need of religion, and its important role in&lt;br /&gt;organizing social relationships.&lt;br /&gt;The second foundation mentioned as a reason for&lt;br /&gt;guardianship consists of a specific conception of governing.&lt;br /&gt;For them, ruling people is an art. Therefore, rulers must be&lt;br /&gt;experts of a certain type, meaning experts in the art of&lt;br /&gt;governing. They as guardians would be specialists whose&lt;br /&gt;specialization would make them superior in the art of&lt;br /&gt;leadership, not only in comparison with ordinary people but&lt;br /&gt;also with other kinds of experts such as economists,&lt;br /&gt;physicists, engineers and so on. Although most people are&lt;br /&gt;potentially capable of acquiring the qualifications needed for&lt;br /&gt;leadership, they lack the time to acquire them. A society&lt;br /&gt;needs many different types of experts. The need for&lt;br /&gt;acquiring different skills and then implementing them,&lt;br /&gt;makes it impossible for each and every person to spend the&lt;br /&gt;time they would need to gain the moral and instrumental&lt;br /&gt;competence for ruling. To suppose that a large number of&lt;br /&gt;people each have the capacity to acquire and use numerous&lt;br /&gt;specialized skills is not realistic. Consequently, in a well&lt;br /&gt;ordered society some persons should be rigorously trained&lt;br /&gt;and selected to function well as rulers (guardians). Because&lt;br /&gt;leadership is so crucial nothing could be of greater&lt;br /&gt;importance than the education of our rulers.35&lt;br /&gt;35 Democracy and its Critics, pp. 62-63.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;134&lt;br /&gt;Apart from the fact that many scholars have misgivings&lt;br /&gt;about the actual existence of the art of governing, this&lt;br /&gt;argument exclusively supports the Platonic version of&lt;br /&gt;guardianship. There is no single art or science that can&lt;br /&gt;provide us with the moral and technical knowledge and&lt;br /&gt;abilities required for being an ideal leader. Many versions of&lt;br /&gt;guardianship, including ‘wilayat al-faqih’, do not look at&lt;br /&gt;guardians as specialists in the art of governing. Instead, they&lt;br /&gt;believe that the duty of governing should delegate to a few&lt;br /&gt;qualified persons, because of some certain qualifications and&lt;br /&gt;abilities that they have. Guardians have a advantage over&lt;br /&gt;others in matters of leadership, such as their in depth&lt;br /&gt;knowledge of ideological, great commitment to the&lt;br /&gt;ambitions of specific party, being vanguard and leader in&lt;br /&gt;revolution or possession the knowledge that is necessary for&lt;br /&gt;shaping particular social formation.&lt;br /&gt;The unique reason that justifies (apart from traditional&lt;br /&gt;religious reasons) the ruling of the fuqaha as guardians,&lt;br /&gt;pertains to their knowledge about Shari’a which must be&lt;br /&gt;accompanied with personal virtues and moral competence. It&lt;br /&gt;is true that moral competence is not confined to a small&lt;br /&gt;minority and that many people have the capacity to gain&lt;br /&gt;moral competence and become just and pious. However,&lt;br /&gt;what distinguishes the just fuqaha and render them the&lt;br /&gt;unique group who has legitimate authority to rule over the&lt;br /&gt;believers is their expertise in Islamic jurisprudence. The&lt;br /&gt;justification of the guardianship of fuqaha is owed to the&lt;br /&gt;fundamental role of Islamic law in the lives of Muslims.&lt;br /&gt;Islam obliges Muslims to adopt Islamic laws and values in&lt;br /&gt;both their individual as well as public lives. Consequently,&lt;br /&gt;one who has the ability (as a jurisprudent) that is necessary&lt;br /&gt;for undertaking this task must be in charge of ruling the&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 135&lt;br /&gt;people. Therefore, the question of ‘wilayat al-faqih’ is not a&lt;br /&gt;question of having a specific art. It has roots in a religious&lt;br /&gt;belief that sees a crucial role for shari’a in Islamic society.&lt;br /&gt;The distinction between the general good and personal&lt;br /&gt;interests could provide the advocates of guardianship the&lt;br /&gt;third reason for justification. The case of guardianship&lt;br /&gt;sometimes rest on assumption that the composition of the&lt;br /&gt;general good (general interest) and how the knowledge of&lt;br /&gt;what composes the general good may be acquired. If the&lt;br /&gt;general good were only composed of individual interests and&lt;br /&gt;if we were to believe that everyone could pursue his&lt;br /&gt;personal interests without guardians, then the guardianship&lt;br /&gt;model of state would be unnecessary and undesirable. But if&lt;br /&gt;the general good and interest of society consists of&lt;br /&gt;something more than an aggregation of personal interests,&lt;br /&gt;then to achieve it will require more than this. To bring about&lt;br /&gt;the general good would then require an understanding of the&lt;br /&gt;ways in which the general good differs from a combination&lt;br /&gt;individual interests. If it is also true that most people are&lt;br /&gt;mainly concerned with their own individual interests instead&lt;br /&gt;of that of the general public, then the task of deciding on the&lt;br /&gt;general good should be entrusted to those especially trained&lt;br /&gt;to understand what the general good consists of. Obviously,&lt;br /&gt;that depends on what is meant by the general good.36&lt;br /&gt;Although the followers of ‘wilayat al-faqih’ do not fully&lt;br /&gt;accept this argument, however, a modified version of it&lt;br /&gt;would sufficiently justify this model of guardianship. Islam&lt;br /&gt;as a perfect religion aims for real human happiness, hence,&lt;br /&gt;its laws and teachings are necessarily established for the&lt;br /&gt;ultimate self-realization of the human being and for gaining&lt;br /&gt;36 Ibid., pp. 70-71.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;136&lt;br /&gt;true salvation. From this point of view both the good of the&lt;br /&gt;individual as well as the general public are harmonized with&lt;br /&gt;the contents of Islam. Concepts such as public interest&lt;br /&gt;should not be defined without considering of the crucial role&lt;br /&gt;played by Islam in both the public and private spheres.&lt;br /&gt;When one acknowledges this fact, which is especially true in&lt;br /&gt;a society where most people believe that Islam is the&lt;br /&gt;ultimate way to salvation, the following argument could be&lt;br /&gt;supposed as external justification for the doctrine of&lt;br /&gt;‘Willayat al-faqih’:&lt;br /&gt;1. General interest and public good are not merely a&lt;br /&gt;composition of individual interests and they must be&lt;br /&gt;determined through a higher source.&lt;br /&gt;2. Within an Islamic society the real public good and&lt;br /&gt;interest cannot be known while neglecting Islamic laws&lt;br /&gt;and values. It does not mean that other kinds of expertise&lt;br /&gt;play no role in the process of determining public good,&lt;br /&gt;rather, the key point is that all political and economic&lt;br /&gt;decisions, various legislations as well as government&lt;br /&gt;orders must take Islamic teachings (especially&lt;br /&gt;jurisprudence) seriously and harmonize themselves with&lt;br /&gt;the demands of Islam.&lt;br /&gt;3. People are mostly concerned with their own individual&lt;br /&gt;interests so the task of deciding the public interest, at&lt;br /&gt;least in cases that are specifically dealt with by Islam&lt;br /&gt;should not be entrusted to the ups and downs of public&lt;br /&gt;opinion.&lt;br /&gt;4. Technocrats and those who are experts in the various&lt;br /&gt;sciences are often more concerned than average people&lt;br /&gt;with the good and interest of the public. However, as&lt;br /&gt;mentioned in the second premise, in an Islamic society&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 137&lt;br /&gt;technocrats as policymakers can not have a full&lt;br /&gt;understand of the public good, unless they are experts in&lt;br /&gt;Islamic thought.&lt;br /&gt;Policymaking, legislation, organizing the system of rights&lt;br /&gt;and duties and other significant functions of government&lt;br /&gt;must be done under the supervision and authority of a well&lt;br /&gt;qualified faqih (or fuqaha) who is just, brave, honest,&lt;br /&gt;intelligent, knowledgeable about social and political issues,&lt;br /&gt;and an expert in Islamic ideology.&lt;br /&gt;This external justification seems quite convincing within a&lt;br /&gt;specific context, that is, for those who pursue Islamic culture&lt;br /&gt;and support the establishment of an Islamic society. For&lt;br /&gt;those who do not believe in Islam, the premises of this&lt;br /&gt;justification (particularly the second and fourth) need further&lt;br /&gt;evidence.&lt;br /&gt;Criticism of Guardianship&lt;br /&gt;Advocates of democracy usually criticize guardianship and&lt;br /&gt;its justifications. We have to consider briefly a few of these&lt;br /&gt;criticisms to assess how the connection between the doctrine&lt;br /&gt;of wilayat al-faqih and these critiques might be? In my view&lt;br /&gt;the three following criticisms are more significant than the&lt;br /&gt;others:&lt;br /&gt;i) Adversaries of guardianship insist that the keystone of&lt;br /&gt;this theory that tries to justify the deserts of guardians to&lt;br /&gt;rule based on their knowledge is disputable. The&lt;br /&gt;possession of this religious knowledge is not sufficient&lt;br /&gt;enough to prove that political power should be entrusted&lt;br /&gt;to a fagih to protect and promote public welfare and&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;138&lt;br /&gt;prosperity. How can we know that the guardian is not&lt;br /&gt;seeking his own interests rather than that of the general&lt;br /&gt;public? Is there any system of control over them to&lt;br /&gt;prevent hem from abusing his authority? In the&lt;br /&gt;guardianship model of state, since the people do not&lt;br /&gt;delegate authority to the guardian, they cannot legally or&lt;br /&gt;constitutionally withdraw political power from the&lt;br /&gt;guardian. The guardians are free of popular controls.&lt;br /&gt;ii) Unlike democracy that provides people with the&lt;br /&gt;opportunity to engage in governing themselves and to&lt;br /&gt;improve their moral-political experiences, the&lt;br /&gt;guardianship system of rule prevents an entire&lt;br /&gt;population from developing their social, political and&lt;br /&gt;moral capacities. This is essentially because only a few&lt;br /&gt;people (guardians) are engaging in governing.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, only a few people have the opportunity to&lt;br /&gt;learn how to act as morally responsible human beings.&lt;br /&gt;Only guardians can exercise the freedom of participating&lt;br /&gt;in the process of making laws, while in democratic states&lt;br /&gt;the whole population enjoys that freedom. Even though&lt;br /&gt;in many democratic states, the cooperate and political&lt;br /&gt;elite are far more powerful than ordinary citizens,&lt;br /&gt;however, they cannot be compared to guardians. These&lt;br /&gt;elites are not despots and people can still play a role in&lt;br /&gt;the distribution of political power and in making&lt;br /&gt;political decisions.&lt;br /&gt;iii) Guardianship is based upon the idea that there is a set of&lt;br /&gt;truths, objective propositions and valid knowledge that&lt;br /&gt;can determine public good or true social interests. The&lt;br /&gt;second pillar of guardianship rests on the point that only&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 139&lt;br /&gt;those who have this knowledge37 (what does public good&lt;br /&gt;consist of and by what means can we achieve it?) are&lt;br /&gt;exclusively competent to hold political authority. Some&lt;br /&gt;critics of guardianship criticize the first pillar of the&lt;br /&gt;argument. They emphasize that there is no such thing as&lt;br /&gt;rational, unquestionable, or objective knowledge. There&lt;br /&gt;are no determined truths as ‘science of ruling’ that can&lt;br /&gt;justify the authority of a few people as guardians. In&lt;br /&gt;addition, they believe advocates of guardianship face the&lt;br /&gt;problem of validation because they can not establish&lt;br /&gt;why their understanding of public good and social&lt;br /&gt;interests is objectively true. Robert Dahl writes:&lt;br /&gt;In judging the validity of statements about the general&lt;br /&gt;good we can and should employ reason and&lt;br /&gt;experience. Nonetheless, no assertion that ‘the public&lt;br /&gt;good definitely consists of such and such’ can be&lt;br /&gt;shown to be ‘objectively true’ in the same sense that&lt;br /&gt;many statements in mathematics, logic, or the natural&lt;br /&gt;sciences are understood to be objectively true.38&lt;br /&gt;37 There is no agreement among advocates of guardianship about the&lt;br /&gt;nature of this knowledge therefore they disagree about the qualifications&lt;br /&gt;of this small minority of rulers (guardians). For instance, in the eyes of&lt;br /&gt;Plato this knowledge consists of a set of propositions about what is best&lt;br /&gt;for the community. This knowledge is based on rational certainty that&lt;br /&gt;ordinary people have no access to. Unlike true philosophers, ordinary&lt;br /&gt;people just have opinions (uncertainties) instead of knowledge (rational&lt;br /&gt;certainty).&lt;br /&gt;From an entirely different perspective, Marxist-Leninists maintain that&lt;br /&gt;this knowledge consists of the laws of historical development based on&lt;br /&gt;‘historical materialism’ as a rigorous methodological approach rooted in&lt;br /&gt;the belief that the structure of society and human relations in all their&lt;br /&gt;forms are the product of material conditions and circumstances rather than&lt;br /&gt;of ideas, thought or consciousness. Consequently, for them the guardians&lt;br /&gt;are a few revolutionaries who know the laws and material conditions that&lt;br /&gt;rule over these historical developments.&lt;br /&gt;38 Democracy and its Critics, p. 71.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;140&lt;br /&gt;To clarify the relationship between these critiques and the&lt;br /&gt;Imami political doctrine of wilayat al-faqih we have to keep&lt;br /&gt;in mind that these criticisms are targeting ‘pure&lt;br /&gt;guardianship’, a political theory that leaves no room for&lt;br /&gt;people in political affairs while entrusting complete political&lt;br /&gt;authority to non-elected minority (guardians). In the next&lt;br /&gt;chapter it will be explained that wilayat al-faqih is&lt;br /&gt;compatible with a specific version of democracy called&lt;br /&gt;‘religious democracy’. In any case the mixture between the&lt;br /&gt;authority of a just faqih who represents both the authority of&lt;br /&gt;Islamic jurisprudence as well as the authority of the people,&lt;br /&gt;renders some of these criticisms essentially irrelevant to the&lt;br /&gt;doctrine of wilayat al-faqih. For example the second critique&lt;br /&gt;mentioned above is absolutely inapplicable to the&lt;br /&gt;guardianship of the faqih. Moreover, according to what has&lt;br /&gt;been discussed in the previous chapter about the meaning of&lt;br /&gt;absolute authority of a just faqih, the first criticism is also&lt;br /&gt;irrelevant, because the guardianship of a faqih is not beyond&lt;br /&gt;the control of a group of elected experts who supervise and&lt;br /&gt;control his usage of power and authority. In addition, it is the&lt;br /&gt;religious responsibility of all Muslims to be not neutral&lt;br /&gt;about the behavior of their governors and leaders.&lt;br /&gt;In the previous pages it is clear that the guardianship of the&lt;br /&gt;faqih is not base on the assumption that leadership is a&lt;br /&gt;specific art or knowledge that consists of a set of truths and&lt;br /&gt;skills. Therefore, the final criticism cannot undermine this&lt;br /&gt;version of guardianship either. Almost all Shi’a scholars&lt;br /&gt;believe in rationalism, hence, the problem of validation is&lt;br /&gt;very important in their eyes. This is true not only with&lt;br /&gt;regards to fundamental Islamic beliefs, but also in other&lt;br /&gt;aspects of Islamic thought including political thought. They&lt;br /&gt;Why Wilayat al-Faqih? 141&lt;br /&gt;attempt to justify their system of beliefs through rational&lt;br /&gt;arguments, as well as through traditional evidences. As a&lt;br /&gt;result, Shi’a political thought is based upon a set of true,&lt;br /&gt;valid and objective doctrines about human nature, the&lt;br /&gt;philosophy of life, and morality. It consists of a set of&lt;br /&gt;philosophical-theological statements that produce an Islamic&lt;br /&gt;world ‘s view. Indeed, this theory of state like other political&lt;br /&gt;theories is rested upon a comprehensive philosophy and the&lt;br /&gt;justification of this political thought is due to the&lt;br /&gt;justification of its moral-philosophical foundations as well.&lt;br /&gt;However, we do not believe in ‘hard rationalism’, which&lt;br /&gt;demands that all religious statements and beliefs must be&lt;br /&gt;verified by decisive rational proofs, exactly as with&lt;br /&gt;mathematics. Obviously, religious statements and beliefs&lt;br /&gt;should be categorized according to their own appropriate&lt;br /&gt;methods of justification. Islam consists of objective truths&lt;br /&gt;and valid statements; however, one can not prove its&lt;br /&gt;validation by recourse to a unique methodology (rational&lt;br /&gt;proofs). Unlike the fundamental doctrines of Islam (usul al-&lt;br /&gt;Din) that can largely be validated and justified through&lt;br /&gt;rational arguments, the validation of Islamic law is, to a&lt;br /&gt;large extent, based upon trust in the commands of God,&lt;br /&gt;which in turn can be established by appealing to rational&lt;br /&gt;proof.&lt;br /&gt;The key point is that the validity of this model of&lt;br /&gt;guardianship (wilayat al-faqih) does not acquire its&lt;br /&gt;approbation from the assumption that there is an objective&lt;br /&gt;art or science for ruling people or a specific knowledge used&lt;br /&gt;for understanding public good and finding the means for&lt;br /&gt;achieving them. Its verification is due to the validation of&lt;br /&gt;Islam’s moral, philosophical and theological foundations&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;142&lt;br /&gt;including the importance of Shari’a for our ultimate&lt;br /&gt;happiness.&lt;br /&gt;The external justification of wilayat al-faqih consists of two&lt;br /&gt;independent sides, the positive and the negative. Positive&lt;br /&gt;justification aims to justify the validation of this theory&lt;br /&gt;directly and through the emphasis on the necessity of the&lt;br /&gt;Islamic legal system and the implementation of its laws for&lt;br /&gt;the establishment of an ideal social and personal existence.&lt;br /&gt;However, the negative side refers to any efforts undertaken&lt;br /&gt;to prove the priority of this doctrine over its alternatives.&lt;br /&gt;Since the doctrine of democracy in general and the theory of&lt;br /&gt;liberal democracy in particular is the most important&lt;br /&gt;alternative theory facing guardianship, the external&lt;br /&gt;justification of our political theory would be insufficient if&lt;br /&gt;we fail to assess the relationship between the theory of&lt;br /&gt;wilayat al-faqih and democracy. The next chapter will&lt;br /&gt;attempt to make complete the external justification of this&lt;br /&gt;political doctrine by evaluating the nature of democracy and&lt;br /&gt;its possible connections to this version of guardianship.&lt;br /&gt;There is another significant reason why we should discuss&lt;br /&gt;democracy. Some Muslim thinkers maintain that Islam&lt;br /&gt;fundamentally disagrees with democracy. Hence, in their&lt;br /&gt;eyes our interpretation of imami political thought that mixes&lt;br /&gt;the guardianship of the faqih with elements of democracy is&lt;br /&gt;totally wrong and is against the foundations of Islam.&lt;br /&gt;Chapter Four&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy&lt;br /&gt;Contemporary Islamic political thought has become deeply&lt;br /&gt;influenced by attempts at reconciling Islam and democracy.&lt;br /&gt;Muslim thinkers who deal with political debates cannot&lt;br /&gt;ignore the significance of the democratic system, as it is the&lt;br /&gt;prevailing theme of modern western political thought. Thus&lt;br /&gt;it is necessary for any alternative political system, whether it&lt;br /&gt;is religious or secular, to explore its position with regards to&lt;br /&gt;democratic government. In the past, prominent Islamic&lt;br /&gt;thinkers such as Imam Khomeini, Mirza Muhammad&lt;br /&gt;Hussain Nayini and al-Kawakibi maintained that a&lt;br /&gt;democratic Islamic form of government is a compatible and&lt;br /&gt;practical thesis, believing that a constitution could protect&lt;br /&gt;and guarantee both the essential Islamic as well as&lt;br /&gt;democratic aspects of government.&lt;br /&gt;In contrast to this more optimistic approach, many&lt;br /&gt;fundamentalist thinkers argue that Islam and democracy are&lt;br /&gt;irreconcilably opposed, and that there exists a clear&lt;br /&gt;contradiction between Islamic and democratic principles.&lt;br /&gt;This opinion has emerged as a result of their perception of&lt;br /&gt;the source from which democracy came, the creed from&lt;br /&gt;which it emanated, the basis upon which it has been&lt;br /&gt;established as well as the ideas and systems of thought with&lt;br /&gt;which it is currently associated. However, opposition to&lt;br /&gt;religious democracy is not confined to fundamentalists;&lt;br /&gt;advocates of a secular state also believe that the concept of a&lt;br /&gt;democratic Islamic government is a paradoxical thesis, and&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;144&lt;br /&gt;they often refer to a selection of Islamic rulings and beliefs&lt;br /&gt;that they construe as antagonistic to the foundations and&lt;br /&gt;underlying values of the democratic system.&lt;br /&gt;Other Muslim intellectuals maintain that any apparent&lt;br /&gt;incompatibility or conflict between the ideas of religion and&lt;br /&gt;democracy are caused by the misinterpretation of Islam.&lt;br /&gt;They maintain that there is no conflict between democracy&lt;br /&gt;and an understanding of religion, which is changing, rational&lt;br /&gt;and in harmony with accepted extra-religious criteria and&lt;br /&gt;values. They believe that by reinterpreting Islam and&lt;br /&gt;constantly reviewing and renewing its beliefs, the vision of a&lt;br /&gt;religious democracy would be completely feasible and&lt;br /&gt;indeed desirable.&lt;br /&gt;Consequently the question of whether or not religious&lt;br /&gt;democracy is feasible has given rise to four major schools of&lt;br /&gt;thought amongst thinkers and Muslim political movements:&lt;br /&gt;1. The implementation of Islamic laws (shari'a) and the&lt;br /&gt;establishment of an Islamic society based upon Islamic&lt;br /&gt;values is possible within a constitutionally Islamic and&lt;br /&gt;democratic political system. The participation of citizens&lt;br /&gt;in making political decisions can serve the sociopolitical&lt;br /&gt;aims of Islam and democracy merely acts as a&lt;br /&gt;system and method for the distribution of political power&lt;br /&gt;and a means by which citizens express their opinions.&lt;br /&gt;2. There is an obvious conflict between the traditional&lt;br /&gt;juridical (fiqhi) based conception of Islam and&lt;br /&gt;democracy. The establishment of a religious democratic&lt;br /&gt;government is in need of a rethinking, reinterpretation&lt;br /&gt;and review of Islamic thought in order for it to become&lt;br /&gt;harmonious with contemporary global and philosophical&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy 145&lt;br /&gt;foundations, values and implications of democracy.&lt;br /&gt;Therefore, the practicality of religious democracy rests&lt;br /&gt;upon the reformation of traditional religious knowledge.&lt;br /&gt;3. Democracy is a system of disbelief (kufr) and is totally&lt;br /&gt;and completely irreconcilable with Islamic beliefs and&lt;br /&gt;principles. Commitment to Islam leaves no room for&lt;br /&gt;democracy.&lt;br /&gt;4. The fourth approach arrives at the same conclusion as&lt;br /&gt;the third, that the idea of a democratic Islamic&lt;br /&gt;government is paradoxical. However, unlike advocates&lt;br /&gt;of the third approach, this group emphasizes the&lt;br /&gt;desirability and justification of democracy, and insists&lt;br /&gt;that religion cannot possibly satisfy the values and&lt;br /&gt;foundations that democracy requires.&lt;br /&gt;These approaches shall be addressed in detail later in this&lt;br /&gt;Chapter, but first it is necessary to examine democracy, its&lt;br /&gt;various interpretations, its relationship to liberalism and&lt;br /&gt;some philosophical presuppositions that support this&lt;br /&gt;political doctrine. Many apprehensions surrounding the&lt;br /&gt;theory of religious democracy are caused by conceptional&lt;br /&gt;ambiguities concerning the description of democracy and its&lt;br /&gt;possible models. We must define what it is that democracy&lt;br /&gt;means, whether or not there is a unique and commonly&lt;br /&gt;agreed interpretation of democracy and what exactly&lt;br /&gt;distinguishes a democratic government from a nondemocratic&lt;br /&gt;one. Without answering such questions it will be&lt;br /&gt;impossible to come to an objective and accurate conclusion&lt;br /&gt;regarding the issue of religious democracy.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;146&lt;br /&gt;What is Democracy?&lt;br /&gt;The term democracy is derived from the Greek words&lt;br /&gt;‘demos’ (people) and ‘kratia’ (rule), so democracy literally&lt;br /&gt;means ‘rule by the people’. In other words it is a political&lt;br /&gt;doctrine in which it is believed the people possess the&lt;br /&gt;capacity needed in order to govern and regulate society. This&lt;br /&gt;idea originally emerged towards the beginning of the fifth&lt;br /&gt;century B.C. in ancient Greece, primarily amongst the&lt;br /&gt;Athenians. The city-state of Athens referred to itself as a&lt;br /&gt;democracy (from 500 B.C to 330 B.C) because all citizens&lt;br /&gt;(excluding women, slaves and non-residents) could&lt;br /&gt;participate in political decisions. Abraham Lincoln’s famous&lt;br /&gt;definition of ‘Government for the people and by the people’1&lt;br /&gt;refers to this model of participatory democracy.&lt;br /&gt;Throughout the long history of political thought, many&lt;br /&gt;different forms of democratic government have emerged and&lt;br /&gt;declined, they often came into being almost completely&lt;br /&gt;independently of one another, as Dahl writes:&lt;br /&gt;It would be a mistake to assume that democracy was&lt;br /&gt;invented once and for all, as, for example, the steam&lt;br /&gt;engine was invented...democracy seems to have been&lt;br /&gt;invented more than once, and in more than one place.&lt;br /&gt;After all, if the conditions were favorable for the&lt;br /&gt;invention of democracy at one time and place, might&lt;br /&gt;not similar favorable conditions have existed&lt;br /&gt;elsewhere? I assume democracy can be independently&lt;br /&gt;1 Daniel Webster in 1830 (thirty three years before Lincoln’s definition)&lt;br /&gt;said: people’s government, made for the people, made by the people and&lt;br /&gt;answerable to the people.&lt;br /&gt;Cf: Patterns of Democracy, p. 1.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy 147&lt;br /&gt;invented and reinvented whenever the appropriate&lt;br /&gt;conditions exist.2&lt;br /&gt;Although the root meaning of the Greek term ‘demokratia’ is&lt;br /&gt;clear and straightforward (rule by the people), it is necessary&lt;br /&gt;to properly define what constitutes ‘demos’ (the people).&lt;br /&gt;Historically the criteria of who ought to be included in&lt;br /&gt;‘demos’ to rule and participate in political decisions, as a&lt;br /&gt;citizen has been an ambiguous and contentious issue. In the&lt;br /&gt;most ancient models of democracy, ‘the people’ did not&lt;br /&gt;include all adults; women and slaves were not given the&lt;br /&gt;right to participate in the political system. And even today&lt;br /&gt;there are noticeable disagreements amongst modern&lt;br /&gt;interpretations of democracy about who should be included&lt;br /&gt;among the ‘demos’. For example, even though the principle&lt;br /&gt;of equality was firmly established in the American&lt;br /&gt;declaration of independence in 1776, the right for free men&lt;br /&gt;to vote on an equal basis was not granted until 1850. Black&lt;br /&gt;males were prevented from voting until the fifteenth&lt;br /&gt;constitutional amendment some twenty years later. And&lt;br /&gt;females, both free and enslaved, were not given the right to&lt;br /&gt;vote until the nineteenth constitutional amendment in 1920.3&lt;br /&gt;Democracy in the above mentioned forms, is an imaginary&lt;br /&gt;and inapplicable idea in large scale societies.&lt;br /&gt;In general, both advocates and critics agree that ‘rule by the&lt;br /&gt;people’ - in the truest meaning of the people – never existed&lt;br /&gt;and is never likely to exist. It is impossible for any&lt;br /&gt;democratic regime to be fully democratic, as it will always&lt;br /&gt;fall short of the criteria that emanates from its self-evident&lt;br /&gt;2 Robert Dahl, On Democracy, Yale University Press, 2000, p. 9.&lt;br /&gt;3 Sulaiman Sadek Jawad, Democracy and Shura, Published in Liberal&lt;br /&gt;Islam, p. 97.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;148&lt;br /&gt;meaning. The virtues and advantages that are mentioned to&lt;br /&gt;justify democratic government undoubtedly require&lt;br /&gt;‘participatory democracy’, which delegates decisions to&lt;br /&gt;citizens, so, in a single meeting or during an election, people&lt;br /&gt;are able to express their opinions. That is why the Greeks&lt;br /&gt;passionately supported ‘assembly democracy’. Obviously&lt;br /&gt;this system is inherently limited by practical considerations,&lt;br /&gt;in a small political unit such as a city, assembly democracy&lt;br /&gt;provides citizens with desirable opportunities for engaging&lt;br /&gt;in the process of governing themselves. This original&lt;br /&gt;conception of democracy, which was embodied in Greek&lt;br /&gt;city-states, is possibly the most appropriate to the true&lt;br /&gt;meaning of the term (excluding the fact that only a minority&lt;br /&gt;could vote). However modern democracies within nationstates&lt;br /&gt;exist on a much greater scale than before.&lt;br /&gt;Consequently, modern theories of democracy, despite their&lt;br /&gt;alleged efficiency when dealing with the problems of largescale&lt;br /&gt;societies, effectively decrease the political participation&lt;br /&gt;of the people. In modern democratic theories ‘the people’&lt;br /&gt;(demos) are replaced by ‘representatives’, so that a small&lt;br /&gt;proportion of the population are made responsible for&lt;br /&gt;looking after the affairs of the people, thus ‘rule by the&lt;br /&gt;people’ becomes ‘rule by representatives elected by a&lt;br /&gt;majority of the people’.&lt;br /&gt;A significant cause for the confusion concerning the&lt;br /&gt;meaning of ‘democracy’ at present is due to the fact that it&lt;br /&gt;has developed over several thousand years and ultimately&lt;br /&gt;stems from a variety of sources. Our understanding of the&lt;br /&gt;term ‘democracy’ is not necessarily the same as an&lt;br /&gt;Athenian's understanding of the term. Greek, Roman,&lt;br /&gt;Medieval and Renaissance notions have intermingled with&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy 149&lt;br /&gt;those of later centuries to produce a mosaic of theories and&lt;br /&gt;practices that are often deeply inconsistent.4&lt;br /&gt;If any attempt to apply the original meaning of democracy to&lt;br /&gt;the nation-state is impossibly absurd, and moreover if there&lt;br /&gt;is no commonly agreed definition of the democratic system&lt;br /&gt;amongst its advocates, it should be reasonable to concentrate&lt;br /&gt;on what at present are known as democratic states in order to&lt;br /&gt;recognize its major elements and what distinguishes them&lt;br /&gt;from a non-democratic state.&lt;br /&gt;Even though, in theory, political philosophers and theorists&lt;br /&gt;have presented various models of democracy such as&lt;br /&gt;‘elitism’, ‘participatory’, ‘pluralistic’ and ‘corporate’, in&lt;br /&gt;practice representative democracy is the prevailing norm&lt;br /&gt;among contemporary democratic systems. The major&lt;br /&gt;characteristics of modern democracy, according to Dahl are&lt;br /&gt;as follow:&lt;br /&gt;Elected officials: control over government decisions&lt;br /&gt;concerning policy is constitutionally vested in officials&lt;br /&gt;elected by citizens. Thus, modern, large-scale democratic&lt;br /&gt;governments are representative.&lt;br /&gt;Free, fair and frequent elections: elected officials are&lt;br /&gt;chosen in frequent and fairly conducted elections in which&lt;br /&gt;coercion is comparatively uncommon.&lt;br /&gt;Freedom of expression: citizens have a right to express&lt;br /&gt;themselves on political matters without danger of severe&lt;br /&gt;punishment; this includes criticism of officials, the&lt;br /&gt;government, the regime, the socio-economic order and the&lt;br /&gt;prevailing ideology.&lt;br /&gt;4 Democracy and its Critics, p. 2.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;150&lt;br /&gt;Access to alternative sources of information: citizens have&lt;br /&gt;a right to seek out alternative and independent sources of&lt;br /&gt;information from other citizens, experts, newspapers,&lt;br /&gt;magazines, books, etc.&lt;br /&gt;Associational autonomy: citizens have the right to form&lt;br /&gt;relatively independent associations or organizations,&lt;br /&gt;including independent political parties and interest groups in&lt;br /&gt;order to achieve their various rights.&lt;br /&gt;Inclusive citizenship: No adult permanently residing in the&lt;br /&gt;country and subject to its laws can be denied the rights that&lt;br /&gt;are necessary for the five political institutions listed above.5&lt;br /&gt;These help explain the political reality of democracy as a&lt;br /&gt;political system in which people participate, and as a method&lt;br /&gt;and process for making collective political decisions. The&lt;br /&gt;key point is that democracy requires 'majority rule', meaning&lt;br /&gt;that majority support should not only be necessary, but also&lt;br /&gt;sufficient for enacting laws. Some contemporary writers&lt;br /&gt;even go so far as to argue that majority rule is a definition,&lt;br /&gt;not a requirement of democracy.6 Also numerous advocates&lt;br /&gt;of democracy do not confine the role of the people to the&lt;br /&gt;mere distribution of political power, or participation in the&lt;br /&gt;process of collective political decisions (via their&lt;br /&gt;representatives), rather, they have a right to control&lt;br /&gt;governors. Mayo writes:&lt;br /&gt;In short, a political system is democratic to the extent&lt;br /&gt;that the decision makers are under effective popular&lt;br /&gt;control.7&lt;br /&gt;5 On Democracy, pp. 85-86&lt;br /&gt;6 Democracy and its Critics, p.135.&lt;br /&gt;7 H.B. Mayo, An Introduction to Democratic Theory, Oxford University&lt;br /&gt;Press, 1960, p. 60.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy 151&lt;br /&gt;In summary, democracy is a political system, which&lt;br /&gt;acknowledges the right of the people to participate in&lt;br /&gt;political decisions, either directly or indirectly through&lt;br /&gt;elected representatives, to distribute and regulate the&lt;br /&gt;political power under the rule of a majority. Political&lt;br /&gt;prerequisites such as free, fair and frequent elections,&lt;br /&gt;freedom of expression, inclusive citizenship and so on, are&lt;br /&gt;necessary in order to insure the soundness of the process.&lt;br /&gt;Democracy and Liberalism&lt;br /&gt;Most contemporary democracies are liberal democracies: a&lt;br /&gt;combination of the democratic political system, and the&lt;br /&gt;liberal political ideology, that places emphasis upon specific&lt;br /&gt;rights and values such as private possession, negative&lt;br /&gt;freedom, individualism and toleration. Therefore, liberal&lt;br /&gt;democracies embody two distinct features; the first of these&lt;br /&gt;is the liberal conception of a limited government; this is that&lt;br /&gt;the individual should enjoy a degree of protection from&lt;br /&gt;arbitrary action of government officials. This limitation of&lt;br /&gt;government - which is often referred to as the theory of&lt;br /&gt;limited democracy – is rooted in the belief that fundamental&lt;br /&gt;rights and values supported by liberalism possess a moral&lt;br /&gt;standing and philosophical grounds, that are altogether&lt;br /&gt;independent of democracy and the democratic process.&lt;br /&gt;These rights and values serve as a limitation or restriction on&lt;br /&gt;what can be enacted by means of the political system.&lt;br /&gt;Citizens are entitled to exercise certain rights and should not&lt;br /&gt;be threatened by the powers of state and governmental&lt;br /&gt;processes. Liberals believe in protecting these rights from&lt;br /&gt;infringement, even though they may be by democratic&lt;br /&gt;means.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;152&lt;br /&gt;This is why liberal attitudes towards democracy have&lt;br /&gt;historically been distinctly ambivalent. In the nineteenth&lt;br /&gt;century, liberals often perceived democracy as something&lt;br /&gt;threatening or dangerous. The central concern for liberals&lt;br /&gt;has always been that democracy could evolve to become the&lt;br /&gt;enemy of individual liberty and pluralism. The rule of the&lt;br /&gt;majority is the 'democratic solution' to conflicts that people&lt;br /&gt;have regarding their interests and opinions. This means that&lt;br /&gt;the will of the greatest number of people should prevail over&lt;br /&gt;that of the minority. In other words, democracy comes down&lt;br /&gt;to the rule of 51 percent, a prospect that Alexis de&lt;br /&gt;Tocqueville (1805-1859) famously described as ‘the tyranny&lt;br /&gt;of the majority’. Individual liberty and minority rights can&lt;br /&gt;thus potentially be crushed in the name of the people.8&lt;br /&gt;Liberals have expressed particular reservation concerning&lt;br /&gt;democracy, and have crafted a network of checks and&lt;br /&gt;balances in order to reconcile the advantages of democracy&lt;br /&gt;and fundamental liberal rights and values. This combination&lt;br /&gt;creates a model of democracy that, as Heywood says, has&lt;br /&gt;three central features:&lt;br /&gt;First, liberal democracy is an indirect and&lt;br /&gt;representative form of democracy. Political office is&lt;br /&gt;gained through success in regular elections,&lt;br /&gt;conducted on the basis of formal political equality –&lt;br /&gt;‘one person, one vote; one vote, one value’. Second, it&lt;br /&gt;is based upon competition and electoral choice. This&lt;br /&gt;is ensured by political pluralism, a tolerance of a wide&lt;br /&gt;range of contending beliefs, conflicting social&lt;br /&gt;philosophies and rival political movements and&lt;br /&gt;8 Andrew Heywood, Political Ideologies, Macmillan Press, 2nd Edition,&lt;br /&gt;1998, p. 43.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy 153&lt;br /&gt;parties. Third, liberal democracy is characterized by&lt;br /&gt;a clear distinction between the state and civil society.&lt;br /&gt;This is maintained both by internal and external&lt;br /&gt;checks on government power and the existence of&lt;br /&gt;autonomous groups and interests, and by the market&lt;br /&gt;or capitalist organization of economic life.9&lt;br /&gt;As far as our discussion – the relationship between Islam&lt;br /&gt;and democracy – is concerned, it is fundamental to&lt;br /&gt;distinguish between democracy just as a method to form a&lt;br /&gt;political system or as a process for making collective&lt;br /&gt;decisions opposed and liberal democracy as one of the&lt;br /&gt;possible models of democracy consisting of an ideological&lt;br /&gt;framework of beliefs and values. Many opponents of&lt;br /&gt;religious democracy have failed to distinguish between&lt;br /&gt;democracy as a method and liberal democracy, which in&lt;br /&gt;principal represents a particular political philosophy and&lt;br /&gt;doctrines with its own beliefs regarding human nature,&lt;br /&gt;human rights, ends and moral values.&lt;br /&gt;Benefits of Democracy&lt;br /&gt;There are many advantages that make democracy more&lt;br /&gt;desirable than any other feasible alternative political system.&lt;br /&gt;Even though to attain all of the potential benefits is beyond&lt;br /&gt;the capacity of current democracies, these ideal&lt;br /&gt;consequences cannot be overlooked. When properly&lt;br /&gt;implemented and regulated, the democratic political system&lt;br /&gt;should in theory produce a series of beneficial objectives.&lt;br /&gt;Avoiding tyranny: Democracy reduces the likelihood of a&lt;br /&gt;tyrannical or autocratic government obtaining power.&lt;br /&gt;9 Ibid., p. 46.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;154&lt;br /&gt;However, this does not mean that democracy can totally&lt;br /&gt;guarantee the prevention of oppressive or dictatorial rule, or&lt;br /&gt;that it is entirely capable of preventing injustice in society.&lt;br /&gt;For example, the Nazi party in Germany (1933-1945)&lt;br /&gt;obtained power through the manipulation of the democratic&lt;br /&gt;and free-electoral systems. Advocates of democracy argue,&lt;br /&gt;though, that in the long-term a democratic process is less&lt;br /&gt;likely to do harm to the interests of the citizens than a nondemocratic&lt;br /&gt;one.&lt;br /&gt;Protecting essential rights: Democracy guarantees its&lt;br /&gt;citizens a number of fundamental rights that undemocratic&lt;br /&gt;systems do not grant. These political rights are all necessary&lt;br /&gt;elements of democratic political institutions.&lt;br /&gt;Human development: It is claimed that democracy fosters&lt;br /&gt;human development more fully than any practical&lt;br /&gt;alternative. This claim is controversial and very difficult to&lt;br /&gt;substantiate. The only way to test this assertion is by&lt;br /&gt;measuring human development in democratic and nondemocratic&lt;br /&gt;societies.&lt;br /&gt;Political equality: Only a democratic government can&lt;br /&gt;guarantee a high degree of political equality amongst&lt;br /&gt;citizens.&lt;br /&gt;Protecting essential personal interests: Democracy assists&lt;br /&gt;people in protecting their own fundamental interests. It&lt;br /&gt;allows people to shape their life in accordance with their&lt;br /&gt;own goals, preferences, values and beliefs.10&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps the most common justification given for democracy&lt;br /&gt;is that it is essential for the protection of the general interests&lt;br /&gt;of the persons who are subject to a democratic state.&lt;br /&gt;10 On Democracy, pp. 45-57.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy 155&lt;br /&gt;However, it is worth mentioning that this attempt to justify&lt;br /&gt;democracy has been attacked by some democratic theorists.&lt;br /&gt;For example, John Plamenatz argues that we cannot compare&lt;br /&gt;governments and, as a reasonable empirical judgment,&lt;br /&gt;conclude that “the policies of one have in general done more&lt;br /&gt;than those of the other to enable their subjects to maximize&lt;br /&gt;the satisfaction of their wants”. This is particularly true if the&lt;br /&gt;governments are not of the same type and the values and&lt;br /&gt;beliefs of the people concerned differ greatly. Moreover&lt;br /&gt;people do not and should not prefer democracy to its&lt;br /&gt;alternatives because they believe it is better at maximizing&lt;br /&gt;the satisfaction of their desires. They should instead favor it&lt;br /&gt;because it provides people with certain rights and&lt;br /&gt;opportunities or reject it because it does not.11&lt;br /&gt;Foundations of Democracy&lt;br /&gt;It is widely believed that political theories have&lt;br /&gt;philosophical or metaphysical foundations that justify every&lt;br /&gt;political ethos or system amongst its alternatives. Referring&lt;br /&gt;to these foundations for the justification of political thought&lt;br /&gt;is considered important because they represent the basis&lt;br /&gt;from which the system has emanated. It is insufficient&lt;br /&gt;merely to examine publicly admitted elements and values&lt;br /&gt;that have emanated from this basis, as these have ultimately&lt;br /&gt;grown around a political doctrine and logically cannot prove&lt;br /&gt;the validity of that political theory. The prevalent approach&lt;br /&gt;maintains that the question of justification is also a question&lt;br /&gt;of truth. A valid and justified political system must be&lt;br /&gt;consistent with human nature, human common goods and&lt;br /&gt;ends and other related moral-philosophical truths. This&lt;br /&gt;method of political theorizing (also known as&lt;br /&gt;11 John Plamenatz, Democracy and Illusion, Longman, 1973, pp. 164-168.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;156&lt;br /&gt;foundationalism) is omnipresent in the history of political&lt;br /&gt;thought, especially so during the age of enlightenment, when&lt;br /&gt;thinkers such as John Locke and Emmanuel Kant presented&lt;br /&gt;rational foundations as basic elements of contemporary&lt;br /&gt;western political culture. Political foundationalism&lt;br /&gt;presupposes that there is a correct answer to every&lt;br /&gt;fundamental political question, and through the appropriate&lt;br /&gt;method of thinking, political truths are made available.&lt;br /&gt;Recently, some advocates of liberal democracy, in contrast&lt;br /&gt;to traditional supporters of democratic governments, have&lt;br /&gt;inclined to justify their political system without reference to&lt;br /&gt;a particular interpretation of human nature or any&lt;br /&gt;comprehensive moral, religious or philosophical doctrine as&lt;br /&gt;a basis. John Rawls (1921-2002) and Richard Rorty, the&lt;br /&gt;contemporary American philosopher, are to prominent&lt;br /&gt;figures of this modern anti-foundationalism movement in&lt;br /&gt;political thought. They present a ‘political’ democratic&lt;br /&gt;liberalism instead of a ‘philosophical’ one. Their&lt;br /&gt;justification for this model of political thought is not rooted&lt;br /&gt;in any specific philosophical or moral doctrine. John Rawls&lt;br /&gt;writes:&lt;br /&gt;Political liberalism, then, aims for a political&lt;br /&gt;conception of justice as a freestanding view. It offers&lt;br /&gt;no specific metaphysical or epistemological doctrine&lt;br /&gt;beyond what is implied by the political conception&lt;br /&gt;itself.12&lt;br /&gt;This attitude, its influence and its relevance to our main&lt;br /&gt;debate (Islam and democracy), will be assessed later in the&lt;br /&gt;12 John Rawls, Political Liberalism, Columbia University Press, 1996, p.&lt;br /&gt;10.&lt;br /&gt;Islam and Democracy 157&lt;br /&gt;Chapter. It is now necessary to briefly refer to some&lt;br /&gt;philosophical foundations mentioned by some thinkers to&lt;br /&gt;justify democracy as the most desirable political system.&lt;br /&gt;Intrinsic Equality&lt;br /&gt;The belief that all humanity is made intrinsically equal by&lt;br /&gt;man’s own inherent nature and instincts is a concept&lt;br /&gt;supported by the great religions of Islam, Christianity and&lt;br /&gt;Judaism. For some, however, the idea of inherent equality&lt;br /&gt;provides a justification for democracy because it indicates&lt;br /&gt;that all human beings are of equal intrinsic worth and no&lt;br /&gt;person is naturally superior to another. Locke says:&lt;br /&gt;Though I have said above...that all men by nature are&lt;br /&gt;equal, I cannot be supposed to understand all sorts of&lt;br /&gt;equality: age or virtue may give men a just&lt;br /&gt;precedence: excellency of parts and merit may place&lt;br /&gt;others above the common level...and yet all this&lt;br /&gt;consists with equality, which all men are in, in respect&lt;br /&gt;of jurisdiction or dominion over one another, which&lt;br /&gt;was the equality I there spoke of, as proper to the&lt;br /&gt;business in hand, being that equal right that every&lt;br /&gt;man hath, to his nature freedom, without being&lt;br /&gt;subjected to the will or authority of any other man.13&lt;br /&gt;The politically implicit meaning of the last sentence of this&lt;br /&gt;quotation is that the good or interests of each person must be&lt;br /&gt;given equal consideration, hence, people have a right to&lt;br /&gt;express their will and no one has the right to make a decision&lt;br /&gt;on behalf of them except with their permission. For&lt;br /&gt;13 John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, Peter Laslett (ed),&lt;br /&gt;Cambridge University Press, 1970, p. 322.&lt;br /&gt;Shia Political Thought&lt;br /&gt;158&lt;br /&gt;advocates of democracy who refer to the intrinsic equality,&lt;br /&gt;every guardianship model of government, which entrusts the&lt;br /&gt;authority to a few people (guardians) instead of people&lt;br /&gt;themselves, must therefore be incompatible with the idea of&lt;br /&gt;the intrinsic equality of people. Locke ascribed the intrinsic&lt;br /&gt;quality to ‘men’ instead of ‘the people’ because in his own&lt;br /&gt;era the theory that men alone qualify as ‘active citizens’ was&lt;br /&gt;common (As indicated earlier, it was not until the twentieth&lt;br /&gt;century that women gained the right to vote). It is also worth&lt;br /&gt;mentioning that Kant too firmly supported political freedom&lt;br /&gt;and according to his view, the legislative authority should be&lt;br /&gt;placed in the hands of a representative assembly, whose&lt;br /&gt;members are elected by a majority of voters in each district.&lt;br /&gt;However, Kant's franchise is restrictive. He assumes that it&lt;br /&gt;should extend only to adult males who own property and&lt;br /&gt;that these persons alone qualify as ‘active citizens’. Others&lt;br /&gt;are merely ‘passive citizens’ and while they must be assured&lt;br /&gt;the same civil rights and legal equality as everyone else, they&lt;br /&gt;should not be allowed to vote.14&lt;br /&gt;If we were to overlook this restriction and ascribe the&lt;br /&gt;intrinsic equality to all human beings (men and women), it&lt;br /&gt;could not justify democracy as the best desirable political&lt;br /&gt;system, as essentially there is no necessary connection&lt;br /&gt;between admitting intrinsic equality and the necessity of a&lt;br /&gt;democratic state. Robert Dahl states that intrinsic equality is&lt;br /&gt;quite compatible with guardianship as well. He
