The Imams...

The Imams, whose authority is established upon their explicit designation by the Prophet, delegate and entrust a degree of their authority to those who possess specific qualities (such as justice and jurisprudence in the case of the scholar). Therefore, whereas the Imams were specifically appointed as guardians of legitimate authority, the jurists are not explicitly selected by name, but rather implicitly chosen as those who possess the correct qualities for leadership.

God has appointed prophets to run humanity in spiritual as well as in social and political matters. The last prophet appointed imams as legitimate holders of authority in religious as well as in political and social matters. Therefore, it is only logic to assume that in an era of occultation, the present Imam appointed his deputies to order in matters religious as well as political and social.

The doctrine of "guidance of the jurisprudent"( wilayat-e-faqih) forms the central axis of contemporary Shia political thought, advocating a guardianship based political system, which relies upon a just and capable jurist to assume the leadership of the government in the absence of an infallible Imam.

Today, in a time of the Hidden Imam, the guidance of the jurisprudent is the authority designated to learned jurist so that they may direct and advise the Muslim community in the absence of an infallible Imam. This authority derives from the Imam; therefore, the believers have the religious duty to obey their commands as the only legitimate authority.

The concept of leadership encompasses many degrees of authority, summing up to the total scope of the scholar's vice regency in the absence of an infallible Imam. Some erroneously assume that it is something new and in essence distinguishable from the traditional status of marjayat.

This misunderstanding is caused by a lack of attention to the definitions of and the relationship between 'wilayat' and 'marjayat' and the distinction between 'fatwa' and 'hukm' (the commands of faqih as wali, leader). This misunderstanding comes from the wrong conception that the role of a marja'a taqlid is solely a juridical authority to whom the Muslim community may refer to in the case of religious questions and commandments concerning the practical and personal side of Islam.

However, this definition is not comprehensives as it concentrates itself exclusively on one of the legitimized functions of a jurist, while overlooking the others.