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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Short Treatise on The Guardianship of the Jurist Textual Evidence which supports the General Guardianship of the Jurist Proving the general guardianship of the jurist does not need any textual evidence once the previous seven principles are established. Therefore, the textual evidence that we will discuss in this chapter is really nothing but supportive evidence for what we have already established.

Therefore, if some of the chains of the coming narrations are not authentic, or if the indication of some of the narrations is arguable, it does not harm the concept we are trying to prove. Some scholars have denied the general guardianship of the jurist- including al-Muhaqqiq al-Khurasani [^1] and al-Sayyid al-Khui [^2], as well Sheikh al-Ansari who said that it would be easier to prove that pigs could fly- because of the deficiency of the textual evidence.

This is out of place, because the textual evidence is nothing more than supportive evidence for the general guardianship of the jurist. As for the concept itself, it is one of the self-evident propositions, which need to specific evidence to be proven. A.

Evidence from the Holy Qur’an 1-Allah, the Exalted, has said: “ And hold fast all of you together, to the Rope of Allah and be not disunited …” [^3] It is obligatory for the believers to hold on to the rope of Allah in all their affairs, the most important of these affairs being governance. The rope of Allah during the era of occultation is the qualified jurist, who is the general representative of the Awaited Imam (atfs).

* *2- “And from among you there should be a group of people inviting to all that is good and enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and these it is that shall be successful ” [^4] 3- “ O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in charge of the affairs from among you ” [^5] Using this Ayah as supportive evidence depends on a few points: -firstly: that the apparent meaning of ‘affair’ ( ‘al-amr’ in ‘ulil amr’ ) is leadership, governance and running the affairs of the community.

The use of ‘affair’ (amr) in this way is very common. The Commander of the Faithful (as) said: “when I took up the affair (amr), a group broke its allegiance…” [^6]. He (as) also said: “the most worthy among people for this affair (amr) is the strongest of them for it, and the most knowledgeable of the Command of Allah in its regard.” [^7] .