Detailed Answer The Noble Prophet (ص) of Islam had three mandates...

Detailed Answer The Noble Prophet (ص) of Islam had three mandates: To propagate Allah’s (awj) message; teaching the laws of religion and guiding the people; To judge between people when they differed; To lead and manage society. All of these qualities and functions exist for the jurisprudents in the time of the occultation of the Imam.

They too have three functions: Acting as judges and resolving disputes that arise between people; Giving edicts in law and expounding the general rules of the Divine law for the people. This can be considered a type of guidance of the people; Leadership. Wilayat is a part of marja’iyat in the culture of the Shi’as.

The great maraji’ not only guided people with respect to the divine Law, but they also led people in the particular problems of society—even judging between people in particular matters and domestic disputes. But if we separate the two matters and associate the former with marja’iyyat then a number of questions arise: Is it permissible to separate marja’iyyat and wilayat ?

In other words is it possible that one individual is the one people refer to in the general matters of the law while another person is the leader of the Islamic nation? If we suppose that it is permissible, then is it possible to have multiple maraji’ and leaders? Is there a difference between them in this regard? If it be possible to separate the marji’ and the leader, is it possible to follow other than the leader in rules relating to society and the individual?

Before we answer the aforementioned questions it is necessary for us to give a brief explanation of the “edict” that the leader issues. When the jurisprudent refers to the religious sources in order to obtain the general rule of Allah (awj) regarding a certain problem and uses the special techniques that exist for obtaining the rules of the Law, it is called giving an edict or “fatwa”.

When the leader pays attention to the general rules of Allah (awj), the various systems in Islam, and the conditions of the time, and according to these delineates a person’s or a specific group’s responsibility with regards to a certain matter, this is called giving an order or a “hukm”. In doing this, he not only pays attention to the general rules of Islam and the lofty aspirations of the religion, but also to the specific conditions that exist in that time.

As long as those conditions exist, the order issued by him or his representative is binding.