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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Shia Political Thought Why Wilayat al-Faqih? In the previous chapter, we encountered the absolute priority of God as a fundamental component of Imami political doctrine. After all, it is He who has accorded the Holy Prophet and the Imams (peace be upon them) the authority to lead and govern the Islamic society (ummah), and ‘ Wilayat al-Faqih ’ is an extension of this authority.

However, while the Wilayat of the Imams has traditionally been verified according to Islamic theology (kalam), the guardianship of the jurists ( Wilayat al-Faqih ) is almost exclusively discussed within the sphere of jurisprudence ( fiqh ). Hence the universal authority of the faqih ( Wilayat al- amma) must be substantiated according to ijtihad (juridical reasoning).

This method shall be referred to as an “internal justification” as it is intended to convince those who already accept the basic principals of the Shi’a creed. On the other hand, Wilayat al-Faqih , as a political model of guardianship, must be able to justify itself amongst other political ideologies; especially the democratic theories that essentially criticize any guardianship form of state.

This approach is what we shall refer to as the “external justification” for the theory of Wilayat al-Faqih , and we shall return to it later. The internal justification relies primarily on religious traditions narrated from the Holy Prophet and Imams, although some jurists also refer to rational arguments as well. Consequently, from the basis of Islamic jurisprudence, the authority of the faqih may be established according to sunnah (traditions) and reason (daleel al-aql).

Traditional Evidences for Wilayat al-Faqih Imami jurists usually refer to a set of reports from the and the Imams to establish Wilayat al- amma for the fuqaha. We shall examine a few of them here. A Signet Letter (Tuqih)63 from the Absent Imam One of the most reliable traditions adduced by scholars[^1] for the purpose of this discussion is a report from the twelfth and absent Imam (May God hasten his reappearance).

Shaykh al-Sadiq transmits in his book ‘Ikmal al-Deen wa itmam an-Ni'ma’ that Ishaq ibn Yaqub wrote a letter to the absent Imam asking him about some concerns that he had. The Imam's deputy (Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Umari) conveyed the letter to him.