Nature of Imamte in Shi'i jurisprudence: wilaya

The Imams’ comprehensive knowledge of Shari 'ah was uniquely characterized to establish certitude in full understanding of the essence of legal issues and arrive at rulings that met with the intended truth of Laws promulgated by the Divine, technically called kashf wdqi '.²⁰ Evidently founded on the concept of takldf, it was inherently within the Imam’s extensive authority or wilaya to determine licit from illicit, and the incumbent duties of the faithful.

A certain degree of non-Imam human agency allowance, famously known as Ijtihad, is thus perceived to exist and intervene in not only correctly grasping what those general rul­ings entail, but also developing various theories attendant to the discovery of rules on newly encountered issues.

2.1 Practical reason: realm of politics

Ha’iri Yazdi (d. 1999) believes that ‘governance, administration of state, and daily man­agement of people’s affairs such as their economic and security needs, are all variables and substrata of 'aql al-'amald (practical reason), constantly subject to change and oscillation’.²² Constant change, the governing rule of all empirical experiences, inevitably creates varied circumstances where the relation between those variables and general precepts of Shari'ah takes new forms, and every new form creates new issues subject to new rulings.

Technically, recognition of the nature and specifications of subjects in Islamic law is usually made through, among other things, ' urf wa-'ada (social custom and habit) that can be either mm (general) or khass (particular). In other words, social customs and habits define and delineate the contours of a subject.

UsUlTs hold that there is an original conformity between rational findings and the Divine commands, verifiable in the dialectical relation between husn (beauty) or what elevates the soul and qubh (ugliness) or what causes its downfall, on the one hand, and rational people’s assessment of a certain act’s maslaha (benefit) and mafsada (loss) on the other, which amounts to various degrees of congruity between the two. Therefore, people’s recognition of subjects through 'aql al-' amalT (practical reason) and recurrent practice of social customs and habits (determinations of rules) are indispensable elements of any juridical opinion.

Politics and state embody adjusting and compromising communicative actions transacted between the ruler and the ruled that establish consent of the governed and justice in the legitimately imposed power, all being manifestations of practical reason. The main concept is ‘justice’. Similar to other transactions, there should exist a balance between the parties’ rights and obligations in politics. The Qur'an clearly states that rising to establish justice is a charge laid on individuals, educated and guided by the prophets who have brought clear signs such as Book and Balance.²³ The realm of practical reason, therefore, is primarily yet another locus for the Imam to educate and guide, awaken and warn, invite and train the people on the basis of what the Prophet, with his superior morality and sense ofjustice, taught by the Book.

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