ШИИТСКИЙ ИСЛАМИЗМ КАК ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЙ ФАКТОР

Abstract

The article deals with the characteristic features of Shiite Islamism as a modern religious and political movement. The authors analyse the classical Muslim conceptions of relationship between secular and spiritual authorities distinguishing between the models adopted in Sunnism and Shiism. If the key problem of Sunni political philosophy is the position of the Caliph, a religious and political leader of the Muslims, then the Shiites do not recognize caliphates and clearly distinguish between secular and spiritual power. The theocratic Shiite model appeared only in the XX century and only in the Islamic Republic of Iran since Shiism is very limited in other Muslim countries.