Non-Muslims’ Rights in the Jurisprudential Approach of a Contemporary Shīʿī cleric: Ayatollah Yūsef Ṣāneʿī’s View

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the approach of contemporary Shīʿī Iranian cleric Ayatollah Yūsef Ṣāneʿī to the rights of non-Muslims. It addresses his ideas with regard to three key issues: 1) the notion of the ritual impurity (najāsat) of non-Muslims and interfaith marriage; 2) the inheritance of a Muslim and a non-Muslim; and 3) the retaliation (qiṣāṣ) and the blood money of a Muslim and a non-Muslim. The article demonstrates that Ṣāneʿī, as a reformist Shīʿī scholar, uses a variety of methods to challenge traditional Shīʿī jurisprudential rulings about people of other faiths, arguing that their rights should be enhanced considerably. Ṣāneʿī’s ideas, as will be argued, represent a significant break with dominant Shīʿī views concerning the rights of people of other faiths. His ideas have the potential to eliminate some of the inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslims prescribed in traditional jurisprudential literature, and to increase social relationships between Muslims and people of other faiths.