The Doctrine of “Wilayat al-Faqih”: Interpretations, Theoretical Base and Genesis

Abstract

After the 1979 “Islamic Revolution” which brought to power Ayatollah Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini Iran was indoctrinated by the ideology of “wilayat al-faqih” (guardianship of the Islamic theologist). This brand was not new in Shia Islam: it emerged centuries ago as an idea that all believers should be under the guidance of Islamic theologists until the end of the period of the Major Occultation (al-ghaybah as-sughra). This age started when in 941 the last contactee with the twelfth and the last of the Imams — Muhammad Ibn al-Hassan al-Mahdi, who had disappeared in 874, deceased. The Shias believe that Imam al-Mahdi is still alive and will reappear in the end of times. The term “faqih” in Arabic means a person who deeply knows or understands something. In the context of the Islamic tradition it designates a sage capable of explaining the Quran and other recognized religious texts. The practical exigencies of the life of state, society and individual, as al-Mahdi’s occultation grew longer and longer, raised the status of the faqihs who faced the necessity of resolving contemporary issues. Some of them even made claims to exercise political power which eventually were embodied by the modern ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Even those Shia religious authorities who did not support the ambitions of the absolute guardianship (al-wilaya al-mutlaqa) that included state-ruling, were unable to stay outside politics. The brightest example of this is the figure of the spiritual leader of the Iraqi Shias Ayatollah Ali as-Sistani who is respected and listened to not only by Iraqi politicians, but by foreign state officials as well.