Towards a semi-democratic authority: Ayatollah Yusef Sanei’s approach to the theory of guardianship of the jurist

Abstract

ABSTRACT A major Shīʿī political system in the contemporary world is based on the theory of the ‘Guardianship of the Jurist’ (velāyat-e faqīh). The theory maintains that the most senior Shīʿī cleric, who is the deputy of the Hidden Imam, is not only the religious, legal, and judicial authority but should also be the head of an Islamic state. This article explores contemporary Shīʿī Iranian cleric Ayatollah Yusuf Sanei’s approach to this theory. The article demonstrates that Sanei was a pro-velāyat-e faqīh theorist following the birth of Islamic Republic, but came to criticise it after the rise of the Reformist Movement in Iran and the ascension of Mohammad Khatami to presidency until his death in 2020. The article argues that, as a reformist Shīʿī scholar, Sanei challenged various aspects of the theory in the last two decades of his life. It concludes that, rather than being an anti-velāyat-e faqīh theorist, Sanei argues for a ‘conditional’ guardianship theory since he considered the legitimacy of a system based on the velāyat-e faqīh to be heavily dependent on public consent rather than God’s will.