Reading Islamic Government in the Realm of Political Theory

Dr. Mahdi Haeri Yazdi, within the framework of the theory of negative agency, believes in the sanctity of governance by prophets and Imams (peace be upon them) and holds that it is the people themselves who, after being guided by the sublime teachings of the prophets and gaining empirical knowledge of matters, must rise for justice and establish a just governmental system according to geographical, political, and other conditions. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi also asserts that to express the Shia opinion regarding the foundations of legitimacy of rulers and governments after the Prophet, it is better to consider two periods: the era of the presence of the infallible Imam and the era of occultation. According to him, during the occultation, the legitimate ruler is a jurisprudent who meets all qualifications and is appointed for governance based on scriptural mandates. Based on the theory of the Guardianship of the Jurist, he believes that the legitimacy of every system and every office in Islamic government depends on divine permission and is maintained throughout by the permission of the Guardian Jurist.