Islamic Government in the Periods of Occultation from the Perspective of Safavid Muslim Scholars

The establishment of an Islamic government and the enforcement of related rules and regulations is one of the most challenging issues in the periods of occultation. It has been of great concern for Shi‘a scholars since the end of Minor Occultation so that they have made attempts to provide an appropriate solution for this problem according to theQur’anic verses and narrations. The answers Shi‘a scholars given to such questions as whether or not the establishment of an Islamic government in the period of occultation is essentially permitted, and if permitted, who has the right to establish the government, and if not permitted, what the Shi‘a people have to do to run their own affairs, whether they are permitted to take a tyrant as their ruler, what is the duty of Muslim scholars in this regard, and the like vary. Since the Muslim scholars in Safavid period had the opportunity to enforce Islamic rules and regulations and, in many cases, their Islamic decrees on the necessity of obedience were identical with the Safavid king’s orders and in some cases the Safavid king was not also able to defy Islamic decrees, careful attention to the above questions has become so important that the present article attempts to find an answer for the questions raised by the Muslim scholars in the Safavid times.