Explaining the Territory of Velayat in the Political Fiqh of Shia

According to the fiqh of Shia, the place of governance is discussed in two periods: first, at the time of the presence of Ma’soum (sinless imam) in which the right of governing is fixed for him, and then, in the period of the absence of Ma’soum during which there is disagreement on the governance of him among Shia leaders. During the time of absence, there are “positions” for the Shia leaders which are: the position of Ifta (issuing “Fatva” (Islamic verdict)) and Islamic reference, the position of Ghaza (judgment) and the position of Velayat (leadership). There is no disagreement on the consistency of the two criteria of Ifta and Ghaza of Shia leaders but there is disagreement about the criterion of Velayat. Supposing that their Velayat is proved, there is disagreement on their scope of Velayat and their penetration range. In this paper, with referring to Fiqhoriented texts of the Shia and expressing the first and last Shia leaders, we explain the position of Shia leaders (Faqihs) at the time of the absence of Ma’soum and then investigate the scope of Velayat and penetration range of Faqihs on basis of the lessons from Shia fiqh. In the final part, we analyze the penetration scope of them in three steps: 1. definite cases within the penetration scope of them, 2. definite cases out of their penetration scope, and 3. Cases over which there is disagreement among them.