A Review of the Status and Manifestations of the Theory of Velayat-e Faqih in the Shiite's Thought

The issue of Imamate and leadership in society and the necessity for establishing an Islamic government is considered as one of the most fundamental principles of the Shiite political thought. In the view of the Shiite, Imamate and leadership are among the issues which, in terms of some elements and components such as totality, essentiality, permanence and necessity, are presented in contradictory forms, but both share the same orientation in the time of the infallible's presence or during his occultation. The theory of Velayat-e Faqih is theoretically structured in the form of Imamate and his true guardianship for Imamate of the Muslim's prophet in the time of the presence of the infalliable Imam (AS); after him, it is structured as Imam Ali and the other Imams (AS), and in the absence of the infalliable Imam, in the form of vicariate of a fully qualified Faqih.The basic assumption that matters is that, from the early days of the occultation, the issue of the Velayat-e Faqih in organizing Muslim's social life took root in the Shia scholars’ epistemology as a determined system, but in different periods of time, it has emerged differently in proportion to the interactions and relations of jurisprudential system with the ruling monarchy. In the era of Imam Khomeini, with all preliminary stages provided, such as people’s unity of word in supporting Imam Khomeini's political discourse, the theory of Velayat-e Faqih manifested in its full sense, i.e. the appointed and absolute guardianship of the fully qualified Faqih.