A New Approach to the Right of Retaliation for Minorities with a Glance to the Theory of Jurist Guardianship

The right of retaliation for religious minorities in Islam in the case of a murder against them by a Muslim is a subject required to be restudied once more. The requirement of such an investigation is more clear nowadays under the sovereignty of the jurist guardianship based on the teachings of the household of the prophet. This article, a restudy of the verses of the Quran and the narrations relating to the subject, has lead to a new conclusion that the religious minorities have the private right of retaliation whose enforcement is due to the Islamic ruler of the society. Due to this study their right of retaliation is not regarded as a case of the domination of non-Muslim over a Muslim which is forbidden in the Quran neither the narrations deny the subject and those tradition which seems negating this right are justified as something issued for assimilation. On the other hand, having a socio- political glance at the subject, we get to the conclusion that the right of retaliation is a private right and the Imam of the society has the right of enforcement of this law or leaving it fir blood money in different cases. Therefore the narrations concerning the subject seem contradictory.