Article 8 and the Necessity of Establishing an Organization for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil

The measures taken in the domain of enjoining good and forbidding evil in the past three decades bear witness to the fact that this legal and Islamic issue has not acquired the status which it ought to have in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The implementation of this important article depends on the extent to which it is institutionalized and plentiful evidence can be offered in this concern. Article 8 is also considered a legal basis for setting up a policy-making institution in this field. Setting up on institution or organization of this kind requires a number of things which are as follows: comprehensiveness of each of the three pivotal issues stipulated in the article 8: direct relation with the Supreme Leader, independence from the three powers of the government and having a suitable executive guarantee. This paper seeks to confirm the necessity of setting up an organization for enjoining good and forbidding evil and explains its duties and discretion. It also stresses that such an organization should have a legal status and become a suitable popular base. This organization should have certain policy making, planning and coordinating strategy in the realm of enjoining good and forbidding evil and should not interfere with affairs of other organizations, institutions and associations. Such an organization can guarantee the implementation of the article 8 and, of course, the legal actions taken by the Assembly of Experts, the three powers (the legislative, the executive and the judiciary) can play a key role in this respect.