A Research into the Nature of a Governmental Ruling

Having accepted the necessity of the establishment of an Islamic government and thus the idea of total jurisdiction of a religious authority for issuing governmental rulings, one should examine whether these rulings are recognized as primary rulings or secondary ones or they are rulings of a third kind alongside the other two kinds. This study is required on the ground that if a governmental ruling is considered as being of a nature independent of primary and secondary rulings, this will serve as an index either to determine whether people should be hold responsible to act on it or to specify the framework for drawing up a governmental ruling and the extent to which it has to be exercised. This question is also raised: If there is a conflict between a governmental ruling and the other two rulings, what should we do and which one takes precedence over the other?
Drawing upon a descriptive-analytic and library research methods, this inquiry seeks to provide an answer to the above question. The findings of the research show that a governmental ruling is neither of a primary nor a secondary kind, but a particular kind having an independent nature. In case there is a conflict between these kinds of rulings, and given the fact that the element of expediency has an outstanding role in formulating a governmental ruling and that this ruling serves the public interests maintaining the ruling system, the governmental ruling necessarily takes precedence over the other ones. Thus all people (whether the religiously obligated or the religious jurists) are obliged to accept it and act upon it.