Exploring the Capacity of the Rule of Jurisprudent in in Sunni Political Thought

Finding the similarities and qualifications of the ruler and between the political structure of Sunni Islam and velayat-e faqih (rule of jurisprudence) in Shia Islam is the main concern of this research. The principles of the legitimacy of the rule of jurisprudent (velayat-e faqih), according to majority of religious scholars are divine, while the Sunni caliph’s legitimacy is popular-divine. By studying velayat-e faqih one understands that the conditions for practical establishment of the rule of jurisprudent in Shia Islam are almost the same as those for a Sunni Caliph. Sunnis' emphasis on succession to the Prophet, necessity of obeying him, implementation of Sharia and ijtihad (individual inference) as a necessary qualification of the ruler are are the same as the bases for velayet-e faqih in Shia Islam. To present a religious model of a ruler to the Sunni world, it suffices to review the conditions and qualifications mentioned by great Sunni theologians. A closer look at these conditions and qualifications would reveal that a Sunni ruler needs to have ejtihad (power of individual inference from the text), justice, and management capability which all overlap with the conditions of velayat-e faqih. Therefore, the qualifications of velayt-e faqih can be comparative studied with the conditions and qualifications of an ideal ruler in Sunni.