Citizens’ right to security: The difference between its nature and effects

Undoubtedly, security is one of the natural needs and one of the most important fundamental rights of citizens, but in explaining its nature and, consequently, its territory and effects, there is a decisive difference between the Muslim intellectual system and the ideas accepted and propagated in the Western world. Western theorists consider security as a two-sided issue composed of objective and subjective dimensions, and they also give importance to the external realization of security; for this reason, discussions about the right to security in today’s world are usually focused on the security of life and property, and ultimately on political and social security; while from the point of view of Islamic law, security seems to be originally a mental issue, and this aspect of security takes precedence over its external aspect. This difference in nature has caused that the issue of moral and cultural security be of more importance in the jurisprudential and legal system governing the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran and be viewed in a special way.  This article is organized in two sections; in the first one, after introducing the two-sided nature of security and its principles in international law, the essential difference of this right from the Islamic point of view are explained and then, in the second section, the researchers will examine how this different view of security will influence the role of psychological aspect in defining crimes against security, generalizing the concept of insecurity and the means to create it, and finally, the need to deal with moral and cultural insecurity.