The Study of Possibility of Establishing Imamate-Ummah (the Islamic Community) System in Cyberspace

Cyberspace as a real space consists in the extension of human community in the context of information and communications technology. Taking optimal advantage of available investment opportunities of cyberspace for the revival of some foundations of the Islamic political system such as the Imamate-Ummah system is worthy of considerable attention. The chief question of this research is whether or not this new realm of human life can have the capacity of establishing a Imamate-Ummah system. Drawing upon the descriptive-analytic and library research methods, as well as the Internet in collecting data, this research, having explained the position of the Imamate-Ummah system in Islam by comparing it with the nation state originated from The Peace (treaty) of Westphalia and by making in-depth analysis of the features of cyberspace, considers it possible to establish the aforementioned system in cyberspace. Having illustrated the new study space, the research seeks to explain the most important implications of the establishment of Imamate-Ummah in cyberspace with emphasis on the pivotal role which the Organization of Islamic Cooperation can play in this regard.