Naeini, Fiqh and Popular Governance

Governance, as a process in which activities related to public authority are carried out, enjoys the nature of the people if in that process, the people are considered to have rights. In the Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) literature, despite the wide coverage of governance, the concept of governance in general and popular governance in particular has been less dealt with. However, it seems that Mohaghegh Naeini has paid due attention to popular governance in his precious book Tanbih al-Umah va Tanzih al-Millah. The present paper is an exploration of Naeini's contribution in the production of jurisprudential literature about popular governance. According to the author, in this book, Naeini has recognized at least the right of the people in the governance process in the four stages of establishment of governance, participation in governance, supervision of governance and transformation in governance. In this regard, relying on Naeini's jurisprudential efforts, we can talk about the capacity of Fiqh to present a jurisprudential model of popular governance and argue about the popular nature of governance.