An Analysis of the Origin of Political Theology in Alavi Discourse

Political theology, as one of the branches of theology, organizes one of the pillars of Shiite political thought. There is disagreement among contemporary scholars as to whether political discourse is a relatively emerging or entrenched science. To validate the views of both groups of scholars, a historical study of the evolution of political discourse is necessary. The present article has tried to study the origin of this knowledge and the first Islamic figure who succeeded in designing and establishing this knowledge with the help of analytical citation method. The results of this research indicate that the origin of the knowledge of political theology goes back to the event of Saqifa and the issue of Imamate;  And Imam Ali was the first Islamic figure to establish this knowledge. According to the narrations recorded in the sources, the era of the emergence and emergence of political discourse dates back to the time of the death of the Prophet (PBUH). However, after the incident of Saqifa, following the political atmosphere of that day, there was not enough opportunity for the Amir al-Mo'menin to raise and explain the issue of Imamate. However, with the arrival of the caliphate, this restriction became relatively less, and as a result, the Imam found a better opportunity to re-design and establish the "principle of divine Imamate" within the framework of political theology.