An introduction to the Quranic theory of social guardianship

The importance of guardianship can be understood from the emphasis of the Holy Quran and Islamic traditions. The guardianship, as a key and central proposition of religion, has various dimensions. Among all the dimensions and types of guardianship, the Holy Quran expresses a kind of guardianship among the members of society, which is mentioned in the present article as social guardianship. Social guardianship or the guardianship of individuals over each other is a transverse dimension of guardianship that is formed and categorized according to infidelity or faith and action accordingly. The present study has used a thematic interpretation method with a descriptive-analytical approach to investigate the Quranic theory of social guardianship. This dimension of guardianship brings great results in the knowledge of Islamic humanities, especially sociology and it answers many of the basic questions in these sciences, which are referred to as theoretical and practical functions. Its theoretical functions are such as defining society and explaining the originality of the individual in relation to society and practical functions such as social supervision and sacred collective actions.