Party in Islamic Political Thought: a Theological, Legal, and Philosophical Approach

Party in its general sense may be an ancient phenomenon that is not exclusive to any civilization. The term "party" found a new meaning in political literature after the construction of western liberal democracy. After the formation of new parties in Islamic societies, there has always been considerable debate among political thinkers over the nature, reason, quality, and legitimacy of party in Islamic political thought.Exploring the literal and idiomatic meaning of the term "party" in Islamic, western and ancient political literature, studying their foundations, and offering a new and general meaning for it, the present paper tries to expound the status of party in the view of Islamic theology, fiqh, and philosophy.The existence of parties in Islamic society and the freedom of action they enjoy is taken to be a positive phenomenon because legal and rational demands in Islamic principles are recognized with the existence of parties. The aim of this paper is to scrutinize the proposed hypothesis by relying on Islamic resources and using a descriptive-analytical method.