Journal of Islamic Political Studies
Volume:2 Issue: 3, Winter Spring 2020

Islam has a political and social aspect in its essence and by no means, it is not considered as a purely spiritualistic and individualistic religion.  The political legacy of Muhammad (PBUH) appears both in his holy book and in his nation and the political community that he provided to Medina during his ten years of migration.  Hence, political affairs are intertwined with the history of Islam, and not only the social developments of Muslims, but also many religious divisions are influenced by political affairs. The present article is to take the role and function of politics, and political affairs into consideration in the Shiite world and in the early centuries of Islam and the time of the presence of the innocent and innocent Shiite Imams.  The author tries to study the role of politics in the emergence of Shiism, and the sectarianization of Shiites by referring to narrative and historical sources and analyzing them appropriately, and by reviewing the political affairs and policy of Shiite Imams, the evidence shows that these political behaviors can be classified according to which political approaches and strategies. The consideration of the identity of Shiites on the eve of the beginning of the Absence and the political strategy drawn by the Imams for the Shiites in the era of the Absence is also the focus of this article.

If governance is to be designated into two respective categories, namely the traditional and modern periods, the foundations of political thought in Shiite Iran have assuredly been established on the traditional governance approach. Monarchy and Sharia constitute the two fundamental elements in the traditional governance archetype. The connotation of law in this concept is defined as the same as Sharia, and the monarchy is in fact the implementation of the law. This concept, which culminated in the Safavid period (1501-1736 AD) and later prevailed as a valid belief in this land, is the basis of Iranian political thought in the contemporary period. The jurists likewise attained a remarkable position in the traditional governance parallel with the perceived significance of Sharia as the law, and in some cases, shifted the political power balance in their favor. Nevertheless, the entirety of traditional governance fell into a state of turmoil and decline and underwent many transformations in the face of the emerging and potent rival of modernity. This article strives to study this occurrence of great magnitude in the most remarkable works of this period's intellectuals, including Mullah Sadra and Mullah Mohsen Fayz Kashani, and assess the relevance and consequences of this occurrence on the current presumed new situation.

This article strives to present the theory of transcendent security and further elaborate on the theoretical foundations that constitute the theory. In line with the definition, the article discusses and eventually provides an answer to the question of “what is Islamic security theory?” by means of theorizing, inference, and citation methods, respectively. The conceptual and theoretical foundations of the arguments are based on the conceptual and theoretical frameworks of two separate fitrahs (innate natures). The concept, aspects, reference, and levels of security, the concept of friends and the foes, and the approaches to acquire security are defined based on the said framework.

Different approaches and perspectives can be suggested on the feasibility and dismissal of the Islamic theory of international relations. The present paper suggests that the processing of the Islamic theory of international relations based on the assumptions derived from Islamic texts and doctrines employing logic, and a valid and justified Islamic method is conceivable within the framework of the Islamic worldview through criticizing and further reflection of the arguments and claims of those who dismiss the feasibility of the Islamic theory of international relations. This Islamic founding theory holds an explanatory, developmental, critical, and normative nature, the purpose of which is to describe, explain, understand, and interpret the existing international relations and further illustrate how it evolves and shifts and then establishes the convenient international order.

In monotheistic cosmology, the world accommodates general characteristics that distinguish it from the other cosmologies. Explaining some of these features and their respective implications on the political lifestyle is of particular necessity and importance. The present paper strives to answer the question of whether there exists a logical relation between cosmology and lifestyle or not. Further, do different worldviews [and cosmologies] lead to different lifestyles in politics? Research on the advanced conclusions and outputs of this issue is elaborated hereunder.

Leadership in Islamic society is a concept that has a high status in Ibn Sina’s view, because the leader of the Islamic society must be able to lead Muslims in the affairs of this world and the next world. To this end, he must be eligible for the knowledge proportionate to this serious task. Ibn Sina’s desired knowledge is not only the conventional knowledge that is accessible to everyone, but also there must be a decent inward mechanism so that man can achieve the highest level of knowledge and habitual intelligence, aka intellectus adeptus. Therefore, it is the stage where human intellect relates to active intellect which can be sought in the other world, providing us with a proper understanding of the happiness in the hereafter; and in these circumstances that the leadership of the Islamic society qualified to be at the top of Muslim affairs. What Ibn Sina proposes lies within the framework of the political philosophy of the classical Islamic era, or the establishment of a sublime system in Islamic philosophy where the inward mechanism for acquiring it and its achievement lay the groundwork for the realization of leadership in society: the model is a leadership criterion in Islamic philosophy. The article maintains that Ibn Sina’s theory has inward inconsistencies in this regard. Besides, the study demonstrates that Ibn Sina attempted to present a picture of the ideal type of leadership in the Islamic world, thereby providing the comparison of leadership in Islamic societies with non-Islamic societies.

In the vast scope of mankind’s socio-political life, extremism has appeared in various forms including both political and cultural aspects related to race, ethnicity, and religion. Considering that extremism is a highly broad phenomenon, this article intends to focus on religious extremism and possible reactions to this phenomenon. In the world of politics, religious extremism is demarcated as an immediate source of violence and insecurity. Political actors’ attempts in decision making over policy and security issues are mainly concentrated on coping with this phenomenon thus controlling this issue is prioritized in their agenda. Nevertheless, minimizing reversibility is considered as the most central issue in resolving the dilemma of extremism in crisis management. In addition, non-military responses, represented in cultural products such as films, novels, and music, can play a constructive role in introducing remedies for limiting the re-emergence of extremism and its spread. Accordingly, applying a descriptive-analytical method, the present study aims to explain how Husseini employs novels, as a cultural form of a political response, to address various dimensions of religious extremism. It is presupposed that novels, by illustrating various religious interpretations and perceptions, inform the audience about the presence of multiple interactions of actors regarding restricting the reversibility of extremism in the process of cultural-political changes.