Discourse of Expediency in the Political Jurisprudence of Shiites and Sunnites

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Mofid University

2 Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University

Abstract

In the first view, pragmatism is not compatible with the foundations of Shiite jurisprudence. The expediency resembles the humane secondary reflection towards finding the regulation of various actions in different areas of social, economic, political and cultural life as well as in all the micro and macro domains without relying on the well-known tetrad reasons in Shiite jurisprudence and its derivation relying on the reasons such as approbation, reasoning, blocking and unblocking the means is considered as the properties of jurisprudence of Sunnites. Consequently, the justification of pragmatism in the jurisprudential system of Shi’ah is in need of a different foundational reasoning. The present writing is to facilitate the possibility of expediency taking role in the Shiite political jurisprudence within the domain of social action with its multifaceted dimensions in the new world by referring to the theological issues as one of the basic sciences intended for Shiite jurisprudence. In this regard, it has been attended to the idea of permissibility in the theology of Shi’ah against avoidance in Mu’tazilites’ theology. Based on this instruction that most of the Shiite theologians have tendency towards it, there exists a vast domain in which the events are empty of previous obligatory regulations and handling of these affairs has been assigned to the human’s historical and empirical wisdom. In this domain, the historical, social, variable expediency without its attribution to an explicit and approved regulation, registered in religion will determine the ruling of these domains of life. These very rules are not religious but they are valid according to the command of religion

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