Queries on Wilayat-ul-Faqih
Question: Can you please enlighten us about Waley-ul-Faqih, and his authority?
Waley-ul-Faqih is the Just Islamic Ruler who meets ALL the criteria for being a Faqih and Marje' - i.e. a Mujtahid or an expert and a competent in Islamic law - and who also meets all the criteria for being a ruler or Waley, such as having the trust of the public and being elected by the Muslim masses.
If there was only one Faqih who met all the criteria of a Marje' and was overwhelmingly elected by the Muslims to lead the country, then he is the Waley-ul-Faqih. However, if there were several Fuqaha who meet all the criteria for being Marje', and there was no overwhelming endorsement for just one of them - which is usually the case - then the ruler of the country and its Waley-ul-Faqih in this case is the "Shura al-Fuqaha al-Maraje' " or the Council of the Maraje' Fuqaha. The members of this council are the qualified Fuqaha and Maraje' who are elected/followed by the public. This Council of Leadership isthe ruler of the Muslim Ummah and its Waley-ul-Faqih. On the other hand members of this council may elect one of the members as their leader and therefore the leader of the country, i.e. the Waley-ul-Faqih.
This of course is not mere theory but takes its root from the teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of Rasulollah (S) and Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS). We have in the holy Qur'an:
{and who (conduct) their affairs by mutual Consultation}
The Holy Qur'an: Consultation (42): 38.
{and consult them in affairs (of moment).}
The Holy Qur'an: The Family of 'Emraan (3): 159.
In general these two noble ayahs emphasise that without Shura, the rule of government is not valid. And on the basis of these two ayahs, in the opinion of Ayatollah al-Udhma Imam Muhammad Shirazi Shura in rulership is Waajib.
Furthermore it can be seen from the conduct of Rasulollah (S) that in many cases his policies in managing the affairs of the country were based on Shura - consultation - even though he did not need to consult others, but this was in aid of encouraging the Muslims to adopt the policy of Shura - consultation in managing their affairs. There have been many cases where Rasulollah (S) consulted with others and took the view of the majority. In today's terminology this is a ‘democratic' system, although there are differences between today's democratic system of government and the consultative system of government that was implemented by Rasulollah in
Medina
more than 14 centuries ago.
Other hadith which emphasise on the collective / consultative system of leadership by fully qualified Fuqaha and Maraje' are in the form of orders to the Muslims from the Imam-of-our-time, Imam al-Mahdi - May Allah hasten his reappearance:
''Whoever amongst the Fuqaha who guards himself against evil, protects his religion, counters his base desires, and obeys the commands of his Lord, then the general public may follow him in taqleed.''
"And as for the new events and developments, refer them to the 'narrators of our hadith' - (scholars of hadith) for they are my Hujjah (authority) upon you, and I am the Hujjah of Allah upon them."
It is clearly obvious that in both of the above two hadith, Imam al-Mahdi (AS) is instructing the Ummah to refer to ALL the fully qualified Fuqaha / Maraje', and since any Faqih who meets all the required criteria is regarded as the representative of Imam al-Mahdi (AS), no one Faqih who may have reached any position or power may transgress upon the rights of any other fully qualified Faqih.
There have been many eminent scholars who stressed the importance of the collective role of leadership of the Fuqaha and Maraje' and went out of their way to warn of the dangers (of despotism) of individuals assuming leadership, and state in no uncertain terms that individual leadership of Fuqaha must be refrained from. Some of them are:
Ayatollah al-Udhma Sheikh Abdul-Karim al-Ha'eri, the founder of the Hawzah in the holy city of
Qum
. In his book "Foundation of the Islamic government".
Ayatollah al-Udhma Mirza al-Na'ini, one of the top scholars of the hawzah of the holy city of
Najaf
. In his book "Tanbih al-Ummah and Tanzih al-Millah".
Ayatollah al-Udhma Sayyid Hussain al-Boroujerdi, the top of the Maraje' of his time. In his book "al-Badr al-Zahir".
TO SUM UP, the meaning of Wilayat-ul-Faqih is that those who assume the office of leading the country and the Ummah according to the laws of Islam are fully qualified Fuqaha / Maraje' who are the representatives of the Imam (al-Mahdi) (AS). Wilayat-ul-Faqih does not mean that one has the right to deviate from the Islamic laws, and rule according to his own opinion. Also Wilayat-ul-Faqih does not mean that one sticks to his opinion and ignores, suppresses, and ousts other Fuqaha. For example if Imam Ali Amir-ul-Mu'minin (AS) sends say three individuals to govern a country, it is incumbent upon them to consult between themselves and collectively lead the country on the basis of majority decision. So in an Islamic country of say one billion population, if there are one hundred Marje' al-Taqleed, then they are the highest authority of the nation, and they manage the affairs of the country in war, peace, and any other aspect of government on the basis of majority vote amongst them.
Q. who is the present Waley-e-Faqih and Waley-e-Amr of the Muslims?
As for your last question that who is the Waley-e-Faqih or Waley-e-Amr, officially we the Muslims do not have one, since at the present time the if we were to have a Waley-ul-Faqih or Waley-ul-Amr that would be the "Shura al-Fuqaha al-Maraje' " or the Leadership Council of the Maraje' Fuqaha.
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Question: Role and Authority of Wali-ul-Faqih
Thanks a lot for your help and efforts on the matter of Wilayat-ul-Faqih. It has really been useful to me. But I need one further clarification.
Exactly what role would the Maraje' play in an Islamic government?
Would their role be to legislate the laws of a country and judge by those laws, or would their role be secondary in that they are just to make sure that the laws that are passed by the Parliament are in accordance with Islamic teachings? Please clarify what would be the specific role and task of the Ulema in a true Islamic government, and what are their limits.
Also, about the two verses from the Qur'an that mention the concept of "Shura", I have been told that our Shi'a interpretation differs from that of the rest of the Muslims. A brother has told me that Wilaya and rulership is the will of God and that the people have no say in it. That is why it was God who appointed the Prophet, and the Imams. The people had no say or "vote" in these issues. How then can we assume that the people should "elect" the representatives of the Imam and vote for them? Please clarify this issue with reference to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Your help has been greatly appreciated.
On the issue of the role of the Maraje', their role would be to fulfil the duties of leading the Ummah. They would also have a role of ‘legislating' through the issuing of the necessary Hukm or Fatwa on new issues and development.
You can find more details in this respect in the book "The Islamic System of Government" which is available online on our website in the books section of the menu. It is a very brief book and it addresses the points you have raised.
On the concept of Shura and Wilaya that you raised in your email, the issues are being twisted and mixed up together!
If we say that the people have no say or vote in the will of God when He appoints a Prophet or a Ma'soom Imam (AS), now amongst the Maraje' we have today, is there one Marje' who has been specifically and directly appointed by Allah? And if there is who is the ONE who has been appointed as the Wali by Allah??? {Please pause and reflect on this carefully.}
The truth of the matter is that, when Allah Almighty appoints a Prophet or a Ma'soom Imam, then - believe it or not - the people still "vote" for it . . . . by making Bay'ah, and by following him. . . i.e. when the few people believed and accepted Prophet Muhammad (S) at the start of his mission then this ‘acceptance', or ‘following' is regarded ‘voting' by them, when some people from Medina came to Mecca and made Bay'ah with Rasulollah (S) then this is their ‘voting' for him (S), when he migrated to Medina and the majority of the people there welcomed him and accepted him as their leader then this is ‘voting' by the people for the prophet. When prophet Muhammad (S) appointed Imam Ali (AS) as the Wali and Khalifah after him (S) on the day of 18th Dhil-Hajjah in Ghadeer Khum, he asked the Muslims there to make Bay'ah with Imam Ali as the Amir-ul-Mu'minin, and everyone who made Bay'ah there effectively voted for Imam Ali (AS) as the Amir of the Mu'minin and as their Wali.
The principle of Shura is very important and very FUNDAMENTAL in Islam, and great many books have been written is this respect. If you read Arabic I can give you their names.
The two Shura verses referred to are NOT used to say that the people should appoint the Ma'soom Prophet or the Imam, but through Shura or Shura-al-Fuqaha, as far as the leadership of the Ummah is concerned, to run and manage the affairs of the Ummah in the absence of the Imam of our time. Allah Almighty, and the Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS) have instructed us to use Shura in order to prevent despotism creeping in the country through one individual usurping power of the land in the name of Islam.
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