Document Type : Academicm and Research

Authors

• Ehsan Agha Mohammad Aghaee ¹
• Fathollah Rahimi ²

¹ Assistance of Professor, ,Department of Public law, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University

² Assistance of Professor, Department of International law, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University

Abstract

Although apparent and external description and theoretical justifications on “governance” thought is possible through recognizing societies’ legal structures and transformations and considering interactions between citizens and state, understanding its infrastructural layers (governance theory) is inconsistent with such insight. By such belief, present research aims at achieving a justified recognition on governance theoretical basics in Islamic intellectual system and to evaluate and interpret this idea among Islamic thinkers and its adaptability with western thinkers’ views in the Middle Ages. The governing approach on this comparative evaluation is that it initially attempts to introduce governance theoretical basics of governance in Shite and Sunni jurisprudential thoughts followed by clarifying governance theory in western exemplar thinkers’ thoughts in the Middle Age aside from differences and similarities with Islamic governance. The theoretical framework of present study is an analytical and descriptive one while it raises legal basics and justifications of governance theory in the elements of Shite thinking based on “Imamate/ leadership” theory and also in Sunni thinking based on “caliphate” theory. For comparison, it pursues governance thinking in the views of legal philosophers and western thinking during the Middle Ages in the light of “Divine Governance” theory. Finally, via a legal hermeneutics approach, it tries to point out a governance pattern adapted and consistent with both views.

Keywords

• Legal hermeneutics
• governance
• Islamic laws
• Imamate theory
• caliphate theory
• the Middle Ages
• Theocratic

Main Subjects

• Legal (Comparative Islamic and Western Law)