Iran Military Forum

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 . 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  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 , 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".

Ayatollah Murtadha Mutahhari

Ayatollah Hussain-Ali Muntazeri

Ayatollah Muhammad Baaqir al-Sadr

Ayatollah Redha al-Sadr

Ayatollah Nasser Makaarem-Shirazi

Ayatollah Yahya Noori

Ayatollah Muhammad Taqawi al-Naqawi.

etc.

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) . 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  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.

http://imamshirazi.com/wilayat-ul-faqih.html

Question: What is Grand Ayatollah Sistani's opinion about Wilayat-e Faqih (governance of jurist)?

Answer: Every jurisprudent (Faqih) has wilayah (guardianship) over non-litigious affairs. Non-litigious affairs are called "al-omour al-hesbiah". As for general affairs to which social order is linked, wilayah of a Faqih and enforcement of wilayah depend on certain conditions one of which is popularity of Faqih among majority of momeneen.

http://sistani.org/local.php?modules=nav&nid=5&cid=485&hl=Wilayat-e%20Faqih

Wilāyah of Faqīh

Q: Who is wali-e-faqīh? Is he the mujtahid followed by a person, or the ruling mujtahid? In general, what is meant by wilāyah of faqīh?
A: The 'absolute wilāyah' of the qualified faqīh means that the true religion of Islam, which is the final heavenly religion and will last till the Day of Resurrection, is a religion of governance and administration of social affairs. Therefore, it is necessary for the Islamic society, at all strata, to have a guardian for its affairs, a ruler, and a leader who would defend the Islamic society against the enemies of Islam and Muslims. He must preserve their social system, establish justice among them, prevent the strong from victimizing the weak, and attain for them the means of cultural, political, and social development and prosperity.

http://leader.ir/tree/index.php?catid=38