The Constitution of the State of the Scholars

The Islamic republic of Iran had announced its constitution in a book which was published by the ministry of Islamic council. Its first edition was published in 1406 A.H and the contents of this constitution had previously been published in the Iranian magazine al Shahid in a special edition.[1]

Hereunder I will present some of the contents of the constitution in order to see whether it really represents the constitution of a Muslim country, as they claim, or not.

The constitution establishes in its ‘twelfth law’ that:

الدين الرسمي لإيران هو الإسلام، والمذهب الجعفري الإثني عشري، وهذ الأصل يبقى إلى الأبد غير قابل للتغيير

The official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelver Jafari dogma. This law will remain forever without any room for change.[2]

The constitution also emphatically makes mention of the Twelver conception of Imamah and links the idea of Khomeini regarding the representational authority of the jurist to the issue of Imamah. It states:

إن ولاية الفقيه اعتمادا ( يعني معتمدة) على استمرار ولاية الأمر والأمامة

The authority of the jurist is based upon the continuity of leadership and Imamah.[3]

As you can see, they openly proclaim fanatical sectarianism but at the same time deem themselves the Islamic republic. Probably this statement of theirs suggests that their dogma does not fall part of Islam and thus it has to be mentioned separately alongside Islam as another religion. This is besides the fact that you will very frequently find them claiming that their dogma is not any different from the other Islamic denominations except in a few secondary issues. If that was really the case, then why do they unequivocally state the ‘Jafari dogma’ in their constitution?

Furthermore, what prevents this law from not changing forever? Do they have knowledge of the unseen or have they made an agreement with Allah? Why do they not open their eyes to the truth which is with the Ahlus Sunnah and free themselves of their despised fanaticism? The name of the country should rather be the ‘Jafari republic’; because an Islamic state is based upon Islam and not upon the dogma of a particular denomination. Also because when the ruler adopts a particular dogma or takes a particular stance he does so based upon the strength of the evidence and not due to fanaticism and inheritance from the predecessors. But the Shia have, by way of this law, made it clear that they follow some of their scholars who opine that Twelver Shi’ism is a religion and not a denomination.[4]

Part of the twelfth law suggests that the narrations of their Imams are to replace the Sunnah of Rasul Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. They thus exchange that which is superior for that which is inferior. It says:

يقوم نظام الجمهورية الإسلامية على أساس الاجتهاد المستمر من قبل الفقهاء جامعي الشرائط على أساس الكتاب وسنة المعصومين سلام الله عليهم أجمعين

The administration of the Islamic republic is based upon the continuous application of Ijtihad by the scholars who possess all the requisites, upon the basis of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Infallibles, may the peace of Allah be upon them all.[5]

In this article there is no acknowledgment of the Sunnah of Rasul Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. This is for the simple reason that they do not believe in it, hence they only adopt the Sunnah of the infallibles whom they deem better than the Ambiya’ and the Messengers.

Can this constitution be considered an Islamic one when it does not acknowledge the Sunnah of Rasul Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam?

As a result of this article they will draw from Usul al Kafi, Bihar al Anwar and other books with all the heresies and deviances which they contain. Because these are the books which have conveyed the Sunnah of the infallibles to them.

Furthermore, in some articles of the constitution you will find reference to ‘Persian slogans and nationalistic suggestions. The fifteenth law states:

اللغة والكتابة الرسمية والعامة هي الفارسية لشعب أيران، فيجب أن تكون الوثائق والمراسلات والمتون الرسمية والكتب الدراسية بهذه اللغة

The official and public spoken and written language for the Iranians is Persian. Hence it is compulsory that all documents, correspondence, official texts, and syllabi be in this language.

As you can see, this article is based upon Iranian nationalism. Islam has one language which is Arabic, not because it is the language of the Arabs, but because it is the language of the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the state of Rasul Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the Sahabah, and their successors.

The sixteenth law states that their recourse will be to public opinion (not to Qur’an and Sunnah):

يجب أن تدار شؤون البلاد في جمهورية إيران الإسلامية على رأي الأمة

It is compulsory that the matters of the lands in the Islamic republic of Iran be administered according to the opinion of the Ummah.[6]

There is no doubt that the affairs of an Islamic state are administered in light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah; the majority view is not the basis of governance in Islam, it is the basis of secular movements and organisations.

This principles is further elaborated in what appears in the fifty ninth law which states:

ممارسة السلطة التشريعية قد تتم أحيانا عن طريق الاستفتاء الشعبي العام، وذلك في القضايا الإقتصادية والسياسية والاجتماعية والثقافية الهامة. ويجري هذا الاستفتاء العام بناء على طلب أكثر من ثلثي مجموع أعضاء المجلس

Implementing the Shar’i jurisdiction at times will take place after inquiring the prevalent public opinion in economical, political, social, and important academic issues. This public inquiry will be based upon the demand of more than two thirds of the members of the parliament.[7]

After having deprived themselves of the second legislative source, i.e. the Sunnah of Rasul Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, it is no surprise that they resort to public opinion. Their scholar Yusuf al Bahrani, the author of al Hada’iq, suggested to them that they should search for another procedure other than this one due to it no fulfilling what they want.[8]

This is just a glimpse of what appears in their constitution and is taken from the last edition which was published in 1406 A.H.[9]

It is clear that it does not represent an Islamic state, rather it represents a Persian and Rafidi Jafari state; it does not draw its laws from the Qur’an and the Sunnah and is instead associated with the narrations of al Kulayni and his likes, what they term as the Sunnah of the infallibles.

NEXT⇒ The Fifth Chapter – Their influence on the Muslim world

[1] The publication of Mu’assasah al Shahid, Qum, 1979 A.H.

[2] Al Dustur p. 20.

[3] Ibid. 9.

[4] See the footnote no. 80 in earlier post Click Here

[5] Al Dustur p. 15, 16.

[6] Al Dustur p. 18.

[7] Ibid. p. 46.

[8] See his exact words and statements Click Here

[9] It is crucial to note here that the translation of the constitution was published by the Lebanon newspaper al Safir by Muhammad Sadiq al Hussaini, but with differences between it and the last official publication of the constitution. Probably Taqiyyah played its role in the changes that were made in order to save the image of the dogma from being tarnished.

Hizb al Tahrir, which is apparently an organization that sympathises with the Iranian revolution, supports it and considers it to be the desired Islamic rule, assumed the task of examining the articles of the constitution as was published by the al Safir newspaper after having asked the Iranian embassy in Lebanon regarding the credibility of the published translation and receiving the response that it is precise and trustworthy. Following the study it became clear to them, as was published in a small booklet, that with the exception of the name the constitution has nothing to do with Islam. It also mentions that in the eighth section, which is regarding judicial authority, under articles no. 131, 132, 135 and 136 the contents suggest that the statutory civil law will be implemented in the courts (see: the text of the critique of the Iranian constitution which was published by Hizb al Tahrir p. 48).

The organisation concludes that:

ليس دستورا إسلاميا، ولم يأخذ أحكامه من كتاب الله وسنة رسوله، ويتبين أن واضعه يتميز بعقلية غربية، ولا يتمتع بعقلية إسلامية

It is not an Islamic constitution and has not drawn its rulings from the Book of Allah and from the Sunnah of His Rasul. It is clear that its formalisers have a western mentality and do not have an Islamic one. (See: Ibid. p. 52).

It also says:

إذا وضع هذا الدستور موضع التنفيذ فإنه لا يجعل الدولة دولة إسلامية

If this constitution is implemented it will not make the state and Islamic state.

It also says:

بأنه يجب أن يكون الدستور منبثقا من العقيدة الإسلامية، ومأخوذة كل مواده من كتاب الله وسنة رسوله

It is crucial that the constitution stem from Islamic belief and that all its articles be drawn from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Rasul. (Ibid.)

This is the analyses of Hizb al Tahrir which supports the Iranian government and is similar to the Shia in its ideology due to it suspending the implementation of some of the laws of Islam till the establishment of a Khilafah (which is akin to the Shia suspending some of the injunctions of their dogma till the emergence of the absent Imam.) Had it not been for fear of elongating the discussion I would have presented the issues that they raised. The analyses coupled with a proposed Islamic constitution was sent to Khomeini. It seems as if the Shia benefitted from that and changed some of the articles which raise criticism against their constitution, as becomes clear by studying the last publication thereof. But despite the changes it is still not fully empty of misguidance, as was alluded to in the brief study. (To learn about Hizb al Tahrir see: Salim al Hilali and Ziyad al Dabij: Kitab al Jama’at al Islamiyyah fi Daw’ al Kitab wa al Sunnah p. 137, onwards).

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