Futures studies is a field that has been around for decades, and although it is considered a new phenomenon in some circles, it has long been considered an independent science in the world’s scientific fields, and of course, a contributor to other sciences. In this special note, Hujjat al-lslam Husayn Adabi, a teacher and researcher at the Khurasan Seminary, attempts to make the jurisprudence of justice a future study from various angles.

The realm of additional jurisprudence is expanding in today’s world. A large part of this expansion is related to social developments in human life. The development of science, technology, and the facilities available to humans are changing the relationship between the sciences that serve humanity, including jurisprudence; therefore, there is a direct relationship between additional jurisprudence and the future developments of human life. Jurisprudence of justice is responsible for resolving disorders that arise in the interaction of humans with each other in the form of real-real, legal-real, and legal-legal contexts.  Of course, in the field of prevention, some of the rulings of jurisprudence may be cited, but the main thing that happens in this field is responding to and providing solutions to disorders in the aforementioned areas.

Futures-oriented approaches can be divided into three different approaches; one approach is the normative approach, in which jurisprudence formulates its future plan based on value norms within the knowledge, without considering social events and changes. This approach will not achieve much success and will encounter problems and isolation in relation to the future.

The second approach is the exploratory approach; that is, in the interaction of jurisprudence with the future, based on the course of social changes, probabilities are considered and possible changes are taken into account in the development of the said science. This approach is one of the conventional approaches in futures studies, but the problem with it is that it turns jurisprudence into a passive science that must adapt to changes that it has no role in creating. Naturally, in some cases, this adaptation is not possible, and jurists in this field will be forced to abandon their principles or reduce them to adapt to the future situation and remove them from their main role and effect.

The third approach is that jurisprudence, in the sense of a macro-branch of knowledge, and jurisprudence as one of the branches of this macro-branch of knowledge, in addition to observing the possibilities existing in the social and individual changes of human life and the relationships between him and other individuals and groups, should be present as a creative and active element. For example, civilizational approaches to jurisprudence have this feature. A civilizational approach to jurisprudence makes them consider jurisprudence in the context of a desirable civilizational utopia and produce appropriate knowledge for that situation. This production of knowledge is the basis for the development of jurisprudence knowledge. In addition, active presence in the course of social developments will create two advantages: First, it prevents many human deviations that cause the course of civilization to deviate; and second, it designs procedural steps on the path to achieving the desired civilization. It seems that this approach is one of the essential needs of today’s knowledge of jurisprudence, and especially judicial jurisprudence.

The most important issues of jurisprudence in the future

After understanding the judicial relations between individuals and individuals and individuals with legal systems and legal systems together and the variables that affect these relations, it is better to comment on the short-term and long-term future of the science of jurisprudence. In the short term, it seems that the following major axes can be considered as the axes of the important issues of the future of jurisprudence:

The evolution and development of fundamental knowledge that causes changes in human actions and creates the basis for disruptions in relationships in human life. For instance, changes in beliefs, values, and social norms cause humans to change their behaviors in accordance with those beliefs; therefore, all of their mental ideas that arise from changed beliefs and values ​​in this context, themselves cause the production of new and challenging issues in the science of jurisprudence.

The evolution and development of empirical knowledge; Experimental knowledge, and especially medical knowledge, leads to new ways of optimizing human life; therefore, as this field develops, jurisprudence also develops in the same proportion. Humans are moving in a direction in their lives that, with the development of medical knowledge, their hope for the treatment of diseases increases more than before. This hope has two good and bad sides. Its good side is increasing life expectancy and optimizing life. But its bad side is that humans consider it permissible in their lifestyle to make any kind of manipulation of their existence, hoping that there is a way to return and cure it. Obviously, some manipulations have a judicial and criminal burden, and the liberation of this field and the lack of defining the criteria and setting the criteria for the possibility of treatment in medical knowledge will cause these complications to occur.

The evolution and development of technical and engineering knowledge; The development of technical and engineering sciences, especially the development of mass communication tools in human life, increases the contradictions and conflicts of interests and provides opportunities for the entry of jurisprudence as a benchmarking knowledge in human relations. For instance, in virtual communication as a leading knowledge, the web platform is divided into the three: the surface web, the deep web, and the dark web. What is available to the general public in the global community is the surface web platform, and the other two layers are only available to security, government, secret groups, and various mafias. These platforms cause many legal conflicts that jurisprudence must respond to. In addition to the fact that this platform is available to the public, it will also be overshadowed by the intervention of artificial intelligence and will lead to new issues; for example, the issue of verification, fact-finding, and authenticity are among the issues that will be damaged by the introduction of artificial intelligence; Therefore, jurisprudence should provide appropriate preventive and therapeutic solutions in this regard.

In addition, the integration of technical and engineering knowledge products with other sciences, including the humanities and experimental sciences, will cause a huge transformation in human life, which in turn will increase interpersonal conflicts and contradictions. Increasing medical facilities and equipment based on artificial intelligence, producing research tools based on artificial intelligence, developing virtual communication networks and tools, producing and developing welfare tools based on artificial intelligence such as self-driving cars, increasing use of artificial intelligence in homes and residences, and comprehensive management based on artificial intelligence are serious issues that will pave the way for new issues in jurisprudence.

The transformation and development of human knowledge; one of the most important branches of science that includes the foundation of other knowledge and, of course, also outlines their approach and direction, is the human knowledge.  If jurisprudence wants to emerge in the dimensions of civilization and prepare itself to play a role in the modern Islamic civilization, it must recognize all the indicators of its presence in the aforementioned areas and, of course, be able to guess and guide the possibilities ahead. The great challenge in this regard is the lack of common understanding of moral and legal categories in the world. For instance, the precise definition of legitimate defense and self-defense and its examples, terrorism and its criteria, genocide, justice, oppression, etc., and basing these on a common truth understandable to all mankind, can both resolve many of the challenges of this branch of jurisprudence and can also guide it.

Another important point in the future issues of jurisprudence should be considered in the interaction and conflict between the two major branches of jurisprudence in Islam, namely Shi’i jurisprudence and Sunni jurisprudence. Given the different capacities of the two to meet, the field of competition and the establishment of the scientific results of each will be considered. In today’s world, a large part of Muslim societies are Sunnis; therefore, in the competition between the production of legal laws arising from jurisprudence in the Islamic world, the field of explanation and highlighting of attractive solutions should be considered by jurisprudence jurists; therefore, part of the future issues of jurisprudence are related to this area.

One of the important issues of the future of jurisprudence relates to the extent to which the religion of Islam and the Shi’i school of jurisprudence play a role in the global arena.  Given the fundamental changes in the political thought that dominates the world and the weakening of liberal and communist foundations, the ground is being prepared for the emergence and rise of Islamic political thought, especially Shi’i Islam. This issue is causing issues to emerge that have not been addressed so far. For instance, producing laws for international courts and playing a role in this field will be among the issues of the science of jurisprudence.

Changes in the assumptions and foundations of jurisprudence

An important part of our interactions as a Shi’i religion is formed in interactions with Sunnis. Given the Sunnis’ high experience in governance and producing jurisprudence appropriate to the government, jurisprudential rules and principles have been produced in this field that not only exist but are also necessary and undeniable for Shi’is to benefit from in jurisprudence. For instance, the objective approach to jurisprudence and attention to the objectives of the Shari’ah is an important matter that, if redefined within the precise framework of Shi’i jurisprudence and its shortcomings in Sunni jurisprudence are resolved and made consistent with the principles of Shi’i jurisprudence, will overshadow many of the principles of judicial jurisprudence in the future. Jurisprudential rules appropriate to judicial jurisprudence need to be revised and developed. Many general jurisprudential rules do not meet the needs of judicial jurisprudence, and the need to produce specific jurisprudential rules in this area, especially in the interaction of legal knowledge and judgment with other sciences that produce new issues, will become more apparent than in the past.

Changes in the method of research and solving problems in jurisprudence

Certainly, if a science wants to develop and not be isolated and destroyed, it must revise the efficient research and research methods and ways to solve the problems of that science, and in accordance with the progress of human society, optimal methods should be produced more quickly and with the benefit of new tools and new databases, with the aim of being as efficient as possible. Some of these methods are produced in the interaction between the knowledge of jurisprudence and other sciences.

The future of communication between jurists and lawyers

The future of humanity is a future in which morality will be very weak; therefore, judicial contradictions and conflicts will in most cases move towards legal and right-seeking encounters; therefore, it seems that jurisprudence in this field will also be closer to law than to the science of ethics.  Jurisprudence will lose its preventive aspect and what will emerge is greater human debauchery, which will lead to legal conflicts, and jurisprudence will play a role in this field, based entirely on the science of law.