Introduction

Teaching emerging topics in advanced jurisprudence lessons has not had a long history. Until one or two decades ago, these topics and issues were only discussed within the framework of subjects such as newly arisen issues, innovations, and novel cases, and it was almost impossible to find an advanced jurisprudence lesson that explored the jurisprudential ruling of issues related to “a new jurisprudential chapter.” Consequently, some discussions on the fiqh of art were addressed within lessons on forbidden transactions (makāsib muḥarrama), some issues of medical fiqh within the book of liability and commerce, and some matters related to women and family within the book of marriage. Over the past two decades, with the growing discourse on emerging fiqh or specialized fiqh, advanced jurisprudence lessons have moved toward addressing “new jurisprudential chapters.” It can perhaps be said that one of the jurisprudential chapters that has been relatively well-received is media fiqh. In these two decades, several advanced lessons on media fiqh have been held in the seminaries of Mashhad, Qom, and Tehran, which, regardless of their depth and content, represent a commendable step toward beginning to address the “chapter of media fiqh” in advanced jurisprudence lessons. Below is a report on the advanced lessons on media fiqh held in the seminaries, presented for your consideration. These lessons share only the general title of “media fiqh”; otherwise, they differ significantly in terms of depth, content, subject identification, and the number of sessions.

Professor Ahmad Abedi Najafabadi

The advanced jurisprudence lesson on media fiqh by Ayatollah Ahmad Abedi Najafabadi was delivered in five sessions in 1390 (2011-2012). In these sessions, general discussions about media and some of its most important issues were addressed. The first session of this lesson was held on 23/10/1390 (January 13, 2012), and the final session on 12/12/1390 (March 2, 2012).

Professor Abbas Rafati Naeini

With the start of the 1397-98 (2018-2019) academic year, an advanced jurisprudence lesson on media fiqh was held at Imam Kazim Seminary under the instruction of Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Abbas Rafati Naeini. This lesson was previously held at the Jurisprudential Center of the Immaculate Imams (A.S.), but due to the enthusiastic response from seminarians and clerics, and because of space limitations, the lesson was transferred to Imam Kazim Seminary. This lesson was held three times a week, making it one of the most frequent advanced lessons on media fiqh, and even among contemporary advanced jurisprudence lessons. Some of the topics covered in this lesson include:

• The essence of media fiqh
• Characteristics of a messenger from a jurisprudential perspective
• Duties of religious media from a jurisprudential perspective
• The fivefold rulings in messaging and its transmission
• Titles of prohibition in media fiqh

Professor Ali Nahavandi

Professor Ali Nahavandi has been teaching and researching in the field of media fiqh for many years. He also served as the director general of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Khorasan for ten years and as the director of the Islamic Research Center for Media for two years. In Mashhad, he taught media fiqh for many years, the results of which were published in the two-volume book Collection of Discourses on Media and Communication Fiqh. After moving to Qom, he continued teaching advanced jurisprudence lessons. One of his advanced lessons related to media fiqh is the lesson on “Fiqh of Cinema and Interactive Media,” organized by the Scientific Association of Communication and Propagation of the Seminaries. In this course, topics such as subject identification of the fiqh of cinema, subject identification of the fiqh of interactive media, fiqh of transactions and commerce in the cinema industry, and the jurisprudential ruling on the free consumption of interactive media were discussed and examined. The content of this lesson was published in 1403 (2024) in the book The Seventh Art and Interactive Cinema: Subject Identification and Jurisprudential Dimensions by the Research Institute for Contemporary Jurisprudential Studies.

Professor Sayyid Mohammad Mehdi Rafipour Tehrani

Professor Sayyid Mohammad Mehdi Rafipour Tehrani, a graduate of the Qom Seminary, has been teaching an advanced jurisprudence lesson on media fiqh in the Tehran Seminary since 1401 (2022). Some of the topics covered in his lessons include:

• The essence of media fiqh
• General principles of media fiqh
• Commonly applied jurisprudential rules in media fiqh
• Key issues in media and communication fiqh

The outcomes of these lessons were published in 1402 (2023) in the book An Introduction to Media Fiqh by the Office of Media Studies and Planning.

Professor Mehdi Taeb

Professor Mehdi Taeb, a student of Ayatollahs Tabrizi and Vahid Khorasani, taught an advanced jurisprudence lesson on media fiqh from 14/7/1387 (October 5, 2008) to 11/11/1388 (February 1, 2010) at Beit al-Taeb, the Hosseiniyeh of Martyr Haj Hossein Taeb in Qom. In these lessons, he addressed topics such as the ruling on establishing media, the jurisprudential ruling on media management, content-related rulings of media, and rulings concerning women in media. The results of these lessons were published in 1393 (2014) in the book Media Fiqh by Tasnim Andisheh Publications, the content of which is reported in another article in this magazine.

Professor Sayyid Ahmad Khatami

Professor Sayyid Ahmad Khatami, in the years 1398 and 1399 (2019-2020), addressed media fiqh issues within his advanced jurisprudence lessons on newly arisen matters. In these lessons, he discussed the general principles of media fiqh and the rulings of radio and television.