Contemporary Jurisprudence

Hasan ljra’i:

Note: The jurisprudence of citizenship rights is one of the emerging chapters of contemporary jurisprudence. Of course, its issues are not necessarily new and unused, but even the same issues that have a history in jurisprudential tradition are often independently researched and processed less from the perspective of "citizenship rights". One of the challenges of the jurisprudence of citizenship rights is the ability or lack of knowledge of the principles of current jurisprudence to solve its problems; Whether this knowledge, with the same current issues and rules, gives an efficient solution to the jurisprudence issues of citizenship rights, or whether it is necessary to make changes in this knowledge for efficient answers to these issues. In this special note, Hasan ljra’i, a researcher at Qum Seminary, has addressed this challenge.

The difficult path of current jurisprudence principles to citizenship law jurisprudence

The jurisprudence of citizenship rights conflicts with the conventional rules of the principles of jurisprudence

The knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence has been gradually formed over several centuries and its internal systems and rules have been optimized in such a way that it can serve jurisprudence as an inference tool. It is necessary that the knowledge of the principles of fiqh can be used as a practical tool in solving the contemporary problems of jurisprudence, it is necessary that before that, it should be in a comprehensive and all-round communication and exchange with the background and the general atmosphere of contemporary problems and present an updated and up-to-date version of itself. For example, the introduction of nation-state literature into Muslim societies, although it caused some new rulings to enter Shi’ah jurisprudence, but still, its influence was not seen in the principles of jurisprudence and related knowledge, and thus the rulings related to borders, subordination, deviating from laws, etc., is not a continuous and harmonious part of related knowledge, but an addition and extension attached and still a complete discontinuity.

Based on what has been said, new issues such as the jurisprudence of citizenship rights, which is based on the system of modern relationships between people and also emerged from the modern way of governance, which has gone from the ruler-subject relationship to the ruler-citizen relationship, are still a part of the system and systemized has not changed from the knowledge of principles of jurisprudence. For example, the conceptual metaphors governing the principles of jurisprudence are still based on previous notions arising from the master-slave relationship, which is seen as a one-sided and exclusive relationship that is based on obedience and duty, not the right of citizenship.

At the end, it seems that the conflict between the ruler-slave and master-slave relations in the existing principles of jurisprudence, with the relations based on the rights of citizens in the jurisprudence of citizenship rights, prevents the existing principles of jurisprudence from being able to help citizens’ rights and even if a jurist In jurisprudence in order to recognize the rights of citizens, naturally, it should adopt new processes and distance itself from the conventional rules in the principles of jurisprudence; It seems that although it has sometimes been concluded in the process of inference, its foundations have not been revised and clarified in the knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence.

The necessity of legal equality to protect the rights of citizenship

Using different methods in different subjects is a natural thing in contemporary knowledge; In this way, it is natural and acceptable that in the matters related to the relationship between God and the servants, and especially in the matters of worship, a narcissistic perspective is still adopted, and the main goal in explaining the method of inference is to gain divine approval and ensure that the obligation is fulfilled, but such a method should not be all subjects spread.

In this way, while maintaining the rules related to privilege in the relationship between God and the servants, the knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence should be optimized in order to realize and protect the rights of the citizen and distance himself from the master-slave relationship in the relationship between the ruler and the citizen. Because contrary to the existing mental image, in the strictest state, the same rules and rulings that govern the relationship between God and His servants cannot be considered applicable to relationships between other people. By accepting such a distinction, the principles of jurisprudence should create new rules and approaches in order to regulate issues such as citizenship rights, which will regulate life in this world based on legal equality between the ruler and the citizens; Without achieving it, the concept of the right of citizenship remains only a title.

legal system based on principles of jurisprudence; The guarantor of the needs of the times

The knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, as a tool for methodizing the science of jurisprudence, can provide rules and frameworks to organize the knowledge of jurisprudence into a solid legal system; As the ideal point of the mentioned knowledges has always been such that it can reach a comprehensive and comprehensive knowledge by moving away from the independent approach and considering each of the subjects and rulings as separate, and as a result, dealing with the rulings in a network of organic and institutional relationships. This can be seen to a large extent in the current principles of jurisprudence, but what has made the current situation of the principles of fiqh critical and has shaken it is the inadequacy of the current legal system in fiqh and the principles of jurisprudence with the needs and epistemological foundations of the time.

Thus, what is the current need and necessity of the knowledge of the principles of fiqh is not only to build a systematic knowledge and achieve a legal system, but also to provide suitable grounds for achieving a legal system based on the epistemological foundations of the new era, while adhering to the Islamic and jurisprudential tradition. Therefore, it seems that the exact question is whether the knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence in the current situation can support and build a platform for the formation of a legal system in jurisprudence that, in addition to relying on Islamic and Shiite tradition, recognizes the needs of the times and be responsive to it.

Updating the principles of jurisprudence; from inside and outside

Establishing a new perspective and approach in the knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, including special attention to the jurisprudence of citizenship rights, requires special attention to topics and discussions that have not received much attention so far. Such a process can be based on highlighting and paying attention to some of the topics in the principles of jurisprudence that already exist, but have not been relied on much; including the rule of reason, which can be further developed and nurtured to become a source of reliance for issuing appropriate rulings in matters such as the jurisprudence of citizenship rights.

In addition, achieving effective solutions and methods in line with the jurisprudence of citizenship rights in the principles of jurisprudence can be pursued based on the ways and methods that are not recognized today in Shi’ah jurisprudence and principles; Among the objectives of the Shari’ah, although in recent decades and especially in the last few years, great theoretical efforts have been made in order to extend it to the existing principles of jurisprudence, but it still has a great distance from its rules and structures.

Based on all that has been said, the efforts and solutions mentioned in the principles of jurisprudence can be the guarantor of citizenship rights and take the jurisprudence of citizenship rights one step forward if the existing principles of jurisprudence become a new version of itself that is suitable for today’s man and society. And the needs of the believers of the time have been created.

This interview is a part of the electronic magazine “Fundamentals of Civil Rights Jurisprudence” which was produced in collaboration with the Ijtihad Network website.