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Islamic Government, in its simplest form, was derived from basic shi'ite principles. The government of the community of the faithful must be assured by the infallible imams. Ali, the fourth Caliph, and his eleven male descendants had represented divine power on earth. The twelfth imam, Muhammad ben Hassan, known as Mahdi (The Well-Guided One), had gone into hiding for an unspecified period of time. On his return he would restore peace and justice to the entire universe. During his absence temporal power had to be exercised by a well-known, chaste, disinterested and knowledgeable theologian. This was the principle of Walayat-e-Faqih (The Custodianship of the Jurisconsult) or the rule of the clergy. Thus the Shah's regime was illegitimate and had to be replaced with a proper "Islamic" government. (p. 244) (it) |
