Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist

Part of a series on Shia Islam
Twelver Shi'ism
The Fourteen Infallibles Muhammad Fatimah The Twelve Imams Ali Hasan Husayn al-Sajjad al-Baqir al-Sadiq al-Kazim ar-Rida al-Taqi al-Naqi al-Askari al-Mahdi
Principles Monotheism Justice Prophethood Imamate Judgement Day
Other beliefs Imamate of the Family Angels Mourning of Muharram Intercession Occultation Wilayat al-Faqih Usul al-fiqh Ijtihad Taqlid Irfan
Practices Salat Sawm Hajj Zakat Khums Jihad Amr bi-l maʿrūf Nahy ani l-Munkar Tawalli Tabarri
Other practices Mourning of Muharram Arba'een Pilgrimage Intercession
Holy cities Mecca Medina Najaf Karbala Mashhad Jerusalem Samarra Kadhimiya Qom
Groups Ja'fari Usuli Akhbari Shaykhi
Other related sects and groups Alawites Sufi orders and Alevism Qizilbash Safaviyya Bektashism and folk religion Malamatiyya Qalandariyya Hurufism Bektashism Galibi Ni'matullāhī
Scholarship Law Marja' (list) Hawza Ayatollah (list) Allamah Seghatoleslam Hojatoleslam Ijtihad
Hadith collections The Four Books Kitab al-Kafi Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih Tahdhib al-Ahkam Al-Istibsar Other hadith collections Book of Sulaym ibn Qays Bihar al-Anwar Wasā'il al-Shīʿa Reality of Certainty Nahj al-Balagha Mafatih al-Jinan Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya Al-Amali
Sources of ijtihad and jurisprudence Qur'an Hadiths of The Infallibles Consensus Reason
Related topics List of Twelver Shia books Criticism of Twelver Shi'ism
Shia Islam portal
v t e

Part of a series on
Conservatism in Iran
Ideologies Authoritarian Monarchism National Deviant current Religious Shia Islamism Fundamentalism Khomeinism Principlist
Principles Anti-communism Anti-Arabism Anti-Kurdism Authority Duty Elitism Familialism Hierarchy Law and order Militarism Patriotism Social order Sovereignty Tradition Principlist groups Anti-Americanism Anti-imperialism Anti-Sunnism Anti-Zionism Antisemitism Clericalism Homophobia Misogyny Republicanism Sharia Theocracy Twelver Shi'ism Vilayat Faqih Monarchist groups Anti-clericalism Iranian nationalism Royalism Secular state Westernization
History Iranian Revolution Pahlavi dynasty 1953 Iranian coup d'état White Revolution Safavid conversion to Shia Islam
Intellectuals Alamolhoda Fardid Khalkhali Larijani Modarres Yazdi
Politicians Ahmadinejad Asgaroladi Ghalibaf Ghazizadeh Hoveyda Jalili Jannati Khamenei Khomeini Larijani Mansur Mojtahedzadeh Palevi I Palevi II Pourmohammadi Raisi Rezaee Soleimani Zakani
Literature Islamic Government (1970)
Parties Active Combatant Clergy Association Front of Islamic Revolution Stability Islamic Coalition Party Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom YEKTA Front Defunct Iran Novin Party Iran-e-No Party Islamic Republican Party Learned Council National Will Party Nationalists' Party Progress Party Rastakhiz Party Reformers' Party
Organisations Hojjatie Society Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Restart SAVAK
Media Abrar Islamic Republican Kayhan Partow-e Sokhan Rajanews Resalat Vatan-e-Emrooz Yalasarat
Related topics Death to America Greater Iran Holocaust denial Islam in Iran Judicial system Nuclear program of Iran Pan-Iranism Politics of Iran Shia crescent
Conservatism portal Iran portal
v t e

The Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (Persian: ولایت فقیه, romanized: Velâyat-e Faqih, also Velayat-e Faghih; Arabic: وِلاَيَةُ ٱلْفَقِيهِ, romanized: Wilāyat al-Faqīh) is a concept in Twelver Shia Islamic law which holds that until the reappearance of the "infallible Imam" (sometime before Judgement Day), at least some of the religious and social affairs of the Muslim world should be administered by righteous Shi'i jurists (Faqīh).^[1] The nature of these affairs are disputed.^[2]

Wilāyat al-Faqīh is associated in particular with Ruhollah Khomeini^[3] and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In a series of lectures in 1970, Khomeini advanced the idea of guardianship in its "absolute" form as rule of the state and society. This version of guardianship now forms the basis of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which calls for a Guardian Jurist (Vali-ye Faqih, Arabic: وَلِيُّةُ فَقِيهٌ, romanized: Waliy Faqīh), to serve as the Supreme Leader of that country.^[4][5] Currently, this role is held by Ayatollah Khamenei.

Under the "absolute authority of the jurist" (Velayat-e Motlaqaye Faqih), the jurist/faqih has control over all public matters including governance of states, all religious affairs including the temporary suspension of religious obligations such as the salat prayer or hajj pilgrimage.^[6][3] Obedience to him is more important (according to proponents) than performing those religious obligations.^[7] Other Shi'i Islamic scholars disagree, with some limiting guardianship to a much narrower scope^[2]—things like mediating disputes,^[8] and providing guardianship for orphaned children, the mentally incapable, and others lacking someone to protect their interests.^[9]

There is disagreement over how widely supported Khomeini's doctrine is; that is, whether "the absolute authority and guardianship" of a high-ranking Islamic jurist is "universally accepted amongst all Shi’a theories of governance" and forms "a central pillar of Imami [Shi'i] political thought" (Ahmed Vaezi and Taqi Yazdi),^[10] or whether there is no consensus in favor of the model of the Islamic Republic of Iran, neither among the public in Iran (Alireza Nader, David E Thaler, and S. R. Bohandy),^[11] nor among most religious leaders in the leading centers of Shia thought,^[12] such as Qom and Najaf (Ali Mamouri).^[13]