Politics in Islam has various areas of study it is possible to investigate the Islamic political approach based on numerous Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, philosophy, and theology or Qur’anic interpretation. Political jurisprudence as one of the most fundamental areas of Islamic politics can be considered due to the focus of jurisprudence on the understanding of Islam, with a greater backgroud and double influence in Seminaries than other areas of Islamic politics. Therefore, the topic of Wilayat-e Faqih(guardianship of the Islamic jurist) as the central political system of Islam in the era of occultation(of Imam Mahdi a), has been discussed in Shiite jurisprudence and jurisprudential issues.
The emphasis on political jurisprudence in the seminaries, the existence of a strong legacy of political discussions in the jurists’ books and the focus of the Islamic Republic of Iran system on political jurisprudence basis has led the Research center for Political Sciences and Thought to establish the department for political jurisprudence. Thus, the department for political jurisprudence and the Research center for Political Sciences and Thought were established at the same time. Perhaps the department for political jurisprudence in this research center could be regarded as the first department for political thought with a focus on political jurisprudence in Iran after the revolution.
The efforts of young and concerned scholars of the Seminary for the need to explain the jurisprudential foundations of Islamic Republic of Iran system, and reproducing the jurisprudential legacy of Shia has led to form the epistemic structure of departments of this research center and therefore, the designers of this research center, in addition to paying attention to political jurisprudence, shifted some of the responsibilities of research in the field of political Islamic studies to the department for political jurisprudence.
The research department which currently has three faculty members and one permanent researcher who not only are they supported by a group of researchers connected to the seminary but also they have academic education degrees.
The great and effective number of the books and articles produced in this scientific department, was the reason to put it on a positive and efficient level, and the selection of twenty-five works from the department’s products confirms this claim.
In this research department, in addition to political jurisprudence issues, political interpretation of the Holy Quran and compiling political narratives focusing on reliable narrative associations of Shia are also considered and some studies in these areas are being conducted.
The Research Domain of the Department for Political Jurisprudence
A. Research Areas
1. The philosophy of political jurisprudence (descriptive and prescriptive)
2. The sociology of political jurisprudence
3. The history of political jurisprudence
4. Pathology and critique of political jurisprudence
5. Comparative studies
6. Issues and topics of political jurisprudence
7. Political interpretation of the Holy Quran
B. Thematic priorities
1. The political system of Shia
2. Wilayat-e Faqih(guardianship of the Islamic jurist)
3. Identification and critique of the existing identity of political jurisprudence
4. The issues of Islamic republic of Iran