Summary Article
The Legitimacy of Ruling Systems prior to the Debut of Imam Al-Mahdi (P.B.U.H)
Sheikh Mushtaq Al-Saedy
Translated by: Mujtaba Al-Helu
There has been an unsolved debate about a common understanding that any state which would be, or is established before the Debut of Imam Al-Mahdi is a deceiving and false system. Thus, any system or revolution would be invalid, since it is deprived of the common understandings of Islamic instructions, as believed.
On the other side, this silence and acceptance of oppression clashes with for-granted Islamic beliefs, especially Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, establishing God›s limits, defending the rights of the oppressed, and carrying out jurisprudential instructions. In other words, these ordinances cannot be applied unless there is a fertile ground prepared by a legitimate Islamic government before the Debut of Imam Al-Mahdi (P.B.U.H).
How is, therefore, this issue handled? What is meant by State? Is there a prevention from founding a religious government during the Major Occultation? And what is our mission towards this state?
Accordingly, this research is divided into two parts: a. analyzing narrations about the prevention from establishing such a state; b. analyzing the issue of inability of establishing a state.
