Lex Islamica Quarterly

Lex Islamica Quarterly

An Analysis of the Logic Underpinning References to "Laws and Regulations" within the Fatwas of Islamic Jurists

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Human Rights and Environmental Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
2 LLM Student in Public Law, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Law, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The relationship between religious decrees (fatwa) and civil law encompasses diverse individual and governmental dimensions. In recent years, this has emerged as a significant subject of discourse within the Islamic Republic of Iran and other Islamic states. The simultaneous pursuit of guaranteeing the rule of law and maintaining the authority of religion has resulted in an apparent or actual duality. Consequently, addressing the potential for reconciliation or the methodology for achieving consensus and resolving conflicts between these two domains is of paramount importance; various structural strategies and theoretical frameworks have been developed to address this issue. However, an area that remains overlooked is the analysis of a substantial number of fatwas that explicitly refer to laws and regulations, positioning the laws of the Islamic system as the final authority. This phenomenon is observable in sectors such as taxation, intellectual property, and cryptocurrencies. This descriptive-analytical study, utilizing library research methods, identifies the central problem as the analysis of the mindset and logic governing these specific fatwas. The findings of this research indicate that a behavioral-jurisprudential analysis of the Maraji' (religious authorities) reveals several definitive underlying logics for referencing civil laws within fatwa phrasing: these include preserving the system (hifz al-nizam), the principle of precaution (asalat al-ihtiyat), and legal validity.
Keywords


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 24 September 2025

  • Receive Date 26 April 2025
  • Accept Date 27 August 2025