Analysis and Critique of Imamate and Community Leadership in the Thought of Sayyid Muhammad Nurbakhsh

Objective: The issue of Imamate and community leadership is the most enduring intellectual topic among Muslims. Within this, the perspective of mysticism and the thought of mystics on Imamate and leadership has received less attention. This article, focusing on the school of Ibn Arabi and the works of Nurbakhsh, critically studies how the scope of guardianship was expanded from spiritual guardianship to political guardianship—a development that, in a manner, provided the intellectual foundation for the Safavid Shaykhs in establishing the Safavid dynasty.Method: The present study uses a combination of three methods, historical, comparative, and analytical, within the framework of the History of Thought. Based on the works of Nurbakhsh and through an intra-textual analysis of said works, this study examines and elucidates the various dimensions of this perspective on Imamate and community leadership, while also presenting its underlying reasons and contexts for critical evaluation.Findings: An examination of the lived history of mystics and their mystical viewpoints reveals three perspectives on the relationship between religious law and spiritual reality: A) Reality without Law, B) Reality within the framework of law, and C) Law within the framework of Reality. The rethinking of the concepts of independent legal reasoning and struggle by mystics such as Ibn Arabi, and its detailed representation in the thoughts and works of Nurbakhsh, gives rise to the third perspective. This perspective paved the manner for the expansion of the scope of Vilayah from inner guardianship to outer guardianship. In this sense, exoteric Ijtihād is elevated to "Revelatory Ijtihād" and becomes the axis for understanding religion. The position of the Imam, who simultaneously possesses the qualifications for both the lesser and greater jihad, becomes embodied in a single individual.Conclusion: Nurbakhsh divides the Imamate of the community into two categories: "Real Imamate" and "Relative Imamate." He considers a saint who possesses all the characteristics of Imamate as the holder of "Real Imamate." He regards other saints as Imams to the extent that they possess those attributes, calling their Imamate "Relative Imamate." According to this framework, many of the Shi'a Imams are categorized under relative Imamate, as they do not simultaneously possess all the characteristics described for the community's Imam in "Mystical Jurisprudence."

کلیدواژه ها:

Real Imamate ، Relative Imamate ، Pious Scholar ، Juridical Mysticism ، Mystical Jurisprudence