The Shiite Apologetics
Question Thirty-two
Why is the Ja`fari faith considered the official religion in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran ?
Answer:
There is no doubt that the Islamic Republics Constitution treats all branches of the Islamic faith (madhahib) with deference and there is no doubt that the Islamic faiths (such as: the Ja`fari, the Maliki, the Shafi`i, the Hanbali and the Hanafi) are not equal and harmonious in their expression of the individual and social duties of people; there are many great differences among them in this regard.
However, in order to legislate and draw up regulations for a society, it is felt that there is a dire need for the rules and regulations to be harmonious. Hence, in any country, only one of the Islamic faiths can be taken as the source to draw social rules from, for in the case of there being a variety of legislative sources, never can a set of harmonious rules be drawn up.
It is thus befitting to single out on the right criterion from among the Islamic faiths, one as the source of the social laws and regulations in order to avoid any kind of disturbance and disorder in the laws of the country and to
pave the way for the legislation of a series of coherent and harmonized rules in legal and social fields.
The Criterion for Choosing the Ja`fari Faith
Another question is By what criterion is the Ja`fari faith chosen, from among other Islamic faiths, as the source from which to draw up laws and regulations of Iran? The answer to this question is clear: the majority of Iranians are the Muslims who have pronounced the Ja`fari faith as the basis of their belief and as the expression of their individual and social duties. Thus, it goes without saying that choosing the Ja`fari faith as the official religion of the country in the Islamic Republics Constitution is a natural phenomenon which is in agreement with all logical and legal criteria.
The Status of Other Islamic Faiths
Although the Ja`fari faith has been taken as the official religion in the Islamic Republics Constitution, the other Islamic faiths (madhahib) such as the Shafi`i, the Hanbali, the Hanafi, the Maliki and the Zaydi have been recognized as well. Moreover, the followers of these faiths can, in the following cases, act as they have been instructed by their own religions:
Performance of religious rites
Religious education or upbringing
Individual duties
Specific religious procedures such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, framing of wills, etc.
Furthermore, in a region in which any one of the mentioned
Schools has the majority of followers, the execution of the local regulations is observed, within the authorities invested on the local councils, in accordance with the beliefs of the majority, while the rights of other religious followers are also respected.
Now, in order to further clarify the matter, we will quote the twelfth article of the first chapter of the Islamic Republics Constitution, which deals with this matter:
The official religion of Iran is Islam of the Twelver Ja`fari School and this article is inalterable in perpetuity. The other sects of Islam, including the Hanafi, the Shafi`i, the Maliki, the Hanbali and the Zaydi, are regarded with full respect and the followers of these sects enjoy complete freedom in performing their religious rituals according to their own jurisprudence and with respect to their religious instructions, personal status (including marriage, divorce, inheritance and framing of wills) and the causes relating thereto are considered to be official in courts of law. In every region where the followers of any of these sects enjoy a majority of the particular sect, the local regulations will be formulated according to the precepts of jurisdiction of the councils of that region with the assurance that the rights of the followers of other sects will be respected.
