Sayyid Murtada and Cooperation with the Unjust Government

How to encounter the unjust governments and rulers has been one of the major concerns of the Shiites since the early centuries of Islam. That is to ask whether they have to rise and overthrow the illegal governments and provide the ground for the authority of the infallible imam, or they need to be patient and choose reservation. And in the second case, are they allowed to cooperate with those governments or not. If yes, to what extent?

There are many more relevant questions to be studied, such as: are the Shiites allowed to be appointed in a political or social position by the unjust governments? Or, should they absolutely avoid from accepting positions in unjust governments? In the second case, how are they supposed to take care of their rights? Who will preserve their rights in such difficult conditions? Are they permitted to have trade with the rulers and governors, and in specific cases, are they permitted to accept gifts from them? Should they pay tax to such governments?  

Sayyid Murtada is an outstanding scholar who has answered some of these questions in his theological and fiqh books, and he has also written a treatise in this regard. Dealing with all the aspects of the mentioned issues is beyond the limits of an article; therefore, the present work only deals with the issue of "the cooperation with the unjust government and accepting to be appointed to a position in that government".

Keywords: Sayyid Murtada, unjust government, Shiism, cooperation

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*. Faculty member of the Research Center of the Hawzah and University