Public Law Studies Quarterly

Jurisprudential Basis of Constitutionalization of Legal Status of Religious Minorities in Iran

Document Type : Article

Authors

Alireza Alipanah 1
Reza Bakeshlou 2
Alireza Mehrabizadeh 3

1 Assistant Prof, Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD student in Public Law, Faculty of Islamic Science and Law, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran

3 PhD Student in Private Law, Faculty of Islamic Science and Law, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2021.333246.2926
Abstract
Under various principles of the [Iranian] Constitution, especially Article 12, the use of the word "minority" is only valid when used to describe non-Muslim religious groups. Article 13 only recognizes some religious minorities, and article 14 obliges the Islamic state and Muslims to respect the human rights of non-Muslims, without referring to a specific minority. Therefore, the Iranian legal system is faced with two categories of religious minorities, namely "recognized" and "unrecognized" minorities. Despite the legal recognition of rights in the Constitution, their implementation is ambiguous. Much of this ambiguity is due to the lack of a clear religious jurisprudential basis for the fundamental rights of these minorities. In this paper, using an analytical-descriptive method, it has been concluded that the use of “aman treaty” in Islamic jurisprudence can resolve many issues concerning religious minorities in Iran. After explaining the various Islamic jurisprudential institutions, including "dhimma”, “hudna”, and "aman", it will be concluded that the situation of religious minorities in the Islamic Republic, both recognized and unrecognized, conforms to the institution of "aman".

Keywords

aman treaty
dhimma treaty
hudnah treaty
minority rights
religious minorities

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    1. B) Articles
    2. Alipanah, Alireza & Bakshloo, Reza & Mehrabizadeh, Alireza (2020), "The Status of Unrecognized Religious Minorities in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Islamic Jurisprudential-Legal Review", Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 12, Issue 12, pp. 218-191 (In Persian).
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    1. C) Documents
    2. Kaabi, Abbas (2016), "Analysis of the principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran, analysis of the principles of the thirteenth principle of the Constitution", Guardian Council Research Institute, Series No: 13950011 (In Persian).
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 53, Issue 1
Spring 2023
Spring 2023
Pages 373-402

  • Receive Date 01 November 2021
  • Revise Date 27 November 2021
  • Accept Date 19 December 2021

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