Constitutionalism in Light of Mīrzā Nāʾīnī’s Theological Principles: Challenges and Innovations

The present article aims to demonstrate how Mīrzāyī Nāʾīnī, within the tradition of the Shiite political theology and by employing the concepts and teachings of this intellectual tradition, has addressed theoretical questions and concerns about politics during his time. Thus, through textual analysis and within the framework of semantic theories, the article seeks to answer how he arrived at a stance supportive of constitutionalism from the core principles and tenets of Shiite theology. This study reveals that the outcome of his work, in comparison with other jurists of his time, lies in the particular formulation of concepts and doctrines from this old tradition in response to newly emerging issues regarding modern politics. This formulation has two key features: first, the inescapability of theological discourse on the guardianship of the jurist, which arises from his adherence to the Shiite theological tradition; second, the theological reflection on the foundations and various aspects of constitutionalism, which stems from his attention to the nature of the politics of his time. This analysis highlights Nāʾīnī's prominent role in the evolutionary process of Shiite political theology.