Grand Ayatollah Shirazi Remarks on Modern Concepts Not Addressed in Jurisprudential Foundations

The daily scholarly session of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq Hosseini Shirazi was held on Thursday and Friday, the 13th and 14th of Rabi’ al-Thani. In this session, as in previous ones, the Marja answered attendees’ questions regarding various jurisprudential issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed the jurisprudential status of concepts such as citizenship rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, democracy, and councils, which have emerged in the socio-political landscape over the past few decades. He noted that since these concepts did not exist in the past, they have not been referenced in traditional jurisprudential foundations.

His Eminence further stated that the late Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Shirazi frequently referenced these concepts in his book Al-Fiqh, identifying matters mentioned in these declarations that are supported by religious evidence as legitimate rights.

The Supreme Marja emphasized that if some of these concepts are not mentioned in religious evidence, they do not constitute a legal right in Islamic law.

Using examples such as traffic laws, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi explained that regulations like traffic rules, which align with the principle of “no harm,” meaning that no one has the right to harm another, are consistent with religious standards.