Appointment of Women as Judges in Shaykh Ṭūsī's Jurisprudence – Tracing the Roots and Analysis

Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Alī Tavallāī

10.22067/fiqh.v0i0.7922

Abstract

The issue of appointing women as judges was first explicitly


propounded by Shaykh Ṭūsī in his Al-Khilāf and Al-Mansūṭ, following the Sunnī's example. As one of the dignitary figures in the history of Imāmī jurisprudence, Shaykh Ṭūsī has played a great role in the qualitative and quantitative development of jurisprudence. Adopting a historical methodology, the researcher raises the following questions and deliberates on Shaykh Ṭūsī's arguments: Why did Shaykh Ṭūsī not make reference to "consensus" (ijma‘) in this issue? Why did Shaykh Ṭūsī not make reference to the outer aspect of the noble āya: ﴾Men are managers of the affairs of women﴿? [The Qur’an, 4: 34] To what extent is the historical validity of the ḥadīth referred to by Shaykh Ṭūsī? How analyzable is the principle of "non-fabrication of judgment" for a woman, which forms her most significant reason?
Concentration on how to raise the issue, arrangement of the data, presentation of the fundamentals, and the achieved results of this issue, provide a suitable "form" for dealing with the "content" and
analysis of the issue according to basic principles by the method of Jawāhirī jurisprudence in other jurisprudential discourses and issues.
Keywords: judge appointment, women, jurisprudence, Shaykh
Ṭūsī, judgment, historical background.

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