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An Analysis of the Political Functions of the Institution of Attorneyship in the Age of Minor Occultation and a Critique of Edmund Hayes' Reading of the Process of Political Legitimization in the Imamiyya
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Zahra Moradipoor   , Mahdi Akbarnejad * , Sayed Mohammsd reza Hosseininia |
| هیات علمی , M-akbarnezhad@ilam.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (12 Views) |
| The institution of wikāla (agency) represents one of the most pivotal organizational mechanisms in Imami Shiʿi history, emerging under the political pressures of the Abbasid caliphate and the geographical dispersion of Shiʿi communities, and reaching its zenith during the Lesser Occultation (ghaybat al-ṣughrā). Adopting a historical-critical approach, this study examines the political functions of this institution and offers a critical assessment of Edmund Hayes’s reading, which reduces legitimacy to institutional functionality. The central problem is to explain the relationship between the theological foundation of legitimacy (the doctrine of imamate) and the historical mechanisms of exercising authority (the agency network). The findings reveal that the agency network, beyond communicative and financial roles, played a pivotal part in organizing the Imam-community relationship, managing religious affairs, and confronting false claimants. The critique of Hayes’s interpretation demonstrates that while his emphasis on institutional dimensions is analytically valuable, reducing legitimacy to institutional mechanisms while neglecting the theological basis of imamate yields an incomplete picture. The agency institution was not an autonomous producer of legitimacy but rather a historical conduit for the realization of the Imam’s authority during the Occultation |
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| Keywords: واژگان کلیدی: نهاد وکالت, غیبت صغری, کارکردهای سیاسی, مرجعیت امام, ادمون هایز. |
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Islamic History/ Interdisciplinary History
Received: 2026/05/10 | Revised: 2026/10/3 | Accepted: 2026/08/30 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/10/3
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