THE ISLAMIC GOVERNMENTS CONFRONTING CRITICISM

Abstract

One of the significant conditions of the progress of a democratic society is the clash of ideas for surveying them from different aspects, which is the result of a free space, and is called as criticism. Since beside the western democratic countries, there are a few countries within the Islamic world, especially in the Middle East such as Iran, who, having Islam, try to perform democracy as well, it is necessary for them to know the method of establishing the culture of criticism as one of its basic principles. This article is to speak about the essence, necessities, and conditions of criticism. The direct relation between the durability of the governments and the peoples' right to criticize the governments' functions is another issue that is discussed in this article. Applying the theoretical and Islamic sources proves that both Shi'ite and Sunni sects can potentially support governmental criticism. The referencing style of this research is based on the Chicago style.