Jurisprudential Analysis of the Principle of Non-Refoulement in Imamī Jurisprudence with Emphasis on the Institutions of Istijarah, Aman, and Jurisprudential Maxims
Keywords:
Imami jurisprudence, prohibition of return, lease, security, tenant, asylum seeker, international refugee lawAbstract
The principle of non-refoulement is one of the most important safeguards for the protection of refugees and persons exposed to serious risks under international law. The central question of this study is whether the institutions of istijarah (seeking protection) and aman (safe-conduct), together with the general maxims of Imamī jurisprudence, can provide a jurisprudential basis for protecting asylum seekers and restricting their return to unsafe environments. This study employs a descriptive-analytical method and draws on jurisprudential, exegetical, hadith, and international legal sources. The findings indicate that verse 6 of Surah al-Tawbah, particularly its requirement that a mustajir (person seeking protection) be conveyed to a place of safety (ma'man), as well as the rules governing aman concerning the immunity and security of a musta'man (person granted safe-conduct), constitute the most significant specific foundations for such protection. The jurisprudential principles of fulfillment of covenants, the inviolability of protected human life, the prohibition of harm (la darar), and justice and the prohibition of oppression may also be invoked to reinforce protection and constrain the harmful consequences of return. The study concludes that, although the principle of non-refoulement does not exist in Imamī jurisprudence as an independently formulated contemporary doctrine, the cumulative effect of these jurisprudential foundations provides a defensible interpretive basis for protecting persons exposed to serious risks and preventing their return to environments that threaten their life or security. While maintaining the conceptual distinction between classical jurisprudential institutions and the mechanisms of international law, this interpretive capacity may serve as a basis for an ijtihadi reconsideration and contemporary reconstruction of the principle of non-refoulement.
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