Concept of Legal Personality of State in Shia-Imamie Jurisprudence

The concept of legal personality has been among the favorite concepts of legal studies. It has its roots in private law, therefore, to approach the meaning of this notion in public law, it is convenient to review the function of personality in private law. The most important actor and legal personality in Public Law is state which the concept of its legal personality is the object of this study.
The emergence of the concept of legal personality of the state can be reviewed from different points of view. Legal personality of states was of interest for Islamic philosophers and jurists. When we refer to Islamic jurisprudence texts in four prominent schools (madh'hab) of fiqh within Sunni practice and two (or three) within Shia practice and their hadith books, we do not
find an independent section under the title of legal personality and its similarities and differences with a real person.
This concept has precursors in Shia jurisprudence specially in Iran, since The Safavid dynasty. So, this study is trying to find the roots and to provide a theory of legal personality of state in Shia jurisprudence without such understanding, study of state theory in Shia is defective.