Political quietism, defined as the withdrawal from political affairs or skepticism that mere mortals can establish true Islamic government, has been described as a tendency or school in Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

.

Overview

According to scholar Bernard Lewis

Bernard Lewis

Bernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...

, quietism is contrasted with "activist" Islam.

There are in particular two political traditions, one of which might be called quietist, the other activist. The arguments in favour of both are based, as are most early Islamic arguments, on the Holy Book and on the actions and sayings of the Prophet. The quietist tradition obviously rests on the Prophet as sovereign, as judge and statesman. But before the Prophet became a head of state, he was a rebel. Before he travelled from Mecca to Medina, where he became sovereign, he was an opponent of the existing order. He led an opposition against the pagan oligarchy of Mecca and at a certain point went into exile and formed what in modern language might be called a "government in exile," with which finally he was able to return in triumph to his birthplace and establish the Islamic state in Mecca...The Prophet as rebel has provided a sort of paradigm of revolution—opposition and rejection, withdrawal and departure, exile and return. Time and time again movements of opposition in Islamic history tried to repeat this pattern.

Some analysts have argued that "Islamic political culture promotes political quietism" and cite a "famous Islamic admonition: `Better one hundred years of the Sultan's tyranny than one year of people's tyranny over each other.`" Other scripture providing grounding for quietism in Islam includes the ayat `Obey God, obey his Prophet and obey those among you who hold authority` and the hadith: `Obey him who holds authority over you, even if he be a mutilated Ethiopian slave` Other "commonly cited" but not scriptural sayings among Sunni jurists and theologians include "whose power prevails must be obeyed," and "the world can live with tyranny but not with anarchy".

In Shia Islam, religious leaders who have been described as "quietist" include Ayatollah Mirza Hosein Na'ini, a leader during Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

's 1906 Constitutional revolution

Iranian Constitutional Revolution

The Persian Constitutional Revolution or Iranian Constitutional Revolution took place between 1905 and 1907...

; Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi, the marja of Iran from 1947 to his death in 1961; and currently Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, currently one of, if not the leading Shia cleric in Iraq. Their stance is not a strict withdrawal from politics but that "true `Islamic government`" cannot be established until the return of twelfth imam

Muhammad al-Mahdi

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams...

. Until this time Muslims must "search for the best form of government," advising rulers to ensure that "laws inimical to sharia" are not implemented.