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theocracy
(redirected from Religious authority)

   Also found in: Legal, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

theocracy

Government by divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. In many theocracies, government leaders are members of the clergy, and the state's legal system is based on religious law. Theocratic rule was typical of early civilizations. The Enlightenment marked the end of theocracy in most Western countries. Contemporary examples of theocracies include Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Vatican. See also church and state; divine kingship.


theocracy
1. government by a deity or by a priesthood
2. a community or political unit under such government


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Noll argues that the Civil War crisis contributed much to the later decline of religious authority in the nation.
Some of them have demanded a public apology to the Sunni world by the Shi'ite theocracy, as in the case of Qatar-based Shaikh Yousef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian religious authority who often appears on a programme on Muslim religious matters run by al-Jazeera - a Qatari-financed pan-Arab TV channel.
Unlike Sadr who is more of an Arab/Iraqi nationalist than a sectarian Shi'ite militant, Hakim is heavily indebted to the Iranian theocracy and is close to Grand Ayatullah Ali al-Sistani, an Iranian-born and Najaf-based cleric widely regarded in Iraq as the highest religious authority in Ja'fari Shi'ism.
 
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