Exploring the Balance Between Religious Law and State Human Rights Obligations: A Grounded Theory Study
Keywords:
Religious law, Human rights, Legal pluralism, Grounded theory, Iran, Constitutional interpretation, Sharia and civil lawAbstract
This study aims to explore how legal professionals, clerics, and human rights advocates in Iran perceive, negotiate, and reconcile the tensions between religious law and state-level human rights obligations. The research employed a qualitative grounded theory design to generate a conceptual model grounded in participants’ lived experiences. Nineteen participants, including legal scholars, religious authorities, human rights activists, and legal practitioners, were purposefully selected from Tehran. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews until theoretical saturation was reached. Each interview lasted between 45 to 75 minutes, was audio-recorded with consent, and transcribed verbatim. NVivo software was used to code and analyze the data through open, axial, and selective coding procedures. Three overarching themes emerged from the data: (1) Tensions Between Legal Systems, encompassing jurisdictional ambiguity, normative incompatibility, and institutional resistance to reform; (2) Pathways Toward Reconciliation, highlighting adaptive interpretation of religious texts, constitutional harmonization mechanisms, and civil society engagement; and (3) Lived Experience of Legal Pluralism, reflecting strategic legal navigation, institutional inconsistency, and psychological tensions among citizens. Participants emphasized both the structural and interpretive dilemmas within Iran’s hybrid legal framework and pointed to cultural and generational shifts as potential catalysts for reconciliation. The final grounded theory illustrates how individuals and institutions manage legal pluralism through a complex interplay of resistance, adaptation, and negotiation. The study reveals that the tension between religious law and human rights obligations in Iran is neither absolute nor static but navigated through interpretive flexibility, institutional mediation, and social agency. Sustainable legal reform requires culturally embedded strategies that respect religious identity while advancing human rights protections.
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