Following the Islamic revolution of 1978-79 in Iran, the new Islamic regime justified the rule of the Ayatollah Khomeni, and of the Shi'ite imams in general, on the basis of the doctrine that righteous jurist is best suited to establish the ideal public order. Sachedina shows that this concept has no apparent parallel in Sunni Islam. In this study, he seeks the origins of this concept in the Sunni/Shi'ite schism that took place after the death of the Prophet, and then traces its historical evolution up to the present time.