RCD held a panel discussion entitled "The Nature of Islamic Systems in the Political Culture of the Ancient World" at Al-Salam Hall at RCD headquarters in Najaf, presented by Dr. Faleh Mahdi, a scholar of political philosophy, in the presence of academics, political and intellectual figures.

Dr. Mahdi said that the contemporary world at the beginning of the eighteenth century witnessed great transformations in all areas, especially the political philosophy, where political legitimacy moved from divine right to human, and from absolute to relative (elections, parliaments). However, he tried to address the Islamic political system as part of the old world system in term of three aspects, first; is the verticality of power, the second is correlation between the religious and political authority, and the last is the position of the society within the political system. According to Dr. Mahdi, the nature of the political system in Islam in the light of historical sources is divided into two eras, the first called the "Caliphate" which extended to 29 years, the second is the Umayyad system based on heredity and the claim of legitimacy, and this is what we found later in most systems of the Islamic countries, as the political authorities in the contemporary Islamic world did not exceed the Umayyad, the rule is still republican but hereditary; secular, but turns overnight to be an Islamic rule. so a result, the ruler of authority are not looking for building institutions, but they have made every effort to transfer the rulw to the grandchildren, and for that they are resorting to old and recent methods even if this led to the death of million people.

He added that the interrelationship between political and religious authority is obvious in the ancient world and the same in Islam, there is no legitimacy without the blessing of the religious authority.

 On the importance of the religious establishment in the ancient world, he said that it is based on three elements: language, symbol and delusion, where all the great religions in the world have been associated with the written language. Writing has played a fundamental role in establishing the institution and religious ideology. He added that in Arabic language there are symbols and signs that human beings could hear, so that they could relate to the cultural heritage that they had developed since childhood, that is, the delusion industry comes through language, which is one of the largest industries.

 The panel discussion witnessed presenting questions of many of the attendees and their evaluation of the lecture of Dr. Faleh Mahdi, as part of the activities of RCD.