In order to study the task-orientalism in Imam Khomeini’s political thought, we would discuss the aspects of this concept as well as the relationship between duty and consequence in his political thought:
The Aspects of Duty-Orientalism in Imam Khomeini’s Political Thought
The Jurisprudential Aspect
From a jurisprudential perspective, duty is the will of the legislator to do or not to do the work which its fulfilment requires hardship. This will of the legislator is expressed as a decree which addresses the actions of the people. In the jurisprudential framework, the duty-oriented approach means putting limitations on alternatives and options in the field of social and political activities. A Muslim cannot, in legislating the fundamental laws of the society, act as being “self-contained” and without regarding the religious principles. Since fulfilling the obligation is always accompanied by hardship to which human egos do not incline, the responsible man would be subjected to tempting factors, making the fulfilment of obligation difficult for him. Thus, in the jurisprudential view, the definition of the duty is compatible with its literal definition, that is, making the addressee being subject to the difficulty.
The duty-orientalism in Imam Khomeini’s view deals with limiting his decisions voluntarily within the framework of God’s will and the presence of God in the field of social relations.
The duty-orientalism in Imam Khomeini’s thought and conduct does not mean that there are prejudice and strict adherence to the execution of decrees regardless of the requirements of time and space. Since in the political thought of Imam Khomeini other jurisprudential principles such as the prohibition of causing people to endure hardship and impediment, the issue of urgency, secondary ordinances, considering the common practices, time, place and public interest have been taken into consideration, the duty-orientalism has been balanced in his thought. This has constituted a comprehensive jurisprudential system that considers both the content and the framework.
In this jurisprudential view, duty-orientalism does not entail disregarding the development of the subjects and adhering strictly to the decrees; rather, changing of the subject will bring changes to the decree and consequently the obligations of the addresses. This indicates how Imam Khomeini paid attention to the requirements of time and space as well as the concept of expediency and the level of importance in managing the affairs.
The duty-based practice and changing it due to the change that occurred in the obligation has an important place in understanding Imam Khomeini’s political thought and practice. In this regard, he wrote his first political book Kashf al-Asrar (The Unveiling of Secrets) solely to fulfil his duty in responding to the questions and criticisms raised in a pamphlet titled Asrar-e Hezar Saleh (The Thousand-Year Secrets) and closed his teaching classes until finishing the book. Then, on various occasions, he considered his entry into the political arena as a duty. Imam Khomeini’s revolutionary motive for writing that book is clear proof of his duty-orientalist attitude, because, as stated in his book, he sought to abide by the divine laws at a time when negative attitudes toward political activism were prevalent in the seminary. Ayatollah Haeri, as a prominent leader of that era, avoided engaging in any direct fight with Reza Shah, believing that this action (silence and not engaging in politics) is necessary to ensure the existence of the seminary.
Imam Khomeini’s son, Sayyed Ahmad, has quoted the following memory about how his father had compiled Kashf al-Asrar:
Imam Khomeini said: Once while I was going to Feyziyeh Seminary, I saw some people who were talking about the book Asrar-e Hezar Saleh. Suddenly it came to my mind that we are teaching morality in our classes whereas those discussions have permeated into the seminaries. Therefore, Imam Khomeini went back home, put aside all other activities for forty days and after that, he finished writing his book.
It is quite clear that because Imam Khomeini realized that his duty is being changed he has changed his behaviour (from teaching to writing).
Accepting Resolution 598 by Imam Khomeini also implies how he paid attention to the requirements in fulfilling the obligation. Imam Khomeini, however, as the Wali al-Faqih (Guardian-Jurisprudent) and the leader of the Islamic country considered himself responsible to protect the Islamic country, and naturally, that protection could be different depending on the requirements of each time. In some cases, through war and another time by accepting the peace. In any case, the will of God Almighty and acting upon the divine and religious duty was of importance for him. Thus, he accepted the resolution not because he had regretted engaging in the war, rather the internal and environmental requirements of that time made him feel responsible for the preservation of Islam and the country as well as accepting the peace. Both of these decisions which had been based on the expediency of the Islamic community and the pleasure of God were correct and appropriate.
As Imam Khomeini has stated: “And concerning the acceptance of the resolution, which was really a very bitter and unfortunate issue for everyone, especially for me; until a few days ago, I believed in the same positions and ways of defending which were proclaimed during the time of war believing that the expediency of the country and the Revolution lies in following those strategies; but, due to the events and factors that I’m avoiding to address right now...”
This does not mean, of course, that he has ignored the national interests of the country. Therefore, we see one of the reasons for accepting the resolution is to take into account Iran’s minimal requirements. Although Imam Khomeini abandoned his maximal aspirations of overthrowing Saddam, establishing an Islamic state in Iraq, and liberating the Quds, as it was mentioned during the acceptance of the resolution, this decision was shifting of the tactic since he called for achieving those aspirations through other methods. Yet, he did not give up his minimal aspiration, that is, he did not submit to the peace that would be harmful to the country and, because the resolution was partly fulfilled the demands of Iran, he accepted it for the sake of the country. It is inferred from the sayings of Imam Khomeini that, he accepted the resolution unwillingly and merely for the sake of the interest of the country and by recognizing the inner and outer conditions of the Islamic community, he realized that the duty and expediency require the acceptance of the resolution. Therefore, he did so, and put his honour at stake with courage and self-sacrifice, and submitted to the resolution for the sake of the pleasure of God. Because changing the circumstances required a change in positions and views, and this is what the realistic duty-orientalism required.
The Theological Aspect
In the science of theology, it is argued that an obligation is an act of the Wise God that revolves around the expediencies and has benefits and advantages. Yet, that expediency is not seen in relation to God rather it addresses man. In other words, the God Almighty provides the necessary solutions and ways for man through which he could attain perfection, and since the decrees and traditions have a divine basis and are error-free, they are completely compatible with the existential structure of man. This rational explanation provided by the theologians is based on the Principle of Grace.
God has created humanity for a purpose that Mr. Lahiji considers that purpose, the attainment of the eligibility of being close to the Almighty. Achieving this goal is possible in the light of divine grace, and God has exercised this grace to a great extent by making obligations for His servants, and through sending them books and messengers and teachings of the shari’ah that are in accordance with the instinct of humanity, He has paved the way for removing the veils and barriers of the soul and the illumination of the instinct so that man could attain the true perfection.
As far as the theological aspect of Imam Khomeini’s duty-orientalism is concerned, one can say that he considered the duties as the divine graces, that is to say, contrary to the notion that the duties are accompanied by hardships, he viewed divine graces beyond these hardships:
“While we are living in this worldly life we have missions from God, and we must rise to accomplish them. We should not neglect divine obligations because they are divine Graces though we think that they are mere obligations...”
In addition, after discussing the philosophy of divine decrees and their conformity with human instinct, Imam Khomeini considers all the obligations as the results of divine graces on his servants so that to free them from the prison of nature and lead them towards the right path. Then he states: “Divine obligations are all graces and medicines for healing the souls of the sick and divine prophets are the instructors and doctors of the souls who lead people out of the darkness and towards perfection and light.”
Thus one of the consequences of such a belief is satisfaction with the result. Even if, after performing the duties prescribed by God, man achieves unpleasant results, his attitude would be with gratitude and satisfaction because, in Imam Khomeini’s view, the primary purpose of the obligations is the perfection of the person. Therefore, the apparent results are subordinate to the matter and given the satisfaction of the result after fulfilling the obligation one may say that the well-known phrase “al-khayru fima waqa’; The best is in what happened” is the best way to describe the duty-orientalism in Imam Khomeini’s thought.
The Mystical Aspect
In the mystical aspect of duty-orientalism, the literal meaning of obligation is nobleness. A believer is a man who has attained this honour to be addressed by God and to fall in love with Him. Given the wisdom of duty, Sayyid Radhi ad-Din Ali ibn Musa ibn Tawus considering the philosophy of obligation believes that it is derived from the natural need of man and the honour given to him by God.
In any of the teachings of religion, in this sense, duty will not mean hardship, rather it is reaching the truth and its end is not only achieving the rewards in the Hereafter but the symbol of human transcendence. The mystical aspect of duty-orientalism implies that “you just act; God would provide the result.” In this aspect, the social acts and practices would become sacred and mystical going beyond the narrow framework of instrumental rationality. Rationality is the culture that views the long-term consequences of the actions in fulfilling the obligations.
In addition, in the mystical view, the result lies at the heart of the obligation. The mere obedience to and abiding by the divine will, while it is the fulfilment of the obligation, is the purpose and the result.
As far as the mystical aspect of duty-orientalism in Imam Khomeini’s view is concerned, it can be said that while emphasizing objectivity, he believed that man and the universe are the signs and manifestations of God, viewing the appearance of the world along with its esoteric aspect and its intuition with its concealed aspect. Moreover, he sincerely believed in the principle of “There is no one effector in the creation except God” through which he praised and gave thanks to God and even he did so at the time of facing calamities because he considered them as the esoteric blessings, with which, man may not be pleased but they will benefit him. The most important characteristic of Imam Khomeini was not being afraid of facing failure in fulfilling his obligations.
According to his mystical insight, he when fulfilling his duties was never felt worried and was trying to completely fulfil his duty which had been specified by God. After leaving Iraq and in a situation where it was unknown which country he will go to, Imam Khomeini said something similar to the sayings of Imam al-Husayn when he left Madinah: “If all countries refuse to accept me, I will travel by ship and make the whole world aware of the voice of the oppressed Iranian nation.”
The mystical aspect of Imam Khomeini’s duty-orientalism can also be well understood in his letter to Gorbachev in February 1989. In this letter, in addition to predicting the fall of the Soviet Union, Imam Khomeini warned about the immorality and lack of spirituality that Russia was experiencing. In fact, Imam Khomeini stated that Russia’s fundamental problem is not the issue of ownership, economic management or individual freedoms, rather it is the lack of faith and trust in God.
Of course, it should be noted that Imam Khomeini’s mystical perception of the obligations is not a Sufi approach. Therefore, duty-orientalism in Imam Khomeini’s view is not a doctrine only for attaining welfare, but it is about encouraging people to engage in worldly, social and political affairs. For this reason, in various statements, we find that he has emphasized the action.
“For one who wants to make a journey to God, it is not necessary to sit in a corner and say, ‘I want to start going towards God’ No, the journey to God is the same as the practices and actions of the prophets and Prophet Muhammad as well as the infallible Imams who have been used to engage in wars and fights killing the enemies or being killed...”
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