Studying the Concepts of Ethics and Politics
The conceptual reviews help understand the content and findings of the article:
The concept of ethics: literally, the word ethics refers to the traits and inner attributes of the human being. Hence, the science of ethics means to have knowledge of the goods and the bad things and how to treat and interact with people. Technically, various definitions of ethics have been given such that the late Muslim scholars such as ibn Miskawayh, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Nasir al-Din Tusi, Faydh Kashani and others have defined it similarly though they have used different terms. In fact, in all the definitions that these scholars have provided of ethics, ethics is regarded as the innate disposition of the human being. For example, ibn Miskawayh considers morality to be the state of the soul that calls for doing things without contemplation and only by following the habits as well as the innate disposition.
In contrast to the aforementioned definition of ethics, contemporary Islamic thinkers use ethics as a feature of work referring to it as the ethical practice. For example, Ayatollah Motahhari in the definition of ethics states: “The science of ethics is the science of how to live. In other words, morality wants to show man what the good life is and how humans should act.”
Imam Khomeini also regards ethics as the point where the powers of the soul are being balanced to which the moral virtues are based and believes that, as the ultimate goal and endeavours of the prophets have been perfecting the moral characteristics and actualizing the ethical moderation, the moral virtues of wisdom, chastity, courage and justice are the point of moderation of the four powers in man. This definition and view of Imam Khomeini regarding ethics are derived from his theory concerning the existence of the two instincts and the four powers within man. In his view, a moral human is the one who has reached moderation in terms of his four powers, namely, his rational power, the force of lust, the power of anger, and the power of imagination and possessed the four moral virtues of wisdom, chastity, courage, and justice as the balancing point of these powers.
This definition of Imam Khomeini is different from other scholars’ definitions of ethics and is rooted in his views regarding human existence. One of the important points in his perception of ethics is the moderation of the three powers (lust, anger and imagination) in his view which if they rule over the human being they would lead him astray. This moderation seeking is suggested by Imam Khomeini while he does not accept the weakening of these powers despite their danger believing that if they are weakened, some of the religious decrees will remain unfulfilled. With this different view of Imam Khomeini on the issue of ethics, it is clear that understanding the relationship between ethics and politics will only be possible with having this perception of ethics in Imam Khomeini’s theory.
In Imam Khomeini’s thought, politics is seen as a guidance that is inseparable from religion and those who believe in the separation of religion from politics are unfamiliar with Islam. To Imam Khomeini, politics does not mean deceit, deception and looting, because in that case, it will definitely be separate from religion, but the policy of governing society and Islamic government seeks to help and serve the people, not vice versa.
This view of Imam Khomeini on politics considers all the religion of Islam to be politics, that is, religion is guiding the human beings in all areas because being involved in politics is the duty of prominent human beings. Because in the view of Imam Khomeini, no one can lead society and the purity of the soul is one of the conditions for entering this field. This kind of view regarding politics can be elaborated in the context of the theory of the two instincts because the perception of politics as guidance which is the ultimate goal of human creation is put forward by Imam Khomeini while he believes that the one who has the responsibility of fulfilling that goal possesses three powers which if he does not control them by trying to purify himself, he will lead the human society astray instead of guiding it.
Knowing Humanity
Humanity has two statuses: the external or temporal, and the esoteric or the celestial one which belongs to another world. On the one hand, every chain of being of man enjoys the help of the divine forces that invite him to the felicity as well as the evil forces that drive him towards misery and darkness. Therefore, there is a constant struggle between the two and man is the battlefield of this fight.
According to the theory of two instincts, if human existence is controlled by the three forces of lust, anger, and evilness, since these forces are innately inclined towards the material world, the evil forces would dominant him, and as a result, the human being is driven to the worldly and external stage. Conversely, if one is controlled by the intellect and the shari’ah and his actions follow the system of reason and the shari’ah, his being would become divine and rational and will be guided to the inner and spiritual stage. Accordingly, the rational power is immaterial in terms of the essence and in terms of instinct, it is inclined towards virtue, goodness and justice. On the other hand, the forces of lust, anger, and imagination in terms of their material nature and essence are inclined towards evilness and cruelty.
In this struggle within the self, Imam Khomeini considers fighting with the self and egos as the highest stage of jihad of the soul which seeks to overcome the innate powers so that he can make them abide by the divine laws and rid the soul from the evil forces. Because the evilness or divinity of a society depends on the evilness or spirituality of human beings. Therefore, the rule of moral virtues and divine policy are the fruits of the rule of the divine forces within the human existence and the rule of corruption is the fruit of the rule of the evil forces within the human existence.
While considering the concept of nurturing the human being, Imam Khomeini considers the inner revolution as a possible thing believing that the idea of the immutability of the soul is baseless and irrational. He considers man to be a free and changeable creature who may transcend or fall, and rejects the famous saying that “such evil characteristic or trait are rooted in human’s innate and cannot be changed” and holds that all traits and habits can be changed through efforts.
The basis of this claim of Imam Khomeini in the field of ethics is rooted in his worldview and philosophical thought. This basis goes back to the willful trans-substantial motion and can be traced in transcendent wisdom.
Policy Follows the Ethics
Ethics and politics are both the branches of practical wisdom and in pursuit of felicity, so the political philosophy that seeks to discover the ultimate values of politics and formulate a favourable model of government will not do so without ethical principles.
The ethical policy has two important aspects:
(a) The model of governing and policymaking;
(b) The aim of governing and politics.
As far as the approach of the policy following the ethics is concerned, both the political method as well as the aim of the policy must be ethical. The political approach can include things like the ethics of governors and political agents and the way to achieve and maintain political power, respecting people’s rights and avoiding oppression. In terms of the aims, the observance of individual ethics and ethical policy and collective ethics are both the perfection and happiness of the individuals as well as society.
The approach of the politics following the ethics is in line with the teachings of Islam because basically, the philosophy of political leadership in Islam is different from other schools. In other schools, especially material ones, the main task of political leadership is the prosperity and well-being of citizens, whereas in the political school of Islam mere prosperity is not enough, because the political leadership in Islam seeks to lead people towards perfection and values, thus separating ethics and politics is equal to the collapse of human beings, and it is in the context of the following of ethics of politics that humans may reach perfection. On the one hand, Islam has emphasized morality such that the revival of moral values is considered to be the purpose and wisdom of the prophets, as the Prophet states in a famous saying: “I have been designated as a prophet to perfect moral standards.”
Also, a man who is naturally can be trained, while having the power of rationality on the one hand, and the three powers of anger, lust, and imagination on the other, can ascend and fall. Therefore, this human nature requires the sending of the prophets to help the power of the intellect and the purification of the soul and ridding it of the evilness of three other powers, because taking the path of perfection and reaching salvation necessitates observing these two issues. On the other hand, the need to purify the self in politics will be highlighted when we see the principle of the adherence of the policy to ethics, on which committing to ethical principles in the field of politics would become inevitable.
Imam Khomeini’s intellectual foundation has been formed in two fields of ethics and politics and on the principle of the adherence of policy to ethics. He believes that the two are closely related. He says: “Politics is not deception; it is a fact which governs the country; it is not deceit; this view is all wrong. Islam is political and the truth of politics is not deception.”
According to Imam Khomeini’s intellectual basis, in a political system where politics follows ethics, the politician is bound to have moral characteristics such as a fixed determination and having patience over sufferings and hardships. A politician who wants to make ethics govern the society and lead people towards perfection through adhering to moral principles should first observe ethical principles and this is the commitment that leads people into taking the path of ethics, which if not occurs the society will become corrupted. Therefore, Imam Khomeini repeatedly addressed the country’s political officials in various ranks providing them with the necessary ethical advice: “Those who use public property must serve the people. They have to treat people honestly and be honest. They should avoid deceit and false promises. If they did something wrong or showed negligence, they have to bravely admit their mistake and try to make up for it, and if they felt unable to perform their duties they should resign and leave their position to another.”
Some believe that this remark of Imam Khomeini that “even the moral teachings of Islam are political, the same sentence in the Quran that believers are brothers, this is a moral decree, a social decree, and a political one” means that ethics and politics are intertwined and have mutual interaction. This notion is not only containing weaknesses and flaws in expressing the relationship between ethics and politics, but it also contains inaccuracies in understanding Imam Khomeini’s word. What can be understood from that remark is that Imam Khomeini wants to show that there is no separation between the teachings of Islam, whether ethical or jurisprudential and politics, because in his view, Islam is inherently religious, social and consequently political and its rulings, from the outset, have been enacted in the social and political context. From the viewpoint of Imam Khomeini, the moral and religious teachings of Islam are basically political, not individual and discrete from society and people. This interpretation of the words of Imam Khomeini is more consistent with his other remarks regarding the need for observing ethics in the field of politics.
The Need for Self-Purification
One of the key concepts in politics is power. According to Western thinkers, politics is an arena for acquiring, maintaining, and expanding power, and that politicians should strive to achieve this in every way possible. In fact, power in the political arena not an intrinsic characteristic of political actors, but as the dominant attribute of the relationships between them, and hence it relates to other concepts such as authority, influence and leadership. This important position of power in the political arena is presented while in Imam Khomeini’s view of power it is considered as perfection because it is one of the attributes of the Almighty Creator. But power, according to Imam Khomeini, is dangerous when it comes to corrupt people, after which the perfection of power would turn into corruption.
This view of Imam Khomeini about the concept of power as the most fundamental issue in politics arises from his intellectual basis which is based on the theory of the two instincts. The man who is controlled by the powers of anger, lust, and imagination is turned to his hidden nature and the power that is potentially the source of perfection for him would turn into evil and oppression. Conversely, a man who has purified his soul and, by controlling the three powers, let the rational power rule his existence, has actualized the power through the path to perfection and takes a step towards reaching felicity and prosperity. Therefore, it is necessary that power, as the essence of politics, in order to lead people towards perfection and felicity, be made available to human beings who adhere to ethical principles and not being given to corrupt individuals.
Imam Khomeini believes that self-purification is for human guidance and that unless individuals are being purified, there is a possibility of rebellion, and if humans are not purified, in any arena, including monotheism, philosophy and politics, it would be a great danger to humanity. This emphasis on self-purification by Imam Khomeini illustrates its place in all spheres, especially politics, and it is clear that the politics and leadership of the community are necessary for their practitioners and agents because of the vastness and universality of their spheres. Because, if the importance of self-purification is ignored, there would be adverse effects to the extent that, as Imam is stated, they are more dangerous than the Mongols.
1) The Priority of Personal and Individual Ethics over Collective Ethics: the book “Forty Hadiths” of Imam Khomeini and his other books such as “Jihad al-Akbar” are drawing readers’ attention to the self-purification. This necessity arises from the priority of self-purification in the course of reaching moral stages, and in the eyes of scholars, if this matter is not fulfilled in the first place it would be impossible to take the next steps. On the other hand, perhaps Imam Khomeini’s view of the necessity of self-purification may suggest that he has a personal view regarding morality. But going through these books and subsequent works of him rejects such speculation. Imam Khomeini’s view of ethics is, especially from an individual point of view, is rooted in the notion that human being and his purification is the main subject of ethics and the purification of the society also depends on the observance of ethics of its leaders and citizens. It is because of this that ethics finds a social function and has been mentioned in the political and legal works of Imam Khomeini.
Unlike Allamah Tabatabai who prioritizes the whole over the part in making reforms in society and reaching the felicity, Imam Khomeini believes in the principle of contagion and the primacy of the whole.
Accordingly, Imam Khomeini does not regard the upbringing of a child as educating one person and does not believe that the negligence in upbringing a child would affect one person since he believes that by educating a child a large population and even a nation and country is being reformed and by the misleading of one individual a country and nation will be corrupted.
In all, the evilness and spirituality of the community depend on the evilness and spirituality of man. Therefore, the rule of moral virtues and divine policy is the fruits of the rule of the divine powers (rational power) in human existence whereas the sovereignty of the immorality is the fruit of the sovereignty of Satan (the three powers) in the realm of human existence. Human society, therefore, becomes divine when humans are taking the right and divine path.
2) Ways of Self-Purification: Scholars believe that self-purification is methodical and in order to achieve this, one must move within its methodological framework. Adherence to this method will make it easier for the person to purify his self and it would become more likely to achieve success and progress in this area. Besides being a political leader, Imam Khomeini has made efforts for years in the way of self-purification, and as a moral teacher, has taken steps in this regard through writing ethical books. From his point of view, self-purification and taking the journey to God has different stages towards which people should take steps and pass the path of perfection. In his view, these steps are:
1) Contemplation about all the divine blessings, including the blessings of sending the Prophets and the scriptures and finding the destination and the duty of man regarding them;
2) Determination to avoid committing sins and observing the obligations;
3) Preconditioning, observance and spiritual accounting;
4) Remembering God and His blessings;
Imam Khomeini believes that the main arena on which the forces of rationality are confronting the forces of ignorance is paying attention to the blessings, mercy and presence of God and abandoning God’s disobedience and forgetting His remembrance. In the path of self-purification, intellect is the factor for the growth and transcendence of man whereas his fall is caused by ignorance and Satan, and this requires the presence of man in this world which, according to Imam Khomeini, is the world of transformations and changes, and if such changes and willful trans-substantial motion did not exist and God did not put these changes and transformations in this world, none of the imperfect souls would achieve his promised perfection and stability.
In the way of self-purification, Imam Khomeini considers piety among all the ethical attributes as the main factor. Piety is the hatred of imperfection and desire for perfection and righteousness. In fact, piety in the doctrine of Imam Khomeini is turning away from all other than the Almighty and the subordinated issues to the divine instinct.
Through this moral trait, man flies into the world of holiness and purity, and he would completely become cut off from the material world. On the contrary, dependence on and belonging to the world are the main obstacles to transcendence and perfection. As long as the human heart is focused on the world and is bounded by its limitations, it would remain dark and hence the light of guidance would not reach it. Therefore, piety is turning away from all other than God and reaching the monotheism and the Almighty.
Imam Khomeini also considers the origin of the purification of the soul to be the modification of the three powers (anger, lust and imagination) stating that the movement of the complete human being from the defect to perfection is moving in a straight line and a moderate course that is moderation and justice. Because, according to him, though the dominance of the three powers causes the misleading of human beings, there are also positive aspects within them that, if weakened, many religious and ethical commands will remain unfulfilled so they should be controlled and modified through making the power of intellect ruling over them.
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