Addressing the concept of freedom, Ayatollah Khamenei states: “Regarding the concept of freedom, we must... think independently. We should not imitate others in this regard because if we were to imitate them in this issue, which is the basis of many of the developments... We would have made a big mistake and there will be a negative outcome.”

 

“Political freedom is a necessity in an Islamic society.” It is the responsibility of the government and all citizens as Muslims to provide the context for the realization of this important issue.”

 

Emphasizing political freedom, Ayatollah Khamenei addresses all people: “In Islam, everyone has the right to freedom and no one can be rebuked for having a political opinion.”

 

“In Islamic society, everyone is free to have political tendencies and ideas. No one can be prosecuted for having a political or scientific thought, and Islam also does not allow such an action.”

 

The Supreme Leader emphasizes that freedom is one of the natural and basic human rights, not a right that governments would grant to citizens. Freedom belongs to the people and is part of their nature; also, the origin of freedom is God, not human intellect. Freedom is a divine gift.

 

Political Freedom

 

In Ayatollah Khamenei’s thoughts, political freedom is defined through three stages. In the first stage, he emphasizes that in order to realize the concept of freedom, we must think independently and should not follow the concepts adapted from the West and the East.

 

“Each of the Islamic, Western and Eastern schools of thought introduces a distinct concept of freedom. Both the West and the East claim to have freedom. The West claims to provide people with individual freedom and the East claims to have the freedom of society (the dissolution of the individuals into the society). In contrast, Islam has a special view of freedom.”

 

He asserts that because the French Revolution claimed to provide freedom for people, some think that this concept has entered Islam from the West, but this view is not correct.

 

According to Ayatollah Khamenei: “Freedom in Islamic culture is rooted in a monotheistic worldview… All prophets called for obeying God, avoiding idolatry and disobeying the illegal rulers who seek to enslave people.”

 

He emphasizes that Islamic freedom (freedom from other than God) does not mean spiritual and moral freedom, rather it denotes political freedom on which (freedom of belief, freedom of expression, right to choose, etc.) the traditions laid emphasis:

“Freedom is one of the categories which the Holy Quran and infallible Imams (AS) emphasized repeatedly. Of course, what we mean by freedom here, is neither the absolute freedom – which no one advocates and I do not think there would be anyone in the world who calls for absolute freedom – nor the spiritual freedom that is discussed in Islam, and especially at the high levels of Islamic teachings. Spiritual freedom is something that all those who believe in spirituality would acknowledge. The freedom we are discussing here means social freedom; freedom as a human right to think, speak, choose, and so on; this is what we mean by freedom. This notion also is admired in books and traditions.

 

According to his view, in the governance which is based upon Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Clerical Jurist) theory, freedom of expression is so important that an ordinary person has the power to demand it from the highest authority, the leadership. Ayatollah Khamenei states: “What shows that justice has been established in a society is that a person from the lower classes if he is oppressed or deprived of his rights, can stand before the Supreme Leader of the Muslims and the highest authority of the country and defend his right with no fear. Some believe that such a thing is not practical. We feel that they may not be familiar with or have trust in the function of Wilayat al-Faqih because in such a framework that goal would be fulfilled. Some argue that justice-seeking is opposed to freedom-seeking, but freedom-seeking is also embedded in justice-seeking. If justice is institutionalized in a society, the rights of individuals and freedom will be protected.”

 

Ayatollah Khamenei considers the freedom of the press as the inalienable right of the people and the press and believes that a free press in society is one of the signs of the nation’s growth and brings growth, prosperity and freedom.

 

Freedom of the Press

 

For Ayatollah Khamenei, freedom of the press is the definite right of people and the press. He also believes that the free press in society indicates the progress of the nation bringing about prosperity and freedom.

 

“I believe that if a society loses the free press, the popular press, and the free and understanding writers, it will lose many other things at once. The existence of a free press is one of the signs of the growth of a nation, and also it is a source of growth; that is, the growth and freedom of a nation create it, and in turn, it may contribute to the growth of the nation as well.”

 

According to Ayatollah Khamenei, all institutions should accept criticism. Everyone is subject to the general rule of criticism, correction and accountability.

 

“I say, no one, even the leader or his affiliated institutions, can avoid accountability. Therefore, everyone must be subject to supervision. Given that naturally, governance means the accumulation of power and wealth, that is to say, the public treasury and the social and political authority are in the hands of some of the rulers, it is necessary to supervise and control those who rule so that they do not commit treachery and protect what has been entrusted to them.”

 

According to Ayatollah Khamenei, the most important task of the press is to defend values.

 

“The most important task of the press in the Islamic system is the cultural role they play in introducing and defending the accepted values ​​and ideals of this revolutionary nation and raising the people’s awareness and knowledge.”

 

“It is so important that a country can maintain freedom, understand the truth, have a free press, and avoid the negative outcomes.”

 

In Ayatollah Khamenei’s view, the principle of factionalism is acceptable, and that is why political parties and groups in the Islamic Republic of Iran are free and allowed to act within the framework of the law.

 

“Freedom of political parties is approved by the constitution. The goal is to act according to the constitution. The constitution allows the people to create communities, groups and parties within the legal frameworks, and there is no doubt that we must make this possible. Now, fortunately, the Ministry of Interior has decided to do so. This should have been done long before.”

 

Regarding the issue of elections, Ayatollah Khamenei states:

 

“Freedom of elections means that everyone can freely express his views for the people who want to elect him, and the people also, can freely choose anyone they want without facing pressure or force.”

 

“What is important in elections is first and foremost the health of the elections. Elections must represent, in the strict sense of the word, the people’s vote. This means that not only we should deal with those who want to cheat – that is something taken for granted and the officials of the Islamic Republic undoubtedly are doing so – but also, the election should be trustworthy and the election campaigns in Iran should be different from the usual propaganda that we see around the world.”

 

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasizes that freedom in Islam must have limits so that to become a culture and custom. “Freedom is something that one has to acquire and learn, that is, it has customs and culture that must be learned.”

 

He considers the advocators of absolute freedom as the enemies of freedom and states: “They are the enemies of freedom – freedom should not be discredited – those who talk about freedom but are in no way committed to its culture, alter this concept. They are not in favour of freedom, rather they act against it.”

 

Ayatollah Khamenei considers Islamism as one of the boundaries of political freedom and states that freedom is acceptable within the framework of divine laws, and in general, the people in the Islamic Republic of Iran do not want freedom without Islam.

“Islam stipulates that the freedom of the people should be within the framework of Islamic rules and regulations. You are not free to commit corruption and do actions that are contrary to public morality and chastity… Islam does not allow those who do not believe in the Islamic system to deviate from the minds of public opinion. Certainly, we are against this kind of freedom.”

 

Reference: Journal of Islamic Revolution Studies. Vol 8, No 26, Spring 2011, Pp 199-226.

Archive of Ayatollah Khamenei