The Concepts of Republic and Democracy in Imam Khomeini’s Political Thought 

Imam Khomeini
The Concepts of Republic and Democracy in Imam Khomeini’s Political Thought 

These qualities made Imam Khomeini a leader who made the impossible things possible inside and outside of Iran. This happened in a situation where many factors were influencing his activities. One of the reasons why he had not been influenced by the dominated political doctrine of that time was his initiatives in various areas among which is his wise approaches regarding the two words “republic” and “democracy” that he chose one and abandoned the other. This is the main theme of this article.

The Contemporary History of the Concept of Democracy and Republic

There were several political developments in Europe before the 16th century called the Renaissance (revival). The purpose of this phenomenon was a return to the concepts that had been developed by the Sophists in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. In fact, the Renaissance put an end to the one-thousand-year period of church domination. At that time, some intended to magnify the weaknesses, flaws, distortions, and deviations of the Church in the name of religion in an attempt to remove religion from human life forever, and thus modernism emerged with the motto of Humanism and democracy and the return to the Sophists’ perceptions.

Therefore, using the slogans of humanism and democracy was a means of abolishing religion. The Modernist leaders thought that as time went on, religion, which they believed to be a set of anti-science beliefs, would be marginalized and only the modern schools of thought will survive. In addition, they believed that finally the best and most powerful school of thought will dominate the world and not only impose its authority on the world, but also the people, who have found it to be the best option, will reluctantly accept it. Consequently, one may argue that although basically, the two terms of republic and democracy mean the rule of the people, in essence, the exact meaning of these two terms had been different in the classical West; so that philosophers used to only value the term republic, not the democracy. But during the period of Renaissance and the revival of the Sophist ideologies, democracy once again found its place and became valuable.

In fact, the concept of democracy, which was considered by the philosophers as an anti-value, turned into value. Being impossible to conceive a set of fixed principles they characterized the concept of the republic outlined by the philosophers as subjective, abstract, and imaginative, or tried to bring this concept closer to the concept of democracy in an attempt to oppose any model that presents a fixed, yet popular, set of principles (republic).

Therefore, people like Montesquieu said, “democracy is a form of the republic.” While the terms in the classical period, indicated popular and democratic governance, they had fundamental differences with each other. From then on, such a semantic closeness can also be found in other intellectuals’ works; with the expansion of translation-oriented approaches, this view was spread across other countries, including Iran such that in most, if not all, these two words are used interchangeably of the articles published in contemporary Iran while having their semantic closeness of the modern era without any fundamental accuracy being observed in this regard.

The Concept of Republic and Democracy in Imam Khomeinis Political Thought

By considering the above-mentioned background of the two words Republic and Democracy in classical times and without considering the extent and manner of Imam Khomeini’s use of the two words and only via comparing the matter with his thoughts one can reach a rational conclusion. 

Since the beginning of his movement, Imam Khomeini has highlighted the two important principles of popularity and Islam. Within his model of governance (Wilayat al-Faqih – Guardianship of the Jurisprudent) although the rulers are chosen by God, people would accept the authority of the Wali al-Faqih (guardian-jurist) whose characteristics have been determined by the shari’ah and the intellect. Imam Khomeini, in an interview with Elizabeth Targood, says:

“We demand the establishment of an Islamic republic and that is a government rests on public opinion. In the current situation of our society, the final form of governance will be determined by the people.”

Imam Khomeini has repeatedly emphasized the people’s vote and considered the Islamic Republic to be an Islamic national government that relies on the people’s vote and in this system people can vote freely. He has repeatedly referred to and expounded the concept of the Islamic Republic and has emphasized that the term republic indicates that this system is based on public opinion and the term Islam denotes the rule of Islam. He stated that: “The government is a republic which relies on the opinions of the people and the law is Islamic laws.”

He also states: “The essence of the Islamic Republic is that while relying on the public opinion a government is established through the frameworks set by Islam and this system implements the Islamic laws.”

Therefore, in the view of Imam Khomeini, Wali al-Faqih (guardian-jurist) is elected by the people. It should be noted that this issue does not contradict the doctrine of the appointment of the Wali al-Faqih, rather the viewpoint of the appointed Wali al-Faqih is also does not disregard the role of people. From this point of view, although the decision of people does not affect the legitimacy of the government, it plays a key role in the government’s efficiency and without it, a government would not be established. Although people choose and appoint experts who have the responsibility of identifying the Wali al-Faqih, in fact, people accept him. Here, people’s choice means accepting someone who has the characteristics necessary for taking this responsibility.

Imam Ali (as) says: “If people had not come to me and supporters had not exhausted the argument and if there had been no pledge of God with the learned to the effect that they should not acquiesce in the gluttony of the oppressor and the hunger of the oppressed I would have cast the rope of caliphate on its shoulders (would not establish a governance)” (Nahj al-Balaghah, sermon 3)

Accordingly, even supporters of the appointed Wali al-Faqih emphasized the role of the people in selecting the ruler. Acknowledging such a view Imam Khomeini states: “Without Wilayat al-Faqih, we would have an illegitimate ruler. Without the approval of the Wali al-Faqih formalizing the election of the president, he will not be a legitimate ruler. When it becomes illegitimate, it is tyranny... it will be demolished when someone is being appointed through a divine-based process.”

However, he emphasized the presence and participation of people in the political scene as well as the election of the government officials. He has repeatedly insisted that all or the majority of the people should vote. In the view of Imam Khomeini, the constitution of the Islamic Republic is an Islamic constitution that is based on the opinions of people and the Islamic rules. In such a system presented by Imam Khomeini the common aspect of the two terms republic and democracy, (the election of the rulers by people) can be seen.

As far as what distinguishes democracy from the republic is concerned one may argue that the focus in the doctrine of religious democracy presented by Imam Khomeini is on the Islamic principles and the rejection of epistemic relativism and belief in fixed and unchanging principles and values ​​in the system of Wilayat al-Faqih reflect the existence of the characteristics of a republic and the lack of the concept of democracy; so that in this model human life is “purposeful” and has “fixed principles” and the rulers should be knowledgeable and since people are Muslims the rulers also should be faqihs (jurists), because people have chosen them to show the right path of living.

Moreover, while taking into account the goodness and felicity of people the rulers should outline plans and methods of living through which people would get closer to building and achieving the ideal society. The important distinction between democracy and religious democracy is that “freedom” in the democracy is both a principle and a goal, but within the Islamic Republic, although human freedom is never ignored and there is no compulsion, essentially freedom has no authority. The goal of establishing religious governance and religious democracy is the proximity to God and human perfection, and freedom is valued when it is seen as a means of achieving that ultimate goal. In other words, freedom in the eyes of Islam has an instrumental value, but in a democracy, it has an inherent and ultimate value. Although even without referring to his remarks in this regard one can find that the basics of democracy are not in any way compatible with the political thought of Imam Khomeini, but he has addressed this issue clearly on different occasions. For example, he recognizes freedom within the bounds of the law, which is the law of Islam that the people have voted for. In the view of Imam Khomeini, freedom is not defined as everyone is allowed to do whatever he wants. He believes that freedom is legitimate only within the boundaries determined by God. He specifically addresses and opposes the act of corruption and harassing others, calling them irrational freedoms.

He also said: “Therefore, we seek the rule and reign of God. We want the Quran to rule over us. We want the laws of Islam to rule over us. We cannot accept any government except the rule of God, and we cannot accept any system that is contrary to the laws of Islam. We do not accept a vote that is contrary to the Islamic doctrine. We would accept what Islamic laws present. We obey Islam; we obey the law of Islam. And our youth have sacrificed their lives for the sake of Islam. Our young people were so serious, they said we want Islam, we want Islamic precepts.”

Talking about freedom in Islam, he states: “Freedom is not what we see today in this country that everyone would be free to do or say whatever he wants even though it would be against Islam and the Holy Quran. The type of freedom we want, the freedom that Islam has given us, has limitations and boundaries.”

Imam Khomeini has repeatedly criticized democratic governments and rejected them for the following reasons:

  1. Restrictions are removed and illegal freedoms become common.

In this regard, he says: “The democratic republic had no problem with prostitution centers. Those who want a democratic republic want those centers as well. They want such freedom, whereas we call for the Islamic Republic in which Islam is implemented. Those centers should be closed. Our young people should avoid them.” 

  1. Democracy has different interpretations.

In this regard, he says: “The concept of democracy has been defined differently. Aristotle has defined them in his way; nowadays the former Westerners interpreted them differently while their current counterparts, as well as the Soviets, provided another definition of those terms. When we want to make laws, it should be explicit and clear. We cannot use a word or term that is interpreted differently.”

Also, he stated: “We say that we cannot use a term which has different meanings and usages in our constitution, because if we do everyone will take advantage of it and use it to his benefits. We say, Islam.”

  1. The reason for the emphasis on democracy is that enemies are afraid of Islam.

The goal is isolating and demolishing the religion of Islam. Imam Khomeini also has stated: “Al the time, we are trying to follow the West. Also, nowadays that we want the Islamic Republic to be established and gain full independence from the West, there are a group of Westernized people who think that this republic should not be Islamic; it should be only a republic, a democratic republic.”

  1. The democratic republic is equal to the Western republic.

Imam Khomeini has stated in this regard: “The democratic republic is equal to the Western republic, the Western debauchery. You should avoid these imitations and Westernizations.”

According to the above-mentioned statements, Imam Khomeini did not allow using the word “democracy” in the title of the country. But in his view, the republic and Islam not only do not contradict each other, but the two concepts can be used together. Therefore, he proposed the name of the Islamic Republic and put it to a referendum. After 98.2% of the people had voted for the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini declared that the law, which is the Islamic law, would govern the country.

He stated: “We want the precepts of Islam to be implemented everywhere, and that the decrees of God the Almighty rule over the country. In Islam, the law has authority. Even Prophet, peace be upon him, and Imam Ali established governance in which the law was ruling over people. The verse “Oh you who believe, obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you” is a divine ordinance. They have to be obeyed because of the law. So the verdict belongs to the law; in the Islamic state, the law rules; nothing has the authority except the law.”

But the structure of the Islamic Republic with such forms and institutions is not found either in the time of Prophet or Imam Ali. Also, this system of governance has not been established yet. The reason for choosing this title instead of other alternatives such as “Muslim Republic,” “Islamic Democratic Republic” etc. lies with its conforming to the general principles and frameworks set out in Islam for the political system, as well as its adjustment to the demands of the age; because with the term “Islamic,” two important features of the structure of the political-Islamic system, namely the necessity of the divine legitimacy of the ruler and the necessity of the laws and rules being Islamic have been achieved, and through the term “republic” people as the most important source for the formation and efficiency of the governmental institutions, the necessity of addressing the demands of the age and creating the structures proportional to it such as the separation of powers in the government etc. as well as the fallibility principle regarding the managers and the importance of supervising their activities, all in all, have been taken into consideration.

 

With these explanations, it can be said that using the term Islamic Republic instead of the Islamic state which was predominantly used before the Islamic Revolution, on one hand, reflects the semantic proximity of the Islamic Republic to the Islamic state, and on the other hand, shows the efficiency of the concept of the republic comparing to the concept of democracy. Therefore, it is expected that Imam Khomeini had not used the word democracy to defend and elaborate his system of governance.

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