Ayatollah Khamenei’s Theory of Religious Democracy

Ayatollah Khamenei

433
21 June 2023

Religious Democracy

Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used the new term religious democracy for the first time. He believes that democracy or “religious democracy” is a new concept, which has attracted the attention of many nations and intellectuals throughout the world.

Religious democracy also refers to the setting of a system by Shi’ah Islam in the field of politics and government, which is based on the monotheistic worldview and the centrality of divine authority. In addition, it is the most efficient mechanism for dealing with the material and spiritual affairs of society based on Islamic ideology.

The Occurrence of the Islamic Revolution and the Emergence of the Idea of Religious Democracy

The announcement of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Imam Khomeini (ra) as a system that is designed to govern the political structure of Iran after the Revolution, marked the beginning of the implementation of the notion of religious democracy in the country.

The Relationship between Religious Democracy and the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Revolution in Iran and the formation of a government based on Shi’ah Islam provided an opportunity for looking at the issue of religious democracy from a Shi’ah point of view, and the whole process of theorization aimed at explaining the position of religion and people on the basis of religious democracy was pursued within the framework of a pure model of religious and Shi’ah government during the time of Occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (a).

The Relationship Between Religious Democracy and the Holy Qur’an

Referring to the role and position of prophets as God’s representatives on earth, the Holy Qur’an states: “Certainly We sent Our apostles with manifest proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, so that mankind may maintain justice; and We sent down iron, in which there is great might and uses for mankind, and so that Allah may know those who help Him and His apostles [with faith] in the Unseen. Indeed, Allah is all-strong, all-mighty.” (Holy Qur’an 57:25)

This verse reveals the fact that God Almighty has codified and enforced laws in order to promote justice in society and this leads to the establishment of religious democracy. He elaborated on such regulations and laws through the prophets and divine scriptures, so that the prophets would teach people how to utilize the available material tools to build a prosperous world.

Religious democracy has three fundamental characteristics and foundations, namely: reasoning, rule of law and the centrality of justice. Basically, democracy means believing in the rule of human laws determined by the collective will and recognizing that collective reason is capable of distinguishing right from wrong and good from evil, and therefore the religious and Islamic perception of human beings in the field of legislation should be subject to the divine Sharia since the only legislator is God Almighty.

Therefore, from the Islamic point of view, man needs the guidance of the holy intellect and the infallible leader. This is the reason behind sending divine prophets and their call for the establishment of religion.

Comparing the Differences Between the Discourse of Religious Democracy and Participatory Democracy

Religious democracy, as expressed in the words and thoughts of Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, is something beyond merely holding elections. Also, he emphasizes the realization of the will of the people. In other words, from his point of view, religious democracy has two aspects;

1) The Establishment Aspect: it means people engage in the political system and the designation of those who would assume the positions and responsibilities by participating in the elections so that to be part of managing the executive affairs;

2) Analytical Aspect: it means there should be a kind of spiritual connection between the established political system and the people, in a way that they see the officials and the ruling system as a force fulfilling their desires, ideals and lofty goals.

Comparing the Component of “Justice” in the Discourse of Religious Democracy and Participatory Democracy

In general, by delving into the concept of religious democracy, one may realize that justice in this thought is based on the following components:

Generalization and institutionalization of justice;
Justice is the best and most efficient way to decentralize the source of power;
Justice as a method of equal distribution of opportunity, as well as financial, technical, epistemic and legal capacities;
Justice is an efficient method for the proportional and balanced production and distribution of human scientific and epistemological knowledge;
Justice as a means for the growth and development of society, the objective and experimental result of which is the all-round and sustainable development of human society;
The result of the comprehensive development of justice on a wide scale is the tree of freedom bearing fruit.

Comparing the Component of “Freedom” in the Discourse of Religious Democracy and the Discourse of Participatory Democracy

When people’s freedom is mentioned in religious democracy, two meanings arise in the human mind; first is free will, which humans possess by simply being a human, and it cannot be assumed that a man does not have freedom; second is freedom in the sense of the right to social action, which finds meaning in the context of social and political life. Clearly, the second type of freedom is considered in social life. However, when we pay attention to the concept of freedom in Islam and religious democracy, we would find both meanings of freedom.

Comparing Two Political Theories of Religious Democracy and Participatory Democracy

Taking into account the various views on religious democracy as well as a classification appropriate to Ayatollah Khamenei’s positions and thoughts in this regard, one may address this issue within two macro and integrated frameworks, namely: the comparative model of religious democracy and the indivisible one. In this regard, discovering and categorizing features of the comparative model of religious democracy based on the positions of the Supreme Leader is a significant step the political theorist should take without being judgmental and having a one-sided perspective.

Understanding the Features of the Comparative Model of Religious Democracy According to the Views of Ayatollah Khamenei

From the point of view of the Supreme Leader who is also an Islamic thinker, the Islamic government has its own method in terms of managing the affairs of the society, and it could not achieve its goals by applying Western methods. The reason lies in the value-oriented methods in the theory of Islamic democracy. While opposing Western democracies, this method rejects tyranny and dictatorship. Therefore, Ayatollah Khamenei has emphasized this superior and new method, which he has called Islamic democracy. This theory is a new and innovative method that could effectively contribute to analyzing the current political systems. Moreover, individualism is one of the undeniable characteristics of Western thought. Thus, the foundations of Western democracy and even the best of them, such as participatory democracy, are either impractical or run into paradigmatic challenges in many cases, whereas Islam is a comprehensive and perfect worldview.

On the other hand, in the political thought of the Supreme Leader, religious democracy has nothing to do with the West and is an independent concept. Pointing out this issue on various occasions, he has stated that Islamic democracy does not consist of two separate parts; it is not like we take democracy from the West and attach it to religion so that we can have a complete set; rather, this democracy itself belongs to religion. Democracy has two sides. One is the formation of the system by the will and vote of the people, that is, the people would choose the system. The other side of democracy addresses the officials of the country whom the people have chosen, indicating that they have serious and real duties towards the people.

Religious democracy, from the Islamic perspective, is a new term in the political discourse of the world, which has developed in the context of the political foundations of Islam and is influenced by the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (s) and the infallible Imams (a). Furthermore, it seeks to preserve and implement the normative principles and foundations, protect the rights of the people in the field of politics and managing society’s affairs, and avoid authoritarian models of governance thereby distinguishing the Islamic system from Western secular models. To that end, a new method that is neither authoritarian nor liberal has been taken into account in the Islamic system. Such a method of governance is interpreted by the Supreme Leader of the Revolution as religious democracy. Therefore, this type of democracy, in which God and values play a central role, is a great support for the Islamic government and emphasizes that by realizing an Islamic society solving all problems and shortcomings would be possible.

From the point of view of Ayatollah Khamenei, religious democracy has two aspects:

1) The establishment aspect: it means people participate in the political system and the designation of those who would assume the positions and responsibilities by participating in the elections so that to be part of managing the executive affairs;

2) Analytical aspect: it means there should be a kind of spiritual connection between the established political system and the people, in a way that they see the officials and the ruling system as a force fulfilling their desires, ideals and lofty goals. On the other hand, the need to take into account the superiority of the Islamic paradigm with a democratic approach, over the Western discourse with a participatory democracy approach, should be accompanied by valid and compelling reasons so that its acceptance will be based on Islamic philosophy in addition to rationality and science.

No.	Explaining the Contradictions between the Two Theories
1	In the paradigm of religious democracy, “freedom” is a fundamental and valuable concept, which is not only different and distinct from its conventional definition in secular paradigms, but also is in conflict with it.
2	Among the Abrahamic religions, Islam is the only religion that seeks to theoretically and practically cover all areas of the individual and social life of a Muslim. However, the Western paradigm does not have such a function and places the human being at the centre of all issues.
3	One of the elements of the paradigm of religious democracy is the active existence of the metaphysical element within it. Therefore, in the democracy considered by the West, a social system is designed with the originality of objectivity and experience which leads to the originality of the causal relationship, in particular the probable one. In this system, any human activity in the social system has a worldly characteristic and could be evaluated with a quantitative approach.
4	The paradigm of Islamic democracy is value-oriented and differs from common paradigms in that the values in the Islamic paradigm have divine foundations, and in fact, the values in religious democracy are dependent on the activeness of Islamic ideas. That said, this is not the case with participatory democracy.
5	Religious values in Islamic democracy revolve around divine values, and this is acknowledged by the Islamic worldview. However, in all Western democracies, especially the participatory one, this situation is not acceptable at all.
6	In the concept of religious democracy, the “intellectuals” are more responsible than the “ignorant”, so their thinking and actions are more important. Nonetheless, the ideal democracy intended by the West suppresses human creativity and does not objectively recognize the responsibility of the intellectuals.