The theoretical basis of Imam Khomeini’s attitude regarding the political-social issues is the concept of “felicity” and all his intellectual-political endeavours can be evaluated within this context. Imam Khomeini sees secular, worldly, individual and social happiness as the ultimate goal of the Islamic government, and since human beings are naturally inclined towards perfection, he considers it the duty of the government to create the necessary conditions for achieving such a goal. Imam Khomeini makes the utmost effort to preserve the purity of the pillars of Islam to the extent that it is as though there is no such a thing as Western thought. Theoretically and given the centrality of the concept of “felicity,” Imam Khomeini believes that respecting the rights of the people is necessary so that the ultimate goal of Islam is prosperity and salvation, being achieved. Also, from a political perspective, he considers the Islamic government a political state which aims at bringing about justice and defending the rights of individuals.
He considers the Islamic government the most ideal type of government in the light of which individual rights and freedoms are being fulfilled in the best manner. Imam Khomeini believes that the two types of popular and authoritarian political systems are at variance with each other because the purpose of the first is guiding people towards perfection, whereas the nature of the latter is oppression and injustice. Imam Khomeini offers a mystical interpretation of politics and governing, and believes that if the righteous people take the reins of managing the political affairs, the society will be guided through the path of purification, prosperity, and moral development. Imam Khomeini insists that if we are not under the banner of Islam, we would not be able to implement democracy. Considering these views one may argue that Imam Khomeini’s political movement could be the greatest in contemporary history which sought to uphold individual rights and freedoms and overthrow authoritarian rule; while it was rejecting the “Western freedom” as well as the “animalistic and illegal freedoms,” it emphasized on the existence of political freedom and all its aspects, including freedom of thought and having a community provided that it does not include the “ promiscuity” and “desecration of Islamic values.” In addition, within his movement, the personal security and protection of people’s dignity are highlighted since he believes that oppression in its general sense means the violation of individual rights – which is the central feature of authoritarian regimes.
From the point of view of Imam Khomeini, the Islamic government, according to the Islamic law, encompasses all the rights and freedoms of the individual and should seek the satisfaction of the people as the main goal and that the legitimacy of the Islamic government is based on the people’s will. Imam Khomeini is not a philosopher or a political theorist in its modern sense, rather he is a jurisprudent, and for this reason, his views and actions regarding individual rights and freedoms are intertwined. Imam Khomeini introduced the “jurisprudence” into “politics” through his political movement.
Basically, Imam Khomeini adopts a spiritual and mystical view regarding the man and considers all creatures a manifestation of the divine essence believing that “the existence of the whole universe and the creatures are originated from and a manifestation of the divine will with the will of God taking all of them into consideration equally though they may have a different relationship with the divine will. God Almighty has sovereignty over all the creatures.”
God has created everything out of His will and man is the representative of God on earth. The purification of the human soul has a prominent place in Imam Khomeini’s thought which he considers to be basically the main privilege of the monotheistic schools over the others. In fact, from the point of view of Imam Khomeini, if man is purified, society and the world will be reformed. There are two categories of internal and external obstacles to human perfection and his will to follow this path: the first is the egos which Imam Khomeini describes as the root of all corruption and oppression, and the second, that is the external obstacle, is the oppression of the government with respect to the individual rights and freedoms. In addition, he points to the relationship between the two categories of the obstacles: “Submitting to oppression is like committing the oppression both of which originate from impiety... purification, uttering the names of God, all are the stages that if we had reached them, we would have been neither adopting a passive approach regarding the submitting to the oppression nor we have been an oppressor.”
The most important theoretical source of Imam Khomeini’s perception of individual rights and freedoms is the necessity of establishing an Islamic government. Individual rights are only meaningful in relation to the state and its sphere of power. Individual rights in the Islamic government also would find meaning merely when they are considered along with the extent of the authority of the state.
The definition that each state presents of itself determines the status of the people and their rights in that government. Imam Khomeini’s mystical insights lead to certain political theories that regard the purification of the political rulers’ soul as a basic principle and provide a mystical interpretation of politics. In Imam Khomeini’s theory, however, the Wali al-Faqih (Guardian-Jurisprudent) is the pious and purified ruler. Of course, this does not mean ignoring the jurisprudential fundamentals of the political theory of Imam Khomeini. He sees Islamic rule as the realization of divine sovereignty on earth which seeks a human and sacred aim: “No one is allowed to rule over others except God, nor anyone has the right to legislate. According to rationality and logic, God should establish a government for people and make laws. Of course, they are the laws of Islam.”
According to Imam Khomeini, in the Islamic state, there is no discrimination between the individuals and all of them should be treated equally: “Justice is that someone who needs me now and has come from a long distance would find his works done and his needs met immediately. It should not be in this way that those who are our relatives and friends will be given the priority in this regard over the others.”
Economic justice and taking care of the poor are other essential features of the Islamic government. Imam Khomeini believes that the problem of poverty will be resolved in the Islamic Republic because this issue has been already resolved within the Islamic rulings. Imam Khomeini regards security and freedom as great divine blessings that cannot be achieved except under the rule of divine justice and even places the status of security and freedom far above the economic prosperity: “Having nothing to eat except a piece of grain bread yet being ruled by a just government and the law, as well as enjoying security, is better than having a luxurious life which lacks freedom and security.”
He explicitly states that the purpose of the Revolution was the realization of human rights. In this regard, he said: “We demand the basic human rights. People have risen to demand their basic rights.” Moreover, while criticizing the institutions that claim to defend human rights, he views the imperial government as the greatest obstacle to achieving people’s individual rights and freedoms and criticizes the government’s silence over the violation of the Iranians’ human rights by the regime: “Those who claim that they have made efforts for human rights and that they have created the Human Rights House, look at how they treated human beings; have they served the human rights? We were human beings. We are humans, yet, for the past fifty-four years our rights have been denied and violated.”
Imam Khomeini emphasizes that the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are theoretically serving the human benefit provided that they are being implemented: “They write thirty articles all of which are good for humanity yet they do not practice any of them.” As far as gaining the attention of the public is concerned, Imam Khomeini emphasizes the behaviour of the clerics more than anything else: “If the clergies who enjoy a high a status in society do not abide by the rules and regulations... now we have a great responsibility.” Also, he addresses the way that the police treat people stating that repression and mistreatment of the people would make them regard the whole system of governance with distrust: “The difference between the law enforcement in an oppressive regime and the Islamic government is that since the authoritarian regime bases its efforts on the personal interests and only aims at serving the groups and individuals with whom it has foreign relations, it will betray the nation in order to maintain such a relationship.”
Imam Khomeini considers oppression in the sense of violating the rights of the people as the main manifestation of corrupt systems and expressing that the mission of the Islamic government is to prevent such acts. In any case, Imam Khomeini is against oppression including oppressing the individuals and one’s family as well as oppressing the people by the government. “Cruelty and oppression would lead to corruption and darkness whereas Islam wants to lead people towards the light.”
According to Imam Khomeini, people’s control over the government is one of the basic principles of democracy, because when enforcing the political power revolves around the will of the people, monitoring the government would become necessary so that it would not abuse its power. In Imam Khomeini’s political thought, this observation is implemented in two ways: (A) Internal supervision, (B) External supervision. Imam Khomeini believes that power is not dangerous unless it would be in the hands of impious persons: “If the impious individuals gain power, it would be a danger. The power itself is perfection. God Almighty is the most Powerful, but if the corrupt people gain power, this perfection will turn into corruption.”
The external supervision must be exercised by the people so that the government would not deviate from the Islamic and human path: “If the nation does not oversee the government and parliament and if they step aside and do nothing in this regard, this could cause destruction and corruption. The nation must supervise the government.” Imam Khomeini views this observation as the right of individual members of the Islamic community to which the officials should be accountable: “Every individual has the right to directly interpolate the rulers and he should be provided by a convincing answer in response. Otherwise, if he has acted contrary to his Islamic duties, he will be automatically dismissed from his status.” Imam Khomeini believes that the Islamic government relies on the opinions of the nation and the divine laws, and if it acts against the will of the people and the divine law, the nation can overthrow it: “The Islamic government... is a national government. The government is based on the divine law and votes of the people. It would not establish itself by the use of force, rather it is established relying on the votes of the people and they will protect it. Whenever such governance goes against the people’s votes, it would no longer have the authority and is doomed to abolition.”
The issue of political freedom is one of the important areas in which the illustration of Imam Khomeini’s ideas about it can resolve many of the challenges and misunderstandings. Through his vivid perception, Imam Khomeini attributes the emergence of the atmosphere of contemplation and thinking in society to the victory of the Islamic Revolution emphasizing that in the new circumstances people should deal with the issues with rationality and reason: “Hopefully, the scholars and clergies are aware of different aspects of their responsibilities, but I would like to emphasize that today many young people and scholars feel that they can express their thoughts and ideas on various Islamic issues in the open atmosphere of our Islamic country. You should accept them with open arms and if they go astray you ought to show them the right way with kindness and love.”
Imam Khomeini characterizes the Islamic Revolution as granting freedom to all members of society believing that “the Islamic Revolution of Iran is distinguished from all other revolutions in that soon after its victory all the parties and groups were free to carry out their activities.” In his view, “freedom does not have a definition. People are free to believe. No one forces you to choose and go this way. No one is obliging you to choose this. Nobody will tell you where to live or what job to choose. Freedom is an obvious thing.” However, the “Western” and “animalistic” freedom is not what Imam Khomeini means and he opposes this kind of freedom since it is contrary to the interests of society and individuals: “The country relies on its youths and human resources without whom it will face collapse and destruction. The freedom that some individuals want, would make people weak such that they will submit to anything.” Imam Khomeini considers Western freedom as colonial freedom and believes that the colonial countries have dictated to the traitors to promote and spread such freedoms.
He also distinguishes political freedom from conspiracy and sabotage, saying: “Freedom exists in Islam and the Islamic Republic, but conspiracy does not.” Also, he states: “Freedom is and has been existed. what is being prevented... is the freedom of committing conspiracy which no one can grant to anybody in any place.” Imam Khomeini views the use of weapons and the intention of sabotage and subversion to be equal to conspiracy emphasizing that granting the freedom of committing conspiracy does not exist in any country.
In Imam Khomeini’s view, another aspect of freedom is the law by which the boundaries of freedom are set. He says: “Freedom functions within the law.” Freedom of the press and the mass media is another issue on which Imam Khomeini put emphasis both before and after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. Criticizing the monopoly of the regime on controlling the mass media during the fight against the Shah’s regime, Imam Khomeini believed that all media favour the government and expressed his resentment because the opposition had no media at all: “We do not have any media. They have taken everything from us, they have taken away our television and radio. There is corruption in the press.” He emphasized that mass media should act freely and adopt a critical approach: “The media should broadcast any type of criticism in a neutral way so that we would not experience the radio and television of the Shah’s regime again.” Imam Khomeini opposed turning the media into an anti-government voice. He believed that the duty of media is criticizing the government in an unbiased way instead of providing justification for its faults, otherwise, this media would be the same as the radio and television of the Shah’s regime. He not only favoured the press that expresses the political views and positions in the society by the use of reason and rationality but also considered them necessary provided that they do not go against the laws of Islam.
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