Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist
Foreword
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise be to God; there is neither might nor strength but from God,
the Exalted, the Sublime. May peace and blessings be upon the Messenger
of God, Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, and his purified progeny.
The present book, Governance of the Jurist, including relevant
footnotes and explanations, is the compendium of thirteen speeches of
His Eminence Imām Khomeini delivered during his stay in Najaf from
January 21 to February 8, 1970. Now, this book is presented to the
knowledgeable researchers and those ardent of the works of Imām
Khomeini.
These speeches had been reproduced and disseminated then in various forms as lessons and instruction materials. Later, in autumn of 1970 the texts of the speeches were edited and prepared for printing. Following the approval of Imām Khomeini, it was printed in Beirut (Lebanon) by Imām Khomeini’s friends, then secretly sent to Iran, while copies of which were simultaneously sent to the revolutionary Muslims in Europe, United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
In 1977, before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the book was published in Iran entitled, A Letter from Imām Mūsāwi Kāshif al-Ghitā and Jihād-i Akbar as its supplement. Like the other works of Imām Khomeini, the book Governance of the Jurist had been considered on top of the list of prohibited books for publication during the Shāh’s regime. So many people were imprisoned and tortured on the charge of publishing, possessing, or reading the book.
However, despite all pressures exerted by the SAVAK (the Shāh’s notorious secret police) and restraints imposed by the Shāh’s regime, the notion to support the establishment of an Islamic government whose legislative principles are expounded here by Imām Khomeini, gained a widespread adherence among the revolutionary Muslim forces at the religious seminaries, universities and other notable centers; and with the 15th of Khurdād uprising and Imām Khomeini’s movement, the idea of establishing an Islamic government based on governance of the jurist was crystallized as a fundamental idea.
The Islamic jurists (fuqahā) have generally been involved in the issue of governance of the jurist in different subject matters in fiqh, some briefly and some in details. However, no comprehensive and orderly discourse is found in the fiqh books of predecessors; the reason being the unfavorable political and social conditions prevailing over Islamic countries in the past and the dominance of tyrannical ruling cliques that had made it impossible to touch upon such discussions.
But regardless of the difference among fuqahā on the extent of
authorities and the case applicability of governance of the jurist
during the period of Occultation,[^1] there is unanimity among them in
general as to the affirmation of a certain kind of guardianship
authority for the fully competent faqīh. Opinions of fuqahā on the
kind of guardianship and the extent of authorities of the Islamic
jurists during the period of Occultation have been recently compiled and
published in some books.
According to available sources, the late Āyatullāh Mullā Ahmad
Narāqi[^2] (one of the Qājār dynasty contemporary scholars) has dealt
with this subject matter in his book ‘Awā’id al-Ayyām more detailed
than the others. He first tried to seek evidence from numerous
narrations proving that the faqīh is entrusted with guardianship
rights during the Occultation period in the following areas:
In all instances, where the Prophet and the infallible Imāms (‘a) had
been authorized and assigned as guardians except in cases, where this
had been excluded due to religiously legal requirement.
In all instances related to religious and living duties of people that
must be carried out.
By relying on Qur’anic verses, Prophetic traditions, and
jurisprudential arguments, he continues the discourse by giving ten
examples of applicable cases within the sphere of governance of the
jurist such as iftā; administering punishment; protecting the
properties of the orphans, insane, and the absent individuals; and
taking possession of properties of the infallible Imāms.
Although it can be understood from the late Narāqi’s discussions that
he has included governance within the same sphere, he has not openly
stressed on it.
After the late Narāqi, Imām Khomeini was the only faqīh to deal
tacitly with the governance of the jurist for the first time and
proved the point. As indicated earlier, Imām Khomeini had once discussed
the question of governance of the jurist in Najaf in thirteen
instructional sessions of which the present book is the transcription
and edited form of the same course instructions. He further discussed
governance of the jurist in the second volume of his five-volume book
entitled, Kitāb al-Bay‘ in the same profound style.
In the present book, Governance of the Jurist, Imām Khomeini has laid
great emphasis on guardianship (wilāyat) as a principle, serving as
the base and foundation for all duties. He especially examines
guardianship from governmental and political points of view. Here, in
addition to expounding the political and social factors causing the
neglect of the most important Islamic issue, he has methodologically
examined the question, and based on the same sturdy approach exercised
in fiqh, proceeded with introductory practicable programs for
realization of governance of the jurist in the government.
He begins by disclosing the plots and conspiracies made by the enemies
to annihilate Islam. Then he continues logically to discuss insinuated
misgivings, such as “Islam is not a competent religion to govern the
society at the age of industrial civilization” or “legal provisions of
Islam are inadequate to resolve the social problems, and to provide us
with appropriate answers”.
In this regard Imām Khomeini points out that the misgivings suggested
by the enemies to pave the way for the faulty notion of separation of
religion from politics, have unfortunately been so much effective; even
in the seminaries, one dares not to speak freely about the Islamic
government. He further indicated the domestic shortcomings and
infatuations for the new civilization, all of which are the souvenir of
the devilish propaganda of imperialism. He warned the seminaries, the
young clergy students, and the Muslim thinkers to endeavor enormously to
carry out their political and social duties and be careful not to be
deceived. Islam is not opposed to technological and industrial progress;
but social problems require ethical and religious solution, and Islam is
that all-embracing religion that can solve all problems, provided the
thinkers and scholars of the Islamic world would face the challenge.
By expounding the indisputable historical fact that the Most Noble
Messenger (s) had appointed a successor, Imām Khomeini posed the
question of “whether the successor had been designed just to expound the
religious precepts.” Of course not! Expounding religious precepts does
not require to be done by the Prophet’s successor. Therefore the
appointment had been for rulership, and for enforcement of laws and
regulations. It is most important now to believe in the necessity to
establish an Islamic government; thus, we can determine the position and
role of the successor.
In this book Imām Khomeini has given some instances proving the
necessity for establishing an Islamic government, as follows:
Action taken by the Holy Prophet (s) to establish a government;
The fact that divine precepts are to be enforced perpetually; they are
enacted not only for the time of the Holy Prophet (s); they are meant
for all time.
The nature and characteristic of Islamic laws and regulations like
fiscal, national defense, and legal and penal precepts are such that
they are not executable without a government.
After giving quite well-reasoned explanation on the necessity of
Islamic government, Imām Khomeini refers to the historical background of
deviation from this principle during the Umayyad period and its
continuation during the Abbasids who had adopted un-Islamic rule,
imitating the Iranian monarchical, Roman imperial and the Egyptian
pharaonic systems. And the same way continued afterwards. He stresses on
the logical demand for alteration of such systems, and that it is
therefore necessary to stir up a political revolution. Accordingly, it
is necessary to revolt against tyrannical governments to pave the way
for the establishment of Islamic government and the enforcement of
Islamic precepts, unification of Islamic ummah that have now fallen
into the trap of disunity caused by various domestic elements as well as
foreigners, and finally, to save the oppressed and the deprived people
as a religious duty of all Muslims, especially the scholars. Imām
Khomeini further continues emphasizing on the necessity of establishing
an Islamic government, by relating the subject to a narration quoted by
Fadl ibn Shādān on the philosophy of ordaining governments as provided
for in the narration and traditions.
An important part of the book deals with the difference between an
Islamic government and other types of governments, pointing out that the
Islamic government is a special kind of constitutional government that
is anchored on the Islamic laws. Imām Khomeini believes, therefore, that
Islamic legislative power or law-making assemblies are bound to devise
all governmental plans and programs within the framework of Islamic
precepts; not according to regular procedures followed by other
states.
Imām Khomeini further deals with the prerequisite qualities of the
ruler, as derived directly from the nature of Islamic government. In
addition to the regular requirement such as intelligence and prudence,
there are two principal prerequisites for the ruler: his knowledge about
the law and his justness.
Governance of the faqīh during the Occultation is the next to be
dealt with. Following the previous discussion, Imām Khomeini says, “Now
we live at the Occultation period. On the one hand, Islamic precepts are
to be enforced, (and no one is designated by God Almighty to fulfill
this task), and on the other hand, what should we do then?” He examines
this subject matter and comes to the conclusion that “God Almighty has
given the quality which is required for rulership to a great number of
religious scholars from the very outset of Islam to the advent of the
Imām of the Age (‘a). This quality is the knowledge about law and
justice. A great number of our contemporary scholars (fuqahā) possess
this quality and they should join hands. They will be able to establish
a just government in the world.” He then points out that governance of
the jurist is an extrinsic and rational issue, and the fully competent
faqīh is entrusted with all the authorities; that the Prophet and the
infallible Imāms (‘a) were entitled too, for governance; and that this
guardianship cannot be realized except through entitlement and that it
implies in itself no dignity and status, but only a means of carrying
out one’s duty and enforcing religious precepts.
The exalted aims of government, and characteristics required for the
ruler are then referred to. Relying on traditions, Imām Khomeini deduces
that governance of the jurist implies entitlement to government as
well as argumentation that constitutes the greater part of the book. The
concluding part of the book deals with the necessity for a long-range
planning to achieve this divine objective. Here, Imām Khomeini points
out the importance of propagation and instructions, while saying,
“Meetings must be directed to serve these two important tasks. Struggles
must be stirred as ‘Āshūrā to create waves of crowds insisting on the
establishment of Islamic government, and prepared for a long-term
struggle while not bearing in mind an immediate achievement”.
The necessity for proper attention to instructions and propagations,
moral and cultural reformation of seminaries, annihilation of the moral
and cultural effects of imperialism, correction of the pseudo-saints,
purging the seminaries of the court ‘ulamā, and finally, taking
effective measures to overthrow the oppressive and tyrannical
governments, are among the concluding discussions of the book.
Esteemed readers’ attentions are drawn to the fact that after his
divine uprising, which, thanks to the divine grace, consciousness and
unity of the Muslim people, gained victory over monarchical system in
Iran on Bahman 22, 1358 Sh./February 11,1979, Imām Khomeini undertook
the leadership of the Islamic Revolution and the guardianship function
of the nation. It should, therefore, be taken into consideration that
comprehending precisely Imām Khomeini’s viewpoints on governance of the
jurist, which is explained in this book, can only be realized when full
consideration is given to his personal manners and conducts in the
course of his rule and his ideas about the extent of authorities and the
station of guardianship as expressed through his speeches, messages and
letters.[^3]
“O God, foreshorten the arms of the oppressors that are stretched out
against the lands of the Muslims and root out all traitors to Islam and
the Islamic countries. Awaken the heads of the Muslims states from their
deep sleep so that they may exert themselves on behalf of their people’s
interests and renounce divisiveness and the quest for personal gain.
Grant that the younger generation studying in the religious colleges and
the universities may struggle to reach the sacred aims of Islam and
strive together, with ranks united, first, to deliver the Islamic
countries from the clutches of imperialism and its vile agents, and then
to defend them. Grant that the fuqahā and the scholars may strive to
guide and enlighten the minds of the people, to convey the sacred aims
of Islam to all Muslims, particularly the younger generation, and to
struggle for the establishment of an Islamic government. From You is
success, and there is neither recourse nor strength except in God, the
Exalted, the Sublime.”[^4]
The Institute for Compilation and Publication
of Imām Khomeini’s Works
Imām Khomeini, a Short Biography
Imām Khomeini - a Short Biography[^5]
Imām Rūhullāh al-Musawi al-Khomeini was born on September 24, 1902 into
a family of strong religious traditions in Khumayn, a small town some
hundred kilometers to the southwest of Tehran.[^6] Both his grandfather
and father were religious scholars. The former, Sayyid Ahmad, was known
as al-Hindi because of a period he had spent in India, where a distant
branch of the family is said still to exist. The latter, Āyatullāh
Mustafā, was murdered by bandits only five months after the birth of
Rūhullāh, so that his mother and an aunt were responsible for his early
upbringing. At the age of sixteen, he lost both mother and aunt in the
course of a single year, and the task of supervising his education then
fell to an elder brother, Sayyid Murtadā (better known, in later years,
as Āyatullāh Pasandīdeh). Āyatullāh Pasandīdeh recalls that, even in his
youth, Imām Khomeini showed great piety, seriousness, and determination.
It was the general consensus in Khumayn that a significant if turbulent
career awaited him.[^7]
At the age of nineteen, the young Khomeini was sent to study religious
sciences in the nearby town of Arāk under the guidance of Shaykh ‘Abd
al-Karīm Hā‘iri[^8] who had been a pupil of great scholars at the Shī‘i
teaching centers in Iraq, most notably Mīrzā Hasan Shirāzi.[^9] His
studies under Hā’iri made Khomeini an heir to the traditions established
by the great figures of the nineteenth century— traditions that included
political activism as well as learning.
The following year, Hā’iri accepted an invitation from the people and
scholars of Qum to settle there. Qum had always been a center of
learning as well as pilgrimage, but Hā’iri’s arrival there, followed by
his reorganization of the religious teaching institution, was the first
in a series of development that elevated Qum to the status of spiritual
capital of Islamic Iran. The final and decisive development would be the
movement of nationwide opposition to the Pahlavi monarchy that Imām
Khomeini was to initiate in Qum in 1962.
Indications of Imām Khomeini’s future role were already present in
those early years. He attained prominence among the numerous students of
Hā’iri, excelling in a wide variety of subjects, but especially ethics
and the variety of spiritual philosophy known in Iran as ‘irfān. At
the early age of twenty-seven, he wrote a treatise in Arabic on these
subjects, Misbāh al-Hidāyah, which was well received by his
teachers.[^10] Many of Imām Khomeini’s important associates who came to
be well known during the Revolution years—e.g. Āyatullāh
Muntaziri[^11]—recall that they were first attracted to him by his
proficiency in ethics and philosophy and that the classes he taught on
them twice a week in Qum were frequently attended by hundreds of
people.[^12]
Given the current fame of Imām Khomeini as a revolutionary leader who
has achieved a rare degree of success in the purely political sphere, it
may appear surprising that he first gained fame as a writer and teacher
concerned with devotional and even mystical matters. For Imām Khomeini,
however, spirituality and mysticism have never implied social withdrawal
or political quietism, but rather the building up of a fund of energy
that finds its natural expression on the sociopolitical plane.
The life of Imām Khomeini is a clear indication that the Revolution
wrought by Islam necessarily begins in the moral and spiritual
realm.[^13] The classes he taught at Qum in the 1930s bore witness to
this; topics of an ethical and spiritual nature were constantly
interwoven with evocations of the problems of the day and exhortations
to his listeners to devote themselves to solving them as part of their
religious duty.
The early years of Imām Khomeini’s activity in Qum coincided with the
establishment of the Pahlavi state by Rizā Khān. Rizā Khān transformed
the Iranian monarchy into a dictatorship of the modern, totalitarian
kind and made its chief internal aim the elimination of Islam as a
political, social, and cultural religion.
Efforts directed towards this aim were directly witnessed by Imām
Khomeini in Qum, and reports reached him regularly from other cities
such as Mashhad, Isfahan and Tabriz. What he saw and heard in those
years left a deep impression on him; the repressive measures directed
against the religious institution in later years by the second and last
of the Pahlavi shāhs, Muhammad Rizā, were for him a natural and direct
continuation of what he had experienced in the period of Rizā Shāh; the
father and the son were of a piece.
Imām Khomeini’s first public statement of a political nature came in a
book published in 1941, Kashf al-Asrār.[^14] The book is essentially a
detailed, systematic critique of an anti-religious tract, but it also
contains numerous passages that are overtly political and critics of the
Pahlavi rule.
In 1937, Hā’iri died, and the religious institution was temporarily
headed by a triumvirate of his closest senior associates: Āyatullāhs
Sadr, Hujjat, and Khwansāri. Soon, however, a single leader succeeded to
the role of Hā’iri, Āyatullāh Burūjirdi. Imām Khomeini was active in
promoting the candidacy of Burūjirdi, whom he expected to utilize the
potentialities of the position of supreme religious authority in order
to combat the Pahlavi rule. He remained close to Burūjirdi until his
death in 1962, but other influences prevailed on Burūjirdi; history
regards him as a religious leader of great piety and administrative
ability, but almost totally inactive in political matters.[^15]
After the death of Burūjirdi, no single successor to his position
emerged. Khomeini was reluctant to allow his own name to be canvassed,
but he ultimately yielded to the urgings of close associates that a
collection of his rulings on matters of religious practice be published,
thus implicitly declaring his availability as leader and authority. It
was not, however, primarily through technical procedures such as this
that the prominence of Imām Khomeini spread first within Qum, and then
throughout the country. Of greater importance was his willingness to
confront the Shāh’s regime at a time when few dared to do so. For
example, he was alone among the major religious scholars of Qum in
extending support publicly to the students at the religious institution
who were campaigning against the opening of liquor stores in the city.
Soon his attention was drawn to matters of greater significance. The
first step came in October 1962, when the Shāh promulgated a law
abolishing the requirement that candidates for election to local
assemblies be Muslim and male. Imām Khomeini, joined by religious
leaders elsewhere in the country, protested vigorously against the
measure; it was ultimately repealed.[^16] The measure itself was not
intrinsically important, because elections to local assemblies were
invariably corrupt and their functions were purely formal. But the
campaign against it provided a point of departure for more comprehensive
agitation against the regime as well as an opportunity to build a
coalition of religious scholars that might be mobilized for more
fundamental aims in the future.
The next step was taken in 1963, when the Shāh began to promulgate a
series of measures for reshaping the political, social and economic life
of Iran that were collectively designated the “White Revolution”. The
appearance of popular approval was obtained by a fraudulent referendum
held on January 26, 1963. However, the measures in question were
correctly perceived by a large segment of Iranian society as being
imposed on the country by the United States and designed to bring about
augmentation of the Shāh’s power and wealth, as well as intensification
of the United States dominance, which had been instituted with the CIA
coup d’état against Prime Minister Muhammad Musaddiq in August 1953.
Imām Khomeini moved immediately to denounce the fraudulent “revolution”
and to expose the motives that underlay it, preaching a series of
sermons from Fayziyyah Madrasah[^17] in Qum that had a nationwide
impact.
The Shāh’s regime responded by sending paratroopers to attack Fayziyyah
Madrasah on March 22, 1963. A number of students were killed and the
madrasah was ransacked. Far from intimidating Imām Khomeini, this
event marked the beginning of a new period of determined struggle that
was directed not only against the errors and excesses of the regime, but
against its very existence. The attack on the madrasah had an almost
symbolic value, exemplifying as it did both the hostility of the regime
to Islam and Islamic institutions and the ruthless, barbaric manner in
which it expressed that hostility.
Throughout the spring of 1963, Imām Khomeini continued to denounce the
Shāh’s regime. He concentrated his attacks on its tyrannical nature, its
subordination to the United States, and its expanding collaboration with
Israel. The confrontation reached a new peak in June with the onset of
Muharram, the month in the Muslim calendar when the martyrdom of Imām
Husayn (‘a), the grandson of the Prophet (s), is commemorated and
aspirations to emulate his example, by struggling against contemporary
manifestation of tyranny, are awakened. On the tenth day of the month,
Imām Khomeini delivered a historic speech in Qum, repeating his
denunciations of the Shāh’s regime and warning the Shāh not to behave in
such a way that the people would rejoice when he should ultimately be
forced to leave the country.[^18] Two days later, he was arrested at his
residence and taken to confinement in Tehran.
The arrest of Imām Khomeini brought popular disgust with the Shāh’s
regime to a climax, and a major uprising shook the throne. In Qum,
Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad, Isfahan, Kashan, and other cities, unarmed
demonstrators confronted the Shāh’s US-trained and -equipped army,
which, upon the command to shoot to kill, slaughtered not less than
15,000 people in the space of a few days. The date on which this
uprising began, Khurdād 15 according to the solar calendar used in Iran,
marked a turning point in the modern history of Iran. It established
Imām Khomeini as national leader and spokesperson for popular
aspirations, provided the struggle against the Shāh and his foreign
patrons with a coherent ideological basis in Islam, and introduced a
period of mass political activity under the guidance of the religious
leadership instead of the secular parties that had been discredited,
with the overthrow of Musaddiq. In all of these ways, uprising of
Khurdād 15 foreshadowed the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979.
The uprising was suppressed, but the general public and the religious
scholars refused to tolerate the imprisonment of Imām Khomeini.
Agitation persisted throughout the country, and numerous religious
leaders converged on Tehran to press for Imām Khomeini’s release. It
finally came on April 6,1964, accompanied by a statement in the
government-controlled press that Imām Khomeini had agreed to refrain
from political activity as a condition for his release. This was
immediately refuted by the Imām,[^19] who resumed his denunciation of
the regime with undiminished vigor.
If further proof were needed of the Shāh’s tutelage to the US, it came
in October 1964, when legal immunity was granted to American personnel
for all offenses committed in Iranian territory. After learning that the
Iranian rubber–stamp Majlis (Parliament) had agreed to this measure,
Imām Khomeini spent a sleepless night, and the next day, October 27, he
furiously denounced this open violation of Iranian sovereignty and
independence.[^20] It had by now become apparent to the Shāh and his
foreign overlords that Imām Khomeini could not be intimidated into
silence, and it was decided to exile him, in the vain hope of destroying
his influence. Accordingly, on November 4,1964 Imām Khomeini was
arrested again and sent into exile in Turkey, accompanied by agents of
the Shāh’s secret police.
After a brief stay in Ankara, Imām Khomeini was obliged to take up
residence in Bursa, a city in the west of Turkey. Continual pressure was
brought on the Shāh’s regime to permit Imām Khomeini to leave Turkey for
a more favorable place of exile, Najaf, one of the Shī‘i shrine cities
of Iraq. In October 1965, consent was given, and Imām Khomeini proceeded
to Najaf, which was to be his home for thirteen years.
In agreeing to this move, the Shāh’s regime had been motivated not only
by the desire to free itself from popular pressure, but also by the
assumption that Imām Khomeini would be overshadowed in Najaf by the
religious authorities resident there. This assumption proved false. Imām
Khomeini established himself as a major religious presence in Najaf.
More importantly, he maintained his influence and popularity in Iran. He
issued periodic proclamations concerning developments in Iran that were
smuggled into the country and clandestinely circulated at great risk. In
addition, his messages addressed to the Muslim world at large were
distributed several times in Mecca during pilgrimage season of the
year. In Najaf itself, he received visits during the long years of his
exile from a number of important Iranian and other Muslim
personalities.
The name and person of Imām Khomeini and the cause that he embodied
were never forgotten in Iran. His example inspired a number of religious
scholars and groups, which continued to build on the foundations laid in
1963 and 1964, and unnoticed by most foreign observers, an Islamic
movement of unparalleled breadth and profundity came into being.
It was then entirely natural that Imām Khomeini should swiftly emerge
as the leader of the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979. Notwithstanding
his physical absence from the country, he was present in the hearts of
his countrymen and infinitely more in tune with their aspirations than
politicians who had suffered neither exile nor imprisonment.
On November 23, 1977, the elder son of Imām Khomeini, Hajj Mustafā,
died suddenly in Najaf, assassinated by the Shāh’s US-instituted
security police, SAVAK. Imām Khomeini bore this blow stoically, but the
tragedy inflamed the public in Iran. Massive social corruption and
economic dislocation as well as continuing political repression had
already aroused universal discontent in Iran, and when the regime aimed
its next blow against Imām Khomeini, discontent overflowed into
rebellion, and rebellion, in turn, matured into revolution.
On January 8,1978, one week after President Carter had been in Tehran
lauding the Shāh as a wise statesman beloved of his people,[^21] the
government-controlled press printed an article supplied by the Ministry
of Court attacking Imām Khomeini as an agent of foreign powers. The
public reaction was immediate outrage. The following day in Qum,
demonstrations broke out that were suppressed with heavy loss of life.
This was the first of a series of demonstrations that progressively
unfurled across the country, until in the end barely a single region
remained untouched by revolutionary fervor. Throughout the spring and
summer of 1978, Imām Khomeini issued a series of proclamations and
directives, congratulating the people on their steadfastness and
encouraging them to persist until the attainment of the final
objective—overthrow of the monarchy and institution of an Islamic
republic.
The centrality of the Imām in the revolutionary movement was obvious
from the beginning. His name was constantly repeated in the slogans that
were devised and chanted in the demonstrations; his portrait served as a
revolutionary banner; and his return from exile to supervise the
installation of an Islamic government was insistently demanded. Acting
under another of its erroneous assumptions, the Shāh’s regime requested
the Ba’athist government in Iraq, in September 1978, to expel Imām
Khomeini from its territory, in the hope of depriving him of his base of
operations and robbing the Revolution of its leadership. Imām Khomeini
had never enjoyed cordial relations with the various governments that
had ruled Iraq since his arrival there in 1965, and he now informed the
Ba’athists that he would be happy to leave Iraq for a country that was
not subject to the Shāh’s dictates. Syria and Algeria were considered as
possible destinations, but in the end, as Imām Khomeini testifies
himself, no Muslim country offered him refuge with the assurance of his
being able to continue his activity freely.[^22] So, he went to France,
taking up residence at the hamlet of Neauphle-le-Château near Paris in
early October 1978.
The move to France proved beneficial. Paradoxically, communication with
Iran was easier from France than it had been from Iraq. The declarations
and directives that were now being issued with increasing frequency were
telephoned directly to Tehran, for further dissemination to a number of
centers in the provinces. A never-ending stream of Iranians, from Europe
and the United States as well as Iran itself, came to visit and pay
homage to the Imām, and to consult with him. The world’s media also
descended on the modest residence of the Imām at Neauphle-le-Château,
and his words began to reach a global audience.
The month of Muharram that coincided with December 1978 witnessed vast
and repeated demonstrations in Tehran and other Iranian cities,
demanding the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of an
Islamic republic under the leadership of Imām Khomeini. Despite all the
savagery the Shāh had employed, including the slaughter of thousands of
unarmed demonstrators, the torture and abuse of detainees, and massacres
of the wounded on their hospital beds, and despite the unstinting
support he had received from the United States and other foreign powers,
the corrupt and murderous rule of the Shāh was approaching its end. His
masters decided it was politic for him to leave, and when preparation
had been made for the installation of a surrogate administration under
Shāhpūr Bakhtiār, the Shāh left Iran for the last time on January 16,
1979. The outburst of joy that followed his departure was a fulfillment
of the prophecy Imām Khomeini had made sixteen years earlier.
Once the Shāh left Iran, Imām Khomeini prepared to return to his
homeland. When he did, on February 1, he was met with a tumultuous
welcome. With his renewed presence in Iran, the fate of the Bakhtiār’s
government was sealed. After a final outburst of savagery on February 10
and 11, the old regime collapsed in disgrace, and the Islamic Republic
of Iran was born.
In the two eventful years that have elapsed since the triumph of the
Revolution, Imām Khomeini has continued to play an indispensable role in
consolidating its gains and guiding the destiny of the nation. In a
formal sense, his role has been defined by Articles, 107 to 112 of the
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran,[^23] which incorporate the
key political principle of the “governance of the faqīh (vilāyat-i
faqīh).[^24] In a more general sense, however, he has continued to
provide the Revolution with its very substance, acting as its highest
instance of authority and legitimacy. Countless addresses to different
groups of citizens that come to visit him, as well as public speeches to
wider audiences on particular significant occasions, have confirmed Imām
Khomeini as the teacher and guide of the Islamic Revolution.[^25]
Throughout this long and remarkable career, Imām Khomeini has
manifested a unique set of characteristics: spirituality and erudition,
asceticism and self-discipline, sobriety and determination, political
genius and leadership, compassion for the poor and deprived, and a
relentless hatred of oppression and imperialism. Summarizing his
assessment of Imām Khomeini, the late Āyatullāh Mutahhari[^26] compared
him with ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (‘a), that high exemplar of Islamic courage,
wisdom, and spirituality. All who had the privilege to come into the
presence of the Imām will concur in his judgment.
[^1]: See n. 27 of the present volume.
[^2]: See n. 107 of the present volume.
[^3]: A collection of the viewpoints and stances on this argumentation is being compiled by this Institute.
[^4]: The written supplication at the end of the present volume.
[^5]: The translator’s introduction in the English translation as part of an anthology titled Islam and Revolution, originally published by Al-Mizan Press, Berkeley, USA in 1981. Notes with “(Pub.)” at the end are that of, or modified by, the publisher. (Pub.)
[^6]: Some information about the early life of Imām Khomeini is to be found in the opening sections of two books that concern themselves chiefly with the events of 1962-1964: S.H.R. Barrasī va Tahlīlī az Nihzat-i Imām Khomeini (Najaf? n.d); and anon., Biyugrāfi-yi Pishvā, n.p, n.d. This Institute has recently published the first volume of The Life of Imām Khomeini, which elaborately deals on his early life up to matrimony. (Pub.)
[^7]: Interview of the translator with Āyatullāh Pasandīdeh, Qum, December 19, 1979.
[^8]: For detailed accounts of the life and achievements of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karīm Hā’iri, see Muhammad Sharif Rāzi, Āthār al-Hujjah (Qum 1332 A.H.S./1953), I, pp. 22-90; Ganjinā-yi Dānishmandān (Tehran, 1352 Sh./1973), I, pp. 283-304. His relations with Rizā Khān are discussed briefly in ‘Abd al-Karīm Hā’iri, Shi’ism and Constitutionalism in Iran (Leiden, 1977), pp. 135-139.
[^9]: Concerning Mīrzā Hasan Shirāzi, see p. 124 and 162, note 155.
[^10]: For lists of Imām Khomeini’s writings, published and unpublished, see S.H.R., Barrasī va Tahlīlī az Nihzat-i Imām Khomeini, pp. 55-61, and anon., Biyugrāfī-yi Pīshvā, I, 52-53. Copies as well as lists of Imām Khomeini’s literary works can be obtained from the publisher, The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imām Khomeini’s Works, http://www.imam-khomeini.org, email: info@imam-khomeini.org. (Pub.)
[^11]: Āyatullāh Muntaziri, born to a family of peasant stock in Najafābād in 1301 A.H./1884, had for many years been closely associated with Imām Khomeini, who had described him as “the product of my life.” Not only a master of both law and philosophy, but also a militant leader, Āyatullāh Muntaziri played an important role in sustaining the struggle against the Shāh during Imām Khomeini’s years in exile.
[^12]: Rāzi, Āthār al-Hujjah, II, 45.
[^13]: See Imām Khomeini’s own remarks on the connection between spirituality and sociopolitical activity in lectures on Sūrah al-Fātiha published in the anthology of Imām Khomeini’s writings and declarations titled Islam and Revolution, Al-Mizan Press, Berkeley, USA, 1981, pp. 399-400. See Imām Khomeini, Ādāb as-Salāt: The Disciplines of the Prayer (Tehran: The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imām Khomeini’s Works, 1996), pp. 357-418, available online at: http://www.al-islam.org/adab. (Pub.)
[^14]: For an extract from this book, see ibid., pp.169-173.
[^15]: For a brief account of the achievements of Āyatullāh Burūjirdi, see Murtadā Mutahhari, “Mazāyā va Khadamāt-i Marhūm Āyatullāh Burūjirdi,” Bahsi dar bāreh-ye Marja‘iyyat va Rūhāniyyat (Tehran, n.d.), pp. 233-249.
[^16]: See p. 118 and p. 161, n. 151.
[^17]: Fayziyyah Madrasah, founded in Safavid times, has acquired particular fame among the teaching institutions in Qum because of the role it has played in the Islamic movement. Closed down in 1975 by the Shāh’s regime, it was ceremonially reopened after the triumph of the Revolution.
[^18]: For the text of this speech, see Islam and Revolution, pp. 177-180.
[^19]: See p. 127.
[^20]: For the text of this speech, see Islam and Revolution, pp. 181-188.
[^21]: Carter told the Shāh in Tehran on January 1, 1978: “Iran is an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world. This is a great tribute to you, Your Majesty, and to your leadership and to the respect, admiration and love which your people give to you.” New York Times, January 2, 1978.
[^22]: See Islam and Revolution, p. 238.
[^23]: See Hamid Algar, trans., The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Berkeley, 1980), pp. 66-69.
[^24]: This principle forms the central topic of the first session of this book. See especially pp. 62-125.
[^25]: It is important to understand that despite this centrality of Imām Khomeini to the Revolution, the Islamic Republic is not an authoritarian regime over which he presides. The notion of a “Khomeini regime,” as promoted by the Western media, is entirely fictitious. Repeated consultations of the popular will after February 1979 have resulted in the emergence of a new set of political institutions that function with demonstrable freedom.
[^26]: Āyatullāh Murtadā Mutahhari was a scholar of unusually wide learning, a writer and lecturer of great effectiveness, and a cherished pupil of Imām Khomeini. He was a leading member of the Revolutionary Council until his assassination on May 1, 1979 by the terrorist Furqān group.