Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist
Islamic Government (The Book)
Probably the best known of Imām Khomeini’s works, the book Islamic
Government originated in a series of lectures given at Najaf between
January 21 and February 8, 1970. The lectures were recorded and
transcribed by a student, and then published in book form.
“Islamic Government” is an exact translation of the original Persian
title, Hukūmat-i Islāmi. However, the reader should bear in mind that
the book does not purport either a complete scheme of Islamic political
philosophy or a detailed plan for the establishment and functioning of
an Islamic state. Its purpose is narrower and more specific and geared
to the audience to whom the lectures were delivered: students of the
religious sciences, who might be expected later to assume positions of
influence in Muslim society.
Three major points emerge from the lectures. The first is the necessity
for the establishment and maintenance of Islamic political power for
Islamic goals, precepts, and criteria. The second is the duty of the
religious scholars (the fuqahā) to bring about an Islamic state, and to
assume legislative, executive, and judicial positions within it—in
short, the doctrine of “the governance of the faqīh” (vilāyat-i faqīh).
The various texts that support this second point are subjected to
lengthy review and examination. Finally, Imām Khomeini sets out a
program of action for the establishment of an Islamic state, including
various measures for self-reform by the religious establishment. All
three themes are expounded against a backdrop of particular concern with
Iran; hence the occurrence of numerous references to Iran in the course
of the general and theoretical discussion.
Accurate translations of Hukūmat-i Islāmi exist in French, Arabic,
Turkish, and Urdu. In the fall of 1978, the Joint Publications and
Research Service, the translation branch of the US Central Intelligence
Service, commissioned an English translation, not of the original
Persian text, but of the translation in Arabic. The resulting version,
crude and unreliable, was subsequently published in a vulgar and
sensational format by Manor Books, a commercial publisher in New York.
What follows is an integral and faithful translation of the third
edition of the Persian text, published at Najaf in 1391 A.H./1971.