From "People's Choice Imam" to "Religious Democracy" The Study of People's Position in the "Velayat System" from the Perspective of Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Political Science Faculty

Abstract

One of the theories about the Velayat system is the theory of "Velayat _e_ Faqih". Although this theory had been put forward by other scholars before Imam Khomeini, but with its implementation in the Islamic Republic of Iran following the victory of the Islamic Revolution and imam Khomeini at its head, a special political system was established in Iran.
This article seeks to study the position of people in the Velayat system in the thought of Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei. It seems that, from the viewpoint of Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, people have a decisive place in the Velayat system, and the theory of Imam Khomeini entitled "People's Choice Imam" is the same theory that Ayatollah Khamenei called "Religious Democracy". According to these two theories, the role of the people in the velayat system derives from Islam, and religious democracy is not just a customary contract, but a religious duty in which the people elect the Islamic ruler and decide the fate of ruling the country through their electorates. The fundamental right of the people to make this choice is Islam itself. At the same time, in the opinion of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution, the Velayat system has a fundamental difference with the liberal democracy system, the difference being that the Velayat system is based on the constitution of Islam, in which both the elective conditions and the laws for governing the country are extracted from Islam. At the same time, it is up to the people to vote and demand the principle of the Velayat system.

Keywords

References

 
-      Anonymous (2007), "The Role of the People in the Islamic State from the Perspective of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution", Quarterly Journal of the Islamic Government, Vol. 43, Spring. (In Persian)
-      Barzegar, Ebrahim (2014), Imam Khomeini's Political Thought: Politics as A Way, Tehran, Samt, Third Edition. (In Persian)
-      Detailed Form of the Negotiations of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, General Directorate of Cultural Affairs and Public Relations of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Vol. 1, Tehran, 1985. (In Persian)
-      Detailed report of the negotiations of the Constitutional Review Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, General Department of Laws of the Majlis, Tehran, 1993. (In Persian).
-      Hosseini Beheshti, Seyyed Mohammad, Theoretical Foundations of the Constitution, Tehran, Boqa Publications, 1998. (In Persian)
-      Hosseini, Maryam Sadat (2013), Political Thought of Imam Khomeini, Tehran, Islamic Revolutionary Documentation Center. (In Persian)
-      Jamshidi, Mohammad Hossein (2009), Imam Khomeini's Political Thought, Tehran, Imam Khomeini Research Institute and the Islamic Revolution, Second Edition (In Persian)
-      Kadivar, Mohsen (2001), "The highest political power in the country is chosen by the people", ISNA News Agency, June 29. https://www.isna.ir/news/8003-01706. (In Persian)
-      Khamenei, Seyyed Ali (1993), Return to Nahj al-Balaghah (Speech series of the Supreme Leader at the International Conferences of Nahj al-Balaghah),Tehran: Nahj al-Balaghah Foundation, first edition. (In Persian)
-      Khamenei, Seyyed Ali (2012), Velayat and Government, Second Edition, Tehran, Sahba. (In Persian)
-      Khamenei, Seyyed Ali (2014), General Plan of Islamic Thought in the Quran, Fourth Edition, Tehran, Sahba.
-      Khamenei, Seyyed Ali, in the school of Jumu'ah, vol.5, [No place], [No date]. (In Persian)
-      Khosropanah, Abdolhossein and a group of researchers (2016), Imam Khomeini's intellectual system, Tehran, Islamic Culture and Thought Research Institute Publishing Organization. (In Persian)
-      Khosropanah, Abdolhossein and a group of researchers (2017), “The intellectual system of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei”, Volume I, Tehran, Islamic Culture and Thought Research Institute Publishing Organization, Second Edition.
-      Mohajernia, Mohsen (2014), Political Philosophy of Ayatollah Khamenei, Tehran, Institute of Islamic Culture and Thought. (In Persian)
-      Mousavi Khomeini, Seyyed Ruhollah (Imam Khomeini) (1998), Velayat-e Faqih (Islamic Government), Tehran: Imam Khomeini Publishing Institute. (In Persian)
-      Mousavi Khomeini, Seyyed Ruhollah (Imam Khomeini) (2006), Sahifa Imam, Fourth Edition, Volume 4, Tehran: Imam Khomeini Publishing Institute. (In Persian)
-      Mousavi Khomeini, Seyyed Ruhollah (Imam Khomeini) (2006), Sahifa Imam, Fourth Edition, Volume 5, Tehran: Imam Khomeini Publishing Institute. (In Persian)
-      Mousavi Khomeini, Seyyed Ruhollah (Imam Khomeini) (2006), Sahifa Imam, Fourth Edition, Volume 8, Tehran: Imam Khomeini Publishing Institute. (In Persian)
-      Mousavi Khomeini, Seyyed Ruhollah (Imam Khomeini) (2006), Sahifa Imam, Fourth Edition, Volume 14, Tehran: Imam Khomeini Publishing Institute, (In Persian)
-      Mousavi Khomeini, Seyyed Ruhollah (Imam Khomeini) (2006), Sahifa Imam, Fourth Edition, Volume 21, Tehran: Imam Khomeini Publishing Institute. (In Persian)
-      Rostamipoor, Sajjad (2018), Political Thought of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Tehran, Islamic Revolutionary Documentation Center. (In Persian)
-      Sadegh, Mohammad Hadi (2015). Prioritization of the Merits and Characteristics of Revolutionary Institutions through Value Approach. Journal of Research in Human Resources Management, 7(1), 113-135. (In Persian)
-      Saeedi, Mehdi (2013), Religious Democracy from the Perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei, Tehran, Islamic Revolutionary Documentation Center. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a group meeting of Staff of Constructive Jihad, 10/07/1998, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian).
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a public meeting, on 18/01/1999, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the meeting of the Friday Imams of the country, 10/02/2000, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the meeting of professors and students of Shiraz universities, 02/14/2008, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the meeting of the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the day of Eid al-Fitr, 04/19/2009, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the meeting of the Officials of the country, on 12/02/2000, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian).
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the meeting of the representatives of the seventh session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 03/27/2004, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the meeting with the members of the Assembly of Experts, 09/08/2011. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the meeting of the members of the election monitoring board of the Guardian Council, 02/03/1996, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian)
-      Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of Eid Saeed Ghadir, 04/05/1999, Software of Hadith Velayat. (In Persian)

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics