Ayatollah Khomeini: Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist - Milestone Documents

Ayatollah Khomeini: Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist

( 1970 ) Commentary by Michael J. O'Neal, Ph.D.
  • “Islam is the religion of militant individuals who are committed to truth and justice. It is the religion of those who desire freedom and independence. It is the school of those who struggle against imperialism.” - Paragraph 4
  • “God, Exalted and Almighty … instituted laws and practices for all human affairs and laid injunctions for man extending from even before the embryo is formed until after he is placed in the tomb. In just the same way that there are laws setting forth the duties of worship for man, so too there are laws, practices, and norms for the affairs of society and government.” - Paragraph 9
  • “Their plan is to keep us backward, to keep us in our present miserable state so they can exploit our riches, our underground wealth, our lands, and our human resources. They want us to remain afflicted and wretched, and our poor to be trapped in their misery. Instead of surrendering to the injunctions of Islam … they and their agents wish to … enjoy lives of abominable luxury.” - Paragraph 27
  • “The necessity for the implementation of divine law, the need for an executive power, and the importance of that power in fulfilling the goals of the prophetic mission and establishing a just order that would result in the happiness of mankind—all of this made the appointment of a successor synonymous with the completion of the prophetic mission.” - Paragraph 35
  • “If you pay no attention to the policies of the imperialists, and consider Islam to be simply the few topics you are always studying and never go beyond them, then the imperialists will leave you alone. Pray as much as you like; it is your oil they are after—why should they worry about your prayers? They are after our minerals, and want to turn our country into a market for their goods.” - Paragraph 40
Image for: Ayatollah Khomeini: Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist

Iranian hostage crisis student demonstration in Washington, D.C. (Library of Congress)

View Full Size

Related Docs