Ayatollah Khomeini: Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The present excerpt from Islamic Government is the book's introduction. The introduction does not lay down a thorough plan for an Islamist government. Rather, it expounds a number of ideas that form the historical justification for such a government. The core of Khomeini's argument is that the Qur'an and sharia law provide humans with all the guidance they need; accordingly, a secular government is not necessary. The favorable alternative is a government under the leadership of Muslim jurists, or clerics who are knowledgeable about Islamic law.

Paragraphs 1–3

The opening paragraphs of the introduction set the tone for Khomeini's exposition. He argues that the principles of governance of the jurist are “self-evident” but that they have been neglected because of historical circumstances. He refers to “anti-Islamic propaganda” from Jews and other groups; although he does not refer by name to the United States, it is likely that the United States and its allies, particularly Great Britain, are the groups he had in mind. He states that the goal of these outside influences has been “imperialist penetration of the Muslim countries,” a process that began at least three hundred years before but which could be traced back to the Crusades, the two-hundred-year-long series of wars between Christian Europe and Muslim Arabs for the control of Palestine in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. He argues that it was not the purpose of these groups to eliminate Islam and replace it with Christianity, for “the imperialists really have no religious belief.” He goes on to say that the imperialists instead planted agents in the government, publishing, and education to “distort the principles of Islam,” as the religion was considered an obstacle to political power and materialism.

Paragraphs 4–7

Khomeini next draws a distinction between true Islam and Islam as it has been depicted by its adversaries. He states that “Islam is the religion of militant individuals who are committed to truth and justice” and that it is only by fulfilling the ordinances of Islam that Muslims can live full lives. He also emphasizes the revolutionary aspect of Islam in opposing imperialism. He then proceeds to develop a core argument. Countering the belief that Islam “is not a comprehensive religion” and “has nothing to say about human life in general and the ordering of society,” he argues that, on the contrary, Islam is about much more than ritual observances. He refers to the Qur'an, Islam's sacred scripture. Muslims believe that the Qur'an, from an Arabic word meaning “the recitation,” is the literal word of Allah, revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the archangel Jibra'il (Gabriel) beginning in 610 until his death. Reference is also made to the hadiths, or compilations of the Prophet's sayings during his lifetime; some twenty-six hundred hadiths, out of six hundred thousand that were gathered, are regarded as authentic, and they provide guidance in matters ranging from law to personal behavior. Khomeini notes that large portions of both the Qur'an and the hadiths deal with “social, economic, legal, and political questions—in short, the gestation of society.” His point is that the sacred writings of Islam provide people with all the guidance they need, not just in private matters but in public, social matters as well.

Paragraphs 8–11

After urging young people to be of service to Islam, Khomeini sketches in the historical background of his views. He notes that in Muhammad's time, the West was in a state of “darkness and obscurity,” while nations such as Iran were under tyrannical rule. In this context the Prophet emerged and, from God, “sent laws that astound people with their magnitude.” He continues by saying that God “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.” This key point reinforces Khomeini's view that Islam is sufficient for governing all human affairs. He concludes by saying that “there is not a single topic in human life for which Islam has not provided instructions and established a norm.” He dismisses the views of akhunds—a word that literally means “Muslim clerics” but that has become a derogatory term for misguided and hypocritical clerics—and argues that they have been in part responsible for the view that Islam concerns itself only with rituals. He even concedes that some of the ‘ulama, or Islamic scholars, have been guilty.

Paragraphs 12–19

Khomeini turns next to some specific matters of law. He begins by noting that the nation's constitution, as implemented under the monarchy, is essentially a Western document, borrowing heavily from the constitutions of Britain, Belgium, and France; the few Islamic ordinances contained in the constitution were inserted as a way of deceiving Muslims into believing that the constitution reflected Islamic law. He continues by insisting that while the Iranian constitution thus embodies a monarchal form of government, Islam “proclaims monarchy and hereditary succession wrong and invalid.” He reviews historical circumstances, recalling how Muhammad enjoined the rulers of the Byzantine Empire and Iran to abandon monarchy, as had been done in Islamic countries such as Egypt. Arguing that God is the only true monarch, he calls monarchy a “sinister, evil system of government.” Its influence was what caused Imam Husayn ibn ‘Ali, Muhammad's grandson, to refuse to pledge his allegiance to Yazid I, head of the Umayyad Caliphate, in the seventh century. Husayn became the “Doyen of the Martyrs” when he was killed during the Battle of Karbala in 680, a major historical event in the development of the Shia movement.

Khomeini addresses the fact that Islam has no specific laws against such behaviors as usury, the consumption of alcohol, and sexual vice. For Khomeini, the fact that Islamic countries have not had to enact laws forbidding these practices is a sign of the religion's “perfection.” He goes on to say that this legal system was “worked out by the imperialist government of Britain” to render Islam impotent. Khomeini then outlines some of the inadequacies of the Western legal system imposed on Iran, suggesting that it has been a source of delayed justice owing to endless litigation. Legal matters are not resolved swiftly, and people have to waste their time trying to enforce their rights. In earlier times, sharia (spelled shari‘ah in the document) law could quickly settle matters. Western law, in contrast, is a source of “frustration and perplexity” as well as corruption and bribery.

Paragraphs 20–23

Khomeini takes up the issue of whether Islamic law is “too harsh,” a view he says is widely prevalent in the West because of the work of “agents of imperialism.” He notes that in the West a person can be executed for the possession of ten grams of heroin and asks whether this is not a harsh punishment, one that is disproportionate to the crime. He acknowledges that a person living under Islamic rule can receive eighty lashes for the consumption of alcohol, but he is indignant at the notion that this punishment is “too harsh” in light of Western laws governing drug possession. This leads to a discussion of alcohol. Khomeini argues that “many forms of corruption that have appeared in society derive from alcohol,” including road accidents, murders, and suicides, and that alcohol addiction can lead to heroin addiction. Yet in the West alcohol can be bought and sold freely. He defends the practice of whipping fornicators and stoning adulterers by saying that “these penal provisions of Islam are intended to keep great nations from being destroyed by corruption.” He concludes by asking, “Why should it be regarded as harsh if Islam stipulates that an offender must be publicly flogged in order to protect the younger generation from corruption?”

Paragraphs 24–31

Khomeini next returns to a discussion of history. He begins by observing that Western powers can wage war in Vietnam but that wars waged by Islam to stamp out corruption are considered questionable. He asserts that everything he has discussed so far represents “plans drawn up several centuries ago that are now being implemented and bearing fruit.” He objects to the establishment of schools that turn people into “Christians or unbelievers.” He says that the Western plan has been to keep Muslims “backward” and to exploit the resources of Muslim lands. In preaching Islam, clerics have to practice taqiyyah, or circumspection in the face of danger, a practice sanctioned in the Qur'an. He defends the wearing of military apparel, pointing out that the early leaders of Islam, including the “Commander of the Faithful,” ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law and the first of the Twelve Imams, proudly wore military attire. All of the anti-Islamic developments he discusses are considered the result of a “wave of propaganda.”

Paragraphs 32–35

Khomeini turns from the external factors that have corrupted and diminished Islam to internal factors, in particular, “the dazzling effect that the material progress of the imperialist countries has had on some members of our society.” He argues that morality and happiness derive not from technical and scientific progress, such as going to the moon (accomplished by the Americans in the summer of 1969) but from “the faith, the conviction, and the morality of Islam,” which “serve humanity instead of endangering it.” Meanwhile, some Muslims have been seduced by the Western idea that Islam has no “specific form of government or governmental institutions.” Khomeini sees this as part of the propaganda campaign designed to prevent the creation of an Islamic society.

Examining government from a historical perspective, Khomeini says that the Prophet established a system for determining his successors. The purpose of those successors, though, was not simply to expound law, for the law had already been expounded in the Qur'an and other documents. Rather, the successors' purpose was to execute the laws, for laws are of no avail unless they are carried out. Islamic law, then, was part of the prophetic mission of God, carried out by Muhammad. It was this argument that led to the creation of the position of supreme leader after the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Paragraphs 36–41

In the final paragraphs, Khomeini addresses his audience directly. He urges Muslims to fulfill the prophetic mission: “Know that it is your duty to establish an Islamic government.” He tells them to present Islam in its true form and to make clear to others that Islam is not a religion of forms and observances but a vital part of the political structure of Islamic nations. He says that Muslims must engage not only in prayer and study but also in political agitation. Otherwise, the imperialists will maintain control of Islamic countries through industrialization and the exploitation of oil, not caring about Islam if it restricts itself to azan, or the call to prayer. He concludes by warning that the imperialists want to “prevent you from intervening in the affairs of society and struggling against treacherous governments and their anti-national and anti-Islamic politics.”