The Necessity of Islamic Government in Modern Era from Imam Khomeini’s Perspective

Abstract

Imam Khomeini is the first jurist who put forth the necessity of establishment Islamic government in the Occultation era and significantly attempts to prove the need for administrative power to implement Islamic decrees. He invoked to the Holy Prophet method in establishing an Islamic state and the fact that the nature of Islamic laws that are universal and eternal by the aim of managing the society to achieve welfare, happiness, and perfection. He claimed that these divine laws are not restricted to the Holy Prophet’s era and they are not executable without an Islamic government with appropriate Islamic institutions and organizations to implement the divine laws in the Muslim society, which will be examined in the first part of this research. Finally, the questions, what are the features of Islamic government in comparison with other forms of government such as secular, liberal democracy, tyrannical, monarchy, and communist according to Imam Khomeini’s point of view will be investigated in the second section. One of the important features that distinguishes Islamic government from other forms of governments is the leadership that Imam Khomeini strongly attempts to prove its divine legitimacy and popular acceptance. He believes that the person, who wishes to be as the successor of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and infallible Imams (AS), should appointed by Allah Almighty through the Holy Prophet and Imams (AS) and has to possess at least two qualifications, the knowledge of Islamic sciences, and the justice. Besides, he must have the general competencies of intelligence and administrative capability to govern the Islamic community. In Imam Khomeini’s opinion, if a person is the most knowledgeable in Religion Science, but fails to recognize the expedient of society or generally lacks in insight the social and political context and in decision-making power, this person is not Mujtahid in social and governance issues and cannot take the reigns of the community.