The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Importance of Khomeini's

Abstract

Twenty years after the Iranian Revolution there is a growing discourse in Iran concerning the nature of society and government within the Islamic Republic. Dissatisfied with the status quo, Iranians are calling for accountability of the government to the people, respect for individual freedoms and the mie of law, and economic reforms. In view of these trends in Iranian society, Iranian religious intellectuals are engaged in a debate concerning the role of religion in politics, the compatibility of Islam with democracy, relations with the West, and the role of the clergy. Increasingly, the debate is challenging Ayatollah Khomeini's concept of velayat-efaqih (The Mandate of the Jurist), as codified in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. This paper seeks to address the question of the importance of Khomeini's concept of velayat-e faqih to the Islamic Republic of Iran. I have divided the subject-matter into three chapters. In chapter one, I argue that the notion of velayat-e faqih, as interpreted by Khomeini, traces its roots to the late 18th century. As such, his notion represents the adaptation of an existing Shi'ite legal doctrine to the historical context of Iran in the 1960s and 1970s. While his definition of velayat (authority), and the source from which it devolves to the foqaha (Islamic jurists) seem to promote an autocratic government, there is some ambiguity in his argument concerning the role of the people. Finally, I argue that although Khomeini's is not the only interpretation of velayat-e efizqih, it is unique in that it became the ideology for the Isalmic Republic and was extensively codified in the Constitution.