Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist
| Author | Ruhollah Khomeini; translated by Hamid Algar |
|---|---|
| Country | Iran and United Kingdom |
| Language | Translated into English |
| Subject | Islam and state |
| Publisher | Manor Books, Mizan Press, Alhoda UK, |
|
Publication date
|
1979, 1982, 2002 |
| Pages | 139 pages |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 254905140 |
Velayat-e faqih (Persian: ولایت فقیه, velāyat-e faqīh), also known as Islamic Government (Persian: حکومت اسلامی, Hokumat-i Eslami), is a book by the Iranian Muslim cleric and revolutionary Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, first published in 1970, and probably the most influential document written in modern times in support of theocratic rule.
The book argues that government should be run in accordance with traditional Islamic law (sharia), and for this to happen a leading Islamic jurist (faqih) must provide political "guardianship" (wilayat or velayat) over the people and nation. A modified form of this doctrine was incorporated into the 1979 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran following the Iranian Revolution, with the doctrine's author, Ayatollah Khomeini, as the first faqih "guardian" or Supreme Leader of Iran.
While in exile in Iraq in the holy city of Najaf, Khomeini gave a series of 19 lectures to a group of his students from January 21 to February 8, 1970 on Islamic Government. Notes of the lectures were soon made into a book that appeared under three different titles: The Islamic Government, Authority of the Jurist, and A Letter from Imam Musavi Kashef al-Qita (to deceive Iranian censors). The small book (fewer than 150 pages) was smuggled into Iran and "widely distributed" to Khomeini supporters before the revolution.
Controversy surrounds how much of the book's success came from its religiosity, and how much from the political skill and power of its author, who is generally considered to have been the "undisputed" leader of the Iranian Revolution. Many observers of the revolution maintain that while the book was distributed to Khomeini's core supporters in Iran, Khomeini and his aides were careful not to publicize the book or the idea of wilayat al-faqih to outsiders, knowing that groups crucial to the revolution's success—secular and Islamic Modernist Iranians—were likely to be irreconcilably opposed to theocracy. It was only when Khomeini's core supporters had consolidated their hold on power that wilayat al-faqih was made known to the general public and written into the country's new Islamic constitution.
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