Democracy: As Seen in the Political Philosophy of Imam Khomeini [R.A]
By Hamid Hadji Haidar

Understanding Imam Khomeini [R.A]'s political philosophy, as an entity, is not feasible unless one gains a proper insight into each of the numerous, essential and fundamental blocks which, together, constitute and define his political legacy.

This paper, the first in a series, targets his concept, and model, of democracy, comparing it with definitions offered by Western scholars, integrating it with other vital 'ingredients' which pivot the late Imam's political thought, namely, Vilayat-i Faqih, freedom and republicanism.

It concludes that the origin of government and law ought to be, according to the Imam, both divine and human in nature; and this may be executed, democratically as well as Islamically, by means of 'competitive elitism', 'governmental periodicity' and a 'divine-human government'.

The late Imam Khomeini [R.A], founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is re-known as a distinguished scholar in different fields of Islamic Sciences such as philosophy, law, jurisprudence, tarsi etc.

Moreover, he is considered as a revolutionary figure that had succeeded to lead a victorious revolution against a powerful Imperial government, which was supported by a superpower. Unusually, however, he is not yet known as a theorist within the domain of political philosophy. Whereas in addition to his theory on Vilayat-i Faqih - i.e. supremacy of a religious leader over government - he has expressed numerous other fundamental political principles - such as the nature of Man, origin and objectives of the State, legitimacy, social contract, rule of law, genres of government, democracy, constitutionalism, freedom, justice and many more, without which a correct understanding of principles like Vilayat-i Faqih would not be properly attained.

This article attempts, albeit concisely, to explain one of these fundamental principles, namely the concept of democracy.

The Concept of Democracy
The 'Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics' defines democracy as the 'rule by people' as a matter of fact, democracy was viewed

Next Page