Imam Khomeini was a political thinker, having a unifying discourse.
Imam Khomeini was not only a religious authority and jurist, but also a political thinker who transformed jurisprudence from an individual tool for organizing the life of a Muslim individual into a complete and comprehensive framework for establishing Islamic rule. The Islamic Revolution was not a purely political event to eliminate the Shah, but rather a complete project to change the cultural and civilizational nature of Iran and return it to its Islamic essence as a comprehensive authority. The Islamic Revolution in Iran was formed based on a set of important and fundamental cultural elements.
In this regard, Warda Saad, a reporter for Mehr News Agency, conducted an interview with Dr. Ali Fadel al-Dafahi, the spokesman for the Supreme Islamic Assembly of Iraq, which is detailed below;
Did Imam Khomeini succeed in theorizing for establishing Islamic rule in a modern state? Did he succeed in preserving the essence of Islamic law in governance?
The revolution that the Muslim nation of Iran created under the leadership of Imam Khomeini, may God be pleased with him, subsequently became a movement in the full sense of the word that encompassed all the infrastructures of life and the establishment of rule, state, and system. This revolution and the personality of its wise leader and the approach of the revolution in its standards and discourse were entirely based on the principles of Islam and the concepts of the Holy Quran, and the movement that the Islamic Revolution created surprised everyone, because many thought that the state-building approach of religious clerics would fail.
They thought that secularism was the only version of creating modern governance, but the Islamic Republic of Iran created a state on its civilized scale based on science, scholars, clerics, and specialized elements, which at the same time follows Islamic principles, and its source of power is based on faith and commitment to the religion of Islam. In this way, the most important indicators of this movement that led to the state-building process can be listed as follows:
First: Preserving the nature of Islamic Sharia
Imam Khomeini tried to shape the political system based on jurisprudential authority and based on the idea of ​​​​the guardianship of the jurist. In this way, Imam Khomeini tried to preserve the essence of Islamic Sharia by relying on it as the legislative center in the country and in addition, he formed the Guardian Council of the Constitution to supervise the implementation of laws based on Sharia.
Second: Using modern thinking in managing society
Imam Khomeini used the tools of modern governance. Institutions such as the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts were established, all of which are tools of a modern and democratic governance. In this way of governance, the basis of separation of the pillars of governance was considered, and the executive, legislative, and judicial branches were formed separately. Imam Khomeini used the concepts of nation and national will extensively, which indicated the reliance of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Movement on popular foundations.
Imam Khomeini was not only a marja’ and jurist, but also a political thinker who transformed jurisprudence from an individual tool for organizing the life of a Muslim individual into a complete and comprehensive framework for creating a state. Therefore, the idea of ​​​​velayat-e-faqih was not only a jurisprudential fatwa, but also a theory of governance.
Imam Khomeini’s movement was a unique attempt to place religion as the overarching basis of governance in a modern state; a state that maintained its jurisprudential nature and Islamic basis. Therefore, he established a civilized governance based on Islamic approaches.