Ayatullah Khomeini's Concept of Governance (<i>wilayat al-faqih</i>) and the Classical Shi‘i Doctrine of Imamate

Abstract The crisis that unfolded after Iran's June 2009 presidential election exposed the absolutist nature of the state's highest religious authority (wali-ye faqih), Ayatullah 'Ali Khamena'i. It also revealed the urgent need to critically interrogate Ayatullah Khomeini's doctrinal justifications for the governance of the jurist (wilayat al-faqih) in light of how 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shi'i Imam, assumed the caliphate: divine bestowal (nass) combined with public investiture that took the form of bay'a (oath of allegiance). Ayatullahs Husayn 'Ali Montazeri, Mohsen Kadivar, Yousef Saanei, Bayat Zanjani and Mehdi Karrubi have attempted to devise a model in which sovereignty belongs to the public and limits the clergy's role in daily matters of the state to oversight and guidance. In contrast, Ayatullahs Kazemeyni Boroujerdi and Mojteba Shabestari argue for a clear-cut separation between the church and the state so that the public can choose its form of government since no specific form is prescribed in Islam. On the other hand, Ayatullah Mesbah Yazdi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, has consistently been a passionate advocate of the absolute authority of the jurist in its most comprehensive form and a vehement opponent of any dissenting discourse on this subject. Notes S. Akhavi, 'Islam, Politics and Society in the Thought of Ayatullah Khomeini, Ayatullah Taliqani and Ali Shariati', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.24, No.4 (Oct. 1988), p.415. It is ironic that the person who insisted on placing this concept in the 1979 constitution and institutionalized it become the most vocal dissident and opponent of its adherents' excesses and its mode of implementation. Ayatullah Montazeri made the following remark during discussion of the draft constitution in 1979: 'Let the gentlemen be sure that we [the Assembly] will never endorse a constitution that does not include the issue of velayat-e faqih and laws based on the Book and sunna.' S. Saffari, 'The Legitimation of the Clergy's Right to Rule', British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.20, No.1 (1983), p.71. Until the late 1960s, Ayatullah Khomeini had only called for the clergy to have a supervisory rule (nezarat) and for the shah to abide by Islam's dictates. At this time, he did not advocate the overthrow of the monarchy. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has been exploiting the messianic Imam's promised return (millenarianism) to enhance his religious legitimacy and give the impression that this figure has somehow endorsed his appointment. One finds such eccentric ideas in his statement, such as when he told Ayatullah Jawadi-ye Amuli that he felt a 'halo of light' around himself while delivering his speech to the UN General Assembly and that the audience had been so fixated on him that no one blinked until he had finished. He also makes a point of offering prayers to expedite the Mahdi's return, which is common in Shi'i gatherings but odd and bizarre in a setting like the UN. http://tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=38222 (accessed 22 Jan. 2010). M. Tamadonfar, 'Islam, Law, and Political Control in Contemporary Iran', Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol.40, No.2 (June 2001), pp.213–15. A. Bayat, Making Islam Democratic: Social Movements and the Post-Islamist Turn (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007), p.101. R.M. Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, trans. H. Algar (Berkeley, CA: Mizan Press, 1981), pp.82–3. M. Kadivar, Hukumat-i vilayi (Tehran: Ney Publishing House, 1998), pp.141–6. Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, p.75. R.M. Khomeini, Sahifeh-ye nur (Tehran: Sazman-i madarik-i farhanghi-ye inqilab-i Islami, 1990), Vol.4, p.206; Vol.3, pp.107, 56, 75, 88, and 96. Ibid., Vol.22, p.128. Kadivar, Hukumat-i vilayi, pp.342–3. Khomeini, Sahifeh-ye nur, Vol.16, pp.211–12. http://www.iranuk88.com/article.php?id=43136; http://www.iranuk88.com/article.php?id=53898 (accessed 20 Dec. 2010);http://www.payvand.com/news/09/oct/1277.html (accessed 12 Oct. 2010). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13155282 (accessed 12 June 2011). N. Calder, 'Accommodation and Revolution in Imami Shi'i Jurisprudence: Khomeini and the Classical Tradition', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.18, No.1 (Jan. 1982), p.4. The scope of hisbiyya consists of having limited authority over people and properties such as a discretionary mandate over children, orphans, people of unsound mind, endowments, unclaimed property, and similar matters. In the absence of a qualified jurist who can assume these responsibilities, the authority devolves upon those Muslims who possess the ethical attribute of justice ('udul al-mu'minin). However, the basic principle is that no one has authority (wilaya) over another person or his/her property under normal circumstances. M. Ansari, al-Makasib (Qum: Mu'assasat al-hadi, 1997), Vol.3, pp.545–6. R.J. Abisaab, Converting Persia (New York: I.B. Taurus, 2004), pp.105–12. A.K. Moussavi, Religious Authority in Shi'ite Islam (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1996), p.155. Abu al-Qasim al-Khu'i, al-Tanqih fi sharh al-'Urwat al-wuthqa, ed. M. 'Ali Gharawi Tabrizi (Qum: Bustan, 1990), p.424. Ayatullahs Mulla Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (d. 1911), Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim Tabataba'i (d. 1970), and Sayyid Ahmad Khwansari (d. 1984) also held this opinion. http://www.sistani.org/local.php?modules=nav&nid=5&cid=366 (accessed 5 June 2011); Question 1. H. Katouzian, 'Problems of Political Development in Iran: Democracy, Dictatorship or Arbitrary Government', British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.22, No.1 (1995), p.13. http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8905080088 (accessed 4 May 2011). http://www.roozonline.com/persian/news/newsitem/article/2010/july/31//-f200da7bdd.html (accessed 8 Feb. 2011). S. Siavoshi, 'Ayatullah Mesbah Yazdi: Politics, Knowledge, and the Good Life', The Muslim World, Vol.100 (January 2010), pp.124–44. Mesbah Yazdi, Huquq wa siyasat dar Qur'an, ed. M. Shahrabi (Qum: Intisharat-i mu'assasa-ye amuzashi wa pazhuhashi-ye imam Khomeini, 1999), p.317. http://www.tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=40442 (accessed 12 Nov. 2009). http://tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=50323 (accessed 8 Aug. 2010). http://www.parsine.com/fa/pages/?cid=37133 (accessed 22 May 2011). http://tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=49488 (accessed 21 Dec. 2010). 'Ali b. Abi Talib, Nahj al-balagha, compiled by S. Radi, trans. S.A. Reza (Rome: European Islamic Cultural Centre, 1984), Sermon 124, p.278. http://tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=52876 (accessed 5 Dec. 2010). http://tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=50568 (accessed 10 March 2011). Ayatullah Khamena'i, clearly eager to accept the disputed results, sent out a congratulatory message to the Iranian people informing them of the 'divine assessment' and the great bounty bestowed upon them by the election, in which about 85% of eligible voters participated. In his later messages, he equated any dissent or questioning with being the 'greatest crime' that one could commit against the nation of Iran. http://tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=40955 (accessed 2 Jan. 2011). In his first post-election Friday sermon, Ayatullah Khamena'i said: 'Of course, since the 2005 elections, there have been differences between Mr Hashemi and Mr President. The differences still continue. They have differences of opinion on foreign issues, on how to implement social justice and on certain cultural issues. However, the viewpoints of the President are closer to those of mine' and 'Sometimes the difference is 100,000, 500,000 or even 1 million. In that case, one could say that there might have been vote-rigging, but how can they rig 11 million votes?' http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/19/iran.amanpour.analysis/index.html (accessed 10 April 2010). On 10 Nov. 2009, presidential candidate Mir. Hossein Mousavi called for constraining the jurisconsult's powers and holding him accountable by revising those articles of the constitution that give him absolute power. He added that the constitution should not be viewed as an immutable sacred or revealed document that cannot be subject to change or modification. http://www.tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=41630 (accessed 10 June 2010). A. Amanat, 'From Ijtihad to wilayat-i faqih: The Evolution of the Shi'i Legal Authority to Political Power', in A. Amanat and F. Griffel (eds.), Shari'a: Islamic Law in the Contemporary Context (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007), p.121. Ironically, he supported it, including its in the constitution. Recently, he expressed his regret over the American hostage incident and now considers it an error because of its negative impact on American–Iranian relations. F. Vahdat, 'Post-revolutionary Discourses of Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari and Mohsen Kadivar: Reconciling the Terms of Mediated Subjectivity', Critique, Vol.17 (Fall 2000), pp.151–2. S. Akhavi, 'The Thought and Role of Ayatollah Hossein'ali Montazeri in the Politics of the Post-1979 Iran', Iranian Studies, Vol.41, No.5 (Dec. 2008), p.665. H. 'Ali Montazeri, Dirasat al-wilaya al-faqih wa fiqh al-dawlat al-Islamiyya, 4 vols., 2nd ed. (Lebanon: al-Dar al-Islamiyya li al-matbu'at wa al-nashr wa al-tawzi', 1988). G. Abdo, 'Rethinking the Islamic Republic: A "Conversation" with Ayatullah Hossein 'Ali Montazeri', Middle East Journal, Vol.55, No.1 (Winter 2001), p.11. C. Kurzman, 'Critics Within: Islamic Scholars' Protest against the Islamic State in Iran', International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, Vol.15, No.2 (Winter 2001), p.347. Abdo, 'Rethinking', p.13. 'Grand Ayatullah Montazeri's Letter to Marjas, Islamic Scholars and Seminaries', http://khordaad88.com/?p=570 (accessed 22 Jan. 2011). W. Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997). 'Ali, Nahj al-balagha, pp.534–49. https://bayatzanjani.net/fa/news/article-239.html (accessed 10 May 2011). V. Nasr, 'The Present and Future of Iranian Politics', Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol.15, No.1 (Fall/Winter 2008), pp.37–8. Vahdat, 'Post-revolutionary Discourses', p.148. Ibid., p.150. S. Najafabadi, Wilayat-i faqih: hukumat-i salihan (Tehran: Rasa, 1984). Qur'an 5:1 is of crucial significance: 'O you who believe, fulfill your obligations.' So are Qur'an 3:159 and 42:38, which deal with consultation. I have translated his work on religious exaggeration into English as: Religious Extremism: Intellectual and Doctrinal Deviance in Islam, trans. H. Mavani (Montreal: OAIK, 2009). S. Akhavi, 'Shiite Theories of Social Contract', in Amanat and Griffel (eds.), Shari'a: Islamic Law in the Contemporary Context, p.147. http://tehranlondon.com/article.php?id=41120 (accessed 10 July 2010). Y. Matsunaga, 'Mohsen Kadivar, an Advocate of Postrevivalist Islam in Iran',' British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.34, No.3 (Dec. 2007), p.318. M. Kadivar, Nazariyyeh-ha-ye dawlat dar fiqh-i Shi'a (Tehran: Ney Publishing House, 1993). Kadivar, Hukumat-i vilayi. M. Kadivar, Haqq al-nas: Islam wa huquq-i bashar (Tehran: Kavir, 2008). The understanding of wilayat al-faqih expounded by Iran's reformist scholars is probably close to the model proposed by Ayatullah Husayn 'Ali Sistani, an eminent jurist and marja' al-taqlid (source of emulation) residing in Najaf. A student of Ayatullah Abu al-Qasim al-Khu'i, he, like his mentor, remained apolitical and circumscribed the scope of the jurisconsult's authority. This conception, however, does not preclude political involvement if the jurist believes that it would be in the best interest of religion and the community, as has sometimes been the case with Ayatullah Sistani in the post-Saddam era in Iraq. See A. Kadhim, 'Forging a Third Way: Sistani's maja'iyya between Quietism and wilayat al-faqih', in Iraq, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World (New York: Routledge, 2011), pp.66–100. Some have argued that the Prophet sought his followers' allegiance (bay'a) because this was the norm in pre-Islamic Arabia; however, this should not be taken to mean that it is a condition for legitimizing his prophethood, ministry, or mandate over the people in all aspects of their lives, including the socio-political sphere. 'Those who pledge loyalty to you [Prophet] are actually pledging loyalty to God Himself – God's hand is placed on theirs – and anyone who breaks his pledge does so to his own detriment' (Q. 48:10). Sulaym b. Qays Hilali 'Amiri Kufi, Kitab Sulaym b. Qays, 3 vols., 2nd ed. (Tehran: Matba'at al-huda, 1994), Vol.2, p.752. 'Ali, Nahj al-balagha, Sermon 40, p.175 (emphasis added). Ibid., Sermon 91, p.234. Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, Ta'rikh al-Tabari, ed. M.A. al-Fadl Ibrahim (Cairo: Dar al-ma'arif, 1977), Vol.4, p.434. Ibn Qutaybah, al-Imama wa al-siyasa, ed. T.M. al-Zayni (Cairo: Mu'assasat al-halabi, 1967), p.47. 'Ali, Nahj al-balagha, Letter no. 6, p.465. Ibid., Sermon 91, p.234. Ibn Abi al-Hadid 'Abd al-Hamid b. Hibat Allah, Sharh Nahj al-balagha (Beirut: Dar al-jil, 1987), Vol.2, p.170. Baqir Majlisi, Bihar al-anwar, 110 vols., 2nd ed. (Beirut: Mu'assasat al-wafa', 1983), Vol.32, p.24. Tabari, Ta'rikh al-Tabari, 4:435. Appointment to the post of Imam is made by divine decree and thus requires no public validation for it to be actualized or religiously legitimized (mashru'iyyat). In contrast, the caliph is duty-bound to undertake the office's responsibilities but only when he has sufficient public support. See S.'A. Q. Maqami, Qudrat wa mashru'iyyat (Tehran: Intisharat-i sura, 2000), pp.135–6. 'Ali, Nahj al-balagha, Letter 54, p.549. Ibid., Sermon 172, p.343. Ibid., letter 54, p. 549 and letter 1, p.460. Ibid., letter 6, pp.464–5. Ibid., Sermon 3, p.105. This is the most important sermon, known as Shaqshiqiyya, concerning 'Ali's serious objections to the previous three caliphs and his assertion that only he was entitled to assume the caliphate. Some scholars, such as Ibn Abi al-Hadid in his Sharh Nahj al-balagha, have cast doubt on the authenticity and attributed it to the compiler, Sayyid Radi. However, 'Allama Amini has demonstrated that this sermon originates with 'Ali by providing 28 chains of transmission, some of which pre-date the compiler's birth. See Abd al-Husayn al-Amini al-Najafi, Al-Ghadir fi al-kitab wa al-sunna wa al-adab, 11 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi, 1977), Vol.7, p.82. 'Ali, Nahj al-balagha, Sermon 191, p.393. Ana ahaqq bi hadha al-amr minkum, Ibn Qutayba, al-Imama, p.18. Anni ahaqq bi-ha min ghayri, 'Ali, Nahj al-balagha, Sermon 73, p.201. Ibid., Letter 62, p.554. Ibid., Sermon 216, p.436. Ibid., Sermon 73, p.201. Ibid., Sermon 1, p.106. Wilferd Madelung cites several examples from the Qur'an that previous prophets had transmitted their authority and charisma to their immediate family members who were accorded an elevated position in the Qur'an. Thus, it would not be far-fetched to expect that Muhammad would have envisioned his succession in a similar light. See Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad, pp.8–18. See also Qur'an, 3:33–4, 19:58, 6:84–9, 37:76–7, 57:26, 11:71–3 and 4:34. In the early days of the Iranian revolution, Ayatullah Khomeini underlined the need for the world to pay heed to the millions of Iranians who had demonstrated their will to remove the Shah, as an inalienable right in keeping with the charter of human rights. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8O4xrjMLPc (accessed 10 March 2011). Saffari, 'The Legitimation of the Clergy's Right to Rule', p.79. Vahdat, 'Post-revolutionary Discourses', p.150. A.R. Norton, 'Al-Najaf: Its Resurgence as a Religious and University Center', Middle East Policy, Vol.18, No.1 (Spring 2001), p.138.

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