Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Unique Movement (9)

In the previous episodes we talked about the ideals and achievements of the Islamic Revolution. This time we will make you familiar with the model of a government which was created within the framework of ideals and values of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

This model is a great rival for the models in the west; i.e. liberal democracy and social democracy on one hand and despotic models which had long ruled over the eastern societies including Iran on the other hand. The new model is gradually turning into a favorite model for many societies especially the Islamic states. Stay tuned to get familiar with this model of government.

Religious popular rule is a model inspired by the Islamic Revolution’s discourse; the revolution which not only rejected the dictatorial system of Iran but was seriously critical of models of governance common in the world especially the western liberal democracy and eastern socialist system. The Islamic Revolution spoke of religious rule of people known as the Islamic Republic and practiced it in the circumstances that combination of people’s rule with religion had few advocates; for, in many eastern and western countries there were bitter memories of the rule of religion in political and social arenas. In the west, the rule of religion and church reminds the dark era of the medieval ages when Christianity turned into a means for fooling and exploiting people and the church turned into a stronghold for legitimizing the despotic and oppressive systems. In the east the link between religion and government had put religion and the clergy at the service of oppressive dictators. In such circumstances, Imam Khomeini raised the model of religious popular rule which was considered a unique pattern in both thought and action. Imam Khomeini (God’s mercy upon him) raised this model of government when Laism which is against religion and secularism that is separation of religion from politics was prevalent both in thought and action.

Even among religious scholars, jurisprudents, reformers and religious intellectuals harmony of democracy and Islam was not so common and the views of scholars such as Grand Ayatollah Naeeni, as a Shia jurisprudent, and Abdul Rahman Kawakebi, as a Sunni thinker, were not dominant. The theory of religious popular rule which was based on the Islamic Revolution’s discourse was far distant from the theory of reviving caliphate propagated by some Sunni thinkers and also far from the concept prevailing among Shia scholars on illegitimacy of establishing a government in the absence of Imam Mahdi (AS).

Raising the model of religious popular rule or the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini declared his demarcation with the thinkers who tried to create compromise between Islam and western democracy. They believed that Islam is naturally a democratic religion and naturally agrees with western democracy. Whereas, according to Imam Khomeini democracy in Islam and people’s rule is not copied from the west in a bid to reconcile these two notions with each other by force; but popularity and religiosity is a single and inseparable feature. In this model, people’s vote is the basis for setting up the government during the absence of the Imam of the age. According to Imam Khomeini, although in the absence of the Imam of the age the rule of jurisprudent is legitimate but the feasibility of his rule is up to people and without people’s vote, even a just and fully qualified jurisprudent cannot set up a government.

In religious popular rule, people’s vote is the basis for establishing government. However, the role of people is not merely for electing rulers and people play a serious role in the administration of government. Some western thinkers like Joseph Schumpeter, expressing the criteria for distinguishing the democratic from undemocratic systems, considers the mere holding of elections for determining rulers to be sufficient for being democratic of a political system, believing that democracy means the right of electing and being elected and nothing more. But in religious popular system, people’s role is not restricted to participation in elections and the entire nation has the right of supervising rulers and criticizing them. In this system, all officials are elected directly or indirectly but the people’s presence is not limited to ballot boxes and it flows into the minutest areas of government.

Expressing the relationship between people and rulers in the model of religious popular rule, Imam Khomeini stresses the cordial and affectionate relationship between people and officials, considering the nation as benefactor of rulers. The Imam regards people as an obstacle for turning the religious popular rule into a despotic system; for, in this model supervision over government is the right of people.

Imam Khomeini says: “If the system wants to impose something the nation stands against it and clenches its fist and prevents it.” Within the framework of enjoining good and forbidding evil, the Imam believed that considering people’s supervision over officials is not only a right but a duty. He said: “The entire nation is duty bound to supervise affairs and even me.”

The model of religious popular rule has a prominent status in the words of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. According to his belief, the people’s role in religious rule of people is not merely restricted to system-building or setting up a system but this role is quite clear in the domains of policy-making and decision-making. Ayatollah Khamenei deems limiting people’s vote to ballot boxes against the principles of religious popular rule, believing in interaction between people and government and officials in all phases. He states, “Propagation and row for gaining the people’s votes and then forgetting them and non-accountability to people does not comply with religious popular rule.”

People’s status in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s constitution clarifies their important role in the structure of governance. Election of president, the leader, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, representatives of Assembly of Experts, rural and urban Islamic councils, referring to people’s vote in significant political, economic and social issues in the form of public referendum, independence of branches of power in the system are all manifestations of popular rule in Iran. In addition, the third chapter of the Islamic Republic’s constitution has been allocated to the nation’s rights wherein the different aspects of people’s rights have been elucidated especially the aspects such as safeguarding of dignity, life, properties, house and job of citizens from transgression, granting no privilege to individuals on the basis of race, language, and color, equality of all citizens before the law, prohibition of inquisition, freedom of press as well as political and civil organs, the accountability of leadership and president before people’s representatives, feasibility of impeachment and even dismissal of officials, looking into properties and assets of leader, president, head of judiciary, parliament speaker, MPs, ministers, their wives and children. This shows that people’s rule in this system is not ceremonial.

The religious nature of the religious popular rule requires every right to materialize according to the religious principles and values. Thus, in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s constitution, this great task has been observed in various principles the most important of which is the rule of a just and qualified jurisprudent. The pious and just jurisprudent protects the Islamic nature of the system and for that matter its republic nature, too. The model of religious popular rule stems from Islam and in this short period has gradually attracted the thinkers and people in the world especially the Islamic countries. We hope that the religious popular rule will inspire all downtrodden to get rid of the yoke of the oppressors.

FK/RM/ME