He also deemed the rule of jurisprudent (Velatat-e Faqih) as a principle which guarantees the republic element of Islamic republic, "By referring to Islamic jurisprudence as a key principal of Islamic state, Imam Khomeini confirms that such a state is disciplined and lawful," he said.
In an interview with Iranian semi-official Mehr news agency, the principlist Afroogh, PhD who is the faculty member of Iran's Research Center for Humanities and Cultural Studies analyzed the ideas of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Khabar Online has selected the excerpts from his comments as follows:
One of the ideas revived by the late Imam Khomeini was the establishment of Islamic state and making a relation between religion and politics. However such a state was not thought as a political system devoid of philosophical background which means to ignore people and their rights. As a matter of fact, it was centered on the notion of republic. So it's not a usual ruling system, not democracy which is only realized on the people's satisfaction, not theocracy which on the ground of the religious state concept denies people's rights.
In Islamic republic system, the authority of the supreme leader is a regulated and disciplined issue not personal which may turn to dictatorship. It is a kind of purposeful democracy, a combination of being approved and righteous. Its content is derived from jurisprudence, meaning that it's lawful, since jurisprudence is analogous to law in nature, therefore it is both predictable and disciplined. In the Islamic republic establishment and Ayatollah Khomeini's jurisprudence and political system, the authorities of the supreme leader are based on regulations and discipline.
When the issue of discipline is raised, the supervision and criticism are also taken into account, since the authorities of the supreme leader are given within a framework of defined rules and criteria. So the others can be confirmed that the decisions made by the leader are not out of personal recognition or God forbid personal benefits. Such decisions are to objectify a series of jurisprudence laws and decrees so the people can be assured that Islamic state is to implement the rules, guidance, orders and recommendations given by God which by no means are personally oriented.
