Author | Ruhollah Khomeini; translated by Hamid Algar |
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Language | Translated into English |
Subject | Islam and state |
Publisher | Manor Books, Mizan Press, Alhoda UK |
Publication date | 1970, 1979, 1982, 2002[1] |
Publication place | Iran and United Kingdom |
Pages | 139 pages |
ISBN | 964-335-499-7 |
OCLC | 254905140 |
Part of a series on |
Conservatism in Iran |
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Islamic Government (Persian: حکومت اسلامی, romanized: Ḥokūmat-i Eslāmī),[2] or Islamic Government: Jurist's Guardianship (Persian: حکومت اسلامی ولایت فقیه, romanized: Ḥokūmat-i Eslāmī Wilāyat-i Faqīh)[3] is a book by the Iranian Shi'i Muslim cleric, Islamic jurist and revolutionary, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. First published in 1970, it is perhaps the most influential document written in modern times in support of theocratic rule.
The book argues that government should be run in accordance with traditional Islamic law (sharia), and for this to happen, a leading Islamic jurist (faqīh) must provide political "guardianship" (wilayat in Arabic, velāyat in Persian) over the people and nation. Following the Iranian Revolution, a modified form of this doctrine was incorporated into the 1979 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran.[4] Drafted by an assembly made up primarily of disciples of Khomeini, it stipulated that he would be the first faqih "guardian" (Vali-ye faqih) or "Supreme Leader" of Iran.[5]
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page).