Download Islam and Liberalism

Islam and Liberalism
History of Political Thought
Fall 2007
Overview
Liberalism (recap, again)
Khomeini and Islamic Republic
Jihad
 Islamic political
thought has for the
past half-century or
so been most
closely associated
with political
violence
The Islamic Republic
 Ruhollah Khomeini
(1900 [?] - 1989)
 Led the Islamic
Revolution in Iran
and revived the idea
of political Islam
The Islamic Republic
 Shah Muhammad Reza
Pahlavi (1919-1980)
 Came to power in 1941
 1953 Anglo-US coup to
remove nationalist
Iranian prime minister
fails, Shah goes into
exile
 2 years later, he is
reinstated
The Islamic Republic
 Shah begins to
Westernize Iran,
alienates both the
socialist lift and the
conservative clerics
 Khomeini emerges as
leading critic and is
forced into exile, first to
Baghdad, then, when Hussein comes to power, to
Paris
The Islamic Republic
 By mid 1970s,
massive rallies from
against the Shah
and his American
supporters
 Shah goes into exile
(1979), Khomeini
returns
The Islamic Republic
 After much street
fighting, the military
opts not to intervene
 Shah’s government
collapses and Khomeini
becomes leader of
newly declared Islamic
Republic of Iran
The Islamic Republic
 Khomeini was Time
magazine Man of
the Year (1979)
 Ruled Iran until his
death in 1989
The Islamic Republic
“A body of laws alone is not sufficient for
a society to be reformed. In order for
law to ensure the reform and happiness
of man, there must be an executive
power and an executor.”
-- Khomeini
The Islamic Republic
The Qur’an (Koran) provides a body of
law to guide all action:
“The Glorious Qu’ran and the Sunna
contain all the laws and ordinances man
neds in order to attain happiness and the
perfection of the his state”
The Islamic Republic
In other words, because we have
shari’a, we can infer that we are meant
to have a government.
For to have laws means we also need
the means of their enforcement
That means we need a government
The Islamic Republic
“The nature and character of Islamic law and
the divine ordinances of the shari’a furnish
additional proof of the necessity for
establishing government, for they indicate that
the laws were laid down for the purpose of
creating a state and administering the political,
economic, and cultural affairs of society.”
The Islamic Republic
“[T]he laws of shari’a embrace a diverse body of laws
and regulations, which amounts to a complete social
system. In this system of laws, all the needs of man
have been met: his dealings with his neighbors, fellow
citizens, and clan, as well as children and relatives;
the concerns of private and marital life; regulations
concerning war and peace and intercourse with other
nations; penal and commercial law; and regulations
pertaining to trade and agriculture.”
The Islamic Republic
Contrast that with liberalism and the role
of religion and politics
 No separation of church and state
 Role of the state is to support and advance
religious institutions of Islam
The Islamic Republic
“Islam provides laws and instructions for
all of these matters, aiming, as it does,
to produce integrated and virtuous
human beings who are walking
embodiments of the law, or to put it
differently, the law’s voluntary and
instinctive executors.”
The Islamic Republic
“It is obvious, then, how much care Islam
devotes to government and the political
and economic relations of society, with
the goal of creating conditions conducive
to the production of morally upright and
virtuous human beings.”
The Islamic Republic
Because the laws are given (and
received) already, the legislature is
relatively less important than the other
branches
Need executive to enforce and judiciary
to interpret
The Islamic Republic
“[If] we examine closely the nature and
character of the provisions of the law, we
realize that their execution and
implementation depend upon the formation of
a government, and that it is impossible to fulfill
the duty of executing God’s command without
there being established properly
comprehensive administrative and executive
organs.”
The Islamic Republic
 Regimes which fail in this duty are not worthy
of our respect and should be replaced
“Both law and reason require that we not permit
governments to retain this non-Islamic
character…It is also our duty to create a favorable
social environment for the education of believing
and virtuous individuals…”
The Islamic Republic
“In order to assure the unity of the Islamic umma, in
order to liberate the Islamic homeland from occupation
and penetration by the imperialists and their puppet
governments, it is imperative that we establish a
government. In order to attain the unity and freedom
of the Muslim people, we must overthrow the
oppressive governments installed by the imperialists
and bring into existence an Islamic government of
justice that will be in the service of the people.”
The Islamic Republic
Note, the government is not a hereditary
monarchy
Rather it is democracy, but not a mass
democracy since ultimate power must
rest with the “trustee” of the people, one
ruler
The Islamic Republic
“The wisdom of the Creator has decreed that
men should live in accordance with justice and
act within the limits set by divine law. This
wisdom is eternal and immutable, and
constitutes one of the norms of God Almighty.
Today and always, therefore, the existence of
a holder of authority, a ruler who acts as
trustee and maintains the institutions and laws
of Islam, is a necessity…”
The Islamic Republic
“[A] ruler who prevents cruelty, oppression,
and violation of the rights of others; who is a
trustworthy and vigilant guardian of God’s
creatures; who guides men to the teachings,
doctrines, laws, and institutions of Islam; and
who prevents the undesirable changes that
atheists and enemies of religion wish to
introduce in the laws and institutions of
Islam…”
The Islamic Republic
“It is a righteous government, of course,
that is needed, one presided over by a
ruler who will be a trustworthy and
righteous trustee. Those who presently
govern us are of no use at all for they
are tyrannical, corrupt, and highly
incompetent.”
The Islamic Republic
“It was our lack of a leader, a guardian,
and our lack of institutions of leadership
that made all this [the degradation of
Islam and the Islamic nation] possible.
We need righteous and proper organs of
government; that much is self-evident.”
Jihad
 In order to protect and
restore the Islamic
nation two issues need
to be addressed:
1.replace non-Islamic
regimes at home
2.remove non-Islamic
regimes from the region
Jihad
 Wednesday we’ll
figure out how to
accomplish that