“Perfect Human Being” vs “Righteous Jurist”: Sufi Origins of the Political Concept of Imam Khomeini

Abstract

The main models of rationalization formed in the classical period of the Arab-Muslim culture (VIII–XV centuries) have had a notable impact on Modern polit­ical discourse in Iran. The paper presents an analysis of the political concept of the ideologist of the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini (1902–1989). Applying the categorical model “explicit – hidden” (ẓāhir – bāṭin) to the analysis of Khomeini’s argumentation makes it possible to identify the most important references to the major philosophemes of mature Sufism in his main work “Governance of the Jurist: Islamic Government” (Vilāyāt-i faqīh: hukumat-i islāmi). The paper explores Khomeini’s views on the phenomenon of Islamic rule, personal qualities and duties of the ruler-jurist (faqīh). The result shows how the concept of the “Perfect Human Being” (insān kāmil), of the greatest Sufi thinker Ibn ‘Arabi (1165–1240) is realized and fundamentally re­considered in Khomeini’s political manifesto. In Ibn ‘Arabi’s philosopheme the unity of God-and-world is manifested by the “Perfect Human Being”. The gov­ernance of Khomeini’s “Righteous Jurist” helps maintain God-and-people “con­nection” at state level. A comparison of Ibn ‘Arabi’s philosopheme and the polit­ical concept the “Governance of the Jurist” sheds light on the ways the “Perfect Human Being” concept increasingly associated with the figure of “Righteous Ju­rist” in socio-political reality of pre-revolutionary Iran