Zaker Salehi, the writer of ‘The Political Thoughts of Imam Khomeini’ is one of the several authors who have explored and considered the political ideas and theories of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini.
In an interview with IBNA, Salehi described his book which includes five independent chapters and considers the theoretical origins of Imam Khomeini's thinking within the framework of the Shiite religious teachings.
“In the spheres of philosophy and mysticism, Imam Khomeini was influenced by Ibn Arabi and Mollah Sadra. His opinions on Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) were inspired by Mollah Ahmad Naraqi; and in terms of struggle against despotism, he was a follower of the late Ayatollah Hassan Modarres,” he said.
The author said that in his book, he provides a review of the political concepts of the Islamic thinkers in contemporary times: “After the decline of Ottoman Empire in 1923 which was the last contemporary Islamic state, it took 56 years that the Iranian Revolution led to the establishment of an Islamic government.”
“In the meantime or even before that, a number of Muslim thinkers including Muhammed Abduh [an Egyptian jurisprudent, religious scholar and reformer]; Muhammad Iqbal [a philosopher, poet and politician] in former British India; Muhammad Rashid Rida [a pioneer in promoting the political theory of an "Islamic state"]; and Abul Ala Maududi, [an Islamic scholar, theologian, and philosopher in Indian-subcontinent] emerged who suggested alternatives for an Islamic state but none of them could put their ideas into practice,” Salehi said.
He went on to say: “There are still issues which are open to research, for example the paradox of Islamism-Republicanism which is a challenging issue which sometimes raised as religious democracy and some other times as legitimacy-popularity which are open to debate. I think the other issue which must be observed is the political ethics of Imam Khomeini.”
People around the globe continue to feel thirst towards the dynamic thought and genuine teachings of Imam Khomeini.