From the Guardianship of the Jurist to the Islamic Republic

Imam Khomeini (r) mentioned the theory of guardianship of the jurist while fighting against the Shah’s regime. He mentioned this theory as an Islamic political theory in order to establish a religious government. With the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the political system of Iran was compiled and implemented in the constitution in the form of an Islamic republic. The main issue of this research is to answer this question: Is the form of an Islamic republic in congruence with the theory of guardianship of the jurist? Are they in complete harmony with each other or are there contradictions amongst them? The author takes the position that there are not any contradictions between the concepts of guardianship of the jurist and Islamic republic. He considers the Islamic republic to be in complete harmony with the guardianship of the jurist. The author examines the most important principles of Imam Khomeini’s (r) government and uses his opinions about the terms ‘republic’ and ‘Islamic’ to prove his position.