Imam Khomeini: Religious Revival and The Theory of Supreme Theological Mandate

The present article consider religious revival as a research programme in which two groups, religious intellectuals and religious scholars, are involved. The writer's emphasis lies in the fact that Imam Khomeini's approach to the issue in question was unique and innovative. It was innovative because Imam Khomeini claims that religious revival should be carried out in its complete form (the revival of religious community) through the traditional methods, possibilities and requirements, for he put great emphasis on that aspect of religion, i. e., ûjurisprudence‎ (fiqh) which is mainly neglected in other research plans or recieved less attention. Imam Khomeini resarch programme is centered on ûjurisprudence‎. Thus the present article claims that the theory of ûSupreme Theological Mandate‎ (Wila¦yate Mutlaqeh Faqih) is to be understood in the light of Imam Khomeini's research programme as a revivalist project, not merely as a political theory. In fact, through rethinking religious approaches and increasing potentialities or possibilities of religious tradition, this theory paves the way for the society to revive in accordance with religious fundementals in modern times.