A Review of Imam Khomeini and Khoyi's Viewpoints about the Authority of Vali-e Faqih

The need to governance is inevitable. This is an interpretation of “Ba’zokom owliya ba’zan” (some of them guardians of some others) and an interpretation of Imam Ali’s response to the doubts on “there is no judge but Allah”. One of the major questions for jurists in the course of history – and even a rising question in contemporary world - is the scope of authority of Vali-e Faqih (guardianship of the Islamic jurist). Imam Khomeini and Khoyi, as two first-rank contemporary jurists and sources of religious imitation have expressed their opinions on this issue. Khoyi believes in conditional authority of Vali-e Faqih while Imam Khomeini has expanded its geography to the leadership of Prophet (PBUH) and to the Infallible Household of the Prophet (PBUH). The difference lies in the fact that Khoyi makes the claim by virtue of flawed documents and lack of indication of traditions on absolute guardianship of the Islamic jurist, while Imam Khomeini invokes to rational reasons and mentioning traditions to support the rational reasoning. The two different societies in Iran and Iraq may explain the difference, while the security environment Khoyi lived in, was influential in shaping up of his viewpoint. In the closing years of his life, Khoyi refers to absolute guardianship of the Islamic jurist under the category of preliminary Jihad and distribution of war booties. Such declaration reinforces the notion of change in his viewpoint.