Comparison of the Attitude of Imam Khomeini and Mohammad Rashid-Reza on Islamic Government and its Political Consequences

Imam Khomeini and Mohammad Rashid-Reza were two prominent Muslim thinkers who thought about and presented the suitable solution after observing the crises of the Islamic world. By relying on Shia way of thinking, Imam Khomeini founded the theory of Vilayat-e Faqih (governance of the jurist) and after success of the Islamic revolution, accepted the leadership of the Islamic republic of Iran. Rashid-Reza who was after the Sunnah way of thinking, also, aimed at revival of the position of Khilafah (governorship) via proposing “Shora” (community) but couldn’t operationalize it. With library method and by descriptive-comparative approach, this study is after proving the hypothesis that these two thinkers believed in the efficiency of Islamic government by rejecting the separation of religion and politics, and really believed in the power of political Islam to manage the society. The main problem of the present research is explanation of the points of similarity and difference, and attention to the noticeable features of these two great Islamic thinkers. So, comparison of these two views about the Islamic government would clarify the points of similarity and difference in these two theories and the emphasized points within them.