Freedom in Imam Khomeini's Thought: An Analysis of Imam Khomeini's Interviews with Reporters in Najaf, Paris and Qom

Freedom has always been an important issue and a focus of attention of societies during the recent centuries. As a Muslim thinker and leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini had taken serious stance on freedom. This paper is an attempt to analyze Imam Khomeini’s stance on freedom in his interviews with non-Iranian reporters. The range of interviews includes the period from April 24, 1978 in Najaf and Paris to the last interview by Mohammed Hussein Haekal in Qom in December 1979. The reporters have interviewed some secondary issues related to freedom, particularly the concrete aspects of freedom such as freedom of expression, freedom of women, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, … wherein Imam Khomeini has expressed novel opinions on the issue of freedom. The largest frequency belongs to the questions on freedom of expression and freedom of minorities. The present paper is an attempt to show the origin of freedom in view of Imam Khomeini, especially in connection with monotheistic world outlook on one hand, and the influence of Mulla Sadra’s approach on him on the other hand, to analyze the two forms of freedom. Moreover, we have focused on why freedom of women and freedom of minorities had had the largest frequency among the reporters’ questions.