The Political Position of People in the Theory of Absolute Wilayat-e Faqih in Imam Khomeini’s Thought and the Theory of Caliphate in the Thought of Ikhwan al-Muslimin in Egypt

Led by Imam Khomeini, Islamic Revolution of Iran is a perfect example of the influence of people in the establishment and continuation of the Islamic system. On the other hand, Ikhwan al-Muslimin in Egypt is an organized movement among the contemporary Islamic movements to implement the ruling of Islam in the form of caliphate. The primary concern of this article is to study the political position of people in the theory of absolute wilayat-e faqih in Imam Khomeini’s thought and the theory of caliphate in the thought of Ikhwan al-Muslimin. It applies document analysis to indicate that the role of people’s political participation in the theory of wilayat-e faqih is the objective implementation, supervision and efficiency of divine ruling and its truth originates from the Divine Will. Although God has the absolute ruling in the thought of Ikhwan al-Muslimin, Divine Will plays no role in the legitimacy of the Islamic caliphate and this legitimacy relies on the allegiance of people. Meanwhile, the ruler is merely an agent executing the Divine Will and if the ruler violates the shari’a, he will lose the obedience of people.