The discourse of religious democracy in the political thought of Ayatollah Khamenei

This article studies the discourse of religious democracy in the political thought of Ayatollah Khamenei. Monotheism, human dignity, purposefulness of the world, the origin of the law, and the battle between right and wrong are among the foundations of Ayatollah Khamenei's political thought.People have a decisive place in Ayatollah Khamenei's political thought, which he refers to as Islamic democracy. According to this theory, the role of the people in the Islamic democracy is derived from Islam, and religious democracy is not just a customary contract, but a religious duty in which the people elect the Islamic ruler and decide the fate of the country by their chosen ones. The basis of the people's right to this choice is Islam itself. At the same time, according to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the system of the Islamic democracy is fundamentally different from the liberal democratic system, and that difference is that the Islamic democracy is based on the constitution of Islam, and both the selected conditions and the laws governing the country are derived from Islam. At the same time, the choice of the principle of the Islamic democracy and its ruler is with the vote and will of the nation.Ayatollah Khamenei's theory of Islamic democracy, based on the five pillars of monotheism, human dignity, the purpose of the world, the origin of the law, and the battle between right and wrong, has the potential to become a model of political thought in the Islamic world.