According to Imam Khomeini, in Islamic governance all are equal before the law because the Islamic law is a divine one and all – whether the ruler, the Prophet, the Imam or the common people – are equal before Allah, the Exalted.
Imam maintains that in Islam it is the law which rules. The Noble Prophet was also following the law, the Divine law. He was not able to violate it.
The late founder of the Islamic Republic stresses that in the early days of Islam, the ideal Islamic government ruled twice: first at the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad and secondly when Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon them) governed in Kufah. They were the only two examples that the immaterial values dominated.
Imam Khomeini once said that justice was so applied that if a citizen from the lowest class of the society took a legal action against the first person in the country, the judge used to summon the leader who would attend the court.
The leader of contemporary Muslim world went onto say that those who had the country's destiny in their hands were meeting the common people in the same mosque in such a way that when somebody entered the mosque could not differentiate the leader and government officials from the populace. They were just like people in their dress style and association.