Imam Khomeini saw ethics and politics interwoven

Imam Khomeini saw ethics and politics interwoven

From the viewpoint of the Imam Khomeini, Islam has rules and regulations covering the entire life of man, from the day he is born up to the moment he enters his grave.

Similarly, these laws are comprehensive and versatile. Islam is everything for this man; that is, it has facts from nature to beyond nature to the celestial world; Islam has a thesis; Islam has a program.

And finally, all the laws of Islam have a single framework. The religion of Islam is not only a devotional religion Neither is it a mere political sect and religion. It is both devotional and political. Its politics is identical with its devotion. Its devotion is indistinguishable from its politics. That is, its very devotional aspect has also a political facet.

The late founder of the Islamic Republic even goes to the extent of explicitly considering religious ethics and politics as one.

Anchored to the notion of unity of the two, he emphatically says: Islam's ethical precepts are also political. That precept in the Quran that all believers are brothers is an ethical precept, a social precept, and a political precept as well.

If the believers of the different schools of thought existing in Islam, and who are faithful to God and the Prophet of Islam , be as brothers to one another, just as one has love for his own brother, and that all segments have love for one another, apart from being a great Islamic morality with far-reaching moral effects, it is a great social precept with great social effects.

To sum up, the core of the Imam's view and the quintessence of his thought on ethics and politics is the unity of the two, and its being obvious and needless of argumentation.

Now that ethics and politics are interwoven, and that lying, oppression, injustice, mischief, etc., both in the individual and social spheres are bad, the Islamic ruler should try to always abide by the principles of ethics and not overstep its limits. Although this task is difficult, it is possible.

The only way of preserving political authority and guaranteeing the real interests of the Islamic system in the long term is to abide by the principles of ethics and keep aloof from any form of deception at all costs.

Not a single Muslim statesman can overlook this principle. The last statement of the Imam on the preservation of political authority and his emphasis on ethics should always be our motto: Through Islamic behavior; preservation of the movement; advancement of the movement; paying heed to the fact that God, the Sublime and Exalted, approves of us; and Islamic conduct and morality, you can preserve this power which has taken you to victory.  

In conclusion, not only politics could, but should be, ethical. Through these moral standards, politics should be cultivated since the basis and essence of the Islamic teachings is such. History bears witness to the prominence of this tenet.

If this tenet has failed elsewhere, it cannot be concluded that it will always fail and that it is an impossible venture. Nowadays, most of the political thinkers have arrived at the conclusion that it is only through ethical politics that the chance for survival exists.

 Thus, immorality and informality is not a political necessity; it is, rather, a function of the form of rule and government, its goals and officials.

 

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