Twenty three years have now passed since Imam Khomeini passed away. Yet the issues linked to his life have continued to dominate the political, religious and intellectual scenes. Within the context of the Arab Spring, the three topics are vital as most revolutions have now stagnated.
Chairman: Today’s programme is very important. We have a host of speakers very knowledgeable in their field of speciality. Just as a preamble I would like to say that it is over two decades since the said demise of Imam Khomeini.
It is not just his demise but actually the advent of the Islamic revolution in the late 1970s. He was a game changer. What happened over 33 years ago was that people of faith had the courage to talk about politics which they did not have previously. People of faith were usually shunned away as though they had no view of what was happening globally.
During the Vietnam war in the 60s and 70s there was no input from people of faith – it was really a secular opposition to the Vietnam war not really based on any religious ethos. Imam Khomeini in his admirable way without any doubt changed the whole manner in which we discuss, politics, geo politics, social relationships and how and where the world going.
The world in 2012 at this moment still fears what Imam Khomeini stood for. This is the reason Iran is being isolated. It is by the machinations of the IAEA and the GCC countries. The particular reason for isolation is not because Iran wants to have a nuclear weapon but because Iran is creating a knowledge base to challenge the global control of knowledge that the West has. That is what I think is frightening.
Iran has said many times that it is not interested in nuclear weapons, but that is not the issue. The issue is that Iran has created an educated population and what the world does not like is poor countries, the deprived nations, the oppressed nations to have knowledge whereby they can change the world.
Why do the world’s students go to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard or MIT, Just imagine a change in the next 20 years that the world wants to go and study in Tehran or in Qom. That is what frightens the world, not the issue of nuclear weapons. It is actually the whole fundamentals of knowledge and the control of knowledge.
Peter Challen: May all our deliberations be in the name of the one living God of the cosmos, of planet earth, of the heart of every one of us. It is an enormous privilege to be here a year after I was with a large group of you in Manchester, paying tribute to Imam Khomeini.
I want to this time to pay my tribute in terms of the influence that such thought can have in contemporary society and to aid me in that I am going to use some visual metaphors.
Imam Khomeini said Islam looks on the world with love. You could hardly find a simpler or demanding phrase. If you look upon the world today it is clear we have a long way to go.
I want to indicate how in the last few weeks a very intense effort has been made in London to move towards a spiritualised view of economic and political life and that is the attempt that I will make in sharing these slides with you.
In the spirit of Imam Khomeini’s global faithfulness I will try to describe how any remembering, putting together of Imam Khomeini’s vision and political astuteness should acknowledge the uniqueness of the Iranian 1979 revolution and its continuing inspiration. It is the continuing that I want to emphasise that he was quite clear that all nations should be independent, should create social and economic justice, should export social and economic justice. These are tremendously powerful aspirations, ones that I have held throughout my 54 years of Christian ministry. And so it is a privilege to relate the way I work to that vision that has been so influential in the world and is to be even more influential.
I want to introduce the idea of a phrase the replenishing economy – and I am not using sustainability. We have come to see that replenishing is a much stronger word in relation to the laws of nature. It is the nature of this planet earth to constantly replenish. This is the creative energy of God at work.
I am describing a unique project. It is called the Queligin seminars and they lasted for 12 days, 12 seminars in 12 days. They took 12 agencies and asked them to give from their starting point of activity in the political and economic scene and see if we could all converge around an understanding not of the control of knowledge as was stressed just now – even though this is so important – but the control of the gift of life, the heritage to which we should all have access. In our modern, global economy very few relatively do have that access. That was our attempt.
We believe that we were restoring, if we could a sense of tawhid, or Christian terms the kingdom of God. God is about relationships, the interaction of all creativity in this amazing planet. The particular theme was the reinstating of the commons, first in our minds and then, hopefully, in political and economic life.
These seminars were guided by a deeply spiritual philosopher who is also an international development economist. Some of the agencies which took part were the New Economics Foundation, the Civil Forum and there are other institutions active in the world of political and economic reform. So there we were: 12 seminars in 12 days, restoring a sense of tawhid, or kingdom of God, reinstating the commons.
We were working towards a matrix of the modern, post modern financial capitalism. What we observed in the build up in the development of the global economy over centuries, but with incredible exponential growth in the last 40 years, we have detected that in private sphere it is growing exponentially. Part of the occupy movement and part of the Arab spring has been the understanding that a tiny percent owns the assets of the world, the commons, the heritage, the gift of life to humans and to all the species and creatures of this deeply, deeply interdependent sphere and the exterior aspects of capitalism, public capital, control, has grown immensely, exponentially.
However on the other side personal capital is all degrading and the commons capital, access to heritage, the natural gift of life is degrading to. I am going to ask you to visualise the extent of this degradation covering areas affecting all major disciplines. It is a matter of the housekeeping of the planet – it is not a matter of human conceit that so much of expert economic discipline has developed over the centuries. This is the model that has developed – 36 aspects of it.
So much expert economic discipline has developed over the centuries. And this is the model. I am not asking you to begin to understand it but to accept that everything on the right is expanding exponentially, totally out of kilter with the laws of nature and everything on the left , you may see the little brackets, is degrading rapidly. It is an exceedingly serious situation that we are in globally, affecting everyone, affecting the planet itself.
That figure has description which I will not go into here. This explains why we have to begin to understand the loss of the commons and their recovery. So after this lies the replenishing economy, the thing I wanted to put before you. Replenishing all areas covered by all major disciplines. In other words we are beginning to look at interdisciplinary economic history, one that must be right for biology and for chemistry and for physics and for social sciences and so on and not just for econmists in a very narrow discipline. So I emphasise this – replenishing areas covered by all the major disciplines.
And you will see the same basic outline. On the right hand side is the growing, emerging sense of trusteeship. That has to grow rapidly and replace the concept of ownership. God is embarrassed by possession. This earth is a gift. It is not to be possessed. It is to be held in trust responsibly. Also in public capital the same thing is happening. The gradual emergence of a sense of trusteeship. Right down at the ground level it needs an enormous amount of encouragement and support but it is there. It is starting and we all have a part to play in perusing it.
And on the left had side there are great movements now towards mutual well being. I could point out so many website where we are inspired by that activity. And in the commons capital the global commons trust now it has been running for 50 years under the influence of that great economist Eleanor Austin the first woman to get a Nobel Prize for economics. So we are moving and when we move further and further we will have new model and this model is an image, a visual metaphor of the possibilities of creating a replenishing economy – 36 items and to look at them and study them you have to have an inkling what all the disciplines are about – far beyond the range of hubristic economic disciplines that rule our lives.There is a neat description of these images of what a degrading, replenishing economy is about.
James Quilligan who was a philosopher and international development economist who led these seminars and responded so brilliantly to the many more than 400 people who attended these seminars, he responded so gently and brilliantly.
I saw him as a deeply spiritual man. I didn’t know his background but I discovered that he holds a meditation class in his home three times a week. When he is away as he often is travelling and speaking those groups still keep on meeting and people from all faiths come to his home three nights a week for meditation and on Saturday. And on Sunday, though he is weary of its dogma, he goes to the Roman Catholic church and worships God there.
This reminds me that we have good news to share. And we must share it in such a way that the words come later. It is the witness that counts. And what I am talking about here is the witness of the deep intricacies of the structures of our societies which are extremely out of order. They are generating a massively, rapidly degrading economy and we must transform it as quickly as possible.
Let me just run through the attributes of the kind of economy that we are talking about: consumers become the producers of their own resources. That is a great principle for political economy in the great spiritual traditions. Trust sets a pattern on the extraction and use of a resource to preserve it for future generations. The intergenerational concept must be restored to our thinking.
Businesses flourish by renting a proportion of the resources for extraction and production so we don’t go beyond the ability of the planet to replenish itself. Governments tax a percentage of these rents funding a basic income for citizens and a restoration of depleted resources. The power of decision-making returns to the people enabling them to participate in the decisions that affect them directly.
Part of the search to occupy, part of the search of the Arab spring, part of the search for the new awareness springing up everywhere so that the dignity of every human being, the dignity of the species and the life of the planet itself must be replenish able, must be sustainable, must flow into eternity. This is the nature of the living tradition of God. The traditional property ownership model is balanced by a trusteeship model of sustainability. quality of life and well being. The lessons of community based resource management have major implications for post liberal forms of multilateralism and global governance.
So back to that model of the Quilligan seminars of 2012 which reflected the theological resonance reflected in the great writings of visions and practical political insights of Imam Khomeini.
There were 12 engagements in 12 days of intense experience of systematic change. Change does not occur from one place. It occurs when everyone in dignity is expressing the God given talents in a community of mutual awareness, mutual encouragement and support.
And the last slide of all is talking about a kingdom of God today. It will be based on an understanding of prior unity, the inherent, coherent existence of love. And the visual symbol here, the visual metaphor is of a DNAand then of a cell and then of a child in the womb and then of the earth. We are all totally integrated and we must create an economy of replenishment generation after generation fed by our strength of mutually and the great vision of Imam Khomeini.
Ali Reza Bahmanpour: The Arab world has long suffered a drought of the type of leadership that helps its people to rise against tyranny and oppression. No such shortage has been so apparent than in recent uprisings, which became even more evident during the post revolution times. The political situation in Tunisia, Yemen and Libya remain state of turmoil, while all eyes are on Egypt’s long awaited elections, which came after much trouble. Different factions don’t really talk to each other, and view each move suspiciously. Who is there to unite all this actors on the political stage for the sake of the people? A leaderless revolution is like an army without a commander. In a war you cannot leave each soldier to decide for him or herself how to engage with the enemy! Someone must be giving them the orders on how to act collectively to be able to overcome an attack, someone must be showing them directions and guidelines so that they can return from the battlefield victorious. In the same manner, a revolution needs someone to guide the people.
So who should we choose as our leader at the time of crisis? Imam Khomeini (ra) provided an excellent example of how a leader should be. He defined leadership in every sense of the word. But how did this man bring about a revolution that has shaken the pillars of the corrupt imperialism?
Before we answer this question, let us examine the history and research behind what leadership is. The concept of leadership has been controversial throughout history, and the search for the characteristics or traits of leaders has been going on for centuries. Many philosophers, theorists and intellectuals, from Plato to Thomas Carlyle, from Plutarch to Eric Berne have all pondered over this question: “What qualities distinguish an individual as a leader”. Some believed talents, skills, and physical characteristics were the answer to this question. Others said a leader is born a leader, and you cannot develop into one otherwise. A few went even as far as introducing various theories: the functional theory or being able to answer the needs of the society, the situational theory which divides leaders into two groups: task-oriented leaders and relationship-oriented leaders, the transactional theory, the Positive reinforcement theory, the Neo-emergent theory. All these posh theories were discovered and have been floating around for centuries, and yet the meaning of a true leader was never realised.
And that’s what Imam Khomeini proved. He revived the theory that was the answer to all the questions of those philosophers and theorists. He established a notion that even the biggest powers on the earth could not resist it from spreading. He emerged as a leader who reformed the world order; who brought light to a gloomy world drowning ever-so-close into complete and utter darkness. What was his secret? It was his incredibly strong faith in Allah (swt) and his strong belief in the principles of Islam. As he beautifully said: “A community that has God as its backing, does not face defeat.”
So how did he obtain the hearts of millions of people at a time of crisis? Was it a promise of western democracy? Was it holding up the banner of ‘changing the system to a more secular system’? Did he always speak of the glamorous yet hollow promises of bringing about ‘freedom’ in a society? No, it wasn’t any of that. He only thought about one thing, and that was reviving the religion of God in the society and leading the people towards Allah (swt). His intention was so pure; it was not for power nor wealth nor any other worldly desires. And that was his secret to leadership.
We should really ask ourselves, don’t we as Muslims believe that Islam was revealed as a religion that has an answer for every single thing around us in our everyday life? From banking and financial solutions to governance, social interactions and even how to treat your neighbour, everything has been covered. So why should we ever seek answer from the west? There is a great quote from Imam Khomeini saying: “Is it not disgracing to Muslims of the world with all their human, moral and material resources, with such a progressive ideology and divine support, to bow down to the domination of the arrogant powers, pirates and robbers of the century!?”
Another factor that was so pivotal towards the success of the Islamic Revolution was Imam Khomeini’s ability to unite all fractions within the society. He mentioned after the revolution “The secret of the victory of this great nation, was the unity of word and reliance on faith.” We must at all times maintain our unity. Under the flag of Islam he managed to bring together people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds. Whether you were white or black, muslim or non-muslim, shia or sunni… the love of Imam Khomeini was there in your heart; that is just extraordinary. And that’s because he lived just like people and rose from amongst them. His words were full of wisdom, and always he acted upon what he said. Not only was he a charismatic leader, but also a source of spirituality, and a scholar in philosophy, religion, theology and ethics.
Furthermore, what’s incredible about Imam Khomeini (ra) was the fact that every step he took in the path of the Islamic Revolution was full of hope and determination. Even long before the revolution in 1979, he never for one second felt that overthrowing a regime which was backed by all the world powers was something impossible. His determination could be seen in the way he planned not only on how to lead the people to an Islamic uprising against tyranny, but also through his strategies for what happens after; he put together the structure of a system that was defined within the framework of Islam to better each individual’s life, as well as the society as a whole. He proposed an ideology that would free people from the so-called western freedom, which is fancy-looking on the outside, but dull meaning. Because when you define freedom as the ability to break all the lines that are essential to the well-being of the society, when you define freedom as the highest value in the society that can overrule all other substantial values such as ethics, morality and you end up with a broken society. You end up with shattered and degraded families. Imam (ra) said this “Exported freedom is that which led our youth to prostitution.” Now once you define the correct bounds for this freedom, you will observe the beauty of a well-established and complete society. Again as Imam (ra) said: “Islamic democracy is more complete than that of the West, since it is within the limits of Islamic laws.”
To promote his thoughts he wrote books, published articles even during exile, made strong speeches that shook the Shah’s regime from its roots. Whenever he got the chance he discussed his plans for the future of the system. Why is an Islamic Government essential, how does it help correcting a society, what is Wilayatul Faghih? All this was done long before anyone could even imagine victory against the Shah in their wildest dreams. That’s the true meaning of hope and determination.
So we established that if you are to lead a nation to rise against tyranny, first you must purify your intentions. Second it is essential to have hope and be absolutely determined to achieve what you believe in. You also should have a strong character that would not be shaken under the pressure of tyrants as time passes. And of course, you have to unite your nation.
Now let us consider the situation today. How many of the so-called leaders who emerged during the Islamic Awakening of the Arab nations came out strongly and hold high the banner of Islam? If you are a Muslim leader you must believe that Islam has the best solution in establishing a government, otherwise it implies that Islam is incomplete. So why should you be scared of urging the formation of an Islamic Government, just like Imam Khomeini did? So why should you repeat every word that comes out he mouth of western politicians? Why echo the imperialist ideology that is rejected today by every sensible mind? Unfortunately many of these leaders cared for power more than they cared for their people, and that’s why as soon as they came to the stage they faded immediately.
Take Libya for example, where we saw an incredible awakening of people against a brutal dictator who called himself a Muslim whist dishonouring Islam through his shameful acts. The uprising was started and finished by the brave people of Benghazi, Derna, Bayda which spread to entire Libya, and then what happened? It was hijacked by NATO forces who only came because of their own interests, setting up a puppet National Transitional Council for the moment; a council whose leader disgracefully holds high the hands of Cameron and Sarkozy declaring them as true winners, as if they cared for one moment about the rights of the Libyans. How can a man be so shameful as to sell what people achieved with their blood to the west? Is that the type of leader we need?
We see the same happen in Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and even in Bahrain, where the absence of a strong leader is what is making the process of the revolution slow.
My dear brothers, respected sisters, we must start to develop leaders amongst ourselves. Imam Khomeini was born just like all of us, but his great faith in Allah (swt) allowed him to revive his religion in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A revival that did not only belong to 1979, nor did it fade after his death, but rather became stronger and stronger as a legacy, that after 3 decades under the leadership of Ayatullah Khameni, is now the greatest threat to western imperialism and the only government to stand up for the rights of our dear oppressed brothers and sisters in Palestine.
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And those who pray, "Our Lord! Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous."
Stephen Sizer: Thomas Jefferson once asked the rhetorical question:
"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?"
In the 18th Century, on both sides of the Atlantic, there would likely have been a consensus that the answer was self-evident – our civic responsibility is but the outworking of our higher responsibilities to God. When the same revolutionary spirit infected the North American Colonies as it had France, it became a more debatable question there also. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which Jefferson helped write, provided one solution – separate church and state.
Originally this was intended to protect the church from the state. But since 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted it to mean that religion and government must stay separate for the benefit of both. Not so today. In an increasingly secularized world, most Americans and Europeans believe the Church should keep out of politics. This morning I returned from a week in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where the contrast with the West could not greater. Indeed, yesterday I spent the morning discussing this issue with Dr Zahra Mostafavi, the daughter of Imam Khomeini in Tehran.
On this 23rd anniversary of his demise, it is therefore quite appropriate to ask the question, what has religion got to do with politics? I suggest a great deal. From a Christian perspective, that we have responsibilities to both God and the state is clearly implied in Jesus’ enigmatic epigram, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ (Matthew 22:21). The religious leaders had tried to expose Jesus as either a collaborator with or rebel against the Roman Empire. Here is the context:
“Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
In the Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul enlarges on the state’s God-appointed role and on the responsibility of citizens in relation to it. His emphasis is on personal citizenship rather than on any particular theory of church—state relations.
1. The Authority of the State
2. The Role of Government
3. The Responsibility of Citizens
1. The Authority of the State
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2)
The Apostle begins with a clear command of universal application:
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities” (1a).
He then gives the reason. The state’s authority is derived from God. This he affirms three times.
1. “There is no authority except that which God has established”
2. “The authorities that exist have been established by God”
3. “Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.”
2. While we may have no problem with this logic in a Western liberal democracy, what is remarkable, is that when written, Europe and Palestine were under foreign military occupation. And the Roman authorities in power were becoming increasingly ruthless and hostile toward Christians. Nevertheless, the state was regarded as established by God, who required believers to submit to them and cooperate with them. So whether we enjoy good or bad government, the Bible insists, the state is a divine institution with God-given authority. But surely this injunction cannot be taken to mean that all the Caligulas, Herods and Neros of the 1st Century, and all the Hitlers, Stalins, Amins and Saddams of our generation, were personally appointed by God, or that God is responsible for their behaviour, or that their authority cannot be questioned or resisted? No. We are to understand that all human authority is derived from God’s authority. This means we can say to rulers what Jesus said to Pilate at his trial, ‘You would have no power [authority] over me if it were not given to you from above.’ (John 19:11). Having asserted, the Authority of the State, the passage goes on to outline secondly,
2. The Role of the Government
“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.” (Romans 13:3-5)
The statement that rulers commend those who do right and punish those who do wrong is not of course invariably true. But it sets forth the divine purpose of government, not necessarily the human reality. The problem is that the requirement of submission and the warning against rebellion are couched in universal terms.
For this reason they have constantly been misapplied by oppressive – usually right-wing regimes, as if Scripture gave them carte blanche to develop a tyranny and to demand unconditional obedience. But, as the context shows, “there can be no question here of an unconditional and uncritical subjection to any and every demand of the State’. How, then, do we determine when submission is not absolute? Just as the Apostle has affirmed three times that the state has authority from God, so now he affirms three times that it has a ministry or calling from God.
1. “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good”
