ISLAM AS A GROUND OF POLITICAL SYSTEM ACCORDING TO IMAM RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI

The article represents the views of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989), the leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran, on Islam as the basis of the political system. Imam Khomeini believed that Islam should not be considered only as a set of prescriptions or as a kind of philosophical system. In his work “Vilayat-i fakih. Hokumat-i Islami ” (“Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist”) Khomeini substantiates the need for the formation of a state based on Sharia law. The ideas of the Ayatollah were not completely new to Shii political doctrine. The olitical views of Ayatollah Khomeini formed under a great infl uence of a situation in Iran in the XX cent. The author analyzes the Khomeini’s views on politics and his concept of “vilayat-i fakih”. From Ayatollah Khomeini’s point of view, we can’t imagine Islam apart from politics, otherwise Islam will be incomplete. Personal self-improvement also depends on the fullness of religion, and therefore Muslims need an Islamic state to fully keep the Sharia law. The analysis of the views of Imam Khomeini is based on the original treatise in Persian.