The Dictatorship of the Faqīh

Abstract This article focuses on the problem of sovereignty and its role in Khomeini’s project of Islamic state. It attempts to demonstrate that Khomeini, in his pre-revolutionary scheme, neglected the inner logic of political rule which according to the German philosopher Carl Schmitt presupposes and requires sovereignty as unlimited authority by principle. Despite legitimizing his project by unconditionally adhering to religious law Khomeini implied an authority which by its very definition must eventually prevail over this law. This basic contradiction must also be seen as a primary cause of the contested and controversial nature of the political system that he established which can be especially at its incipient stage well described in terms of a revolutionary dictatorship.