American Herald Tribune | Anastasia Fatima Ezhova:�Using the method of linguistic analysis we find out that Islam identifies itself by the Arabic term �din�, which means �law�, �power�, �submission�. Thus it has a deep, innate and tight connection with the area of politics, as well as the term �Islam� itself is a masdar [1]�from the Arabic verb �aslama� (of the 4th model) the first meaning of which is �to submit�. It reflects not only the existing implicit link between Islam and politics but also enlightens the essence of the Islamic Tawhid and the understanding of God and His power.

It doesn�t only mean that the Shari�ah law regulates the area of political relations and has its own verdict about the matter of legal political power according to Islam. Of course, Shari�ah has a concern on these important matters as it regulates all the aspects of human life: its spiritual, economical, ethical, social, psychological, gender and so on. Thus, Shari�ah is total, and it�s natural because Shari�ah is a Divine Law, and God Himself is total and has an absolute power over all the worlds. God in Islam is Transcendent and Immanent at the same time, this dialectics is reflected in many verses of the Holy Qur�an, as well as in the sayings of the Prophet (s) and the Imams (a).

Due to this innate logic of Tawhid, the religion of God as He is represented in Islam cannot be limited just by supplications and prayers in its Christian understanding as referred to some special and narrow area of a human life which has no relation to such �dirty� and �not sublime� areas as politics and social life. Surely prayer and fasting together with other furu ad-din [2] form the basis of Islamic religious practice, but they also have numerous aspects including political and social ones (for example, collective prayer is the means of uniting the Islamic Ummah as a political subject submitting to One God, and fasting is a way to feel the sufferings of poor people and to be inspired by the idea of helping them and struggling for social justice). And these aspects of the devotional acts are also as sublime as reciting supplications and prayers.

Of course, Islam uses such terms as �this world� and �the next world�, �sublime� and �base�. �Nahj al-balagha� [3] of Imam Ali (a) calls people not to be prisoners of this mean and dirty world, but this is far from the Christian understanding of these notions� in a literal meaning. Islam doesn�t inspire people to get far from material aspects of this world such as politics, economy and social life. The call to stray away from this world is related to the area of a human intention, as all our intentions should be directed towards God. We must totally submit to His orders. It is obligatory for us to follow the morals He esteemed as sublime in all areas of our life, and we should not be slaves of the mean and negative aspects of our self.

Thus, when we say that Din is Power and Submission, we mean that all the Power belongs to God, and all our submission must also be devoted to Him, including the sphere of politics. It is not an exception as He is a Master over all the worlds and has a power over the Universe, and �power� is one of the basic categories in political theory. And when we point out such an aspect of Din as Law, we have in view that Shari�ah as the Divine Law must lay in the basis of the Islamic political system.

As for Imam Khomeini (s), he always stressed this aspect of Islam, namely its deep and organic link with politics. We can quote many of his sayings on this account. Thus, he accented that �Islam is a political and religious teaching where politics is accomplished by worship and worship is accomplished by politics��[4]. According to Imam Khomeini, �the Islamic religion has a political pattern, everything in it is connected with politics, even devotional acts�. [5]

Here is the difference between Islam and other religions, and Imam Khomeini explains is this way:��Islam is the program of life, the program of guidance�Nobody should suppose that Islam resemble other religions existing today. These religions and especially Christianity have nothing except moral codes, not possessing programs concerning politics and state administration�Islam doesn�t limit itself only by prayers and pilgrimage�Islam deals with politics and state management. Islamic laws give a possibility to rule big countries�. [6]

Imam Khomeini has always stressed that Islam comprehends all the aspects of human individual and social life, and this fact is depicted in the sacred sources (nusus):
�The Glorious Qur'an and the Prophet's traditions cover all the instructions and precepts which man needs for his happiness and perfection. There is a chapter in Al-Kafi under the title 'All that are needed by people is explained by the Book and the Sunnah'. By the Book the Qur'an is meant, 'which explains everything'. It clarifies everything and all matters. The Imam swears, as the narratives confirm, that whatever man needs is in the Book and in the Sunnah, there is no doubt in that�. [7]
Then, why he was so harshly criticized by some Shi�a clerics of his age and now continues to be accused of �mixing politics and religion� if as we�ve said the connection between Islam and politics is a natural and evident one, as Islam not only includes politics as one of its parts but also politics is the true backbone of Islam due to the essence of Tawhid? What was the cause of a conflict between Imam Khomeini and those scholars, and why didn�t they accept the idea of an Islamic political revolution?

To answer this question we should get aware of the intellectual history of Shi�a Islam. We should investigate, firstly, the constant position of Shi�ism about political power in the Islamic Ummah and, secondly, how this item was understood in the mainstream of Shi�a scholars at the time of Imam Khomeini�s (s) appearance.

Moreover, it is very important for us to comprehend the very essence of Shi�a Islam as it was the version of Islam his Eminence Imam Khomeini (s) adhered to. And we�ll never be able to enlighten the role of Imam Khomeini (s) in reviving Islam if we won�t describe the message of Shi�a Islam and its main aspects.

We have already pointed out that Din is Law and Power at the same time. It�s clear that Shari�ah is an integral Law and it is thus one of Din�s dimensions, and Power is God�s rule over the Universe. But the Holy Qur�an says that a man is a caliph of Allah in this world: �And when thy Lord said to the angels, �I am setting in the earth a viceroy.��And He taught Adam the names, all of them�� (2:30-31). It means, by the way, that man puts Shari�ah into life. But who should particularly carry this task out and put the Divine Law into practice? And what do we exactly mean by putting Shari�ah into the life of a Muslim Ummah? What is the method of understanding and formulating the norms of Shari�ah? Is this possible for everybody to take the Holy Qur�an and to interpret every verse in the manner he likes himself, as well as to do the same thing with the Prophet�s sayings, and to rule the Ummah according his own opinions and his way of understanding the sacred texts, or he must possess some kind of profound knowledge and comprehending the connection between different verses and sayings together with understanding not only its explicit but also exoteric and mystical aspects? Does any person who managed to get political success has a right to be an Islamic ruler or he must have some special features for it?

Notes

[1] Noun verb.
[2] Pillars of the faith.
[3] �Nahj al-Balagha� translated as �The Peak of Eloquence� is the collection of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib�s (a) sermons, aphorisms and letters.
[4] �The Sayings, Aphorisms and Admonitions of Imam Khomeini�, Tehran, 1995, p.17.
[5] Ibid.
[6] �The Speeches of Imam Khomeini� // �Imam Khomeini�, Moscow, �Palea-Mishin�, 1999, p. 214-215.
[7] M.J. Khalili. Manafi Anari. Fundamentals of the Islamic revolution, p. 175.