Material and Managerial Assets of the Islamic Government’s Independence: From Self-Reliant Knowledge to Ummah Diplomacy

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Political Science, Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute, Qom, Iran.

Abstract

In the challenging landscape of the international system—where global powers employ sophisticated tools such as multilateral sanctions, hybrid warfare, psychological operations, and hegemonic diplomacy to undermine the sovereignty of independent states—the issue of independence has emerged as a strategic challenge in Islamic political theorizing. Many Islamic governments, despite possessing substantial material resources, remain structurally dependent on the dominant global order. This predicament stems primarily from the absence of a coherent, indigenous theoretical framework for conceptualizing and achieving independence. From this perspective, examining theoretical models grounded in Islamic wisdom and the views of contemporary political philosophers can fill this gap and provide an epistemic response to this foundational issue. Employing a conceptual-descriptive analytical method, this study examines the ideas of contemporary political philosophers such as Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Motahari, and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli. It addresses the central question: How can material and managerial assets secure the infrastructure of an Islamic government’s independence in the contemporary world order? The findings reveal that material assets—as the tangible, objective foundations of the Islamic government’s independence—can be identified across three key axes: (1) Self-reliant scientific authority, entailing the development of knowledge and technology based on endogenous resources and independence from scholarly currents tied to domineering powers; (2) Security-creating defensive power, emphasizing deterrent capabilities against external threats;
(3) Resilient deterrent economy, functioning as a national-capacity-based economic system that withstands external pressures such as sanctions and economic warfare, thereby safeguarding the country’s livelihood, production, and currency independence. In contrast, managerial assets—encompassing sage governance, participatory governance, and ummah diplomacy—activate and optimize these foundations. The study’s ultimate contribution is a systematic, dialectical model that presents the interlinkage of material and managerial assets as two complementary pillars of the Islamic government’s independence. This model is not only theoretically explicable but also holds significant potential for macro-level policymaking in confronting the global hegemonic system.

Keywords

References

The Noble Quran.
Ibn Manẓūr, M. (1994). Lisān al-ʿArab (Vol. 11). Beirut: Dār Ṣādir. [In Arabic]
Javadi Amoli, A. (1999). Tasnīm: Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Karīm (Vols. 1 & 19) (A. Eslami, Ed.). Qom: Esra Publication Center. [In Persian]
Javadi Amoli, A. (2002). Ādāb-i fanā-yi muqarrabān: Sharḥ-i ziyārat-i jāmiʿa-yi kabīra (Vol. 6) (M. Safaei & Q. A. Samadi, Eds.). Qom: Esra Publication Center. [In Persian]
Javadi Amoli, A. (2004). Tafsīr-i mawḍūʿī-yi Qurʾān-i majīd: Tawḥīd dar Qurʾān (Vol. 2). Qom: Esra Publication Center. [In Persian]
Javadi Amoli, A. (2006). Sūrūsh-i Hidāyat (Vol. 2) (S. M. Sadeghi, Ed.). Qom: Esra Publication Center. [In Persian]
Javadi Amoli, A. (2008a). Surūsh-i hidāyat (Vol. 2) (S. M. Sadeghi, Ed.). Qom: Esra Publication Center. [In Persian]
Javadi Amoli, A. (2008b). Intiẓār-i bashar az dīn (Vol. 3) (S. Badali & M. R. Mostafapour, Eds.). Qom: Esra Publication Center. [In Persian]
Javadi Amoli, A. (2009a). Islām va muḥīṭ-i zīst (ʿA. R. Muḥaqqiq, Researcher). Qom: Esra Publication Center. [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2020, February 9). Remarks in meeting with commanders and personnel of the Air Force. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=44852 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (1989, December 13). Remarks in meeting with various strata of people. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=2232 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (1989, June 6). Remarks in meeting with the prime minister and cabinet members. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=2077 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (1992, September 8). Remarks during visit to Shahid Babaei Air Base in Isfahan. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=2639 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2000, October 5). Remarks in large gathering of the people of Qom. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=3028 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2001, May 18). Remarks in the Friday prayer sermons in Tehran. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=3066 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2006, January 19). Remarks in meeting with professors and students of Imam Sadiq University. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=3328 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2007, May 15). Remarks in meeting with students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=3383 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2008, April 23). Remarks in meeting with workers and entrepreneurs. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=3425 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2008, May 5). Remarks in meeting with the people and tribes of Nurabad Mamasani. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=3433 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2010, October 6). Remarks in meeting with young elites.          
URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=10233 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2014, July 7). Remarks in meeting with officials of the system.  
URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=26908 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2016, June 4). Remarks at the 27th anniversary ceremony of the passing of Imam Khomeini. URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=33259 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2016, May 26). Remarks in meeting with the president and members of the Assembly of Experts. URL=https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=33198 [In Persian]
Khamenei, S. A. (2022, October 3). Remarks at the joint graduation ceremony of students from armed forces officers’ universities.              
URL= https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=51048 [In Persian]
Khomeini, R. A. (1999). Ṣaḥīfih-yi Imām (Vols. 3, 5, 7, 9–10, 12–13, & 15). Tehran: Institute for the Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini’s Works. [In Persian]
Khosropanah, A. (2009). Chīstī-yi ḥikmat dar Qurʾān, rivāyat va falsafih [The essence of wisdom in the Quran, hadith, and philosophy]. Mishkāt, no.103, pp.12–36. [In Persian]
Mesbah Yazdi, M. T. (2009a). Mishkāt: Akhlāq dar Qurʾān (Vol. 3) (M. H. Eskandari, Ed.). Qom: Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute. [In Persian]
Mesbah Yazdi, M. T. (2009c). Mishkāt: Pīshniyāz-hāyi mudīriyyat-i Islāmī (Gh. R. Mottaghifar, Ed.). Qom: Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute. [In Persian]
Mesbah Yazdi, M. T. (2009d). Mishkāt: Naẓariyyih-yi ḥuqūqī-yi Islām (M. M. Kariminia &
M. M. Naderi Ghomi, Eds.). Qom: Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute.
[In Persian]
Mesbah Yazdi, M. T. (2011). Mishkāt: Naẓariyyih-yi siyāsī-yi Islām (Vol. 1) (K. Sobhani, Ed.). Qom: Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute. [In Persian]
Motahari, M. (1993). Majmūʿih-yi āthār (Vols. 2, 22, & 24–25). Tehran: Sadra. [In Persian]
Sadr, M. B. (1984). Sunnat-hāyi tārīkh dar Qurʾān (tafsīr-i mawḍūʿī) [Historical patterns in the Quran (thematic exegesis)] (J. Mousavi Isfahani, Trans.). Qom: Islāmī. [In Persian]
Ṭabāṭabāʾī, M. Ḥ. (1995). Tarjumih-yi tafsīr al-Mīzān (Vols. 3 & 9; M. B. Mousavi Hamedani, Trans.). Qom: Publications of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom. [In Persian]
Ṭabāṭabāʾī, M. Ḥ. (2009). Barrasi-hāyi Islāmī (Vol. 1) (H. Khosroshahi, Ed.). Qom: Būstān-i Kitāb. [In Persian]
Ṭurayḥī, F. (1996). Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn (Vol. 5) (A. Ḥusaynī, Ed.). Tehran: Murtaz̤avī.
[In Arabic]

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics