An Inquiry into the Configuration of the Relationship between Islam and Security in the Political Theology of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli Based on Skinner's Method

The main objective of this research is to explore and precisely and systematically configure the relationship between Islam and security in the political theology of Ayatollah Abdullah Javadi Amoli. Relying on the Qur'anic, philosophical, and jurisprudential foundations of his thought, this article demonstrates that security in Javadi Amoli's intellectual system is not a merely political or military concept, but rather a multi-layered, existential, moral, and theological reality rooted in monotheism (tawḥīd), justice, rationality, and human dignity. The research seeks to present an alternative and comprehensive approach which, unlike secular and materialist Western approaches, considers security
to be the product of human servitude to God and the realization of divine justice. This objective includes explaining the constitutive (takwīnī) and legislative (tashrīʿī) dimensions of security, examining the role of objective and subjective contexts in the formation of this thought, and presenting a human-centered and divine model for confronting contemporary security crises such as domination-seeking, cultural insecurity, international threats, and challenges arising from secularism. Ultimately, this research highlights the capacity of Javadi Amoli's thought to provide sustainable security at the individual, social, national, international, and civilizational levels, presenting it as an authentic response from within the Islamic tradition to the issues of today's world. The main issue of this research is: What is the position of the relationship between Islam and security in the political theology of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, and how can this relationship be precisely configured? The central question of the article is: How does Javadi Amoli redefine security, within what ontological, anthropological, and ethical frameworks does he place it, and how does he propose this approach as a divine and human-centered model for solving contemporary security crises? This issue arises because in today's world, Western approaches to security mostly rely on power, national interests, social contracts, or discursive mechanisms, and have often been ineffective in establishing sustainable and comprehensive human security. In contrast, Islamic thought, drawing on revelatory and rational sources, has the capacity to redefine security as a divine blessing, a fundamental norm, and a multi-dimensional concept. The research seeks to answer the question: With what conceptual and methodological tools does Javadi Amoli extract security from its reductive secular state, connecting it to servitude, justice, piety, and divine guardianship (wilāyah), in order to present a peace-building and justice-oriented model for human societies? This research employs Quentin Skinner's intentionalist hermeneutic method; a composite and moderate approach that pays simultaneous attention to text and context, and by focusing on the author's intention, the contexts of the production of thought, and his purpose in articulating his ideas, enables a deep and historical understanding of concepts. Skinner's method was implemented in four main stages: 1. Examination of objective contexts: including the social, historical, and cultural conditions of Javadi Amoli's life, such as his family environment in Amol,
his education in the Islamic seminaries of Amol, Tehran, and Qom, his influence from prominent teachers, his participation in revolutionary struggles, and his responsibilities after the revolution; 2. Analysis of subjective contexts: including his beliefs, concerns,
and intellectual system, such as transcendent theosophy (al-ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya), comprehensive jurisprudential understanding (tafaqquh), Qur'anic exegesis by the Qur'an (tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Qurʾān), and critical engagement with rival intellectual currents (humanism, liberalism, secularism, pluralism, etc.); 3. Identification of the discursive norms of the era: including Qur'anic concepts of security (amn, silm, ṣulḥ, sakīna) and prevailing Western and Islamic theories of security; 4. Examination of interventions and innovations: including redefinition, critique, and transformation of the concept of security within a monotheistic framework and the introduction of new conceptual interventions. This methodology, utilizing comparative diagrams and systematic analysis, has enabled the precise reconstruction of Javadi Amoli's intention and intellectual system, transforming the analysis from an abstract state to a contextualized and historical one. The research findings show that Ayatollah Javadi Amoli explains security as a divine blessing, the most pleasant individual and social blessing, and a fundamental norm in the Islamic system, the realization of which is a necessary condition for the flourishing of other blessings. He divides security into two types:
l Constitutive Security: Rooted in creation, human nature (fiṭra), and the monotheistic system of existence;
l Legislative Security: Resulting from divine laws, such as retribution (qiṣāṣ), corporal punishments (ḥudūd), forbidding wrong (nahy ʿan al-munkar), and the establishment of justice.
In his view, the origin of insecurity is domination-seeking, oppression, material accumulation, and distance from monotheism. The original principle of Islam is peace and peaceful coexistence, and jihad is purely defensive, used to protect the oppressed and remove sedition. Security in this approach has multiple levels:
1) Individual level: Piety (taqwā) and the internal guardian (the inner police);
2) Social level: Respecting the rights of others, even non-belligerent non-Muslims, justice, and preventing the violation of rights;
3) National level: Guardianship of the Jurist (Wilāyat al-Faqīh), establishing divine limits, preserving unity and national security as the main goal of the Islamic government;
4) International level: Adherence to covenants, the right of asylum, not aggressing against peaceful unbelievers (based on Qur'an 4:90 and 9:6), and peaceful coexistence;
5) Civilizational level: Realization of the complete model of security in the era of
the appearance (ẓuhūr) with Mahdist justice, in which enmities turn into friendship and insecurity into comprehensive security.
The objective contexts of Javadi Amoli's life (from Amol to Qom and revolutionary developments) and the subjective contexts (transcendent theosophy, critique of secularism and rival currents) have reinforced this monotheistic, ethical, and comprehensive approach. In comparison with Western theories that base security mostly on power or social contract, Javadi Amoli's approach sees security as the product of servitude, divine justice, and human dignity, linking it to Islamic ontology, anthropology, and epistemology. The main innovation of this research is the precise application of Skinner's four-stage method to clarify the contextual relationships and conceptual interventions of Javadi Amoli. In conclusion, security in the political theology of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli is the profound product of human servitude to God, divine justice, and human dignity. This thought,
by reinterpreting the concepts of security, jihad, peace, and law within a monotheistic framework, negates secular reductionism and presents a sustainable, peace-building,
and justice-oriented approach capable of responding to the security challenges of the contemporary world. Wilāyat al-Faqīh, the implementation of Sharia rulings, rationality coupled with courage, adherence to human covenants, and emphasis on the internal guardian are among the key pillars of this sustainable security. The present research shows that Javadi Amoli's thought introduces Islam as a security-building and civilization-building religion, whose ultimate goal is the construction of a world free from oppression, domination-seeking, and insecurity. This approach possesses significant capacities for civilizational dialogue and the provision of just security at the global level, and represents a human-centered and divine model for the present age.