History of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the context of Flag of Iran

The Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (Persian: ولایت فقیه, romanized: Velâyat-e Faqih, also Velayat-e Faghih; Arabic: وِلاَيَةُ ٱلْفَقِيهِ, romanized: Wilāyat al-Faqīh) is a concept in Twelver Shia Islamic law which holds that until the reappearance of the "infallible Imam" (sometime before Judgement Day), the religious and social affairs of the Muslim world should be administered by righteous Shi'i jurists (Faqīh).

Wilāyat al-Faqīh is associated in particular with Ruhollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In a series of lectures in 1970, Khomeini advanced the idea of guardianship in its "absolute" form as rule of the state and society. This version of guardianship now forms the basis of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which calls for a Guardian Jurist (Vali-ye Faqih, Arabic: وَلِيٌ فَقِيهٌ, romanized: Waliyyun Faqīh), to serve as the Supreme Leader of that country. Currently, this role is held by Ayatollah Khamenei.

Khomeinism, also transliterated Khumaynism, refers to the religious and political ideas and practices connected with the leader of the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution – Ruhollah Khomeini. While primarily referring to the ideas and practices of Khomeini himself, Khomeinism may also refer to the ideology of the clerical class which has ruled the Islamic Republic of Iran founded by Khomeini, following his death, and to the "radicalization" of segments of the Twelver Shia populations of Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, and to the Iranian government's "recruitment" of Shia minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Africa. The words Khomeinist and Khomeinists, derived from Khomeinism, can also be used to describe members of Iran's clerical rulers as opposed to "regular" (non-Wilayat ul-Faqih supporting) Shia Muslim clerics.

Under Khomeini's leadership, Iran replaced its millennia-old monarchy with a theocratic republic. Khomeini brought about a major paradigm shift in Shia Islam. He declared that Islamic jurists (clerics specializing in Islamic jurisprudence) are the true holders of religious and political authority, who must be obeyed as "an expression of obedience to God", and whose rule has "precedence over all secondary ordinances in Islam such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage". Khomeini's doctrines would make a major influence on the landscape of Shia Islam; which had upheld political quietism for over a thousand years. Another significant revision of tradition was on Mahdism, the messianic belief in the reappearance of their Twelfth Imam and the proper way to wait for Him. Traditional Twelver theologians urged believers to wait patiently for his return, but Khomeini and his followers called upon Shia Muslims to actively pave the way for Mahdi's global Islamic rule.