Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini

 

eligious Leader , Politician ,Leader of Iranian Revolution

Born: September 24, 1902, Khomein 

Died: June 3, 1989, Tehran

Spouse: Khadijeh Saqafi (m. 1929–1989)

Parents: Hajieh Agha Khanum, Mostafa Hindi Khomeini

Children: Ahmad Khomeini, Zahra Mostafavi Khomeini, Farideh Khomeini, Sadiqeh Khomeini, Mostafa Khomeini

Rouhollah Mousavi Khomeini led the 1979 Iranian Revolution and overthrew the monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He metamorphosed Iran into a country where the religion held supreme authority. With his overwhelming charisma, he revolutionized the ethos of an entire nation.

Rouhollah Khomeini was born to a family of scholars in a village near Tehran in 1902. Like his father, he moved from theological studies to a career as an Islamic jurist. Throughout his life, he was acclaimed for the depth of his reli­gious learning.

Khomeini had the power of inspiring his people to rise against the Shah. His strategy was to reject Western ways while keeping Iran close to its Islamic roots as Iranians perceived them.

In 1962, he criticized the Shah for his ties with Israel. He also denounced as non-Islamic a bill to permit American servicemen based in Iran to be tried in US military courts as “a document for Iran’s enslavement.”

In 1964, he was exiled and became the acknowledged leader of the opposition. The students, middle class merchants and workers and even the army aban­doned the regime. The protesters called for the Shah’s abdication in 1978. The Shah got isolated and had nowhere to turn for help but to Washington. In Janu­ary 1979 he fled Iran.

Two weeks later, Khomeini returned home in triumph. He ordered an Assem­bly of Experts to draft an Islamic constitution. Over the remaining decade of his life, he consolidated his nation.

“Do something for this country, for this nation, instead of piling up debts and enslaving yourself. Of course, taking the dollars means that someone has to become a slave; you want to use the dollars and we have to become the slaves! If an American runs over me with his car, no one will have the right to say anything to him! So you use the dollars; this is the issue.”