Khomeini

Khomeini
Name	Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi
Native name	روح‌الله مصطفوی موسوی
Birth date	1902-09-24
Birth place	Khomein, Markazi Province, Persia
Death date	1989-06-03
Death place	Tehran, Iran
Era	20th century
Region	Middle East
School tradition	Twelver Shi'ism jurisprudence
Main interests	Islamic jurisprudence, Political Islam, Usul al-fiqh
Notable ideas	Velayat-e faqih

Khomeini Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi (1902–1989) was an Iranian Shi'ite religious leader, jurist, and politician who became the central figure in the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He articulated a theory of clerical governance that reshaped Iran's political institutions and influenced Islamist movements across the Middle East, intersecting with figures from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's contemporaries to regional actors such as Saddam Hussein, Anwar Sadat, and global powers like the United States and the Soviet Union.

Early life and education

Born in Khomein in Markazi Province during the Qajar dynasty, he was raised in a clerical family and received early instruction in Persian literature and Islamic studies in regional seminaries. He studied at the hawzas of Arak and later at the major seminaries of Qom and Najaf, engaging with scholars associated with Twelver Shi'ism such as senior marja' and professors from the Hawza Najaf network and interacting with texts by medieval jurists like Shaykh al-Tusi and modern jurists linked to Usul al-fiqh debates. During this period he developed connections to prominent clerics, seminary institutions, and the broader clerical establishment in Iraq and Iran.

Political activism and exile

He emerged as a critic of the Pahlavi monarchy during the reigns of Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, opposing policies associated with modernization programs tied to figures like Ali Amini and initiatives such as the White Revolution. His sermons and writings brought him into conflict with security organs like the SAVAK and led to arrests and periods of house arrest before forced expatriation. He spent years in exile in Najaf and later in Turkey and France, communities that connected him to transnational networks including Iranian opposition groups, clerical allies from the Marja'iyya and political organizations such as the National Front and the Freedom Movement of Iran.

Role in the 1979 Iranian Revolution

From exile he used recorded sermons, cassette tape networks, and print manifestos to mobilize support among students in Tehran, bazaari merchants from Tehran Bazaar, and clergy across Qom and provincial cities, coordinating with activists from groups like the Islamic Republican Party and secular organizations including the Tudeh Party of Iran and the People's Mujahedin of Iran in the broader revolutionary moment. Mass protests, strikes in industries tied to the oil industry and disruptions involving forces such as the Imperial Iranian Army and the Iranian Imperial Guard culminated in the Shah's departure and the collapse of the Pahlavi regime. Revolutionary councils and provisional authorities including figures like Mehdi Bazargan and Abolhassan Banisadr navigated the transition that led to the establishment of the new constitution enshrining clerical oversight.

Leadership of the Islamic Republic

As the highest authority under the new constitution, he exercised powers over institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Judiciary of Iran, and the office of the Presidency, shaping appointments of key officials including presidents, ministers, and commanders linked to entities like the Pasdaran and the Section of the Revolutionary Guards. His interpretation of Velayat-e faqih defined the role of the Supreme Leader in supervising the Guardian Council and guiding national policy. He interacted with other political actors such as presidents Abolhassan Banisadr and Ali Khamenei and with parties and movements including the Islamic Republican Party and clerical networks in Qom.

Domestic policies and governance

Domestic policies emphasized the Islamization of institutions: legal frameworks affected courts and penal codes influenced by juristic writings in Ja'fari jurisprudence and educational reforms impacted universities such as University of Tehran and seminaries in Qom. Cultural campaigns targeted media outlets including IRIB and publishing sectors, and economic measures intersected with state-owned enterprises like the National Iranian Oil Company and public institutions overseeing subsidies and rationing programs. Political purges and trials involved activists from the Tudeh Party of Iran and the People's Mujahedin of Iran, while security operations engaged organizations such as the Ministry of Intelligence and paramilitary groups affiliated with revolutionary committees.

Foreign policy and legacy

Foreign policy under his leadership rejected alliances with powers like the United States and engaged in confrontation with neighboring regimes including Iraq under Saddam Hussein, provoking the Iran–Iraq War that involved major battles and regional alignments affecting the Gulf States and superpower dynamics with the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Diplomatic stances included the 1979 seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran and support for transnational movements across the Middle East, influencing actors in Lebanon, Palestine, and Afghanistan. His intellectual legacy shaped later conservative and reformist debates within Iran, impacted jurists at the Qom seminaries, and reverberated in the policies of successors in institutions like the Guardian Council and the Expediency Discernment Council.

Death and succession

He died in Tehran in 1989 after a period of illness; his funeral mobilized state institutions, clerical delegations from seminaries such as Qom and Najaf, and international envoys from countries including Syria, Iraq, and delegations tied to movements in Lebanon and Palestine. His designated mechanisms for succession activated constitutional procedures that led to the selection of Ali Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader and adjustments within bodies like the Assembly of Experts and the Expediency Discernment Council.

Category:Political leaders Category:Iranian clerics Category:20th-century Islamic thinkers