Imam Khomeini was a Muslim cleric and authoritative scholar in Shia Islam, and the non secular and political chief of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew Reza Shah Pahlavi, the final Shah of Iran. Following the Revolution, Imam Khomeini grew to become the Grand Chief, the paramount determine within the political system of the brand new Islamic Republic, serving on this function till his demise in 1989. He was considered a Marja by many Muslims and, in Iran, was formally addressed as Imam somewhat than Grand Ayatollah, a conference upheld by his supporters.
روحالله
Spirit of God.
Imam Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (1900 – 1989).
Ruhollah was born to Ayatollah Seyyed Mostafa Musavi and Hajieh Agha Khanum within the city of Khomein, 300 kilometers south of Iran’s capital Tehran, on Could 17, 1900. By his father and the seventh Imam Mousa Kazem, Ruhollah was a Seyyed, a descendant of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). His father was murdered by brokers of Ahmadvert Shah Qajar when he was 5 months outdated, and he was raised by his mom and one among his aunts. Impressed and guided by his mom and bloodline, Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi would go on to grow to be a Marja and extremely influential Islamic political theorist, finest recognized for creating the Velâyat-e Faqih, the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist. In 1964, Imam Khomeini fled Reza Shah Pahlavi, first looking for refuge in Ankara and Bursa, Turkey, earlier than shifting to Najaf, Iraq, in 1965, the place he stayed till 1978, when Saddam Hussein deported him; beneath stress from Reza Shah, he was then exiled to Neauphle-le-Château, Paris, on October 6, 1978. Lastly, returning to Tehran, already in revolutionary turmoil, on February 1, 1979, he grew to become the one who overthrew the final Shah dynasty, which had been put in by the British and Individuals in 1925, and established the sovereign Islamic Republic of Iran. Imam Khomeini grew to become the primary main world chief to problem Anglo-American-French imperialism and your entire basis of Western modernity: nominalism, materialism, liberalism, nationalism, capitalism, communism, and Zionism. A extremely charismatic Seyyed, he stood out for his mystical interpretation of Islam, poeattempt and prophetic imaginative and prescient of world-historical occasions.
The West’s proxy conflict, specifically that of the US, the British, and the French, in opposition to the Islamic Republic started in September 1980, with Saddam Hussein invading Iran. The conflict quickly grew to become a brutal stalemate, leading to an estimated a million casualties, and lasted till August 1988, when either side agreed to a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations, leaving each nations devastated and with no clear victor. In December 1988, nearly a yr earlier than the autumn of the Berlin Wall, Imam Khomeini wrote his first and only message to the top of a international nation, to Mikhail Gorbachev, the then chief of the Soviet Union (1985-1991), who was nearly to finish the withdrawal of his military from Afghanistan. The Imam’s letter was delivered to Gorbachev on the Kremlin in Moscow on January 1st, 1989, by Ayatollah Abdullah Javadi Amoli, who learn the Imam’s message aloud whereas Gorbachev listened attentively for 2 hours. In his letter, the Imam predicted the collapse of communism throughout the Soviet bloc and urged Gorbachev to contemplate Islam as a substitute for communist ideology. He additionally steered that the Soviet chief examine the works of Muslim philosophers akin to Ibn Arabi, Avicenna, and Al-Farabi. On the fate of communism, Imam Khomeini wrote:
“It’s clear to all people that, any more, communism will solely need to be discovered within the museums of world political historical past, for Marxism can’t meet any of the actual wants of mankind. Marxism is a materialistic ideology, and materialism can’t convey humanity out of the disaster brought on by an absence of perception in spirituality—the prime affliction of human society within the East and the West alike.”
Imam Khomeini warned the Russians about their curiosity in Western capitalism and the potential deception by the Individuals. He additionally mentioned deep philosophical and mystical points, urging Gorbachev to show towards God and faith as an alternative of the West:
“In case you hope, at this juncture, to chop the financial Gordian knots of socialism and communism by interesting to the middle of Western capitalism, you’ll, removed from remedying any unwell of your society, commit a mistake which these to come back must erase. For, if Marxism has reached a impasse in its social and financial insurance policies, capitalism has additionally slowed down on this regard, in addition to in different respects, although in a special kind.
Mr. Gorbachev, actuality should be confronted. The principle drawback confronting your nation isn’t one among non-public possession, freedom, and financial system; somewhat, it’s the absence of true religion in God — the very drawback that has dragged, or will drag, the West to vulgarism and an deadlock. Your principal drawback is the extended and futile conflict you might have waged in opposition to God, the supply of existence and creation.”
After listening to the Imam’s message, Gorbachev mentioned, ‘I’m grateful for the Imam’s letter. I’ll reply when the scenario is acceptable. We are going to ship its contents to the Soviet clergy and are approving the legislation of non secular freedom. As I’ve mentioned earlier than, though now we have completely different ideologies, we will nonetheless keep a peaceable relationship.’
» If at the moment we took Ayatollah Khomeini’s predictions severely, we wouldn’t be on this scenario as we speak. «
The Reagans and the Gorbachevs sporting cowboy hats at Rancho del Cielo, California, in 1992.
Gorbachev, an atheist and communist, didn’t take the Imam’s message severely, and as acknowledged within the Imam’s letter, this ignorance led to his downfall: By 1991, all communist governments had collapsed. Hailed by the West, Gorbachev confronted the implications of his personal silly Perestroika reforms, and the Soviet Union was plunged into unsure adjustments, dominated by the US. In 1999, on the tenth anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s demise, Gorbachev, in an interview with the IRIB Information Company in Moscow, expressed remorse for having ignored the Imam’s warnings three years earlier than the collapse of the Soviet Union, saying:
“I think Imam Khomeini’s message addressed all of the ages all through historical past […] After I acquired this message, I felt that the one who wrote it was considerate and cared in regards to the scenario of the world. By finding out the letter, I noticed that he was somebody who was apprehensive in regards to the world and needed me to know extra in regards to the Islamic revolution. […] If at the moment we took Ayatollah Khomeini’s predictions severely, we’d not be on this scenario as we speak.” Reference:
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