Imam khomeini

Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini
The Man Who Changed The Iran

By : Syed Aqeel
Submitted To: Sir Syed Asad Raza
Course: Foundation of Leadership & Team Work, EMBA (2010-12) MSD GCU Lahore Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Introduction
Ayatollah Khomeini was the founder and supreme leader of the Islamic
Republic of Iran. The only leader in the Muslim world who combined
political and religious authority as a head of state, he took office in
1979.

Imam Khomeini was considered a marja-e taqlid to many Muslims, and
in Iran was officially addressed as Imam rather than Grand Ayatollah;
his supporters follow this convention. Imam Khomeini was also a
highly-influential and innovative Islamic political theorist, most noted
for his development of the theory of velayat-e faqih (government
should be run in accordance with traditional Islamic sharia).
He was named Times Man of the Year in 1979.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini By : Syed Aqeel

Imam Khomeini’s Basic Info
Name: Imam/Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini.
Born: May 17, 1900 , Town of Khomein (which is about 200 miles south of Tehran,
Iran)
Died: June 3, 1989, Tehran Iran

Father: Mustapha Musavi was the chief cleric (those with religious authority) of the
town and was murdered only five months after the birth of Ruhollah.

The child was raised by his mother (Hajar) and aunt (Sahebeh), both of whom died
when Ruhollah was about fifteen years old.

The title Ayatollah (the Sign of God) reflected his scholarly religious standing in the
Islamic tradition. His first name, Ruhollah (the Spirit of God), is a common name in
spite of its religious meaning, and his last name is taken from his birthplace, the town
of Khomein.


Revolutionary leadership
No revolution is possible without a revolutionary leadership. In any
revolutionary situation, leaders play a crucial role in inspiring and
guiding the struggle toward the assertion and realization of
revolutionary change. The presence of a charismatic leader at the
forefront of the revolutionary struggle, who rallies the aspirations of
the discontented masses, is central to the generation of enthusiastic
and loyal support for the revolutionary movement.
The victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran, which ended in the
overthrow of the Shah in February 1979 and the subsequent laying
down of the foundations of the Islamic Republic, owed a great deal to
the leadership qualities of the late Imam Khomeini.


Imam Khomeini's revolutionary
leadership
Imam Khomeini possessed all the qualities and
accomplishments required to recommend him to the Muslims
as a leader and an authentic hero in the Islamic tradition:
exceptional personal integrity and unselfishness in lifestyle,
the will and ability to be a strong leader, incredible courage
and steadfastness in the face of great odds and hardships,
extraordinary and spellbinding communication and debating
skills.
His Spartan lifestyle which avoided worldly luxuries. Imam
Khomeini lived a simple life both before and after the
revolution, eating simple food, wearing plain clothes, sleeping
on the floor, and tirelessly performing the nightly prayers and
Qur'an recitation sessions day in, day out without fail to the
end of his life.


leadership
Another cornerstone of Imam Khomeini's
revolutionary leadership was his ability and
charisma to unite the disparate opposition to the
established order around the highest demands:
putting an end to Pahlavis dictatorship and to
dependency on the west. In achieving this he
maintained his finger on the pulse of the people,
skillfully gauging the latent moods and dispositions
prevailing among the Iranian masses who hated the
authoritarian Pahlavis.


leadership
In fact, the most important quality of Imam
Khomeini's leadership lies in his ability to mobilize
the resources and skills of the Iranian masses
towards the attainment of the desired
revolutionary change. In this regard he displayed
remarkable organizational skills and ability to utilize
alternative modes of communication with the
masses in the face of the total monopoly of political
power and domination of the media by the Pahlavi
regime.


leadership
In order to maintain contact with the natural source of
strength of the revolutionary movement, i.e. the people,
Imam Khomeini made use of an existing complex web of
religious institutions, centered on mosques and
universities. These institutions provided an effective
medium of public communication to influence the
formation of public opinion. Under his guidance, skillful
organizational techniques were utilized by a network of
revolutionary ulama’s in order to employ these
institutions in mobilizing mass meetings and
demonstrations. Hence, these institutions became the
cores of an extensive grass-roots movement throughout
the country.


Phases of Ayatollah Khomeini's life
Ayatollah Khomeini's life after childhood went
through three different phases.
• The first phase, Early life and education, from
1908 to 1962.
• The second phase, Preparation for political
leadership, from 1962 to 1979.
• The third phase, Founding the Islamic Republic
of Iran from 1979 to 1989.


The first phase Ayatollah Khomeini's
life


Early life and education (1908 to 1962)
The first phase, from 1908 to 1962, was marked mainly by training,
teaching, and writing in the field of Islamic studies.
At the age of six he began to study the
– Quran (Islam's holy book)
– Elementary Persian, an ancient language of Iran.
Later, he completed his studies in
– Islamic law
– Ethics
– Spiritual Philosophy
under the supervision of Ayatollah Abdul Karim Haeri-ye Yazdi, in Qom,
where he also got married and had two sons and three daughters.
Although during this scholarly phase of his life Khomeini was not
politically active, the nature of his studies, teachings, and writings
revealed that he firmly believed in political activism by clerics (religious
leaders).


The second phase Ayatollah
Khomeini's life


Preparation for political
leadership(1962 to 1979)
The second phase of Khomeini's life, from 1962 to 1979, was marked
by political activism which was greatly influenced by his strict, religious
interpretation of Islam. He practically launched his fight against the
shah's regime (the king's rule) in 1962, which led to the eruption of a
religious and political rebellion on June 5, 1963. This date is regarded
by the revolutionists as the turning point in the history of the Islamic
movement in Iran. The shah's bloody crushing of the uprising was
followed by the exile (forced removal) of Khomeini in 1964.
Khomeini spent more than 14 years in exile, mostly in the holy city of
Najaf, Iraq. Initially he was sent to Turkey on 4 November 1964 where
he stayed in the city of Bursa for less than a year. Later in October 1965
he was allowed to move to Najaf, Iraq, where he stayed until being
forced to leave in 1978, after which he went to Paris, France.


Preparation for political leadership
(1962 to 1979)
In early 1970, Khomeini gave a series of lectures in Najaf on Islamic government later published
as a book titled "Hokumat-e Islami : Velayat-e Faqih"

This was his most famous and influential work, and laid out his ideas on governance as followings,
• The laws of society should be made up only of the laws of God (Sharia), which cover "all
human affairs" and "provide instruction and establish norms" for every "topic" in "human
life."
• Since Shariah, or Islamic law, is the proper law, those holding government posts should have
knowledge of Sharia. Since Islamic jurists or faqih have studied and are the most
knowledgeable in Sharia, the country's ruler (Guardian or Supreme Leader) should be a faqih
who "surpasses all others in knowledge" of Islamic law and justice, (known as a marja), as
well as having intelligence and administrative ability.
• This system of clerical (religious leader) rule is necessary to prevent injustice, corruption,
oppression by the powerful over the poor and weak, innovation and deviation of Islam and
Sharia law; and also to destroy anti-Islamic influence and conspiracies by non-Muslim foreign
powers.
A modified form of this wilayat al-faqih system was adopted after Khomeini and his followers
took power, and Khomeini was the Islamic Republic's first "Guardian" or Supreme Leader.


The third phase Ayatollah Khomeini's
life


Founding the Islamic Republic of
Iran (1979 to 1989)
Khomeini had refused to return to Iran until the Shah left. On 17 January
1979, the Shah did leave the country ("on vacation"), never to return. Two
weeks later, on Thursday, 1 February 1979, Khomeini returned in Iran,
welcomed by a joyous crowd of up to at least six million (source ABC News
who was reporting the event from Tehran). On the Air France flight on his way
to Iran, Khomeini was asked by Jennings (a news reporter): "What do you feel
in returning to Iran?" Khomeini answered: "Hichi" (Nothing). This statement
was considered reflective of his spiritual beliefs, and his non-attachment to
ego.
On February 11 revolutionary forces loyal to Khomeini seized power in Iran,
and Khomeini emerged as the founder and the supreme leader of the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
On March 30 and 31 1979, a referendum to replace the monarchy with an
Islamic Republic passed with 98% voting in favor of the replacement.
After assuming power, Islam was made the basis of Iran's new constitution
and obedience to Islamic laws made compulsory.


Death and funeral
After eleven days in a hospital, Khomeini died at
the age of 89 in Iran on June 3, 1989. Around 3.5
million people attended his funeral.

Khomeini is still a popular figure to Iranians and
many Muslims. Each year on the anniversary of
his death, hundreds of thousands of people
attend a ceremony at his shrine at the Behesht-
e-Zahra cemetery.


Conclusion
Imam/Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini is the
only leader in the Muslim world who combined
political and religious authority as a head of state.
The leadership qualities of the late Imam Khomeini
furnish a historic model for revolutionary praxis
that will continue to inspire and guide the struggle
of the Islamic movement in the future.


Thank you for your time
References
1. http://imam-khomeini.com
2. http://www.notablebiographies.com
3. http://hozourblog.wordpress.com/tag/imam-khomeini
4. http://www.wikipedia.org
5. http://www.iranchamber.com
6. http://www.ya-hussain.com
7. http://www.imam-khomeini.ir
8. http://old.tehrantimes.com
9. http://www.taghribnews.ir
10. http://www.enotes.com
11. http://www.the-boondocks.org
12. http://www.tebyan.net
13. http://www.crethiplethi.com
14. http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com


Imam khomeini

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