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Essay on Ayatollah Khomeini (1900-1989)
Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah full name Sayyid Ruhollah al-Musavi al-Khomeini, religious leader who, from exile, led the popular revolution that toppled Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran in 1979. Khomeini was the son of Sayyid Mostafa, a religious scholar who died six months after Khomeini was born. After Khomeini’s mother and aunt died when he was 15, he was raised by an older brother. With his brother, he memorized the Qur'an (Koran) and learned the basics of Shia Islam. Shortly thereafter Khomeini traveled to Arak, where he studied Islamic law. In the early 1920s his teacher moved to Qom (Qum) and Khomeini followed, rising from the rank of pupil to ayatollah, a term for a leading Shia scholar that literally means gift of God.
He embraced mysticism, which teaches the relinquishing of earthly pleasures in favor of a life spent contemplating God’s mysteries. Because it was a combination of law, logic, and philosophy, Khomeini’s brand of mysticism attracted many disciples.
Due to the untimely loss of his father, the Imam was brought up under the affectionate care of his mother and his aunt Sahiba, yet, when he was at the early age of fifteen his aunt came to an ill-timed end, and abruptly afterwards his mother also passed away. The loss of his dear ones was a severe blow to one so Young but it also served to strengthen the will of Imam Khomeini and cemented his faith in Allah the Almighty all the more from early childhood the Imam paid keen interest in his studies. At a very early age he learned to read and write, and his elder brother, Ayatollah Passandideh also taught him Arabic grammar and logic along with the rudiments of many other subjects. To further his studies Imam Khomeini studied literature at the Center for Theological studies in Arak and later in Qom..............
