Ayatollah Khomeini (AK) was fearless, hardworking and dedicated to his cause; he lived a simple life and was not materialistic at all. Towards the end of his life, when the time came to name his successor, he chose Ali Khamenei over his son Ahmad who was equally qualified. By doing so, he nipped the evil of nepotism, so familiar to us in Pakistan, in the bud – Photo Encyclopedia Brittanica
About Ayatollah Khomeini
By Dr Asif Javed
Williamsport, PA
"He was greeted by hundreds of thousands of ecstatic supporters...Teeming crowds jammed the eleven-mile route from the airport to Tehran. He did not return the sentiment. Asked what emotions he felt on seeing his homeland for the first time in fourteen years, he snapped, 'None!'". This is how Andrew Cooper describes AK's return to Iran in 1979.
Compare that with a day in Nov 1964 when AK "found himself bundled on to a Royal IAF Hercules bound for Turkey and a life in permanent exile."
AK who had made a habit of criticizing Shah of Iran was in detention in 1963. Gen Pakravan, the Chief of Savak, Shah’s feared secret service, used to meet him in prison. This is his description of AK to his wife: “He is very handsome, has extraordinary presence, power of seduction. He has great charisma.” AK came across to him as very ambitious. “It made my hair stand an end. It was frightening.”
In 1964, the government of Iran announced a legal immunity to all US military personnel stationed in Iran along with their families and household staff. This led to yet another outburst by AK against the Shah and the US. Shah has had enough of him by then. AK was forced into exile, first to Turkey and later to Najaf, Iraq where he was to spend fourteen years. It was from Najaf that he was to inspire the resistance that led to Shah's overthrow in 1979.
An often overlooked fact: AK was not the highest ranking or the most popular Shia leader back in the 60's. That title belonged to Grand Ayatollah Khoi who was based in Najaf. Even inside Iran, Grand Ayatollah Kazim Shariatmadari had a bigger following than AK. Shariatmadari had been AK's teacher years earlier in Qom and had been instrumental in getting AK's life spared in 1963 by a personal appeal to Shah. Shariatmadari was also the one to have elevated AK from Ayatollah to Grand Ayatollah. Inside Iran, Shariatmadari represented the majority of clerics considered 'constitutionalists' who supported the 1906 constitution and wanted Shah to enforce it. This included the moderates in Mashad.
Because of Imam Raza's shrine, Mashad is the most revered religious place in Iran. They were "fearful of AK and extremist takeover," writes Cooper. AK represented the minority who were called 'rejectionists'. Over time, the rejectionists became the dominant force since their message resonated better with the younger generation.
This reminds one of what happened in imperial Russia after the overthrow of Czar Nicholas: the Bolsheviks or Reds were in a minority compared to the Whites but over time came to dominate them and then took over Russia.
"Regardless of their feelings about Shah's reforms, the clerics loathed AK for provoking bloodshed and stirring unrest," writes Cooper. "They regarded his interest in politics as heresy and his demagoguery as a threat to the entire religious establishment." But AK's "plainspoken delivery, rough street language, and call for violence resonated with the young." Over time, he developed the ability to mobilize masses, the street power. This was to be the decisive factor down the road in the final showdown with Shah.
After the revolution, a reign of terror was unleashed. AK either encouraged or allowed it. There is no evidence that he made any serious attempt to stop it. As a result, almost the whole top brass of Iranian military was wiped out. It was most unfortunate since the military leadership had already declared their neutrality after Shah's departure. Those who were expecting a general amnesty from AK similar to what the Holy Prophet had announced after the conquest of Mecca were sorely disappointed. It was left to a man who was languishing in a South African prison at the time to show the world in 1991 what forgiveness and reconciliation means.
AK could not forgive, a trait he shared with ZA Bhutto. Gen Pakravan had saved AK's life back in 1963. While in jail after the revolution, a fellow prisoner predicted that Pakravan's life will be spared. Pakravan disagreed: "AK will execute me because he knows I know a lot about him." Pakravan turned out to be right and was executed. The eight-year war with Iraq, though started by Saddam Hussain, was prolonged by AK who rejected all efforts at mediation. With one million dead, AK later agreed to ceasefire--on the same terms offered by Saddam years earlier.
The fatwa against Salman Rushdie was counterproductive. It gave unnecessary publicity to Satanic Verses while the wretched human being is still around. A few years after AK's death, government of Iran quietly repudiated that fatwa. AK's treatment of Shariatmadari was unduly harsh. After the revolution, his former teacher was kept under house arrest, beaten by thugs and allegedly denied cancer treatment drugs. His crime: he differed with AK's vision of Vilayat-e-faqih--Islamic government. The storming of the US embassy and taking of hostages was a bad decision. It continues to haunt Iran to this day.
AK was either a poor judge of character or perhaps of suspicious nature. Regardless, many who were close to him did not escape his wrath. Young, eloquent and handsome, Sadiq Qutabzadeh (SQ) was appointed Iran's foreign minister after the revolution. While AK was in Paris with him, SQ had tried to create a softer image of AK--a pious religious man who was "respectful of women's rights and human rights, and tolerant of different political views." He was suddenly sacked, imprisoned, and a few weeks later, the world awoke to see his dead body--yet another victim of a firing squad. Abul Hasan Banisadr (ABS) like SQ, too had been close to AK in exile. AK had appointed him the president of Iran. It was not long before he too fell out of favor and was denounced. Fearing for his life, ABS went underground. Hounded by police, he evaded capture by fleeing Iran--in disguise. He spent the rest of his life abroad. Shahpur Bukhtiar, the last PM of Iran under Shah, had his throat slashed in Paris. Amir Abbas Hyveda the former PM of Iran was executed too. The list goes on and on.
An incident from Najaf, presumably from late 60s, that found its way to the files of Iraqi intelligence and was later passed on to the French intelligence throws some light on AK's temperament:
One day, a child of his family had a fight with a neighborhood youngster. AK wanted the boy who had dared raise his hand to his offspring to be put to death.
The Iraqi intelligence report then goes on to describe AK as "a terrible character having personality traits of a medieval tyrant."
Shah and his advisers may have heaved a sigh of relief after AK was exiled - gone for good they imagined. They should have known better. AK used most of his time in Najaf to train religious students, thousands of them, five hundred Mujtahids among them. Most of them returned to Iran full of hatred towards the Shah and monarchy. AK's fiery anti-Shah sermons were smuggled into Iran recorded on audio cassettes. These were then reproduced en masse in safe houses in poor neighborhoods and then distributed all over. Those who were surprised at the swiftness of the Islamic revolution's success failed to recognize how much work had been done over the years, mostly behind the scene.
Shah's intelligence and security services made several foolish mistakes. For example, they stormed the Feiziyah Seminary in Qom in 1963 and made a bonfire of religious books and ulema’s turbans. This led to violent protests. But one that really backfired was an anonymous letter to the editor of Ettilat newspaper that accused AK of being a traitor, fraud, etc. It was an attempt in poor taste to discredit AK that brought thousands in streets chanting “Death to the Shah". Instead of its intended effect, it galvanized AK's supporters and hastened Pahlavi dynasty's demise.
AK's closest aids utilized several tricks to create the impression that he was special, a man of God. One that really worked was the moon trick. Andrew Cooper writes:
Middle-class Iran's fatal attraction to AK revealed itself one night...The country had been rattled by reports of flying saucers and monsters and these omens of doom set the scene for the remarkable collective hysteria that gripped Iran...It began with a rumor that on the evening of the next full moon, AK's face would be visible on its surface--only to believers...At the appointed hour hundreds of thousands Iranians crowed rooftops to marvel at the sight of their marja staring back at them from the face of the moon.
And what did Shah think of that?
AK’s “moon trick" convinced the Shah that he had utterly failed in his efforts to modernize Iran. Despite the billions he had invested in education, training, and industry, when the Iranian people were faced with a choice between his vision of progress and modernity and AK's face in the moon, they had succumbed to a fairy tale ... He felt sickened. "For me, everything is at an end," he lamented.
AK came close to death at least twice: once when Saddam offered to eliminate him in Iraq if Shah so desired. The other was a fatwa to assassinate AK offered by Shariatmadari to Pervez Sabeti of Savak in 1978. Neither offer was accepted. AK was a man of destiny.
A conversation reportedly between Grand Ayatollah Hakim and AK in Najaf reveals AK’s views on the sanctity of life. As they discussed the pros and cons of another uprising against the Shah, Hakim cautioned AK about the risks involved and causing unnecessary deaths. AK responded that deaths were exactly what the revolutionary movement needed. Martyrdom was to be celebrated and welcomed, not feared or discouraged. "We must sacrifice our lives." One wonders whether that fine line between a senseless massacre and true martyrdom was not quite clear in AK's mind.
AK was fearless, hardworking and dedicated to his cause; he lived a simple life and was not materialistic at all. Towards the end of his life, when the time came to name his successor, he chose Ali Khamenei over his son Ahmad who was equally qualified. By doing so, he nipped the evil of nepotism, so familiar to us in Pakistan, in the bud. Having overthrown monarchy against heavy odds, he had the world at his feet. He was in total command. His word was law. He had the golden opportunity to take a back seat and allow Iran to become a modern democracy and he did not. Instead, he has left behind a rigid theocracy dominated by hardline clerics that lurches from one crisis to another. And that has tarnished his legacy.
Reference: The Fall of Heaven by Andrew Cooper
(The author is a physician in Williamsport, PA and may be reached at asifjaved@comcast.net )
