By: Kayhan Int’l Cultural Desk

Yesterday the nation marked the 60th anniversary of the 15th of Khordad uprising that was sparked by the arrest of the Father of the Islamic Revolution by the British-installed and US-backed rootless Pahlavi potentate, while day-before-yesterday the nation commemorated the 34th anniversary of his departure from the mortal world for having generated the grassroots movement to salvage Iran from domestic despotism and foreign hegemony.
Imam Khomeini (RA) continues to rule the hearts and minds of not just scores of millions of Iranian people, but also of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world as well as of conscientious persons of various creeds and schools of thought for his selfless service to humanity.
He changed for good the destiny of Iran, turning it from a state subservient to Anglo-American imperialism into a fully independent country mastering of science and technology and whose ideological, political, and cultural influence continues to send shivers down the spines of the devilish powers.
A magnetic figure who for ten years piloted the ship of the Islamic Republic to the shores of safety through the stormy waters of American plots such as sanctions, terrorism, and a devastating 8-year war, he did not leave Iran, Iranians, and the world’s oppressed in the dark. He bequeathed to them a rich and lasting legacy, and an able successor in the form of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who today is the hope and support of all aspirants to truth, social justice and independence.
Imam Khomeini needs no introduction. Born in 1902 in the town of Khomein to religious leader, Seyyed Mustafa Musavi, he was named Ruhollah in honour of Prophet Jesus (peace upon him), whom Muslims hail as the Spirit of God.
He lost his father early in life, but like all great men he strove with faith in God and self-confidence to acquire knowledge, wisdom, piety, patience, prudence, patriotism, and skills in management that continue to contribute to his lasting charisma, although he is no longer in our midst physically.
His uprising against tyranny; exile to Turkey and thence to Iraq; and return home in triumph in February 1979 as Leader of the Islamic Revolution to throw into the dustbin of history a foreign installed rootless regime which had tried to impose upon Iran the immoral norms of a decadent West by undermining the rich culture and religion of the nation, are all vivid in our memory.
His determination defeated the Satanism of Washington although he did not carry any weapon. When circumstances made him assume political charge of Iran, he was already an accomplished scholar, a leading jurisprudence, and gnostic of the highest order, who with reliance upon God during the ten years he was at the helm of affairs until his departure from the mortal world in June 1989, completely transformed Iran into a strong, dignified and truly independent country, capable of resisting the plots and pressures of Global Arrogance.
This makes us recall a famous hadith mentioned in “Bihar al-Anwaar” the Hadith Encyclopedia, from Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA):
“A man from Qom will rise and invite people towards truth. Around him will gather people like slabs of iron (of iron-resolve), who will stand firm against strong winds and storms, and will never get tired of war. They know not fear and have trust in Allah. The outcome is for the pious.”
A study of this statement expressed over a millennium and two centuries ago by an Infallible Imam, shows that no such event had occurred in Qom throughout all these centuries until the year 1963, when Imam Khomeini raised his voice against the Godless Pahlavi regime that was installed by the British and backed to the hilt by the Americans in order to keep the Muslim nation of Iran in thrall.
He was not a cult leader, nor did he aspire to become one and neither do those who keep alive his memory are trying to make him a demigod. In fact, as should be clear, this humble scholar of the School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt put into practice the heritage of Islamic learning and strove to enlighten mankind with higher humanitarian ideals which are conspicuously absent in bodies and souls burdened with animal instincts and traits.
This was where the iconoclast came into open conflict with the materialistic West, especially the ‘Great Satan’ (the US) and its blinkered vision of life and culture. This was where godless capitalism floundered against Islamic resurgence.
The man who foresaw the doom of communism and whose dynamic decree hangs like the Sword of Damocles on the head of apostasy, has also spoken of his views on economy, politics, arts, industry, culture, science and religion, all of which function as an integrated whole in human life.
Thus, it was not without reason that Imam Khomeini spurned the suggestion by some to add the word ‘democratic’ to the Islamic Republic. He knew the havoc played in modern history by regimes ranging from dictatorial to anarchic, styling themselves as ‘democratic’. It was also his firm belief that the term ‘Islamic’ was far more comprehensive than the ancient Greek or modern Western concept, and it is only under the Islamic system that people’s rights are genuinely respected. In the Late Imam’s view the term ‘democratic’ was not only redundant and useless but carried a deceptive and disgraceful tone.
This is fully evident in the mischievous term ‘democratic’ used by the western media for the racist/terrorist entity called Israel, which was illegally planted on Palestinian soil by Britain in 1948 and which commits every conceivable human rights violations against Palestinians.
It was for this reason, Imam Khomeini had said: “If every Muslim pours a bucket of water it would be enough to flush away the criminal state of Israel.”
These prophetic words, if not yet fully realized, portend the impending doom of the illegal Zionist entity by the person at whose heart was the solidarity of the Muslim Ummah.

This is obvious by his designation of the Last Friday of Fasting Ramadhan as “World Qods Day” to mobilize global support for the liberation of Islam’s former Qibla, the al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as declaration of Islamic Unity Week to span the 12th and 17th of the month of Rabi al-Awwal – the two days regarded by the two main sects of Islam respectively as the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
He famously said: “If this (Islamic) brotherhood is materialized some day with the efforts of the governments and the people, and of course, with Divine Help, you will see that the Muslims will be the world’s greatest power.”
Iran may not yet have reached the ideal stage of a truly Islamic state as desired by him as is evident by the eyesore of some bareheaded women in public, but the change he wrought has been positively profound.
One of the most brilliant measures of Imam Khomeini was the concept of “Wilayat-e Faqíh” or Governance of the Supreme Jurisprudent in the physical absence of the Imam of the Age, the Prophet’s 12 and Last Successor, Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance for establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity, and justice).
It was his conviction that authority in state matters was not the prerogative of the infirm in faith, the unprincipled, the immoral and the unjust, but of upright jurisprudents on the basis of the hadith “the fuqahà’ are the heirs of Prophets”.
Today, Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini is no more with us, but his thoughts and ideas are alive, especially the blueprint of Islamic government which has all the characteristics of a catalyst for aspiring Muslim countries. It is this magnetism that gains new adherents every day around the globe and sends shivers down the spine of those masquerading as defenders of democracy and human rights.