لطفا منتظر باشید ...
A Leader Is Born
On the 20th of Jamadi al thani of the year
1320 A.H. (1901 A.D.) which coincided with the birth anniversary of the holy
prophet's only daughter, Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra, a boy was born in the household
of late Ayatollah Seyed Mustafa Musavi in the small town of Khomein in the
central province of Iran. The newborn was named Rouhollah (the spirit of Allah).
Ayatollah Musavi was the son of Allamah Seyed Ahmad Musavi, a renowned Shiite
clergy of noble descendence. The allamah who used to live in the Iraqi city of
Najaf, the venue of the holy shrine of Imam Au (a.s) the first imam of the
Shiite sect, was called on by a charitable man by the name of Youssef Khan
Kamarehi, a pilgrim to the holy shrine, to go to Khomein in order to take care
of the religious affairs of the town's people. There, the Allamah married to
Youssef Khan's daughter who gave birth to a daughter, Sahebeh, and a son,
Mustafa. Seyed Mustafa studied in Najaf and Samerra in Iraq when the grand
Ayatollah Mirza-ye Shirazi was teaching there. He became a mujtahid before
returning to Iran in order to become the leading clergy of Khomein region. In
Zihajjah of 1320 A.H. he was assassinated by the rebels on the road from Khomein
to Arak and was shot down. At the time of his death Seyed Mustafa was only 47
years old. He was buried in Najaf. The martyred ayatollah had three daughters
and three sons namely, Seyyed Morteza (Pasandideh) now a high ranking clergy in
the holy city of Qom, Seyed Nureddin who lived in Tehran as a nobleman until his
death in 1396 A.H.; and Seyed Rouhollah (Imam Khomeini) who was his last
child.
The Imam's mother was a cultured lady by the name of Hajar who
came from a religious family. Her father was late Ayatollah Mirza Ahmad, a
Shiite scholar who was the teacher of many other high ranking clerics; and her
uncles were Akhund Mullah Mohammad Javad, Agha Najafi Malayeri and Agha Sheikh
Fazlollah. Her brothers were Haj Mirza Mohammad Mehdi, Mirza Abduihossein, Haj
Mirza Zainulabedin and Agha Habib, all of them leading Muslim clergies of their
days.
With the assassination of Seyed Mustafa, his sister, Sahebeh,
moved to his house in order to take care of her brother's minor children. The
valuable characteristics of this lady can be the subject of anther book. The
little Rouhollah was taken care of by his mother Hajar and his aunt Sahebeh
since he was only five months old. Meanwhile he had a nanny by the name of Naneh
Khavar who worked hard to take care of this little boy. Sahebeh died when
Rouhollah was 15. Her death was a great loss for Rouhollah whose mother too fell
ill shortly after that and passed away in 1336 A.H. However, these losses added
to young Rouhollah's strength and integrity.
More than a hundred years ago when the monarchs of Qajar
dynasty were incapable of running the affairs of the state, the central
government was weakened and local governments were on the rise. A prince was
ruling in every piece of the country and rebels were in fact in command.
Increasing taxes were heavy burdens to be carried on the shoulders of the nation
that was hungry and helpless. The little Khomein is no exception. However, in
this town there was one house that was refuge for the oppressed. This was the
house of Haji Mustafa Khomeini. A house like a fortress located passed the Sadat
gate in the eastern part of the town with two towers on its northern and eastern
wings. Above those towers were walls as high as almost two meters with
fortifications and holes that were used for shooting in defense. Those towers
were overlooking the whole town. A river flowing on the southern side of the
fortress provided its security only from that direction. At nights, the eastern
gate was closed and guards were on patrol for whole nights. Mustafa's house was
linked to the mosque and the bazaar through a narrow alley that was watched from
over the towers. At times when the rebels backed by the Khans and princes
attacked the town, Mustafa's house was the city's only safe place where people
could take refuge.
Mustafa, the town's highest ranking clergy and mujtahid took
arms on such occasions and defended the helpless people. When he was
assassinated, he was on a trip to Arak to file a complaint against the
aggressors. According to one version of his biography, the Imam was only four
months and two days old when his father was killed.
Only one of the two towers have survived the passage of time.
The house has a small silent courtyard and a water pond that reflects the
sunlight. The house has small wooden doors and spiraling staircases that lead to
the rooftop. The floor of the courtyard is covered with pale bricks. But the
clay houses around it have now been replaced by modern houses with stone or
brick facades. The only clay house in the area is the Imam's house, where he
lived intermittently not longer than 20 years.
Imam Khomeini's education started when he was very young. A
teacher named Mirza Mahmoud taught him how to read and write. After Mirza
Mahmoud who went to the Imam's house, there were Mullah Aboighassem and Sheikh
Jafar who had their own little schools. Then he went to a school where Agha
Hamzeh Mahallati taught Persian calligraphy. At the age of 15, Rouhollah started
to learn Islamic knowledge and Arabic grammar from his brother, now Ayatollah
Pasandideh. Although he was supposed to go the Isfahan seminary for further
studies on Islamic culture, he ended up in Arak where the seminary was run under
the supervision of great theologian Haj Sheikh Abdulkarim Haeri Yazdi. One year
later in 1340 A.H., the seminary was moved to the holy city of Qom. Rouhollah
too moved to Qom where he resided at Daruishafa School. In the next five years,
he completed his higher education in divinity under the supervision of Haj
Sheikh Abdulkarim Haeri Yazdi, at the time of whose death in 1355 A.H., the Imam
was definitely a mujtahid who was renowned in the seminary as a leading
clergy.
Meanwhile, he studied astronomy, philosophy, Islamic knowledge
and mysticism beside his studies in the area of Islamic jurisprudence. He
learned astronomy from Sheikh Au Akbar Yazdi and philosophy from Sheikh Mohammad
Au Shah Abadi. Nevertheless, he knew that true knowledge was an outcome of self
purification, so he tried to strengthen his spiritual virtues as a young man so
that he was always known as a pious man by al those who met him. He was far from
fame seeking, ambitions and hypocrisy. He even did not allow the publication of
his photos and religious teachings until it was eagerly sought by the people on
the days of the Islamic revolution.
Imam Khomeini was very orderly since his childhood. He prayed
in the middle of the night all his lifetime and when he lived in Najaf he paid
daily visits to the shrine at the same time every afternoon. He followed the
same discipline in the other matters of his life, so that his family members
could tell the time by what he was doing. He always walked heavily with military
like steps. He walked with his head up and never bent his head even when it
rained. He always attended his classes on time and did not like his students to
be late.
He lived alone until the year 1348 A.H. when he married the
daughter of Ayatollah Haj Mirza Mohammad Saghafi. The bride's father knew the
Imam as a pious man in the seminary and immediately accepted the Imam's proposal
to marry his daughter. Two sons and three daughters were the outcome of this
marriage. His first son, Hujjatoleslam llaj Seyed Mustafa Khomeini who was born
in 1930 studied theology and became a mujtahid when he was 27 years old. He was
a student of the Imam and late Ayatollah Borougerdi and Haj Seyed Mohammad
Damad. Mustafa married the daughter of Ayatollah Haeri. He was assasinated when
living in Najaf with the Imam.
The Imam's second son, Haj Seyed Ahmad studied theology at the
Qom city seminary. He devoted all of his life to taking care of the Imam. In the
final years of the Imam's life in Iran after the Islamic revolution he ran the
Imam's office while taking very good care of the aging leader of Islamic
revolution particularly following a heart problem that developed in 1980.
The Years Of Struggle
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi rose to throne when the allies had
already won the World War II. Heads of the three victorious ally President
Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United
Kingdom and Soviet leader Josef G. Stalin held their summit meeting in Tehran.
In this conference they reviewed the situation of the world, named Iran as the
bridge of their victory and expressed support for the continuation of the young
Shah's rule.(1)
In the political situation of Iran on those days, political
parties and activists found themselves relieved from the strangulation imposed
by Reza Khan and saw a new opportunity for renewing their activities. New
newspapers and magazines started publication while those banned under Reza Khan
found an opportunity for renewed activities. The Shah was powerless on one hand
and tried to introduce himself as a democrat on the other hand. Veteran
political parties including the communist Tudeh party tried hard to take over
the power so that within a short span of time the position of prime minister
changed hands several times.
Foreign supporr was just one factor leading to the
strengthening of the Shah's regime. Another factor certainly was the lack of a
popular opposition leadership. In fact many political activists and leaders had
been arrested and imprisoned and some killed or sent to exile under Reza Khan.
Many of the leading clergies were isolated because of the political pressures of
the regime and the propaganda that was launched against them in the pro-regime
press. Of course there was Ayatollah Seyed Aboighassem Kashani, a veteran
political activist, but he was jailed during the war because of his alleged
cooperation with the Germans. In the meantime the clergies' request for reforms
were neglected by the regime. Prime Minister Foroughi's government at first
promised to meet those demands but he did not stand by his words.
Social dissatisfactions made thee situation ripe for the
leftist political parties. When Reza Khan left the country the Tudeh party took
advantage of the people's dissatisfaction and attracted many students, workers
and even military men. Other parties too had their own supporters but the
clergies and religious elements still did not have any sort of political
organization.
Imam Khomeini has been an eyewitness to many of the crimes
committed by Reza Khan's regime. He also knew very well the nature of the regime
that was led by the Khan's son, Mohammad Reza Shah. Most of what as done by the
young Shah was committed under the name of liberty and liberalism.
Only two years after Reza Khan fled the country, the Imam wrote
his book, Kashf ul Asrar taking the first steps towards voicing his protest
against the sociopolitical situation of his country. In this book he also
criticized the clergies for the neglecting of current affairs. In this book the
Imam wrote:
"Reza Khan went. The dark days of dictatorship are gone. We
assumed that the nation has found out abut their problems and twenty years of
aggression against their life, property and family values have taught them a
lesson and that they will punish the bankrupt politicians of the so called
golden ages. But they are still a sleep and have forgotten their dark days. As
the nation failed to realize their right the adventurists found an opportunity
to attack the people's religious values and turn the country into an arena to
materialize their corrupt intentions and return those black days."
Writing this book was not the only thing he did. He tried to
disclose the regime's corruption in every opportunity he found. When he was
asked to write an article, unlike the clergies of the day who used sophisticated
language in their speeches and writings, the Imam used words that could be
easily understood by the man in the street:
". . . We are doomed to see these dark days because of our
selfishness and because we ceased to stand up for God. We have been conquered by
the whole world and the Islamic states have come under the influence of
foreigners. Individual interests have strangulated the spirit of unity and
brotherhood among Muslims. Selfishness has made millions of Muslim people slave
to only a few million others. Personal interests have turned newspapers into
machines that disseminate corruptive words and implement Reza Khan's plans and
have made some members of the illegitimate parliament so outrageous that they
dare utter words against religion and the clergies..."
In spite of all its merits the book was neglected in its times
and the events that took place later strengthened the foundations of the Shah's
regime. But the death of Ayatollah Seyed Aboihassan Esfahani the leading Shiite
clergy of that time in 1946 and the issue of his succession prompted the imam to
boost his political activities. He knew Ayatollah Haj Seyed Hossein Boroujerdi
and his scholarly status so started a campaign in his support and encouraged him
to travel to Qom and accept the rank of religious leadership. He also went to
various cities and met with high ranking clergies of the country in order to
secure their support for ayatollah Boroujerdi. Although the ayatollah did not
show much interest in political activities, yet the Imam tried to keep him
informed of the social and political developments of the country. Nevertheless
he never tried to impose his way of thinking to the aging ayatollah. Once, he
closed down his philosophy lessons when he found out that the ayatollah was not
happy with them.
Following the assassination attempt on the Shah's life in the
February of 1949 at the Tehran University, the Shah found a pretext to suppress
his opponents ~nd strengthen his regime. A state of siege was declared in
Tehran, ayatollah Kashani was arrested and the Tudeh party was banned and its
leaders were prosecuted. The Shah viewed ayatollah Kashani as a threat and did
not like the Tudeh party because of its dependency on the Soviet Union and its
popularity among he country's youths. When he removed these two obstacles, he
planned to establish a constitutional assembly in order to modify the
constitutional law and secure more power for himself. These powers included the
disbanding of the country's bicameral parliament. Now ayatollah Kashani was sent
to exile in Lebanon and the parliament was nothing that could threaten the Shah.
His major concern was ayatollah Boroujerdi. According to the constitutional law
five high ranking clergies of the official religion, the Shiite, were to probe
into the compliance of all laws that were passed by the parliament with the
religious law, shar~ah. There was a rumor that this was one of the
constitutional principles that were to be changed. In order to calm down the
ayatollah, the Shah sent two of his ministers to Qom in order to hold talks with
him. In this meeting the Imam who represented ayatollah Boroujerdi lashed out at
the Shah's emissary saying that the clerics would never allow changing that
principle or any other that would violate the rights of nation. However,
ayatollah Boroujerdi allowed amendments to the constitutional law in the cases
that interfere with the affairs of the religion. From his exile in Lebanon
ayatollah Kashani condemned any change in the constitutional law and announced
in a declaration that opposition to such changes were the duty of the nation. He
said, "they cannot kill everybody."
During the 1940's the struggle for the nationalization of
Iranian oil was one of the most important problems of the country's religious
and national movements and finally moved their leaders towards a coalition. In
the parliamentary elections of 1950 both Dr. Mossadegh and Ayatollah Kashani,
who had returned from exile, were elected as members of parliament. Kashani had
declared Iran's oil as national property as soon as he returned to the country
in June 1950 saying that the Gass- Golshayan agreement of 1933 was now
abolished. The Shah appointed a military man, General Razmara his prime minister
in order to push the agreement forward. Mossadegh introduced the idea of
nationalization to the parliament and Kashani supported it. A few months later,
in March 1951 Razmara was assassinated and the nationalization law was
passed.
After a few months with Hossein Ala in the office as premiere,
Mossadegh became the prime minister. In July 1952 he resigned from his post when
disputes broke out between him and Shah. Consequently Ahmad Ghavam became the
new prime minister. Ayatollah Kashani voiced his opposition to the appointment
and thousands of people took to the streets many of whom got killed or wounded
in clashes with the Shah's forces. The Shah immediately removed Ala and
reinstated Mossadegh. Although this episode marked an alliance between the two
leaders, but their separation that emerged later on paved the way for the late
August 1953 coup d' etate. Although the Imam was not directly involved in the
political developments of those years, his son, Mostafa, carried the messages he
exchanged with ayatollah Kashani. The Imam also met with him in the summer in
Tehran.
The coup further strengthened the Shah's regime and with the
fall of Mossadegh's government and taking over of General Zahedi, and 340
million tons of Iranian oil was plundered by the United States between the years
1953 and 1963. The resulting revenue was spent on military purchases from
America rather than the development of the country, so that the country's
military expenses became fourfold before 1960's.
The Iranian government became increasingly dependent on the
United States. American military advisors came to Iran in great numbers and
established several military and espionage bases across the country. In 1956 the
Shah's notorious secret police (SAVAK) was established with American assistance.
The force began to suppress any opposition to the Shah and his government. But
the eruption of liberation movements all over the third world prompted the
United States to induce reforms in its dependent states in order to prevent the
downfall of their governments. With the taking office of a democratic government
in the U.S. in 1969, the Americans supported a land reform in Iran. In the
meantime the country's political atmosphere was opened between the years 1960
and 1963.
With all its perils the 1953 coup revealed the true face of
many individuals, organizations and political groups. Some of the well_known
opponents of the Shah later repented and became his allies. Some who remained
loyal to their political ideology were tried and imprisoned and some others who
established a national resistance movements became divided a few years later and
some left political activities for economic ones. The left and right factions of
national front and their leaders supported the U.S. during the 50's. Hundreds of
the members of the political wing of the Tudeh Party were arrested and
imprisoned and some were released after repenting. Some others even became the
members of the Shah's secret ~police and helped him in the suppression and
arresting of political activists.
In 1960 the second round of the activities of national front
started and its leader, Dr. Allahyar Saleh was elected member of the parliament
from Kashan. The parliament was later disbanded. The years 1960 to 1963 were the
peak of activities of national front. Yet those activities included a few
meetings and a publication of a few letters, and finally the front collapsed and
was disorganized. In 1961 the religious faction of national front separated from
it and established the Freedom Movement of Iran. Their Manifest indicated, "we
are Muslim. We see religion and politics not as two separate entities. We are
Iranian and believe in the constitution. We are the followers of Mossadegh."
With the political openness, the Shah had to face two problems:
On the one hand the U.S. exerted pressure on the regime to induce the reforms
and on the other hand ayatollah Boroujerdi opposed these reforms. In order to
meet the demands of the U.S. the Shah appointed Dr. Amini his prime minister and
told him that he did not want to further the reforms without the ayatollah's
consent. He emissary to Qom but the ayatollah did not approve of the reforms
saying that there were other things that needed more reforms. With the death of
Ayaotllah Boroujerdi the Shah thought that the obstacle on the way of his
reforms was removed but Amini knew that he still had to talk to the clergies in
Qom. From among the high ranking clergies, Imam Khomeini refused to see his
representative in private so a young cleric by the name of Aghighi Bakhshayeshi
was present in the meeting. The content of the talks appeared in a newspaper on
the same day. By this, the Imam wanted to make sure that Amini could not pretend
that he has talked with top clergies and sought their consent to the
reforms.
The land reform law was approved by the cabinet ministers in
January 1962. Although the Imam believed that this reform was not to the benefit
of farmers, yet he did not vice his opposition because the regime could take
advantage of what he said. Dr. Amini's superficial reforms, particularly his
administrative reforms made him popular. This and the fact that the prime
minister got his orders from the United States outraged the Shah. He went to the
U.S. and told the American officials that he was willing to do the reforms
himself. When he returned ,he engineered Dr. Amini's resignation and his friend
Assadollah Alam became the prime minister in the summer of 1 962.
When he took office as premiere Alam tried to weaken the
clergies. It was said in Qom that he was about to establish movie theaters, bars
and red light districts in the holy city. The young clergies in a letter to
warned him against taking such measures. From among the high ranking clergies it
was only the Imam who summoned the city's police chief and showing the letter to
him warned him of the consequences of the regime's actions. Later, when a clergy
from Qom went to the royal court to congratulate the Shah on the birth of his
son, he too was summoned and questioned by the Imam when he returned to the holy
city.
With the death of Ayatollah Kashani another obstacle on the way
of the Shah's reforms was removed. The Imam held a magnificent commemoration
ceremony for the late ayatollah and himself took part in it. Backed by 20 years
of struggle against he regime, the Imam was now more determined in his
opposition to the Shah and his regime. With the setting forth of the idea of
provincial societies and the launching of other plots by the regime that were
aimed at weakening Islam and Muslim clergies the Imam stood face to face with he
Shah and his regime.
Although the Shah managed to send the Imam to exile but the
Imam continued his leadership of the people's struggle that led to a great
victory fifteen years later and toppled the two thousand and five hundred years
old monarchy.
THE 15TH OF KHORDAD
The days between June 1963 and June 1989 comprise one of the
most important junctures of the Islamic movement of Iranian people. On the 13th
of Khordad of the Iranian solar year of 1342 coinciding with the 3"' of June
1963 the Imam gave a speech at the Fayziah seminary in Qom starting the his long
struggle against the U.S. and the Shah's regime. On the l5~ of June millions of
Iranians launched a demonstration that led to bloodshed. In this demonstration
millions of people from various walks of life vowed their allegiance with their
spiritual leader. The movement that started on that day was suppressed by the
military regime of those days but it remained as a turning point in the Iranian
history as well as a starting point for other political and social developments
and upheavals. In fact, the victory of Islamic revolution on the 11th of
February 1979 was in continuation of the June movement that had lived during all
those years like a fire under the ashes of time.
With this movement the Iranian people found out that they
needed to sacrifice themselves and shed their blood. The June movement
eliminated the people's fear of bullets and death. The other things they fund
out they needed for their victory was courage and free will. The victory of
Islamic revolution was to a great extent the outcome of the experiences they had
gained in the course of the June movement and the ensuing events.
The Islamic revolution of 1979 that was based on the June 1963
movement has its roots in the Iranian people's interest in the revival of
Islamic values. A revolution that may take place in every society where
oppression obstacles the nation's spiritual growth and where people's values are
undermined by colonial exploitation. It is because of his characteristic that
the Islamic revolution cannot be understood within the frameworks known for
discussing social changes. In fact it must be discussed as a movement within the
Muslim world rather than a regional development.
The revolution that started on the 15th of Khordad was the
natural outcome of a prolonged struggle by the Muslim people of Iran against the
regime's de-isimization attempts that had started during the reign of Reza Shah
Pahiavi in early twentieth century. This trend started with the regime's
official opposition to the idea of Hijab and the ban it imposed on religious
schools. The systematic opposition with Islamic values continued throughout the
Pahiavi days and obviously gained momentum following the 1953 coup d' tat when
foreign secret services came to the Shah's aid in the suppressing of fundamental
ideas.
However, thanks to the strong opposition by the clergies, the
de-islamization trend was not successful until early 60's. The leading clergy,
Ayatollah Boorujerdi's influence was so strong that he Shah did not dare
attempting any radical movement. After the ayatollah's death, the regime
resolved to go ahead with the westernization trend more seriously. The first
attempt of this kind was the establishment f provincial associations. The regime
was surprised when it had to face the strong opposition from Qom and finally
gave up the idea at once. Imam Khomeini had a very influential role in this
opposition against the provincial associations. The Imam ruled out the idea of
inducing reforms in the regime and expressed support for the overthrow of the
regime and the establishment of an Islamic government. He began to issue
strongly worded declarations against what he called the conspiracies of the
Shah, Israel and the United States. This made the Imam well-known in the Muslim
world and an example to be followed in the years 1961 and 1962. Following the
very important speech he made on 13 Khordad in which he had threatened the Shah
that he would be expelled from the country, two days later he was arrested. In
that speech, the Imam had called on the Muslims of the world to launch an
uprising against the US. and Israel.
Following the Imam's arrest, he was taken to a prison in
Tehran. But protest rallies started in major Iranian cities including Tehran,
Qom, Mashad, Shiraz, Isfahan and Tabriz in which the people expressed their
support for their religious leader. The government declared the state of siege
following the cross country unrest and suppressed the movement. But it continued
to live like a fire under ashes.
The importance of the June movement was in the fact that major
political events before that, including the 1953 coup de' tat had disheartened
the people who were divided following the movement for the nationalization of
Iranian oil. The movement that took place two years of political work on the
part of the Imam and the clergies had a great enlightening role among the people
who were about to surrender to westernization. It is definitely a mistake if
anyone considers the l5th of Khordad movement an isolated attempt. In fact it
was the manifestation of Iranian people's idealism and a bridge between the
people who had fought for an Islamic government for centuries and the new
generation that had been awakened and enlightened by Ayatollah Khomeini.
Following the June movement, the government sent Imam Khomeini
to exile in Turkey in October 1964. The Imam had protested against American
military advisors immunity before Iranian laws. In a speech a week before his
being sent to exile, Ayatollah Khomeini had lashed out on western powers and
declared that Islam was endangered by them. He said that the US.wanted to cut
off the influence of the clergies in the Iranian politics. With the Imam in
exile and political activists in prison the Shah managed to suppress all
political movements for about 15 years between the years 1964 and 1979. In the
meantime, the revival of Islam had become the foundation of the movement that
led to the victory of Islamic revolution.
However, in the meantime, the despair that had emerged among
political activists following the 1953 coup and the oil nationalization movement
before that, and the regime encouragement to forward the de-islamization and
westernization attempt brought about a virtual silence in the years between 1953
and 1961. The Imam managed to gain the people's confidence after all those years
of silence because he was the symbol of orthodox Islam. His movement was viewed
by the people as a divine movement that was aimed at putting an end to the
indifference that was induced by those who had suppressed political movements in
the country. The main motivation of the movement, however, was the revival of
Islam although there were other motives like putting an end to the country's
economic, political and cultural dependency, suppression of civil liberties and
the imposition of dictatorship.
In the years between 1963 and 1979 the regime's policies
carried the country towards a western dominated economy that left its impacts on
a series of phenomena like the political system and military machine not to
mention the western culture that overwhelmed the country in a situation in which
any religious movement was violently suppressed. The Pahiavi regime in those
years tried its best and most to establish a western style social order under a
dictatorship. The educational system was depending on the
west as did the military, economy and other aspects of social
life in Iran in those fifteen years. Tens of thousands of people were sent to
jail for their opposition to the regime's violence, dependency and corruption
and most of them were tortured in the prisons while serving long terms.
This opposition gained momentum in the years 1977 to 1979 when
the Islamic revolution was taking its final and true shape. The unrest started
with the mysterious death of Imam's elder son, Mustafa. The commemorations
sessions that were held for him across Iran were turned to political meetings
during which the regime's violence and corruption was revealed. Three major
confrontation between the regime and the people in Qom, Tabriz and Tehran
brought the regime to its knees. A military government was established, people
were killed in the violences while others started to destroy and burn places
that were symbols of he regime's corruption.
As opposition within the army started to emerge, the Shah set
up a civilian government and left the country in mid January 1979 after
appointing a civilian prime minister from the national front and promising major
reforms. But it was too late for any reforms as the only change the people were
demanding was the establishment of an Islamic government. His last prime
minister, Shapur Bakhtiar, even tried to pretend support for Ayatollah Khomeini
but nobody believed him, particularly after he voiced his opposition to the
Imam's return from his last exile in Paris and ordered the military to open fire
at the people in the streets.
After the imam's glorious arrival in Tehran, Bakhtiar managed
to resist only for ten days. On the 10th of February, his government extended
the state of siege and banned the people's presence in the street round the
clock! But Ayatollah Khomeini called on the people to defy the illegitimate
government's orders and take to the streets. Following a whole day of combat in
the streets of Tehran the military surrendered to the revolution. This was the
end of the monarchy and dictatorship. The movement that led to this victory was
one of the few major revolutions of the past two centuries. Nevertheless it was
a unique movement that could not be compared to any liberation movement in Asia
and Africa during the same period.
The people's role in the Islamic revolution, its leadership, as
well as its global political, cultural, and social influence are among the
characteristics that have made it unique among the revolutions and liberation
movements of contemporary history.href="4l#p2">(2)
A LION IN EXILE
When the Imam was exiled, to Turkey, the bazaar closed down.
People wrote letters to the embassy of Turkey oicing their protest against the
action. Others gathered at the houses of high ranking clergies to pronounce
their protest. At the same time, there were rumors going around that the Imam
was in danger or that Turkey was about to extradite him to Iran. Meanwhile,
prayer sessions were held across the country and at the same time Iranian
students abroad staged massive protest demonstrations and sent protest letters
to international organizations.
In Tehran, in response to a letter sent by the UN secretary
general about the ayatollah, several meetings were held at top level but all
ended up in confusion. However, at the end, they decided to send the Imam to
another exile in Iraq. Contrary to the regime's expectations Imam had widespread
contacts with Muslim clergies of Iran and other countries from his exile in the
city of Najaf making all the efforts of the regime against him futile.
At the end of his exile in Iraq when the Shah's regime exerted
pressure on Iraq to send the Imam to another country, a top Iraqi security
official came to visit the Imam and asked him where he wished to go. The
official obviously thought that the Imam would name Kuwait, Syria, Pakistan or
some other Muslim country. The Imam said he wanted to go to a country that was
not dependent on the Shah. When the official asked where, the Imam said: France.
The Iraqi official immediately left with a face reddened by shame.
The Imam's years in exile have been extensively discussed in
the previous chapters; nevertheless, in the upcoming chapters too, when it comes
to the discussion of late Imam's family life we shall again go back to the
subject observing it from different angles and particularly from the point of
view of the late leader's close relatives. The life of a man going from one
exile to another in the course of a turbulent juncture of history can cover
several books by itself. The sheer experience of living in exile is dreadful
enough. Having to go from one to another is certainly exciting to read but more
certainly there is nothing to enjoy for the ones who experience the tormenting
emotional experience of such a traumatic change.
