A Critical Introduction to Khomeini

Abstract

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1902-89) is undoubtedly one of the twentiethcentury’s key international revolutionary figures whose role is definitive tomodern Iranian history. A massive amount of scholarship has been producedin Iran about him; this is not the case, however, in the English-speaking world.This publication by a collection of eminent scholars of Iranian studies, therefore,examines the critical impact of his political thought and religious philosophywithin and beyond Iran.In “Introduction,” editor Arshin Adib-Moghaddam provides a brief summaryof Khomeini’s political life before, during, and after the revolution. Inhis view, the Islamic Republic’s revolutionary discourse not only triggeredunprecedented sociopolitical changes, but also influenced the subjectivity ofIranian citizens. Moreover, he maintains that the two pillars of the ayatollah’spolitical thought were a “strong state” and “independence from foreign influences,”which are still adamantly pursued today (p. 15).Fakhreddin Azimi, in “Khomeini and the ‘White Revolution,’” looks atthe social context of his rise to prominence in the pre-revolutionary decades.With the dissolution of Reza Shah’s autocratic rule in 1941, secular and leftistdiscourses gained enough momentum to threaten the religious establishment.Despite these changes, the leading Shi‘i ulema maintained a quietist stanceuntil the middle of twentieth century (p. 19). During the 1960s, Khomeini initiatedhis rigorous anti-Shah political activity by combining “a stern moralismon gender issues and sociopersonal freedoms” with “forceful professions of ...