University Press of America. Dustin J. Byrd is an assistant professor of humanities at Olivet College in Michigan. He specializes in the critical theory of religion Frankfurt School and Islam, and continues to work on a critical theory of Islamic modernity and revolution.
An excellent application of the critical theory of religion in the situation of the Near East. Ruhollah Khomeini was born in in Iran. He studied Islamic theology, became a religious teacher, and received the title of ayatollah supreme religious leader. Khomeini believed that it was necessary to abandon material and earthly pleasures in order to better understand and obey the will of God. In time, he drew many students and followers to his way of thinking.
He and his followers attacked the Shah's support of Israel, friendship to America, and un-Islamic policies. On February 1, , the Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran in triumph after 15 years of exile. He was a Shiite—the branch of Islam practiced by a majority of Iranians—and soon devoted himself to the formal study of Shia Islam in the city of Qom. A devout cleric, he rose steadily in the Shiite hierarchy and attracted many disciples. The new shah had close ties with the West, and in British and U.
In fiery dispatches from his Faziye Seminary in Qom, Khomeini called for the overthrow of the shah and the establishment of an Islamic state.
In , Mohammad Reza imprisoned him, which led to riots, and on November 4, , expelled him from Iran. Khomeini settled in An Najaf, a Shiite holy city across the border in Iraq, and sent home recordings of his sermons that continued to incite his student followers. Breaking precedence with the Shiite tradition that discouraged clerical participation in government, he called for Shiite leaders to govern Iran.
In the s, Mohammad Reza further enraged Islamic fundamentalists in Iran by holding an extravagant celebration of the 2,th anniversary of the pre-Islamic Persian monarchy and replaced the Islamic calendar with a Persian calendar.
As discontent grew, the shah became more repressive, and support for Khomeini grew. In December, the army mutinied, and on January 16, , the shah fled. Khomeini arrived in Tehran in triumph on February 1, , and was acclaimed as the leader of the Iranian Revolution.
With religious fervor running high, he consolidated his authority and set out to transform Iran into a religious state. On November 4, , the 15th anniversary of his exile, students stormed the U.
The shah died in Egypt of cancer in July Under his rule, Iranian women were denied equal rights and required to wear a veil, Western culture was banned, and traditional Islamic law and its often-brutal punishments were reinstated. Security forces were accused of using live ammunition to disperse them. In a rare sermon at Friday prayers, Ayatollah Khamenei said his "heart burned" for the victims of the plane downing.
But he also defended the military and accused Iran's enemies of seeking to capitalise on the tragedy. In February, Iran was struck by an outbreak of the new coronavirus disease. Ayatollah Khamenei initially played down the threat of the coronavirus, saying it was being exaggerated by Iran's enemies as a scare tactic.
It's not something extraordinary," he said. Given that Ayatollah Khamenei's age, together with health problems he has suffered in recent years, the question of who might succeed him as supreme leader is the subject of endless speculation. He reportedly favours the hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, a defeated presidential candidate in who was appointed head of the judiciary last year. When the time comes, the Assembly of Experts will elect his replacement.
Image source, AFP. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the Islamic Republic's second supreme leader. Image source, Getty Images. Iran's revolution of ushered in the Islamic Republic. Ali Khamenei served as Iran's president from until Four presidents have served under Ayatollah Khamenei. A crackdown on the opposition after the disputed presidential election left dozens dead. Ayatollah Khamenei mains close links with the commanders of Iran's armed forces.
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