He was an old man in a black turban and a gray cloak. To some, he looked like a medieval ghost haunting the 20th century. To others, he was a savior. If you want to understand why the modern Middle East looks the way it does, you have to look at one name. Ayatollah Khomeini.
Most people think history is made by giant armies or economic shifts. Sometimes, it’s just one guy with a microphone and a lot of anger. Khomeini wasn't just a politician; he was a seismic event. He took a Western-backed monarchy and turned it into a theocracy almost overnight. It wasn't supposed to happen that way. The CIA didn't see it coming. The Shah didn't see it coming. Even the protesters in the streets of Tehran in 1978 weren't all sure they wanted a cleric in charge. But he won.
Born Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini in 1902, his life spanned the transition from oil lamps to the nuclear age. He grew up in Khomein, a small town in central Iran. His father was murdered when he was just an infant. That kind of trauma stays with a person. He spent his youth buried in books, studying Islamic law, philosophy, and mysticism in the holy city of Qom. He wasn't just some angry radical; he was a high-level intellectual who eventually reached the rank of "Ayatollah," which basically means "Sign of God." It’s a title you earn through decades of grueling scholarship.
Why the Shah Hated Him (and Vice Versa)
By the 1960s, Iran was changing fast. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah, wanted to make Iran the "Great Civilization." He was obsessed with Westernizing the country. He gave women the right to vote, which was great, but he also cracked down on dissent with a brutal secret police force called SAVAK. He was buying F-14 fighter jets from the U.S. while traditional religious leaders felt like the soul of the country was being sold for a cheeseburger and a mini-skirt.
Khomeini became the loudest voice of the opposition. He didn't just disagree with the Shah; he thought the Shah was a "shaiton" (devil) and a puppet of America. In 1963, Khomeini gave a blistering speech at the Feyziyeh School. He called out the Shah by name. That was a big mistake—or a genius move, depending on how you look at it. He was arrested, there were riots, and eventually, he was kicked out of the country.
He spent 15 years in exile. First Turkey, then Iraq, then France.
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While he was sitting in a small house in Neauphle-le-Château outside Paris, he was secretly taking over Iran. How? Cassette tapes. His followers would record his sermons, smuggle them into Iran, and play them in mosques. It was the 1970s version of a viral podcast. He told the people that their oil was being stolen and their religion was being insulted. People listened.
The 1979 Revolution: More Than Just Religion
When Khomeini returned to Tehran in February 1979, the airport was a madhouse. Millions of people lined the streets. It’s hard to wrap your head around that kind of scale. People were literally throwing themselves at his car. The Shah had fled, his government had collapsed, and the "old man" was back to claim the prize.
But here is the thing: the revolution wasn't just religious. You had communists, liberals, students, and shopkeepers all fighting together to get rid of the Shah. They thought Khomeini would be a figurehead who would go back to Qom and let the politicians run the show.
They were wrong.
Khomeini was a master of political maneuvering. He consolidated power ruthlessly. He introduced a concept called Velayat-e Faqih, or "Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist." Basically, it meant that until the hidden Imam returns, the top religious scholar has the final word on everything. Politics, law, war, what you wear—all of it. By the time the dust settled, the liberals and communists were either in jail, in exile, or dead.
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Then came the Hostage Crisis. In November 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. They took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. This was the moment the "Great Satan" narrative became cemented. Khomeini used the crisis to unify the country against an external enemy and solidify his own grip on power. It worked, but it turned Iran into a pariah state in the eyes of the West.
The Brutal Reality of the Iran-Iraq War
If the revolution was the birth of the new Iran, the Iran-Iraq War was its baptism by fire. In 1980, Saddam Hussein saw a weakened, chaotic Iran and decided to invade. He thought it would be a quick win. It lasted eight years.
It was one of the bloodiest wars of the century. We're talking trench warfare, chemical weapons, and "human wave" attacks. Khomeini refused to back down. He saw the war as a holy struggle. He famously called it a "divine blessing." To him, the thousands of young boys dying in the marshes were martyrs. When he finally agreed to a ceasefire in 1988, he said it was like "drinking from a poisonous chalice." He was heartbroken, not for the lives lost, but because he hadn't achieved total victory.
The Salman Rushdie Fatwa
Even as he was aging and his health was failing, Khomeini could still shake the world with a single sentence. In 1989, he issued a fatwa (a legal decree) calling for the death of British-Indian author Salman Rushdie. The reason? Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses, was deemed blasphemous.
This wasn't just about a book. It was a signal to the world that the Islamic Republic’s laws didn't stop at its borders. It sparked a massive international debate about free speech vs. religious sensitivity that we are still having today. It showed that Khomeini’s influence was global, whether people liked it or not.
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What He Left Behind
Khomeini died in June 1989. His funeral was even crazier than his return from exile. The crowd was so huge and frantic that they actually knocked over his casket, and his body fell out. It was total chaos.
He left behind a country that was completely transformed. He took a nation that was trying to be the "Paris of the East" and turned it into the vanguard of political Islam.
You can't talk about Hezbollah in Lebanon, the wars in Yemen, or the current tensions in the Persian Gulf without talking about Khomeini. He exported his revolution. He wanted to show the world that you could stand up to superpowers like the U.S. and the Soviet Union and win, as long as you had faith.
Whether you see him as a visionary leader who restored Iranian pride or a dictator who took the country back centuries, you can't deny his impact. He changed the map. He changed the culture. He changed the way we think about religion and power.
Key Insights for Understanding the Legacy
If you're trying to make sense of this history, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Ideology over Economy: Khomeini didn't care much about GDP. He famously said, "Economics is for donkeys." He prioritized religious purity and national independence over material wealth, a legacy that still affects Iran's sanctions-hit economy today.
- The Power of Identity: He tapped into a deep sense of humiliation that many Iranians felt under Western influence. His movement was as much about "Westoxification" (Gharbzadegi) as it was about Islam.
- The Institutional Framework: He didn't just lead a rebellion; he built a complex system of government that balances elected bodies with unelected clerical councils. This "dual sovereignty" is why Iran's politics are so confusing to outsiders.
- Regional Cold War: The revolution triggered a massive rivalry with Saudi Arabia. This Sunni-Shia divide has fueled almost every major conflict in the Middle East for the last 40 years.
To truly grasp the modern geopolitical climate, look at the primary documents of the era. Read the transcripts of his speeches from Paris. Look at the works of scholars like Ervand Abrahamian or Nikki Keddie, who have spent decades deconstructing the social layers of the revolution. Understanding Khomeini isn't about picking a side; it's about recognizing the power of a single-minded conviction to bend history.
Actionable Next Steps
- Research the "White Revolution": To understand why Khomeini gained traction, look up the Shah's 1963 reforms. It explains the specific grievances of the clerical class and the rural poor.
- Study the 1906 Constitutional Revolution: Khomeini's rise didn't happen in a vacuum. Iran has a long history of fighting for a constitution, which puts the 1979 events in a much clearer context.
- Explore the concept of "Gharbzadegi": Read Jalal Al-e-Ahmad’s essay "Occidentosis." It was the intellectual backbone of the anti-Western sentiment that Khomeini harnessed so effectively.