Ayatollah Khomeini
Ayatollah Khomeini (1902–1989) was an Iranian Shia cleric who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution, overthrowing the Shah and establishing Iran as a theocratic republic.
As Supreme Leader until his death, he shaped modern political Islam and made Iran a center of revolutionary Islamist ideology.
His 1989 fatwa calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie brought him renewed Western attention.
The title ayatollah denotes high rank among Shia clergy.
- Supreme LeaderHighest political-religious authority
- Shia IslamMuslim denomination following Ali
- ConstitutionGoverning principles document
- FiqhMuslim legal theory
- IjtihadIndependent Islamic legal interpretation
Islamic Revolution · Hadith · Iran-Iraq War · hostage crisis · Sovereignty · Philosophy · Counterculture · Salman Rushdie
- Shia ScholarsKhamenei, Khomeini, Hakim
- IranIran, Tehran, Isfahan, Persia, Shiraz
- Middle Eastern FiguresSaladin, Nasser, Yasser Arafat, Arafat, Anwar Sadat
- Mideast ConflictsArab-Israeli conflict, Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, Gulf War, Iran-Iraq War
- Mideast LeadersArafat, Assad, Mubarak, Nasser, Saddam
- spiritual leaderspriest, priestess, high priest, high priestess, rabbi
Ayatollah KhomeiniRonald Reagan
Anwar Sadat · Jimmy Carter · Margaret Thatcher · Saddam Hussein
Ayatollah KhomeiniWesternizer
One who promotes adopting European customs
Ayatollah KhomeiniMahatma Gandhi
Martin Luther King Jr. · Desmond Tutu · Dalai Lama · Nelson Mandela · Pope John Paul II