Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, also known as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the 1st Supreme Leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the end of the Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's first supreme leader, a position created in the constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Most of his period in power was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.
Ayatollah is an Honorary for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after the revolution. Beheshti is considered to have been the primary architect of Iran's post-revolution constitution, as well as the administrative structure of the Islamic republic. Beheshti is also known to have selected and trained several prominent politicians in the Islamic Republic, such as former presidents Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Ali Fallahian, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi. Beheshti also served as the Secretary General of the Islamic Republic Party, and was the head of the Iranian judicial system. He further served as Chairman of the Council of Islamic Revolution, and the Assembly of Experts. Beheshti earned a PhD in Philosophy, and was fluent in English, German and Arabic.
Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and one of the highest-ranking authorities in Shīʿite Islam. He was once the designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, but they had a falling-out in 1989 over government policies that Montazeri claimed infringed on people's freedom and denied them their rights. Montazeri spent his later years in Qom and remained politically influential in Iran, but was placed in house arrest in 1997 for questioning "the unaccountable rule exercised by the supreme leader", Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini in his stead. He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran and a grand marja of Shia Islam. Ayatollah Montazeri was said to be one of Khamenei's teachers.
Mohsen Kadivar is a mujtahid, Islamic theologian, philosopher, writer, leading intellectual reformist, and research professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University. A political Iranian dissident, Kadivar has been a vocal critic of the doctrine of clerical rule, also known as Velayat-e Faqih, and a strong advocate of democratic and liberal reforms in Iran as well as constructional reform in understanding of shari'a and Shi'a theology. Kadivar has served time in prison in Iran for his political activism and beliefs.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Ali Tababataei Borujerdi was a leading Iranian Shia Marja' in Iran from approximately 1947 to his death in 1961.
Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani was an Iranian Shia cleric, writer and conservative and principlist politician who was Acting Prime Minister of Iran from 2 September until 29 October 1981. Before that, he was Minister of Interior in the cabinets of Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. He was the leader of Combatant Clergy Association and Chairman of the Assembly of Experts and also founder and president of Imam Sadiq University.
In Shi'a Islam the guidance of clergy and keeping such a structure holds a great importance. The clergy structure depends on the branch of Shi'ism is being referred to.
Velayat-e faqih, also known as Islamic Government, is a book by the Iranian Muslim cleric, faqīh, and revolutionary Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, first published in 1970, and probably the most influential document written in modern times in support of theocratic rule.
The Shrine of Fatima Masumeh is located in Qom, which is considered by Shia Muslims to be the second most sacred city in Iran after Mashhad.
The Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, also called the Governance of the Jurist, is a post-Occultation theory in Twelver Shia Islam which holds that Islam gives a faqīh custodianship over people. Ulama supporting the theory disagree over how encompassing custodianship should be.
Khomeinism refers to the religious and political ideas of the leader of the Iranian Revolution, Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeinism also refers to the ruling clerical class of Iran after 1979. It can also be used to refer to the radicalization of segments of Shia populations of Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, and the recruitment by the Iranian government of Shia minorities in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Africa. The word Khomeinist and Khomeinists, derived from Khomeinism, are also used to describe members of Iran's clerical rulers and differentiate them from regular Shia Muslim clerics.
Grand Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat-Zanjani is an Iranian theologian, Islamic philosopher, writer and Grand marja of Islam. He published his objection to the velayat-e faqih and claims this regime has nothing to do with Islam.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad Ezodin Hosseini Zanjani was an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja'.
The Qom Seminary is the largest Islamic seminary (hawza) in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom. It trains Usuli scholars.
The Supreme Leader of Iran, also referred to as Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, but officially called the Supreme Leadership Authority, is the head of state and the highest political and religious authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The armed forces, judiciary, state television, and other key government organisations such as Guardian Council and Expediency Discernment Council are subject to the Supreme Leader. The current lifetime officeholder, Ali Khamenei, has issued decrees and made the final decisions on the economy, the environment, foreign policy, education, national planning, and other aspects of governance in Iran. Khamenei also makes the final decisions on the amount of transparency in elections, and has dismissed and reinstated presidential cabinet appointees.
Seyyed Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, also known as "Ayatollah Ale-Hashem", is the representative of Vali-e-Faqih in the province of East Azerbaijan, and Imam of Friday Prayer in Tabriz.
Mohammad Reza Naseri-Yazdi is an Iranian Twelver Shia cleric who is the representative of Yazd province and the Imam of Friday in the city of Yazd, who was appointed at the mentioned positions by the decree of Iran's supreme leader, Seyyed Ali Khamenei on 28 July 2011.
Seyed Kazem Noor Mofidi is a Supreme Leader's representative in Golestan Province, The leader of congregational Friday prayers of Gorgan, and is a member of the Assembly of Experts in Iran. He is considered the oldest Friday prayer leader in the country and the only representative of the reformist Supreme Leader in Iran.
Sheikh Ahmad Mohseni Garakani Persian: شیخ احمد محسنی گرکانی, is an Iranian Ayatollah. He is the Imam of Friday Prayer in Tuyserkan. He was the Chief of the Supreme Court of Iran, as well as representing the people of Markazi province in the Assembly of Experts since 1998.
