Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, also known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian politician, revolutionary, and cleric. 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 2,500-year-old Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's 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. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.
Hussein-Ali Montazeri was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. One of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he was a former designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, with whom he 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." He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran and a Grand Marja of Shia Islam.
Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani was an Iranian Shia cleric, writer and conservative politician who was Acting Prime Minister of Iran from 2 September until 29 October 1981. Before that, he was Minister of Interior and Minister of Justice 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.
Ayatollah Mohammad Mofatteh was an Iranian philosopher, theologian, and political activist, born in Famenin, Hamadan, Iran. After he finished his primary education in Hamadan, he left for the Islamic Seminary in Qom, where he was taught by reputable teachers such as Ayatollah Muhammad Hujjat Kuh-Kamari, Ayatollah Sayyed Hossein Tabatabei Borujerdi, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini, Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani, Ayatollah Marashi, and Allameh Tabatabie. He continued his studies at seminary and at the same time studied philosophy at Tehran University, where he earned his PhD and became a professor and a dean of colleague.
Sayyid Mahmoud Alaee Taleghani was an Iranian theologian, Muslim reformer, democracy advocate and a senior Shi'a cleric of Iran. Taleghani was a contemporary of the Iranian Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and a leader in his own right of the movement against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A founding member of the Freedom Movement of Iran, he has been described as a representative of the tendency of many "Shia clerics to blend Shia with Marxist ideals in order to compete with leftist movements for youthful supporters" during the 1960s and 1970s. His "greatest influence" has been said to have been in "his teaching of Quranic exegesis," as many later revolutionaries were his students.
The demonstrations of June 5 and 6, also called the events of June 1963 or the 15 Khordad uprising, were protests in Iran against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after his denouncement of Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Israel. The Shah's regime was taken by surprise by the massive public demonstrations of support, and although these were crushed within days by the police and military, the events established the importance and power of (Shia) religious opposition to the Shah, and Khomeini as a major political and religious leader. Fifteen years later, Khomeini was to lead the Iranian Revolution which overthrew the Shah and his Pahlavi dynasty and established the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Golpaygani was an Iranian Shia Islam cleric and marja. He was born in Gogad village, near the city of Golpaygan, Iran. He was taught preliminary studies by his father, Mohammad Bagher. At the age of 9, his father died, and he moved to Golpaygan to continue his studies. At the age of 20, he moved to Arak to study under Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi. After Ha'eri Yazdi and Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Khansari founded the hawza of Qom, he moved there and delivered lectures in the Islamic Seminary. He was one of the highest-ranking Islamic clergies to participate in the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and a one-time serious contender to succeed Ruhollah Khomeini as the Supreme Leader of Iran in 1989. However, his candidacy was voted down by the Assembly of Experts, in favor of the eventual successor and current leader, Ali Khamenei.
Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini was the younger son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and father of Hassan Khomeini. He was the "right-hand" of his father before, during and after the Iranian Revolution. He was a link between Ruhollah Khomeini and officials and people. He had several decision-making positions.
The Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, also referred to as the holy shrine, houses the tombs of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, his wife Khadijeh Saqafi, and his second son Ahmad Khomeini; and some political figures, such as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Vice President Hassan Habibi, Lieutenant General Ali Sayad Shirazi, Iranian Revolution figure Sadeq Tabatabaei, and MP Marzieh Hadidchi. The mausoleum is located to the south of Tehran in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery. Construction commenced in 1989 following Khomeini's death on June 3 of that year. It is still under construction, but when completed will be the centerpiece in a complex spread over 20 square kilometres, housing a cultural and tourist center, a university for Islamic studies, a seminary, a shopping mall, and a 20,000-car parking lot. The Iranian government has reportedly devoted 2 billion US dollars to this development.
Hojatoleslam Seyyed Ali Akbar Aboutorabi Fard was an Iranian revolutionary. During the Iran–Iraq War, he organized the militia, was captured, and spent 10 years in Iraqi prisons. On his release he became the Supreme Leader's representative to Azadegan Affairs Headquarters and Tehran representative in the 4th and 5th terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
Ayatollah Ata'ollah Ashrafi Esfahani was an Iranian religious leader. He was born near Esfahan and educated in Esfahan and at the Qom Seminary. He became a mojtahed when he was 40. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he was selected as the Imam Jumu'ah for the city of Kermanshah. He was killed by a member of the Mujahideen-e Khalq during Friday prayer on 15 October 1982.
Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini, known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader, philosopher, revolutionary and politician. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution that saw the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's 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. On 1 February 1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, returned to Iran after 14 years in political exile. Khomeini had been a prominent opponent of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who had fled the country during the events of the Iranian Revolution. Upon his return, he was greeted by crowds of millions, and within 10 days the revolution would be successful. Khomeini's return and the 10 days following are now celebrated in Iran as the Fajr decade.
Feyziyya School is an old school in Iran that was founded in the Safavid era. The school has been listed as one of Iran's national monuments as of January 29, 2008. The school served as a focal point for clerical opposition to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's White Revolution. In 1963 on Ashura, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini delivered a speech at the school denouncing the Shah, and was arrested as a result.
Mahmoud Ansari Qomi (Persian: محمود انصاری قمی) Preachers and scholars in Tehran.
Abdul Karim Haghshenas was a contemporary Muslim jurist and mystic moralist.
Ruhollah Khomeini's life in exile was the period that Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spent from 1964 to 1979 in Turkey, Iraq and France, after Mohamed Reza Shah Pahlavi had arrested him twice for dissent from his “White Revolution” announced in 1963. Ayatollah Khomeini was invited back to Iran by the government,and returned to Tehran from exile on 1979.
On 3 June 1989, at 22:20 IRST, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian Revolution and the first Supreme Leader and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, died in Jamaran, Greater Tehran aged 86 after spending eleven days at a private hospital, near his residency, after suffering five heart attacks in ten days. Other sources put his age at 89, and list the cause of death as bleeding in the digestive system.
The Najaf Seminary, also known as the al-Hawza al-Ilmiyya, is the most important Shia seminaries (hawza) in the city of Najaf, Iraq. The school also operates a campus in Karbala.
Seyyed Mohammad Reza Saeedi was an Iranian Twelver Shia cleric; who was among the (known) revolutionary companions of Iran's previous/first supreme leader, Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini; and eventually was killed due to the tortures of SAVAK at the age of 41.
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.
