Imam khomeini in contemporary islamic history
Imam Khomeini in contemporary Islamic history
This month, to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Imam Khomeini, Crescent International and Islamic Book Trust, Kuala Lumpur, have published a book of essays on the Imam’s life and thought. Here we present an abridged version of the introduction to that volume, written by former Crescent editor IQBAL SIDDIQUI.
Imam Ruhullah Musawi al-Khomeini (September 24, 1902 to June 3, 1989) is among those iconic figures of history about whom everybody thinks they know much more than they actually do. His name and image, and a few basic facts about his life and work, are so familiar, so instantly recognisable, that any deeper consideration of his life and work seems superfluous. And yet he is in fact one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented figures of recent history. This is because the40and impressions people have of him are largely those generated and promoted by the West-dominated international media, for which he became a hate-figure after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1978–79. In the Muslim world, moreover, enemies of the Islamic Revolution, and of political Islam generally, have not only adopted the West’s negative image of him, but have further added the sectarian label of “Shi‘i” to try to neutralise his influence on Islamic movements and activists there.
