Sayyid Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (lahir di Khomein, Provinsi Markazi, 24 September 1902 – meninggal di Tehran, Iran, 3 Juni 1989 pada umur 86 tahun) ialah tokoh Revolusi Iran dan merupakan Pemimpin Agung Iran pertama. Lahir di Khomeyn, Iran. Ia belajar teologi di Arak dan kemudian di kota suci Qom, di mana ia mengambil tempat tinggal permanen dan mulai membangun dasar politik untuk melawan keluarga kerajaan Iran, khususnya Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Uji utama pertamanya – dan rasa politik pertama yang sesungguhnya – tiba pada 1962 saat pemerintahan Shah berhasil mendapatkan RUU yang mencurahkan beberapa kekuasaan pada dewan provinsi dan kota. Sejumlah pengikut Islam keberatan pada perwakilan yang baru dipilih dan tak diwajibkan bersumpah pada al-Qur'an namun pada tiap teks suci yang dipilihnya. Khomeini menggunakan kemarahan ini dan mengatur pemogokan di seluruh negara yang menimbulkan penolakan pada RUU itu. Khomeini menggunakan posisi yang kuat ini untuk menyampaikan khotbah dari Faiziyveh School yang mendakwa negara berkolusi dengan Israel dan mencoba "mendiskreditkan al-Qur-an." Penangkapannya yang tak terelakkan oleh polisi rahasia Iran, SAVAK, memancing kerusuhan besar-besaran dan reaksi kekerasan yang biasa oleh pihak keamanan yang mengakibatkan kematian ribuan orang. Khomeini terus susah selama tahun-tahun berikutnya dan pada peringatan pertama kerusuhan pasukan Shah bergerak ke kota Qom, menahan Imam sebelum mengirimnya ke pembuangan di Turki. Ia tinggal sebentar di sana selama sebelum pindah ke Irak di mana melanjutkan pergolakan untuk jatuhnya rezim Shah.
Pada 1978 pemerintahan Shah meminta Irak untuk mengusirnya dari Najaf, lalu ia menuju Paris selama sementara profilnya berkembang sebagai refleksi langsung kejatuhan Shah. Peringatan menggelikan yang terkemudian di Persepolis mulai grate dengan orang banyak dan menyusul rangkaian kekacauan keluarga Shah meninggalkan negeri pada Februari 1979, meratakan jalan untuk kembalinya Khomeini dan 'Permulaan Revolusi Islam'. Disambut ratusan ribu rakyatnya di bandara dan ribuan lebih lanjut yang berjajar sepanjang jalan kembali ke Teheran. Ayatollah sudah sepantasnya memandang Iran sebagaimana dirinya, dan Khomeinipun menjadi pemimpin spiritual. Teheran menjadi kursi kekuatan, jauh dari jantung kota Qom. Pada 1981 Irak menyerang Iran. Perang itu berlangsung 8 tahun penuh yang menghancurkan hidup jutaan muslimin pada kedua sisi tanpa keuntungannya pada tiap yang bertempur. Khomeini meninggal di Teheran pada 3 Juni 1989.
Ruhollah Mostafavi Moosavi Khomeini (Persian: روحالله خمینی, [ruːholˈlɑːhe χomeiˈniː], 24 September 1902 – 3 June 1989), was an Iranian religious leader, revolutionary, and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader, a position created in the constitution as the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Khomeini was a Faqih, author of more than forty books, but is primarily known for his political activities. He spent more than 15 years in exile for his opposition to the last Shah. In his writings and preachings he expanded the theory of velayat-e faqih, the "guardianship of the jurisconsult (clerical authority)" to include theocratic political rule by the Islamic jurists. This principle was installed in the new Iranian constitution after being put to a referendum.
In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini created the Basij Mostazafan, a voluntary mass movement mainly of young people. When the Iran–Iraq War started in 1980, Khomeini issued a fatwa and promise of paradise and they were incorporated into the Iranian military. During Iran–Iraq War, Khomeini organized his "human wave" attacks - mass frontal assaults by thousands of young men, advancing up to certain death. He was named Man of the Year in 1979 by American newsmagazine TIME for his international influence, and has been described as the "virtual face of Islam in Western popular culture" where he remains a controversial figure. He was known for his support of the hostage takers during the Iran hostage crisis and for calling the US Government the Great Satan. Khomeini called the USSR the "Lesser Satan" and said that Iran should support neither side.
Khomeini held the title of Grand Ayatollah and is officially known as Imam Khomeini inside Iran and by his supporters internationally, and generally referred to as Ayatollah Khomeini by others. Since the beginning of his reign, Khomeini attempted to establish good relations between Sunnis and Shias. Iran’s course of economic development foundered under Khomeini’s rule, and his pursuit of victory in the Iran–Iraq War ultimately proved futile. In 1982, there was an attempted military coup against Khomeini. Khomeini for a long time suffered from several kinds of cancers and had several heart attacks. Khomeini died of intestinal cancer and a heart attack in June 1989. Khomeini's gold-domed tomb in Tehrān’s Behesht-e Zahrāʾ cemetery has since become a shrine for his supporters. In 2009, a suicide bomber attacked the Mausoleum of Khomeini.
After the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei became the Supreme Leader of Iran in 1989. There have been rifts between Ali Khamenei and Ruhollah Khomeini's family. While Khomeini has often been described as a traditional cleric, he was a major innovator in Iran due to both his political theory and his religious-oriented populist strategy. Ayatollah Khomeini said, "Those intellectuals who say that the clergy should leave politics and go back to the mosque speak on behalf of Satan." Ruhollah Khomeini is legally considered "inviolable" in Iran, and people are regularly punished for insulting Khomeini.
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