WE MISS YOU
It is the anniversary of the passing away of Imam Khomeine. It has been 21 years since he left this world. I was 20 years old in 1979 when the Iranian Islamic Revolution broke on the world scene. I still remember those days with nostalgia. The whole atmosphere was electrifying. We were amidst of an event which was unprecedented "A REVOLUTION BASED ON RELIGON". World simply was not able to comprehend this event. How could something which Karl Marx believed to be "Opium of the masses" serve as basis of something which would spurn them into action. How could people revolt againt "development", "freedom", "prosperity", "modernisation" which the Shah of Iran had brought to the people of Iran. How could women who had been recently liberated from the "tyranny of chador" want to go back to hijab. This was in fact the greatness of this man, he was an iconoclast in real sense of word and he defied all prevailing mindsets. And believe me we as youth of that time were mismerised by his magic. I cannot transmit those feelings to my dear youth of today. Those feelings cannot be transmitted in words you have to live them to feel them. We were simply overwhelmed.
Many people in his time as well as today disagree with his ideology. Even some of the leading and respected jurists of Shia world disagree with his revolutionary concept of "willayat faqih", but disagree you may, even hate you may, you can in no way ignore him. Imam Khomeini turned the tide of history This is not an exaggeration. We have seen the pre and post revolution era and believe me even if we lived away from the epicentre the difference was palpable. We were simply different from what we used to be before we came under the infleunce of this man. It is not that Islam was not being followed, we did follow Islam but he gave us two things we lacked. He gave us direction and he gave us self-confidence which we lacked before. Before the revolution the world was divided into the West and the East and Imam gave us the vision that Islam is the alternative. No one before him had either thought about it or if someone had thought no one had succeeded to translate this concept into action. This made Islamic Revolution a phenomenon at par with the French and the Russian Revolution. This was because the revolution did not endeavour to change the monarchy and replace it by something prevalent, it represented a paradigm shift in the way we muslims looked at the world and above all it gave us that confidence that "it is possible'. As Abraham Lincoln says "if someone achieves something great it is a proof to the fact that others can also do it". This set the ball rolling and it's effects are directly or indirectly still being felt.
This then was the real greatness of this man. At this age now we really miss him. He has had such an infleunce on our lives which no other indivdual has had. As I told earlier you may not agree with what he said. The model he put forward may not be working as a perfect model as you would have thought but this in no way diminishes his status as a towering personality who changed the course of history. Thus even as his opponents and distractors cannot ignore him, we as his followers cannot forget him. Oh! our leader we are indebted to you. There is no way we can repay you. We only say that we love you and we really miss you.
Many people in his time as well as today disagree with his ideology. Even some of the leading and respected jurists of Shia world disagree with his revolutionary concept of "willayat faqih", but disagree you may, even hate you may, you can in no way ignore him. Imam Khomeini turned the tide of history This is not an exaggeration. We have seen the pre and post revolution era and believe me even if we lived away from the epicentre the difference was palpable. We were simply different from what we used to be before we came under the infleunce of this man. It is not that Islam was not being followed, we did follow Islam but he gave us two things we lacked. He gave us direction and he gave us self-confidence which we lacked before. Before the revolution the world was divided into the West and the East and Imam gave us the vision that Islam is the alternative. No one before him had either thought about it or if someone had thought no one had succeeded to translate this concept into action. This made Islamic Revolution a phenomenon at par with the French and the Russian Revolution. This was because the revolution did not endeavour to change the monarchy and replace it by something prevalent, it represented a paradigm shift in the way we muslims looked at the world and above all it gave us that confidence that "it is possible'. As Abraham Lincoln says "if someone achieves something great it is a proof to the fact that others can also do it". This set the ball rolling and it's effects are directly or indirectly still being felt.
This then was the real greatness of this man. At this age now we really miss him. He has had such an infleunce on our lives which no other indivdual has had. As I told earlier you may not agree with what he said. The model he put forward may not be working as a perfect model as you would have thought but this in no way diminishes his status as a towering personality who changed the course of history. Thus even as his opponents and distractors cannot ignore him, we as his followers cannot forget him. Oh! our leader we are indebted to you. There is no way we can repay you. We only say that we love you and we really miss you.
Disclaimer: My intent in this comment is not to offend you but simply to state a different perspective, inshaAllah.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that Allama Khomeini brought about tremendous change in Iran, I will have to disagree with you on his wonderful attributes. First of all, to be absolutely frank (but in no way offensive to you) I am offended when any Shi'a or man grants Allama Khomeini the title of 'Imam.' Astghfirullah!
That alone infringes on the rights of our 12th Imam--Imam Az-Zaman (as). Throughout history, the title 'Imam' has been preserved strictly for the Ahlul Bayt (as)--and no other man has that right. The title itself envelopes a great deal of responsibility and virtue that none other than the Ahlul Bayt (as) deserve.
I could go in great detail about Velayat-e Faqih, but I will simply put it as this: I do not agree with it AT ALL and I personally believe that it has no support from the Sunnah of RasoolAllah (sawws) and his Ahlul Bayt (as). I believe it is a complete manipulation of Shi'a Islam and the masses of people to attain and retain power in Iran.
Furthermore, (I still have yet to write a thorough post on this) but Allama Khomeini allowed the bloodshed of thousands of Iraqis and Iranians in the Iraq-Iran war simply because he did not want to agree to the terms. Not only that but he allowed the massacre of people who did not agree with the Islamic Republic during his reign. And if this alone does not echo despotism and serve as an antithesis of Islam, then I cannot understand what does.
There is a lot of politics in his movement and therefore, any Shi'a before accepting him as a great man of history (which he was in many ways) should look into all aspects of the political sphere during his time from an unbiased lens.