Childhood

Ayatollah Khamenei
Childhood

Ali was just entering his third year of life when the Soviet Union conquered Mashhad. In the last month of summer 1941, the Iranian society was undergoing an unprecedented contradiction; on the one hand, they were happy due to the fall of Reza Shah and the end to his dictatorship, and the other hand, they were unhappy due to the entrance of the conquerors and the conquest of Iran. August 1941 was the beginning of this contradiction.

On the morning of August 27 and before the conquest of Mashhad, the Soviet Union’s air force appeared in the skies of the city with nine warplanes and with 35 warplanes at another time. The main aim of these forces was the military centres. They bombed the barracks of the Ninth Corps. They again continued their attacks from 3:00 in the afternoon until sunset. The air operations continued the next day, August 28 as well. With this parade, the Ninth Corps of Khorasan left Mashhad for Tehran and made a retreat. At noon on the 29th of August, the mechanized forces, the military, and spitfires of the Soviet Union entered Mashhad. These forces conquered the building of the military and corps and the municipality of Mashhad at the first point.

Maktabkhaneh

Ali was four years old when he went to maktabkhaneh (traditional schools). The maktabkhaneh was for girls and the teacher was “Bibi Agha;” she would teach the Quran to the students, who were more girls and a few boys. Ali, who was not fond of the maktabkhaneh, did not learn anything from it and did not stand staying at maktabkhaneh. After two months, he went to a maktabkhaneh for boys along with his brother. It was winter. The teacher of the maktabkhaneh was Mirza, an old man who had decades of distance from the kids’ world. The place of the maktabkhaneh was a chamber of a mosque which its doors without windows had made the place semi-dark. The chamber seemed big in the eyes of Ali. The students were sitting all around. “When my father entered, he brought me and my brother, Sayyed Mohammad, to the maktabkhaneh; Janab Mirza greeted us, stood and asked the students to stand up. When they all stood up, my father said: “Teach the kids. He really respected us.”

His Trip to Karbala

At this time, Ali went to Karbala. He experienced his first long journey in his childhood along with his family (father, mother, Sayyed Mohammad and Robab). The journey took six months.

The School Days

Ali started his school days when he was five this time again along with his brother, Sayyed Mohammad. The name of the school was “Dar at-Ta’lim Dianati” and around one year was passed its opening. This school was built by those who had bad memories of the boundaries made for religious Activities at the time of Reza Shah. It is said that Dar al-Ta’lim Dianati was established by the spiritual efforts of Haj Shaykh Gholamhoseyn Tabrizi and Haj Ahmad Mokhtarzadeh who was of the disciples of the Qommis and other storekeepers and devotees of Bazaar Sarshour.

Shoes

Sayyed Ali would go and come back to Dianati School which was in Bazaar Sarshour through the alleys from his house with enthusiasm. He would swing a kerchief in which he had his books and papers. His shoes did not stand his mobility.

The Banquet 

Ali, Mohammad and Robab would go to their grandpas on Fridays. Bibi, the mother of Haj Sayyed Hashem would adore the children since she had a great love for their mother, Khadijeh. Bibi would show her love for the children of Khadijeh by giving them a small amount of money. “It happened quite often that when we were back home, my mother had got our money and bought raisins; we would eat bread and raisins at night. Sometimes, she would get the money to buy milk; we would eat bread and milk. It also happened a lot that we did not have dinner.”

When the circumstances would become normal, they would cook rice on Thursday nights; rice was an important issue in the family’s diet. Even at this point, the broth (abgousht) which was cooked with only five pieces of meat was the main dish of the family.

The class was lovely but difficult for Sayyed Ali. He could not see the blackboard and the teacher clearly. He did not know why? This problem continued until the end of his elementary school when he learned that his eyes were weak. “Nobody knew; even I did not know. I just couldn’t see things properly.”

It was from the fourth grade when his talents were recognized and soon introduced as the best student in the school. The last three years of school were the years of high-level learning for Sayyed Ali. He had also become a monitor in school. It was in those years when he became more interested in mathematics, geography, geometry, and history, learning geometry and history with more enthusiasm.

The Reciter at School

Sayyed Ali was the reciter of the Quran at school. His recitation of the Quran had become so famous that when Ayatollah Sayyed Abolqasem Kashani came to Mashhad, he was the reciter in the welcoming ceremony. Also, when Sayyed Nouroddin Hoseyni Shirazi who had come to visit Imam Reza, peace be upon him, the nine-year-old Sayyed Ali recited a few verses of the Quran in his welcoming ceremony in Abasalt; or when Agha Qommi came to visit the school, he was the reciter at the ceremony.

Friendship with the Quran

Sayyed Ali became more acquainted with the Quran at this time. His father asked Haj Ramazan Bonakdar to teach Quran and tajwid to his sons. Haj Ramazan was of the famous reciters of the Quran in Mashhad; he would earn his living from wholesaling and selling clothes. It was Friday when Haj Ramazan went to Ayatollah Khamenei’s house and took Sayyed Mohammad and Sayyed Ali, who were both wearing the clothing of the clergymen to the “Quran Courses.” After a few months of attending the classes, Haj Ramazan said that you have improved and I cannot help you more in learning the Quran.

The next teacher was Mulla Abbas, the greatest teacher of the Quran, the student of Sayyed Mohammad Arab Za’farani, the founder of “Recitation” in Mashhad. Mulla Abbas used to wear a white Khorasani scarf on his forehead, wore a cloak and had long beards. He looked like the Afghans. His sessions were held at one of the rooms upstairs in Kohneh Courtyard except for the month of Ramadhan when it was held in the porches of Goharshad Mosque. Sayyed Ali learned tajwid from him; Mulla Abbas taught the book of tajwid written by Sayyed Mohammad Arab for some learners among who Sayyed Ali was there too.

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