Imam Khomeyni’s life as a seminary student 

Imam Khomeini
Imam Khomeyni’s life as a seminary student 

In 1339 AH, when Sayyed Ruhollah‎ was not more than nineteen years old, left for Arak to continue his education. At that time, the seminary of Arak had gained a lot of fame. Ayatollah Haj Shaykh Abdolkarim Haeri-Yazdi, one of the students of Mirza Hasan Shirazi, left Najaf for Arak in 1318 AH and established the seminary of that city. Six years later, at the same time as the Constitutional Revolution took place in Iran, he went to Najaf and then to Karbala. Perhaps he started this journey to avoid entering the world of politics in Iran. In any case, he returned to Arak again in 1332 AH at the invitation of the people of the city and took over the leadership of the constituency there. It was during these years that Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad-Taqi Khansari, who had been exiled to Arak due to the anti-British struggle, accepted the request of Ayatollah Haeri and began teaching. 

A few months after the arrival of Sayyed Ruhollah‎ to the seminary of Arak, in the month of Rajab of the year 1340 AH, Ayatollah Haeri migrated to Qom at the request of the scholars of the city and established the seminary there. Four months after the emigration of Ayatollah Haeri, Sayyed Ruhollah‎ also went to Qom and settled in Dar al-Shafa school and continued his education.

He learned parts of the book “al-Mutawwal” from Adib Tehrani (known as Agha Mirza Mohammad-Ali) and the preliminary lessons from Haj Sayyed Mohammad-Taqi Khansari and Agha Mirza Sayyed Ali Yasrebi-Kashani, and then attended the classes of Ayatollah Haeri’s dars al-kharij lessons for years.

In addition to the usual seminary courses, he attended the philosophy classes of Haj Sayyed Abolhasan Qazvini, learned Arabic prosody and rhymes, Western philosophy and Darwinian evolutionary philosophy from Haj Shaykh Mohammad-Reza Esfahani-Masjedshahi, as well as mathematics from him and Agha Mirza Ali-Akbar Yazdi. He also learned mysticism from Agha Mirza Mohammad-Ali Shahabadi in the same years.

Up to fourteen names have been recounted as the teachers of Imam Khomeyni during his studies, two of whom received more attention and respect from Imam Khomeyni due to their spiritual characteristics and very high scientific status, as well as the length of time Imam Khomeyni attended their classes: The first one is Ayatollah Haeri; and the second one is Ayatollah Shahabadi, who lived in Qom until 1314 AH.

Unfortunately, very little information is available about the period of study and scientific status of Imam Khomeyni from the beginning of his arrival in Qom until twenty-one years later. The first writing that addressed the biography, education and scientific works of Imam Khomeyni is published in 1313 (SH). It is a short biography written by Imam Khomeyni, which has been included in the book “Ayeneh-ye Daneshvaranwith a little interpolation. According to this writing, years before this date (1313 SH), he used to attend Ayatollah Shahabadi and Ayatollah Haeri’s classes to study mysticism and high levels of jurisprudence respectively and had taught the books of Sadr al-Muta’allihin.

The author of the book considers Imam Khomeyni, who was thirty-three years old at the time, as one of the scholars of the seminary of Qom. The second and perhaps most unique work available is the memoir of one of his students, published four years ago. He, who later became one of the prominent professors of the university, wrote his memoirs of Imam Khomeyni’s teaching classes and theological, philosophical and mystical views in detail, which we will mention briefly.

“In the year 1316 (SH), [Mr. Khomeyni] was one of the great teachers of Qom seminary and although he was young and about thirty-six years old, everyone respected him. Every afternoon, about two hours before the sunset, he would come to Feyzieh School and sit in front of one of the rooms on the south side of the school and discuss issues related to the jurisprudence and the principle of jurisprudence with prominent scholars in the seminary such as Sayyed Mohammad Yazdi known as Damad, Shaykh Hasan Nevisi and Ayatollah Fazel-Lankarani. Sometimes – that is to say, very rarely – he would raise his voice, such that his voice would be echoed through the whole school... Such cases were very rare, and he often was calm and gained the upper hand during the discussions forcing his opponent to remain silent or accept his views through using logical arguments. His tolerance and self-control were well known, and with his dignity and personal charm, he made everyone to respect him, and everyone praised him for his superiority in terms of virtues and adherence to moral principles. For this reason, following others who had a favourable view of him, I also wished that my information and education would one day make me qualified to attend his classes

At the beginning of the year 1318 (SH), I heard from some seminarians that Mr. Ruhollah Khomeyni would begin teaching the book “Sharh al-Mandhumah” of Haj Mulla Hadi Sabzevari. Waiting for such an opportunity, I enthusiastically attended his class, which was held in Dar al-Shafa school.

Instead of starting from the beginning of the book, he started with the section titled “tabi’at” (philosophy of nature) arguing that it is the method of the first teacher, Aristotle, who had placed the section dealing with illahiyat (theology) after tabi’at and therefore named the science “metaphysics.”

His method of teaching was different from other teachers, that is, he never matched the lessons with the sentences of the book, but after reading one or two sentences from the text of the book, he would explain the content with his own words which were full of excitement such that sometimes he would raise his voice and the lesson turn into a speech.

While explaining philosophical matters, he would address moral and socio-religious issues, and he combined the two purposes so masterfully that one could not separate the subject of the lesson from his religious-moral discussion, and this had a profound effect on the minds and souls of the students such that when one left the classroom, he would be inspired by the soul of spirituality, mysticism, and deep religious views, which lasted perhaps an hour or two.

He was full of this mystical-religious-philosophical faculty. He had created for himself a world of spiritual-religious thought, the constituent elements of which were Twelver Shi’ah Islam, the Neoplatonist thoughts embedded in the philosophy of illumination, the mysticism of ibn ‘Arabi, and the transcendent wisdom of Mulla Sadra.

He has institutionalized these elements in his mind deeper than his predecessors and created a balanced and cohesive form that could be likened to a symphony. His professors in philosophy were Sayyed Abolhasan Rafiei-Qazvini and Mirza Mohammad-Ali Shahabadi, but when it came to combining the materials and contents and elaborating on them, he had the upper hand such that none of them could be compared to him in this regard (not in terms of the mastery in explaining and addressing the details). In this mystical-religious building, of which he was the architect, he believed in a very high and transcendent position for twelve Imams, who are not only the divine guides for the people and their guardians, but also have absolute formative wilayah or authority, which, of course, originates from His Oneness.

In his opinion, Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurisprudent) does not only mean the rule of a clerical jurist but also a rule originates in God and is a spiritual matter of which the external and formal rule is its material embodiment. The jurisprudential argumentation that he makes regarding the issue of Wilayat al-Faqih is based on jurisprudence and the principle of jurisprudence so that to convince those who ask for evidence from Quran and sunnah, otherwise, his real and argumentative reasoning revolves around philosophical-mystical principles.

This religious-philosophical system, the theoretical foundation of which took him years to establish, had a mystical-jurisprudential basis, is not compatible with the achievements of western culture, both intellectually and spiritually, as well as politically and materially. In today’s western culture, governing is based on the decision of the people and politics and ruling should be originated from popular opinion and consensus.

On the contrary, for Imam Khomeyni politics and government are divine and spiritual matters and are in direct connection with God, because in his opinion, as God created his servants, He rules over them as well and this governing should be in the hands of clerical jurists who have deeply understood the divine rulings, and as a result of enjoying such profound perception, they inherently connect to God; Because having a profound understanding of the divine perceptions and rulings means a real connection with God and the implementation of the divine rule in a material form on earth. Therefore, I felt this from the very beginning of attending his lectures and hence did not attribute his aversion to Western culture to the hatred of a fanatical Muslim cleric of that culture. While teaching the subject of the prime matter and form, which is the Aristotelian view regarding matter and body, I saw how he objected and condemned the belief in atoms and the indivisible particle that underlie modern physics. Without denying the empirical and scientific basis of atomism, he considered the belief in prime matter and form necessary for his philosophical system making it the basis of the spiritual truth of this world. Because he despised the material world and denied its infinity, and strongly criticized the idea of ​​the infinity of the material world in discussing the finiteness of dimensions. Holding such a perspective was not only based on the mathematical proofs that the ancients brought for the finiteness of dimensions.

He believed in the Ptolemaic system and the theory of the spheres because, according to this system, man is the centre of the universe. However, in the face of discoveries in astronomy and the fundamental changes that the old system went through, he justified the issue of the spheres in a different way interpreting it in relation to new ideas so that to conform to the philosophical-mystical views of the ancient scholars. According to this philosophical-mystical view, the earth is the spiritual centre of the universe and man is considered as the basis and centre of creation. Therefore, even if the material centrality of the earth fades away still man would be the most illustrious of the creatures and the representative of God on His earth.

Accordingly, a person with such beliefs and worldviews is certainly become the main opponent of the Materialists. When it came to Materialists and those who refute the existence of the world of incorporeal beings and spirituality, he became fiercely inflamed and considered them infidels and disbelievers. The same anger and hatred were directed against Sayyed Ahmad Kasravi and his followers, because in Imam Khomeyni’s view, they are against the basis of Islam, although they do not express their thoughts explicitly. Likewise, he would sharply criticize the followers of Wahhabism because they do not accept the concept of Tawhid al-Tanzihi and deny the real and spiritual status of the prophets and Imams.

Among the old Islamic thinkers, he strongly believed in ibn ‘Arabi and Sadr al-Din Shirazi, known as Mulla Sadra, and always called him “Marhum Akhund.” As I stated, Imam Khomeyni founded his philosophical and mystical worldview upon the views of these two personalities.

After the death of Ayatollah Haeri in 1315 (SH) and until 1324 (SH) when Ayatollah Boroujerdi came to Qom, Imam Khomeyni, in addition to having scientific discussions with his friends, was engaged in teaching subjects such as the intelligible, mysticism and the highest levels of jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence. After Ayatollah Boroujerdi came to Qom, Imam Khomeyni attended his classes to promote and establish Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s absolute religious authority and provided an exposition of his thoughts on the subject of the “principles of jurisprudence.”

At the request of a number of young scholars, including Ayatollah Motahhari and Ayatollah Montazeri, Imam Khomeyni began teaching dars al-kharij (post-graduate studies) and hence did not pursue rational sciences. His involvement in teaching jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence continued until his deportation to Turkey in 1343 (SH) and again from 1344 (SH) to 1357 (SH) when he emigrated to Paris. Since then, he did not find the opportunity to teach due to the responsibilities that he shouldered with respect to the Islamic Revolution.

Since 1307 (SH), in addition to teaching and learning, Imam Khomeyni has been writing books on the subjects of mysticism, ethics, philosophy, jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence. The total number of his works in Arabic and Persian languages is tens of volumes, addressing the names and features of each of which is beyond the scope of this article. Thus, Imam Khomeyni was one of the few scholars who, in addition to teaching and educating eminent students, also left valuable works in Islamic sciences. It should be mentioned that Imam Khomeyni, unlike many of his contemporaries and scholars, did not go to Najaf to pursue higher education and instead continued his studies in Qom.

From 1324 (SH) to a few years later, Imam Khomeyni taught various subjects. They are as follows:

1) Jurisprudence for high-level seminarians: a class which was held immediately after Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s class in the room of Ayatollah Motahhari. In this lesson, Imam Khomeyni was delivering Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s thoughts regarding the jurisprudential issues and discussed his views. 

2) Principles of jurisprudence for high-level seminarians: a class which was only for a small number of prominent seminarians.

3) al-Mandhumah: a class held in Feyzieh school with a large number of students attending.

4) Mysticism: this class was held only for a small number of Imam Khomeyni’s students and no one else was allowed to participate in it.

After a few years, due to the policy of narrow-minded people and the negative campaigns they launched against Imam Khomeyni as well as agitating Ayatollah Boroujerdi, Imam Khomeyni suddenly closed all his private lessons and classes except the class of jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence.

In the year 1308 (SH), Sayyed Ruhollah‎ proposed to the daughter of Haj Mirza Mohammad Saqafi-Tehrani because of the advice and mediation of a friend. Mr. Saqafi was one of the great seminarians of Tehran who migrated to Qom after the migration of Haj Shaykh Abdolkarim Haeri from Tehran to Qom and the establishment of the seminary of that city. He lived in that city for five years to use the presence of scholars and professors of the seminary of Qom. It was during this time that he met Sayyed Ruhollah‎, who was seven years younger than him, and a deep friendship was developed between the two.

Mr. Saqafi personally agreed to the marriage but he asked his daughter’s opinion about the marriage. Due to some considerations, the girl was reluctant to accept this marriage, so the process of proposal lasted ten months. Eventually, because of a dream that the girl saw, which was later interpreted, the girl and the women of the family realized that this marriage is predestined by the Ahl al-Bayt. Therefore, the doubts were resolved and the marriage took place.

Sayyed Ruhollah‎ came to Tehran with some of his friends and relatives for the wedding ceremony and stayed at Mr. Saqafi’s house for a few days. On one of these days (and perhaps on the wedding day), Ayatollah Kashani, who was a friend and neighbour of Mr. Saqafi, talked with Sayyed Ruhollah‎. It was after this conversation and in the same meeting that Ayatollah Kashani, in the presence of Mr. Saqafi and others, called Sayyed Ruhollah‎ a prodigy.

Imam Khomeyni has eight children. His eldest son is Sayyed Mostafa, who was born in 1961 (SH) and died a suspicious death in Najaf Ashraf in 1356 (SH).

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