Sayyed Mostafa Khomeyni

Sayyed Mostafa Khomeyni was born in Qom in November 1930. He is the oldest son of Imam Khomeyni and Imam gave him his father’s name.

Sayyed Mostafa Khomeyni completed his primary education in elementary schools in his native Baqeri and Sanaei schools and at the age of fifteen, he began to study Islamic sciences at Qom Seminary.

In addition to learning from his father, he was educated by professors such as Mortaza Haeri (1917-1985), Mohammad Sadouqi (1907-1982), and Mohammad-Javad Esfahani and completed the basic course and level at the age of 22. He then studied dars al-kharij in jurisprudence with Ayatollah Sayyed Hoseyn Boroujerdi (1875-1961) and dars al-kharij in principles of jurisprudence with his father and after years of receiving experience of these two noblemen and other masters in the fields of jurisprudence, principles, the intellectual sciences and philosophy and theology, he reached the degree of ijtihad before he was thirty due to his overwhelming talent and intelligence.

Sayyed Mostafa Khomeyni began his political activities alongside his father in 1962 and played a significant role in mobilizing the genuine and revolutionary forces and advancing the goals of the Islamic movement. Sayyed Mostafa informed the public about the Imam’s arrest after the events of June 6, 1963, and Imam Khomeyni’s arrest and in a fiery speech against the Shah’s rule in the courtyard of Holy Shrine of Lady Fatimah Ma’sumah, he condemned the arrest of the Imam and called on the people to fight against the rebellion. In his speech, he described the arrest and detention of Imam Khomeyni as a violation of wilayah (guardianship) and the sanctity of imamate.

When Imam Khomeyni was under surveillance in Tehran, Sayyed Mostafa went to mosques, parliaments and takiyyahs with his speeches on the path of the Islamic movement and the continuation of popular struggles and continued the movement. During this time, he played an important role in conveying Imam Khomeyni’s message and guidance to religious authorities and Muslim warriors.   With the passing of the Capitulation Bill on October 13, 1964. Imam Khomeyni delivered a speech on October 26 of year in opposition to the bill and regime agents arrested the Imam on November 4, 1964, and sent him to Tehran and he was exiled to Bursa, Turkey that day. After a week, Sayyed Mostafa was arrested and transferred to Qezel Qaleh Prison for interrogation.

Sayyed Mostafa was released on December 29, 1964, and received a warm welcome from the people on his return to Qom. The Pahlavi regime, which saw the presence of the Imam’s son in Iran as a serious threat to the government, again arrested him on January 3, 1965, and deported him to Turkey. Sayyed Mostafa stayed with his father for a few months in Bursa in Turkey and was deported to Iraq on  October 5, 1965, with him.

During his exile, Sayyed Mostafa was the intermediary between the Imam and domestic and foreign fighters. He was trying to connect with the younger generation by writing letters or any other way. He strived to get the students of Islamic sciences into military training. He served as a trustee and advisor for the Imam and responded to clients and communicated with some of the great Najaf sources of emulation, such as Ayatollah Sayyed Mohsen al-Hakim, both in Turkey and Najaf. He was arrested on charges of associating with Ayatollah al-Hakim on June 11, 1969, and the then President of Iraq at the time, Hasan al-Bakr, warned him about his political activities.

In addition to working in the political arena, Sayyed Mostafa also worked hard in the Islamic sciences. Upon his arrival in Najaf, he began teaching dars al-kharij in the principles of jurisprudence in the seminary of that city and continued this for about ten years. In addition to teaching, he also did research and compiled books.

The Mausoleum of Sayyed Mostafa Khomeini in Najaf-Iraq

He wrote such works as al-Qawa’id al-Hakimiyyah and al-Qawa’id al-Rijaliyyah and al-Qawa’id al-Asiliyyah, the Book of Rent and the Book of a-Baya in three volumes, and the Book of Jurisprudence in two volumes, as well as the commentary of the Quran.

Sayyed Mostafa died in Najaf on October 23, 1977, and his death has remained a mystery. Two people were supposed to come to see him but no one came to know them [what is this supposed to mean?]. The next day, the housekeeper saw the lifeless body of Sayyed Mostafa. Sayyed Mostafa’s wife, Masoumeh Haeri-Yazdi, noticed the purple spots on his hands and chest. He was immediately taken to the hospital and some of his relatives believed that he was poisoned and demanded an autopsy but Imam Khomeyni refused to do so and said: “He’s no longer Mostafa for me, no autopsy is needed.” Sayyed Mostafa’s companions and disciples took his body to Karbala and returned to Najaf after washing his body in the Euphrates and taking his body to circumambulate the grave of the Master of the Martyrs (Imam al-Husayn] and Hadhrat Abu al-Fadhl and was returned to Najaf again. The next day, his funeral took place at Behbahani Mosque and he was buried in the golden porch of the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali. With the news of the death of Sayyed Mostafa, the seminaries of Najaf, Qom and Tehran were closed, and scholars and clerics and the general public of Iran remembered him by holding majestic ceremonies. Sayyed Mostafa’s death was widely discussed in Iran and, after the uprising in 1963, again, the revolution entered a new phase.

The funeral of Sayyed Mostafa in Iran provided a good opportunity to break the oppressive atmosphere of society and to create a revolutionary atmosphere throughout Iran. Parviz Sabeti, a senior official at SAVAK, analyzed the death of Sayyed Mostafa and his funeral as follows: “The death of Mostafa Khomeyni, the son of Ruhollah Khomeyni in Iraq due to a heart attack ... gave a new pretext to extremist clerics and their supporters to instigate religious fanaticism once again… Many commemorations were held in Tehran and other cities on the occasion of his death and extremist clerics found an opportunity to honour the deceased and his father...”  Constant analysis suggests that the death of Sayyed Mostafa led to the acceleration of the Islamic movement. The series of events that took place in Iran after October 23, 1977, began a great and unprecedented change in the history of the country and in its continuation, the uprising and various events that took place every forty days throughout Iran emerged such that France’s “Le Monde” newspaper wrote, “The death of Khomeyni’s son has been the reason for the repeated uprisings that shake Iran once every forty days.” Upon the death of his son said, the Imam : “Mostafa was the hope for the future of Islam.”