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Islamic Internet ArchivesARCHIVE OF MODERN ISLAMIC THOUGHT
Ruhollah Khomeini

Ruhollah Khomeini

روح‌الله خمینی

d. 1989 · Iran · Shia jurist and cleric, author, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Ruhollah Khomeini was born in the town of Khomeyn in central Iran into a family of religious scholars; reference works give his birth year as 1900 or 1902. His father was killed when he was a small child and relatives raised him, teaching him the Qur’an and Arabic. He studied in Arak and then in Qom, where he became a student of the senior jurist Abd al-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi and in time a teacher of jurisprudence, legal theory, ethics and philosophy at the seminary, with a particular interest in Islamic mysticism (irfan) and the school of Mulla Sadra.

His first major book, Kashf al-Asrar (1943), was written in Persian as a reply to a pamphlet attacking Shia belief and practice, and it already contained arguments about the role of the clergy and government. In the early 1960s he became a leading critic of the Shah’s reforms. He was expelled from Iran in 1964, lived for a time in Turkey, and settled in Najaf, Iraq, where lectures on Islamic government were gathered into the book Hukumat-i Islami (1970), which argues for rule by a qualified jurist (wilayat al-faqih).

Khomeini returned to Iran in February 1979 after the fall of the monarchy and served as the country’s supreme leader until his death on 3 June 1989. As an author he left a large body of work: practical legal manuals such as Tawzih al-Masail and Tahrir al-Wasila, commentaries on ethics and hadith such as Forty Hadith, mystical treatises, poetry, and collections of speeches and messages. His political theory and record in power remain strongly debated; this entry concerns him as a writer and jurist.

Photo: Ali Kaveh, Public domain (PD-Iran), via Wikimedia Commons

Archived 19 October 2026 · Biography sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · openlibrary.org · archive.org

Works

Books 5

BOOK 1943 · Persian
Kashf al-Asrar کشف اسرار

A Persian reply to a 1943 pamphlet that criticised Shia practices, defending belief in the imamate and intercession and arguing about the role of the clergy, government and law.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Khomeini, Ruhollah. Kashf al-Asrar. 1943. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/ruhollah-khomeini/#ruhollah-khomeini-kashf-al-asrar

No free copy online
BOOK 1970 · Persian
Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist حکومت اسلامی: ولایت فقیه

Lectures given in Najaf that set out the case for government by a qualified Islamic jurist, published as a book in 1970.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive (borrowable)

Cite

Khomeini, Ruhollah. Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist. 1970. Internet Archive (borrowable), https://archive.org/details/islamicgovernmen0000khom. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/ruhollah-khomeini/#ruhollah-khomeini-islamic-government-governance-of-the-jurist

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BOOK Persian
A Clarification of Questions (Tawzih al-Masail) توضیح المسائل

Khomeini's practical legal manual for followers, answering questions on worship and daily life; this is an unabridged English translation.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive (borrowable)

Cite

Khomeini, Ruhollah. A Clarification of Questions (Tawzih al-Masail). Internet Archive (borrowable), https://archive.org/details/clarificationofq0000khom. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/ruhollah-khomeini/#ruhollah-khomeini-a-clarification-of-questions-tawzih-al-masail

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BOOK Persian
Forty Hadith: An Exposition چهل حدیث

A detailed commentary on forty selected traditions of the Prophet and his family concerning ethics and spirituality, including the struggle against the self.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Khomeini, Ruhollah. Forty Hadith: An Exposition. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/forty_hadith. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/ruhollah-khomeini/#ruhollah-khomeini-forty-hadith-an-exposition

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PAMPHLET Persian
Imam Khomeini's Last Will and Testament

The testament Khomeini left for the people of Iran and the wider Muslim world, setting out his final political and religious counsel.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive (borrowable)

Cite

Khomeini, Ruhollah. Imam Khomeini's Last Will and Testament. Internet Archive (borrowable), https://archive.org/details/imamkhomeinislas0000ruhu. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/ruhollah-khomeini/#ruhollah-khomeini-imam-khomeinis-last-will-and-testament

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