Ayatollah Khomeini: Biography of Iran’s First Supreme Leader

Imagine a single figure whose death brought an estimated 10 million people into the streets — a crowd so vast it literally tore his coffin apart. That was Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shia cleric who transformed Iran from a monarchy into an Islamic Republic in 1979, then spent a decade reshaping the Middle East.

Born: 17 May 1900, Khomeyn, Iran ·
Died: 3 June 1989, Tehran, Iran ·
Role: First Supreme Leader of Iran (1979–1989) ·
Funeral attendance: Estimated 10 million mourners ·
Spouse: Khadijeh Saqafi (m. 1929–1989)

Six key details that frame Khomeini’s life: titles don’t tell the full story of a man who fused religion and state power.

The pattern: Khomeini’s biography is a study in how one cleric built a system that outlasted him.

What was Ayatollah Khomeini known for?

Role in the Iranian Revolution

• Khomeini led the 1979 Iranian Revolution from exile, first in Iraq and then in France (Khamenei.ir official biography).
• He returned to Iran on 1 February 1979, greeted by millions (Britannica authoritative reference).
• The revolution overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, ending the Pahlavi dynasty (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).

The implication: Iran’s shift from monarchy to theocracy didn’t happen by accident. Khomeini’s ability to rally Shia networks abroad gave him leverage that no other opposition figure could match.

Founding of the Islamic Republic

• After a national referendum, Iran became the Islamic Republic of Iran on 1 April 1979 (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• Khomeini was appointed Supreme Leader in December 1979, holding the position until his death (Khamenei.ir official biography).
• He oversaw the drafting of a new constitution that codified clerical rule (Britannica authoritative reference).

What this means: The 1979 constitution enshrined the Supreme Leader as the ultimate authority, making Khomeini both head of state and head of religion — a combination that persisted long after his death.

Khomeinism as a political ideology

• Khomeini developed the theory of velayat-e faqih, or guardianship of the jurisconsult (Khamenei.ir official biography).
• This doctrine holds that a qualified Islamic jurist should govern the state (Britannica authoritative reference).
• His ideology combined anti-imperialism, Shia theology, and populist mobilization (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).

What religion was Ayatollah Khomeini?

Shia Islam and the concept of Marja

• Khomeini was a Shia Muslim cleric and a Marja — a source of emulation for Twelver Shia Muslims (Britannica authoritative reference).
• Twelver Shia Islam is the majority branch in Iran, comprising about 90% of the population (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• As a Marja, Khomeini issued fatwas (religious edicts) that were binding on his followers (Khamenei.ir official biography).

Why this matters: Khomeini’s religious authority was not just ceremonial. It gave him direct influence over the daily lives of millions and legitimised his political rule.

Khomeini’s clerical training and titles

• He studied in Qom, Iran’s leading Shia seminary, under prominent scholars (Britannica authoritative reference).
• By the 1960s, he achieved the rank of Ayatollah — a high-level clerical title in Shia Islam (Khamenei.ir official biography).
• Later, he was recognised as Grand Ayatollah, the highest achievable rank (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).

The pattern: Khomeini’s rise through clerical ranks tracked his political ambition. He wasn’t just a quiet scholar; he used his religious platform to challenge the Shah openly.

How many people died at Ayatollah Khomeini’s funeral?

Funeral stampede and casualties

• Khomeini died on 3 June 1989 after a period of illness, including five heart attacks in ten days (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• His funeral on 6 June 1989 drew an estimated 10 to 15 million mourners (AP News journalistic report).
• A stampede broke out, reportedly killing at least 10 people; the exact number remains unclear (Facebook/IRNA social media post).

What to watch: The lack of official death toll from the funeral underscores the chaos — and the difficulty of documenting crowd-related deaths in revolutionary contexts.

Global record for funeral attendance

• The funeral is widely considered one of the largest in human history (AP News journalistic report).
• The estimated crowd exceeded the population of most countries at the time (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• The funeral forced authorities to use helicopters to retrieve Khomeini’s body from the mob (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).

The implication: When a religious leader’s funeral draws more people than the population of London, it signals not just grief, but the depth of ideological identification that his revolution created.

Why did Saddam fight Khomeini?

Territorial and ideological roots of the Iran-Iraq War

• Saddam Hussein invaded Iran on 22 September 1980, sparking the Iran-Iraq War (Britannica authoritative reference).
• Saddam feared Khomeini’s revolutionary ideology would inspire Shia uprisings in Iraq’s Shia-majority south (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• Khomeini openly called for the overthrow of Saddam’s Ba’athist regime (Khamenei.ir official biography).

The trade-off: Saddam’s invasion, meant to crush Khomeini early, instead united Iranians around their new leader and prolonged the war for eight years.

Khomeini’s call for Shia uprising in Iraq

• Khomeini encouraged Iraqi Shia to rise up against Saddam during the war (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• The war resulted in an estimated 500,000 to 1 million deaths (Britannica authoritative reference).
• It ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire in August 1988, which Khomeini described as “drinking poison” (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).

Why this matters: The Iran-Iraq War entrenched Khomeini’s narrative of victimhood and resistance, which Iran’s government still invokes today to justify military spending and regional influence.

What has happened to Ayatollah Khomeini?

Death and state funeral

• Khomeini died on 3 June 1989 at 22:20 IRST in Jamaran, Tehran (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• He was buried at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in south Tehran, now a major pilgrimage site (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• His final days were spent in a private hospital near his residence after 11 days of treatment (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).

The pattern: Khomeini’s death, like his life, was a mass event. The state funeral was less a goodbye and more a final act of mobilization.

Succession by Ali Khamenei

• Ali Khamenei succeeded Khomeini as Supreme Leader within hours of his death (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• Khamenei had been President of Iran and was seen as a loyalist (Britannica authoritative reference).
• The succession was smooth but not uncontroversial; some questioned Khamenei’s religious credentials (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).

The implication: Khomeini’s legacy is now filtered through Khamenei’s interpretation — a reminder that revolutions often outlive their architects in unpredictable ways.

What religion was Iran before Muslims?

Zoroastrianism as the state religion of pre-Islamic Iran

• Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in Iran before the Muslim conquest in the 7th century (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• It was the state religion of three consecutive Persian empires: the Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sassanids (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• Zoroastrianism’s central tenet is the dualism of good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Angra Mainyu) (Britannica authoritative reference).

The catch: Understanding Iran’s pre-Islamic religion helps explain why Shia Islam took root so deeply — Zoroastrianism had already centered the concept of righteous rulers and cosmic justice.

Transition after the Arab conquest

• The Arab conquest of Iran began around 633 CE and led to gradual Islamization over centuries (Wikipedia encyclopedic entry).
• Shia Islam became the dominant branch in Iran after the Safavid dynasty made it the state religion in 1501 (Britannica authoritative reference).
• Khomeini’s Shia identity is part of this post-Islamic tradition, distinct from Sunni-majority countries (Khamenei.ir official biography).

Why this matters: Khomeini didn’t just inherit Shia Islam — he reimagined it for the modern state, blending pre-Islamic Persian concepts of authority with clerical rule.

Confirmed facts vs. unclear claims

Quotes from key figures

Islam is the religion of the masses. It is not the religion of the rich. The clergy must not be the clergy of the court.

— Ayatollah Khomeini, on the role of clergy in government (Velayat-e Faqih) (Khamenei.ir official biography)

We did not invade Iran. We are defending our land and honour.

— Saddam Hussein, justification for the invasion of Iran in 1980 (Britannica authoritative reference)

Bottom line: Khomeini was what his followers believed — a divinely guided leader who turned a religious protest into a state. For historians, the lesson is clear: religious authority, when fused with mass mobilization, can reshape a country’s future. For Iran’s current leadership, the trade-off is visible every day — you inherit the revolution, but you also inherit its contradictions.

For a detailed account of Khomeinis funeral and exile, readers can explore how the revolutionary leader’s return from exile shaped modern Iran.

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