intellectual center in neighboring Iraq. It was a logical place
for the ayatollah, located near the shrine of the prophet Muham-
mad’s son-in-law, the imam Ali—the man Shiites believe was
the rightful successor to the prophet. Although Najaf is not as
important to Muslims as the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia,
many Shiite Muslims make solemn pilgrimages to Najaf.
Khomeini took up residence with his wife and oldest son in
a modest home. “Like the Prophet and Ali,” wrote historian
Sandra Mackey, “he ate a meager diet of yogurt, cheese, lentils,
and fruit. He slept on an ordinary rug spread on the floor. Day
in and day out for almost thirteen years, he walked for twenty
minutes; ate lunch and dinner; taught a small corps of students;
received visitors; wrote his correspondence; and went to bed on
a precise schedule that never varied.”^23
As leader of a religious school at Najaf, Khomeini continued
to cultivate a following of students. Because of his presence,
many students came to Najaf from Qom, his original base of
teaching in Iran. They looked to him for guidance and leader-
ship, not just in their personal lives but for all of Islam.
But Khomeini’s attention constantly was on his homeland. He
was apprised of the liberalization of Iranian culture—beaches
where bikinis, not veils, had become women’s standard dress;
movie theaters that showed X-rated films; nightclubs where
revelers danced provocatively. This was not the Iran of his youth.
It was not the kind of society that had been encouraged by the
prophet Muhammad.
Khomeini by this time had a vision for a new Iran. He had con-
cluded that the shah himself was only one part of the country’s
problem. The entire system of government—a hereditary
monarchy—was wrong, according to Islamic teaching. In taped
and photocopied speeches that his devotees smuggled into Iran,
he proclaimed that the Pahlavi reign must be brought to an end.
In its place would emerge an Islamic republic, a government
based on traditional Islamic teachings and similar to the seventh-
century Islamic society of the prophet Muhammad and his
followers. The ulema would be in charge of government.
Setting the Stage for Revolution 41