When Ruhollah was an infant, his father was killed. Details of
his death are unclear. Some believed he was slain by robbers
while on a journey to Iraq. Others said he was stabbed by agents
of the family’s landlord when Mustafa argued with them about
the rent. Speculation also suggested assassination by religious or
political opponents—possibly by agents of the country’s reign-
ing dynasty, the Qajar regime. Another account held that in his
role as mullah of the town, Mustafa had ordered a man executed
for disobeying a Muslim custom, and a friend of the condemned
man killed Mustafa in revenge.
Ruhollah’s mother could no longer support him. She sent
him to live with his aunt. At age four, he began to study the
Qur’an. It was in this way that he learned to read and write,
while also learning the teachings of Muhammad. His was a
rigid Shiite upbringing. His family had little respect for
Muslims who did not follow the Shiite lineage, and they held
animosity toward non-Muslims. They believed their govern-
ment’s relations with Great Britain and other Western powers
were undermining Islam.
Ruhollah was said to be a bright, eager student. This meant,
among other things, that he grew to be a bright, eager
defender of Islamic traditions. He also grew to be sturdy and
independent—“a self-sufficient, tough little boy,” according
to one chronicler.^3
When he was about fifteen, Ruhollah was orphaned. Both his
mother and aunt died within a few months of each other. He
went to live with his older brother, Basandidah Musawi, himself
a devout Shiite and mullah. Basandidah continued Ruhollah’s
Qur’anic instruction and was pleased to observe that his
brother’s sharp mind was focused on strict Muslim teachings. “I
was older than Ruhollah, but he was always wiser,” Basandidah
later would say.^4
At nineteen, Ruhollah was off to Arak, a city of modest size
situated in a fruit-growing region about 140 miles southwest of
Tehran. There, he intensified his religious studies at a Muslim
school, called a madreseh. His mentor was a noted Islamic20 AYATOLLAH RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI
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