(d. 632) through the seventh Imam, Musa al-
Kazim (d. 799). Khomeini’s father was murdered
shortly after he was born. He was raised by his
mother and paternal aunt until both died when
he was about 17. His elder brother Murtaza, a
religious scholar, also cared for him and tutored
him in Arabic grammar.
Khomeini began his edUcation in a govern-
ment school, but he also attended a religious
school (maktab) and memorized the qUran while
still a child. In 1920, with the encouragement of
his brother, he went to the Shii madrasa in Arak,
a town near Isfahan, to study with Ayatollah Abd
al-Karim Hairi Yazdi (d. 1936), one of the leading
scholars in iran at the time. He and fellow stu-
dents followed Ayatollah Hairi Yazdi to the Shii
shrine city of Qom the following year. There he
studied Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), in addition
to Quran commentary and hadith, at the feet of
leading Iranian religious scholars. In addition to
his formal studies in Islamic law, he also immersed
himself in the study of Gnostic mysticism (irfan),
philosophy, ethics, and Persian poetry. He was
known for his ability to quote for hours by heart
from the works of Persian mystical poets such as
Jalal al-din rUmi (d. 1273), Saadi (d. ca. 1291),
and Hafiz (d. ca. 1380). Under the guidance of
Mirza Muhammad Ali Shahabadi (d. 1950) he
became fascinated by the writings of the Anda-
lusian Sufi MUhyi al-din ibn al-arabi (d. 1240)
and the Persian visionary Sadr al-Din Shirazi (also
known as Mullah Sadra, d. 1641). The interest he
showed for these subjects distinguished him from
other students and teachers, who regarded such
topics as secondary at best, after study of law and
other traditional madrasa subjects. At the age of
27 Khomeini married Batul, the daughter of an
ayatollah from Tehran. They had five children—
three daughters and two sons.
During the 1930s Khomeini completed his
advanced studies and became a mujtahid in the
Usuli tradition of Shii jurisprudence in Qom.
This school of legal thought regarded the jurist as
a living representative of the 12th Imam during
his Occultation (ghayba), in contrast to the Akh-
bari School, which emphasized imitation (taqlid)
of the Shii Imams and the traditions of the past.
Mujtahids could exercise authority (wilaya) with
respect to the needs of widows and orphans, the
administration of pious endowments and religious
institutions (mosques, shrines, madrasas), and
the general welfare of the community. In general
they were to uphold the Islamic ethical prin-
ciple of “commanding the right and forbidding
the wrong.” Khomeini refrained from engaging
overtly in politics at the time, deferring to senior
leaders of the Shii religious establishment, someAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the eve of his return
to Iran in 1979 (AP Photos)
K 434 Khomeini, Ruhollah