☫ How wrong was Khomeini!

Opinions  14th of Khordad blog-wide event

And if he dies, what is going to happen to the Iranian people?         Will they go back to sleep? [1]

These last days, the world has witnessed with bare eyes the record level of brutality that the occupation of Palestine can reach. Humanity sheds blood from a wound we rush to quench, but something troubles us: Do we really know how to root this one out? Do we find our inner selves in a state to carry out the task? While the ideology of Imam Khomeini's Revolution disentangled these obstacles for us all, the implications seem sometimes so frightening that the endeavor is abandoned altogether: Nothing overwhelms and compromises more than having to point fingers right at our own selves.

Just like a firefighter extinguishing a blaze or a doctor keeping an illness at dock, those engaged in combating oppression look around to the vicinity of the threat itself to understand what is feeding it into further damage. And so we set to ask ourselves: Who are the biggest allies of the Tel-Aviv Pharaohs?

Many of us are pleased listing a dozen Middle Eastern puppet regimes which guarantee the subjugation will be carried out free from nuisances. Others might feel satisfied only when bringing in the billions of dollars of aid with which the Western hijacked governments subsidy the state terrorism of the 'only democracy of the Middle East'. Or, in a more daring move, we might even address an inherently unjust international community which comfortably legitimizes the widest scope of oppressions.

Thankfully, the guilt is never on our shoulders. And no matter that we lead lifestyles designed for us by the very oppressors and that we comfortably forget to do everything in this world for the sake of God, we can never find ourselves among the allies of the tyrants. Fortunately, Imam Khomeini could not have been any more wrong writing an entire book on the preposterous idea that the greatest Jihad is the combat with the self.

It is not even conceivable how any editorial lent itself to publish such outrageous lines as [2],

Do not suppose now that you are engaged in learning (...) that you can take it easy otherwise, and that your responsibilities and duties will take care of themselves.

or,

As much as it (our knowledge) increases, if it is not accompanied by refinement of the heart and fear of God, then it will end in harm in this world and the next for the Muslim community.

It is but a big relief just how wrong he was, and that responsibility always lies elsewhere. Isn't it? That would have otherwise meant such a heavy burden for each of us, that we probably would have merely settled for some version of Islam adjusted for our comfort by the very enemies of God. Scared of even calling ourselves Fundamentalists (faithful) in Islam, agreeing to wear moderated labels to comply to the standards of those who plot against the religion of the holy prophets.

Sigh. Had Khomeini been right, we would have had to engage in a never ending struggle plagued of sacrifices, where we aspire to do every-single-thing for the sake of the One God. Where activism for the cause of Justice never ceases, and we give no place to deviation, both within ourselves and in our societies. A combat in which the oppression abroad is defeated through practicing our faithfulness in the simplest of daily actions, and in which we lead by example, making sense with the ideology we claim to adhere to. Shielding ourselves with purity and a refined heart at the hour of challenging the core of human and social corruption.

True, Imam Khomeini taught the world that the well-fought inner Jihads of a few men can defeat the dearest Western dictatorship in the Middle East possessor of the strongest army of the region. And that certainly in doing so, the entire foundations of an unjust world order can be shaken and fully compromised to this very day [3]. Yet somehow, we always manage to convince ourselves of refusing to take the responsibility, and to proudly affirm, "How wrong was Khomeini!" whether with our actions or mind.

Notes

[0] This post is dedicated to the occasion of Imam Khomeini's 21st death anniversary, and the blogwide event for 14th of Khordad

[1] Speech: "Iran, a nation reborn" by the Sunni scholar Ahmad Deedat

[2] "The Greatest Jihad: The Combat With The Self" by Imam Khomeini
 

[3] To the point sheikh Mansour Legahei, leading an Islamic community of thousands in Sydney was sentenced with deportation by the Australian government just last week, with the authorities admitting to him the reason was their concern of him spreading Khomeinism in Australia