Grand Ayatollah Saanei:
“If we cannot be like Imam Khomeini (PBUH), we should, at the very least, avoid turning into anti-Imam Khomeini.”
On the occasion of the anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s death, Grand Ayatollah Saanei, addressing his students of extra-textual discussions course of the principles of Shiite jurisprudence, set to describe the late Imam’s moral, political, and social characteristics and said, “We all have to cultivate such characteristics in the society, and if we cannot be like Imam Khomeini (PBUH), we should, at the very least, avoid turning into anti-Imam Khomeini.”
This renowned disciple of the late Imam Khomeini then added, “All those who are familiar with the jurisprudential, philosophical, mystical, and even exegetical views of the late Imam, share the idea that Imam Khomeini dedicated his life to divine duties and obligations and to adherence to the words and deeds of the Ahl al Bayt (the holy Prophet’s Family) (PBUT).”
“One of Imam’s outstanding qualities,” His Eminence said, “was that He presented an acceptable picture of Islam to the world. Those familiar with the jurisprudential views of the late Imam know that, after the Islamic revolution, He attempted to adapt jurisprudential rules to the thoughts and wisdom of today’s human being as witnessed by some of His famous fatwas concerning chess, mines, and women’s divorce.” On the issue of Imam Khomeini’s fatwas, Grand Ayatollah Saanei added, “During the time when I was a member of the Council of Guardians, whenever we encountered a problem with an executive affair, we asked the late Imam for His fatwa- not because He was the leader since this had nothing to do with jurisprudential inference and besides that our constitution does not take leadership into consideration when it comes to Islamic criteria- but because all members of the Council, who were Islamic jurisprudents themselves, considered Imam Khomeini the most learned of the jurisprudents whose fatwas were really pragmatic and helpful. At times, the late Imam Himself had no particular view on the issue at hand and referred us to a different jurisprudent whose fatwa in that very case could be a helpful solution for the society.”
Speaking of another quality of the late Imam, Grand Ayatollah Saanei stated, “Whenever there was a new proposal, He contemplated it and finally responded in such a way that was approved of and accepted by all the wise.”
Quoting one of the judicial authorities, Grand Ayatollah Saanei then went on to talk about a memory of the late Imam’s appropriate and careful decision making. His Eminence quoted that judicial authority as saying, “In the early days of the Islamic revolution, we took the case of a military man from the past regime to Imam Khomeini. This man had been convicted and sentenced to death for giving death sentence to four revolutionary forces. However, he claimed that he had been ordered by the Shah (the king) to execute twelve revolutionary forces while he had only done that to four of them and had used every trick in the book to prevent the others from being executed. Now, he believes that he deserves to receive a reduced sentence for not killing the others. We investigated his claim and found out that he was telling the truth. We have sentenced him to death for killing those four revolutionary forces whose loss is possible to be compensated. What do you think is the most appropriate to do about this case? Contemplating the matter for a while, Imam Khomeini replied, ‘The present conditions do not allow us to release him. However, you may release him after two or three months when the circumstances are appropriate.’” Analyzing the way the late Imam treated this case as well as His careful consideration of time and space and social conditions, Grand Ayatollah Saanei added, “Does it not mean that the late Imam was concerned about human beings, the revolution, and Islam?”
Counting the late Imam’s popularity with the people and revolutionaries as another one of His qualities, Grand Ayatollah Saneei continued, “If characters like Beheshti, Motahari, Montazeri, Rabbani Amlashi, Rabbani Shirazi, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Musavi Ardebili, Karrubi, and Mirhossein Musavi took great pride in being at His service and following Him, or if Mohammad Montazeri was filled with interest in Him, it was simply because of His popularity due to His manners and actions.”
At the end, Grand Ayatollah Saneei concluded, “If we are to introduce Islam to the world, we ought to learn this from the late Imam’s words and actions. We should not, god forbid, act or speak in such a way that would introduce Islam to the world poorly and wrongly. Nor should we get into disputes and matters which would not benefit our nation. I ask all those who have come to power in the name of Islam and martyrs’ bloods shed in fight against oppression and injustice to follow the path of the prophets, the allies of Allah, and the late Imam Khomeini.”