Manifestation of the Friend
With the People
part 1
"Manifestation of the Friend" consists of a series of
memoirs about
Imam Khomeini (R.A) which are compiled by
Asghar Mir-Shekari and are
narrated by Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini, Ms. Fatima Tabatabai, Ayatollah Khamenei, Akbar Hashimi Rafsanjani, Mrs. Na‘imah Ishraqi, Hujjat al-Islam Rahimiyan, Ghulam Ali Rajaei, Mrs. Zahra Mustafawi, Ali Thaqafi, Ayatollah Bani-Fadil, Mrs. Dabbagh, Hujjat al-Islam Muhtashami-Pur, Ayatollah Karimi, Farideh Mustafawi, Hujjat al-Islam Muhammad ‘Ali Ansari, Hujjat al-Islam Masih Muhajeri, Ayatollah Martyr Mutahhari, Hujjat al-Islam Hassan Thaqafi, Kiyumarth Sabiri (Gol Aqa), Ayatollah Tawassuli, Ayatollah Nasiri, Hujjat al-Islam Farahi, Ayatollah Mas‘udi Khomeini, Sayyid Hamid Ruhani, Ayatollah Imami Kashani, Mrs. Freshteh A‘rabi, Behjat Khanom (daughter of the nursing mother of the Imam), Mrs. Zahra Ishraqi, Abbas Khorasani, Ahmad Natiq Nuri, Major General Qasim Ali Zahir-Nejad, Hujjat al-Islam Muhammad Fadili Eshtehardi, Muhammad Baqir Torbati, Muhammad Ashrafi Isfahani, Sayyid Kamal Faqih Imani, Ayatollah Tawassuli, Ayatollah Musawi Khoeyniha, Hussein Shahrzad (the Imam’s neighbor in Qom), Dr. Mahmoud Borujerdi, Hujjat al-Islam Murtaza Sadiqi Tehrani, Muhammad Reza Nasiri, Muwahhidi Kermani, Musawi Ardabili,Huajjt al-Islam Mahallati, Ali Akbar Ashtiyani, Sayyed Mujtaba Rudbari, Ayatollah Ja‘far Subhani, Ali Davani, Abdul-Ali Qarahi, Muhammad Ali Fayd, Hujjat al-Islam Ahmad Sabiri Hamadani, Hujjat al-Islam Sorush Mahallati, Ayatollah Ja‘far Subhani, Hujjat al-Islam Furqani, Ayatollah Muhammadi Gilani , Dr. Kalantar Mu‘tamidi, Hujjat al-Islam Ansari Kermani, Sayyid Abd al-Majid Iravani, Hadi Ma‘rifat, and etc.
Simple and popular living
The lifestyle of the Imam was extremely simple and loved by the people. Sometimes when we would come out of his classes, we would go to ask him some questions. On the way we would see that he would visit the shops very ordinarily and would personally make the household purchases. This simplicity and down to earth approach of his to living was a true interpretation of piety. He would consume little and give out a lot of good while his presence benefited others. Even at the time when he became a supreme religious authority, he pursued this policy of simple-living and piety and in his view, public wealth was of special importance.
The telegram must be printed for the people
Sometimes the clergy would adopt the most hard-line and devastating stances against the radicals but the masses would generally not be informed of them. Sometimes also they would assume that relations between them were basically good! However, the Imam from the beginning of the movement in 1962, at a meeting with the theologians of Qom proposed that the telegraphic messages that were exchanged between the theologians and the Shah’s regime be printed and published for the people so that the general public would be fully informed of the clashes and stances of the involved parties.
Not much later the Imam totally transformed the method of dealing with the regime and instead of addressing the Shah, the government and other authorities by means of telegram; he would speak directly with the people and resorted to officially issuing notifications.
The doors of my house must be kept open to the public
In the days of the beginning of the struggle against the monarchy, I was one day seated beside the Imam and a large crowd had arrived from Tehran. One of the doors of the house was closed. The Imam became aware of this and said: “Who has closed this door?” Someone replied that in order not to inconvenience the people, the door was closed on the orders of Haj Aqa Mustafa. The Imam retorted with discomfort that, “No, open the door; let the people be free; nobody should interfere in my house. The doors of my house must be kept open to the public.”
They must hit me on my head with these sticks
In the incident of the attack by agents of the inauspicious Pahlavi regime on the Faydiyyah Theological School, I was initially at the Faydiyyah School. I saw the situation in the class and the seminary to be abnormal and thus left the theological school and went to the house of the Imam in the middles of the class session. We were sitting with some seminary students in his presence and discussing the situation at the seminary. As we were discussing, some seminary students who were beaten up and injured entered the house of the Imam and gave an account of the happenings at the seminary and the beating, killing and wounding of the seminary students. One of the seminary students asked that the door of his house be closed in case they attacked the house. The Imam replied; No, I will not permit.” One of the theologians (late Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Lavasani) who was a friend of the Imam said; “It is not a bad proposal. Please allow the door to be closed… it is dangerous.” The Imam retorted: “I said no and if you insist then I will leave the house and take to the streets. They must hit me on my head with these sticks with which they beat up the seminary students. Now should I close the door of my house? What are you saying?
Source:
The Book "Manifestation of the Friend: A collection of memoirs about Imam Khomeini (R.A)"
Other Links:
The Narrative Awakening: Imam Khomeini in Uprising
Justice Theory: A General Look into the Theory of idalah
