Imam Khomeinispent over 14 years in exile, mostly in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq. Initially, he was sent to Turkey on 4 November 1964, where he stayed in the city of Bursa for less than a year.
Imam Khomeini was considered a Marja-e taqlid to many Muslims, and in Iran was officially addressed as Imam rather than Grand Ayatollah; his supporters adhere to this convention. Imam Khomeini was also a highly-influential and innovative Islamic political theorist, most noted for his development of the theory of velayat-e faqih, the "guardianship of the jurisconsult."
Logically, in the 1970s, as contrasted with the 1940s, he no longer accepted the idea of a limited monarchy under the Iranian Constitution of 1906-1907, an idea that was clearly evidenced by his book Kashf-e Asrar. In his Islamic Government (Hokumat-e Islami) — which is a collection of his lectures in Najaf published in 1970 — he rejected both the Iranian Constitution as an alien import from Belgium and monarchy in general. He believed that the government was an un-Islamic and illegitimate institution usurping the legitimate authority of the supreme religious leader (Faqih), who should rule as both the spiritual and temporal guardian of the Muslim community (Umma).
In early 1970 Imam Khomeini gave a lecture series in Najaf on Islamic Government which later was published as a book titled variously Islamic Government or Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists (velayat-e faqih). This was his most famous and influential work and laid out his ideas on governance (at that time):
Another famous book, Forty Hadith by Imam Khomeini, the original work in Persian, published several times under the title “Arba’in, ya chihil hadith” was written by Imam al-Khumayni nearly five decades ago and was completed in the month of Muharram 1358 (April-May, 1939).
The manuscript of this work, together with that of two other unpublished works of the author, Sharh Du’ae sahar, and Adab al-salat, were recovered from the library of the late Ayatullah Akhund al-Hamadani. All the three works have now been published.
More articles:
Imam wrote dozens of works on various Islamic disciplines including philosophy, mysticism, jurisprudence and Quranic and Hadith Sciences.
Some more works by Imam Khomeini
- Velayat-e Faqih
- Forty Hadiths (Forty Traditions)
- Adab-e Salat (The Disciplines of Prayers)
- Jihad-e Akbar (The Greater Struggle)
- Tahrir al-Wasilah
- Interpretation of Surah Fatihah
- Serr al-Salat (Secrets of Prayers)
- Interpretation of Dawn Pray
- Interpretation of Forces of Reason and Negligence Tradition
- Hajj
Read more:
Seyyed Hassan Khomeini’s new work on jurisprudence ruling on slandering published