Ruhollah Khomeini

Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989) was a major twentieth-century figure whose writings and political activity had profound effects on the role of Twelver clerical authority in the modern nation-state. A trained jurist and seminarian, Khomeini developed a theory of governance known as velāyat‑e faqīh (guardianship of the jurist), arguing in works circulated in the 1960s and 1970s that qualified jurists should exercise custodianship over public affairs in the Imam’s absence. This argument represented a distinctive application of Twelver juridical resources to the problem of political legitimacy in the modern era.

Khomeini’s political role became internationally visible with the 1979 Iranian Revolution, where he emerged as a central symbol and leader of the movement that overthrew the Pahlavi monarchy. The revolution and its aftermath transformed Iran’s political order and generated debate across the Twelver world about the proper relation between clerical authority and state institutions. Advocates of velāyat‑e faqīh read Khomeini’s approach as a realization of imamic principles adapted to contemporary circumstances; critics—both within and outside Twelver circles—questioned the concentration of political power in clerical hands and raised concerns about pluralism and civil liberties.

As a jurist Khomeini produced legal and theological writings addressing governance, law and ethics; as a political actor he coordinated networks of clergy, students and activists that mobilized against the Shah. Scholars analyzing his legacy separate his theological arguments from the contingent political processes that supported his rise. They trace how his intellectual output drew on classical Twelver juridical methods while reinterpreting them for modern statecraft.

Khomeini’s influence has had institutional consequences: it framed debates about the scope of clerical authority, inspired political movements in other countries that drew on Twelver symbolism, and prompted reflection among jurists about the relation between religious expertise and elective politics. At the same time, reactions to Khomeini's model vary widely: some Twelver scholars endorse forms of clerical involvement in governance that are more circumscribed than Khomeini proposed; others emphasize civic participation and constitutional checks on clerical power.

Historians and religious-studies scholars treat Khomeini both as a theological innovator and as a political leader whose ideas must be situated within broader social and historical currents. His career illuminates a central modern question for Twelver communities: how to reconcile the theological claim of imamate, whose last occupant is hidden, with the practical demands of legitimacy, governance and popular representation in contemporary states.