Late Hojjatol-Eslam Vaez Tabasi once mentioned his meeting with the Imam before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, saying, “During a meeting with the Imam before the revolution, he told me, ‘You are young and youth, apart from faith and belief, requires to be ready for struggle against the regime; and me, as an old man, I am not of those ulema who think and have such a take and view of Islam that the life and worship is confined to commutation between home and the shrine while I don’t feel any responsibility toward the events that occur in the Islamic Ummah. Rather, if I realize that something has happened and a step has been taken against the interests of the people and Islam, I’ll come to the middle of street and shout.’”
As it was said in the previous episodes, Imam Khomeini deemed high respect for his family and near ones, especially his wife. But, if he felt a religious obligation, he would tell his family members and wife, saying that God’s satisfaction is superior to the satisfaction of individuals. Ayatollah Tavassoli, who had worked at Imam Khomeini’s office for several years, said, “When the Imam realized that complicated plots had been designed against Islam and the Qur’an and Iran is at stake, he started his move just for the survival of the divine religion. And when his wife told him, ‘Sit quite a bit and speak more softly’, the Imam said, ‘By God, it is an obligation. I know that it is difficult for you but this is a divine obligation that I should do.”
Imam Khomeini’s younger son, Haaj Ahmad Aqa, referring to leaving of the house by the Imam and his family during the struggle against the Shah’s regime, said, “It was interesting to see our house in the night that we were supposed to leave the day after. Everybody was in an unusual state. I had paid all my attention to the Imam. He slept on time just like the previous nights and as usual he got up one hour and a half before the dawn for midnight prayers. I remember that he gathered the family members and said, ‘Don’t be upset at all. It is nothing. We cannot exist and keep silent. What can we answer to God and the people then? The main thing is the obligation. We cannot shoulder off the obligation. Even if they told me to keep silent and live here just for one day, while I knew that silence for one day was harmful, it was impossible for me to accept it.’”
Imam Khomeini would never pay attention to the praising or warnings of others. In fact, negative or positive reactions would never affect him in fulfilling his divine obligation. Dr. Hassan Habibi related a memory of being with Imam Khomeini in Nauphle le Chateau in Paris, “The Imam made it clear that if all get along with the Shah, he would do his duty alone. He said in Paris, ‘If all people say the Shah should go, I’ll say with them that the Shah should go. If a few people say this, I’ll say again with them that the Shah should go. And is nobody says the Shah should go, I will again say the Shah should go. Because this is not on my will to say or not to say. Saying is a divine obligation. This is a duty.’”
Dear listeners, Imam Khomeini always thought of doing his divine obligation and duty. Once he said after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, “Do not think that I am scared of fuss and ballyhoo. If the entire crowd at the Husseinieh that chants ‘Greetings to Khomeini’ sometime chant the opposite, it doesn’t make any difference for me. I will never pay attention to fusses. I don’t heed ballyhoo and greetings. I just fulfill my religious duty and nothing more.”
He would just think of satisfying God without paying attention to victory or defeat. Hojjatol-Eslam Ferdowsi, who struggled beside the Imam for a while, mentions a dialogue with him in Paris. “In response to the question, when will we attain victory?, Imam Khomeini said, ‘We are obligated to fulfill our duty not to attain the result.’ The Imam’s conditions would never change whether in Najaf or Paris or Tehran. He was stable and deemed the movement victorious. Even in Paris, when many people came to him and asked, ‘When will we be victorious and till when should we be killed?’ the Imam answered, ‘We are bound to fulfill the duty. And if we fulfill the duty, we are victorious no matter if the revolution bears fruit or not.’”
Another companion of the Imam mentions his memory from Najaf, saying, “In the year 1966 that I went to Najaf, I heard from the Imam and Haaj Aqa Mostafa that it was a hard year. Many of the revolutionary forces had either been executed or imprisoned; but the Imam would say, ‘I have not slept a single night feeling that we have failed. We are successful. We are victorious. We fulfill our duty.’”
What mattered for Imam Khomeini was to obtain the divine pleasure not only in the individual but also in the social and political issues. Late Ayatollah Mohammad Mo’men said, “One of the students of Imam Khomeini used to go to a village near Qom for preaching. Since the villagers needed a mosque, two of the Imam’s followers said, ‘If he comes and strikes the first pick for construction of the mosque, we will accept to spend the expenses.’ When the Imam was informed of the issue, he said, ‘I don’t do such things.’ As the mosque was needed and there was no choice but the help of the owners and they had postponed it to the Imam’s coming, the Imam was informed again by Ayatollah Eshraqi on the issue. Ayatollah Eshraqi said, ‘The Imam is humble against the divine duty. If the issue is explained t him and he feels duty-bound, he will surely come.’ When we told the Imam once more and explained him that the people need the mosque, he accepted. Then he came and struck the first pick for the mosque.”