Ruhollah Khomeini quotes

Ruhollah Khomeini was an Iranian religious and political leader who became the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His leadership played a central role in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which overthrew the Shah. He shaped Iran's politics and society for decades and remains a defining figure in modern Middle Eastern history. Here are 61 of his quotes:

In Islam, democracy is included and people are free in Islam, both in expressing their opinions and their actions, until there is no conspiracy and they don't bring up ideas which would deviate Iranian generation. (Ruhollah Khomeini)
After the Shah's departure from Iran, I will not become a president nor accept any other leadership role. Just like before, I limit my activities only to guiding and directing the people. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
There is no room for play in Islam ... It is deadly serious about everything. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Happy are those who have departed through martyrdom. Unhappy am I that I still survive.... Taking this decision is more deadly than drinking from a poisoned chalice. I submitted myself to Allah's will and took this drink for His satisfaction. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Islamic state means a state based on justice and democracy and structured upon Islamic rules and laws. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
When anyone studies a little or pays a little attention to the rules of Islamic government, Islamic politics, Islamic society and Islamic economy he will realize that Islam is a very political religion. Anyone who will say that religion is separate from politics is a fool; he does not know Islam or politics. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
If the religious leaders have influence, they will not permit girls and boys to wrestle together, as recently happened in Shiraz. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Personal desire, age, and my health do not allow me to personally have a role in running the country after the fall of the current system. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Islam is politics or it is nothing. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
In Iran's future Islamic system everyone can express their opinion, and the Islamic government will respond to logic with logic. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
In the world there is no democracy better than our democracy. Such a thing has never before been seen. (Ruhollah Khomeini)
With people's revolutionary rage, the king will be ousted and a democratic state, Islamic Republic, will be established. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
In the Islamic government all people have complete freedom to have any kind of opinion. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Before the revolution I thought there are appropriate individuals who would do the job according to Islam, therefore I repeatedly said that clerics would go after their own job. Then I saw that most of them were inappropriate individuals and I found out that what I said was not true, so I came and clearly announced that I was wrong. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
In the Islamic Republic the rights of the religious minorities are respectfully regarded. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Women are free in the Islamic Republic in the selection of their activities and their future and their clothing. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
You young people yourselves are capable of performing anything. Our inventors can invent in a high level, Our innovators can innovate in a high level, only if they keep self confidence and believe that we can. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
If one permits an infidel to continue in his role as a corrupter of the earth, the infidel's moral suffering will be all the worse. If one kills the infidel, and this stops him from perpetrating his misdeeds, his death will be a blessing to him. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Islam's jihad is a struggle against idolatry, sexual deviations, plunder, repression, and cruelty. The war waged by [non-Muslim] conquerors, however, aims at promoting lust and animal pleasures. They care not if whole countries are wiped out and many families left homeless. But those who study jihad will understand why Islam wants to conquer the whole world. All the countries conquered by Islam or to be conquered in the future will be marked for everlasting salvation. For they shall live under. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
It is better for a girl to marry in such a time when she would begin menstruation at her husband's house rather than her father's home. Any father marrying his daughter so young will have a permanent place in heaven. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Americans are the great Satan, the wounded snake. (Ruhollah Khomeini)
If one commits the act of sodomy with a cow, an ewe, or a camel, their urine and their excrements become impure, and even their milk may no longer be consumed. The animal must then be killed and as quickly as possible and burned. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
One thing I congratulate everyone on is the great explosion which has occurred in Washington's Black House and the very important scandal which has gripped leaders of America. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
...the author of The Satanic Verses book which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Qu'ran, and all involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death. I call on all zealous Muslims to execute them wherever they find them, so that no one will dare to insult the Islamic sanctions. Whoever is killed on this path will be regarded as a martyr, God willing. View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini
Sexual vice has now reached such proportions that it is destroying entire generations, corrupting our youth, and causing them to neglect all forms of work. They are all rushing to enjoy the various forms of vice that have become so freely available and so enthusiastically promoted. Why should it be regarded as harsh if Islam stipulates that an offender should be publicly flogged in order to protect the younger generation from corruption? View quote
Ruhollah Khomeini