The Late Ayatollah al-Asifi:

Ayatollah Khamenei closest person to Imam Khomeini

Rasa – Ayatollah al-Asifi, who passed away Thursday morning, said in his last interview with Rasa News that Ayatollah Khamenei is the closest person he knows to the great leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini.

News ID: 2662

Date: 04 June 2015 - 20:15

RNA – In his last interview with Rasa News Agency last month, Ayatollah Mohammad-Mahdi al-Asifi, spoke about the personality and leadership of the founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Imam Ruhollah Khomeini, who passed away 26 years ago on June 3rd.

Ayatollah al-Asifi passed away on the morning of Thursday, June 4th, 2015 after suffering from liver cancer. He was a long-time companion of Imam Khomeini and was the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei’s, representative in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.

He had very new and intriguing ideas in the field of jurisprudence, especially related to ethics and emotion. He was a influential figure in both the Iranian and Arab worlds who also authored numerous books, some of which have been translated to English.

Commemorating the loss of Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah al-Asifi described him as an embodiment of devotion and mysticism and noted that to understand the character of this great spiritual leader and the founder of the Islamic Revolution, we must see how he was humble and submissive in front of God.

His Eminence stated that another characteristic of the late Imam was that he acted by his religious duties and on what he felt was right, whether it was likely to succeed or not. This perseverance led to the defeat of the Pahlavi regime, which was supported by all the arrogant powers in the world.

Ayatollah al-Asifi said that the people loved Imam Khomeini and this love penetrated the hearts of the nations of the world. This love was due to his service to the people of his nation.

The revered Iraqi scholar stated that all of these features can be found in Imam Khomeini’s successor, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, adding that he was the best and the closest personality to the late Imam.

In another part of the interview, Ayatollah al-Asifi referred to the developments in Iraq and said that ISIL terrorist group is not the first nor the last challenge for the country. He advised that an Islamic discourse must be given priority, adding that intellectual dialogue, unity and non-passive movements are also important.

The Iraqi scholar pointed out that some are only familiar with the language of force. "The spread of religious sedition among Muslims," he said "is ISIL’s greatest priority, and stressed that this must be overcome."

He added that if the fatwa (religious edict) by Ayatollah Sistani calling on “all able-bodied Iraqis” to defend their country was not issued and if it was not answered by the Shi’ite and Sunni youth, the current situation facing Iraq would be far different. “Ayatollah Sistani has stressed that the era of ISIL will end in the near future,” Ayatollah al-Asifi added.

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