Ayatollah Khomeini: Life, Legacy, and Largest Funeral

It’s not every day a funeral draws more mourners than the entire population of a country. But when Ayatollah Khomeini died on June 3, 1989, the crowds that flooded Tehran were so vast that Guinness World Records recognized it as the largest funeral procession in history (Guinness World Records, the official record-keeping body).

Born: 17 May 1900 (or 24 Sep 1902) ·
Died: 3 June 1989 ·
Role: First Supreme Leader of Iran (1979–1989) ·
Key Event: Led the 1979 Islamic Revolution ·
Funeral Attendance: Est. 10+ million mourners

Seven key attributes define Khomeini’s official biography, from his contested birth year to his absolute political peak.

What was Ayatollah Khomeini known for?

Architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution

• Khomeini led the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in 1979 (Encyclopaedia Britannica, the authoritative reference work).
• He established the Islamic Republic of Iran through a national referendum, replacing a 2,500-year-old monarchy.

After 15 years in exile—first in Turkey and Iraq, then in France—Khomeini returned to a hero’s welcome on February 1, 1979 (The Indian news outlet Firstpost). The Shah’s regime collapsed within weeks.

First Supreme Leader of Iran

• Khomeini was the first person to hold the office of Supreme Leader, a position created by the new constitution (Wikipedia, the user-edited encyclopedia).
• He held ultimate authority over the military, judiciary, state media, and foreign policy.

The role was designed specifically for him—a fusion of political and religious power that had no precedent in modern Shia governance.

Founder of Khomeinism and Velayat-e Faqih

• Khomeini’s political philosophy, Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist), places the highest-ranking cleric as the ultimate ruler of the state.
• This theory was a radical departure from traditional Shia quietism, which had largely avoided direct clerical rule.

Khomeini argued that in the absence of the Hidden Imam, the most learned Islamic jurist held authority over the community. This principle became the foundational doctrine of the Islamic Republic.

The implication: Khomeini didn’t just win a power struggle; he rewired the political DNA of a nation by fusing religious authority with absolute political rule.

How many people died at Ayatollah Khomeini’s funeral?

The colossal crowd at Khomeini’s funeral

• Guinness World Records reports that 10.2 million people attended the funeral procession on June 11, 1989 (Guinness World Records, the official record-keeping body).
• This number represents roughly one-sixth of Iran’s entire population at the time.
• The funeral route to Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra cemetery stretched approximately 32 kilometers.

The crowd overwhelmed all logistical planning. The funeral was originally scheduled for June 4 but had to be postponed to June 11. Even then, the sheer volume of humanity created a crisis (Encyclopaedia Britannica, the authoritative reference work).

Comparison with other largest funerals in history

• Khomeini’s funeral is widely listed among the largest gatherings in human history, alongside events such as the funeral of C. N. Annadurai in India and Pope John Paul II (Wikipedia, the user-edited encyclopedia).

Some accounts describe the funeral crowd as so large that Khomeini’s body fell from the coffin during the crush (a widely shared but unverified account on Facebook). Reports claim the burial had to be postponed and the body was temporarily airlifted by helicopter. The exact number of casualties from the crush remains disputed.

The trade-off: The same event that cemented Khomeini’s status as a global leader of the masses also exposed the logistical limits and human cost of his unprecedented popularity.

Do Iranians like Ayatollah Khomeini?

Support among different segments of Iranian society

• The massive turnout at his funeral in 1989 suggests widespread popular affection at the time of his death.
• He remains a revered figure among Iran’s conservative and religious classes.

For millions of Iranians who lived through the Shah’s era, Khomeini was a liberator who gave them a voice and a national identity rooted in faith.

Criticism and opposition then and now

• Younger Iranians, who did not live through the revolution or the Shah’s rule, often view his legacy critically.
• Polls in later years show mixed or declining support, though no recent comprehensive polling is publicly available.

Measuring popular opinion in the Islamic Republic is fraught with difficulty. What is clear is that Khomeini’s legacy is a deep dividing line in Iranian society—a symbol of piety for some and of authoritarian theocracy for others.

What this means: For the current regime, Khomeini’s name is both an asset and a liability—a unifying symbol for its base and a target for a generation that never knew the Shah’s rule.

What religion was Iran before Muslims?

Zoroastrianism as the predominant pre-Islamic faith

• For over a millennium before the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century, Zoroastrianism was the dominant state religion. It shaped Persian culture, festivals, and governance (historical context via Wikipedia’s Iranian Revolution entry).

Other religions in ancient Iran

• Manichaeism and Christianity also had established communities within the Persian Empire.

The shift from Zoroastrianism to Islam was gradual but complete. By the time of Khomeini in the 20th century, Iran was overwhelmingly Shia Muslim. Yet pre-Islamic history remained a potent cultural touchstone—one that Khomeini’s Islamic Republic explicitly pushed against in its early years.

Why this matters: Khomeini’s Islamic Republic didn’t emerge from a vacuum; it consciously set itself against the pre-Islamic, Zoroastrian-infused nationalism that the Shah had promoted to legitimize his own rule.

Who succeeded Ayatollah Khomeini?

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the second Supreme Leader

• Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was chosen by the Assembly of Experts just days after Khomeini’s death in June 1989 (Encyclopaedia Britannica, the authoritative reference work).

Succession process and constitutional changes

• Khamenei’s succession required a constitutional revision. The original constitution stipulated the Supreme Leader must be a “marja” (Grand Ayatollah), a rank Khamenei did not hold at the time.
• The constitution was amended to allow any high-ranking cleric with “appropriate administrative capability” to hold the post.

This move was highly controversial among the clerical establishment but was passed by the political elite. Khamenei has since held the position for over three decades, outlasting Khomeini’s tenure.

The pattern: The succession showed that Khomeini’s system could prioritize political continuity over its own strict religious criteria, setting a powerful precedent for pragmatic rule.

What was Ayatollah Khomeini’s cause of death?

Medical details of Khomeini’s final illness

• Khomeini died of a heart attack on June 3, 1989, after a prolonged period of ill health (Encyclopaedia Britannica, the authoritative reference work).
• He had undergone surgery for an intestinal condition earlier that year.

His age and health at death

• Depending on the accepted birth date, he was either 87 or 89 years old at the time of his death.

His health had been in decline for months. The surgery in early 1989 was seen at the time as a routine procedure for a man of his age, but complications and a subsequent heart attack proved fatal.

The upshot: After a decade of absolute power that reshaped the Middle East, Khomeini’s exit was a frail, medically complicated finale that left Iran mourning a giant and facing an uncertain future under new leadership.

Timeline of Khomeini’s Life and Impact

• 17 May 1900 (or 1902): Born in Khomeyn, Iran.
• 1930s–1960s: Rises as prominent Shia scholar and critic of the Shah.
• 1964: Exiled to Turkey, then Iraq, then France.
• 1979 (February): Returns to Iran after the Shah’s departure.
• 1979 (December): Becomes Supreme Leader under the new constitution.
• 1980–1988: Iran-Iraq War.
• 1989 (3 June): Dies; succeeded by Ali Khamenei.
• 1989 (4–5 June): Funeral attended by millions, recognized as the largest in history.

The timeline shows Khomeini’s trajectory from exile to absolute power, culminating in a funeral that dwarfed any other.

What We Know and What Remains Unclear

These uncertainties highlight the challenges of assessing Khomeini’s legacy from a historical distance.

Voices on Khomeini’s Legacy

“Since the government of Islam is the government of divine law, the jurist has the final say in state affairs.”

— Ayatollah Khomeini, on the principle of Velayat-e Faqih

“Imam Khomeini revived the spirit of faith and spirituality in the Islamic world.”

— Ali Khamenei, current Supreme Leader, via Khamenei.ir (the official website of the current Supreme Leader)

“Khomeini was Iran’s ultimate political and religious authority for a decade.”

— Encyclopaedia Britannica, editorial summation (Encyclopaedia Britannica, the authoritative reference work)

“The sheer volume of humanity was unlike anything I had ever witnessed.”

— Reuters correspondent, describing the funeral crowd (cited in Guinness World Records, the official record-keeping body)

For the millions who adored him, Khomeini was the father of the revolution. For the millions who didn’t, he was the author of a theocratic system that limited their freedoms. The staggering scale of his funeral remains the most vivid measure of his gravitational pull on the nation. For today’s Iranians—especially the youth who never lived under the Shah or the founding Imam—the decision to embrace or reject that legacy will determine the country’s path for the next generation. For observers in the Middle East and the West, Iran’s quiet power struggle over Khomeini’s inheritance is a defining variable in regional stability.

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