Iqbal Suleman
The world’s wealthiest and most heavily-armed country, the US, and the zionist entity, the richest and most powerful country in West Asia, initiated the war with two audaciously barbaric acts: assassinating Iran’s leader, Imam Ali Khamenei and slaughtering 165 children at an Iranian elementary school in Menab.
As leader, Imam Khamenei led from the front.
He was fervently loved by his people.
He stood tall and straight; 86 years old with a body that refused to bend or buckle.
It was as though his physical body was in tune with his heart and soul.
His companions loved him and were prepared to make every sacrifice for him.
They knew that the war is coming.
They knew that his life was in danger.
They said to him, let us take you deeper into the country, far from Tehran, where you will be safe.
Imam Khamenei replied “If you can take every citizen of Tehran to a safe bunker, only then I will go, if not, I will stay here with the people.”
Unlike Israel, Iran does not have bomb shelters and bunkers for all its people.
Imam Khamenei believed he should face the same dangers and risks as ordinary people.
This is because he emulated the Prophet () who led from the front in battle and faced the danger first before exposing his companions.
Compare this with the rulers of America and Israel.
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are brash and brazen privileged rich fat white men.
Both are quintessential showboats, arrogant individuals sailing on ego trips.
Trump does not send his son to fight in the war.
Yair Netanyahu plays around on American beaches.
On the opposite side stands Imam Khamenei, in all his human greatness, soft spoken, modest, humble, gentle and kind.
He courageously exposed himself to death.
He was both a political and religious leader.
An Islamic scholar, philosopher, poet, writer and an avid reader. A deep thinker and a devout ascetic.
His abode was very simple with no luxury or extravagance.
He lived as a simple working class person.
How different was Imam Khamenei from the rest of the rulers in the Muslim world who retreated to their palatial villas while the people of Gaza were starved to death and experienced genocide.
His parents named him Ali, after Imam Ali.
There is a mystical wisdom to this.
Like Imam Ali, he was the leader of the Islamic Government and martyred in the month of Ramadan.
Imam Ali in was attacked and killed in the most cowardly manner while he was in prayer.
Martyrdom while fasting and resisting in the month of Ramadan is the most noble and glorious death that God bestows upon only a few of His beloved, like Imam Ali and Imam Khamenei.
The spilling of Imam Khamenei’s blood is one of the most revolutionary moments in human history and some may argue the most critical moment since Karbala.
Now we can understand why Imam Khamenei chose martyrdom.
He could have moved to Russia and convinced himself to escape death and come back to fight after the war.
This would be the rational choice but one that he refused.
He could have chosen to go and hide in a bunker beneath a remote mountain away from the prying eyes of intelligence agencies.
However, he chose to stay in Iran and remain at his residence and workplace which was known to everyone and where all his movements were easily tracked.
Why did he choose self-sacrifice and death? Why did he choose this moment and why in the wisdom of God, was Imam Khamenei martyred at this particular time?
God’s Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to have said to the effect “Beware of the committed Muslim when he begins to see with the light of God”.
Imam Khamenei was of the most developed spiritual character that saw with the light of God.
He knew that there was a war coming and this was his Husseini moment.
As heir to the Prophet (ﷺ), he knew his responsibility as leader was to lead from the front and offer his sacrifice just like the Prophet (ﷺ) led his revolutionaries in the battlefield and spill his own blood.
Prior to his martyrdom, in a public address, he recited the words of Imam Hussein to Yazid “A person like me will not surrender and pay allegiance to a person like you”.
Imam Khamenei reasoned that independent, freedom and justice loving people of Iran with the values of Prophet (ﷺ) will never surrender to the imperialists and zionists.
His martyrdom has raised public consciousness. The Americans and Israelis began this war by killing the leader of the Islamic Revolution as well as 165 children in the Menab elementary school.
The moment the war started, the Yazidi character of Trump, Netanyahu, and the imperialist and zionists was exposed.
Like Imam Hussein, Imam Khamenei was martyred with most of his family members.
The defender of the oppressed and children in Gaza was a true disciple of the Prophet (ﷺ) and Imam Hussein.
Trump and Netanyahu are seen as the reincarnation and manifestation of Yazid, the tyrant, thug and baby killer.
The killing of Imam Khamenei is quintessentially Yazidic.
In the same cold, callous and cowardly way that Yazid killed Imam Hussein and the children from the family of the Prophet (ﷺ), Trump and Netanyahu killed Imam Khamenei and slaughtered 165 children.
The parallels with Karbala are striking.
The blood of 165 Iranian children immediately revives the memory of baby Ali Asghar, a spear piercing the tender skin of his neck.
To the human heart, nothing is more loathsome and repulsive than baby killing.
At age 86, this was Imam Khamenei’s last stand.
A heroic stand of defiance.
Like Imam Hussein, Imam Khamenei went out with a defiant NO!
NO to injustice, NO to Genocide, NO to imperialism, NO to zionism, NO to occupation, NO to Epstein, NO to subjugation, NO to tyranny, NO to baby killing.
NO to surrender.
After killing Imam Khamenei, Trump immediately called on the Iranian people to go out into the streets.
The Iranian people in their millions took to the streets in the midst of Israeli-American bombs raining down on them, but not to support Trump or Netanyahu.
They took to the streets to curse Trump and Netanyahu and express their love for Imam Khamenei.
This shows how detached Trump and Netanyahu are from reality.
The blowback against this unjust war is instantaneous and immediate.
Within hours, the Iranians fought back with immense courage and unprecedented military strikes that killed American soldiers and Israelis.
Imam Khamenei was not just a leader of Iran; he was revered throughout the world both as a political and spiritual leader.
He had a special place in the hearts of Muslim.
His killing is seen as an attack on every Muslim and an attempt to denigrate them.
That is why immediately after his martyrdom, masses across the Muslim world stormed US embassies in defiant rage.
Imam Khamenei intuitively knew that he will be martyred; this was the purpose of his life.
He said “my body holds little value, my life bears no significance. Even if they kill me, do not count it as our loss as long as you remain steadfast on the principles of Imam Hussein (as). We are winning this war as long as we do not bow before dictators, power and greed. As long as we uphold the values of Imam Hussein (as)”.
There is no doubt that the Empire will regret this crime.
It is a grave miscalculation to assassinate the Imam and initiate a war of aggression.
The blowback from this stupidity will no doubt come back to haunt the Empire.
The nightmare has just begun.
The Persian Gulf is on fire.
American soldiers are returning in coffins.
Iranian missiles are smashing through Israeli bunkers.
The global economy is reeling from an illegal war that should never have started.
Iqbal Suleiman is a social justice lawyer and former head of the law clinic for Lawyers for Human Rights in Pretoria and Research Associate: Media Review Network
