On 7 January 1989,

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

, supreme leader of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, sent a letter to

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, the General Secretary of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. This letter was Khomeini's only written message to a foreign leader. Khomeini's letter was delivered by the Iranian politicians Abdollah Javadi Amoli, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, and Marzieh Hadidchi. In the letter, Khomeini declared that

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

was dissolving within the Soviet bloc, and invited Gorbachev to consider

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

as an alternative to communist ideology.

Letter to Gorbachev

wrote to

on 3 January 1989. On 7 January, Khomeini's representatives, Abdollah Javadi Amoli, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, and Marzieh Hadidchi, went to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to officially deliver the letter. Soviet officials met the Iranian delegation at the airport. Gorbachev then met with the Iranian representatives for approximately two hours, where an interpreter translated the letter for Mikhail Gorbachev and his colleagues. When some part of the letter was unclear, the interpreter asked the Iranian delegation to clarify. Gorbachev listened politely and took notes on its contents. The letter's contents were kept secret, and so Soviet officials did not know it was an invitation to consider Islam.

Content

In his letter, Khomeini congratulated Gorbachev, saying he showed bravery in dealing with the modern world, and praised his reconstruction of Soviet principles. He suggested Islam as an alternative to communist ideology and recommended Muslim philosophers such as

Ibn Arabi Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...

Avicenna Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...

, and

Al-Farabi file:A21-133 grande.webp, thumbnail, 200px, Postage stamp of the USSR, issued on the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Al-Farabi (1975) Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (; – 14 December 950–12 January 951), known in the Greek East and Latin West ...

. The letter included a prediction about the end of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and the collapse of communism. Khomeini stated: "Mr. Gorbachev! It is clear to everybody that from now on communism will only have to be found in the museums of world political history, for Marxism cannot meet any of the real needs of mankind. Marxism is a materialistic ideology and cannot bring humanity out of the crisis caused by a lack of belief in spirituality, the prime affliction of the human society in the East and the West alike." Khomeini warned Gorbachev "against falling into the arms of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

." Khomeini further added in the letter that: "The main problem confronting your country is not of private ownership, freedom and economy; your problem is the absence of true faith in God."

Gorbachev's reaction

After hearing the text of the letter, Gorbachev thanked Ruhollah Khomeini for the letter and said: "I'll send an answer to this letter as soon as possible" and added, "we'll deliver homeini's letterto the Soviet clergymen". Referring to Khomeini's invitation to Islam, he said: "We are approving the law of religious freedom in the Soviet Union, I have claimed before that despite having different ideologies we can have a peaceful relationship". He then smiled and said: "Imam Khomeini invited us to Islam; do we have to invite him to our school of thought?" Then he added: "This invitation is an interference in the internal issue of a country because every country is free for selecting its school of thought". After hearing Gorbachev's response, Ayatollah Amoli, the head of the Iranian representatives, thanked Gorbachev for his attention. He said: "...we appreciate the freedom of religion and hope for an amicable condition for all people to live with each other as they have different schools of thought. But the issue of interfering should be clarified. You are free in Russia to do what you want, and no one has the right to interfere in this realm. The content of the letter did nothing with materialism and the territory of Russia; it was just related to your souls". In February 1989,

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia (country), Georgi ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

of the

, delivered Gorbachev's reply to Khomeini when he traveled to Iran.

Controversy in Iran

The letter became controversial with Shiite clerics in the Iranian city of Qom who regarded the thoughts of Muslim mystics and philosophers to be heretical. In a letter to Khomeini they lamented why Khomeini needed to refer Gorbachev to "deviant," "heretical" and "Sunni" thinkers, arguing that the Quran was sufficient for supporting Islamic tenets. However, the letter was and continues to be celebrated by the Iranian government.

Ali Khamenei's letter

Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a member of the Iranian delegation that transmitted Khomeini's letter, said: "...a message by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed

Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...

addressed to the Western youth complements a 1989 letter written by late Imam Khomeini to former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev". He stated that Khomeini and Khamenei's letters ('' To the Youth in Europe and North America'' and '' To the Youth in Western Countries'') invite people from the West to understand Islam.

References

External links

Picture of Iranian delegation with Mikhail Gorbachev

Ayatollah Amoli and Mikhail Gorbachev
{{Ruhollah Khomeini 1989 documents 1989 in Iran 1989 in the Soviet Union Letters (message) Mikhail Gorbachev Ruhollah Khomeini Iran–Soviet Union relations Islam and other religions Conversion to Islam Interfaith dialogue