THE DEMISE OF IMAM KHOMEINI (QS)
The 33rd anniversary of the passing away of Imam Khomeini
REPORT ON PROGRAMS TO COMMEMORATE THE DEMISE OF IMAM KHOMEINI (QS) ACROSS GHANA
The demise of Imam Khomeini, which fell on the 4th of June 2022 was commemorated across Ghana from the far north to the capital of Accra through the sponsorship and guidance of the cultural consulate of the embassy of the Islamic republic of Iran in Ghana.
The report on these programs are as follows :
Radio program in Bawku, upper east region – Ghana
Venue: Zahra radio 103.1
Facebook live: https://www.facebook.com/zahraradio103.1/videos/5489329217797773/
https://www.facebook.com/zahraradio103.1/videos/589505892379554/
Date: 4th June 2022
Time: 10am to 11am
Delivered by: Sheikh Muhammed Awal Pawuli (deputy Shia imam of the region)
Language of delivery: Hausa
Hosted by: Zeekuwwatu ibn kaafidubu
The town of Bawku is the largest Muslim town in the upper east region of Ghana and one of the largest Muslim towns in the whole country. The Shia population have a strong presence in the town with three Islamic primary schools and two congregational mosques. The town shares boarders with both Burkina Faso and Togo, thereby making the town one of the most culturally diverse towns in the country.
On the occasion of the demise of HADHRAT Imam (RA) the cultural consulate of the embassy of the Islamic republic of Iran in Ghana organized for the Friday prayer sermon at the Imam Sadiq mosque in Bawku to address the demise of the Imam as well as procure airtime for the deputy imam of the Shia community of the upper east region to speak on the legacy of the imam.
A summary of the speech delivered by the imam is as follows:
He started by narrating a brief history of the life of Imam Khomeini: his birth, parents and education. In so doing, he mentioned the following:
“The Imam was born in September 1902, though there are other records that mention 1900. He was born to Sayyid Mustafa, who was a religious scholar in the town of Khomein, his father was martyred when he was about two years old, and his mother also passed away when he was ten years old. He was then raised by his elder brother till he attained adulthood.” He went on to narrate how the imam left Khomein to study in Arak and Qom. And how he attained ijtihad at a very young age.
He went on to mention that, the imam started speaking against moral decadences that were taking over Iran under the watch of the then king, and that due to that, the imam was first arrested and later exiled to turkey and later Iraq from where he then left for France after been denied entry into Kuwait. He concluded by saying that the imam was exiled for a total of fourteen years, from which he returned victorious. The imam, he said: “succeeded against the odds due to his firm faith in god”
As part of the attributes of the imam, he mentioned that the imam was very kind to his wife, children, grandchildren and neighbors. He mentioned that the imam was very keen on time and did not miss any of his schedules.
As for the legacy of the imam, he mentioned the following: “the greatest legacy of the imam is the Islamic republic of Iran, whose main goal is the defense of the oppressed people of the world. In addition to that, many theological centers have been established across the world in addition to hospitals and universities for education and health.”
He then mentioned that when the imam passed away, he left behind only a little personal belongings and nothing more. And that the funeral of the imam was the largest funeral in history.
He ended his speech by calling for unity amongst Muslims as was the message of the late imam.
Radio program, bolgatanga, upper east region – Ghana
Venue: Ura radio 89.7MHz
Date: 4th June 2022
Time: 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Facebook live
Delivered by: Sheikh Musah
Language of delivery: English and Hausa
Host: Osman Ginko
After the program in Bawku, another radio program in the upper east regional capital of bolgatanga was held to mark the day of Imam Khomeini’s demise.
The town of bolgatanga is a Christian majority town with a very significant Muslim population but with a very nascent Shia community who nevertheless has one mosque and an Islamic school for the education of children.
The cultural consulate of the Islamic republic of Iran procured radio time for the Friday prayer imam of the Shia Muslim community to address the town on the demise of the imam.
This program was in the form of an interview (question and answer form).
And it went on as fellows. : Who is Imam Khomeini?
The imam answered this by narrating the history of the imam, his lineage, family and education
He was then asked if the imam Khomeini was a Persian to which he answered that even though the imam comes from the lineage of the prophet, he was a native Persian.
He was then asked why the imam organized a revolution to overthrow the monarchy and what the motivation of the imam was.
He answered that, the motivation of the imam was to please god and to instill justice for all Iranians and other people of the world and to bring dignity to Islam. And he carried out the revolution in protest to policies that were neither just nor morally sound.
He was asked what the achievements of the revolution were, to which he answered that the benefits of the revolution included amongst other things:
- The exportation of Islamic culture throughout the world.
- The promotion of literacy in the Muslim communities worldwide
- Unity amongst Muslims
- Anti-extremism and a return of identity and pride to Muslims and all the downtrodden people of the world.
Radio program: Salaga, savannah region – Ghana
Venue: keyeti FM, 95.7MHz
Facebook live: https://www.facebook.com/100008055947258/videos/409984517669106/
https://www.facebook.com/100008055947258/videos/390878329651323/
Date: 4th June 2022
Time: 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Delivery: Sheikh Mukhtar Hamid
Language of delivery: Hausa
The town of Salaga is one of the oldest towns in Ghana with a very long Muslim history. It is located in the middle of the country in the savannah region of Ghana. Muslims form the majority of the town which has about 40,000 inhabitants with a minority but active and loud Shia presence, however, the suburbs of the town are largely populated by non-Muslims.
Radio is a very popular gadget in this town and its surroundings.
To mark the anniversary of the demise of the imam, the cultural consulate of the embassy of the Islamic republic of Iran organized and sponsored a radio program in this town which was held by Sheikh Mukhtar Hamid (secretary of the Shia community of Salaga)
The summary of his lectures are as follows:
He started by introducing the imam to the people by narrating his early history from birth till his attainment of the rank of Marje’iya. He then mentioned some of the attributes of the imam: “the imam was noted to be completely indifferent to worldly possessions, he was very much devoted to god and very much focused in every aspect of his life”
He then mentioned that, due to the imams devotion to god, he opposed policies that were been implemented by the then king of Iran which were antithetical to Islam at the risk of been jailed or even execution. However, he was exiled for his opposition towards those immoral policies. The imam he said, remained committed to his goal of implementing the rule of god, and so, 14 years later, he returned to Iran as the supreme leader of the country which was to be run the principles of Islam and the free election of leaders.
After this, he mentioned that the life of the imam is one which should be emulated by all Muslims. Amongst other things, he mentioned the Iran-clinic and the Islamic university as some of the benefits and legacies of the Islamic revolution. He then mentioned unity as one of the many legacies of the imam.
Radio program, Techiman, Bono region – Ghana
Venue: Akina Radio 100.9MHz
Facebook live: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5305858312768594&id=100075863769853
Date: 5th June 2022
Time: 8:00pm to 9:00pm
Delivered by: Sheikh Ismail Yakubu
Language of delivery: Hausa and Asante
The city of Techiman is the capital city of the Bono region of Ghana. It is located in the middle belt of the country and has a population of more than one hundred thousand people. It has a significant Muslim population even though Christians form the majority. The Shia Muslim presence there is very minute but very active.
The cultural consulate of the Islamic republic of Iran organized and sponsored a radio program in the city to the mark the anniversary of the demise of Imam Khomeini.
The program began at 8:00pm and ended at 9:00pm on the 5th of June 2022. The summary of the lecture delivered are as follows:
He narrated the early life history of the Imam and mentioned that he was always religious from his youth and that he memorized the Quran at the age of ten. And continued his education till he earned his permission for ijtihad in his early twenties.
He went ahead to mention that the success of the imam in politics have largely overshadowed his cultural, religious and academic contribution in Islam.
As part of these contribution, he mentioned that the imam had trained a lot of prominent scholars in all spheres of life. Amongst them, Shaheed Murtadha Mutahhari, Shaheed Beheshti, Mahmoud Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammed Taqi Mezbah Yazdi etc.
He also mentioned that the imam had authored many books, amongst them, the ethics of prayer, the forty hadith, Islamic governance and tens more. He mentioned further: “the Imam also composed poetry which is a great contribution to literature and mysticism”
Lastly, he mentioned that the imam was a lover of unity, tolerance and justice and had instituted the birthday of the prophet Muhammed A.S. as the day of unity amongst Muslims.
He concluded by saying that, the ideals of Imam Khomeini are still as vital today as they were in the past and that Muslims all over the world need to be educated about the imam and his path.
