Ali’s Reviews > Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah > Status Update

“His uniqueness lay, however, not in this, but in his belief that he could change the political fortunes of Islam. There is no way of knowing how much he believed he could do because of certainties he developed in his spiritual life, and to what extent he had developed an astute practical political sense. These are two sides of the same coin. But it is clear that he was in no small sense helped by the perception which his followers had of him, a perception which was every bit as carefully directed as was their perception of the political unfolding of the revolution. The way an Iranian sees the revolution has been inextricably connected with the way he or she sees Khomeini, and the unravelling of these two perceptions will perhaps be the story of Iranian politics for some time to come.”