Late Haj Mirza Javad Aqa Tehrani—who was a devout, pious and pure scholar, known by many in Mashhad—told me about thirty years ago: “When I was young, I went to Qom to study, and I saw Imam Khomeini in the shrine of Lady Massoumah. I did not know him. I saw a young, spiritual seminary student who was saying prayers, crying and supplicating.” Haj Mirza Aqa Tehrani narrated: “Without knowing him, I was attracted to him. I asked others who he was. They said, ‘he is Roohollah Khomeini’. Because Agha Roohollah had created that asset and spiritual reserve in his youth, he became the founder and leader of the Islamic Republic system at the age of 80.”
December 7, 1995