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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Adab as-Salat: The Disciplines of the Prayer Second Revised Edition Foreword In His Most Exalted Name Surely the greatest characteristic of Imām Khomeinī is that he was a God-centered and a Faith-pivoted man a characteristic, which has its roots in his religious ideology.

From the positive gnostic point of view [^1] Allah, the Great, is the Ruler over the heavens and the earth, and men are to perform their duties, and to bow, in respect, their heads before the Divine Will. They are not to worship other than Him, and not to put foot on any path except on His, as this world is just a transit station, while the permanent abode of the servants is in the neighborhood of Allah, the Glorified.

Man, in this world of matter, is to sow what he wants to harvest in the Hereafter. So, he should deservedly carry out what is incumbent upon him, and not to enter upon a course forbidden to him, so that he may prosper.

The Imām started his course in life with such an outlook, and when he rose, he was prompted only by the idea that it was his duty to rise, and when he issued his orders to wage the defensive war and to be steadfast; he issued them because he believed that to fight and be steadfast were religious duties. On the day when he decreed to the astonishment of everybody that Salmān Rushdie was to be executed, it was only because it is the very judgment of Islam against such an apostate.

Consequently, the thinkers of the world and the well-versed politicians admit that (Imām) Khomeinī was more of a religious leader than a politician, and he was engaged more in carrying out Allah's verdicts than in ruling on the basis of politics.

Only from this angle one may be able to cast a glance at the world-enlightening sun of the Revolution and get acquainted with his personality, and only with such a view in mind one may comprehend the depth of this expression in his will, where he says: “…With a calm soul, a confident heart, a cheerful spirit and a conscience full of hope in Allah's favor, I take leave from my sisters and brothers to travel to the eternal abode…” Peace be upon him the day he was born, the day he dies and the day he shall be raised up alive.

The book which is before you covers a part of Imām Khomeinī's looks into the valley of theoretical Gnosticism.