Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death was confirmed by state media early Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump announced that the 86-year-old had been killed in US-Israel joint missile strikes. The focus now shifts to Khamenei’s last social media post, written in Persian, which invoked the name of Haidar, the first Shia Imam and a central figure in Shia Islam.
The cryptic message shared on social media platform Haidar is another name for Ali ibn Abi Talib, a companion and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. Ali was also the fourth Caliph of Islam after the Prophet’s death.
This was followed by another post featuring a verse from the Quran. The post begins with, “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” and is followed by Quranic verse “Surah Al-Ahzab,” chapter number 33 and verse number 23.
What does Khamenei’s last social media post mean?
The English translation of the Quranic verse states, “Among the believers are men who have been true to the covenant they made with Allah. Some of them have fulfilled their vow (by giving their lives), and some are still waiting; and they have not changed in the least.”
The Quran, 33:23, references the Battle of the Trench (Ghazwat al-Ahzab) and speaks of the resolute devotees in Madinah.
Emphasizing the virtues of courage, loyalty and faith, this verse pays tribute to the dedication of the early believers. It commemorates those who sacrificed their lives in the war while motivating others to stand up to their commitment even in the face of death or hardship.
Who was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
Longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, Iran’s Supreme Leader was born in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, in 1939, who died at the age of 86. Born in a religious family of mid-ranking cleric from the Shia branch of Islam, the dominant sect in Iran, Ali Khamenei was the second of eight children, according to a BBC.
Following the steps of his father, he qualified as a cleric by the age of 11 with education primarily focused on Quran. His work was as much political as spiritual like many religious leaders of the time. The second supreme leader of Iran after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took over the reins of Iran in 1989. Before taking over this position, he served as the President of Iran for 8 years. He played a significant role in the 1979 Iranian revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Khamenei exercised immense control in the Middle East with his network of armed groups reaching as far as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
network of armed groups in the Middle East controlled a land corridor running from Tehran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon at the peak of Iran’s expansion.
