The death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was confirmed by state media early Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump announced that the 86-year-old had been killed in joint US-Israeli missile strikes. Attention now shifts to Khamenei’s latest social media post, written in Persian, which invoked the name of Haidar, the first Shia imam and a central figure in Shia Islam.
A cryptic message shared on social media platform X from Khamenei’s account said: “Be nām-e nāmi-ye Haidar, alayhis-salām,” This translates to “In the noble name of Haidar (peace be upon him). 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.”
Another post followed with a verse from the Koran. The post begins with the words “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” followed by the Quranic verse “Sura Al-Ahzab”, Chapter Number 33 and Verse Number 23.
What does Khamenei’s latest social media post mean?
The English translation of the Qur’anic verse says: “Among the believers are men who have kept the covenant they made with Allah. Some of them have fulfilled their promise (by laying down their lives), and some are still waiting; and they have not changed in the least.”
The Qur’an, 33:23, mentions the Battle of the Trench (Ghazwat al-Ahzab) and speaks of the resolute devotees of Medina.
This verse emphasizes the virtues of courage, faithfulness and faith and pays tribute to the dedication of the early believers. It commemorates those who sacrificed their lives in war and at the same time motivates others to stand up to their commitment even in the face of death or hardship.
Who was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
The longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, Iran’s Supreme Leader was born in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, in 1939, and died at the age of 86. According to the BBC, Ali Khamenei was born into a religious family of a middle-ranking cleric from the Shiite branch of Islam, the dominant sect in Iran, and was the second of eight children.
Following his father’s example, he qualified as a cleric at the age of 11 with an education focused primarily on the Koran. His work was as political as it was 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. He served as the President of Iran for 8 years before assuming this position. He played a significant role in the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Khamenei exercised immense control over the Middle East with his network of armed groups reaching as far as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
a network of armed groups in the Middle East controlled a land corridor leading from Tehran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon at the height of Iran’s expansion.
