Imam's letter to the Soviet Union leader contained much wisdom and sound advice

Imam Khomeini then suggested that, if Mikhail Gorbachev desired to become more familiar with Islamic concepts, the Soviet leader should command his scholars to study the philosophical works of al-Farabi, Avicenna, Sohravardi and Mullah Sadra to become familiar with the “nature of knowledge” which is different from the “nature of matter.”

Imam called on Gorbachev to study Islam earnestly

After mentioning these problems and preliminary points, let me call on you to study Islam earnestly, not because Islam and the Muslims may need you but because Islam has exalted universal values which can bring comfort and salvation to all nations and remove the basic problems of mankind, Imam Khomeini wrote in a historic letter to former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Imam Khomeini's historic letter to Gorbachev

The historic letter has attracted attention of the world's pundits, analysts, spiritual men and religious scholars.

Even if Stalin is in power

How did the Soviet Union end?

The collapse of the Soviet Union made the bipolar world disappear, a world which through the last decades had decided about the political destiny of countries. This situation eased the reliance on culture to determine different layers of foreign policies in a government-nation level by the international players. On the other hand, it confirmed that along with the cultural role of politicians, we shouldn't forget that not seeing the effects of religious features, believes and traditions of nations on structuring a culture would cause disasters.

Gorbachev and Imam Khomeini

Gorbachev: “I’m sorry! I should have listened to Imam’s message”

In 1999, on the anniversary of the death of Imam Khomeini’s demise, in an interview with the IRIB News Agency in Moscow, Gorbachev regretted ignoring the Imam’s warnings three years before the collapse of the Soviet Union and said: “I think Imam Khomeini’s message addressed all the ages throughout history.” He also added: “When I received this message, I felt the person who wrote it was thoughtful and cared about the situation of the world. By studying the letter, I realized that he was someone who was worried about the world and wanted me to understand more about the Islamic revolution.”