Televised Speech on the 31st Anniversary of Imam Khomeini's Passing

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and his pure, infallible family, especially the Awaited One on the earth.

Today, the commemoration of our great Imam is being held in a manner different from the usual form of this ceremony. The manner of holding the ceremony is not important; the essence of the matter and what is important is the discussion about the great Imam, which we need for the present and future of our country. The great Imam is alive among us years after his apparent passing and loss, and he must remain alive, and we must benefit from his presence, his spirituality, his thoughts, and his guidance.

Desire for transformation and the ability to inspire transformation are among the most prominent characteristics of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified). Today, I want to discuss an important characteristic of the great Imam; of course, he was a multidimensional human being with many outstanding qualities; the characteristic we are discussing today is one of the most important and prominent qualities of the great Imam, which is his spirit of seeking and inspiring transformation. The Imam was, in spirit, both a seeker of transformation and a creator of transformation. Regarding the creation of transformation, his role was not merely that of a teacher or instructor; he played the role of a commander involved in operations and a leader in the true sense of the word. He created the greatest transformations in his time in various fields, and I will refer to some of them today.

First of all, the spirit of seeking transformation has existed in this great man for a long time; it was not something that emerged at the beginning of the Islamic movement in 1961; no, he was a seeker of transformation from his youth, as evidenced by a note he wrote in his youth—around the 1930s—in the notebook of the late Vaziriyazdi, which the late Vaziriyazdi showed me; I have seen it later published and made available to many. In that note, he mentions the noble verse "Say, 'I only advise you of one thing: that you stand for God, in pairs and individually'" (34:46), which invites the public to rise for God; such a spirit existed in him. He exercised this spirit and, as I mentioned, created transformation. He entered the field of transformation, not just verbally and by decree; from the spiritual transformation of a group of young seminarians in Qom—which I will explain shortly—to the broad transformation of the entire Iranian nation.

The issue in Qom refers to his ethics classes. He taught ethics for decades before the start of the movement, in addition to jurisprudence and principles, holding ethics sessions. Of course, when we went to Qom, those classes had been suspended for years and did not exist. Those who had seen that ethics class reported that he held a weekly session at the Feyziyeh School where young seminarians gathered; when he spoke, he transformed the session, he transformed hearts. We also witnessed this in his jurisprudence and principles classes. That is, even in his jurisprudence and principles classes, he would occasionally speak about ethics, and the seminarians would cry profusely; when he spoke about ethics, tears would flow; his expression was so impactful that it created a spiritual revolution. This is the method of the prophets; the prophets also began all their movements with the spiritual revolution of individuals. The statement of Amir al-Mu'minin (may peace be upon him) that they should awaken them to the covenant of their nature and remind them of the blessings they have forgotten... and stir up the buried treasures of their minds, is exactly this. "They should awaken them to the covenant of their nature" means that they would awaken the hidden human nature in them and compel it to action and guidance in the operations and actions of human beings; the Imam started from here. Of course, I cannot claim definitively that he held those sessions to lead to a great political movement later; I do not know. However, what is certain is that this movement-creating, this stirring of spiritual instincts and human nature through ethics lessons and reminders and preparing hearts was the method of the great Imam; he started from here to create transformation on a broad scale for a nation; both during the struggles—of which I will present some examples of this transformation—and after the victory of the revolution, he truly created transformation in the Iranian nation.

Note that his audience in this transformation was the Iranian nation. Before the start of the Imam's movement, there were political struggles in Iran; various groups had been struggling for decades, but their scope of work was limited to a few students; they could influence, say, 100 or 150 students at a ceremony. The Imam's discussion was not about a limited group or a specific profession; it was about the Iranian nation. The nation is like an ocean; stirring an ocean is not something anyone can do. You can create waves in a pool, but stirring an ocean is a monumental task. The nation is an ocean, and the Imam accomplished this; he brought about transformations.

One transformation was in the spirit of lethargy and submission of the nation, turning it into a spirit of demand. In our youth, during the time we remember when this movement began, the Iranian nation was a nation that had no engagement with its fundamental destiny issues; the people were submissive, lethargic, and had no will regarding their personal lives. This state of entering the field, demanding, and demanding great and important things did not exist at all in the behavior and character of our nation; the Imam created this; he transformed this lethargic and submissive nation into a demanding nation; those passionate and fiery speeches of the Imam shook this nation so much that it turned into a demanding nation; an example of this is the events of 1961—when the movement began in 1961—an example is the massive gatherings of people in various cities that eventually led to the 15th of Khordad, and on the 15th of Khordad, the regime could not stop this movement with that massive massacre. Again, there were gatherings of people over time until the end of the struggles; this was an extraordinary transformation that he created.

Another transformation was in the people's view of themselves and their society; the Iranian nation had a sense of inferiority regarding itself; that is, the idea that this nation could overcome the will of the powers, the will of the superpowers, never crossed anyone's mind. Not only now, regarding the will of global powers, even the will of internal powers, even the will of a certain official—let's say a security or police department—did not even cross the minds of the people that they could overcome the will of those with bitter and dangerous intentions. They felt inferior, they felt incapable; the Imam transformed this into a sense of dignity, a sense of self-confidence, and made the people move from the state of considering the oppressive government as a natural matter—this was how it was; at that time, our perception was that there was someone at the head of the country, and his will was dominant; well, the nature of the matter is the same, and we considered this a natural and ordinary matter—to people who determine the type of government themselves. From the slogans of the people during the revolution, first, it was an Islamic system, an Islamic government, and then the Islamic Republic; the people were the determiners, the demanders; then in various elections, the ruling authority and the responsible individuals in different sections of the government were determined by the people; that is, the state of self-deprecation that existed in the people was completely transformed into a state of dignity and national self-confidence.

Another transformation was in the fundamental demands of the people; that is, if at that time a group of people had any demands from the regime or the powerful of that time, it was, for example, that this alley should be paved or this street should be drawn this way; the demands were at this level; he transformed this into demands for independence and freedom; that is, great ideals. Or the slogan "Neither East nor West"; the demands of the people underwent such a transformation that they changed from these petty, small, local, and limited matters to fundamental, great, human, and global issues.

Another transformation that the Imam brought about was the transformation in the view of religion; the people viewed religion merely as a means for personal matters, worship matters, at most personal affairs; only for the issues of prayer, fasting, and, say, financial duties, marriage, and divorce; within these limits; they viewed the duty of religion and the responsibility of religion and the mission of religion as limited to these matters. The Imam defined for religion the mission of system-building, civilization-building, community-building, and human-building, and so on; the people's view of religion was completely transformed.

Another transformation was in the view of the future and the creation of a new Islamic civilization. At the time the movement began and the Imam entered the field, with all the slogans that some parties and groups were giving—who were very limited and small—there was no future seen by the people. That is, the people did not have a horizon or future in front of their eyes; this transformed into the creation of a new Islamic civilization. That is, today, when you look at the Iranian nation, it is the blessed hand of the Imam that has created this state; the people are seeking to establish and create a new Islamic civilization; to create a great Islamic unity, to form the Islamic Ummah. The general view of the people, the masses, is this.

In a more specialized area, there was a transformation in the practical epistemological foundations; the Imam brought this about; this is specialized, belonging to the issues of the seminary and those who have a hand in jurisprudence and the science of principles and similar matters. The Imam brought jurisprudence into the realm of system-building; jurisprudence had been distant from these issues. Of course, the issue of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist had existed among jurists for a thousand years and had been raised, but since there was no hope that this Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist would be realized, its details and issues were never addressed. The Imam brought this into the main and jurisprudential issues. In the seminary of Najaf, he raised this and discussed it; rigorous and solid scientific discussions that were completely noteworthy for those who are experts in these areas; or the issue of the interests of the system—which the interests of the system are the public interests, nothing other than that—the Imam raised in jurisprudence. The well-known jurisprudential and principled issues of "conflict" and "more important and less important" that were used in personal matters and small issues were brought into the public domain, where in the realm of governing the country, the issue of the interests of the system and the issue of "more important and less important" are raised. That is, in jurisprudence, he introduced these matters, which creates a great opportunity for jurisprudence; it opens up jurisprudence in the scope of actions it can take in various issues. In my opinion, the seminaries should greatly appreciate and utilize this; of course, the work that the Imam has done in this jurisprudential area is completely systematic and lawful; that is, according to the same—according to the Imam's expression—jewelry jurisprudence; that is, there is no innovation in jurisprudence; it is a correct use of the conventional jurisprudential standards that are at the disposal of jurists.

Emphasis on devotion while having a progressive view of jurisprudence. Another example of this transformation in the view of religion and religious issues is the emphasis on devotion while having a progressive view of the issues; that is, the Imam was a progressive jurist, a progressive cleric; he looked at issues with a progressive perspective; at the same time, he was firmly committed to devotion. In those days, there were clerics who were involved in intellectual issues and discussed and spoke; these were clerics and scholars and religious scholars [but] somewhat influenced by certain conditions, did not have the necessary commitment to devotional issues—in personal practice, yes, they were committed—but in their propaganda, they did not emphasize the issue of devotion. The Imam came with that progressive view he had regarding jurisprudential issues and religious issues and similar matters, and firmly stood on the issue of devotion; both devotion in rulings and devotion in religious ceremonies; for example, this remarkable emphasis he placed on mourning ceremonies and mourning events and similar matters all indicate his great commitment and devotion.

Another area of transformation he brought about was the view of the youth; the view of the youth. He trusted the thoughts and actions of the youth; this was a true transformation. For example, consider that when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was formed, he accepted young people in their twenties to lead the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; these were young people who were at most around thirty years old; they were in charge of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, commanders of divisions and overall commanders; these were all young people to whom great tasks were entrusted. In other areas as well, he had the same trust in the young people he accepted; he entrusted tasks to the young and trusted their thoughts and actions.

Youthfulness, while trusting non-young forces. Of course, while he did not negate the capacities of non-young people. When we today frequently discuss youthfulness, some people imagine that youthfulness means completely excluding the elderly from the field; no, the Imam's view was absolutely not this; he trusted the youth as a reserve for the system, as a wealth for the system, and he trusted non-young forces just as much. For example, consider that when he appointed me—who at that time was relatively not very old—as the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, at the same time, he appointed the late martyr Ashrafi, an eighty-year-old man, as the Friday prayer leader of Kermanshah, or the late Dastgheib, or other martyrs of the pulpits; these were all men around sixty or seventy years old. Or in the armed forces; in the IRGC, for example, he placed the youth; in the army, martyr Fallahi or consider the late Zahirnejad, who were individuals over sixty; the Imam utilized these people; it was not that when we say to rely on the youth, it means completely excluding non-young forces from the field. Or at that time, in the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, he appointed the late Asgaroladi, who was not very young.

So when we say he trusted the youth—and today we also hold the same belief that we must trust the youth, we must utilize the youth's energy in advancing the country, which I will address later—it means that this is a reserve, a wealth for the country that we must utilize; it does not mean that if experienced and non-young people, who are also a wealth, are present, they should not be utilized.

Transformation in the view of global powers and superpowers and the belief in their vulnerability. Therefore, these transformations were brought about; however, another important transformation he brought about, which may be more important than some of these transformations, is the transformation in the view of global powers and superpowers. At that time, no one imagined that one could speak against America, that one could act contrary to the will of America; the Imam did something that even the presidents of America said that Khomeini humiliated us; and indeed, this was the case; the Imam and his agents and the youth who acted at the gesture of the Imam truly humiliated the superpowers; they broke their will and removed them from the field. The Imam showed that superpowers are vulnerable and can be defeated, and the future also showed this; you saw the fate of the former Soviet Union, which turned out that way, and this is the America of today and the issues of America that you observe! Such a thing was never imagined; the Imam instilled in the hearts of the people from that day that they should know these powers are vulnerable and can be defeated.

The divine and monotheistic view of the Imam towards all these transformations. Well, the important point is that the great Imam, who brought about all these transformations and was truly the Imam of transformation, attributed these to God; the Imam did not attribute these to himself; he considered them to be from God. Just observe the spiritual transformation that occurred in the youth—which has been published in the Sahifeh of the Imam—he repeatedly refers to it in his statements and expresses amazement; it is astonishing to him; the Imam had done this work, his hand was in this work, but he considered it to be from God; the reality is that it is from God; there is no power and no strength except with God, the Most High, the Most Great; everything and every power and strength is from God. And the Imam truly believed in the verse "And you did not throw when you threw" (8:17) in the truest sense of the word. He paid great attention to this movement of the youth and the transformation of the youth; he was very amazed by this event. At one point, he said that the transformation that occurred in the spirit of the youth is greater than the victory over the tyrannical regime; because the victory over the tyrannical regime was a victory over the tyrant, this transformation that occurred in the youth was a victory over Satan, and Satan is greater than the tyrant; that is, he viewed this issue in this way and was amazed by it. This is regarding the issue we discussed.

The need for every living society for transformation and dynamism. Therefore, the Imam was the Imam of transformation. This discussion we are having is not merely to gain more information about the personality of the Imam—which is certainly important in its own right—it is for learning lessons; we must learn from the Imam. Every living and dynamic society needs transformation; today we need transformation in various sectors. Of course, I should mention that after the passing of the Imam, the revolution and the country have not deviated from the transformative approach; that is, the Iranian nation has, thanks be to God, been able to follow the transformative approach of the Imam and move forward. We have genuinely undergone transformations in various fields and have become stronger than before, and in some cases, more vibrant than before; these exist. This scientific transformation that has occurred is not a small matter; it is a very important matter.

At that time, we were in a scientific situation that was not even worthy of attention or mention; today we are recognized in the world as [pioneers in] scientific movement and scientific effort. Or in defense capabilities; today our defense capabilities are, in truth and reality, close to the level of deterrence; this is a very important matter that the country has been able to reach. Or in the realm of politics; the country has a dignified face in the world. The Islamic Republic today presents a dignified and powerful image in the world; all these are transformations that have occurred and are noteworthy.

In these thirty years, the movement of the country, the transformative movement that the Imam created, has not stopped and has progressed; in some cases, transformative infrastructures have been created, but they have not yet reached realization and actualization; these exist, but they are not enough. What I am saying is that we have not had transformation in some important areas—and in some areas, we have regressed, which is a very regrettable, undesirable, and unacceptable issue, and contrary to the nature of the revolution. The survival of the revolution depends on its continuous innovation, transformation, and progress; transformation means achieving superiority in a clear manner; that is, a leap, a great movement; in various fields, we needed this; in some areas, we absolutely did not have the capacity for this.

Advancement and regression of societies depend on the will and actions of human beings. The opposite of the revolution is regression. Many revolutions in the world have suffered from regression; that is, after five years, ten years, or fifteen years from the start of the revolution, due to their negligence, they have fallen into regression. This regression is the opposite of the revolution. And both—both revolutionary advancement and regression in the sense of regression—depend on the will of human beings; if human beings move correctly, they will advance; if they move incorrectly, they will regress, which is also mentioned in the Quran. In Surah Ra'd, it says: "Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves" (13:11); the context of the verses indicates that [this verse] expresses the positive aspect, meaning that when you create positive changes in yourself, the Almighty God will also create positive events and realities for you. The second is in Surah Anfal: "That is because Allah would not change a blessing which He has bestowed upon a people until they change what is in themselves" (8:53); this is the negative aspect, the aspect of regression, that if God has bestowed a blessing upon a nation and that nation does not move correctly, does not act correctly, God will take that blessing away from them. You read in Dua Kumayl: "O Allah, forgive me for the sins that change blessings"; this change of blessing, meaning deprivation of blessing, is something that arises from will. We must be very vigilant and ensure that we do not fall into this state.

Therefore, in the system, this meaning has existed; after the passing of the Imam, this transformative movement has existed; however, the amount that has existed, in our opinion, is not enough. For various reasons, we are capable of creating transformation in various civilizational sectors of the country and the civilization of the system. However, there are points; that is, my expectation from myself, from our youth, from our nation, and from our elites is that we should think about creating transformation in the various sectors that are needed.

The desire for transformation; a continuous inclination towards improvement and avoidance of stagnation. Now, what are the sectors in which transformation should occur? This is a separate discussion that requires clarification of the areas in which we have deficiencies and where we must create transformation in the true sense of the word; however, as a list of examples, several examples can be mentioned: for example, in the economy, transformation means that we can cut the umbilical cord of the country's economy from oil; that is, we can create an oil-free economy; this is a transformation in the true sense of the word. Or consider that in the area of government budgeting, the government and parliament should budget in a way that is truly relevant to the subject, relevant to the issue, relevant to performance; in a sense, "operational budgeting"; of course, it is claimed that governments often claim that the budget is operational, but it is not. If the country's budget is truly budgeted correctly, it can create a transformation in the economy. Or consider in the area of education; in the area of educational issues, we genuinely need transformation. Transformation in educational issues means that we should make university and high school education, even elementary education, deep, applicable, not merely rote; we should present useful lessons and discussions.

Some lessons are taught in our schools or universities that will have no benefit for the person studying them for the rest of their life! Because in this area, they do not gain expertise, and their knowledge in this area is not of such effective knowledge; they learn something like general knowledge that has no benefit, taking their time. That is, if we want to create transformation in education in the true sense of the word, transformation means that the lesson should be useful, deep, and applicable; that the transformative program prepared for education and training, if implemented and acted upon, will take on part of this responsibility.

Or in social issues, for example, the issue of ensuring justice, or definitively solving problems like addiction; these are indeed social problems; we must solve these; or in the area of family, we must create transformation in the true sense of the word. Today, reliable news and reports tell us that our country is rapidly heading towards aging; this is a very alarming news, a bad news; among the things that will show their effects will be when there is no remedy for it; well, these must be done with transformation; we must create transformation in these areas.

Not fearing the enemy and opposition is a condition for creating transformation. A significant condition for creating transformation is not to fear the enemy and enmities. God Almighty says to His Prophet, "And you fear the people, while Allah has more right that you should fear Him" (33:37); you should not fear the people; you should not fear the words of this and that. After all, every positive action, every important work may have some opponents; opponents will oppose. Today, with the presence of cyberspace, the nature of opposition is often confrontational and sharp and annoying; if a significant, correct, and calculated positive movement is made, they should not consider these. They should not consider the foreign enemy either; any movement that is made in the country towards righteousness will face a broad front of enemies who are sitting and constantly thinking of striking blows, both in hardware and in software; their software is that they question the important, correct, and logical decisions made in the country with extensive propaganda, and they aim to undermine and destroy them. They must not fear these; they must move forward; and in my opinion, the way is for young forces to be present; the one who does not consider and does not fear and moves without consideration is the young force. [Of course] the presence of young forces, as I previously mentioned, means utilizing the thoughts of the young and the spirit of the young and the initiative and movement that the young person makes; not to negate the presence of non-young reserves; the condition is that this work is not done.

Dissolution and decline of powers due to reliance on God. Fortunately, when the country relies on God, the result is what you observe. One of the fronts of the enemy was the Soviet Union, which took that form; one of the fronts is this section of America, where you today observe the chaotic situation in America. What you see today in the cities and states of America is the emergence of realities that have always been kept hidden. These are not new things; these are the emergence of realities; that the sludge at the bottom of the pond comes up and shows itself; this situation is like this. That, for example, a police officer calmly places his knee on the neck of a black man and keeps pressing until he dies—while he begs, cries for help, this officer calmly sits on him and presses—several other police officers stand by and watch without taking any action, is not something that has just emerged; this is the American nature; this is what the Americans have done to the whole world until now. They have done this with Afghanistan, they have done this with Iraq, they have done this with Syria; they have done this with many countries in the world [including] previously with Vietnam; this is the American ethics, this is the nature of the American government; today it shows itself like this.

In any case, in my opinion, the American nation—I have said this before, and I say it now—feels shame and embarrassment from its own governments; and it is truly appropriate for the American nation to feel embarrassment from the government that exists in America today. Those who—whether in our country, [that is] Iranians who are inside our country, or some Iranians who are outside the country—whose job is to support America and defend America and beautify America, in my opinion, they can no longer hold their heads high with this situation that has now arisen.

We hope that God Almighty will, God willing, lead the events of the world in favor of the Iranian nation and increase the power of the Islamic Republic day by day and unite the pure soul of the great Imam and the dear martyrs and our recent dear martyr, martyr Soleimani, with their companions, God willing.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.