Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Members of the Assembly of Experts

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I extend my greetings to the esteemed gentlemen and hope that the Almighty God accepts these sincere efforts made in these gatherings and by the respected individuals, and grants everyone their due reward. We have benefited from the statements of the gentlemen, especially the very valuable advice given by His Excellency Mr. Mashkini, which is considered very precious and dear to us. We hope that God makes us worthy so that we can utilize this sufficient and comprehensive advice.

At the beginning of my remarks, I find it necessary to congratulate the esteemed gentlemen on these blessed days of the Fajr decade, and also to thank our dear people for the great movement they demonstrated on the twenty-second of Bahman. This march truly showed the vitality of the revolution and the genuine presence of the people, which has been a solution to many problems over the years, and it left the greedy and covetous disappointed and frustrated.

Regarding this great revolution, I believe one point must always be kept in mind, and that is that this revolution introduced a new discourse in the world of humanity. There is an effort to eliminate this fresh and novel discourse, which is completely original and new in today’s world, from the scene and to divert the minds of people, especially the youth, everywhere from this subject. That new discourse was that the revolution rose against governments based on immorality and oppression. For centuries, everywhere in the world—whether in Iran or elsewhere—we have witnessed, and still witness today, that nations have become accustomed to considering immoral governments and those that perpetrate various forms of oppression as legitimate and acceptable, and they submit to them; whether hereditary governments that have no ideological or intellectual basis and follow no logic; or governments based on coups and tyranny and illegitimate displays of power, which also lack any logic; or governments that, ostensibly, are based on the people's votes, but in reality, are not based on the true will and desire of the people, and even those that initially have such characteristics do not refrain from various forms of transgressions and oppressions.

Look at the world scene in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and see how much oppression, colonialism, genocide, and the spread of various corruptions among different nations can be observed. The hands of these powers have always been behind such actions; the same powers that may have a superficial appearance of democracy in their own countries; however, democracy is not everything, and in it, justice—which is the foundation of a correct government—does not exist.

The Islamic government and the Islamic revolution introduced this new discourse that the ruler and the government and political power must be based on piety, justice, and truth. The Constitution was formed on this basis. This is a very important event in the world. This is the very thing that for many years, from the time of Seyyed Jamal onward, intellectuals and religious innovators have been talking about and desiring; and this very discourse and writing and sloganizing stirred the sleep of the world’s powerful and made them angry and forced them to react. You can see what they did to Islamic intellectuals in all the essential Islamic regions—whether in Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, or elsewhere—over the past hundred, hundred and fifty, and two hundred years.

Global arrogance and colonialism exercised power both directly and indirectly. Someone like the late Ayatollah Kashani was arrested by the British and exiled from Iran; meaning they had no concern about exercising power in another country and arresting someone and exiling them to a location or sending them to prison. Similarly, in many other regions, they exercised power indirectly through their agents and puppets—namely local powers that served their interests. They were afraid of Islamic slogans like this. Currently, these slogans have turned into reality; that is, they have become a revolution that immediately brought an Islamic government to power.

Of course, like many other revolutions, their expectation was that this revolution, although it started with the power of religion, would see the religious people step aside and leave; as indeed happened in many parts of the world. Many of these liberation movements and anti-colonial struggles were initiated by scholars and religious people; however, the religious individuals, after advancing a bit, withdrew shortly before or after victory.

What were the reasons for their withdrawal? There were various factors. Sometimes it was naivety; sometimes it was forced withdrawal from the field; sometimes it was withdrawal due to enemy propaganda—where they were mocked and attacked; sometimes it was by distracting them with various issues; we saw examples of this in Algeria and some North African countries, where even a religious government was formed—like in Tunisia—but after a short period, due to mistakes made, those religious governments collapsed, and a number of individuals who were agents of colonialism in those countries came to power. The same happened in India; that is, religious leaders abandoned the work midway. The situation was somewhat similar in Egypt; and in Iraq, a similar situation occurred. They hoped that it would happen in Iran as well; even one of those who had entered the field thanks to the revolution, but was raised with Western thought, advised Imam in the early days of the revolution to go to Qom and focus on his own work, while they would manage the country! They had that hope, but it did not happen. They saw a resolute determination and a solid mountain behind this movement; the people would not abandon it and had come with knowledge and awareness. Naturally, various plots began, which continue to this day. Therefore, this new discourse became prevalent in the world; although the onslaught of propaganda also began from all sides.

This foreign propaganda and cultural invasion is not something new; what was new—which we have emphasized over these past few years—were the new methods that began within the country and continue to this day. In the world, the cultural invasion against the revolution was faster, more widespread, and more pervasive than the political and economic invasion. They did various things; how many films did they make against Islam and the revolution and Islamic and Shiite principles, which they thought played a role in the emergence of this revolution—today they have even brought it to computers and the internet—and they did everything they could to prevent this new discourse—that political power in the country must be in the hands of pious and just individuals, and that the condition for this political authority is piety and justice—from being realized. This new discourse is something that shakes every power holder in the world and terrifies any apparatus that benefits materially from power. Therefore, everywhere in the world, there is opposition to this thought.

Who agrees with this thought? The oppressed and deprived individuals and various classes of people; those who spend their lives in various hardships due to the suffering of oppressions and immorality. Naturally, the backbone and support of the Islamic revolution and the Islamic government are the vast masses of the people; primarily in Islamic countries and then everywhere in the world; wherever this truth becomes known. At the forefront of the enemies of this revolution and this government are the political powers that cannot conduct their affairs based on piety and justice. This is the new discourse that the revolution has brought; this is the new word in the world; we must not abandon this new discourse.

Today we have many experiences. Twenty-two years have passed since the victory of the revolution; however, we should not always look at it from the perspective that since we have distanced ourselves from the origin of the revolution, our motivations and faith have weakened. Of course, this should also be considered as part of the influencing factors on the overall issues; however, alongside this, there are many other very important matters that must also be taken into account. Today we have many experiences; we have good managers; we have good youth; we have good thinkers; we have young scholars and clerics ready to work in the field; we have a vast generation of youth thirsty for Islam.

We must judge correctly about the youth. We should not only see four young people who, for instance, are demonstrating anti-religiously; even though such demonstrations are not everywhere indicative of irreligiosity and lack of faith; after all, it is a phase and happens; in many cases, it is a passing phase. When a religious field arises, if you consider this same youth, you will see that due to religious manifestations, he becomes enthusiastic and moves towards religious authenticity. These are realities; they are not fantasies. We must not calculate the negative point without placing it alongside the positive point. Not that we deny the negative point; no, there are many positive points. Today, there are many youth in this country who, without us knowing and without us asking them, without us giving them a single rial of financial assistance or a word of praise, are making religious efforts in various corners—in mosques, in resistance bases, in the universities across the country, in the universities of Tehran, in various labor sectors, and so on—and they draw inspiration from the same spirituality that exists.

Dear ones! Esteemed gentlemen! In any case, we have strengths and weaknesses in the revolution and in the Islamic Republic system. We must strengthen these strengths and gradually reduce those weaknesses. A list of strengths can be placed before us, alongside which weaknesses can be arranged. Often, work and thought have been done on these issues; that is, these are not things that cannot be recognized. The mechanism of the movement of the world and the movement of societies is a completely complex mechanism; that is, merely knowing the problems does not mean that these problems will be resolved; no, we are all human; humanity is in a state of constant struggle and needs it. There must always be a struggle against the devil of the self and the external devil that promotes the wrong path; that is, there must always be a struggle and a constant, conscious, and vigilant effort. Let us try to make fewer mistakes. The grounds for progress are very abundant.

One of the strengths that must be emphasized is the spread of Islam in all areas of life. This is a very important matter. This very thing that exists in our Constitution and today is the main basis and foundation of our government—that everything springs from Islam—must be strengthened. Of course, strengthening this point of strength is largely achieved through propaganda, speaking, insisting, and striving so that they cannot eliminate or distort it; however, striving is not just this. The opinions and rulings of Islam must be derived from Islamic works in the vast fields of life. We have great jurists; we have active minds; we have good grounds for ijtihad; therefore, in all areas, ijtihad must be made more active.

Today, we need to enter the field of ijtihad in many areas and derive their rulings from Islam. The great scholars, scholars of the seminaries, members of the Assembly of Experts, and the secretariat of the Experts must carry out these tasks precisely and scientifically so that the work does not fall into the hands of the unworthy. If you extract the pure Islamic thought from the correct sources in all areas and present it to the thoughts of the people, seekers, wishers, and especially the youth, then a person who has no expertise, no awareness, and does not even claim anything in his own essence will no longer dare to say a word so that biased individuals will applaud him and he can boast that yes, we have also said something in this area, and thus a matter is created!

We have many strengths. Another of our strengths is the faith accompanied by the emotions of the people. The faith of the people is deep. Of course, this is not specific to our nation; if you look at the Muslim countries of the former Soviet Union, you will see that after eighty years of constant anti-religious efforts in these countries, when they emerged from under the burden of the communist government of the Soviet Union, naturally, everyone gravitated towards Islam. Of course, whether later the advocates and preachers of Islam can work, cannot work, how they can work, and with what depth they can work is another matter. Therefore, the faith of the people is not something that can be eliminated by these things.

In our own country, for many years, they fought against religious faith with two diverse methods. One method was the Reza Khan method, with bullying and force and the point of a spear; and one method was the modern cultural method of the Mohammad Reza Shah era. They employed various methods to divert the people from religion; but you see that after fifty years of their oppressive rule, that great Islamic movement occurred. The faith of the people acts in this way. We must account for the faith of the people in this manner. This is one of our strengths. The more this faith becomes conscious and the more it is solidified by observing our behavior, speech, and actions, the better support it will provide for this revolution.

There are few countries that have been able to bring faith to the forefront in this way. Perhaps one of the characteristics of our country is that here faith is accompanied by emotions, love, and enthusiasm; emotions towards the Ahl al-Bayt and the great figures of religion. The result of faith accompanied by emotions is that the people have held the foundations of this revolution and this system so firmly that foreign apparatuses, with all their scientific wealth, could not do much. Therefore, they have resorted to these petty actions, some of which you also observe.

Of course, my intention in saying this is not to reduce the concerns of some regarding the cultural issues of the country; no, I am more worried than all of you; I have always been concerned about cultural issues since the blessed life of the Imam. Therefore, it is necessary to have concerns; however, the remedy for concern is struggle; a worthy and appropriate struggle, entering the field, thinking—this field is one where thinking is more important than any other field—studying, doing expert work, entering the field at the right time, fully understanding the enemy, and assessing their methods.

Today, the enemy uses all methods. I told the youth yesterday that today there are hundreds of main websites and thousands of subsidiary websites on the internet whose main goal is to attack Islamic thoughts, especially Shiite thoughts. The invasion is not a rational invasion; they use destructive methods and psychological methods, etc. All of these have responses; their responses are not difficult; we must utilize the tools at our disposal to the maximum. We do not use our broadcasting and media, nor our many great public platforms, as we should and could. These are our weaknesses; we must reduce these weaknesses. We must gradually decrease weaknesses and increase strengths; and this is possible.

The issues of our country are of two types: general and permanent issues and seasonal issues. The enemy uses both general and permanent means and seasonal means to strike at the country and the Islamic system. The enemy observes in each season what must be done; for example, what must be done close to the election season. Of course, when we say the enemy, it is not always the American intelligence apparatus. Sometimes the strings are in their hands, but the players are those who sometimes do not even realize they have been played and do not know at whose signal they are moving.

In my opinion, what is currently of utmost concern to them—before the elections that are a few months away—is the issue of creating political agitation. They want to politically agitate the people, make them worried, distract them with small issues, incite factions against each other, and blow small issues out of proportion. This is part of their plans; they want to create a feverish atmosphere in the country. The struggle against this plan is to strive to keep the general atmosphere and political atmosphere of the country calm. Everyone must move in this direction. No actions or statements that imply agitation should be given space. Especially the media must pay attention to this point. Various institutions and the three branches of power must preserve their dignity, character, and legal boundaries and not weaken each other; unfortunately, sometimes things are seen in this regard in various corners. Of course, it is likely that this is due to negligence; however, it must be noted that these negligences are often exploited by the enemies.

We hope that the Almighty God grants us all the success to fulfill our duties and this heavy responsibility placed upon us in the best manner and at the right time, and God willing, we will be honored in the presence of divine questioning and before the great divine authorities, and all of you, us, and all the responsible individuals and the dear people of Iran will be included in the pure prayers of the Awaited Savior, may our souls be sacrificed for him.

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