Statements at the Meeting of the Organizers of the Congress Commemorating the Martyrs of the Clergy

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 Muhammad and his pure family.

Commemorating the scholars and clerics who engaged in jihad and ultimately attained the bliss of martyrdom is a very commendable act. It is important in this regard that clerics always invite to good; if the inviter to good is himself at the forefront of goodness, his impact is greater; "Be callers to the people without your tongues." These martyrs of ours are those who called the people, both with their words and with their actions. During the Sacred Defense, I repeatedly saw young seminarians wearing military uniforms and turbans who initially came to preach among the combat units to convey the religious rulings and advice to the youth engaged in jihad and to fulfill the duties of a cleric, but they did not limit themselves to this — we saw, we recognized — and they themselves entered the front lines of the battlefield; many of them also attained martyrdom.

Now, regarding the martyrdom of clerics, martyrdom for the religious scholars is not a new matter. In our seminary textbooks, we have two books from two martyrs: the First Martyr and the Second Martyr. This means that when our students enter the seminary, after two or three years, they study the book of Sharh al-Lam'ah; Lam'ah belongs to a martyr, and its commentary belongs to another martyr; two esteemed martyrs among the prominent scholars and among those who, in terms of scientific rank, are among the stars of the religious world; that is, throughout this thousand-year history of Shiite jurisprudence, they are among the distinguished ones; both the First Martyr and the Second Martyr. We also have a Third Martyr, of course, the name of the Third Martyr refers to several individuals: both the martyr Barghani Qazvini and the martyr Sheikh Noorullah Shushtari in India, and various other martyrs; then there are other clerical martyrs who are not recognized as the First, Second, or Third Martyr; Martyr Modarres, a highly esteemed cleric, Martyr Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri, a highly esteemed cleric; these are the martyrs of the religious scholars; and there are more like them. Therefore, the issue of martyrdom among the clerics is not new, it is not a recent matter, and we have had great martyrs.

Among the Sunni clerics, it is the same; this is not exclusive to Shiites; we had individuals in the war, and after the war in various periods; recently, this martyr Sheikh al-Islam, who was among the very effective and beneficial clerics in Kurdistan, attained martyrdom; and numerous other martyrs who were martyred in this region and in other areas.

These are the honors of the clergy; we should not look at this from the perspective of how it compares to other classes; this issue is of secondary and tertiary importance; we should look at it from the perspective that in the realm of inviting to good, the clerical martyr is one who has entered the field of invitation with his own life; this is very important. And today among the young seminarians, among the young scholars, we need this spirit to know that being a religious scholar, being a great cleric, and being a high-ranking jurist does not mean withdrawing and isolating oneself from the field of jihad; rather, the religious scholar, the source of emulation, the prominent teacher of the seminary, like our esteemed Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), entered the field of jihad and carried out that great jihad which has no parallel in the history of Shiism in terms of its magnitude and results; he was both a scholar, a researcher, a jurist, and a principled thinker, as well as a wise and mystical person; that is, a prominent scientific figure at the level of the esteemed Imam, the first mujahid of his time, indeed of many times, and he reached the highest rank. Therefore, this misconception should not arise that if we want to be scholars, sources of emulation, researchers, or high-ranking teachers in the seminary, it necessitates withdrawing from jihad and the field of jihad and such things; no, entering the field of jihad is our duty; we must engage in jihad.

Now, jihad has various forms: sometimes scientific jihad may take precedence — yes, we have cases where scientific jihad takes precedence — sometimes military jihad takes precedence, sometimes political jihad takes precedence, and sometimes social jihad and engagement in social activities take precedence. In all these cases, our young seminarians, our young scholars must feel a sense of responsibility and know that the first address belongs to them; because our primary and main duty as the clergy is to invite to good; the work that the prophets did; this is our primary duty. And the best means of inviting to good is action; action in the field of goodness and in the field of invitation. Therefore, entering the field of struggle is a primary, obvious, and certain duty for a religious scholar and cleric; there is no doubt about this. The one who withdraws from the field of jihad must realize that the field of jihad is the essence of the matter.

Fortunately, we see this spirit among our esteemed clerics. Now, the martyrs have been counted by the gentlemen. The late Amini (may God be pleased with him) has a book called Shahada al-Fadhila, in which he has enumerated these martyr scholars throughout history; of course, not all of them, he has been able to find a number; from the fourth and fifth centuries onward, he has enumerated them; he has not enumerated those before that. Throughout time, there have been many who have attained martyrdom or have been in the field of struggle and combat but have not attained martyrdom, yet they were mujahids in the way of God; their names have not naturally appeared in those books; well, this is a culture of pride for the clergy, and we hope that, God willing, this spirit and this state will continue.

My recommendation to the dear friends and brothers who organize these commemorations is that they should not be viewed as an end; these are means, these are tools; following these commemorations, many works must be done. Finding methods of action and ways of work requires intellectual groups; collections of thinkers, those who are intellectuals, cultural figures, and artists should sit down and find various ways; just as we mentioned to the gentlemen, promoting their names, promoting their images, narrating their biographies, promoting and multiplying their wills, and explaining the situations in which they found themselves and in which they engaged in this jihad are very important works; these should be multiplied, and God willing, everyone should be in a position to benefit from the spirituality of these great figures.

We hope that, God willing, you will be supported, and may God grant you success and assist you so that you can carry out the necessary work in this regard.

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