Speech at the Allegiance Ceremony of Teachers, Scholars, and Students of the Holy Mashhad Seminary

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

I extend a warm welcome to all the esteemed gentlemen, the eminent scholars, and the respected teachers and instructors of the Holy Mashhad Seminary, who have truly been sincere and steadfast in the great Islamic movement of the people and have a brilliant history. God willing, they will maintain these outstanding qualities in the future. I also express my condolences to all of you, especially the eminent scholars, teachers, and elders, on this grievous calamity and great loss for the Islamic world.

On the occasion of your gathering and the coincidence of these days with the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Baqir (peace and blessings be upon him), it is appropriate to address specific issues concerning the clergy and the seminaries. The duty that today falls upon the scholars and clergy in the Islamic Republic system is exceptional in several respects: it is exceptional for us throughout the history of Shia clergy and Islamic jurisprudence, as we have never had a period where jurists and scholars had such a heavy responsibility as today. It is also exceptional compared to other religious scholars worldwide, as a system has been established in our country and society based on Islamic thought and Sharia, which is managed and directed towards the full realization of Sharia and Islamic goals. Scholars in Islamic lands, in this regard, bear a lighter burden.

Although, in a sense, the duty to defend religion is universal, and the silence of scholars in the face of tyrannical and anti-religious rulers and their compromise with the policies of global arrogance—whether Eastern or Western—is unacceptable. God Almighty has entrusted the duty of defending religion to the scholars, the guides of the nation, and the teachers of the community, and this matter is not confined to a specific time or place. In all Islamic territories, the defense of Islam, the Quran, and Islamic Sharia primarily rests with the scholars, and they are never exempt from this task. However, in those countries, the work of scholars is easier and simpler and does not have the complexity of work in the Islamic system.

There, the responsibility of defending the global prestige of Islam and organizing a system that necessarily shapes all its aspects based on Islam does not rest on them. They consider the duty of enjoining good and forbidding evil to the extent specified in jurisprudence and to the extent that it is possible to effect or have the power to do so. However, managing the system and the people and constructing and organizing the entirety of human life based on Islam is a very complex, delicate, and difficult task that, in this time, rests on us and the scholars in the Islamic society.

They may have some difficulties in terms of political struggle, but those hardships are far easier and lighter than the responsibilities that exist for defending the global prestige of Islam in our system. We must believe that if today the Islamic Republic performs poorly and weakly, it will not only damage the prestige of this system but will also harm the entire prestige of Islam.

In truth, from the perspective of global observers, the pinnacle of Islam and the symbol of the Islamic community is here. If we act weakly and poorly and cannot establish Islamic laws and social justice, and cannot harness and utilize talents, and cannot promote Islamic ethics in society and organize human relations desirably, the world's judgment will be that Islam could not fulfill its promises. You see that this responsibility rests solely on us, and scholars in other countries, living under different systems, do not have this feeling within themselves.

A story narrated by Rumi, which is symbolic, often comes to my mind, and I tremble and seek refuge in God. He says:

In a city where both Muslims and Christians lived, a bad-voiced muezzin entered the Muslim neighborhood and called the adhan several times. One day, a Christian man came from his neighborhood to the Muslim neighborhood and asked for the muezzin; they guided him until he finally found the muezzin and, after seeing him, thanked him profusely! The muezzin asked: Why do you thank me? The Christian man replied: You have a great right over me that no one else has because I have a young daughter at home who has been inclined towards Islam for some time and has a tendency to become a Muslim. No matter what I did, she would not come to church and participate in our ceremonies and was indifferent to our beliefs. We were helpless and bewildered in dealing with this girl. Two or three days ago, when you called the adhan and this girl heard your voice, she said: Where is this ugly voice coming from?! I said: It is the adhan of the Muslims. From that moment, we were relieved, and the love of Islam completely left this girl's heart, and now she is engaged in her life as in the normal past, attending church and performing the ceremonies! Therefore, it was you who returned our daughter to us!

I have often told myself and my friends that we must not be that bad-voiced muezzin who extinguishes the love of Islam in hearts and responds to the great inquiry that has arisen in the world to understand Islam with a negative and ugly answer.

We started our struggle for Islam and God and did not intend to seek power or seize the government. I had asked our dear Imam (may his soul be sanctified) several times when he began thinking about establishing an Islamic government and whether he had such a decision before that. (This question was because, in 1968, his lessons on "Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist" had started in Najaf, and 48 tapes of those lessons had also come to Iran). He said: I do not remember exactly when the issue of government became a concern for us, but from the beginning, we were thinking about what our duty was, and we acted accordingly; and what happened was by the will of God Almighty.

Our dear Imam (may his soul be sanctified), with his faith, struggle, sincerity, and righteous deeds, laid the foundation of the Islamic government in Iran, and God Almighty also bestowed His help upon him. The Lord of the worlds is the most truthful of speakers, who said: "And those who strive for Us—We will surely guide them to Our ways," "Whoever is for God, God is for him," "And God will surely support those who support Him." These verses and narrations express truth and reality.

In our country, jihad, struggle, effort, and sincerity became evident among the people, and God Almighty blessed it, and victory was achieved, and Islam gained sovereignty, and the Quran was honored, and Muslims found spiritual pride in the world and considered turning to Islam as their honor and were not ashamed of being Muslim.

Islam took root in Iran, and the people struggled with difficulties for ten years. All these are among the blessings and bounties of God. We must be grateful and appreciative of these blessings and continue to fulfill our sensitive, precise, and delicate duty.

If we cannot implement Islamic justice in its true sense in society and demonstrate Islamic justice in our judicial and governmental system, and if we cannot eliminate the grounds for the circulation of wealth among the rich, which Islam has prohibited, with a correct economic system in the Islamic society, and if we cannot embody and realize Islamic ethics and values in society, as a result, we will have a system with the flag and name of Islam but with a non-Islamic reality and meaning—and possibly ignorant—which anything non-Islamic is ignorant; "So what is there after the truth except error." If, God forbid, this happens, we will be that bad-voiced muezzin whose unpleasant voice and tone, instead of giving Islam honor and dignity, will bring it disgrace.

In this context, the community of clergy and seminaries plays the primary role and is responsible for correctly explaining Islam and filling any place that requires competent, faithful, and knowledgeable individuals familiar with Islamic secrets, guiding the people, advising the government, and smoothing the path of difficulties with their spiritual power.

The seminaries must increase their activity and organize and innovate based on three principles:

The first principle is traditional and Juwahiri jurisprudence, which was the expression of our great Imam. The author of Jawahir is the epitome of a jurist committed to the regulations of jurisprudence and the principles and rules of jurisprudence. He was a precise, organized, and principled scholar who did not deviate from the common jurisprudential standards among the Usulis and employed all the tools considered usual in the work of jurisprudence with the precision of a principled jurist. Therefore, Juwahiri jurisprudence means the same traditional jurisprudence with the method of jurisprudence. This method and approach are the same quality of addressing an issue in jurisprudence.

The common method of jurists is as follows: firstly, using appearances and solving the problems of appearances and indications; and when the jurist's hand is short of indications, referring to principles and finding a principle applicable here; and if there is a conflict among principles, resolving that conflict and other problems of the chapter of implementing principles... and finally extracting the jurisprudential issue.

This is Juwahiri jurisprudence. We do not have two jurisprudences, one traditional and the other dynamic. Dynamic jurisprudence is the same traditional jurisprudence of ours. It is dynamic, meaning it addresses human problems and responds to current events; and it is traditional, meaning it has a method and approach according to which "ijtihad" is performed, and this method has been common for centuries and has proven its effectiveness.

Jurisprudence must be strengthened, and the lessons and fields of jurisprudence must be given attention. Essentially, without a foundation, nothing can be achieved, and without studying and striving and becoming a scholar, one cannot be beneficial.

The second principle is moral purification, which, if not present in seminary individuals, is like a thief coming with a lamp and making the work more difficult. This part is self-explanatory.

The third principle is political awareness. Even if you are the most learned of scholars, if you do not know your time, it is impossible to be beneficial to today's Islamic society. If we do not know what global arrogance intends to do and who our enemies are and where they infiltrate, and if we are not aware of what is happening in our society and what problems exist and how to solve them, and if we are not informed of our position in today's global alignments, we cannot play our real role.

Those who are caught between two playing factions and do not know what is going to happen and what factors change the playing field in their favor always get beaten and slapped. Insight and knowledge of the time and using opportunities are necessary for every factor—whether the most learned of scholars or someone teaching religious rules to a few people in a neighborhood; however, the higher the position, the more extensive and broader the awareness required.

Throughout the history of Shia, we have suffered greatly due to the lack of awareness of scholars about the realities of world events, especially in the last two hundred years when the world took on a new shape, colonialism emerged, policies changed, European governments entered the global political arena, and attacked Islamic countries.

Whenever we had a religious scholar who was pious, intelligent, clever, and precise like Mirza Shirazi and Sheikh Ansari, we were protected from the enemy's harm and were victorious; but where there was some negligence and unawareness, we suffered, and that harm was not limited to one person, one seminary, one community, one city, one year, or a few years; rather, in some cases, its effect put the Islamic society under pressure for fifty years.

We must no longer surrender to unawareness. We must strengthen awareness and insight within ourselves. We must rebuild and expand the seminaries based on those three principles. Truly and fairly, the Mashhad seminary has high potential and has good teachers, great scholars, and prominent personalities in terms of science, practice, ethics, and politics, and students with a good background and aptitude are studying there. God willing, the Mashhad seminary can play a role in this regard and take significant action.

Today, the enemies are waiting to strike us; we must be vigilant. Fortunately, today, the conspiracies of global arrogance have been exposed to the nations, and this phrase attributed to Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): "Thanks be to God who made our enemies foolish," truly applies in some cases. The recent conspiracy of the Saudi rulers to accuse the great Iranian nation and its officials is one of those conspiracies that have been exposed so far. Everyone knows and understands where these grudges and hatreds originate.

Once again, I welcome and offer condolences to all the gentlemen and thank you for traveling a long way and coming here. I hope that God's grace and favor will be upon you and that, God willing, you will have a better situation than before, and the sacred heart of Imam Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him and may God hasten his reappearance) will be pleased with us, and his prayer will include us.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings