Speech to the Clergy and Religious Scholars of Lorestan Province

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

We have been given the opportunity to be in the presence of the esteemed and honorable gentlemen. We thank the brothers who have made the effort and come from other cities of the province. I wish there was the opportunity and success to directly travel to each city of the province and visit the gentlemen in their areas of service. Of course, the esteemed gentlemen come to various cities; unfortunately, I do not have this opportunity. It was not in the program of visiting the gentlemen that I would disturb and speak; however, it has now come to pass that I say a few words. It is an explanation of the obvious, but in any case, God willing, reminders are beneficial at all times.

I believe that for the scholars and religious figures, this era is a very sensitive one; whether those in governmental institutions, such as the judiciary, or those engaged in official and assigned services, and whether those teaching in cities, leading Friday prayers, congregational prayers, or preaching. The reason is that today people's expectations from us are greater than before. The clergy invited the people, the Islamic authorities, and above all, our great Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) invited the people to act upon Islam and realize it in the fabric of society. This invitation led to this great revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Now, the inviter, who is the commander of good, naturally has two major duties: one is the personal duty in his actions between him and God, and the other is to accompany the revolution and serve in advancing the revolution. Both are important; however, if, God forbid, we are negligent in the first duty, people's faith in the spirituality of the clergy will weaken; because we did not advance with cannons and guns; we advanced with the belief that people had in the clergy.

I once told the Imam that in this revolution and its victory, the entire thousand-year-old reputation of the clergy was utilized. It was not just the clergy of the present generation and the person of our great Imam (may God's mercy be upon him) who did this alone. The reputation that our Imam gained was due to a thousand years of good standing of Shia scholars among the people. Sheikh Tusi, Sayyid Murtadha, and the great scholars between that era and ours, each added a drop to this vessel of reputation and dignity of the Shia clergy. The total of this reputation was utilized until this revolution triumphed. He confirmed this statement.

If today, God forbid, something is observed in our personal behavior that contradicts what people think of us, it will harm people's faith and consequently shake the foundation. This is the first duty. Therefore, we are truly obliged to pay more attention than ever to the divine and religious aspects and those things for which the clergy are known; such as independence, disregard for worldly adornments, disregard for wealth and material power, connection and attachment to God, piety and avoidance of prohibitions, and attention to knowledge - which people recognize the clergy for knowledge. These are the first type of duties, which are our personal duties; we must attend to them and give them importance.

The second type of duty is that we must always be involved in the movement of this train of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution. A religious scholar cannot withdraw and say it does not concern me. How does it not concern us?! The government of religion, the government of Islam, does not concern us?! If in a corner of the world, thousands of miles away from us, a government was established based on religion, you and I had the duty to help that government.

Establishing religion is a duty. The governance of religion is the important goal of all religions; "so that mankind may uphold justice" (Quran 57:25). Upholding justice, upholding divine governance, is the great goal of religions. In fact, our Imams (peace be upon them) suffered all their hardships and tribulations because they were pursuing divine governance; otherwise, if Imam Sadiq and Imam Baqir (peace be upon them) sat in a corner and gathered a few people around them and only discussed a religious issue, no one would have bothered them. Imam Sadiq himself says in a hadith: "This is Abu Hanifa who has followers and this is Hasan al-Basri who has followers"; Abu Hanifa has followers, Hasan al-Basri has followers. So, why are they not bothered? Because they know that the Imam has the claim of leadership; but they did not have the claim of leadership. Abu Hanifa did not have the claim of leadership. These well-known Sunni scholars - their narrators and jurists - did not have the claim of leadership. They accepted the Imam of the time, who was Harun, Mansur, and Abdul Malik.

It is said that when Suleiman ibn Abdul Malik died, the books of Muhammad ibn Shihab al-Zuhri were taken out of his treasury. His Imam of the time was Suleiman ibn Abdul Malik; he wrote books for him. What does Imam mean? Imam means the leader of religion and the world. He was the leader of religion and the world. Even though, apparently, Harun and the rest of the oppressive caliphs who were there had not studied; because they did not have time to study, they were princes and noblemen, busy with eating and hunting and debauchery until they reached the caliphate; at the time of caliphate, they were young, for example, Harun al-Rashid was twenty-two years old when he reached the caliphate; some were twenty-five or thirty years old and had not studied; yet those worshippers and ascetics whose names you have heard - like Amr ibn Ubaid and others - when Harun faced them, they admitted that Harun was more knowledgeable than them!

Malik in Medina was beaten by the governor of Medina over an issue; then the caliph apologized profusely and sent him money. After the pilgrimage to Mecca, he went to Medina and appeased him. Then he started discussing with the companions of Abu Hanifa - who were opposed to Malik in jurisprudence - and proved Malik's beliefs. What does this mean? It means he was a jurist and a scholar; he was the leader of religion and the world.

These did not claim leadership; the one who claimed leadership was our oppressed and dear Imam; Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), Imam Baqir (peace be upon him), Imam Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him). They understood this; it was clear. Of course, sometimes they practiced dissimulation in front of the caliphs, but it was clear that they claimed leadership. Their Shia expressed this meaning everywhere.

When they wanted to slander Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) so that Harun would imprison him, the person who came to Harun and slandered said: "Your caliph on earth is Musa ibn Ja'far in Medina, and you are in Iraq collecting taxes." He asked: Is tax collected for two caliphs? Harun said: For whom other than me? He said: From Khorasan and Herat and various places, people bring their khums to Musa ibn Ja'far.

So pay close attention, the issue was the claim of caliphate and leadership. In the path of this claim, our Imams were killed or imprisoned. What does leadership mean? Does it mean just to discuss issues, and let someone else manage the world? Is this the meaning of leadership in the view of Shia and Muslims? No Muslim believes this; how can you and I, as Shia, believe in this meaning? Imam Sadiq was pursuing leadership - meaning the leadership of religion and the world - but the conditions were not favorable; however, the claim was there. Because of this claim, those great ones were killed.

So, this is the meaning of the governance of religion for which the prophets struggled, and the Imams were killed for it. Now the governance of religion has come into existence in our own country - not at the end of the world - can someone say I am religious, I am a cleric, but not consider himself a soldier of this religion? Is such a thing possible? Anyone who claims religiosity and does not consider a governance based on religion as his own and does not consider defending it as his duty is lying. When we say he is lying, it means he is mistaken and says something contrary to reality; but he does not understand. Some are not aware, their understanding is different, and they deny that these programs are based on religion.

What are our laws based on now? Are they not based on religion? Then what is the Guardian Council for? Judicial laws, the country's laws, and everything are based on the sacred Sharia. Such a governance has come into existence, now should I gather my cloak and withdraw and say I have nothing to do with these matters?! How can you have nothing to do with these matters? Like those sanctimonious people of the time of the Commander of the Faithful when Ali ibn Abi Talib was fighting with Muawiya, with the people of Sham, or with the people of Basra, they came to him and said: "O Commander of the Faithful, we have doubts about this battle!" He said: Doubt? What doubt?! They said: They are Muslim brothers; send us to guard the borders! He said: Go, we have no need for you. Indeed, the Commander of the Faithful had no need for such people - now they say Rabi ibn Khuthaym; which I do not attribute with certainty - he had no need for them. The companions of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, with these false imaginations, scattered from around the Commander of the Faithful. Today, you and I do not approve of them.

Why do you say "peace be upon him" to Ammar, but not to another companion - a friend of Ammar - who was also from Mecca and was beaten in Mecca? Because Ammar did not make a mistake at the critical time and understood; but he made a mistake.

See, Ammar's line is called the straight line. In my opinion, Ammar is still unknown. Ammar Yasir is not even properly known by us. Ammar Yasir is a decisive divine proof. When I looked at the life of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), I saw that no one is like Ammar Yasir; that is, from the companions of the Messenger of God, no one had the role of Ammar Yasir throughout this period. They did not survive, but his blessed life continued. Whenever a mental problem arose for the Commander of the Faithful regarding the companions - that is, a doubt arose in a corner - the tongue of this man, like a sharp sword, went forward and solved the issue. At the beginning of the caliphate of the Imam, it was like this, in the events of Jamal and Siffin, it was like this, until he was martyred in Siffin.

One must be as alert as Ammar and understand what the duty is. It cannot be said that it does not concern me. Today, every cleric and every turbaned person, by virtue of wearing this attire, is obliged to defend the government of Islam and the governance of the Quran; everyone in whatever way they can. One takes up a sword and goes to the front; one has an eloquent tongue and goes to the pulpit; one can handle a judicial or non-judicial position, he does it; one cannot do these things, but is a person of the mosque and the prayer niche - it does not matter - everyone should know that this cleric considers himself a servant of this revolution. This is an honor. Serving this revolution is an honor.

We did not even dream at night that an opportunity would arise and we could serve Islam in this way. Today the field is open, the opportunities are abundant, and the nation is so good. Look at your own Lorestan. Your people are truly jewels. These Lor people are truly jewels; sincere, bright, devoted - like clear water - and lovers of religion. Just because someone makes a mistake, we should not immediately frown and say he did not understand and made a mistake. You and I must correct the mistake. Serving these people is serving religion. These are the two duties that I believe you and I, as turbaned individuals, have.

May God grant us the success to fulfill our duties and guide us to our duties; may He never separate us from this sacred clerical attire; may He keep us alive in the path of serving religion and this sacred and honorable field, and may He let us die in this path. We hope that the sacred heart of the Guardian of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him and may God hasten his noble reappearance) is completely satisfied with us, and God willing, we can fulfill our duties in a manner worthy of the services of our great Imam (may God's mercy be upon him) - who truly gave dignity to the clergy and religion. Truly, among the scholars of religion - as far as we know - from the first era, from the period after the minor occultation until today, we have not known anyone like the Imam, with such distinction and prominence. All those who were there were truly smaller than him. Of course, there are great founders and jurists in terms of knowledge; but in all aspects, that which constitutes a personality, from Sheikh Mufid and Sayyid Murtadha and Muhaqqiq and Allama and others and others, until it reaches Mirza Shirazi and the rest of the scholars, truly none of them were comparable to this great one. He was another world; a deep sea and an unknown ocean. God Almighty knew how deep and full of wonders he was. In any case, God willing, we can also act in the path and line worthy of that great one.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings