Speech in Meeting with a Large Group of Scholars and Students from the Seminaries of Qom and Tehran

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

Today, we are reminded of significant memories from the era of the revolution and even before that, the glorious memories of early Islam. Moreover, it is the day of martyrdom of Hazrat Abu al-Hasan Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him), an unforgettable memory. After thirty-five years of hard struggle—which is truly a lesson for me and you—that noble figure was martyred in the harshest conditions in the year 138.

A look at the lives of these great figures shows that we have a luminous and very instructive history from these infallible figures, which is primarily a lesson and spiritual and educational treasure for the Shia clergy and religious scholars, and secondly for the general public, for centuries to come. This noble figure holds a special position among the Imams (peace be upon them), which we do not have the time or opportunity to discuss now; but everyone—especially the youth—should know and pursue that every recorded day of this life is a lesson.

It is also the time of martyrdom of several scholars and officials of the country during the war, when the plane of these dear ones was shot down by Iraqi aggressors, and the late martyr Mahallati and others were martyred. This is also a memory that should never be forgotten.

Similarly, for the clerical community, students, teachers, and scholars across the country, these days coincide with the anniversary of the issuance of the unparalleled message of our late and great Imam regarding the issues of the clergy and the Shia scholarly community. This message should never become outdated, and the work that was started in the blessed seminary of Qom and other religious centers based on this message should be considered great, and they should not allow this work to come to a halt.

Likewise, these days coincide with the anniversary of the late Bahman incident in Tabriz in 1977, which was one of the great steps of our nation towards the victory of the revolution and forever confirmed the memory and name of those fighting, struggling, and brave people and their strong and continuous connection with the Islamic clergy, the Imam, and the revolution. This is also a memory, and we have gathered together in this collection of occasions, and you, respected gentlemen, scholars, and students, have come here from other centers to discuss the issues of the seminary.

The issue is that if this revolution were not an Islamic revolution and its banner was not in the hands of religious scholars, it certainly would not have achieved victory and would not have resulted in the establishment of an independent, proud, and powerful state. This is not our analysis; it is the analysis of all those who have followed the issues of this revolution from before its victory to today.

In 1977 and 1978, the opposing front—that is, the oppressive and corrupt rulers who were on the verge of decline and those who opposed religious thought and clerical figures—had the same analysis and based on this analysis, they tried to remove the clergy from the scene or create discord among them or create a gap between them and the people; but they could not do this—not that they did not want to or did not try. "Why they could not" also has a detailed answer. Truly, if someone wants to analyze this revolution and depict the blossoming of this flower and the growth of this sapling and the gushing of this spring in the rocky and desert-like terrain of the current world culture, they will not easily find a clear answer to this question.

One of the signs and symbols of God's power and will for the victory of the revolution was that He raised that unparalleled leader. I have come very close to this conclusion and belief that Almighty God, for decades before the fruition of this revolution, prepared the ground for this victory—which is the victory of religion and Islam in the world—by establishing the seminary of Qom and nurturing personalities and among them highlighting that unparalleled personality and placing that fiery flower among a heap of coals and turning all of these into a glowing and captivating fire.

If someone looks at the events with ordinary eyes and examines the natural order of causes and factors, they will see that the presence, leadership, vigilance, and sense of duty of the clergy, along with some of their outstanding characteristics, were among the most important factors and perhaps a determining factor in the emergence and victory and course of this revolution and also the establishment of the state and government and the Islamic Republic system and its continuation to this day. The enemy knows this too. Therefore, the pressure that was exerted in the past and is now being exerted by the world of arrogance on this revolution is primarily directed at religion and the clergy. If the clergy of our country were not in the field and the banner of the revolution was not on their shoulders, this victory would not have been achieved. The enemy knows this; hence, their great hatred is primarily directed at Islam and the clergy.

The clergy must look at the issue in two ways and do so:

One is to be aware—and the people should also be aware—that for the continuation of the revolution, the presence of the clergy is necessary, and the active presence of the clergy is an inseparable condition for the survival of the revolution and the independence of the country and the Islamic Republic system. Therefore, the clergy must be present; and with activity and dedication and considering the revolution as their own and defending it wholeheartedly; as they have shown in these past years and have appeared on the military and front lines and prepared young men with guns in hand and RPGs on their shoulders and wearing Basij uniforms and have offered martyrs drenched in blood to Islam. They have also been active in political and propaganda arenas and in training forces in the seminaries, especially in the blessed seminary of Qom, and in the future, they must be active with greater volume and higher quality and more dedication.

Another view is that the clergy, especially the more awake, insightful, and dedicated ones—which, thanks be to God, these characteristics are found in abundance in various clerical groups—should see what the conditions for the complete influence of the clergy's presence for the revolution and the advancement of its goals are; they should provide those conditions. What are the afflictions; they should prevent those afflictions and if they exist, they should eliminate them. This point is serious and not a slogan. This is a movement that, if it happens, victory will continue and day by day the peak of Islam and the power of the Islamic Republic and the expansion of this heavenly call in the world will increase.

If this movement does not happen, problems and obstacles and—God forbid—failure will occur; that too for Islam and Muslims on a global scale. The issue is that sensitive. We must see what the clergy did and how they managed to lead a movement of such magnitude through such a difficult path and bring it to such a glorious point. Not all leaders can do these things.

We have repeatedly stated that in many parts of the world, revolutions began with the breath of religion; but due to weak leadership, they distanced themselves from religion and sometimes even became anti-religion. In our own history, we saw in the Constitutional Movement that the clergy came and created a great event (the constitutional system) in the country and prepared for the end of despotism, but then the same constitutionalism became a base for opposition to religion and the clergy, and it was still the beginning of the matter when the newspapers of the early constitutional period, in the name of freedom, began to attack religion, to the extent that one of the clerical figures of that time—the late Agha Sheikh Fazlullah Nouri—who was among the pioneers of constitutionalism, stood against that parliament and constitutionalism and eventually was martyred.

If the clergy do not look at the future as a field of work and do not plan for it and do not remove the afflictions of the path, following this negligence, there will be a blow. There is no doubt about this. If the clergy look at the future with open eyes and insight and prepare themselves to continue carrying this burden and foresee their duties and prepare themselves to act on them, Islam will gain strength day by day on a global scale. There is no doubt about this either.

The same movement that our great Imam made has today thrown the world into a great furnace of turmoil and is turning the East and West around themselves. These world events—some directly and some indirectly—are related to our Islamic revolution. The fact that today in the bipolar world, one pole has been removed from the global political scene and there is no longer anything called the Eastern Bloc and socialism, the fact that global equations in the relations of powers and states and small countries and nations and various regimes have been completely disrupted, is related to the victory of the Islamic revolution and religion in Iran and related to the awakening of Muslims and the awakening of the religious sense in consciences.

Of course, there are other factors that are the grounds. Every event in the world relies on a series of grounds. Then a factor enters the field and creates an event in these grounds. This factor, in the new world, was the "Islamic revolution" and its victory and the establishment of a system based on religion and spiritual values. Our movement in the first step has created such an event in the world.

If the Islamic Republic system is strong and sincere—sincere meaning that it acts on what it has said and does not turn back from its path and continues this path directly towards the same peak and goals it has outlined—know that every step this nation and our scholars take and the Islamic Republic system advances, it will create a movement and change in the world situation, and all these advances and events will be in the direction of elevating the word of Islam and spiritual and religious values. This is why you see that Western governments and major global capitalists are so angry with us. No matter what they do, it will remain the same.

Let me say in one sentence: arrogance and the enemy cannot do anything to us that would cause us to be defeated and them to be victorious and successful. They cannot defeat us; but we can. We can do something that, God forbid, would make the enemy happy and remove the obstacle from their path and Islam would be ashamed and humiliated and this path would be cut off. If we stand firm, the enemy cannot do anything. Now, the situation has become like this. Before the victory, they might have been able to do many things; but now they cannot. If I want to elaborate on this, there are many things to say that I do not want to get into.

The religious scholars and clerical communities have duties to ensure that the future takes shape in a correct, God-pleasing, and desirable manner. We must focus all our thoughts on this subject. This is the way. The key to the secret must be found in this way. We must see what the positive aspects of the clergy were that enabled them to carry out this great movement and place the world on the brink of a transformation. We must strengthen those positive aspects in ourselves and if there were negative aspects in the past, we must fear them and block their path and not allow new negative points to emerge.

The positive points in the clerical community—which is the Shia scholarly community—are clear. Knowledge, asceticism, indifference to the world, courage, and standing up to powers and oppressors and connection to the masses are the positive points of our clergy. Being popular and feeling the pain of the people and caring for them and working for them and not getting close to their enemies is a characteristic that no sect of clerics in the world has had and still does not have. If this characteristic did not exist, the people's trust in the clergy would not have been gained to come to the streets and risk their lives for the ideals of this revolution. These are the positive characteristics of the clergy; we must preserve them intensely.

The seminaries must remain centers of knowledge. We must do everything in our power to make knowledge purer and clearer and free from excesses. This movement towards organizing the scientific programs of the seminaries is an obligatory movement. If this does not happen, knowledge will not progress. Knowledge is like a tree, one of the causes of its growth is pruning and removing its excesses and not allowing the growth of too many branches and obstructive bushes.

Another issue that is equally important and our great Imam repeatedly emphasized and has been said repeatedly elsewhere is indifference to the trappings of the world and its appearances. In this path, we must forgo many material pleasures, and we thank God that our esteemed clergy have preserved this characteristic; although the field of indifference and disinterest in the world is vast and one can advance greatly in this field.

We know and see personalities and figures whose existence, words, and conduct have been influential in these past years and who have been indifferent to the trappings of the world and have not wanted to respond to their desires and have stood against them and belittled them.

In pursuit of lofty goals, we cannot act like the Commander of the Faithful Ali (peace be upon him)—even he himself said this—but we can preserve and strengthen piety, God-consciousness, indifference, and lack of greed in ourselves. This task is an urgent duty for the clergy today, and students and scholars and those responsible for this direction must pay great attention; because this path is the path of the divine prophets and also those like the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) who paid the least attention to this world. This path must be followed in this way and courage and bravery must be shown in the face of oppressors and reliance on the people.

Truly, our people have shown such prominence in the path of the ideals of Islam and the revolution that one bows in respect to the greatness of this nation and feels insignificant in oneself. See what stages they have gone through in these eleven years and how they have persevered in this difficult path for the sake of God. All eyes in the world were waiting to see what the Iranian nation would do after the Imam. Every experience that came after the passing of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) in these dark, difficult, and sorrowful months, this nation, with their sincerity, courage, and vigilance, showed such manifestations that illuminated the atmosphere. This year's great February 11th march was truly one of the instances that will remain as a document of pride and a bright and illuminated point in the history of this nation.

I do not want to thank the people for this great movement; the issue is related to themselves. Who am I to thank them? But I want to honor them and show respect towards them. Truly, the movement of the people was sincere, courageous, self-sacrificing, vigilant, and complete. All their movements throughout these eleven years have been like this and have subdued the enemy.

You see that whenever we have an event like February 11th and a sign of the people's presence, immediately the enemy's propaganda and rumor-mongering, out of anger and discomfort, increases several times over. It is the same now. Now you see that there is a climate of rumors and foreign radios and dishonorable enemies are constantly spreading negative propaganda. We thank God that the enemies of the Islamic Republic have not a shred of honor or credibility before this nation.

These sincere people, in the direction of the goals of the revolution, are the groundwork and champions of the field of activity and the lone riders in this chaotic world. You and I must find our place and role and fulfill it. Today, the duty of the clergy is very heavy. Of course, let me also point out that in the more than a thousand-year history of Shia clergy, it has never been as good and effective and beneficial as it is today. Today, the Shia clergy is more beneficial and blessed and more in the service of Islam and Muslims than in all the long years of its blessed life—there is no doubt about this—but the time and the field of work and the situation of this great nation demand more effort from us. We must work and strive a lot.

Dear students and young scholars should not forget even for a moment to be present in various fields. This presence does not conflict with studying; rather, it supports studying. As our great Imam said in his unforgettable message, scholars and young people who learned jurisprudence in their own fields and became warners of their people and made the battlefield a field of self-examination and spiritual development and advanced, should not abandon these fields. Today, too, the lines and fields and military and non-military and cultural scenes need your active presence. The esteemed and respected teachers and professors of the seminary of Qom and other seminaries should direct the students towards revolutionary and Islamic goals.

It is true that today the clergy and Islam have completely found their way and place; but it is not the case that deviant thoughts have been completely eradicated and uprooted. Those who still have not been able to understand the revolutionary manifestation of Islam are still in the seminaries and in the clerical garb. There are still those whose hearts, instead of harboring hatred for America and the enemies, are the place of hatred for the warriors in the path of God and the faithful young people and the standard-bearers of truth, both in the seminaries and outside the seminaries. The same reactionaries that the Imam repeatedly referred to—those who are lovers and admirers of American Islam; Islam that distances the clergy and religion and spirituality from their path and from the people and God and becomes a source of joy and comfort for the enemies of God—are still present. In all fronts, the presence of faithful and active young people and young scholars towards the goals of the revolution is a necessity.

Brothers! We are still at the beginning. No one should think that the clergy have done their part and achieved results, so let's go and sit and only be busy with our personal work or studying. Of course, studying is one of the essential tasks; but it is not all the work. The clergy are at the beginning of the work. The revolution, in its eleven-year life, is in the early stages of its youth. In the life of a revolution and a nation and in such scales, these eleven years are only a few days.

It is still the beginning, we must strive. Young students should build themselves. Scholars and teachers and professors and great scholars should set the direction of the seminaries towards building people and scholars in accordance with Islamic standards and train steel-like, vigilant, tireless, and faithful elements and create complete versions of our great Imam in the seminaries. Islam needs these forces and elements. Although such a personality can save a nation, Muslim nations and the world and the movement of the revolution and the future of our own history also have a great need for such elements.

The seminaries have a lot of work and responsibility. The responsibility is on everyone and not just on the shoulders of the authorities and teachers or young students and scholars; rather, everyone has responsibilities in the seminaries according to their ability and resources. The important thing is not to be satisfied with words and the praise of the Imam's statement.

Truly, the path towards completing and foresight in the work of the seminaries must be planned and those who can, with the help of the Lord, should follow this path. Know that people are pleased and happy with any movement towards the proper growth of the clerical community; just as if, God forbid, they see the clergy engaged in personal and worldly issues or disinterest and lack of attention to revolutionary issues or being immersed in political factions and so on, they become worried. The duty of the religious scholars and dear clergy is to prioritize God's pleasure and the people's interest over anything else.

I sincerely thank you, respected gentlemen and dear ones and scholars and teachers and scholars and students who have come from different places. I ask Almighty God for guidance and help and assistance for you and myself and I hope, God willing, that day by day the prosperity and flourishing of Islam and the sacred goals and the sacred Islamic revolution and the strengthening of the sacred Islamic Republic system will increase.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings