Statements to a Gathering of Shia and Sunni Scholars and Clerics

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 and prophet, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family and his chosen companions, especially the remaining one of God on earth.

God, the Wise, says in His Book: In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful "Those who convey the messages of God and fear Him and do not fear anyone except God, and sufficient is God as a Reckoner."

For me, one of the sweet and delightful meetings during travels is the encounter with the esteemed scholars and honorable clerics who are serving throughout the country in various provinces, and meeting with the young students, the saplings and blossoms in the field of religious education and teaching. Tonight, thanks be to God, this dense gathering - brothers, sisters, students, scholars, and esteemed clerics of the province, both Shia and Sunni - is present, which is a sweet and precious opportunity for me, accompanied by spiritual benefits.

I will present a few remarks; however, before I express my thoughts, I find it necessary to remember and honor the great scholar, moralist, and ascetic who spent his life in this province under the guidance of the late Ayatollah Borujerdi and saw the reward for his efforts in martyrdom; the great martyr of the pulpit, the late Ayatollah Ashrafi, whose anniversary I have heard is in these days. I had the opportunity to meet him several times at his home in Kermanshah; we would sit together and converse. I had also seen him in other meetings; in the meeting of Friday prayer leaders of the province in Islamabad, where the late martyr Sadoqi from Yazd had come, and others were present. They held the meeting of Friday prayer leaders under bombardment, and we participated. In numerous sessions, I had seen this great man up close; truly and fairly, he was an example of a practicing scholar. His tongue did not only preach; his actions preached as well. His humility, asceticism, and indifference to many superficial things were among his characteristics; he was a great man. God Almighty rewarded him; at the end of a relatively long life, God Almighty decreed that his inevitable death would be martyrdom. We have often stated; martyrdom is a merchant's death, a profitable death; it is like dedicating spilled oil to an Imamzadeh. Ultimately, this oil will spill; "Every soul shall taste death." If a person is fortunate enough - O Lord! We too desire this fortune - to sell this inevitable incident to God, he has made a great profit. "Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives"; God buys the soul, God is the buyer. This is a great fortune, and this man attained that fortune.

In this province, our dear old friend, the late Hajj Agha Bahaddin Mohammadi Iraqi, was also among those fortunate ones who attained martyrdom. The late Agha Bahaddin was a good student of the Imam and a friend of ours in Qom. May God's mercy be upon these two martyrs.

Let us also remember our kind, humble, beloved, and sincere moral scholar, the late Hajj Agha Mojtaba Hajj Akhound, who was also one of our old friends from the Hojjatiyeh school in Qom; a believer, pure-hearted, righteous, and truthful. May God's mercy be upon him.

Let us also remember the late Agha Najumi (may God be pleased with him); a scholar, learned, hard-working, and at the same time a pinnacle of artistry and truly an artist. After the revolution, before the presidency, during one of my trips to Kermanshah, I visited his home and saw his artistic works up close. After the passing of the Imam, he sent me one of his works. I requested him to write this noble hadith for me: "Whoever appoints himself as an Imam for the people should begin by educating himself before educating others" so that it would be before my eyes; let us not forget our duty to educate ourselves. He wrote it in a very beautiful handwriting, and I framed it, and it is in front of my eyes in my room. "Whoever appoints himself as an Imam for the people should begin by educating himself before educating others"; if this education is accomplished, the education of others will become easy; our problem is this.

My dear ones! My brothers! My children! Young people! Male and female students! If you want your fragrance to perfume the atmosphere like a flower, if you want spirituality to flow from you like a spring, and without coercion, without compulsion, the thirsty to drink and rush towards it, the way is this: "Let him begin by educating himself." This noble verse that was recited: "Indeed, it is only those who have knowledge among His servants who fear God," has made fear one of the characteristics of scholars. Well, scholars have many characteristics, but fear has been chosen. After mentioning the divine verses in mountains, plains, gardens, and orchards that are in the verses, it says: "Indeed, it is only those who have knowledge among His servants who fear God." The property of knowledge is that it makes a person deserving of this great blessing; divine fear casts a shadow over the heart of a person; this must be attained. You young people can do this more easily than I can. When you reach our age, if someone has done something in their youth, it will benefit them; otherwise, their work is hard. Create fear in yourselves today; prepare humility before God for yourselves today; open the door of supplication to God today; start the supererogatory prayers that bring you closer to God from today; these will benefit you. This life will come to an end; some reach old age, some do not. You should also know this; the distance between twenty and thirty years of age to seventy and beyond is short; it passes like lightning. A person at twenty or thirty thinks, oh, when will I reach seventy? No, it passes like lightning; then it is departure. If it is intended to gain something in this short distance, in this little opportunity, the foundation must be laid in youth. I consider the recommendation for humility, remembrance, piety, and striving for closeness to God to be more obligatory for students than the recommendation for knowledge, which is the main foundation of their work. If there is knowledge but no piety, this knowledge becomes useless, and sometimes harmful. We have had scholars - whether religious knowledge or non-religious knowledge - who not only did not benefit from this knowledge and did not provide benefit, but it became a burden and a calamity. This spirit of spirituality is necessary in the body of knowledge and the scholar.

Well, Kermanshah is an important city. Just as Mr. Ulama pointed out, in the distant past, Kermanshah has had great scholars; in the last two centuries, two and a half centuries, great scholarly families have emerged in this city; like the Al-Agha family, like the Jalili family, and scholarly families that were often not just one or two or ten scholars - there were more - enduring scholarly families.

Another point that draws my attention regarding Kermanshah is that just as the people of Kermanshah are hospitable and welcoming to newcomers, they have a kind heart and generous hand, this characteristic seems to be even more pronounced among the scholars who come. The late Agha Mohammad Ali (may God be pleased with him) - the son of the late Vahid Behbahani, who was one of the most prominent students of his father - came to Kermanshah and stayed. Although he did not intend to stay in Kermanshah, he was kept there; he became the head of the Al-Agha family. He and many of his children and family were scholars. This is one case.

Another case is the late Sayyid Hossein Haeri, who came to Mashhad at the end of his life. At that time, it was during our adolescence. I somewhat remember him. He was the nephew of the famous Sayyid Mohammad Isfahani and a student of Sayyid Mohammad Isfahani and a great scholar who came from Iraq and settled in Kermanshah for many years. He was a prominent figure; both a scholar and a spiritual and moral person. The late Agha Morteza Haeri quoted from the late Sayyid Hossein that someone came to Sayyid Hossein's house and stayed there for a while. He was a person of meaning, spirituality, and asceticism. He told him to do something so that he could serve the presence of the Imam. He also taught him a way. Then it was informed that during the ten days of mourning - whether it was the month of Muharram or when - the Imam would come to his mourning. And the Imam came to his mourning. Now the story is detailed. He is such a personality. This is from his spirituality; from the scientific aspect, he was one of the moral students of the late Akhound Molla Fath Ali Sultan Abadi, who was at that time in Samarra.

Another personality is the late Sardar Kabuli; a prominent scientific figure in various fields. The book written about him is a very profound and good book; I saw this book many years ago. He had been in Kermanshah for about sixty years. Great figures benefited from him. I read in that book that the late Hajj Agha Hossein Qomi (may God be pleased with him) came to Kermanshah during his journey to the holy shrines or on his return from the holy shrines and met the late Sardar Kabuli. In a matter regarding the Qibla and such, there was a discussion between these two, and the late Sardar Kabuli said some things that Hajj Agha Hossein said, you come and teach me these things. The author of the book says I myself saw two sessions - I think he says I saw it myself; because I read this book many years ago - that Hajj Agha Hossein Qomi, the prominent religious authority, sat in front of Sardar Kabuli, and Sardar Kabuli taught him that scientific discussion. This itself is a lesson; learning at the age of eighty of the late Hajj Agha Hossein and at the rank of religious authority. For a scholar, this work is not only not a disgrace, it is not a flaw, but rather an honor. We students must learn these things. You young people must move forward with these methods. This man was from Kabul, raised in India, then in Najaf, came here, Kermanshah welcomed him, embraced him; the late Sardar Kabuli - a master of various fields - stayed in Kermanshah for sixty years. The same late martyr Ashrafi Isfahani was one of the scholars who migrated to this city. This city has this characteristic as well; it shows that the hearts of the people are those of religious scholars; they love the scholars of religion. When they find someone and see his characteristics, they like him and understand him, with the purity that the people of Kermanshah have, they embrace him so warmly that he does not feel he is not in his homeland. Well, the late Ashrafi was from Isfahan, but he considered himself as if he were from Kermanshah; he had become Kermanshahi. Well, now these remarks were in the introduction. Let me present a few points.

One point is that my dear ones! Esteemed scholars! Honorable clerics! Young students, the hopes of the future! Know that today the duty of the clergy is doubled. If the clergy has always had a burden on their shoulders - the burden of understanding, explaining, conveying; "Those who convey the messages of God" - today this burden is doubled; why? For two reasons: one is that the opportunity for the propagation of Islam in the world - whether in the Islamic world or the non-Islamic world - has arisen, which I will briefly mention. The other is due to this opportunity and out of fear of Islam, attacks against Islam have increased. Therefore, the duty becomes doubled. When there is an opportunity, the duty is great. When there is enmity and aggression due to this opportunity, the duty is still great. Today you are in such a situation. Do not be afraid; "and they fear Him and do not fear anyone except God." Do not fear anything, do not be afraid of the difficulties of the path. Not that you say there are no difficulties; yes, there are difficulties; but do not be afraid of these difficulties. Go towards difficult and hard tasks. Accomplish the impossible tasks. Wasn't it done in Iran? In Iran, something was accomplished that if all the analysts of the world sat for hours, days, and nights, they would not reach this conclusion that the occurrence of this task is impossible. What was that task? It was that this country, which was culturally dependent on the West, politically under the thumb of Western power, economically a plaything of the West, and the leaders of the country considered themselves obedient and compelled to obey the United States - of course, the same regime of Mohammad Reza and others were unhappy that they had to listen to their orders; but they were like a servant who is unhappy with his master's orders; yes, they were unhappy; but their eyes were blind, they had to obey - a country whose culture, politics, economy, and officials were all in the direction of dependence on the West and distance from Islam, suddenly in this country, the situation turned one hundred and eighty degrees, and a regime came to power that viewed the West with suspicion and in some cases with hostility and directed its orientation towards Islam and the realization of Islam; that is, the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Every analyst would say this task is impossible; however, it happened, this impossible occurred.

Let me tell you; even some of our own fighters said it could not be done. The late Agha Taleghani told me that the Imam says, "The Shah must go"; well, it is clear that the Shah cannot go. He could not believe that it was possible for the Shah to leave. The late Agha Taleghani told me that this man says strange things; things that are impossible, he says, and it happens; one of them was the departure of the Shah. He said this later. The Imam said the Shah will leave; no one believed it; but he left. Not only did the Shah leave, but America left, the West left, colonialism and global arrogance left. No one believed it, but it happened.

No one believed that the greatest revolution of the present time in Islamic countries would occur in Egypt; Egypt of Camp David, Egypt of Hosni Mubarak. Other places might have been considered, but no one considered Egypt. A revolution occurred in Egypt. This is the thing we must remember.

Go for the impossible tasks, so that they may happen. Decide to undertake heavy tasks, so that you may undertake them. "And do not fear anyone except God." Well, what about the hardships? What about the pains? What about the deprivations? The answer is: "And sufficient is God as a Reckoner"; do not forget God, God has your account. In the divine scale, your suffering, your deprivation, your self-restraint, the greed you felt, the effort you made, the work you did, the heartache you endured, the teeth you clenched, these are never forgotten; "And sufficient is God as a Reckoner." This is our path. There, humility is recommended to us - as scholars - here it recommends "those who convey the messages of God." Well, "the messages of God," are the "messages of the prophets of God." God Almighty says: "And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy, devils among men and jinn, inspiring to one another adornment of speech by delusion. And if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it. So leave them and what they invent." The positioning and arrangement around the prophet is like this. "Enemies, devils among men and jinn"; both the jinn devil and the human devil attack him. Well, if we are to propagate the divine messages, we must expect the devils of men and jinn. They will attack us; we must prepare ourselves. Spiritually, we must create a strong fortress within ourselves - that this fortress is the fortress of faith and reliance - so that we are not defeated and do not suffer defeat from within. External flight and defeat stem from internal flight and defeat. The defeat within a person is what imposes external defeat on a person. If you do not suffer defeat in your heart, no one can defeat you. The fortress that must be established in your heart is the fortress of faith in God and reliance upon God; "And upon God let the believers rely," "And upon God let the reliant rely," "And whoever relies upon God, He is sufficient for him," "Is not God sufficient for His servant?"; these are our lessons. Let us read the Quran with contemplation; let us learn these as lessons; these are the instructions for life. This is a kind of readiness.

Another readiness is external readiness. This devil that attacks does not always attack in one way. The devil of today, who comes to you through the internet and satellite and modern and ultra-modern communication methods, has modern words as well; he has modern hardware and modern software. He creates doubts, disrupts beliefs, creates confusion in minds, injects despair, creates division. Now, oil dollars are being spent in some places; I am aware, I have information. These reports are often reports that are not broadcast. In some Islamic countries, like in some places, they pour money to create an anti-Shia gathering among Sunnis. This is one side; on the other side, they pay a so-called Shia speaker to accuse, slander, and insult Umm al-Mu'minin Aisha on television in the name of Shia. These are their methods. What will you do in the face of these methods? What will the Sunni do? What will the Shia do? Let us not be deceived by their actions. Division is the greatest blessing for them.

I would like to mention this point here; your province is a mixed province of Shia and Sunni. Shia and Sunni scholars should hold meetings together, reach an understanding, and talk together. We have common tasks. Very well; you explain your jurisprudence, teach it, you explain your jurisprudence, teach it. You say Ja'fari jurisprudence, you say Shafi'i jurisprudence. Keep your beliefs, but you can also do common tasks. I do not tell a Shafi'i jurist or a Shafi'i follower to necessarily become Ja'fari, Shia; if he wants, he researches, he comes; if he becomes, he becomes; if he does not, he does not.

Everyone who wants to preserve their own religion, their own work, should have it; if they want to engage in religious discussions, there is no problem - I also accept religious discussions - if they want to have scientific religious discussions among scholars and specialists, they should sit and do this work; however, not in the sight of the people, but in scientific sessions, they should discuss together; one should present his reasoning, the other should present his reasoning; either one becomes convinced, or one does not become convinced; these are not problematic; but despite all this, there are common matters; there are common pains that have common remedies. A Shia scholar has influence among his own people, a Sunni scholar has influence among his own people; they should use this influence to resolve these common problems.

Today there are those whose weapon is takfir; they have no shame in saying we are takfiris; these are poison. Well, this poison must be removed from the Islamic environment. One takfirs him, another declares him a heretic; this one says something in a speech or sermon that is a jab at him, and he says something that is a jab at this one; this becomes exactly what the enemy wants. Therefore, this doubled duty that we mention includes all these aspects; it starts from the heart's duty, the training of the soul, the creation of humility and fear in the heart, and reaches these matters.

Another duty is the duty of comprehensiveness. I have heard that some local scholars from Kermanshah are in Qom - whom you probably know - they should be encouraged; either they should migrate, or if they do not come entirely, they should come during special times; two months, three months, four months a year, they should come here; go among the people, go to the villages, go to the cities, and revive the mosques. Therefore, the issue of knowledge is a very important matter.

Of course, alongside the acquisition of knowledge, there is the issue of propagation, which is very important. Propagation is a lengthy story. If you want to propagate well, choose your audience in advance. You want to talk to young people; very well, if you have chosen your audience - which is young people - you must know what their questions are.

There was a student who used to come to my class in Mashhad; after a while, he was absent; I did not see him in class. After a while, I saw him and asked where he had been. He said, I was busy propagating in such and such a place - one of the remote cities of Khorasan. I said, well, what happened? He said, the conclusion I reached is that I learned nothing for these people. He said, everything I know is of no use to them! Well, this is audience ignorance. The audience must be known; rural, urban, educated.

Today we have many educated young people. In your Kermanshah, the population of educated individuals is very large. At one time, there was no news of this. Before the revolution, the entire Kermanshah province had perhaps three hundred university-educated individuals; now it is ten times or perhaps tens of times more educated. These are young, exposed to various propaganda waves and discourses, questions arise for them; you should know their questions, prepare their answers, then go and sit in the response center; choose your audience, know their thoughts, and provide them with materials from the book and tradition and the words of the greats that correspond to their thoughts and needs. Mr. Mamdouhi said, and it is correct; the books of the late Mr. Motahhari, the book Sharif al-Mizan, let people choose these according to the needs and questions of the youth and present them. Well, now this work must be done in Qom. You are in Qom. Our address to Qom is a permanent address. Qom must do these works; let them do it; these are necessary works.

Consider education as much as or perhaps more than education. Except in one place in the Quran, where "He teaches them" comes before "He purifies them," everywhere "He purifies them" - purification - precedes education; "He purifies them and teaches them the Book and wisdom." This perhaps indicates that purification has a higher status. Purify your audiences, educate them. This education, just as we mentioned, "Whoever appoints himself as an Imam for the people should begin by educating himself before educating others," is difficult. This difficult task must also be accomplished.

Impact the deep layers of the audience's mind. Do not suffice to just attract their feelings or emotions; do not be satisfied; rather, strive to impact the deep layers of the mind so that they do not fade away with various events.

Clerics also have social duties. Clerics must enter social issues; however, the fundamental point is that this entry of the cleric into social issues must be accompanied by spirituality, not by coercion; if it is done with coercion, it is of no benefit. The characteristic of a cleric is to act with spirituality, with ethics, with advice, to make the surrounding aware, to inspire, to convince, to motivate them to do something. If it is done with coercion, it is of no benefit. A cleric must act in the capacity of a cleric. Of course, if you become president, you have another duty in the capacity of president; if you are a judge, you have another duty in the capacity of a judge; but in the capacity of a cleric, the duty is to speak to the people with the language of spirituality and the language of the prophets; it should not be with coercion, it should not be with a political spirit.

Prayer is everything. The one whose relationships are all severed, if he has managed to maintain the relationship of prayer, this will save him. Prayer is very important. Encourage your audiences to pray, make it easy for them to participate in congregational prayers. This prayer seminar that is held every year, I do not know if it has been held in Kermanshah yet or not; hold it here; it gives a vibrancy and appearance to prayer.

Shia and Sunni preachers should not offend each other. Accompany each other, empathize with each other. In their specific matters, the Sunni should do his own work, the Shia should do his own work. There are also common matters that they can work together on. If this happens, God willing, then the clergy will advance.

Let me tell you; when the Islamic Revolution triumphed, Islam gained a new vibrancy in the world. Many people in the world began to wonder what this was; what kind of powerful engine was able to create such a great event that shook the West? The victory of the Islamic Revolution and the greatness of the Imam shook the West, shook the system of domination. Many began to think about going to see what this is. They referred to the Quran, discovered truths of Islam; thus, they became eager for Islam, developed an inclination towards Islam. At that time, a wave, an attack, a movement towards Islam emerged, which continued.

The second wave occurred when the Marxist system collapsed. Even in Islamic countries, many young people and many sincere people had pinned their hopes on the Marxist system; they thought that by forming a socialist government, they would be able to eliminate poverty, injustice, and so on from their countries; some of them were truly sincere people; I had seen some of them; both among their Muslims and non-Muslims; they were sincere people, but they had no belief in Islam; they had become Marxists because they thought there was hope for the people in Marxism; after Marxism collapsed, they saw that it was of no benefit; thus, they turned towards Islam.

All those youth groups you saw in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and other places, chanting slogans of Islam, were all giving leftist slogans, communist slogans in the 60s and 70s; if someone said something about Islam, it was mixed with Marxist rhetoric. Even in our own country, there were instances of this; I do not want to name names. There were those who spoke of Islam, but mixed with Islamic rhetoric, in fact, Marxist thoughts were being propagated and promoted. Well, this has its effect somewhere. After Marxism collapsed, all these groups that became disillusioned with Marxism turned back to Islam; they looked at Islam, looked at the Quran, looked at Islamic laws, looked at the Islamic Republic; they saw, wow, a regime based on Islam has emerged, taking all modern and progressive slogans, fighting against all oppressive and tyrannical powers and bloodsuckers of nations, standing like a mountain and not shaking. They were astonished; they said, wow, let us see what this is. Those things they wanted and were searching for in Marxism and could not find, after it completely collapsed, they saw now it is in Islam. This was another period that led to an inclination towards Islam. Another period has now emerged; disillusionment with Western liberalism, Western liberal democracy, capitalist economy. You see what is happening?

They want to downplay this issue in propaganda. The reality does not diminish. In the financial center of America, in the economic capital of America, namely in New York, on Wall Street, which is the main hub of global capitalism, thousands of people gather and say we do not want capitalism. These are neither immigrants, nor all black people, nor from the lower classes of society; among them are university professors, politicians, student groups who have joined them; they say we do not want the capitalist system. Well, this is our same statement; we have always said "Neither East nor West," meaning neither the capitalist system nor the socialist system; that was the socialist one that went to hell, and this one is gradually descending. After this incident, the inclination towards Islam will increase. This is another wave; the third wave.

You must be prepared. The Islamic clergy must be prepared. Weak words must be set aside; the logical, strong, and rooted teachings of Islam that are derived from the Book and tradition, taken from the words of the infallible Imams (peace be upon them) must be presented; solid rational foundations, rationally acceptable and compatible with the needs of humanity and human society must be discussed; you will see the wave of inclination towards Islam will increase.

Well, we have a lot to discuss with you. The session is, as I mentioned, a delightful session for me; however, we must also observe the time.

O Lord! Make us, as You wish, among the scholars of religion. O Lord! Grant our dear youth, these young students, these saplings of the garden of religious knowledge, wherever they are - in Kermanshah and beyond - the success to become among the practicing scholars. Bestow Your grace, mercy, and guidance upon all of us. Make the sacred heart of the Awaited Imam (may our souls be sacrificed for him) pleased and satisfied with us.

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