Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Outstanding University Students

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

This session is a very sweet and desirable one for me. Of course, the nature of this session is symbolic; that is to say, for several years now, we have been sitting with a group of male and female students on one day of the month of Ramadan each year to break our fast together, which in itself is a symbolic act. I wish to reflect the value of the student class and the very important role that this class can play in the present and future of the country in public opinion. I also want it to be shown that the Islamic system welcomes the growth of the student movement and all the characteristics that belong to this movement. These characteristics are the very things that you yourselves mentioned and know: the surge of enthusiasm and talent, youthful motivations, idealistic demands, and attachment to ideals that may seem unattainable even for non-youth, but the youth do not think this way at all and strive for them, and it is this effort that frees nations and countries from stagnation. This is the main goal of the session.

The fact that you stand up to speak and express your thoughts is also a special benefit for me, which I value. Of course, some friends said to raise questions; this means that I should respond. This session is not for that purpose, because if I were to hold a question-and-answer session, with this half hour—now that there is not even a quarter of an hour left until the call to prayer—it would not be sufficient. A question-and-answer session takes longer than this. I have held question-and-answer sessions in the past and, God willing, I will hold them again in the future. This session is for me to hear from you. I want you to speak, and I want to listen; that is, the very thing that, despite the limited time, has somewhat happened: some of you spoke, and I listened; I also took notes. The points made by some of the brothers and also by our respected sister have been recorded, and I will say to follow up on them.

I will only mention two or three points: one point is that I am optimistic about the university environment and the student movement, contrary to the statements of some students who lack this optimism. This optimism is not due to wishful thinking; after all, we have spent our lives with these matters. At my age and with my situation, wishful thinking is not very likely. I receive extensive information—both scientific, cultural, and moral and spiritual—about the state of universities, and the overall outcome of all this information is what I have said: I am optimistic.

In the scientific field, the shortcomings you mentioned do exist: the problem of professors, the problem of management, the problem of planning, the problem of budget shortages, and so on. I know these; these are points I have been repeating and following up on in my meetings with university people—whether professors, students, or management—for the past ten years. Of course, a lot of these issues have improved. However, despite all these problems, the enthusiasm for science and the blossoming of talents in our universities are palpable; we cannot ignore this and keep reciting verses of despair. Our dear friend also said: "I want to give good news, others have warned"; but that one word of good news got lost in his warnings! Although that good news is real.

The good news I am presenting is genuine. The scientific movement and the blossoming of talents in our universities are progressing. You can observe that the number of applicants participating in domestic and international Olympiads in various scientific fields is increasing. I was given a report that, if I am not mistaken, one hundred thousand people applied last year to participate in the mathematics Olympiad; this is a high figure. Those who are familiar and knowledgeable have said that out of these one hundred thousand, at least forty thousand are in an ideal academic and educational situation. Or in the basic sciences, we are always among the top ten countries in the world in global Olympiads. Even in computer science—a field that is entirely imported; that is, we have no prior experience in this field—we have also managed to achieve high rankings in global Olympiads. Iranian talent plays a role in this achievement, which they used to deny. For several years, I have been constantly shouting: "Iranian talent"; now, after all these years, it has finally become a culture! Now everyone believes that Iranians are talented; otherwise, in the past, they even denied this and said: "Nothing can come from Iranians; we must lose hope in Iranians." They instilled this in people's minds. Talent is involved, but it is not enough; effort has also been made, both by the doers—the students—and by management, professors, and so on. This trend is a good one; why should we ignore it and keep reciting verses of despair for ourselves? This is the scientific aspect of the matter.

Our dear friend said that I mentioned in Friday prayers that my expectation from the scientific community of the country is that in fifty years we should be exporters of knowledge to the world, and this is not impossible. Now, refer to yourselves; if you find that this statement seems impossible to you, know that the imposed culture is still in your mind that tells you: you cannot do it, you have no capacity. This imposed culture must be eradicated; it is entirely possible. We have suffered from corrupt rulers, oppressive governments, and regimes dependent on the West and America. Wherever we wanted to blossom our talents over the past one hundred and fifty to two hundred years—which is the era of the birth and growth of science—they crushed it. If we wanted to produce the same small industries that came from the West—glass, textiles, photographic glass, and so on—they would conspire against us, and the global companies that wanted to have consumers in the world did not want such things to exist, and thus they prevented it. Our past governments were also dependent, corrupt, ineffective, or incompetent. After the revolution, those barriers were broken. Of course, if it were not for the imposed war; if some other issues did not exist, the revolutionary management could have acted much better than this. God willing, with God's grace and the blessings of the Islamic system and the revolution, these tasks will be accomplished in the future; this is the certain destiny of our country.

In the moral field, it is the same. Some exaggerate the moral issues and problems in universities. Now, I never want to say a word that if someone has a moral problem, they should be encouraged by my words to consider that problem trivial and small; however, I want to tell you that our young student generation is unparalleled and higher in moral and spiritual terms, and in terms of delicate human feelings, even among Islamic countries, and far ahead of Western countries. In a university—perhaps many of you know this, and some of you are certainly from that university—students agree to fast on the first day of Sha'ban and collect their meal tokens to spend on the poor. The discussion is not about helping the poor; the discussion is about fasting; the discussion is about attention to God; the discussion is about the path of divine worship. In our university, these matters are fortunately not rare, neglected, or strange. Even the political, factional, and unethical disputes that are observed here and there cannot overshadow the spiritual inclination.

My understanding and expectation from the student community is that we think of students as fully-fledged Muslim intellectuals; they are devout. There are currents in the world—some of them even have branches in Iran—that do not prefer students to be either intellectuals or Muslims. They do not prefer intellectuals because they impose party and political biases and stagnation on them. When we say stagnation, our minds immediately go to religious stagnation; yes, that is a type of stagnation, but more dangerous than that is political stagnation; stagnations arising from the formation of parties and political organizations that do not allow anyone to think. If we mention ten convincing reasons for the legitimacy of a position, they accept it, but in practice, they show something else! Why? Because the party, that political organization above them—like the mafia godfather—has asked them to do so. Unfortunately, one can see this in some corners of even the university environment. Therefore, that group that suffers from such stagnation is no longer intellectual; because intellectualism requires truth-seeking, open-mindedness, and reliance on logic and reasoning. The fact that they do not want to be Muslims is because they know that being Muslim is dangerous. Today, most of the troubles that the camp of global arrogance, specifically America and Zionism, are facing—of which there are many—are due to the fact that Muslims have reached a self-awareness in which Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) and the Iranian nation and our revolution and system have played a significant role. Their main trouble stems from this; therefore, they want to crush it. For this reason, they are very dissatisfied and unhappy with the Muslim identity of students.

I believe that the unity of student organizations—which has been mentioned—is a good thing; however, not in the sense that all organizations should disappear and one organization should emerge; this is not a correct experience. It will not leave anything that the same organization will not face many of the problems of other organizations. The correct way is that these existing student organizations, with understanding, truth-seeking, and the qualities that are characteristic of students, should bring themselves closer to each other; the truth should be placed in the center, and support and opposition should stem from reasoning and logic.

My dear ones! The university is a center of knowledge and awareness. Anything that interferes with knowledge and awareness has no place in the university. The university suffers fundamentally from these interventions and the role of political stagnation in student environments. The university should be a place for scientific and research work. The university should be a place where deception, fraud, and fallacies either do not exist or exist minimally. Those who thrive in chaos and can only live in a chaotic environment should not be able to play a role in the university. This expectation is from the university and the young students and professors and university administrators to implement it. The way is to carry out work based on that foundation of awareness. For example, suppose a political discussion arises; very well; political disagreements and disputes are natural and not a problem. Not only in political fields, but even in religious fields, differing opinions and viewpoints can help progress and pose no obstacle. I, myself, being a cleric and having spent my life in the clerical world and in seminaries, have seen that in the seminary, proposing something that contradicts the prevailing opinion is never considered a sin; however, it has a condition. The condition is that both the proposal and the discussion must be scientific. Suppose a political issue arises in the university that is a matter of disagreement. What is the obstacle? Thinkers and intellectuals should be invited to come and discuss with each other in a calm environment. They should be asked to look at the issue scientifically. In religious matters, such a thing is also possible. On the other hand, many of the issues that are raised for students are closely related to Islamic and religious matters. This will compel scholars, scientists, and thinkers in the seminary to come to this field, and this will lead to the elevation of thought and Islamic thought. We should seek this, and any action contrary to it is not suitable for the university environment and students. Chaos and clenching fists over nothing and creating uproar, and, as some friends say—who are very concerned—insulting the sacred is not appropriate. Of course, I do not grieve as much as the brothers who are concerned; because a little of it is due to your youth. You are young and have not seen these things; you get flustered easily. We have spent a lifetime and have seen much of this; we know that these things are nothing.

Anarchistic tendencies are completely opposed to what is worthy of the university. Being against order and whatever it may be—some are like this—is not worthy of the university. Of course, the primary duty of everyone—students and non-students alike—is to defend the Islamic system. Let me tell you this: I do not say this because I am a member of the system and a responsible person in the system; no, I am still that cleric, I should say this. My feelings and spirit have not changed from the feelings and spirit with which I spent years in oppression and fought; I am still the same person; of course, with less enthusiasm and more experience. I say this because today this Islamic system is the only bastion of struggle against oppression and global arrogance in the world, and there is no other such bastion. Today, many governments, despite their nations and intellectuals and their inner feelings, have kissed the threshold of America and even the threshold of Zionism! Many European parliaments have also kissed the threshold of the Zionists and have become their servants; they have become, as the saying goes, the servants of their pockets! The center and power that is recognized as an official political entity in the world—with the platforms that exist for such an entity—and is still considered a bastion of defense for freedom-seeking, justice, and human and international ideals is the Islamic Republic of Iran today. Defending this system is the duty of all; it is not specific to someone who is a member of the system and part of the government or not; everyone must defend it. If someone acts contrary to this, it is not necessary for anyone to bring evidence that this person is, for example, affiliated with such and such a spy agency; it is not necessary for them to be officially affiliated; however, they say the same words and do the same actions. Even if they do not receive money from them, they are, in fact, their unpaid servants. Today, the CIA of America and the Mossad of Israel have their main goal to create an opening within the Islamic system so that they can strike a blow and diminish the strength and authority that this system has today as a bastion in the world. Now, if someone inside, even with a clenched fist, even from the university bastion, even from behind an official podium, shouts this; that is not art, that is not a point of pride. Accompanying the most tyrannical bullies in the world and the most unjust governments and centers of power has no honor! The day we fought against the tyrannical regime, every action of a fighter was a source of pride; those struggles were honorable. Today, some groups are fighting against tyrannical, dependent, and corrupt regimes in the world, which is honorable; however, opposing a system that stands firm against the centers of global arrogance is not honorable for anyone. I believe that these currents are imposed on the university; these currents are obstructive and opposing knowledge and awareness in universities. Universities reject them, just as the quality of their behavior and their political games has reached a point where many of our students have even become disillusioned with politics, to the extent that they have become uninterested in political work. Of course, some university officials are also not blameless.

The points that one of our brothers raised regarding justice as questions were very good points. These questions need to be answered. Of course, I said that this is not the place for it, and I do not necessarily have to respond. You should think of the answers yourselves. In these good sessions and meetings with professors and prominent intellectuals and Islamic figures in society, find the answers to these questions and even help us in these areas and give your opinions; these opinions help us a lot. Of course, the anti-corruption movement to eradicate it and the movement for justice will, God willing, continue. It is a difficult task; however, this difficult task will continue in the Islamic system. The meaning of the system and the spirit of the system is the same, and it must continue, and God willing, it will continue; the enemy will also have many. Know this as well. Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said—according to what is narrated—: "Justice is the broadest of things in description and the narrowest in distribution"; justice is such that in slogans and in speech, it is very sweet and interesting, and everyone says it and likes it; however, when it comes to action and giving fairness, it becomes very difficult. Many of those you see sometimes shout in favor of justice, when it comes to action, they falter and may even regret shouting.

In any case, you should observe justice in your environments, both in speaking, in decision-making, and in judgment. God willing, the Almighty God will also bestow His grace upon all of you and us.

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