Statements in Meeting with the Youth of North Khorasan Province

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 al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One on earth.

This session is a completely youthful session, with all the positive characteristics of youth. Hope is in you young people; both for today and more so for the future. I listened carefully to the statements made by these dear youths here. My judgment regarding these statements is that they were very good. This confirms my previous opinion regarding the elevation of thought and intellect in this province. In these past few days, wherever individuals from this province—young people, families of martyrs, teachers, and professors—have made statements here, every moment of their words has brought me joy and satisfaction. This indicates that, thanks be to God, the city of Bojnord and the province of North Khorasan possesses a high level of thought and culture; this must be preserved, and this elevation must be increased day by day; and of course, we—both I and other officials—have the duty to utilize this great God-given blessing correctly for the benefit of the revolution and the benefit of the system; I hope this success will be granted to us.

The discussion I wish to present to you dear youths today is to explain and clarify an issue that I raised on the first day: the issue of progress. It is a very important topic that we must address. Of course, by raising these topics, we do not convince ourselves that the matter is settled; this is just a beginning. We stated that the concept that can encompass the goals of the Islamic system to a large extent and show us is the concept of progress. We also explained later that progress is evocative of movement, it is a path. How do we say that progress is a goal? We stated that the reason is that progress will never be halted. Yes, progress is movement, it is a path, it is becoming; however, it is not something that can be stopped, and it continues; because humanity continues, because human potentials are limitless. We said that progress has dimensions; and progress in the Islamic sense is different from one-dimensional or two-dimensional progress in Western culture; it is multi-dimensional.

One of the dimensions of progress in the Islamic sense is lifestyle, social behavior, ways of living—these are different expressions of one another—this is an important dimension; we want to discuss this topic a bit today. If we look from the perspective of spirituality—where the goal of humanity is salvation and success—we must pay attention to lifestyle; even if we do not have a belief in spirituality and spiritual salvation, for a comfortable life, a life endowed with psychological and moral security, paying attention to lifestyle is still important. Therefore, the issue is a fundamental and important one. Let us discuss what should be said regarding lifestyle, what can be said. We stated; this is the beginning and the heading of a discussion.

If we take comprehensive progress to mean the construction of a new Islamic civilization—after all, there is a concrete and external instance of progress in the Islamic sense; let us say that the goal of the Iranian nation and the goal of the Islamic revolution is to create a new Islamic civilization; this is a correct calculation—this new civilization has two parts: one part is the instrumental part; the other part is the textual and fundamental part. Both parts must be addressed.

What is the instrumental part? The instrumental part consists of the very values that we today present as the progress of the country: science, invention, industry, politics, economy, political and military power, international credibility, propaganda and propaganda tools; all these are the instrumental part of civilization; they are means. Of course, we have made good progress in this part in the country. Many good and significant works have been done; both in the field of politics, in scientific matters, in social issues, and in inventions—which you have now seen examples of here, and this dear youth explained to us—and similar works have been carried out throughout the country, thanks be to God. In the instrumental part, despite pressures, threats, and sanctions, the progress of the country has been good.

However, the real part consists of those things that constitute the essence of our lives; which is the lifestyle we mentioned. This is the real and fundamental part of civilization; such as the issue of family, the style of marriage, the type of housing, the type of clothing, consumption patterns, types of food, cooking styles, entertainment, the issue of writing, the issue of language, the issue of business, our behavior in the workplace, our behavior in universities, our behavior in schools, our behavior in political activities, our behavior in sports, our behavior in the media we have, our behavior with parents, our behavior with spouses, our behavior with children, our behavior with superiors, our behavior with subordinates, our behavior with the police, our behavior with government officials, our travels, our cleanliness and purity, our behavior with friends, our behavior with enemies, our behavior with strangers; these are the main aspects of civilization, which are the essence of human life.

The new Islamic civilization—that which we want to present—consists of these things in its main part; these are the essence of life; this is what is referred to in Islamic terminology as 'Aql-e Ma'ash (the intellect of livelihood). 'Aql-e Ma'ash' does not merely mean earning money and spending money, how to earn money, how to spend money; no, all this vast domain that has been mentioned is part of 'Aql-e Ma'ash'. In our authentic and important hadith books, there are chapters called 'Kitab al-'Ashrah'; that book of 'Ashrah' is about these very things. In the Holy Quran, there are numerous verses that pertain to these matters.

Well, this part can be considered as the software part of civilization; and the first part can be considered as the hardware parts. If we do not make progress in this part, which is the essence of life, all the advancements we made in the first part cannot lead us to salvation; they cannot provide us with psychological security and peace; just as you see in the Western world, they have not been able to. There, there is depression, hopelessness, internal chaos, lack of security for people in society and in families, aimlessness and emptiness; despite the wealth, the atomic bomb, various scientific advancements, and military power. The essence of the matter is that we must be able to reform the essence of life, this main part of civilization. Of course, in the revolution, our progress in this part is not significant; in this regard, we have not moved like we did in the first part, we have not made progress. Well, we must conduct a root cause analysis; why have we not made progress in this part?

After identifying the causes, then we can address how we can remedy these issues. Whose responsibility is this? It is the responsibility of the elites—intellectual elites, political elites—it is your responsibility, it is the responsibility of the youth. If a discourse arises in our social environment that focuses on addressing the damages in this area, one can be assured that with the enthusiasm that the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation possess, with the existing talents, we will make good progress in this area; then the brilliance of the Iranian nation in the world and the expansion of the Islamic thought of the Iranian nation and the Islamic revolution of Iran in the world will become easier. We must conduct a root cause analysis and then remedy it.

The elites are obliged, the seminary is obliged, the university is obliged, the media are obliged, the speakers are obliged; many managers of institutions, especially those institutions that deal with culture, education, and training, are obliged; those who plan educational programs for universities or schools are obliged; those who determine the educational syllabi for textbooks are obliged. All these are duties that rest on everyone's shoulders. We must all admonish ourselves. In this regard, we must work, we must move.

Therefore, we must conduct a root cause analysis; that is, pay attention to the damages that exist in this area and search for the causes of these damages. Of course, we do not want to assume that the matter is settled here; we will present a list: why is the culture of collective work weak in our society? This is a damage. Although the Westerners have registered collective work in their name, Islam said long before them: 'Cooperate in righteousness and piety,' or: 'And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of God.' That is, even holding fast to the rope of God must be collective; 'And do not be divided.' Why is divorce high in some parts of our country? Why is the youth's inclination towards drugs high in some parts of our country? Why do we not observe the necessary considerations in our neighborly relations? Why is the bond of kinship weak among us? Why are we not completely disciplined in the culture of driving in the streets? This is a damage. Traffic in the streets is one of our issues; it is not a small matter, it is a fundamental issue. How necessary is apartment living for us? How correct is it? What requirements does it have that must be observed? How much do we observe those requirements? What is the model for healthy recreation? What is the type of architecture in our society? See how many of these diverse and comprehensive issues of all aspects of life fall within this category of lifestyle; in this main and real part of civilization, which is our behaviors. How much is our current architecture suitable for our needs? How rational and logical is it? What about the design of our clothing? What about the issue of grooming among men and women? How correct is it? How beneficial is it? Do we completely tell the truth to each other in the market, in offices, in daily interactions? How prevalent is lying among us? Why do we talk behind each other's backs? Some, despite having the ability to work, flee from work; what is the reason for work evasion? In the social environment, some engage in unnecessary aggression; what is the reason for aggression and impatience among some of us? How much do we respect individuals' rights? How much is this respected in the media? How much is it respected on the internet? How much do we respect the law? What is the reason for lawlessness—which is a dangerous disease—among some people? How much is there a sense of duty in society? How much social discipline exists in society? How much diligence in production exists? How much quality production in various sectors is given attention and care? Why do some good words, good opinions, good ideas remain at the level of dreams and words? As you saw, they pointed this out. Why are we told that the useful working hours in our administrative bodies are low? Eight hours of work should yield as much benefit as eight hours; why does it yield as much as one hour, or half an hour, or two hours? Where is the problem? Why is consumerism prevalent among many of our people? Is consumerism a point of pride? Consumerism means that we spend whatever we acquire on matters that are not necessities of our lives. What can we do to cut the roots of usury in society? What can we do to ensure that the rights of spouses—the rights of women, the rights of men, the rights of children—are respected? What can we do to prevent divorce and family breakdown, as is prevalent in the West, from becoming common among us? What can we do to ensure that women in our society maintain their dignity and family honor while also fulfilling their social duties and preserving their social and familial rights? What can we do so that women do not have to choose between these? These are among our fundamental issues. What is the limit of childbirth in our society? I pointed this out; we made a time-bound decision and need for a specific time, we took it, then we forgot the time! For example, suppose someone tells you to leave this water tap open for an hour. Then you open the tap and go! We went, we became oblivious; ten years, fifteen years. Then now we are being reported that our society will soon become an aging society; this youthful face that Iranian society has today will be taken away from it. What is the limit of childbirth? Why are there single houses in some large cities? How has this Western disease infiltrated our society? What is extravagance? Is it bad? Is it good? How much of it is bad? How much of it is good? What can we do to ensure that it does not exceed the good limit and does not reach the bad limit? These are various aspects of lifestyle issues, and there are dozens of such issues; some of those I mentioned are more important. This is a list of those things that constitute the essence of civilization. Judging a civilization is based on these.

One cannot judge a civilization merely because it has machines, industries, and wealth; while within it, these numerous problems pervade the entire society and the lives of the people. The essence of these matters is that they are instrumental for ensuring that this part is secured, so that people feel comfort, live with hope, live with security, progress, move forward, and achieve the desired human elevation.

A concept arises here, known as the culture of life. We must seek to define, formulate, and realize the culture of life in an Islamic manner. Of course, Islam has defined the indicators of such a culture for us. The indicators of this culture include wisdom, ethics, and rights; these have been provided to us by Islam. If we do not seriously address these concepts, Islamic progress will not be realized, and a new Islamic civilization will not take shape. No matter how much we advance in industry, no matter how many inventions and discoveries increase, if we do not correct this part, we have not made true Islamic progress. We must work hard on this part; we must strive.

There are two or three points regarding the creation of this situation and the requirements that pursuing this culture imposes on us, which we must pay attention to. The first point is that social behavior and lifestyle are dependent on our interpretation of life: what is the goal of life? Any goal we define for life, we draw for ourselves, naturally, a lifestyle is proposed to us that corresponds to it. There is a main point, and that is faith. We must define a goal for life—what is the goal of life—and have faith in it. Without faith, progress in these areas is not possible; the right work cannot be done. Now, what we have faith in can be liberalism, capitalism, communism, fascism, or pure monotheism; ultimately, one must have faith in something, believe in something, and pursue this faith and belief. The issue of faith is important. Faith in a principle, faith in a main anchor of belief; such faith must exist. Based on this faith, a lifestyle will be chosen.

Here, there is a fallacy that I want to present to you young people: some Western philosophers have raised the issue of 'ideology eradication'. You see, sometimes in some of these intellectual articles, the title 'ideology eradication' is raised: one cannot manage society with ideology. A few philosophers or pseudo-philosophers from the West have said this; some here parrot it without understanding the depth of this statement, without comprehending what its dimensions are, they repeat it, and they continue to repeat it. No nation that claims to be a civilization builder can move forward without ideology, and none has done so until today. No nation can build a civilization without having a thought, an ideology, and a school. Those who today have created material civilization in the world entered with ideology; they explicitly stated it; they said we are communists, they said we are capitalists, they said we believe in capitalist economy; they presented it, believed in it, worked for it; of course, they also endured hardships, and costs were placed on them. Without having a school, without having a thought and a belief, and without striving for it and bearing its costs, civilization building is impossible.

Of course, some countries are imitators; they have taken something from the West, from the builders of material civilization, and shaped their lives based on it. Yes, they may reach some advancements, some superficial and surface-level progress, but they are imitators; they are rootless and vulnerable; if a storm arises, they will be swept away; because they are not rooted. In addition to the fact that their work is imitation, which brings them disgrace, they may gain some benefits from material civilization, but they suffer from all the harms of current material civilization in the West.

I do not want to name countries. There are some countries whose economic growth is presented as a model in the discourse and writings of some of our intellectuals. Yes, they may have achieved some industry, made some progress in material or scientific fields, but first, they are imitators; the disgrace of imitation and the inferiority of imitation is inscribed on their foreheads; in addition, they have all the harms of current material civilization in the West, but they do not have most of its benefits. Today, this material civilization in the West is showing the problems it has created for humanity and for its followers.

So, without a school and without ideology, one cannot create a civilization; it requires faith. This civilization will have knowledge, it will have industry, it will have progress; and this school will guide and manage all of these. The society that bases its work on the principle of monotheism, the society that moves towards monotheism, will attain all the benefits that are contingent upon civilization building; it will create a great, profound, and rooted civilization and will spread its thought and culture in the world. Therefore, the first point is that the need for new Islamic civilization building is faith. This faith has been found by us who believe in Islam. Our faith is faith in Islam. In the ethics of Islam, in the manners of Islamic life, we can find everything we need; we must make these the focus of our discussions and research. We have worked a lot in Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic rights; we must also do a substantial and quality work in Islamic ethics and practical reason in Islam—seminaries have responsibilities, scholars have responsibilities, researchers and academics have responsibilities, universities have responsibilities—this must be the basis of our planning, we must incorporate it into our education; this is what we need today and must pursue. This is the first point and the first note regarding new Islamic civilization building and reaching this fundamental part of civilization, which is practical conduct.

None of the things I listed and mentioned can you find that has not been addressed in Islam, either specifically or under a general title. Various conducts with individuals with whom one interacts, various behaviors we have, various things that exist in social life for humans, these are present in Islam; regarding traveling, regarding interactions, regarding getting on and off, regarding parents, regarding cooperation, regarding behavior with friends, regarding behavior with enemies. In all things, either specifically in our Islamic sources or under a general title, which those who are knowledgeable and those who have insight can derive and find what they need from.

The second point here is that we must avoid imitation in building this part of the new Islamic civilization; imitation of those who seek to impose lifestyles and ways of living on nations. Today, the complete and only manifestation of this oppression and imposition is Western civilization. It is not that we intend to have enmity with the West and hostility towards the West—this statement is based on analysis—hostility and enmity are not emotional. Some, as soon as the name of the West and Western civilization and Western methods and Western conspiracies and enmity come up, they accuse us of being anti-Western: you are enemies of the West. No, we do not have such a deep-seated enmity with the West—of course, we do have some enmity!—we have no ulterior motives. This statement has been analyzed.

Imitation of the West has brought nothing but harm and catastrophe for the countries that have deemed this imitation permissible and acted upon it; even those countries that have seemingly reached some industry, some invention, or some wealth, but they were imitators. The reason is that Western culture is an aggressive culture. Western culture is a culture that destroys cultures. Wherever the Westerners have entered, they have destroyed indigenous cultures, obliterated the fundamental social foundations; to the extent that they could, they changed the history of nations, changed their languages, changed their scripts. Wherever the British entered, they transformed the indigenous people's language into English; if there was a rival language, they eliminated it. In the Indian subcontinent, Persian was the official language for several centuries; all writings, communications of government agencies, people, scholars, major schools, prominent figures were conducted in Persian. The British came and forcibly banned Persian in India, and promoted English. The Indian subcontinent, which was one of the centers of the Persian language, today has Persian as a stranger; but English is the official language; government communications are in English; the majority of their elites speak English—they must speak English—this has been imposed. In all countries where the British were present during colonial times, this happened; it was imposed. We did not impose the Persian language anywhere. The Persian language that was prevalent in India was welcomed by the Indians themselves; Indian figures themselves composed poetry in Persian. From the seventh and eighth centuries AH until the recent time before the arrival of the British, there were many poets in India who composed poetry in Persian, such as Amir Khusrow Dehlavi, Bidel Dehlavi—who is from Delhi—and many other poets. Iqbal Lahori is from Lahore, but his Persian poetry is more famous than poetry in any other language. We did not impose the Persian language as the British imposed English in India; Persian became prevalent naturally through the welcoming of the people, through the interactions of poets, mystics, scholars, and so on; but the British came and forced people to not speak Persian; they imposed penalties for speaking and writing in Persian.

The French also imposed the French language in countries that were under their colonial rule. Once, one of the leaders of North African countries—who had been under French rule for years—met with me during his presidency. He spoke to me in Arabic; then he wanted to say a sentence, and he could not remember the Arabic word for that sentence, he did not know it. His assistant or minister was with him, and he asked him in French what that sentence is in Arabic. He said, yes, this sentence in Arabic is this. That is, an Arab could not express his intention in Arabic, he had to ask his friend in French, and he would tell him! This means they had become so distanced from their original language. This was imposed on them for years. The Portuguese did the same, the Dutch did the same, the Spaniards did the same; wherever they went, they imposed their language; this is what constitutes an aggressive culture. Therefore, Western culture is aggressive.

The Westerners, wherever they could, obliterated the cultural and ideological foundations. In our country, where there was no direct colonialism, thanks to the efforts of some great figures, the British could not enter directly; they made individuals their agents. If the 1299 contract, known as the Vosoogh al-Dowleh contract, in Iran had not faced resistance from the likes of the late Modarres and some other freedom fighters, and this contract had been implemented, the colonization of Iran would have been certain—like India—men prevented this from happening. However, they, through their agents, by appointing Reza Khan Pahlavi and strengthening him and placing Western-dependent intellectuals alongside him—whom I do not need to name, I do not want to name—imposed their culture on us. Some ministers and political elites of the Pahlavi regime who had cultural aspects were their agents for transforming our culture; and they did everything they could; one aspect was the issue of unveiling, another aspect was pressure on the clergy and removing the presence of the clergy from our country, and many other issues that were pursued during the reign of Reza Khan Pahlavi. Western culture is an aggressive culture; wherever it enters, it obliterates identity; it destroys the identity of nations. Western culture materializes minds, nurtures materialism; the goal of life becomes money and wealth; lofty ideals, spiritual aspirations are erased from minds. This is a characteristic of Western culture.

One of the characteristics of Western culture is the normalization of sin; they normalize sexual sins. Today, this situation has led to disgrace in the West; first in England, then in some other countries and in America. This great sin of homosexuality has become a value! They protest against a certain politician for opposing homosexuality or opposing homosexuals! See how moral decay reaches its peak. This is Western culture. Likewise, the disintegration of families, the proliferation of alcoholic beverages, the spread of drugs.

Years ago—in the 30s and 40s—I saw in the southern region of Khorasan, elders and wise individuals who remembered how the British introduced opium among the people through specific methods; otherwise, the people did not know how to smoke opium; these things did not exist. These individuals remembered, they would recount and describe its characteristics. It was through these methods that drugs gradually spread within the country. This is how Western culture operates.

Western culture is not just about airplanes and means of comfort and speed and ease; these are the superficial aspects of Western culture, which are not determinative; the essence of Western culture is that materialistic, lustful, sinful, identity-erasing lifestyle that is anti-spiritual and hostile to spirituality. The condition for achieving a new Islamic civilization is, first and foremost, to avoid Western imitation. Unfortunately, we have become accustomed to imitating certain things over many years.

I do not advocate that now regarding clothing, housing, and other matters, a sudden collective and public movement should take place; no, these actions must be carried out gradually; there is no directive; these require cultural building. As I said, it is the work of the elites, it is the work of cultural builders. And you young people must prepare yourselves for this; this is the main mission.

We promote science, we promote industry, we promote invention and innovation, we respect every innovator and every initiative—this is preserved in its place—but as we said, the essence of the matter lies elsewhere; the essence of the matter is to create a lifestyle, social behavior, public ethics, and a culture of life. We must advance in this area; we must strive. The new Islamic civilization that we claim and seek and the Islamic revolution wants to establish will not be realized without this part. If that civilization comes into being, then the Iranian nation will be at the peak of dignity; wealth will follow it, comfort will follow it, security will follow it, international dignity will follow it; everything will be with it, along with spirituality.

One of the points that must be fully considered in confronting the Western world is the artistic factor and tool that the Westerners possess. They have maximally utilized art to promote this erroneous, degenerate, and identity-destroying culture; especially from performing arts, especially from cinema, they have made maximum use. They study a nation as a project, find its weaknesses, and utilize psychologists, sociologists, historians, and artists to find ways to dominate this nation; then they commission filmmakers, and artistic agencies in Hollywood to create films. Many of the films they make for us and for countries like ours are of this nature. I am not aware of the films produced within America; but what they create for other nations has an aggressive aspect. A few years ago, it was reported that in some major European countries, a decision was made to counter American films. They are not Muslims, but they also felt a threat; they also felt aggression. Of course, more so towards Islamic countries, and particularly regarding our revolutionary country; they observe the characteristics, assess the situation, create films based on that, organize news based on that, shape the media based on that, and send it into the space. We must pay attention to these matters. They create tastes, they create cultures; after they change tastes, change preferences, then if they need money and force, they bring in dollars, military forces, and generals. This is the method of the Westerners; we must be vigilant. Everyone must feel that the responsibility for creating a new Islamic civilization rests on their shoulders; and one of the boundaries of this work is confronting Western civilization in such a way that imitation does not occur.

In conclusion, I would like to add one point: our discussion today is the beginning of a discussion; we will speak again in these areas. We expect thinkers and intellectuals in centers that can and have the competence and qualifications for this work to work, think, and study in these areas; so that we can advance. We must be careful not to fall into superficiality and appearance-based thinking, not to fall into stagnation—this is one side of the issue—nor to fall into hidden secularism. Sometimes, in appearance, the propaganda is religious propaganda; the words are religious words; the slogans are religious slogans; but in essence, it is secularism; the separation of religion from life; what is spoken is not involved in planning and action. We claim, we speak, we give slogans; but when it comes to action, there is no news of what we proclaimed.

The Islamic revolution is capable. The power, capacity, and accumulated energy that exists in the Islamic revolution has the ability to remove all the obstacles I mentioned and many others I did not mention, and to establish the distinguished, outstanding, and glorious Islamic civilization before the eyes of the entire world; and this will be in your time, God willing, it will be in your hands, with your efforts. Do whatever you can to prepare yourselves in terms of knowledge and action, purification, strengthening the spirit, and strengthening the body—as has been repeatedly stated—and God willing, bear this heavy burden.

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