Leader: Greater need for global reflection of Islam (1)

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on May 8 received seminarians and ulama from different countries on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadhan, and in his speech before Iftar, emphasized the need for spreading the peaceful message of Islam around the world for the benefit of mankind.

He said there is a greater need today for proper reflection of the universal message of Islamic on a global scale. Here’s the first part of Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution praised Allah Almighty for His Favours, and saluted the Master of the all Divine Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Next he greeted the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS) – may God hasten his reappearance for establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.

He appreciated the statements made by various speakers at the meeting, saying: “I witnessed that you youth in Islamic seminaries raised those points by utilizing a good discourse and cohesion and using eloquent and deep vocabulary. We really enjoy listening to you and I thank God for that.

“One of the gentlemen spoke about the time when I was young. I will tell you, the level of your statements and points is much higher than the level of the statements that we used to make at that time. This is really the case and I am not exaggerating. We used to have certain ideas which we would express, but the level of your work, your thinking, and your speech is much higher than that of ours during our youth. This means progress and movement.

“This movement is a very auspicious phenomenon. Of course, one’s movement should originate from the inside and be based on principles. One of the gentlemen recited a very beautiful poem which I have written down: “When you are given water to drink without having asked for it, this is not always desirable as sometimes it is an excuse to poison you” [from a poem by Fazel Nazari].

“This gesture of giving water to us – the things that they give us from the outside – might not be genuine because the water might be dirty and contaminate. We should rise from the inside. We should bubble like a spring: we should flow to quench the thirst of the surrounding lands. Therefore, this meeting is a very good meeting for me.

“I would like to point to the statements that the gentlemen in the meeting made. Ayatollah Ali-Reza A’rafi (Head of the Islamic Seminary) referred to the programme they are preparing or have already prepared and want to implement. A programme with such a scope is very interesting and it will fulfil many of the demands which were put forward today. I am very hopeful that it will materialize, and the tasks would be carried out. Insha Allah (God Willing).

“Of course, preparing the program is only half of the work. It is an important half, but implementing the program is another important issue anyway.

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “We should have a centre which can examine and collect young the ulama’s potential to innovate. Such a centre should have an information bank.

“The next point is about specialization. Fortunately, this endeavor – specialized fiqh – (jurisprudence) has begun in Qom. Of course, there are many ideas about Jurisprudence because it is very important. Some people think that fiqh means attending to peripheral matters because it involve the secondary issues of religion. This is not the case. Fiqh or jurisprudence in fact is the spine of social life, because fiqh means managing life and clarifying the system that rules our social and political life.

“If we specialize in jurisprudence and divide it into as many specialized fields as we can, this is a very good thought, but we should not ignore the shortcomings of specialization. It is many years now that certain thinkers in the world have reached the conclusion that there are certain disadvantages to specialization as well as the advantages that it has. The existence of some inter-disciplinary fields is for eliminating these shortcomings. If you are pursuing the issue of specialization, you should find those disadvantages.

“Another matter which is important in my opinion is about the question posed by a female scholar in the meeting on the social position of the sisters who pursue seminarian studies. This is a legitimate question. We can answer it in brief. When women study their lessons and when we have so many female scholars, their presence in the family and in women’s gatherings is very important. One day, “Banu Mujtahed – Sayyeda Nuṣrat Baygum Amin Isfahani – who was an excellent female scholar and who was specialized in rational sciences had a meeting with Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabatabai, the famous exegete of the holy Qur’an and philosopher, who met her and they had a scholarly discussion.

“We were proud of having such a knowledgeable female scholar. We now have tens of thousands of female scholars, many of whom are outstanding scholars whether in the area of rational sciences or in the area of jurisprudence and other sciences in Islamic seminaries. This is a very important issue!

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to a point raised by a lady speaker at the gathering on recognizing the capacities that female scholars have and benefiting from them in various cultural and intellectual centers – in different commissions, committees, councils and official centers, and said: “In my opinion, this is an important task that should be fulfilled in Islamic seminaries.”

Ayatollah Khamenei continued in his speech: “The first point that I have written down to discuss is that you dear ones should know that Islamic seminaries have a heavier responsibility today. The reason is that there are greater needs and greater recognition today. Both needs and the recognition of your work are greater in scope today. Today, great and lofty religious concepts are well-received among youth – not only our youth but also the youth of the world of Islam and also youth outside the world of Islam.

“For example, I wrote a letter addressing youth from western countries. The letter was well-received and the feedback was good in certain cases. They responded to the letter by sending messages and different writings. This shows that there is an audience for such ideas and that they have advocates. Therefore, there is a great need today for lofty concepts and teachings promoted by Islamic seminaries.

“Perhaps among the people who flourished, say, a century ago, there were some pious persons with firm faith, but in practice there was no indication of faith. Notice that here, in the centre of Tehran, such a great and outstanding scholar like Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri was hanged. And the person who hanged him was an Armenian-Iranian officer who was a non-Muslim. Some people shed tears here and there, but no serious move was made in response, despite the fact that there was no Reza Khan at that time so that they could say that the dictatorial Pahlavi regime was like this and that.

“Now compare this with our [recently] martyred religious scholar in Hamedan, who was killed in an unjust manner on the street. As you witnessed, a massive crowd attended his funeral ceremony in Hamedan. Notice the reaction throughout Iran. Everyone expressed their sympathy and warm feelings. If that pure body had been buried in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan and Tabriz, there would have been the same large crowd. Today, our people are like this. Now, some people promote the idea that the people have drifted away from religion. This is not the case in any way. We have seen those days.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Some people claim the ulama fell and declined after establishment of the Islamic Republic. This is not the case at all. What are these ideas? At that time, they used to ridicule the ulama. Once, when I was at the Mashhad railway station, some youth walked past me. They began to insult, ridicule and poke fun at us. What could we do? I said to myself that they probably did not have proper education, yet I am a teacher in an Islamic seminary. This was the condition of the social system at that time.

“Today, despite all the assaults against the ulama through propaganda apparatuses and the like, notice the reception that the people give and the large crowds that gather in mass prayers and at various religious speeches. There never ever was the kind of gatherings that you witness today at a religious speech, in any city! Of course, this does not mean that such gatherings did not exist, rather it means that there was not even one tenth of such participation. It was not like this in Mashhad, Isfahan, Tehran and other cities. Well, we used to participate on different occasions. I myself used to address from the pulpit and was witness to other large gatherings. The large crowds that show their presence at different gatherings – most of whom are young – did not exist in those days.

“The same is true of mass prayers and the wujuhaat [religious payments such as khoms, zakat, expiation, radd al-mazalim (or returning unfairly earned or seized money and property), obligatory and recommended alms, and endowments]. Today, the people are not necessarily in a good financial condition, but they pay wujuhaat. This means that the people are religious and that they are present in the arena of religion.

“So where do these statements come from? Seminarians are well-respected and trusted. These are the realities that exist though nonsensical and false claims are sometimes made against all these realities, without any proper research, without investigation and without any scientific criterion and standard. Certain things are said which are wrong and some people buy them, but the reality is what I said. Therefore, this makes the responsibility of Islamic seminaries heavy.

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “What I had in mind to discuss is that Islamic seminaries are centres for teaching Islam. After all, religion should be understood and comprehended and there should be an effort to get to the depth of it. Therefore, there is a need for a specific centre. This specific centre is comprised of Islamic seminaries which build religious scholars. Islamic seminaries are centres for teaching Islam.

“Islam is not only about understanding. It is also about acting on Islamic rules. Sometimes, we define Islam as a combination of major and minor principles, ethics and the like. Of course, this is the case in reality because the fundamental and secondary tenets of religion, moral values, lifestyle and the way to manage the government are all parts of Islam and Islamic teachings. Well, we should learn these things in Islamic seminaries. However, this interpretation is not correct because this is only one part of Islamic seminaries work. Why? Because this is only one part of Islam. The other part of Islam is about implementing these realities in society and in people’s lives. This means guidance. This is the other part of Islam. Islam is not only about monotheism in its scholarly sense with the same mystical and philosophical depth and the like, rather Islam is about promoting monotheism in society. It means that society should become monotheistic. This is the other part of Islam.

“Isn’t it true: “The ulama are the inheritors of the Prophets” [citing a famous hadith]? Here, ulama means religious scholars and they are the inheritors of the Prophets. What did the Prophets do? Were they raised (by God) to only speak about religious matters or were they raised to implement them in society? The second is the correct answer, as God says in ayah 25 of Surah Hadeed: “Certainly We sent Our Prophets with manifest proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, so that mankind may maintain justice;”

“The phrase “so that mankind may maintain justice”, shows that the presence of Prophets is necessary to administer justice. In other words, there is a correlation between the action of Prophets and the administration of justice in society. It means that the Prophets should administer justice in society and in order to do so, they have to fight. Otherwise, if the Prophets did not want to administer justice, to materialize monotheism in society, and eliminate idols worshipped in place of God, there would have been no need for jihad.

This is clear by God’s words in ayah 146 of Surah Aal-e Imran: “How many a prophet there has been with whom a multitude of Godly men fought. They did not falter for what befell them in the way of Allah, neither did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves; and Allah loves the steadfast.

What does this ayah signify? Why did they fight?  Some of the Prophets had the capability to fight and with them fought a multitude of Godly men.

The first Prophet who fought in God’s way was Abraham. In ayah 123 of Surah Towbah, God Almighty commands:

“O you who have faith! Fight the faithless who are in your vicinity, and let them find severity in you, and know that Allah is with the Godwary.”

And ayah 76 Surah Nisa says: “Those who have faith fight in the way of Allah, and those who are faithless fight in the way of the Rebel. So fight the friends of Satan; indeed the stratagems of Satan are always flimsy.”

What is the reason for such fighting? Before migrating to Medina, Prophet of the Islam asked the representatives of the tribes of “Aus” and “Khazraj”, who had come from that city for their pledge of allegiance. He said to them that they should help him with their lives and their property and they accepted. When the Prophet entered Medina, he did not ask if he was in charge of the government or not, because it was already obvious. Everyone knew that he had come to be in charge of the government and to rule. This is the goal of religion, as God says in ayah 64 of Surah Nisa:

“We did not send any Prophet but to be obeyed by Allah’s permission.”

Here the words “but to be obeyed” do not mean that people should only perform the daily ritual prayers if the Prophet demands it, rather it means obeying the Prophet in all aspects of life. This means ruling. Therefore, this is part of Islam.

That was the first part of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s speech on the need for global reflection of Islam.

AS/EA