Martyrdom of Ayatollah Motahhari and Teacher’s Day

Every year on the 12th of Ordibehesht, the Islamic Republic of Iran marks the martyrdom anniversary of the great contemporary scholar, Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari, as Teacher's Day.

He was indeed a teacher for both scholars and the people of Iran, as a humble servant of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). No wonder, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him), who was saddened at the killing of one of his sincere students by the self-styled Forqan group, which was affiliated to Global Arrogance, said: The teacher’s occupation is similar to the task of teaching shouldered by the Prophets of God. The Noble Prophet of Islam is indeed the Greatest Teacher of all mankind.” Let us present you an interesting feature on Ayatollah Motahhari in this regard.

Throughout history, persons have emerged and like beacons of light brightened people's path and guided them toward great goals. The martyred Iranian philosopher and theologian, Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari was one such truthful son of Islam who has left precious works behind. His works serve as the intellectual basis of the Islamic Republic and indeed he was a qualified student of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini and a unique personality of our time as an embodiment of Islamic thoughts. Ayatollah Motahhari was like a bright light that enlightened his audiences with the spirit of monotheism and removed the rust of deviation, eclecticism and superstition from them. He was a great reformer of the Islamic society and perfect manifestation of an aware and conscious scholar. The significant point about his works is that despite the passing of several decades, the freshness of his remarks never becomes stale and continues to stimulate the minds of both intellectuals and ordinary people.

"Perfect Man" is a book consisting of 13 lectures delivered by Ayatollah Motahhari during the year 1974. Due to the prevalent idea that only the social aspects of Islam were considered and the spirituality of human being was not mentioned, he chose this subject. To prove that Islam is a complete code of life and the position of the human being in Islam is multi-dimensional in order to cope practically in a harmonious manner with all the regulations of this divine religion, he took up this crucial subject and also critically analyzed the viewpoint of other schools and religions about perfect man. Based on Qur'anic view about human beings, he rejected the theory of the famous psychologist of the West, Sigmund Freud, who wrongly believed that mankind’s behavior is merely based on sexual instincts.

Motahhari proves that humans by nature are not bound to one single instinct but have different aspects and instincts. He also rejects the Marxist viewpoint that the main instinct of human beings is the effort to gain subsistence. In this regard he says: the quest for truth is in the innate nature of man, and on this basis, if rightly guided, he strives for acquiring science, knowledge, science, art, aesthetic beauty, ethics, and above all faith. Motahhari, after introducing and analyzing different viewpoints, expresses the Islamic theory of human beings and reiterates that man’s evolution begins as animal nature and moves towards humanity. Both these aspects of mankind include life as an individual and life in society. The human soul comes into the world within the framework of the physical body and evolves to reach a position of its own – whether good or evil. In other words, the spirit of a virtuous person moves gradually towards perfection and its dependence on the body becomes less and less until it reaches complete independence. Thus, he says, the Perfect Man is the human who cultivates all aspects of his existence towards excellence, and the most important element in this regards is self-cognizance. He adds: the self is the same thing called the divine soul and by proper cognition of his ego, man feels nobleness, dignity, sublimity and all other virtues.

Another excellent work of Ayatollah Mutahhari is on Prophethood and titled "Nabowwat". It evolved out of a series of 14 sessions of discussions with university students. The discussion method in this book is innovative and by citing and analyzing the viewpoints of philosophers and thinkers on this subject, he removes all doubts. Ayatollah Motahhari categorized his ideas in four parts: the ways of understanding and comprehending Prophethood, Divine Revelation, the unmatched eloquence and wisdom of the Qur'an, and the nature of Divine Revelation, which is less be spoken about. About Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), who is the Seal of all Divine Messengers, he says: In the previous eras, due to its primitive or still immature nature, mankind, which was still in the process of intellectual evolution, was yet not ready to receive a whole comprehensive set of guidelines for its journey. What it needed, were gradual step-by-step moves in which it was guided by some divine messengers, sent especially for such a task to mould souls and minds for the benefit of the future generations. Thus, the advent of the universal message Islam and its comprehensive code of life, meant that mankind had now reached that required state and acquired the mental capacity to receive the complete road map for journey towards the peaks of guidance and perfection.

In view of these facts, the conduct, speech, and behaviour of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) were decreed by God as the most excellent examples of perfection designed to serve as a model for the progress and developmental of the human race. The Prophet's behavior, which is called Sirah in Islam, is considered as one of sources of proper cognition of divinely-inspired guidance. That’s why Ayatollah Motahhari decided to write the book "A Journey in the Prophet's Life". About the reason of writing this book he says: "In order to compile the behavior of the Prophet I spent years before I decided to write a book on this topic. I made many notes but as I went forward I saw that it is like an ocean, which turns out be more expansive and deeper, as I try to sail in it. As the words of our Prophet are profound, his conduct has so deep meaning that from the smallest and what appears to be less important aspects of it, rules and regulations could be determined. One small aspect of the conduct of the Prophet is like a light that brightens miles and miles of ways for mankind”

Ayatollah Motahhari, as a devotee of the Prophet's First Infallible Successor, Imam Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), naturally pondered on the words, sermons and letters of this towering personality, which are collected in the famous book "Nahj al-Balaghah" that was compiled a thousand years ago. He thus wrote a book titled "Sayri dar Nahj al-Balaghah" or "The Glimpses of Nahj al-Balaghah", in which he says that this wonderful book contains different worlds; such as the world of piety, of worship, of Gnosis, of philosophy, of politics , of social responsibilities, of ethics, of bravery, of wisdom, of magnanimity, and so on. Time and years have not only failed to diminish the remarkable freshness of this work that was compiled a millennium ago by Seyyed Sharif ar-Radhi (RA), but have added constantly to its value as new concepts and ideas have emerged. This is speaks of the unfathomable wisdom of the divinely-appointed Successor of the Prophet that Imam Ali (AS) was.

In another book titled “The Revolution and Uprising of Imam Mahdi (AS)", Ayatollah Mutahhari discusses the philosophy of the history of Islamic thought about the arrival of the awaited savior of mankind, who as the Prophet's 12th and Last Infallible Successor, will cleanse the earth from all vestiges of corruption and oppression, and establish the global government of peace, prosperity, and justice. Thus the revolution of the Awaited Imam is an unprecedented uprising in the history that creates basic and multi-dimensional global developments in the intellectual, cultural, social, economic, political and all other situations. In this book Mutahhari elaborates on the Ideal and Perfect State of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) which is far more complete and meritorious than whatever man has imagined throughout history as Utopia in the West or "Madinat al-Fazela" amongst the Islamic philosophers. Ayatollah Motahhari has thus left many valuable books and speeches that continue to inspire us in Iran and all over the world.

AS/EA