Leader Outlines Main Tasks of Ulema

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting recently with a group of Tehran Islamic seminaries’ directors, teachers and students highlighted “religious and intellectual guidance”, “political acumen and insight” and “presence in social arena” as the three main tasks of the ulema, noting: “By acquiring necessary qualifications and knowledge, in today’s changing world, the religious scholars must prepare themselves for fulfilling decisive obligations in the society.

Ayatollah Khamenei, advising the ulema to appreciate values and responsibilities said: Even if all the forms of expertise needed by a society exist in the best form, when the society is not religious, the nation will suffer loss and experience real problems both in this world and the afterworld, hence this huge responsibility, i.e. transforming the society into a religious one, falls upon ulema and religious students. He described religious guidance as “elucidation of pure Islamic thoughts” and referring to the role of cyberspace and political motivations for inculcating deviant and wrong thoughts into the minds of the youths, said: “This field is a real battlefield and the ulema and religious students must be on war footing and prepared to jump into the battlefield for countering misgivings and wrong and deviant thoughts.” 

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to “reactionary, fanatic, and a rigid religion devoid of the sense of spiritual facts” as a flagrant manifestation of deviant thoughts, saying that American Islam is engaged in combat with “pure Islam”. He said that understanding pure Islam which is based on the holy Qur’an and Hadith, necessitates the proper use of the gifts of wisdom and Islamic thought, and this is a major task for the ulema, since following in the footsteps of the prophets requires promoting this noble thought in order to guide the people on the right path. He said practical guidance of people was complementary to intellectual guidance, called on the ulema to lead people towards religious manifestations including honesty, trustworthiness, piety, refraining from vices, promotion of virtues and correct lifestyle through the best ways.

Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted “political acumen” as another important task of scholars and ulema, saying the reason for constant insistence on the necessity of a revolutionary character for the Islamic seminaries is that the continuation of the correct and revolutionary drive in the country, and the ideal society is not possible without a persistent presence of the ulema on the scene. He recalled the role of the ulema in Iran during the 19th and 20th centuries, such as the campaign against British monopoly over tobacco, the constitutional movement and the nationalization of the petroleum industry, saying: “Constitutionalism and the national movement failed to reach their objectives due to the discontinuance of the presence of ulema. He then compared these movements with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (God bless him), noting that that the Late Imam’s prudence, political acumen, and foresight were such that he did not allow the enemies to succeed in their plot to disassociate the ulema, both during the revolutionary events and afterwards, thus ensuring the success of the Islamic Republic system of governance. Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Like today, from the very start of the Islamic Revolution, the Americans were trying to push the ulema out of the Iranian nation’s general drive so that the people’s presence on the scene would be devoid of proper guidance, and the revolution would end in failure. God willing, the enemies will never succeed.” The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then referred to the Islamic Awakening in the region, saying it was religion that brought people to the scenes, but since religious organs in those countries are scattered, and there was no proper guidance from the ulema, the movements in those countries failed to obtain the necessary results, On the other hand, he added, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, people’s presence in various fields has made continuation of the revolutionary drive possible.

After elucidating religious and political guidance, Ayatollah Khamenei focused on the third important task assigned to the ulema, i.e. “leadership and presence in the arena of social services”. He said the contribution of the ulema in providing services to people, building schools, building hospitals and assisting the public during other events in various sectors mobilizes popular forces and prepares the ground for social transformation. He said the ulema ought to concentrate efforts on fulfilling their obligations which could be replaced with no other expertise, but these should not be interpreted as eying posts, positions and job titles, rather, the main objective must always be satisfying God and the Lord of the Age – Imam Mahdi (AS), may God hasten his reappearance.

In another part of his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution highlighted the history and significance of the Tehran Islamic seminary and the prominent scholars who have studied here, noting: “The Tehran Seminary now has an identity which must be appreciated so that prominent individuals would be nurtured in the field of Islamic jurisprudence, rational sciences and exegesis of the holy Qur’an and elucidation of hadith.

Prior to the Leader’s speech, Hojjat al-Islam Ali Akbar Sadeqi Reshad, Chairman of the Council of Tehran Province Seminaries, touched upon the history of Tehran’s Islamic Seminary and its role in political and social developments, saying: “today this seminary is active across the Province of Tehran with 33 schools, six specialized centers as well as 1,600 lecturers and 15,000 religious students.”

He added that Tehran Province seminaries have dedicated 360 martyrs to the cause of the Islamic Revolution. Some of the scholars in their speeches at the meeting highlighted the role of female religious authorities in the promotion of religious teachings and proposed formation of “Muslim Women’s Religious Headquarters” in order to counter social and family vices. They also called on the seminaries to precisely and wisely respond to people’s questions and doubts and other necessary issues on the basis of the dynamics of Islamic jurisprudence in conformity with the needs of the time.

AS/MG