Leader’s Speech to Academics

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 5, 2010 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with university professors.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I am thankful to Allah the Exalted who gave me the opportunity to be in the company of the faithful luminaries and prominent professors of the country once again and benefit from the good comments that they made.

We are in the last few days of the month of Ramadan, and hopefully the spiritual atmosphere in the country is that of worship, humility and sincerity. In the duas recited in the last days and nights of the month of Ramadan, we say, "O God, the days of the month of Ramadan have passed, and we do not know how much we have been able to benefit from Your blessings in the days and nights that have passed." We also say, "O God, if we have not been able to make You satisfied, we beg You to bestow Your satisfaction on us at this moment."

It is important and necessary for everybody to engage in self-purification. Self-purification can affect everybody's life, but I believe it is more important and useful for university professors and scholars. First of all, because you are professors, your behavior can affect the development of your young students' personality more than your words. This is often the case. If your words lead them in a certain direction and your behavior leads them in a different direction, it is your behavior that will finally affect your audience and your young students. This is one aspect of the importance of self-purification. If our professors have a purified soul, this will enlighten the atmosphere of the classroom, the lesson, and the hearts of the students. We need this. Apart from this, you are scholars - if knowledge is accompanied by spirituality, it will move in the right direction.

The points that were raised by you dear friends, and the obstacles, problems and shortcomings that can be seen in different areas are mostly caused by the fact that science has not moved in the appropriate direction - the direction intended by God. Self-purification helps scholars to steer knowledge in the appropriate direction.

We should appreciate these days and nights. You fasted more than twenty days, and thankfully you have been successful and have managed to benefit from the spiritual aspects of these days and nights. Try your hardest to benefit from divine blessings during the remaining days and nights.

Universities are the driving force behind the progress of the country. There is no doubt about this. If a nation wants glory, independence, power and wealth, it should strengthen its universities. Fortunately our government officials have realized the importance of this point. Everybody has realized that universities should be treated as important.

Today the country is in need of a scientific jihad - of course science in general, not just experimental sciences. We need a scientific jihad. Now I would like to discuss some of the points that were raised by the dear brothers and sisters in this meeting. I believe that all the issues can be reduced to this: We need a scientific jihad in the country. I feel responsible to point this out and to follow up the issue in a careful and concerned manner.

Jihad has a particular meaning. It does not just mean "effort". According to the Islamic conception, jihad is effort that is made against an enemy. Not any effort is jihad. Jihad against one's passions, jihad against Satan and jihad on a battlefield - all of these kinds of jihad involve an enemy. Today we need to make such efforts in the arena of science. If we feel that there are obstacles on our way, we should remove those obstacles. If we realize that we are faced with some hostilities, we should eliminate those hostilities. The owners of scientific facilities - namely, the countries that are scientifically advanced - are not willing to provide us with those facilities, so we should produce the scientific facilities we need inside the country.

In spite of its pretence of scientific generosity, today the world is absolutely tight-fisted with science. Some countries managed to achieve scientific progress in a certain era due to different factors and left other countries far behind - that is to say, western countries which have had control over knowledge since the Renaissance. We, too, had control over knowledge in the past. These countries want to create a monopoly. They do not want the scope of this knowledge and power to be expanded to other countries. They are opposed to knowledge being accessible to nations of the world, especially after they started to use knowledge as a political tool. Colonialism was born out of knowledge. They gained power through knowledge. They went to different parts of the world and gave rise to colonialism, otherwise nations of the world were living a relatively peaceful life. Britain and Malaysia are far apart, but Britain used knowledge as a tool and occupied Malaysia. When colonialism was born out of knowledge and international and political power was based on knowledge, they decided that they should not let other people have access to knowledge, otherwise their power would be threatened. And this is how they have acted up until today.

Our nation has decided to stand on its own feet and make use of its own capacities. Fortunately the ground is prepared for this to happen. There may be some nations that could not have stood on their own feet regarding the issue of knowledge even if they had decided to do so. This is because they neither had the historical background that the Iranian nation enjoys, nor did they enjoy similar indigenous capacities. Thankfully our country enjoys these factors. A Revolution took place, a great movement was started, great awakening took place, a sense of capability was created, an important movement was started and numerous advances were made. We should admit that this movement is in its preliminary stages. We are at the beginning of our path.

The dear friends briefly spoke about planning for the next 300 years. Well I do not believe in this length of planning, but I approve of the thought that the last 30 years have only been the first step. If we take ten more steps, 300 years will pass. We need to know that we are only taking the preliminary steps and that we should be able to take longer strides. This feeling should be created. And I believe that this feeling will undoubtedly be created. This great scientific movement, these scientific innovations, this production of knowledge and these efforts to push back the frontiers of knowledge did not appear to be possible in the beginning. But ideas were proposed and followed up, and today you can see the benefits. Therefore, we can take longer strides. We can make great achievements.

I need to go over the points that were raised by the dear friends in this meeting. This is because the points that were raised today in this meeting were truly pleasing to me. Of course this has not always been the case. Sometimes I sat through meetings with our honorable professors but did not really benefit from their comments. I benefited a lot from today's meeting. There was variety in the comments that were made. The meeting was quite informative. The points that were raised were quite up-to-date. The points of view that were presented were up-to-date, and the practical proposals that were put forward were very good. Today's meeting was very useful, and I would like to have the proceedings published. It would be good if the proceedings were televised. But it would be better if they were written down and distributed among the people. The comments were very good.

One of the professors said that a faculty has been established for traditional medicine. This is good news for me. Another professor made some comments regarding the economic system of the country and claimed that we have strayed away from the Constitution. Of course I do not believe this claim. I have a lot of respect for my dear brother, Dr. Sobhani. We all know Dr. Sobhani, and I am familiar with his ideas. He is one of our valuable professors. But his claim is not acceptable to me. Some of the economic structures may be unacceptable to us - and undoubtedly there are some such cases - but the overall foundations are appropriate. This is especially true of the policies mentioned in Article 44 of the Constitution which has been thoroughly discussed. His ideas - both when he was an MP and afterwards - and those of other friends have been put forward before.

One of the dear friends mentioned "wisdom-based university". This was new to me. I do not know if he meant the same thing by "wisdom" as Dr. Fayyaz, whose definition of wisdom is completely appropriate. But "wisdom-based university" is a novel idea. What was more interesting was that he said some preliminary steps have been taken to establish such universities. The University of Tehran has already taken some steps in this regard. This was really new to me. I did not know that such a thing had been started in the country.

It was proposed that an organization should be established in the country to monitor the progress of the comprehensive scientific plan. This is a very appropriate proposal, which happens to be among the things that I wanted to say in this meeting. The comprehensive scientific plan needs to be operationalized. There is also a need to monitor the progress of this plan so that it does not stray away from the original course.

Fortunately our dear friends thoroughly discussed the importance of humanities today. They said exactly what I had in mind. Last year I made a comment about humanities, which was faced with illogical and non-academic responses from some people. They made some interpretations that I did not at all have in mind. My ideas about humanities are what these friends said, and their comments are totally right. Humanities are important. Humanities are not currently indigenous. They do not belong to us. They are not appropriate for our needs. They are not built on our philosophy and teachings. They are based on a totally different set of problems, and they are not useful for solving our problems. Those who formulated the problems solved the problems for themselves. Regardless of whether their solutions are right or wrong, they are alien to us. Of course there is not enough time to speak about humanities in this meeting. If I find another opportunity in the future, I will arrange another meeting with our honorable professors or students and will speak about the issues of humanities in detail. I have many things to say about humanities.

The problems that were mentioned by the gentlemen are true. I am aware of the fact that the topics taught in humanities are obsolete. This point which was also raised in this meeting is completely valid. The fact that the topics taught to students of a certain field have remained the same for 20 or 25 years is a genuine shortcoming. This shortcoming shows the lack of courage to enter into new debates. Taking part in new debates is what they are afraid of - they do not have the courage to take part in new debates. They just continue teaching what they used to teach, and they will do so in the future. They may continue teaching the same topics for the next ten years. This is while, as the honorable brother said, sometimes great changes take place in humanities every five years. At least this is true of certain fields of humanities. I am grateful to the honorable brothers and sisters who have reflected on the issue of humanities. Their comments were based on studying, thinking and reflection. Their comments were truly valuable.

One of the gentlemen said that in our approach to modern humanities, instead of adopting a reactive approach, we should adopt a proactive approach. This means that we should propose Islamic approaches. Yes, this is the essence of the issue - there is no doubt in this regard. It is not possible to live in a vacuum. When an issue is raised, it requires an answer - it is either their answer or our answer. However, there are two important points in this regard. First, the answer that we have for the problem should be published. It is you who should do this. It is university professors and instructors of Islamic seminaries who should do this. The government is not responsible for this. Second, we should be courageous enough to challenge the current western approach that is based on liberal democracy. These two things are necessary, and you professors of humanities are responsible for both of these things. Of course the objection that there is a need for management and creation of special structures is worthy of thought and attention. This objection is legitimate and deserves to be scrutinized. At least it is legitimate to a large extent, but it is professors of humanities who should ultimately shoulder this responsibility.

One of the ladies spoke about the process of accepting students and the lack of harmony between our students' theses and our scholarly needs. These points are valid, and they are what I have observed too. She also stressed the need for two-way communication between the Leader and women. Of course it is not right to compare all women as a group with our universities or Armed Forces. Women make up more than half the population of the country. Therefore, women cannot be compared to an academic or military community. But all in all, she is right. In any case, we need to listen to and think about the points of view expressed by educated and scholarly ladies of our country. This is because the issues concerning women are important. She is right. The problems of women across the world - and not just in our country - are one of the main problems of the modern world. Maybe women in our country suffer from fewer problems than women living in other countries, especially western countries. In the west, the problems are much more serious.

One of the gentlemen - Dr. Zali - referred to the glorious advances made in area of medicine, health and biotechnology. He presented very interesting figures. First of all, I would like to praise his memory, as he cited all those details from memory. It was very interesting. One cannot help praising such a memory. By Allah's favor, he will never lose this memory. These advances should be pointed out. They have to be made public. Some people started to promote despair among our professors and students by saying such things as "this is impossible", "we cannot do this" and "it is useless". These people are really like termites - evil and destructive. The country is moving forward with perfect dynamism. This big tree used to be a sapling, but thankfully it has grown into an immaculate tree. "Like an immaculate tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven." [The Holy Quran, 14: 24]

We are making progress in all areas. Of course we are faced with challenges too. If one is afraid of falling down, then one should not walk. If we are determined to move forward, we should know that we may fall down or we may be pushed down. Challenges are a natural consequence of the movement of a nation. It is not possible to move forward without facing any challenges. Our nation is moving forward with this level of dynamism and resistance, but some people try to promote despair among our professors and students and among ordinary citizens in different parts of the country by whispering different things in their ears. No, the fact of the situation is what Dr. Zali said. Of course he was speaking about medical areas, but the same is true of other areas as well, and our friends pointed out different things about various other areas. Of course I noticed that some of the gentlemen who spoke in this meeting are not aware of the situation of other areas, but I am. For example, regarding military technologies, many surprising achievements have been made. What you see on TV is just the showcase - it cannot fully display the truth, greatness and complexity of what has been achieved. Many achievements have been made.

One of the gentlemen raised a very important point regarding production of thought. He is completely right. Knowledge is built on philosophy. There would be no knowledge in the absence of philosophy. If it were not for philosophical inference, knowledge would be meaningless. Production of thought is very important. Of course production of thought is more difficult than production of knowledge. Intellectuals are exposed to the kinds of harm that scientific elites are not normally exposed to. Therefore, production of thought is very difficult, but it is also absolutely essential. The point that was raised by this gentleman is valid. I benefited from his comments, and I believe in what he said about production of thought.

Certain things are being done regarding the history of rational thought. Somebody said that nothing has been done in this regard. This is not the case. Certain things are being done in this regard. Philosophy belongs to us - our country is the cradle of philosophy. Our philosophy is much closer to genuine philosophy than western philosophy. Today the voice of their philosophy has filled the world. Efforts should be made in this regard. Our Islamic seminaries are centers of philosophy. Those who have been trained in our Islamic seminaries are great philosophers. Fortunately this atmosphere has penetrated our universities as well. Therefore, we need work on production of thought - which is the result of philosophical thought.

A few comments were made about economics. They were completely right. We have been negligent in some cases. We should certainly work on this area. We should make investments. It was rightly pointed out that we spend a lot of money on constructing a dam, a power plant or a road, but we fail to spend the same amount of money on an important field of humanities such as economics. These points are valid, and I accept them.

One of the gentlemen said that there is a tendency towards consumerism in medicine. As a joke, I would like to ask him, "Do you not write prescriptions yourself? How much medicine do you prescribe?" He is an honorable and reputable doctor though.

I wanted to make a lot of recommendations in this meeting. I have noted down many points. In fact I have a notebook full of recommendations. However, as there is a shortage of time, I will only mention two of the points that I have written down. One is related to the comprehensive scientific plan. According to the reports I have received, the comprehensive scientific plan is in its final stages. It is about to be approved and announced to executive organizations. If this comprehensive scientific plan is made available to our universities, then we should work according to this plan. Everybody should be committed to the plan. First of all, the comprehensive scientific plan requires an executive plan. The officials of our governmental organizations should make plans to operationalize this plan and to put it into practice.

As one of the gentlemen said, we should not produce knowledge but fail to publish it. Similarly, we should not produce knowledge but then put it aside and fail to make use of it. We should make use of the knowledge that we produce. Second, the comprehensive scientific plan should be dynamic and up-to-date. Our intention is not just to prepare a plan for the future. The plan is being prepared for today. The situation may change 3 or 5 years from now, and we may have to change some parts of this plan. If the situation changes, we will have no choice but to change the plan. The plan should be dynamic and up-to-date. Some people should pay attention to this point. Third, the five-year development plans - where they are related to knowledge and higher education - should be designed on the basis of the comprehensive scientific plan. In these particular cases, the development plans should be based on the comprehensive scientific plan. Moreover, there should be an effective mechanism for supervision, and this point was mentioned by our friends in this meeting as well.

The next point is that the development of higher education should be in line with the goals. The officials in charge of higher education should seriously avoid purposeless development. This is because purposeless development is both a waste of money and a waste of human resources. We should determine what we need. We should determine what the goal is and what we want to achieve. And we should develop the educational atmosphere of our higher education on the basis of these things. Therefore, we should pursue our goals on the basis of our needs. I believe this issue is very sensitive and important. We should determine the main needs of the country in the area of science and technology. The same is true of humanities. We should make plans on the basis of these things. We should determine how many students we need, how many universities we want to have, what academic programs we need and at what levels these programs should be taught.

I hope Allah the Exalted will help all of us to do what satisfies Him and what we need for increasing progress of the country. I hope God will help us to find out these things and spend all our energy on achieving them.

Dear God, make our words serve Your cause, and accept them from us. O God, help us with what we consider as our responsibility. Dear God, make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) satisfied with us. Make this month of Ramadan auspicious for all of us.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings