The following is the full text of the speech delivered by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution at a Quranic meeting on July 21, 2012.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
We are thankful from the bottom of our hearts to Allah the Exalted who blessed our people with familiarity with the Holy Quran and the joy of reciting it. There is no doubt that each and every one of the meetings which are arranged for reciting the Holy Quran has a significant effect on deepening our faith in the Holy Quran and our love for it. And everything else depends on this. If a people manage to instill love into their faith in justice, in the Holy Quran and in Islamic teachings, their deep beliefs will have a significant effect on strengthening religious faith in society. If these beliefs and rational principles are accompanied by love and affection, the ground will be prepared for Quranic action and divine blessings will increase on a daily basis. This is what we are after. If these Quranic meetings succeed in allowing our hearts to transcend the rational aspect and bring our hearts closer to the Holy Quran by relying on the aspects of love and affection, the problems that lie in the way of Islamic communities will be eliminated. This is our belief.
Of course, we believe that emotions are necessary but not sufficient. Fortunately, this concept exists in our society and in the Islamic teachings by the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household: rationality accompanied by emotions.
Fortunately, our country, our people and our youth have passed the test as far as familiarity with the Holy Quran is concerned. This familiarity with the Holy Quran, this awareness of Quranic concepts - which is clearly visible in such meetings and elsewhere - is very different from the early years after the Islamic Revolution. Thankfully, our youth and our men and women have made progress in familiarity with the Holy Quran. This is great news. There was a day when we had been deprived of these things.
When one develops a close relationship with the Holy Quran, one will find the opportunity to reflect on Quranic teachings. One should not just read the Holy Quran without paying attention to the meaning of the verses. Reading the Holy Quran requires reflection on every word and every combination of words. The more one reflects on the verses, the more one will become familiar with the Holy Quran and the more one will benefit.
The Holy Quran can solve the problems of any society. Quranic teachings can solve problems. The Holy Quran has presented all the solutions to the descendents of Adam. This is a Quranic promise and it has been experienced during Islamic eras. The more we become familiar with the Holy Quran and the more we base our thoughts and actions on the Holy Quran, the more we will move towards happiness and towards finding solutions to our problems.
Honor can be achieved in the shade of the Holy Quran. Welfare can be achieved in the shade of the Holy Quran. Spiritual and material progress can be achieved in the shade of the Holy Quran. Good behavior can be developed in the shade of the Holy Quran. Enemies can be defeated in the shade of the Holy Quran. If we Muslim nations understand these realities appropriately and make efforts to achieve these goals, we will definitely benefit a lot.
Today Muslim nations are faced with numerous problems because they are dominated by people whose outlook on creation is materialistic. Their outlook on creation is based on a tendency to seek profit, an outlook that is completely devoid of spirituality. It is this materialistic outlook that has plunged the world and themselves into misery. When one's outlook on creation is materialistic, when one's outlook is based on preoccupation with profit, when one's outlook is devoid of spirituality and ethics, one will use military, political and intelligence power to shackle other nations. Western civilization, which has reached its peak over the past few centuries, has not had any other accomplishments. They plundered mankind. They shackled peoples. They used their knowledge to destroy civilizations of other nations and to spread their hegemony over their peoples, cultures and economies.
If you study the history of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries - the historical accounts that have been provided and written by westerners themselves, not by their opponents and enemies - you will realize what they did in East Asia, in India, in China, in Africa, in America. You will realize what they did to humanity and how they imposed sufferings on peoples and individuals, only to exploit them, only to take advantage of them. They made progress in science, they made progress in technology, they improved their industries to the highest levels, but they used everything they had achieved to make other nations wretched. Why? Because their civilization did not have a spiritual foundation. Their civilization was devoid of spirituality. And there will be no morality in the absence of spirituality. Their claims about ethics and morality are not true. They are completely false. Yes, there is morality, patience and rationality in their movies and in Hollywood productions, but such things are nonexistent in their real world. This is what happens when one drifts away from spirituality.
Currently, you see that in the East Asian country of Myanmar, thousands of Muslims are being killed because of prejudice and ignorance - assuming that the claims are true and that these killings are due to prejudice and ignorance, and not because of political matters - but those who falsely claim to support human rights keep silent. The same people who sympathize with animals, the same people who magnify every problem that exists in countries which are not dependent on them, have been silent while innocent and defenseless men, women and children are being killed. They also make attempts at justification. This is how they support human rights, the kind of human rights which are independent from morality, spirituality and God. They say the people who are being killed are not the people of Myanmar. Let us assume that they are not the people of Myanmar - which is a lie and according to the reports I have received, they have been living in Myanmar for three, four hundred years. So what? Should they be killed because they are not the people of Myanmar? For many years, westerners - particularly, England - did the same things to the people of that country and the neighbor countries. They imposed as much suffering on the people as they could. Wherever they went, they did nothing but create corruption and cause destruction. "His aim everywhere is to spread mischief through the earth and destroy crops and cattle." [The Holy Quran, 2: 205] Yes, they introduced new products to the people in order to find new markets for their products, in order to boost their trade. Their civilization is isolated from spirituality and the Holy Quran.
Our goal is to establish a civilization that is based on spirituality, on God, on divine revelations, on divine teachings, on divine guidance. Today if Muslim nations - many of whom have thankfully awakened and risen up - manage to establish such a civilization, humanity will achieve happiness. This is the goal of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic. This is the kind of civilization that we are after. You dear youth should keep this in mind and consider it as the standard.
We need to make our actions Quranic and divine. We need to take action and follow this path, not just speak about it. Whenever you find a command, a recommendation or advice in the Holy Quran, try to establish it in your hearts and follow it as closely as you can in your actions. If all of us remain committed to this principle in our actions, our society will become Quranic.
Thankfully, in our society, there is a good movement for developing close familiarity with the Holy Quran. Memorizing the Holy Quran - which I have recommended before - is and should be spreading among our youth. We need to become familiar with the Holy Quran. We need to develop close familiarity with the Holy Quran. Once you have memorized the Holy Quran, you can have a better understanding of the meaning of the verses. When one understands the meaning of the verses, one can reflect on it. And when one reflects on the meaning of the verses, one can achieve spiritual knowledge and growth. Through developing close familiarity with the Holy Quran, one can achieve inner growth.
Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, do not isolate us from the Holy Quran. Dear God, make our society Quranic. Make us live and die by the Holy Quran. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, make the Holy Quran our intercessor on the Day of Judgment. Dear God, do not isolate us from the Holy Quran and from the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household - the two great gifts that the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) left among us. Dear God, make the Holy Quran satisfied with us. Make the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household and the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) satisfied with us. Dear God, make us successful in fulfilling our responsibilities. In this holy month of Ramadan, in these auspicious days and nights, bestow on us the blessing of serving You, the blessing of worshipping You, the blessing of getting closer to You.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings