Imam Khamenei

An interpretation of ‘Taqwa’ in Quran from the viewpoint of Imam Khamenei

There is a holy ayah which says, “Oh you who believe, fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may become pious” [The Holy Quran, 2: 183]. “That you may become pious” means hope. It means that there is hope that this will happen.

Well, in the case of Allah the Exalted, hope does not make sense because He is aware of all the secrets and everything in this world. Hope does not make sense. Therefore, the Ayah means that God has created the month of Ramadan – this divine sharia – to prepare the ground for the promotion of piety. And it is addressed to everyone. Piety should be promoted among all people. Therefore, the month of Ramadan is the month of promoting piety.

What does piety mean? According to the translations, which are correct, piety means showing fear or in common language, showing consideration. For example, they say that such and such a person shows consideration for another person. It means that you show consideration for such and such a person. “Fear” means this. Showing fear and showing consideration are the meanings of piety. “And fear Allah” [The Holy Quran, 2: 189]. It means that you should show consideration for God and fear Allah the Exalted.

In the great movement of human life, you have been shown a straight path which is filled with problems. Take the case of a piece of land which is filled with mines here and there. Then, they open a path and say that this is the safe path and that you should take it. This is the straight path. Showing consideration for God - “and fear Allah” - means taking care not to deviate from this straight path. You should not deviate from it lest you get stuck and face serious problems.

If you take this path, then you will reach good results. God has specified what these results are in numerous ayahs in the Holy Quran: “And fear Allah, that you may receive mercy” [49: 10]. This is about divine mercy. “And fear Allah. That you may prosper” [2: 189]. The Arabic word “Falah” means salvation. If there is piety, one will achieve salvation. “That you may be guided aright” [2: 53]. This has been repeated in certain ayahs. Piety leads to guidance. When you show piety, problems and dead ends will clear in front of you and the correct path will be shown to you.

If you show piety, you will achieve Furqan: “He will grant you a criterion to judge between right and wrong” [8: 29]. “Furqan” means the power to distinguish and to make decisions. This is very important. In all affairs of life, we need the power to distinguish the correct path from the incorrect one and the truth from evil. With piety, we can achieve Furqan and the power to distinguish. There is another point: “And for those who fear Allah, He prepares a way out” [65: 2]. The Arabic word “makhraj” means breaking dead ends. If there is piety, there will be no dead ends in your affairs.

In all aspects of life, if you have piety, show consideration to and fear Allah in the same way that has been mentioned, there will be no dead ends ahead of you.

Piety leads to insight as well. These are Quranic promises in the case of piety. “And whose word can be truer than Allah’s?” [4: 122]. No one can give promises as genuinely as Allah the Exalted. When Allah the Exalted promises something, it will definitely happen and there is no doubt about this.

In the Quran, after inviting people to show piety – from start to finish, we have been invited to show piety time and time again: we have been invited to this efficient and helpful truth – there is the talk of piety for those other than God as well.

I think this is in Sura al-Nahl: “And to Him is duty due always, then will you fear other than Allah” [16: 52]. It asks if we fear other than God. Well, what does “other than God” mean? Does it mean our fathers, our mothers? But piety for these individuals is good. Piety in the face of one’s religious brother is very good. This is not what it means by “other than God.” It means powers other than God and powers working against God.  

So, when we are committed to piety, we fear God’s power, but we do not fear powers other than God. “Not showing fear” means not showing consideration to them. This does not mean that we should not be careful about them. We should be careful, but we should not fear them. We should not think that our lives, our happiness and bliss, our future and our destiny are in their hands. This is a requirement for piety.

Notice that all these are ways for the victory of a nation. When there is piety in an Islamic Ummah and when they think and act like this, there will naturally be blossoming, progress, advancement, transcendence and improvement. In such circumstances, the ayah “to proclaim it over all religion” [48: 28] will materialize. Allah the Exalted has repeated this many times in the Quran.

 

Piety is vast in scope. In other words, deep in your hearts, you can show piety by not allowing various forms of lust and doubt about the truth to dominate you and by drifting away from selfish desires. These are the problems that we are faced with. Last night, there was a program on television about Imam (may God bestow paradise on him). Well, Imam was a hakim[a Wise man] in the true sense of the word. When he would talk, wisdom would emanate from his heart in a continuous manner. Of course, we were present in that meeting, but it is necessary to advise anyway. In that meeting, he said, “The month of Ramadan helps us distance ourselves from different kinds of lust, in particular spiritual lust.”

Spiritual lusts are more difficult. Seeking power and pursuing ambitions are samples of spiritual lust. When we try to impose ourselves and have authority in all arenas of life, this is an example of spiritual lust. As for worldly, materialistic and moral forms of lust, they are important in their own right. Piety begins from this point and it is extended to social affairs. In war, there is piety. In political activities, piety exists and makes sense as well. The same is true of economic activities. In these circumstances, the moves, words, actions, intentions and decisions of us officials of the country – who are in charge of different managerial positions – affect the fate of the people.

This is where piety matters! That is why I said that piety for us is more important than ordinary people. We should be careful and show piety. Government officials are subject to close relations with people’s rights. So, if they are impious, their rights will be trampled upon and then, there will be no time to make up for it. When we commit a personal wrongdoing and an act of oppression against ourselves, we repent, this way we make up for it, but when the people’s rights are trampled upon, how can you compensate for that?

May 14, 2019