imam

5 constituents of Imam Khomeini's logic of Resistance explained by Ayatollah Khamenei

Imam Khomeini (r.a.) chose the path of resistance. The important point is that he did not choose it out of excitement and transient feelings. The choice of resistance by Imam has a solid logical source of support.

It is a reasonable, scientific and of course, religious source of support. Behind the steadfastness and resistance of Imam, there stands logic. Now, I wish to discuss a few constituents of this logic:

One constituent of this logic is that resistance is a natural reaction that every liberated and honorable nation produces in the face of imposition and bullying. No other reason is required. Every nation that attaches value to its honor, identity and human nature shows resistance and steadfastness when they want to impose something on it. This is a plausible and convincing reason in its own right. This is one constituent.

The second constituent is that resistance, unlike surrender, leads to the retreat of the enemy. When the enemy bullies you, if you take a step back, he will undoubtedly advance. The way to stop him from advancing is to resist. Showing steadfastness and resistance in the face of the enemy’s greed, extortion and blackmail is the way to prevent him from advancing. So resistance is a wise course of action.

We ourselves are like this. Our experience in the Islamic Republic shows the same thing. I have many examples in my mind, but I do not want to get into details and to cite the examples. Generally speaking, whenever we showed steadfastness and resistance, we managed to move forward and whenever we surrendered and moved according to the whims of the other side, we received a blow. There are clear examples in this regard. Intelligent and well-informed individuals can easily find the examples in the forty-year life of the Islamic Republic. This was another part of that logic.

The third constituent of the logic of resistance is what I said in the same gathering one or two years ago: there is a price for resistance and it will not come cheap, however the price of surrendering to the enemy is higher than that of resistance! When you surrender to the enemy, you have to pay a price for that. The Pahlavi regime had surrendered to the US. It occurred many times that they were unhappy and dissatisfied, but they were subservient to them because they were intimidated by the US. The regime used to give them money and it used to be blackmailed and humiliated by them.

Today, the Saudi government is like this. They give them money, they give them their dollars, they adopt positions according to the wishes of the US and they are insulted at the same time. They are described as a “dairy cow.” So, the price that one pays for compromising, surrendering and not resisting is much more than the price that one pays for resisting! It has both a worldly and otherworldly price [audience chant, “no compromise, no surrender, battle against America”]. Please pay attention. I am not speaking about a battle, rather I am speaking about resistance. The discussion about “battle” is a separate discussion. I am speaking about showing steadfastness, resisting and refusing to retreat. Pay careful attention.

The forth element and constituent of the logic of resistance founded by our magnanimous Imam is related to the Quranic part of the divine promise. Allah the Exalted has promised in numerous ayahs of the Quran that the advocates of the truth will be the ultimate victors. There are numerous ayahs which confirm this. They might have to make some sacrifice, but they will not suffer defeat at the end. They will be victors on this scene. They will make some sacrifice but they will not be frustrated.

I wish to cite two, three examples from the Quran in this regard. The dear youth who are interested in the Quran should refer to and deliberate on them: “Or do they intend a plot? But those who defy Allah are themselves involved in a plot.” [52: 42] They think that they are preparing the ground for plotting against the front of the truth and resistance, but they do not know that there is a plot being hatched against them on the basis of divine nature and tradition. Another ayah says, “And We wished to be Gracious to those who were being oppressed in the land.” [28: 5] Another ayah says, “If you aid the cause of Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly.” [47: 7] There is another ayah, “Allah will certainly aid those who aid his cause.” [22: 40]

Numerous ayahs in the Quran all give this promise to those who are on the path of resistance. This is another part of the logic. One part of the strong argument and logic of Imam stems from these ayahs. There are tens of ayahs in the Holy Quran, but I cited only three, four ayahs in this regard.

The fifth point that should be considered for the logic of resistance, as Imam did so – we too know, understand and consider it – is that resistance is a feasible course of action. This is the exact opposite of the wrong notion that some people have. Such individuals say, “It is of no use. How do you want to resist? The other side is a thug and bully. He is strong.”

This is a grave mistake. The grave mistake is thinking that it is not possible to resist and to stand up against global bullies. I wish to explain this a little more because it is an important matter which is related to our affairs. In the present time, we have some people wearing the clothes of intellectuality and the like who suggest in the press, in their books, in their speeches here and there that it is no use challenging them, that it is not possible to stand up against them and that we should accept their terms. The gist of their statements is that we should let them ride us, thus relieving ourselves of all the problems. I will tell you that the outlook of “we cannot” results from the same error in calculation which I have mentioned before. This is an error of calculation.

Such errors of calculation in every matter result from failing to correctly see the different dimensions of a matter. When the issue is about a confrontation – an encounter between two fronts – the error of calculation stems from failing to gain a correct understanding about our own front and that of the other side. When we fail to gain a correct understanding, we will make a mistake in our calculations. However, if we understand it correctly, our calculations will be different. I will tell you that in our calculations on the issue of resistance against global bullies, we should correctly understand the facts about these bullies and the facts about ourselves. One of these facts is our power of resistance.

 

 

June 4, 2019