Ayatollah Khamenei referred to special traits and characteristics of Imam Ali (greetings be upon him), particularly to his spiritual and moral qualities and scientific knowledge. He said that Imam's noble qualities, great wisdom, scientific knowledge, proximity to the Almighty and the remembrance of Allah that governed all his deeds and words are not attainable or even understandable by the common people.
"However, Imam Ali (greetings be upon him) also had some other lofty traits and qualities that could set an example to follow for all human beings. It is because of these qualities that the Commander of the Faithful is so prominent in the history of mankind. It is also because of these noble characteristics that even those who do not believe in Islam or do not recognize his imamate hold him in high esteem and praise the grandeur of his character", Ayatollah Khamenei stated.
The Leader went on to say:
"Today that we have established an Islamic system, we should follow the model presented by Imam Ali (greetings be upon him) as far as we can, and our government executives shoulder a heavier responsibility in this regard. It is not enough to praise the Commander of the Faithful and express love and admiration for him, but what is more important is to follow his example in administering the Islamic government. Even if we cannot exactly follow his example, at least we should do our utmost to move in the direction that he has shown us."
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out:
"During the past 12 or 13 centuries in the Islamic world some rulers took power that claimed to follow the Holy Prophet. These rulers, who called themselves caliphs or successors of the Holy Prophet, included the Umayyid and Abbasid caliphs, who ruled for about five or six hundred years, the Fatimid caliphs who ruled in Egypt and North Africa for nearly a couple of hundred years, and later the Ottoman caliphs who ruled in Asia Minor until after World War I. Most of the present Arab countries were part of the Ottoman Empire.
"These caliphs all considered themselves to be successors of the Holy Prophet. This is what they claimed. But in reality their rule was far from similar to that of the Holy Prophet, as they followed in the footsteps and revived the traditions of the tyrannical dynasties. Therefore, the deeds of these caliphs were quite different from their words.
"What is a person called who says one thing and does another? He is called a hypocrite! Thus, these caliphs were indeed hypocrites.
"Now are we also going to act like these caliphs?! What we are saying is that we aim to follow the example set by Imam Ali (greetings be upon him) and the way he ruled. But in practice are we going to act like those who are opposed to the thought, logic and method of government of Imam Ali (greetings be upon him)?! We should try to match our deeds to our words.
"Thus, first we should try to acquire a sound knowledge of the government that was introduced by the Commander of the Faithful, and then we should follow that example. This kind of government has certain features and characteristics, and I will refer to some of these features.
"The first characteristic of this government is compliance with and the enforcement of the divine religion. A government that does not try to enforce the divine religion is not in line with the government of Imam Ali (greetings be upon him). This feature was the basis of all other qualities and characteristics of the Commander of the Faithful and his government. His justice and his respect for democracy and rights of people also stemmed from this feature.
"The second characteristic of the government of the Commander of the Faithful was justice, absolute justice. In other words, no personal or political expediency could prevent him from administering justice. Among his words is, ‘I do not want the victory that is achieved through injustice.' How meaningful and brilliant this statement is! In other words, the Commander of the Faithful preferred defeat to the victory that could be achieved through injustice and oppression!
"Imam Ali (greetings be upon him) dispensed justice to everybody. He believed in economic, political, social and moral justice for all. He also strongly opposed discrimination, as he considered discrimination the worst kind of injustice.
"Another special feature of the government of Imam Ali (greetings be upon him) was virtue and piety. The Nahj-ul-Balaghah, from beginning to end, urges and places great emphasis on piety and virtue. That is because if a person is not pious and virtuous, he will not be able to follow or enforce the divine religion."
Leader of the Islamic Republic further stated:
"Today, the Islamic Republic should try to adopt the features and characteristics of the government of Imam Ali (greetings be upon him). The people, for their part, should also demand that the divine religion be enforced in society. Otherwise, if we try to adopt the political concepts and principles of the governments in the West or in the East, we will become like the Ottoman, Umayyid or Abbasid caliphs, as they also imitated the rule of the kings and Kaisers in the East and the West.
"Thus, is it right for the Islamic Republic to follow the Western capitalism, a system which is run by the capitalists and conglomerates and the most oppressive and tyrannical figures in the world? If we do so, it will be sheer hypocrisy, since we have raised the banner of Islam in this country."
Ayatollah Khamenei also noted:
"Today, in our Islamic system, all officials and executives, including the Leader, the President, the ministers, the Judiciary officials and the Majlis deputies, should make every effort to enforce the divine religion, administer justice, eliminate discrimination, especially discrimination in the enforcement of rules and regulations, pay the most attention to the deprived and underprivileged strata - as the Commander of the Faithful did, and observe virtue and piety in their personal and public life. These are the duties that all of us should carry out. Whether or not other countries like this kind of government is not our criterion. This is the direction in which we should proceed."
Further in his remarks, the Leader stated:
"It is true that administering justice and equity is not so easy, but it should be our main objective, since what eliminates poverty, discrimination and corruption from society and ensures public welfare and prosperity is justice and equity."
Referring to the false claims made by certain powers, Ayatollah Khamenei noted:
"Some oppressive world powers claim to support human rights, but in practice they commit the ugliest crimes against humanity. Right now, these powers are threatening Iraq with military aggression on the pretext that the Iraqi regime has used chemical weapons in the past, but the fact is that Iraq was provided with chemical weapons and encouraged to use them by these powers themselves!
"At the time when Iraq used chemical weapons, these powers turned a blind eye to the use of these weapons by the Iraqi regime and raised no objections! Considering this background, are these powers really in favor of justice and human rights? Do they really care about humanity?
"These powers are presently trying to plunge the world into war and bloodshed on the pretext of fighting terrorism. But at the same time the most heinous acts of terrorism are being committed by the Zionist regime against the innocent and defenseless Palestinian people in the holy land of Palestine. These powers not only voice no objections to the Zionist atrocities, but also support and encourage these acts of terrorism! Despite this reality, these powers claim to advocate democracy, liberalism, freedom and human rights! Is this anything but sheer hypocrisy?
"Today, humanity is suffering from blatant discrimination. Mankind is fed up with flagrant oppression and injustice, for which powerful countries, the same powers that claim to support human rights, are responsible! This is utter hypocrisy."
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader stated:
"An Islamic system that aims to follow the example set by the Commander of the Faithful should try to adopt the principles and qualities of the government of Imam Ali (greetings be upon him) as far as it can. I believe we have been able to adopt some of these principles and characteristics and introduce them to the world within our capacity. This is the main reason for the attraction of the Islamic Republic and its founder, Imam Khomeini, in the eyes of nations.
"However, there is negative propaganda against our Islamic system, and certain world powers are using every pressure lever to prevent us from enforcing the divine religion in our society and to force us to abandon our Islamic and revolutionary principles, thus paving the way for the global dictatorship and hegemony of the United States and its allies. "Fortunately, the Iranian people, particularly our devout and resolute youngsters, have strongly resisted all this pressure and will continue to do so. Therefore, these powers will not be able to force us to submit to their demands through their hostile measures."
In conclusion, Ayatollah Khamenei told the audience:
"I pray to Almighty Allah to help our great nation achieve their Islamic and revolutionary objectives and help our government get steadily closer in traits, qualities and deeds to the government of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (greetings be upon him)."