The following is the full text of the speech delivered on May 15, 2007 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the academics of Khorasan province. The meeting was held at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
For many reasons, this meeting is one of the sweetest and most interesting meetings for me. First, this is because of the presence of scholars and scientists of this city and province which has been long known for promoting knowledge and building knowledgeable personalities and second, it is because of the memorable experiences that I had with these groups of academic personalities. I have had a close friendship with some of the dear people who are present in this meeting. We cooperated with one another in a very friendly way.
For example, Dr. Farhoodi and I were prison mates and I have had many exciting meetings with some of the scientific personalities of this university during difficult times. This meeting evokes many memories for me. Third, this is one of the sweetest meetings for me because I witness that our youth have made certain achievements in scientific arenas. Thanks to the professorship of these youth, today our universities can raise the flag of honor.
Thankfully, many of those youth who used to study in that era of suppression, darkness and pressure while they had many problems are among professors, torchbearers of knowledge and innovators in the area of knowledge today. Some of them are present among you and some of them are in Tehran and other cities. This is another reason why this meeting is valuable and dear to me.
In my opinion, the statements that were made in this meeting were good and valuable statements. I would like to say a few things about these friends' statements. You are right about the issue of research budget. There is a huge gap between what we need in the area of research budget and what is available to us in this regard. I have offered some pieces of advice in this regard and I have placed great emphasis on it. Apart from public meetings, I have said to officials in private meetings too that they should follow up this issue.
Dr. Zahedi - the honorable Minister - is present in this meeting. He should definitely follow this task in the administration and he should achieve results. Today, the issue of research is not a mere formality for us. Rather, it is a vital issue. I do not know if all the decision-makers of the country are fully aware of the depth of this issue, but I firmly believe that today, the issue of scientific research is one of our two, three main and fundamental tasks for preserving our identity, our existence, our independence and our future.
There is no doubt about this. It should be taken very seriously. It is much more important than many of our tasks. Although it does not seemingly produce results in the short run and although the effects are not visible, it is very important.
On the issue of Islamizing universities, I believe that no matter how hard we work on it, it is not enough. What I once said about the issue of universities and Islamizing them is that we expect the universities of the country - the centers of knowledge in the country - to do something to make those youth who are not religious and who do not have firm religious beliefs get out of universities while they are deeply pious and committed to religious beliefs and morality.
Like Islamic seminaries, this is what we expect universities to do. Now, if from the beginning, some people laid the foundation of the universities of our country in a way that universities are supposed to be non-religious and anti-region, this is another issue. But the truth of the issue is not this. Knowledge is accompanied by religion. If everyone behaves towards knowledge in an honest way, religious faith grows in them. Knowledge is in line with moral virtues and with the sense of commitment. This is the nature of universities. Of course, as was mentioned in this meeting, this has not been achieved yet.
But the truth of the issue is that today our universities have an Islamic and religious appearance. In which era did we have so many religious, committed, enthusiastic, patriotic and sincere professors who worshiped religion and God? Have we ever had so many university professors? Have we ever had so many university professors who had such a sense of commitment? In which era of the history of the universities of the country - during the past 60, 70 years - did we have so many committed students who were interested in religion and who were committed to moral and religious principles? We have moved forward in this area as well. Of course, it is evident that, as we said before, we are not satisfied. However, we thank God for what has been already achieved and we do not deny this divine blessing.
The issue of the need of scientific production for developing research and its contradictions with governmental monopolies and the exclusive rights of different companies is a true concern. We agree with this and we hope that this problem can be solved by implementing the policies specified in the Article 44 of the Constitution which were announced last year. Basically, the essence of entering the arena of interpreting Article 44 , paying attention to its clause and the efforts that were made in this regard - I myself entered this arena - was because of a number of specific points including this one.
Of course, the concern that our old friend expressed is legitimate. He said, "Implementing Article 44 in the wrong way may lead to duplication and the like. By Allah's favor, if what we said, wanted and pursued is implemented, such extremism will not happen. These policies should be implemented the way it has been specified and so it shall be done God willing. A number of friends issued some warnings in this regard. I have written them down and by Allah's favor, I will follow them up.
After this meeting, I will have a meeting with students and I will expand on this issue. My purpose of holding this meeting was to listen to the statements of university professors, but what I want to discuss in this meeting is a number of important issues that I will address briefly.
One issue is that today, the issue of knowledge is a vital issue for our country and knowledge is dependent on you academic personalities to a great extent. Today, universities should feel that the country is at a turning point. Two different movements of universities will create two distinct and opposing paths. If we choose the first movement, we will be moving in a specific direction and if we choose the second one, we will be moving in the opposite direction. So, we are at such a sensitive turning point.
Today, global interactions revolve around power. As you can see, global powers bully others and speak in an unreasonable and irrational way by relying on their power. The crime of many average and weak governments is that they easily accept their bullying. Therefore, bullying on the basis of power has become common practice. On the issue of nuclear energy, on the issue of regional events and on different political issues, when we speak to governments, they say, "What should we do? This is what America says".
This means that what America says is authoritative to them. Just because America is powerful, there is no other way. This power - which has become the pivot of all international movements today - is dependent on knowledge. Its wealth, its propaganda capabilities and its international position originate from knowledge as well. It is knowledge that helps a country achieve power. Knowledge is so important for countries.
It is clear that we do not want to take the path that others took during 200 years in 20 years. Our claim is not that we want to catch up with a country that has been making scientific efforts for 200 years and that has been benefitting from the scientific products that other countries had manufactured 200 years before that. This is not what we claim, but our claim is that we should not waste time.
If Iran is supposed to have a future and if these people are supposed to continue the path of independence, dignity and self-reliance which they have begun to take, this is not possible except if they become knowledgeable. They should become knowledgeable and knowledge should make progress in this country. Imported knowledge is not knowledge in the real sense of the word. It is domestic knowledge that helps us achieve power.
This is the reason why I brought up the issue of knowledge production and crossing the boundaries of knowledge. You should take this issue seriously. Islamic seminaries and universities should both play a specific role in this regard. Today, university professors and managers in charge of universities should take such an outlook towards universities.
The kind of teaching that is done in haste, with lack of energy and attention and with indifference towards the lesson, students and classroom is not appropriate for our universities in the present time. I agree with what the friends in this meeting said. We should preserve experienced, veteran and valuable teachers in universities and we should persist in doing this. However, I stress that we should benefit from young and motivated professors as well. We should not have a shortage of university professors in any area.
Today, the path is open for this. Fortunately, graduate students have good and high ranks and they are talented. They can play a role in teaching. Old directives and edicts are not like Quranic ayahs that cannot be changed. You should look for opportunities and turn universities into active and dynamic arenas. You should turn universities into a public majlis which is constantly engaging in discussions and work. You should do this by helping students and teachers interact with one another and by helping university professors pursue their activities, study and have access to scientific centers, information and journals. Fortunately, with the development of the Internet and the like, this has become much easier compared to the past. You should build students and help them grow. This is one point.
Another point is that research centers and universities - researchers and university professors - responded positively to the issue of knowledge production and the software movement that we had brought up. I am happy with this, but it has not been taken seriously on the part of students and youth. This is while we should enormously benefit from the talents and capabilities of youth. This is university professors' job.
If students - particularly graduate students - are guided by their professors, they can really overtake their professors in the area of scientific innovation. Sometimes, a university professor provides his student with scientific guidance and as a result, this student overtakes his professor. Such cases have happened frequently. You should achieve this goal.
Another point is that apparently, universities - unlike Islamic seminaries - have not been based from the beginning on deep understanding and on preferring depth to memorization. Because I am not an academic personality and because I have not grown in an academic environment, I cannot express an expert opinion on this issue, but I have heard this from my academic friends many times. This is a flaw.
In Islamic seminaries, memorization is not important for studious clergy - not those clergy who do not study carefully. Rather, what is important to them is understanding the subject and from a specific level, they should become an expert as well as understanding the subject. Your doctorate degrees have the same purpose. Their purpose is to help you become an expert. You should strengthen in students the spirit of inquisitiveness, interest in research, diligence, ambition and the like.
In our lessons and in Islamic seminaries, there are sometimes 500, 1000 listeners and students in a classroom. Sometimes, one student catches the attention of the professor and other students by criticizing the professor. It is not at all common in Islamic seminaries for the professor to become annoyed at this criticism. And the students do not express their anger by saying, "Our time has been wasted".
This is not the case in Islamic seminaries. Such criticisms are common practice in Islamic seminaries. Making criticisms is the right of each and every clergyman and they exercise this right. Professors too do not become annoyed. On the contrary, they are happy at the existence of such critics in the classroom.
For seminarian professors, it is an honor to witness the existence of critical students. This should be promoted in universities as well. That is to say, criticizing professors, asking questions and interest in research should be promoted in universities and this is your responsibility.
Another issue is the issue of the plan of the scientific movement of the country which I brought up last year. Of course, I do not expect Ferdowsi University of Mashhad to do this, but I expect this old and deep-rooted university to play a part in this task. You should think about this. We need the comprehensive scientific plan for the scientific progress of the country. What do we want to research about? What do we want to acquire? How are these dispersed scientific components going to be connected to one another? Where can we benefit from the interconnection of these components for the future and progress of the country?
These are not possible except with a scientific plan. Of course, the scientific plan is not a permanent plan. Rather, it is a short and temporary one. It is possible that it takes a specific form at this point in time and that it changes in 10 years' time. However, this scientific plan is necessary. I expect your university - whether the medical department or the Ferdowsi University in general - to help this task to be turned into a public request among university professors, researchers, scholars and our academic ulama. This is another issue.
Another issue is that, as I pointed out, there are certain tasks - in the area of building students - that fall on the shoulders of university professors and managers in charge of universities. This is not only addressed to university professors. Managers too are addressed by this statement. You should really include this in your plans. These tasks include educational workshops, scientific camps, rewarding scientific innovations and asking the industrial sector to employ those students who are working on a project at a university. This means the relationship between universities and industries.
This has been one of the most significant slogans that I have been chanting since three, four years ago. Fortunately, a special deputy, named the President's deputy in charge of scientific affairs, has been established in this administration. This deputy is one of the achievements of this administration and interestingly, one of your fellow [Mashhadi] citizens is working in it. In my opinion, this deputy is an auspicious deputy and it can carry out very important and good tasks. With the help of the deputy, our two ministers - both in the Council of Cultural Revolution and in the administration - should pursue the matter so that managers can prepare the ground for this to happen.
I do not want to take the time of you dear friends and dear brothers and sisters. I am heading for the next meeting, but I would like to repeat the first piece of advice: today, the role of universities is a determining role. Although it may not be determining in the present time, it will be determining for the future of the country.
Today, the decision and determination of academic personalities is like the role of a switchman who completely separates railways from each other. In the present time, you are switchmen. With the determination that you are showing in the present time, you can switch the railway of the people of Iran to the track of welfare, dignity, progress and complete independence and God forbid, you can also act otherwise and produce another result with lack of dynamism and with refusal to meet today's needs.
Dear God, help us be more familiar with our heavy responsibilities in the present time. Dear God, bestow Your kindness, blessings and special guidance on our scientific and academic environments. Dear God, bestow your rewards on all those people who make efforts on this path.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings