Justice is an absolute value and holds an outstanding position in the Islamic Revolution
In our Islamic Revolution - which was a religious movement - justice has naturally enjoyed a prominent position. This prominent position can be seen in our popular slogans, in the Constitution, in the statements of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) and in our political discourse on different occasions that have been introduced by the Islamic Republic. For example, during the Sacred Defense Era, when they used to pressure us and shout peace slogans in order to force the Islamic Republic out of the arena, the Islamic Republic introduced the slogan of "fair peace". After all, peace is not an absolute value. It is a relative value. Peace is good in certain cases. But in certain other cases, war is good and peace is bad. But the same is not true of justice. Justice is an absolute value. That is to say, there is no situation in which justice can be bad. Justice has been the top concern of the Islamic Republic since the beginning of the Revolution. [May 17, 2011]
The world’s transgressors and aggressors are enraged by the Islamic Republic’s slogan on justice-seeking
The Islamic Republic has definitely made some enemies for itself by declaring its determination to seek international justice as its ideal. All those who believe in the efficacy of hegemony, coercion, and aggression in international relations are opposed to and enraged by the Islamic Republic's shout for justice. Similarly, our shout for national independence makes some enemies deploy their forces against us. Faced with a nation that declares independence and tries to stop the foreign agents from plundering the country, all monopolists, all those who seek to dominate the world, and all those who used to plunder the resources of this country naturally want to deploy their forces against our nation. [May 3, 2008]
The conformity of the Revolution with all the justice-seekers and truth-seekers of the world
Another message of the Revolution is "justice." Anywhere in the world where there is a call for justice, this Revolution has found that place to be a part of itself, from itself and in harmony with itself. And this Revolution has accompanied the justice-seekers and truth-seekers of the world. Many justice-seekers, freedom-seekers, and fighters against oppression and discrimination in the East, the West and the five continents of the world say, "We have learned this lesson from your Revolution," and they are right. This is a message in itself, the message of justice-seeking.
Justice without spirituality will deviate from its correct path
If we separated justice from spirituality - that is to say, if we established a kind of justice that is not accompanied by spirituality - we would not have true justice. The kind of justice that is not accompanied by spirituality and attention to spiritual aspects of creation will only result in hypocrisy, lies, deviation and pretension, just like in communist systems whose slogan was justice. We used to promote the slogan of justice as well as freedom, but freedom was not at all among their slogans. All the countries in which communist movements had achieved victory in one way or another - for example, through a revolution or a coup d'etat - had announced that justice was their main slogan. However, in reality, their lives did not at all exhibit justice, rather their lives exhibited the opposite of justice. Those who came to power in the name of labor movements were in fact the same aristocrats of overthrown taghuti regimes. There was no difference between them. This was the way leaders of socialist countries used to live. When I was president, I witnessed the living conditions of the lower classes in a number of socialist countries. In those countries, there was absolutely no trace of what is commonly considered justice. A new aristocratic class had taken over in those countries and had established their own partisan and political standards. They had seized all the facilities while the people were living in poverty and misery. These conditions could be witnessed even in top socialist countries. Therefore, such pursuit of justice will be short-lived, deviated, hypocritical and fake. [Aug 30, 2005]
Justice, the unwavering ideal of the Revolution
What a revolution does, in the beginning, is to lay out ideals. It lays out ideals. Of course, lofty ideals are not changeable. Tools and instruments are changeable. Daily developments are changeable, but those principles that form the main ideals are not changeable. From the beginning of creation until today, justice has been an ideal. There has never been a time when justice stopped being an ideal. [Sep 16, 2015]
The Qur’an considers the administration of justice to be the main issue and goal of the prophets
The Revolution never comes to an end: the revolution continues, and it will never stop. There is a need for change and development. The [Arabic] term "Sirurat" means turning something into a constant: constant development. On the path of the Revolution, there is a constant development that will gradually implement those great aspirations and lofty values and ideals. Well, what are these great ideals? I would like to mention six or seven of these great ideals. Of course, these are not the only ones. The administration of justice, the rejection of discrimination and class differences, are among our great aspirations as well. In the Quran, the administration of justice has been specified as the main goal of the prophets: "That man may stand forth in justice," [57: 25]. We, too, wish to follow the path of the prophets (pbut). We are taking the path of Islam and the prophets. Therefore, justice is definitely one of the most important, or perhaps it can be said to be the most important, ideals or values that we must pursue. However, justice is not administered with demagoguery: justice is a difficult thing to administer. The administration of justice is one of the most difficult tasks within the country. [May 28, 2018]
The Revolution actualized aspects of justice that were previously impossible
Justice must manifest itself in its true sense in society. And this is possible in the same way that the Islamic Revolution and the system of the Islamic Republic actualized aspects of justice that were considered to be impossible at the time when they were implemented. One day it was impossible to find one’s way into positions in the political centers of our country for those who were not affiliated with the US. Before that, it was impossible for those who were not affiliated with Britain, those who were not affiliated with the corrupt powers, and those who were not affiliated with the corrupt court of the Shah. Ordinary people had no role. No one could imagine that they could have an impact on the constellation of politics and power in this country without this corruption and dependency. But today, everyone in this country sees that if they want and if they prepare the necessary conditions within themselves, they can reach the highest political positions of this system. There was a day when no one could conceive of social justice in this country. But today, a part of this has been actualized. So we can. With people’s determination, many things can be done.
The establishment of justice is not possible without fighting corruption and greed
We have come to promote justice and to eliminate discrimination. We have come to help our society to enjoy moral and spiritual blessings as well as other God-given blessings - and justice contains the most important God-given blessings. Of course, this does not mean that we should neglect living conditions of the people. Is this even possible? Basically, it is not possible to improve spirituality among people without improving their living conditions. It is not possible to achieve spiritual blessings while living a miserable worldly life. The reasons are clear, but I do not want to discuss them in this meeting. Both you and I know what these reasons are. We need to develop the world and the purpose of all the efforts that we are making is to develop the world. However, a developed world that is devoid of justice and spirituality is good for nothing. Let us assume that our rate of growth has increased and that our per capita income has increased by two, three times. In the absence of justice in society, this means that a major portion of this increased income belongs to a limited number of people and the majority of the people are still poor and have little to eat. This is not what we should do. This is not the responsibility that lies on our shoulders. Our responsibility is to consolidate justice in society and this is not possible except through fighting corruption and greedy and opportunistic people. Part of the work for establishing justice in society should be completed and managed by the executive branch. [Aug 27, 2003]
All activities that were aimed at benefiting the deprived classes were in the direction of justice
A lot of efforts have been made for the establishment of justice. From the beginning of the Revolution, all the innumerable efforts which were focused on helping underprivileged people - namely, distributing welfare, educational and medical facilities in different parts of the country - have all been steps towards the establishment of justice. These services have truly changed the conditions. Those who had seen the conditions of underprivileged people under the previous regime notice the difference. [Aug 30, 2005]
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