Khamenei.ir

Imam Ali’s intriguing lifestyle as a ruler

The personal life and behavior of this great and powerful ruler with a vast and rich country at his disposal was like a poor person. He had only one set of clothes. His food was dry barley bread. He avoided all material pleasures in a way that he himself said to his companions, colleagues, and the politicians of his time, "I know that to adopt such a hard way of life is beyond you" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. He said to them that they cannot live such a life and he was right. No one can do this. It is really astonishing that the Commander of the Faithful's (a.s.) life during his government was like this. His house was modest. His lifestyle was like a poor and needy person. This was while he engaged in all these great tasks. The same is true of his social behavior, his administration of justice and his resistance for the sake of observing divine obligations. Any mind is really astonished in the face of such greatness and such power. What kind of person was he? This is different from his spiritual positions. This is his political behavior. How did politicians and rulers throughout the world live? How did the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) live? This is another important chapter which has been unique until today and which will be unique forever. The Commander of the Faithful's (a.s.) piety, his personal behavior and his act of worship when he was powerful are unique.

The most selfless and most sacrificing figure for Islam and Muslims

The sacrifices that the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) made for Islam, for religion, for saving the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) life, for preserving his religion and for the honor and greatness of the Islamic Ummah are jihadi acts and they are really beyond the capability of humanity. During his childhood, from the moment that he began to know the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) as his teacher, during the time he was raised by him, when he accepted Islam during his childhood, during the difficult thirteen-year era of his life in Makah, during the difficult event of migration to Madina, during the ten-year era of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) auspicious life in Madina and during all the wars, sacrifices and difficulties, this individual stood on the peak of sacrifice. He made the same sacrifices after the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) demise. The patience of the Commander of the Faithful was a sacrifice. His measures were a sacrifice. His cooperation was a sacrifice. His acceptance of caliphate was a sacrifice. The measures that he adopted during his short era of caliphate were sacrifices one after the other. The book of the sacrifices that the Commander of the Faithful (peace and greetings be upon him) made is a long and voluminous book for any reader and it really astonishes one. It is astonishing to see that an individual can offer - with firm determination - his life, his reputation, his capability and his whole existence in the way of God. Understanding this is beyond me and people like me. This is another chapter of the Commander of the Faithful's (a.s.) life which forms many long books.

Shias, Sunnis and non-Muslims admit incapability in grasping Imam Ali’s spiritual status

One chapter is the spiritual positions of the Commander of the Faithful including his monotheistic understanding, his act of worship, his closeness to God and his purity. These are things whose depth and truth are really beyond our reach. All outstanding ulama - including Shia and Sunni ulama and even non-Muslim scholars - have said that they are not able to understand this part of the Commander of the Faithful's (a.s.) personality. This part of his life catches everyone's eyes with its loftiness and enlightenment. They cannot understand the different dimensions of his life. This is one part of his life. When Ibn Abi al-Hadid, a Sunni and Mu'tazili scholar, narrates one of the sermons of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) - which is about monotheism - in his commentary on Nahjul Balaghah, he says, "Ibrahim al-Khalil al-Rahman should be proud of having such a son". Many prophets emerged from Ibrahim's descendants. However, he says this only about the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). He says, "Ibrahim al-Khalil al-Rahman should say to this son of his, ‘You made certain statements in your monotheism sermon about the Arabs' follies. I could not make such statements about Nabts' [a Bani Israel tribe] follies and I could not illustrate the same truths as you did'". Notice that the narrator is a Sunni and Mu'tazili scholar. This is one part and one chapter of the Commander of the Faithful's (a.s.) life and it has many unknown dimensions. This part of his life is really a deep ocean.

Leader Meets with People from Ilam Province

Leader Meets with Prime Minister of Pakistan

Leader: We Should Know That We Can

Leader Meets with Teachers

Leader's Speech in Meeting with Teachers

Leader Meets with Officials of Society of Midwifery

Leader Meets with Laborers of MAPNA Group

Strengthen your relationship with God

We should rely on Allah the Exalted and ask for His help in all tasks. We should trust divine assistance. When you ask Allah the Exalted to help you, all paths will open to you: "And for those who fear Allah, He always prepares a way out. And He provides for him from sources he could never imagine" [The Holy Quran, 65: 2-3]. The provision which has been referred to in this ayah and in other ayahs becomes available to us in different forms. Sometimes, an idea flashes through your mind and as a result, a path will open. This is divine provision. And during difficult times, a great hope is suddenly engendered into your heart. This is divine provision as well.

Leader's Speech in Meeting with Laborers of MAPNA Group

Leader's Speech in Meeting with Panegyrists

Leader's Speech in Meeting with Outstanding Women

A basic principle in analyzing women's rights: Equality is not tantamount to Justice

If we want our outlook towards the issue of women to be healthy, reasonable and precise, the first condition is that we should completely clear our minds of the statements that westerners make about women - about their employment, management and sexual equality. One of the greatest mistakes of western thoughts about the issues of women is this sexual equality. Justice is a legitimate concept, but equality is sometimes legitimate and sometimes illegitimate. Why should we separate an individual who has been built for a particular domain - in terms of one's natural make up, whether physical or emotional - from that particular domain and drag her towards another domain which Allah the Exalted has built for another make-up? Why should we do this? What reason do we have for doing so? What kind of sympathy is this? Why should women be entrusted with carrying out male tasks? What kind of honor is to have women carry out male tasks? I am sorry that sometimes women and ladies themselves show sensitivity over this issue. They ask, "What is our difference with men?" Well, there is no difference between men and women on many issues. Islam looks at men and women as human beings. There is no difference between men and women on the issue of humanity, spiritual positions and the many intellectual and scientific talents that they have. But they have two different molds. Each of these molds is shaped for a particular task. Of course, there are certain common tasks among them. Is it a service if we separate either of these two molds from their domain and put it in another domain? This is what westerners are doing. Many of their international conventions result from this outlook.

Women are best suited to solve women’s issues

The issue of women is an important issue. The best people who can follow up and solve this issue are women themselves. We do not suffer from a lack of educated, broad-minded, talented, literary and artistic women. Thankfully today, there are many such women in our country. As I mentioned before, we had never had such a large number of educated, knowledgeable and outstanding women in the history of our country, neither in seminary nor in academic environments. We had never had so many woman writers, poets and researchers in different fields of study. Fortunately today, we have such women thanks to the Islamic Republic. These things have been achieved in the shade of Islam, the Islamic Republic and Imam's (r.a.) enlightening outlook towards the issue of women. This was pointed out in the statements of the lady who delivered a speech as well. We had never enjoyed such a condition in our country. We should thank God for His blessings and we should ask Him to increase these blessings. We should thank Him for these blessings and the way to thank Him is what I pointed out in this meeting. We should look at the divine guidance and forget about the materialistic views which are promoted today by westerners and the Americans. They are very vile and they make extravagant claims. Besides, they have a propagandist outlook. If someone speaks against them, they launch a propagandist attack. But you should not pay attention to their propaganda and, by Allah's favor, you should move forward

Equity vs. equality: justice-based discrimination

The issue of women's employment is not among the main issues. Of course, we are not at all opposed to women's employment. I myself am not at all opposed to their employment and their management as long as it does not clash with these main issues. If there is a clash, then the main issues have a priority. Naturally, one of the tasks that should be carried out in this third area is that we should see what jobs are suitable for women's characteristics. There are some jobs which are not suitable for women's make-up. Therefore, women should not pursue such jobs. One of the tasks is that we should not impose on women those fields of study which lead to these jobs. Some people want to create uproar by saying that there is discrimination against women over the issue of universities, education and other such issues. Well, such discrimination is not bad in some areas. Discrimination is bad when it is against justice. Imagine that in a football team, you tell one player to play in attack, you tell another to play in defense and another to keep goal. Well, this is discrimination. If the player whose duty is to defend plays in attack, the team will naturally lose. If the forward is entrusted with goalkeeping - which is a task he does not know how to carry out - then, the team will naturally lose. This is discrimination, but it is justice-based. In such discrimination, you entrust different tasks to individuals. Therefore, we should see what fields of study are suitable for women by paying attention to the lofty goals that have been specified for them. We should prepare the ground for women to study such fields. We should not force them to study certain fields just because of their performance and their grade in the entrance exam. Such

Women should enjoy freedom to develop their talents

In my opinion, the main issue - or let us say, one of the main issues - is the issue of home and family. The basis of the issue is women's security and opportunities in the family environment and their home-making is for cultivating their talents. Nothing should prevent them from studying, reading, learning and writing. Of course, this is related to those women who are interested in such things. The ground should be prepared for them to carry out these tasks.

Women are not of secondary importance and are not servants

The typical image of women at home is the image of a creature of secondary importance who is responsible for rendering services to others. This image is shared by many people. Some people openly express it and some people do not, although they believe it in their hearts. This is the exact opposite of what Islam has mentioned. I have repeatedly quoted this well-known hadith: "Women are like flowers. They are not servants" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 31]. The Arabic word "ghahraman" means one's employee or servant. One example is: "He said to his ghahraman to do such and such a task" [Speaking in Arabic]. Another example is that a person who has many properties and lands orders his ghahraman to carry out such and such a task. This is the meaning of ghahraman. This hadith says that we should not think women are the servants of the house and that they should only do household chores. This is not the case. Well, notice that this is one of the several chapters about women: the issue of respecting women's work at home. They are not obligated to do household chores and their work can be bought. That is to say, they can receive money for the work that they do at home. These are the things which exist in Islam and Islamic fiqh. As the lady who delivered a speech in this meeting pointed out, our fiqh is really advanced and outstanding. Some people highlight some aspects of it and forget about the rest. Besides, they completely distort certain aspects of it in order to make it compatible with western deceitful and fallacious thoughts. We have witnessed this as well.

Women's health, security, tranquility and respect should be ensured in the family

Paying attention to the issue of family - particularly the issue of women's health, security, tranquility and respect in the family environment - is one of the main issues. We have a number of main issues. This is one of them. You should see what factors take away women's tranquility and peace of mind inside the family. You should try to remove these factors with legal ways and with promotional and different other methods. This is the basis of the issue. Women are a source of tranquility at home. They are a source of tranquility for men and children including girls and boys. If women themselves do not enjoy psychological tranquility, they cannot share their tranquility with their family. A woman who is humiliated, insulted and pressured because of her job cannot be the lady of the house. She cannot be the manager of the family. This is while women are, in fact, managers of the family. This is the main issue. This is one of the main issues which has not received enough attention in our living environments - whether in the past or in the present time. This issue should receive enough attention.

We should clear our minds of Western approach on the issue of women

Westerners misunderstood the issue of women. They acted in the wrong way and they promoted this misunderstanding and these wrong, deviant and deadly actions throughout the world like common currency in a country. Besides, their propaganda apparatus, which is very broad in scope, does not allow those individuals who have different opinions from theirs to express them. If you want to find a correct solution on the issue of women and accompany it with its major requirements and if you want to move forward and achieve results in the long run, you should clear your minds of western thoughts about the issue of women. I am not saying that we should be uninformed about their ideas. This is not what I am saying. We are not advocates of ignorance. I myself am an advocate of knowledge and familiarity, but we should completely reject the authority of these thoughts and ideas. Western thoughts and opinions on the issue of women cannot be a source of happiness and guidance for human societies at all. First, their thoughts are based on materialistic and non-divine epistemology. Well, this is wrong. Any knowledge-based and intellectual school of thought which is based on materialistic understanding and belief is naturally wrong. The outlook towards the truths of creation should be known, understood and followed up together with the outlook towards divine epistemology, belief in the existence and power of God and divine presence and authority. Therefore, because the basis and root of western thoughts are materialistic, they are wrong.

Oppressing women still exists in the so-called civilized societies

No one should think that the issue of oppressing women is particular to backward or, say, savage societies. This is not the case. If today's so-called civilized societies do not oppress women more than other societies, they do not definitely oppress them less. Well, these are important issues which should be attended to and worked on.

Willpower, firm determination and patience of some women makes everyone humble

Besides, the emergence of the completely outstanding identity and the independent character of Iranian women in the arena of jihadi activities - such as the Sacred Defense Era and its aftermath until today - makes everyone humble. We have had so many wives of martyrs and disabled war veterans, so many mothers of martyrs and so many relatives of those people who laid down their lives in the way of God. The strong willpower, firm determination and patience of these women make everyone humble. I really have a sense of humility whenever I meet with these outstanding women. I have many meetings with the mothers and wives of martyrs and disabled war veterans. When a self-sacrificing lady spends her entire life managing and improving the life of a disabled war veteran for the sake of God, this is not a minor achievement. It is easy to say this, but it is very difficult to do it. A mother who has offered two, three, four martyrs in the way of God and who has stood firm despite this, advises us to stand firm as well. One really feels humility in the face of such greatness. These are the realities about the women of our society which are very glorious and important realities. Well, this is thankfully the bright and shining part of the issue of women in our country.

The post-Revolution’s progress of Iranian women has been unprecedented

Today, when we take a look, we see that the name of our women have been written on many books including scientific, research-based, historical, literature, political and artistic books. The writings of our women - whether articles or books - are among the best writings in the Islamic Republic today. This is really a source of honor and it is unprecedented in our history.

Modesty: A sign of respect for men and women

In Western outlook, women are a means for satisfying lust. This is undeniable. If someone makes this claim, some people may create uproar. They may say, "No, this is not the case". However, when one takes a look at their lives, one sees that this is the dominant outlook. In social environments, the more women appear in an immodest way, the more appropriate it will be. They do not have the same opinion about men. In official meetings, men should dress up. They should wear ties and suits. They should dress formally on such occasions. But in these formal meetings, women should appear in a different way. This has no other philosophy and reason except that women should entertain men's lustful eyes. Today, the Western world is like this. It is practically the greatest oppression which the Western world shows towards women.

Jimmy Carter: Scores of girls are sold as slaves in U.S.

I am not after finding newspaper clippings. But it was yesterday or the day before yesterday that I found something in a newspaper. I found it to be a very important writing. I have brought it to this meeting to read it for you. A book written by Jimmy Carter - the former president of America - has been published which is named "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, And Power". Jimmy Carter says in this book, "Every year, 100,000 girls are sold as slaves in America where the owner of a brothel can buy girls - who are usually Latin American or African - at only 1000 dollars". He also refers to the rapes which occur in colleges where only one case out of 25 cases is reported. He goes on to say that only one percent of rapists are put to trial in the army. One cries when one reads such things. We can see many such writings in newspapers. I see such writings as well, but I never base my opinions on them. However, these are realities. Jimmy Carter is a well-known personality after all and this is his book. What kind of situation is this? What kind of respect - towards women - is this? A well-known and famous Western writer writes a novel for dignifying prostitution. This novel has been translated in Persian as well. This book points out how sex dealers go to Latin-American countries and take girls with them to sell them in such centers. They do this by giving the girls empty promises. Of course, this is related to Europe, not America. This book and this novel tries to pretend that prostitution is a dignified job. This is the Western culture towards women. This is their respect towards women.

Leader Meets with President of Azerbaijan

Leader Meets with Director, Managers and Experts of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran

Nuclear issue is a plot to create intl environment against Iran

Another plot the camp of arrogance has used against the Islamic Republic is to create an international environment against the Islamic Republic by presenting reasons that have a crass appeal, further stating: "The nuclear issue is an example of this, through which they tried to create an environment against the Islamic Republic and to spread lies. American officials bring up the issue of nuclear weapons whenever they address the nuclear issue. This is while they themselves know that not having nuclear weapons is the definite policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Their goal is to preserve the international environment against Iran with this excuse. This was why there was an agreement with the new plan of the administration for the nuclear issue. The purpose of this agreement was to remove the international environment against Iran, to seize the initiative from the other side and to reveal the truth for public opinion in the world

Announcing overall healthcare policies

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei, has outlined overall healthcare policies as part of the implementation of Clause 1 of Article 110 of the Iranian Constitution. This announcement was issued after consultations with the country’s Expediency Discernment Council. The text of the overall healthcare policies, which has been communicated to the heads of Iran’s three executive branches and the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, is as follows: