The following is the full text of a speech delivered on May 1, 2005 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with clergy of Kerman province.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I am thankful to Allah the Exalted who gave me this opportunity to be among the honorable religious scholars and esteemed seminarians and luminaries of Kerman Province and to reminisce about my memories about Kerman Seminary and the clerics of Kerman. Some of these memories go back to more than forty years ago.
Today's meeting is a friendly meeting. Mr. Ja'fari made this meeting a little formal with his eloquent and formal comments, but the meeting is still friendly and informal. There were various things in the meeting, including recitations from the Holy Quran, the song, the speech by Mr. Ja'fari and the good poetry that was recited. The only problem with the poetry was that it was about me and if it did not suffer from this flaw, it would definitely be praiseworthy for its literary quality, especially some of the lines.
The recitation of the Holy Quran was also beautiful. There are very few people among seminarians who can recite the Holy Quran appropriately and in a good voice. Both his voice was good and his recitation was correct and accurate. The song that was performed was also good.
I would like to advise our dear youth that if they want to sing - which is very good because songs can be a very good tool for promotion of religious ideas and they are popular among the youth and teenagers - they should try to make the content rich by drawing on the ayahs, narrations and noble ideas about the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). Of course, certain lines of the song were exactly like this and the content was good, but you should definitely try to improve your songs beyond the common songs that are popular among the youth. The content must be powerful and Islamic and it must refer to the justice that will be promoted by the Imam of the Age (a.s.). The content must refer to humanity's and the creation's need for his existence, to the situation that the world and humanity are currently suffering from in the world. The hope and expectation is that the conditions of humanity will be restored to what is right and natural, namely the path of justice and progress towards monotheism. In any case, this meeting has been a very good meeting.
I became familiar with Kerman Islamic Seminary many years ago. In the year 1342, I visited Masumiyyeh School, which was also mentioned by Mr. Ja'fari. I stayed with Mr. Hojjati for three days, who was living here at that time. I used to travel to Zahedan to deliver religious speeches in the month of Ramadan. I stayed in Kerman's Masumiyyeh School for three days because of Mr. Hojjati and the late Agha Sayyid Kamal Shirazi. During those three days, I evaluated the conditions of Kerman Islamic Seminary and its seminarians and I met certain personalities some of whom are still alive.
For example, Mr. Doayi who is present in this meeting and Mr. Fahim who is currently living in Qom, had just started their studies in Kerman Islamic Seminary. At that time, Islamic seminaries were the main centers for political activities against the government. Young people would visit Mr. Hojjati in his room in Masumiyyeh School and they would engage in political activities. They would not stop visiting him. I saw people coming and going all the time. Things were well-organized at the seminary. The late Ayatollah Sheikh Ali-Asghar Salehi (may God bestow paradise on him) was the head of the seminary and he had everybody's respect. Mr. Neyshaburi was in charge of managing the seminary and its numerous activities. In fact, he and some of the other friends who are present in this meeting were completely trusted by Mr. Salehi. Kerman Islamic seminary enjoyed a good and friendly atmosphere and it had good seminarians. This seminary built valuable personalities, some of whom subsequently moved to Qom Islamic Seminary or other Islamic seminaries throughout the country.
Today the responsibilities of Islamic seminaries are far heavier than those days. After those years, I did not know what was happening in Kerman Islamic Seminary, but I have always remained in contact with clerics from Kerman. I have visited Kerman many times and I have delivered many religious speeches in the congregational mosque of Kerman. There were good and respectable religious scholars, clerics and preachers in Kerman Islamic Seminary who would guide the people. Young people were happy with them. They were present in the arena of fighting the Pahlavi regime and they were considered pure-hearted personalities. Of course, very few of them are still alive. I met some of the friends who were active at that time. I was also informed that some of those clergy are ill and bedridden. May God help them recover fast.
Today the responsibilities of Islamic seminaries are very different from the past. Islamic seminaries are not for congregational praying only. Also, preaching and delivering religious speeches are not enough, unless the content is excellent and very significant. Notice how varied the tools of communication are today. For example, a young person can use a small gadget in one part of the world to receive information about the ideas, assumptions, imagination and theoretical and applied proposals of anybody on the other side of the world. Today there are various tools for communication, such as the internet and satellites, and it is easy to convey one's message from one part of the world to other parts of it. The minds of people and believers are a battlefield for different ideas. Today we are in the middle of a genuine intellectual battlefield. This intellectual battle is not at all to our disadvantage. It is advantageous to us. If we step into this battlefield and fulfill our need for Islamic intellectual tools and divine commands - we will definitely win. However, we need to step in first.
Today Islamic seminaries are responsible for guiding people from different backgrounds. Of course, I believe that our traditional way of promoting religion - in the form of preaching from a minbar, face to face with our audience - is without parallel and we need to preserve it. When you sit and speak to a person face to face, when he looks into your eyes and you look into his, you can communicate very well. We need to preserve this face to face preaching. However, this is not enough. Today the tools of written and oral promotion of religion are so varied and numerous that if our clerics fail to keep up the new developments, they will definitely suffer a historic loss.
Mr. Ja'fari pointed out that Shahid Motahhari (may God bestow paradise on him) was active in the arena of fighting confusing ideas. He was definitely a hero in that arena. But what was the secret behind his success? How did he influence our intellectual circles in such a deep and extensive way? This is because he made a lot of scholarly efforts in order to prepare himself and he was never lethargic when it came to utilizing his knowledge.
Shahid Motahhari would not rest. He would constantly take notes, organize his notes and speeches, extract new ideas from Islamic thought and provide answers to fallacies. There was no lethargy in that man. For this reason, he managed to play a significant role using his scholarly knowledge and efficiency. Today all of us are in fact drawing on his ideas in one way or another and there is no doubt in this regard. The intellectual atmosphere of our society is still indebted to his ideas in different areas, including philosophical, social, political and religious areas. We need him today, but even his ideas are not enough for us in current conditions. There are many concepts that have been introduced recently. Many of the fallacies and questions were introduced after Shahid Motahhari's demise. It is necessary to prepare responses to these fallacies and questions. Therefore, Islamic seminaries have a heavy responsibility to shoulder.
Therefore, the first thing that is required in Islamic seminaries is to deepen religious knowledge. It is necessary to work and study hard. It is necessary for Islamic seminaries to export their intellectual products. It is necessary for Islamic seminaries to build scholarly and knowledgeable clerics, pious and pure-hearted clerics. Islamic seminaries should build clerics who are familiar with political developments in the world. One of the problems that we suffer from is lack of familiarity with current conditions of the world. Some clerics have the necessary knowledge and religious faith, but they cannot identify the trench in which they should fight. They are like those who lose their trench and fail to determine where the enemy is. They even open fire sometimes, but their bullets hurt their friends. Failure to understand the political and intellectual geography of the world and failure to identify the direction of the enemy's bullets - which are fired out of spite - create many problems for us. It is necessary to work in scholarly areas. It is necessary to raise our awareness in political areas as well. We need to purify ourselves and achieve spiritual purification on a personal level. Clergy are the embodiment of piety and purity.
Undoubtedly, today clerics are one target of the enemies. They want to annihilate the clergy once and for all and there is no doubt in this regard. It is true that they target specific individuals among the clergy and that some clerics are at the top of their list, but as far as the enemy is concerned, all clerics are trouble for them. This is because all clerics are committed to religious teachings, except for those who are completely caught up in Satan's net. Of course, such things rarely happen.
Today religious enlightenment is the most important armor that our Islamic society can wear in the face of the enemy's attacks. For this reason, the enemy is opposed to clerics and their active involvement in society. If a cleric is faithful, active, efficient, intelligent and vigilant, the enemies would be more hostile towards him and they would target him more than others. Therefore, today one of the essential responsibilities is to safeguard Islamic seminaries and build knowledgeable seminarians and great scholars. This is true of Kerman and all other parts of the country. In Islamic seminaries, it is necessary to build vigilant and knowledgeable faqihs, philosophers and kalaam, exegesis and hadith experts who are familiar with the latest developments in the world, with history and with the enemy's actions. It is necessary to prepare plans to achieve this goal.
Fortunately, today some of our big seminaries have made a lot of progress in this regard. For example, Qom Islamic Seminary is currently a great and glorious seminary. Qom Islamic Seminary is doing better than it used to in terms of variety, innovation, familiarity with the latest developments in the world and even deep thinking. It has become a great seminary. But this is not enough. Islamic seminaries throughout the country should be developed and great religious scholars should enter our Islamic seminaries, as was the case in the past.
I met great religious scholars and faqihs in Kerman province. In the city of Kerman, I met Mr. Salehi and in Rafsanjan, I met the late Mr. Gharavi and the late Mr. Najafi. They were undoubtedly among our knowledgeable and well-educated jurisprudents. There were other great and honorable scholars in other cities whom I never met in person. Outstanding and well-educated luminaries of Qom Islamic Seminary should start their work in other Islamic seminaries after they finish their studies and try to develop those seminaries.
Mr. Ja'fari pointed out in his report that out of the 2,500 mosques in Kerman province, only 500 are active because they have a Friday prayer leader. That is to say, the other 2,000 mosques do not have a Friday prayer leader. This is not good. There are many places that do not have a mosque. Undoubtedly, there are remote villages and towns whose people and youth are faithful and talented but which do not have a mosque or a cleric. It is necessary to work and eliminate this problem.
Today clerics are present in different arenas, which was not possible in the past. For example, in the past, the clergy could not work in governmental offices, factories, military bases and universities. For this reason, it is necessary to train clerics appropriately so that they have something to present in such environments. Fortunately, Islamic teachings contain many valuable and thought-provoking things that could be presented in such environments. If the books by Shahid Motahhari are studied carefully, a vast amount of knowledge and understanding would be obtained. These things are important and necessary.
Now I would like to discuss a few points regarding our national issues. Our Constitution is very good and advanced. The Constitution is among the things that our enemies have targeted. This is because the Constitution - with these characteristics and with the way it has divided and balanced power in the country - has the capacity to organize the affairs of the country and help our society move forward. This Constitution can guarantee the survival of the Islamic Republic, a government that responds to material and spiritual needs of human beings. This Constitution can meet intellectual needs and bring about material welfare. It can improve people's lives in this world and in the hereafter. Today our country is moving forward on the basis of this Constitution. This does not mean that there are no flaws and shortcomings. There are definitely certain flaws. But if you consider the conditions of the country and the exceptional position of the Islamic Republic, you will realize that since the victory of the Revolution we have made good progress in all areas. In some areas, we have made great progress and in some other areas, our progress has been acceptable.
The exceptional characteristic of the Islamic Republic is that it has stood up against a world in which power lies in the hands of those who have a tendency towards materialism and do not believe in the existence of any moral, spiritual and religious truth. The global powers act in the name of Christianity and use it as a tool to achieve their goals, but genuine Christianity as a divine faith and as an ethical system plays no role whatsoever in the political system that dominates the arrogant and oppressive governments. The world of arrogance is a world of transgression in the real sense of the word, a world that makes the best of science in order to commit crimes. Currently, science is in the hands of those who have not heard of human values. Science and technology are at the service of goals that are completely harmful to human communities and advantageous only to capitalists and wealthy and powerful people.
They made great achievements. Even in the bipolar world, despite all the disagreements that existed between the two superpowers, they both relied on materialism and in many cases, their stance was basically the same. They were thinking of dominating the world and they had carved up the world between themselves. If a people aspired towards freedom, independence and establishing a sovereign government, the Marxist superpower would spread its domination over them and try to rule them with an iron fist. Certain peoples fought, made sacrifice, worked hard and carried out a revolution against taghut, but then they fell into the trap of Marxists. The pressure that they had to tolerate was not less than the pressure they were subject to before their revolution.
In the face of such a materialistic world, in the face of this camp of arrogant powers, in the face of this massive political system in the world which has not heard of spirituality, there is a government that has been established on the basis of spirituality, a government that has raised the flag of spirituality, a government that is calling people to God and spirituality, a government that promises material welfare through reliance on religion and divine commands, a government that guarantees freedom and independence through religious faith. The existence of such a political system is not tolerable to them.
The problem that they have is not limited to one country and one people. Today Muslim countries make up one fifth of the world population. There are around one and a half billion Muslims living in different parts of the world. There are tens of Muslim countries and millions of Muslims who live in non-Islamic countries. These Muslims have come to the conclusion that Islam and ideology can provide answers to the most important questions in the world. They have realized that they have an identity. Our Revolution has spread in the entire world of Islam and this is while we have not done anything to promote it in the world. The name of Imam Khomeini (r.a.), the Revolution and our revolutionary values and slogans stand out in any part of the world where there are Muslims. This has scared the arrogant powers. This is the reason behind all the enmities.
Some people say that we should stop making enemies. It is the existence and the identity of the Islamic Republic that make enemies. What makes enemies is the flag that has been raised in the name of Islam and the people who are shouting the slogan of spirituality in the world. We did not do anything else to make enemies. They were the ones who always initiated confrontations, sabotage and mischief against the Islamic Republic. We have only tried to defend ourselves, but we have put up a defense with all our hearts and souls. We have put up a defense that the opposing camp has realized that we have the power to defend ourselves.
Thankfully, we have been successful. The arrogant powers of the world are opposed to the existence of such a political system. These enmities and these efforts to create problems for the Islamic Republic will continue in the future. The only way to counter them is to become more powerful through religious faith, through knowledge, through technology, through strengthening our social ties and through creating genuine national solidarity among our people. When they realize that we are powerful, their hostility will decrease and they will naturally make fewer efforts to create problems for us. This has already happened to some extent as we have become more powerful.
In the materialistic world, countries strengthen their armed forces in order to discourage their enemies from attacking them. When there were multiple superpowers in the world, countries would build nuclear weapons in order to discourage their enemies from using nuclear weapons against them. This was while they knew that these nuclear weapons would never be used, but they would keep their nuclear weapons in order to use them as a deterrent. They would establish their power domestically so that they could defend themselves against their foreign enemies. The kind of power that we want in the country cannot be ensured with atomic bombs and nuclear weapons or by strengthening our armed forces. Of course, it is necessary to strengthen our armed forces to a reasonable extent, but what can safeguard us against an all-out attack by the enemies is what I discussed earlier: strengthening our religious faith, acquiring knowledge, developing new technologies, achieving mastery over new techniques, becoming a pioneer in production of knowledge, helping our people and youth develop their capacities in different areas - be it humanities or different areas of natural sciences - and strengthening national solidarity among the people. These are the factors that can make a people more powerful. They can help a people achieve development and they can also safeguard them against their enemies. These are instruments for self-defense. We need to go after them and consider ourselves committed to them.
The clergy can play a role in this regard. Self-improvement, acquisition of knowledge, encouraging the people and the youth to be present in these arenas and most importantly, strengthening religious faith among the people: these are the most important things that we clerics can do. Strengthening religious faith among the people requires more actions than words. Of course, it is also necessary to use preaching and new techniques for promoting religious faith.
I hope Allah the Exalted makes all of us successful in fulfilling our responsibility in this regard. May God safeguard and bestow success on Kerman Islamic Seminary and the religious scholars, preachers and active clerics of Kerman. May God increase the depth and scope of the activities of this seminary on a daily basis.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings