The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) was the man who had been prepared by Allah the Exalted for such a great mission in the entire history of mankind. Therefore, the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) managed to start a movement within 23 years: this movement pushed human history forward in spite of all the problem Twenty-three years is a short time, and 13 years of it were spent on unfair battles. It started in Mecca with 5 people. Only a small number of people managed to resist under the unbearable pressure of the prejudiced and ignorant enemies of Islam. Firm foundations were built so that Islamic society and Islamic civilization could be based upon them. Later on Allah the Exalted prepared the way for the immigration of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) to Medina, and he managed to establish this Islamic system and this civilization in Medina. The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) organized, built, and managed this system in only ten years. Such events usually disappear in the flood of other important events, they are usually forgotten. Ten years is a very short time. But the Holy Prophet managed to plant, water, and nurture this sapling during that period of time. He managed to start a movement that led to a civilization, and this civilization stood at the peak of human civilization during a certain period. That is to say, during the 3rd and 4th centuries of the Hijri calendar, Islamic civilization was greater than all earlier civilizations. This is one of the miracles of Islam[...]
If humanity considered the issue in a fair way, it would acknowledge that humanity's salvation and their movement towards perfection would be possible only through Islam. We Muslims were ungrateful. We were unappreciative. We failed to appreciate Islam. We failed to preserve the foundations that had been developed by the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) for prominent and advanced human societies. We were ungrateful, and we paid the price. Islam has the capacity to help humanity achieve prosperity and perfection. It has the capacity to help humanity achieve material and spiritual growth. The foundations that were established by the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.)–faith, rationality, struggle, and dignity–are the main foundations of an Islamic community.
Dear people, our nation was held back from the path that it should have followed decades earlier. We need to make up for lost time: these are realities. These are obvious truths in our history. Whenever our nation enters the arena of science, it amazes the world. Whenever it enters military confrontations, it stuns the enemies who are fully armed. Whenever it enters the arena of a political show of power, it can stand up against the most powerful rivals. We are such a nation. With these human capacities and with this vast homeland, which is rich and full of natural resources, our nation could have reached the peak of science, civilization, and material and spiritual progress. But they pushed our country among the third-world countries, among the worst of them. Therefore, there is a good reason why learned people in our country curse the taghuti regime so much. These crimes have been committed against our country and these conditions have been imposed on us.
They clipped the wings of a nation that could have flown to the peaks of infinity. They tied up its feet and wounded it. They turned our nation into a nation that had no faith in its capacities, a nation that was hopeless about the future, a nation that would take no action to reach out beyond its horizons, a nation that had no self-confidence against other nations. But the Revolution shocked our nation and gave it a new and deep outlook. Our nation awakened, started a movement, identified its capacities and announced, "We can." And it has been successful and has moved forward. Our religious faith and our reliance on God are driving forces behind our movement. The driving force behind our movement is our reliance on divine guidance, which exists in religious teachings and divine commands. Our movement has been a good movement, and the enemy has targeted our essential strengths and religious faith.
We must change our present-day situation. We, the people of the Islamic world, should raise a serious movement towards progress, in all fields of study and all civilization-building sciences, ranging from intellectual sciences to the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences: we can achieve this. At one time, the world of Islam was at the peak of human civilization. Why should this not be repeated? Why should we not be able to do something now that can take the Islamic Ummah to the peak of human civilization within a particular period of time, in 40 to 50 years? What is wrong with this request? We should move forward: this is the responsibility of governments and exceptional people; both Islamic governments and outstanding personalities of the Islamic world are responsible in this regard. Ulama, intellectuals, writers, poets, and artists of the Islamic world should create a great intellectual movement and a public demand for scientific progress: one that aims for reaching the peak of science; this task is possible today.
We -- in the Islamic Republic -- made great and successful efforts. Today, we have moved forward, to a great extent, compared to the pre-revolutionary era or the time of Taghut: our rate of progress was good. In recent years, according to the world’s official scientific database, the Islamic Republic's rate of progress was thirteen times faster than the global average; this was not our claim, it's noted in the official documents of science centers around the world. Of course, because of our [scientific] stagnation, this excellent rate of progress has not managed to help us reach our ultimate goals; but we have managed to move forward, to a great extent, and we will continue to.
We said that we should explore the borders of science and that we should even move beyond that. We should move forward, and by Allah's favor, we will do just that: the Islamic Republic will do so. Of course, we will not behave as they do in the West. Westerners' traditions have been based on greed. This means that they do not give from what they have – their best scientific accomplishments – to others. Of course, they transfer sciences that are outdated, but they do not give out their best scientific achievements. Contrary to their traditions, we have announced that we are ready to share whatever we have achieved – in every field -- with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
May 12, 2018
