The first link in the chain is an Islamic revolution, followed by the establishment of an Islamic system, followed by the establishment of an Islamic government, followed by the establishment of an Islamic society, followed by the establishment of an Islamic Ummah. These are all links in a chain and all of them are connected to one another. An Islamic revolution, which is the first link in the chain - is a revolutionary movement. In a sense, a revolution contains all these stages. What I mean by an Islamic revolution is a revolutionary movement and uprising that overthrows a reactionary, old, dependent and corrupt government and prepares the ground for establishing a new government. The next link in the chain is establishing an Islamic system, by which I mean an entity with a specific definition presented by those who own the revolution - namely, the people. In the case of our Revolution, the people made their choice: they chose the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic is a system in which democracy has been extracted from Islam and it is accompanied by Islamic values. We went through this stage. The meaning of an Islamic government is that a constitution should be formulated on the basis of the factors that give rise to the establishment of an Islamic system, organizations that are formed to run and manage the country. An Islamic government is the collection of these management organizations. "Government" does not just mean the executive branch. It refers to all the organizations that are in charge of managing the country. The next stage is establishing an Islamic society, which is the essential stage. After an Islamic government is formed, the responsibility of this Islamic government is to establish an Islamic society. What does "Islamic society" mean? an Islamic society is a society which tries to achieve the goals and ideals that Islam has delineated for humanity: a society in which there is justice, a society in which there is freedom, a society in which the people play a role in running their country and determining their destiny, a society that enjoys national dignity and wealth, a society that enjoys welfare, a society whose members do not suffer from poverty and hunger, a society with comprehensive advances in scientific, economic and political areas, a society that does not suffer from stagnation, a society that makes constant progress. This is the kind of society that we are after. Of course, such a society has not been established yet, but our efforts are in that direction. Therefore, this is our main medium-term goal.
Why do I describe this goal as a medium-term goal? Because when such a society is established, the most important responsibility of this society is to enable human beings to achieve spiritual and divine perfection in the shade of the government and atmosphere it has created. "And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me[Allah]." [The Holy Quran, 51: 56] The goal of such a society is to help human beings worship God. The word "worship" in this ayah has been interpreted as having the same meaning as the word "know". However, this is not to say that worship means knowledge. Rather, this interpretation suggests that worship is meaningless without knowledge: it is impossible. Worship without knowledge is not worship. Therefore, a society that worships God achieves perfect divine knowledge and acquires divine characteristics. This is the ultimate perfection for human beings. Therefore, this is the ultimate goal and establishing an Islamic society is a requirement for achieving this goal, but establishing an Islamic society is in itself a very great goal. When such a society is established, the ground will be prepared for establishing an Islamic Ummah by expanding this society, but this is a different issue.
Imam Khamenei, Oct 16, 2011
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