Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria, Assistant Professor at Tehran Univ.
On February 3, 2023, on the eve of the birthday anniversary of Imam Ali (pbuh), Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, hosted more than a hundred young girls in their celebration ceremony for reaching the age of having the honor of officially observing Islam; in the Islamic culture this celebration is known as "Taklif Celebration." In Islam, girls upon turning nine and boys upon turning 15 based on the Islamic lunar calendar, are deemed mature enough to begin acting responsibly in life in accordance with Allah’s plan for humanity. One of the outstanding phrases of Ayatollah Khamenei’s talk deserves special attention: “Be friends with the Merciful God from the start of youthhood.”
Friendship is a two-way relationship, not only shall we love Allah, but that Allah will love us in return. In this regard, verse 31 of Surah Al-Imran defines the means to achieve such a two-way friendship with Allah. In this verse, Allah instructs Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to do the following, "Say, 'If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.'" (Quran 3:31).
The friendship of Allah is tied to following the Prophet of Islam in all affairs, in other words acting according to all the commandments of Islam in a holistic way, a notion that was another part of Ayatollah Khamenei’s talk with the young girls in attendance. In addition to mentioning Prayers as a means to befriend Allah, he said, “Another way to be friends [with God] is to be careful not to do those things that God told you not to do; Do the things that Almighty God told you to do. This is the way to be friends with God.” Doing what Allah likes and refraining from what he dislikes, this is how friends act.
This brings us to another reality: two distinct and opposite approaches to the notion of maturity. In the materialist worldview of liberalism, maturity is deemed to be the key to act licentiously, to act as you wish regardless of the harm it may cause. Individualism, the centrality of the profit motive, morality as a sideline, among others, are elements that make liberal societies define maturity in such a way. Take movie ratings as an example. As you “mature” you gain the pass to watch films more contaminated with violence and sexualization.
To put it in another way, in liberalism, when mature, you are led to walk along the cliff, putting yourself in the danger of falling off.
In Islam, though, sins are like falling off a steep cliff. The faithful are instructed to move away from the cliff as much as possible, to keep a safe distance. This is called taqwa (being wary of your actions before God). These dangerous paths are the footsteps of Satan: "O you who have faith! Do not follow in Satan’s steps. Whoever follows in Satan’s steps [should know that] he indeed prompts [you to commit] indecent and wrongful acts" (Quran 24: 21).
In the Islamic school of thought, maturity is tied with acting responsibly towards the self and others. As you mature, you are expected to act with more precaution regarding activities that may harm you or others materially or spiritually. The following two verses are indicative of this mentality: "Do not get close to adultery. It is indeed an indecency and an evil way" (Quran 17: 32); and, "Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed hearing, eyesight, and the heart—all of these are accountable" (Quran 17: 34).
As you persevere on the path of acting maturely and responsibly in Islam, your friendship with Allah grows. This is when not only you love Allah, but that Allah loves you in return. And this means the path to increasing growth, tranquility, and salvation. So, it is with this mentality that entering maturity is a time for celebration.
Thus, the ceremony that Ayatollah Khamenei hosted on February 3rd and hundreds of such ceremonies around the country for young girls entering the age of responsibility should be understood as the celebration of reaching maturity to befriend Allah. A maturity that is fundamentally different form the notion in liberalism; it is not a pass to do all that is proven to be harmful. It is about celebrating the maturity to act responsibly in life, a maturity that grows as you act more responsibly and as you persevere in an active friendship with Allah: through talking to Allah (salah), through assisting your fellow brothers and sisters (zakah), through standing with the oppressed and standing up against the oppressors of the world, through spiritual growth, through intellectual growth, and through growth in social responsibility.
And, in Islam, women have such high regard that they are found ready to begin on this path when 9 while boys are found to be ready a couple of years later. This is in part because they are the ones who in the future will be mothers, transferring the Islamic way of living to the next generation: to become outstanding women who not only are successful members of society in various fields of domestic and social activity but members who are even more influential because of having cultivated within themselves a responsible mature identity the main goal of which in life is to be friends of Allah.
Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tehran, Faculty of Islamic Knowledge and Thought. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Tehran, a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Houston.
(The views expressed in this article are author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Khamenei.ir.)