دیدار جمعی از بانوان برگزیدہ کشور - Aytaullah Khamenei | 19 Apr 2014 - Farsi
Ayatollah Khamenei\\\\\\\'s Speech in a meeting with outstanding women - April 19, 2014
The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 19, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the...
Ayatollah Khamenei\\\\\\\'s Speech in a meeting with outstanding women - April 19, 2014
The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 19, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with outstanding women. The meeting was held on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her).
soucre
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1896&Itemid=4
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
First of all, I would like to welcome the ladies in this meeting and I congratulate you on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and Women\\\\\\\'s Day and Mother\\\\\\\'s Day. As was pointed out in this meeting, the coincidence of this important social occasion of the country with the birthday anniversary of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - particularly this year when our people remembered that great personality and held ceremonies for her two times in the beginning and at the end of the year - is an opportunity for understanding and learning lessons from the life of that great person.
First, the spiritual positions of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) are among the best spiritual positions which belong only to a few individuals. She was infallible. Infallibility is particular to a few individuals who are chosen by God and that great Hazrat - Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is one of these few individuals. We should consider the fact that that Muslim woman and that mujahide in the way of God lived only to the age of 20. Of course, different narrations say that her age was from 18 to 25 years at the time of her martyrdom.
She was a young woman who enjoyed such a lofty position of spirituality which was equal to saints, prophets and the like and she was called the mistress of all women by divine messengers. Besides this spiritual position, each outstanding characteristic and each important role in the personal life of this great lady is a lesson.
Her piety, her modesty and purity, her jihad, her care for her husband, her way of raising children, her understanding of politics and her presence in the most important arenas of the life of an individual of those times - whether during her childhood and teenage years or after her marriage - are each a lesson. They are a lesson not only for you ladies but also for the entire humanity.
Therefore, this coincidence is a lesson for us. We should pay careful attention to the life of Fatima Zahra (s.a.), we should understand her life with a new outlook and we should make it a model for ourselves in the real sense of the word.
As for the issue of women in the Islamic Republic and in our country and society, first I would tell you that whenever I meet with Muslim, religious and educated women on such occasions, I deeply thank God. The fact that there are so many knowledgeable, educated, broad-minded and outstanding women - in intellectual and practical areas - in our society is really one of the greatest glories of the Islamic Republic. This is a very great blessing and a source of honor.
Today, only one honorable lady delivered a speech, but we have had numerous meetings with ladies in which many of them delivered a speech. When each of them made certain statements, this opened the door in our minds to new outlooks and new thoughts. Building such a large number of lofty, outstanding and broad-minded individuals is one of the greatest glories of the Islamic Republic. 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.
We have witnessed previous eras and we have been familiar with the cultural environment of the country. We had never had such a large number of outstanding individuals in different areas, whether in seminary or academic areas. 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.
As for the issue of women in today\\\\\\\'s world and in our country, this is one of the issues which requires follow-up, deliberation and deep thinking because of different reasons. First, women form half the population of countries. How can countries - including ours - benefit from this capacity and this great resource in a healthy way? Second, how can the issue of gender - which is one of the most sensitive and delicate issues in creation - be at the service of the transcendence of humanity, not at the service of its moral decadence? Third, considering the natural differences between women and men, how can we establish and institute an unchanging pattern of behavior - whether in social environments or inside the family - through which women cannot be oppressed? These are very important issues.
If we make these two, three issues the pivot of thought, discussion and research, this will bring about a set of research-based and practical efforts. 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.
There were good points in the statements of the lady who delivered a speech. She pointed out the main issues that exist in our minds about this matter. Quoting from what I said before, she said that the country needs a supreme supra-governmental center for discussing and working on this important issue. These issues are our main issues.
The issue of women and the issue of family are our main issues. Of course, the issue of women is not separable from the issue of family. I would like to add that if someone wants to discuss the issue of women by separating it from the issue of family, they will face certain problems in understanding and finding the cure. These two issues should be studied together although they are two single issues.
Well, such a center is necessary. Of course, it has not been formed until now although we brought it up. We do not have a center which can study, follow up and implement a proper and comprehensive plan about the issue of women - all those issues which were pointed out in this meeting and a number of other issues. This center should be formed. Of course, this has certain requirements.
What I would like to discuss with you today is two, three points. One is that if we want to think and act in the right way about the issue of women - whether in the center which was pointed out or in any other center and organization - and if we do not want to make a mistake in this regard, we should completely clear our minds of the clichés of western products.
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. This is the first reason.
The second reason is that a businesslike, profit-based and economic view has influenced the western outlook on the issue of women. This can clearly be seen in the history of the industrial revolution. In Europe, women did not have the right to own something. Women\\\\\\\'s property belonged to men and their husbands. They did not have the right to possess something in their name. And when democracy was promoted in the west, women did not have suffrage.
In such a world, investors suddenly thought of the issue of the industrial revolution, factories and the efficient presence of women in factories with low costs. Then, they granted women suffrage so that they could draw them to factories and give them lower wages. Naturally, the entrance of women to the arena of employment had its own requirements and results which have continued until today. Therefore, besides the fact that the western outlook towards women is a non-divine and materialistic outlook, the policies which have brought about the current conditions in the western world - particularly in Europe - have been accompanied by a businesslike, profit-based and economic outlook.
Another reason why we should avoid the western outlook on the issue of women is that in this 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.
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.
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.
They have destroyed their own lives because of this wrong thought. They want to destroy other people\\\\\\\'s lives as well. Thankfully, you ladies are knowledgeable, well-informed and outstanding and I respect you. Whenever ladies deliver a speech in our meetings, I benefit from what they say. There was a meeting of strategic thoughts about the issue of women in this place. In that meeting, a number of ladies delivered a speech and I tell you honestly that I really benefitted from what they said.
In my opinion, if you want to think about the major issues and problems that the community of women everywhere in the world - including our country - is faced with, the first condition is that you should free yourselves and your minds of western thoughts which are a set of clichéd, wrong, fossilized and pseudo-progressive thoughts. On the face of it, these thoughts are new, but they are fossilized in actuality. On the face of it, they are helpful, but they are treacherous in actuality. You should think independently of western thoughts.
The second requirement is that you should refer to Islamic texts. You should derive the main principles and bases from the Holy Quran, the Sunnah, hadith, duas, Islamic texts and the words and behavior of the Imams (a.s.). This is revelation and revelation belongs to God. God is the Creator of you and me.
I am not saying that we should accept whatever people say in the name of religion. This is not what I want to say. Rather, we should benefit from proper religion. This can be done by employing proper methods of deduction and this is a task which can only be carried out by experts in this area. We should really benefit from God\\\\\\\'s book, the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) Sunnah and the infallible Imam\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) methods and words so that we can see what outlook we should adopt on the issue of women. We should derive the main guidelines from these sources.
In my opinion, these are the two main tasks. There is a third task as well which is: we should really attend to the main issues, not those issues which are of secondary importance, when working on the issues of women. 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.
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.
Some people distort a number of Islamic obligations and truths so that westerners do not become annoyed. The Holy Quran says, \\\\\\\"And if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah\\\\\\\'s way. They follow nothing but conjecture. They do nothing but lie\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 116]. We should not be the followers of common thoughts in the world of ignorance and superstition. Rather, we should find and follow Islamic thoughts although some people speak ill of us. This is another issue.
Therefore, we should find the main issue. 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.
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 fields may neither be compatible with their womanly nature nor with their lofty goals. Besides, the job that is given to them with respect to their field of study may not be compatible with their make-up. In my opinion, these things should receive attention when it comes to the issue of women\\\\\\\'s employment.
In sum, the fact that women cannot do all the jobs which men do should not be considered to be a disgrace or a flaw because this is not the case. Only those things which are not compatible with the divine nature are bad. This was what I wanted to discuss. Of course, I have written down some other points as well, but I think that this is enough.
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.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings
More...
Description:
Ayatollah Khamenei\\\\\\\'s Speech in a meeting with outstanding women - April 19, 2014
The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 19, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with outstanding women. The meeting was held on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her).
soucre
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1896&Itemid=4
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
First of all, I would like to welcome the ladies in this meeting and I congratulate you on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and Women\\\\\\\'s Day and Mother\\\\\\\'s Day. As was pointed out in this meeting, the coincidence of this important social occasion of the country with the birthday anniversary of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - particularly this year when our people remembered that great personality and held ceremonies for her two times in the beginning and at the end of the year - is an opportunity for understanding and learning lessons from the life of that great person.
First, the spiritual positions of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) are among the best spiritual positions which belong only to a few individuals. She was infallible. Infallibility is particular to a few individuals who are chosen by God and that great Hazrat - Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is one of these few individuals. We should consider the fact that that Muslim woman and that mujahide in the way of God lived only to the age of 20. Of course, different narrations say that her age was from 18 to 25 years at the time of her martyrdom.
She was a young woman who enjoyed such a lofty position of spirituality which was equal to saints, prophets and the like and she was called the mistress of all women by divine messengers. Besides this spiritual position, each outstanding characteristic and each important role in the personal life of this great lady is a lesson.
Her piety, her modesty and purity, her jihad, her care for her husband, her way of raising children, her understanding of politics and her presence in the most important arenas of the life of an individual of those times - whether during her childhood and teenage years or after her marriage - are each a lesson. They are a lesson not only for you ladies but also for the entire humanity.
Therefore, this coincidence is a lesson for us. We should pay careful attention to the life of Fatima Zahra (s.a.), we should understand her life with a new outlook and we should make it a model for ourselves in the real sense of the word.
As for the issue of women in the Islamic Republic and in our country and society, first I would tell you that whenever I meet with Muslim, religious and educated women on such occasions, I deeply thank God. The fact that there are so many knowledgeable, educated, broad-minded and outstanding women - in intellectual and practical areas - in our society is really one of the greatest glories of the Islamic Republic. This is a very great blessing and a source of honor.
Today, only one honorable lady delivered a speech, but we have had numerous meetings with ladies in which many of them delivered a speech. When each of them made certain statements, this opened the door in our minds to new outlooks and new thoughts. Building such a large number of lofty, outstanding and broad-minded individuals is one of the greatest glories of the Islamic Republic. 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.
We have witnessed previous eras and we have been familiar with the cultural environment of the country. We had never had such a large number of outstanding individuals in different areas, whether in seminary or academic areas. 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.
As for the issue of women in today\\\\\\\'s world and in our country, this is one of the issues which requires follow-up, deliberation and deep thinking because of different reasons. First, women form half the population of countries. How can countries - including ours - benefit from this capacity and this great resource in a healthy way? Second, how can the issue of gender - which is one of the most sensitive and delicate issues in creation - be at the service of the transcendence of humanity, not at the service of its moral decadence? Third, considering the natural differences between women and men, how can we establish and institute an unchanging pattern of behavior - whether in social environments or inside the family - through which women cannot be oppressed? These are very important issues.
If we make these two, three issues the pivot of thought, discussion and research, this will bring about a set of research-based and practical efforts. 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.
There were good points in the statements of the lady who delivered a speech. She pointed out the main issues that exist in our minds about this matter. Quoting from what I said before, she said that the country needs a supreme supra-governmental center for discussing and working on this important issue. These issues are our main issues.
The issue of women and the issue of family are our main issues. Of course, the issue of women is not separable from the issue of family. I would like to add that if someone wants to discuss the issue of women by separating it from the issue of family, they will face certain problems in understanding and finding the cure. These two issues should be studied together although they are two single issues.
Well, such a center is necessary. Of course, it has not been formed until now although we brought it up. We do not have a center which can study, follow up and implement a proper and comprehensive plan about the issue of women - all those issues which were pointed out in this meeting and a number of other issues. This center should be formed. Of course, this has certain requirements.
What I would like to discuss with you today is two, three points. One is that if we want to think and act in the right way about the issue of women - whether in the center which was pointed out or in any other center and organization - and if we do not want to make a mistake in this regard, we should completely clear our minds of the clichés of western products.
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. This is the first reason.
The second reason is that a businesslike, profit-based and economic view has influenced the western outlook on the issue of women. This can clearly be seen in the history of the industrial revolution. In Europe, women did not have the right to own something. Women\\\\\\\'s property belonged to men and their husbands. They did not have the right to possess something in their name. And when democracy was promoted in the west, women did not have suffrage.
In such a world, investors suddenly thought of the issue of the industrial revolution, factories and the efficient presence of women in factories with low costs. Then, they granted women suffrage so that they could draw them to factories and give them lower wages. Naturally, the entrance of women to the arena of employment had its own requirements and results which have continued until today. Therefore, besides the fact that the western outlook towards women is a non-divine and materialistic outlook, the policies which have brought about the current conditions in the western world - particularly in Europe - have been accompanied by a businesslike, profit-based and economic outlook.
Another reason why we should avoid the western outlook on the issue of women is that in this 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.
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.
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.
They have destroyed their own lives because of this wrong thought. They want to destroy other people\\\\\\\'s lives as well. Thankfully, you ladies are knowledgeable, well-informed and outstanding and I respect you. Whenever ladies deliver a speech in our meetings, I benefit from what they say. There was a meeting of strategic thoughts about the issue of women in this place. In that meeting, a number of ladies delivered a speech and I tell you honestly that I really benefitted from what they said.
In my opinion, if you want to think about the major issues and problems that the community of women everywhere in the world - including our country - is faced with, the first condition is that you should free yourselves and your minds of western thoughts which are a set of clichéd, wrong, fossilized and pseudo-progressive thoughts. On the face of it, these thoughts are new, but they are fossilized in actuality. On the face of it, they are helpful, but they are treacherous in actuality. You should think independently of western thoughts.
The second requirement is that you should refer to Islamic texts. You should derive the main principles and bases from the Holy Quran, the Sunnah, hadith, duas, Islamic texts and the words and behavior of the Imams (a.s.). This is revelation and revelation belongs to God. God is the Creator of you and me.
I am not saying that we should accept whatever people say in the name of religion. This is not what I want to say. Rather, we should benefit from proper religion. This can be done by employing proper methods of deduction and this is a task which can only be carried out by experts in this area. We should really benefit from God\\\\\\\'s book, the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) Sunnah and the infallible Imam\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) methods and words so that we can see what outlook we should adopt on the issue of women. We should derive the main guidelines from these sources.
In my opinion, these are the two main tasks. There is a third task as well which is: we should really attend to the main issues, not those issues which are of secondary importance, when working on the issues of women. 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.
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.
Some people distort a number of Islamic obligations and truths so that westerners do not become annoyed. The Holy Quran says, \\\\\\\"And if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah\\\\\\\'s way. They follow nothing but conjecture. They do nothing but lie\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 116]. We should not be the followers of common thoughts in the world of ignorance and superstition. Rather, we should find and follow Islamic thoughts although some people speak ill of us. This is another issue.
Therefore, we should find the main issue. 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.
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 fields may neither be compatible with their womanly nature nor with their lofty goals. Besides, the job that is given to them with respect to their field of study may not be compatible with their make-up. In my opinion, these things should receive attention when it comes to the issue of women\\\\\\\'s employment.
In sum, the fact that women cannot do all the jobs which men do should not be considered to be a disgrace or a flaw because this is not the case. Only those things which are not compatible with the divine nature are bad. This was what I wanted to discuss. Of course, I have written down some other points as well, but I think that this is enough.
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.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings
دیدار جمعی از مداحان اهل بیت علیهمالسلام - Aytaullah Khamenei | 20 Apr 2014 - Farsi
Translated speech Link
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1897&Itemid=4
April 20 2014,
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I...
Translated speech Link
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1897&Itemid=4
April 20 2014,
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I congratulate all of you dear brothers - who are lyrical nightingales in the garden of love for the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Sayyidah Taherah Masoumeh (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the birthday anniversary of the great and glorious leader of the Revolution.
We thank God because this is one of His great blessings for us and it is a source of inspiration for our Islamic and Shia society. He repeatedly and constantly inspires our society with birthday anniversaries, biographies, and martyrdom eras. This should really be appreciated.
During the birthday anniversaries of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), Imam Hassan (a.s.), Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the memory of these shining stars and these guiding flags are revived in hearts. This is very valuable. And thank God it is many years that we have been holding this meeting in the shade of Fatemi enlightenment (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s purest greetings be upon her). It is many years that this meeting has been bestowing its blessings on us, on our working and living environments and on the environment of the country.
Man\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s limited mind cannot definitely evaluate and measure the characteristics of heavenly personalities like Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her). People\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s minds do not have the capability to evaluate and measure these spiritual dimensions. However, we can make their behavior a model for ourselves. This was also pointed out in the poems that the friends in this meeting recited.
The spiritual positions of these personalities are one thing and the patterns of behavior which are in front of our eyes are quite another. This does not mean that we can emulate these personalities by displaying a second version of their patterns of behavior. This is not what it means. However, we can follow them at least.
The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I know that to adopt such a hard way of life is beyond you, but at least try to be pious. Help me and be my companion in virtue, diligence and simple living\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. After he describes his lifestyle - although he had a lofty position and had access to many resources, he lived a life of piety and abstinence - he says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You cannot behave like me, but you can help me\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". With what? We can help him with piety, avoidance of sins, effort and diligence. These are our responsibilities.
They have illustrated the goals for us, both individual and personal goals, and social, political and general goals. In personal goals, our lofty ideal is reaching the peak of human dignity. Everyone has been promised that they can take this lofty and limitless flight. You youth are more capable than us. These are the personal goals.
And our great social goals are creating a pure Islamic life and Islamic society, one that allows individuals to move towards this goal. Such a society is well-developed, free, independent, highly moral, united, unanimous, pious and religious. These are the goals of Islamic society. The main social and political goal of Islam is creating a world which is an introduction to the afterlife and which helps individuals to achieve paradise easily. They have illustrated these goals for us.
What is the way to achieve these goals? How can we reach these goals? As Imam Ali (a.s.) said, we should help him to reach this goal - this is the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) command. This goal is what the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) did in his entire life and during his efforts and jihad, which is creating such a world for all the people throughout history. How can we help him? We can help him with virtue, diligence and effort. Laziness is forbidden. Idleness is forbidden. Feeling tired is forbidden. Becoming desperate is forbidden. When this great movement is launched, you have gladdened the blessed heart of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) because they made all these efforts in order to reach this goal.
My dear ones, dear youth, this opportunity is available to the people of Iran today. In the past, it was not available and it was difficult. Today in the Islamic Republic, the opportunity to move forward in the right way and to lead a good, pious and pure life is available to all the people in society. This does not mean that the path of committing sins is closed. This is not the case because the path of sins is always open, but the path of living a good, pious and pure life in the shade of Islam is open as well.
Of course, living such a life has its own pleasures and difficulties. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive them\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 112]. There have always been certain enemies against the camp of prophets. Who are these enemies? These enemies are the shaitans from among men and jinn. Against this seemingly long line of shaitans, there is the steel and strong line of believers. The people of Iran experienced this and it became clear that people can achieve victory over their enemies, as the people of Iran have thankfully moved forward until today.
We should make efforts. The lesson of the life of Siddiqat al-Taherah - Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is to make efforts, show diligence and lead a pure life, as that great personality was the manifestation of enlightenment and purity: she was \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"pure, clean, immaculate, virtuous, pious and moral\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Kamel al-Ziarat, page 310]. The purity, cleanliness, piety and enlightenment of that great person are what have influenced our Islamic teachings throughout the history of Shiaism.
What is appropriate to be discussed in this meeting is related to the heavy responsibility that falls on the shoulders of today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s society of panegyrists. This issue has priority over other issues. Dear brothers, the tradition of praising and eulogizing the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - which is a great honor - has fortunately become common and deep-rooted in our society. This tradition existed in the past as well, but it was limited in scope. However today, this banquet has spread and this arena has opened to everyone.
Today, thousands of people throughout the country are active in this arena by utilizing their artistic taste and benefitting from different methods of eloquence. Well, this is an opportunity and any opportunity is accompanied by a responsibility. When you cannot communicate with someone, your responsibility remains at a limited level, but when you can, your responsibility will naturally increase to the extent that your capability for communication allows.
When you can speak to the people and when you have the capability to address them with the art of poetry, singing and melody, this makes you responsible. All these opportunities and capacities are accompanied by a responsibility. You should be able to carry out this responsibility in an efficient way. If the society of panegyrists in the country can carry out its responsibility as befits its position, then a significant development will take place throughout the country.
I have repeatedly said that if you recite a poem in an artistic way and if the poem itself is meaningful and instructive, then this will exert more influence than the speech that we deliver for two, three hours. Sometimes, this is the case. Well, this is a very good opportunity. Notice what will happen if the thousands of panegyrists, eulogists and religious singers who address the people and who sing to them on different occasions observe the principles and requirements of this great task.
Our enemies are after destroying our beliefs, actions and paths with hundreds of weapons and discourses and with various kinds of measures. Primarily, they are doing this in the Islamic Republic and secondly, they are doing it in the world of Islam. Many of the people understand, see and know about the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s measures. There are different TV and radio channels and different electronic means of communication.
However, there are certain propaganda measures about which we have more information than the people. The masses of the people do not know what complex measures are being adopted in our country to make the minds of the people deviate from the right path, to divert their movement, to bring the world of Islam to its knees and to prevent Shia community and Shia teachings from becoming a model in the world of Islam. Such measures are being adopted.
We have unique and exclusive resources against this effort of the enemy. We can respond through the internet and through the methods that they themselves employ - of course, their work is much broader in scope - but we have certain means which are exclusive to us.
One of these means is you society of panegyrists. Your face-to-face communication and your utilization of art for conveying concepts to the audience in a comprehensive and wide-ranging way - that is to say, the issue is not about two, three, ten panegyrists, rather thousands of panegyrists are doing this throughout the country - is an exclusive means that we enjoy. It is a means that they do not have.
Minbars are one of these unique means. The same is true of mourning ceremonies. The same is true of religious heyats. If the content of our minbars, eulogies, heyats and nohas are appropriate, then no means can confront and oppose them. That is to say, this means is completely unique and exclusive. Notice that this is an opportunity. Therefore, it should not be wasted and missed.
What is worse than missing this opportunity is using it in a bad way. If our religious ceremonies and eulogies make the people lose their belief in the future, we have wasted this opportunity and we have not appreciated the value of this blessing. If the people leave our minbars and our eulogies while they have not gained any understanding about their conditions and their responsibilities, we have wasted this opportunity. If, God forbid, our meetings shatter unity, we have missed this opportunity. If the way we speak or the content of our speech helps the enemies succeed in their goals, we have turned this divine blessing into blasphemy and ungratefulness: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They have changed Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 28].
We should be careful about this. We have said many times that today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s denominational discord among Muslims is a weapon and a trump card in the hands of our enemies. This is completely clear to those people who are well-informed about global developments. Such denominational discord is a sword in the hands of our enemies. Publicizing differences, expressing them in an outspoken way and speaking about issues which fuel fitna is one of the means which our enemy makes maximum use of.
Now if we act in a way that the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s goal is achieved, this is changing Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness. In religious ceremonies, denominational discourse should not be highlighted. How many times should this be repeated? We have said this many times, but some people do not want to listen.
What do you do if you want to guide those people who do not believe in your denomination and your true beliefs? Do you begin to curse and speak ill of their sacred beliefs? This will make them completely drift away from you and it will destroy all hopes of guiding them. The way to guide them is not this. As you can see today, the world of Shia Islam is under attack. Those who had not heard the name of Shia and Sunni Islam - the leaders of arrogance - are constantly highlighting the name of Shia Islam in their propaganda. They constantly speak about Shia Iran, Shia groups in Iraq and other Shia countries. They constantly highlight the issue of Shia and Sunni.
Why do they do this? It is because they have found a good tool for provoking grudge among Muslims. Well, we are proud that we are Alavi Shias. We are proud that we have gained understanding about the position of Wilayat. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) carried the flag of the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) Wilayat and this became a means for the world of Islam - whether Shia or non-Shia Islam - to feel proud of Islam.
Now, should we do something to turn this feeling of pride and the interest of the world of Islam in Shia community and Shia honor into enmity, hostility and grudge? This is exactly what the enemy wants. We should not allow him to achieve his goal. This is a very important point. You should be careful about this. You should be careful more than other people. We should not do something to help the enemy succeed in his goal and sharpen his sword. Our great personalities, our ulama, our marja taqlids and the great personalities of the world of Islam have always advised us to be careful about this issue. So, this is a very fundamental point.
The second point is that you should take care not to do anything in religious environments and ceremonies which is beyond the principles of sharia. You should be careful about this. The environment of panegyric and religious singing is a pure and clean environment. We should not allow the impurities which have unfortunately been promoted in the world of art among decadent and immoral people to penetrate into the environment of Islamic and religious art. You should be careful about this. Such environments should be clean, pure, untainted and moral. The environment in which we want to convey Islamic teachings with the language of poetry should be such an environment.
Every word that we use in our poems as content and meaning should be instructive. We should try to do this and it does not matter what occasion it is. Sometimes, it is a mourning ceremony and sometimes, it is a eulogy. All of the words that we select can be instructive. In the last Muharram during the time of taghut - it was during the time of revolutionary enthusiasm and excitement and the Revolution became victorious immediately after this Muharram - religious heyats in different cities used to perform certain nohas, each of which enlightened and informed the people as strongly as a long and eloquent speech. Nohas should always be like this.
The task that noha performers carry out is a very remarkable and interesting task. The tradition of performing nohas and the kind of behavior which is witnessed in nohas are very important. These are exclusive to Shia community. That is to say, they are particular to us. Such religious ceremonies do not exist in other countries. This is one of our privileges and therefore, such ceremonies should have strong content.
If, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, these things receive attention, the society of panegyrists will be one of the most influential pioneers of change in the intellectual and practical system of Iranian society. This can be achieved as in the present time, one can see that whenever a responsible and committed panegyrist recites a good poem in a proper way, this will exert influence over the audience and it will awaken and inform them.
It is not clear whether any charitable act can be as valuable as this task in improving society. There are few tasks on which one can place such a high value before Allah the Exalted. This is a very important task. Thankfully, you benefit from this blessing. You have a good voice and you have the capability to perform in a good and melodious way. If you accompany this with the characteristics that were referred to, it seems that a great task for furthering the goals of the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic will be carried out.
Fortunately today, we do not have a shortage of good poems. We have very good religious and ayini poets. These poets compose poems about different issues and their poems are good. Thankfully today, we benefited from some of these good poems. It was very good.
In the past, panegyrists had to memorize poems. Today, you broke this tradition. You made it easier by using a piece of paper. Well, good poems can be written and recited. Thankfully, this opportunity exists today. This is one of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greatest blessings which is available to us today.
In my opinion, the society of panegyrists with its enormous capabilities is a divine blessing for our country and our people and the poets who compose poems and who prepare panegyrists for carrying out this responsibility are really accomplishing a great feat. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on all you dear ones - particularly you youth who have a wide arena of work ahead of you. I hope that all of you will be rewarded by the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and that you will receive his attention.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings
More...
Description:
Translated speech Link
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1897&Itemid=4
April 20 2014,
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I congratulate all of you dear brothers - who are lyrical nightingales in the garden of love for the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Sayyidah Taherah Masoumeh (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the birthday anniversary of the great and glorious leader of the Revolution.
We thank God because this is one of His great blessings for us and it is a source of inspiration for our Islamic and Shia society. He repeatedly and constantly inspires our society with birthday anniversaries, biographies, and martyrdom eras. This should really be appreciated.
During the birthday anniversaries of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), Imam Hassan (a.s.), Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the memory of these shining stars and these guiding flags are revived in hearts. This is very valuable. And thank God it is many years that we have been holding this meeting in the shade of Fatemi enlightenment (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s purest greetings be upon her). It is many years that this meeting has been bestowing its blessings on us, on our working and living environments and on the environment of the country.
Man\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s limited mind cannot definitely evaluate and measure the characteristics of heavenly personalities like Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her). People\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s minds do not have the capability to evaluate and measure these spiritual dimensions. However, we can make their behavior a model for ourselves. This was also pointed out in the poems that the friends in this meeting recited.
The spiritual positions of these personalities are one thing and the patterns of behavior which are in front of our eyes are quite another. This does not mean that we can emulate these personalities by displaying a second version of their patterns of behavior. This is not what it means. However, we can follow them at least.
The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I know that to adopt such a hard way of life is beyond you, but at least try to be pious. Help me and be my companion in virtue, diligence and simple living\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. After he describes his lifestyle - although he had a lofty position and had access to many resources, he lived a life of piety and abstinence - he says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You cannot behave like me, but you can help me\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". With what? We can help him with piety, avoidance of sins, effort and diligence. These are our responsibilities.
They have illustrated the goals for us, both individual and personal goals, and social, political and general goals. In personal goals, our lofty ideal is reaching the peak of human dignity. Everyone has been promised that they can take this lofty and limitless flight. You youth are more capable than us. These are the personal goals.
And our great social goals are creating a pure Islamic life and Islamic society, one that allows individuals to move towards this goal. Such a society is well-developed, free, independent, highly moral, united, unanimous, pious and religious. These are the goals of Islamic society. The main social and political goal of Islam is creating a world which is an introduction to the afterlife and which helps individuals to achieve paradise easily. They have illustrated these goals for us.
What is the way to achieve these goals? How can we reach these goals? As Imam Ali (a.s.) said, we should help him to reach this goal - this is the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) command. This goal is what the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) did in his entire life and during his efforts and jihad, which is creating such a world for all the people throughout history. How can we help him? We can help him with virtue, diligence and effort. Laziness is forbidden. Idleness is forbidden. Feeling tired is forbidden. Becoming desperate is forbidden. When this great movement is launched, you have gladdened the blessed heart of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) because they made all these efforts in order to reach this goal.
My dear ones, dear youth, this opportunity is available to the people of Iran today. In the past, it was not available and it was difficult. Today in the Islamic Republic, the opportunity to move forward in the right way and to lead a good, pious and pure life is available to all the people in society. This does not mean that the path of committing sins is closed. This is not the case because the path of sins is always open, but the path of living a good, pious and pure life in the shade of Islam is open as well.
Of course, living such a life has its own pleasures and difficulties. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive them\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 112]. There have always been certain enemies against the camp of prophets. Who are these enemies? These enemies are the shaitans from among men and jinn. Against this seemingly long line of shaitans, there is the steel and strong line of believers. The people of Iran experienced this and it became clear that people can achieve victory over their enemies, as the people of Iran have thankfully moved forward until today.
We should make efforts. The lesson of the life of Siddiqat al-Taherah - Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is to make efforts, show diligence and lead a pure life, as that great personality was the manifestation of enlightenment and purity: she was \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"pure, clean, immaculate, virtuous, pious and moral\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Kamel al-Ziarat, page 310]. The purity, cleanliness, piety and enlightenment of that great person are what have influenced our Islamic teachings throughout the history of Shiaism.
What is appropriate to be discussed in this meeting is related to the heavy responsibility that falls on the shoulders of today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s society of panegyrists. This issue has priority over other issues. Dear brothers, the tradition of praising and eulogizing the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - which is a great honor - has fortunately become common and deep-rooted in our society. This tradition existed in the past as well, but it was limited in scope. However today, this banquet has spread and this arena has opened to everyone.
Today, thousands of people throughout the country are active in this arena by utilizing their artistic taste and benefitting from different methods of eloquence. Well, this is an opportunity and any opportunity is accompanied by a responsibility. When you cannot communicate with someone, your responsibility remains at a limited level, but when you can, your responsibility will naturally increase to the extent that your capability for communication allows.
When you can speak to the people and when you have the capability to address them with the art of poetry, singing and melody, this makes you responsible. All these opportunities and capacities are accompanied by a responsibility. You should be able to carry out this responsibility in an efficient way. If the society of panegyrists in the country can carry out its responsibility as befits its position, then a significant development will take place throughout the country.
I have repeatedly said that if you recite a poem in an artistic way and if the poem itself is meaningful and instructive, then this will exert more influence than the speech that we deliver for two, three hours. Sometimes, this is the case. Well, this is a very good opportunity. Notice what will happen if the thousands of panegyrists, eulogists and religious singers who address the people and who sing to them on different occasions observe the principles and requirements of this great task.
Our enemies are after destroying our beliefs, actions and paths with hundreds of weapons and discourses and with various kinds of measures. Primarily, they are doing this in the Islamic Republic and secondly, they are doing it in the world of Islam. Many of the people understand, see and know about the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s measures. There are different TV and radio channels and different electronic means of communication.
However, there are certain propaganda measures about which we have more information than the people. The masses of the people do not know what complex measures are being adopted in our country to make the minds of the people deviate from the right path, to divert their movement, to bring the world of Islam to its knees and to prevent Shia community and Shia teachings from becoming a model in the world of Islam. Such measures are being adopted.
We have unique and exclusive resources against this effort of the enemy. We can respond through the internet and through the methods that they themselves employ - of course, their work is much broader in scope - but we have certain means which are exclusive to us.
One of these means is you society of panegyrists. Your face-to-face communication and your utilization of art for conveying concepts to the audience in a comprehensive and wide-ranging way - that is to say, the issue is not about two, three, ten panegyrists, rather thousands of panegyrists are doing this throughout the country - is an exclusive means that we enjoy. It is a means that they do not have.
Minbars are one of these unique means. The same is true of mourning ceremonies. The same is true of religious heyats. If the content of our minbars, eulogies, heyats and nohas are appropriate, then no means can confront and oppose them. That is to say, this means is completely unique and exclusive. Notice that this is an opportunity. Therefore, it should not be wasted and missed.
What is worse than missing this opportunity is using it in a bad way. If our religious ceremonies and eulogies make the people lose their belief in the future, we have wasted this opportunity and we have not appreciated the value of this blessing. If the people leave our minbars and our eulogies while they have not gained any understanding about their conditions and their responsibilities, we have wasted this opportunity. If, God forbid, our meetings shatter unity, we have missed this opportunity. If the way we speak or the content of our speech helps the enemies succeed in their goals, we have turned this divine blessing into blasphemy and ungratefulness: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They have changed Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 28].
We should be careful about this. We have said many times that today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s denominational discord among Muslims is a weapon and a trump card in the hands of our enemies. This is completely clear to those people who are well-informed about global developments. Such denominational discord is a sword in the hands of our enemies. Publicizing differences, expressing them in an outspoken way and speaking about issues which fuel fitna is one of the means which our enemy makes maximum use of.
Now if we act in a way that the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s goal is achieved, this is changing Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness. In religious ceremonies, denominational discourse should not be highlighted. How many times should this be repeated? We have said this many times, but some people do not want to listen.
What do you do if you want to guide those people who do not believe in your denomination and your true beliefs? Do you begin to curse and speak ill of their sacred beliefs? This will make them completely drift away from you and it will destroy all hopes of guiding them. The way to guide them is not this. As you can see today, the world of Shia Islam is under attack. Those who had not heard the name of Shia and Sunni Islam - the leaders of arrogance - are constantly highlighting the name of Shia Islam in their propaganda. They constantly speak about Shia Iran, Shia groups in Iraq and other Shia countries. They constantly highlight the issue of Shia and Sunni.
Why do they do this? It is because they have found a good tool for provoking grudge among Muslims. Well, we are proud that we are Alavi Shias. We are proud that we have gained understanding about the position of Wilayat. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) carried the flag of the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) Wilayat and this became a means for the world of Islam - whether Shia or non-Shia Islam - to feel proud of Islam.
Now, should we do something to turn this feeling of pride and the interest of the world of Islam in Shia community and Shia honor into enmity, hostility and grudge? This is exactly what the enemy wants. We should not allow him to achieve his goal. This is a very important point. You should be careful about this. You should be careful more than other people. We should not do something to help the enemy succeed in his goal and sharpen his sword. Our great personalities, our ulama, our marja taqlids and the great personalities of the world of Islam have always advised us to be careful about this issue. So, this is a very fundamental point.
The second point is that you should take care not to do anything in religious environments and ceremonies which is beyond the principles of sharia. You should be careful about this. The environment of panegyric and religious singing is a pure and clean environment. We should not allow the impurities which have unfortunately been promoted in the world of art among decadent and immoral people to penetrate into the environment of Islamic and religious art. You should be careful about this. Such environments should be clean, pure, untainted and moral. The environment in which we want to convey Islamic teachings with the language of poetry should be such an environment.
Every word that we use in our poems as content and meaning should be instructive. We should try to do this and it does not matter what occasion it is. Sometimes, it is a mourning ceremony and sometimes, it is a eulogy. All of the words that we select can be instructive. In the last Muharram during the time of taghut - it was during the time of revolutionary enthusiasm and excitement and the Revolution became victorious immediately after this Muharram - religious heyats in different cities used to perform certain nohas, each of which enlightened and informed the people as strongly as a long and eloquent speech. Nohas should always be like this.
The task that noha performers carry out is a very remarkable and interesting task. The tradition of performing nohas and the kind of behavior which is witnessed in nohas are very important. These are exclusive to Shia community. That is to say, they are particular to us. Such religious ceremonies do not exist in other countries. This is one of our privileges and therefore, such ceremonies should have strong content.
If, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, these things receive attention, the society of panegyrists will be one of the most influential pioneers of change in the intellectual and practical system of Iranian society. This can be achieved as in the present time, one can see that whenever a responsible and committed panegyrist recites a good poem in a proper way, this will exert influence over the audience and it will awaken and inform them.
It is not clear whether any charitable act can be as valuable as this task in improving society. There are few tasks on which one can place such a high value before Allah the Exalted. This is a very important task. Thankfully, you benefit from this blessing. You have a good voice and you have the capability to perform in a good and melodious way. If you accompany this with the characteristics that were referred to, it seems that a great task for furthering the goals of the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic will be carried out.
Fortunately today, we do not have a shortage of good poems. We have very good religious and ayini poets. These poets compose poems about different issues and their poems are good. Thankfully today, we benefited from some of these good poems. It was very good.
In the past, panegyrists had to memorize poems. Today, you broke this tradition. You made it easier by using a piece of paper. Well, good poems can be written and recited. Thankfully, this opportunity exists today. This is one of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greatest blessings which is available to us today.
In my opinion, the society of panegyrists with its enormous capabilities is a divine blessing for our country and our people and the poets who compose poems and who prepare panegyrists for carrying out this responsibility are really accomplishing a great feat. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on all you dear ones - particularly you youth who have a wide arena of work ahead of you. I hope that all of you will be rewarded by the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and that you will receive his attention.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings
دیدار معلمان و فر ھنگیان سراسر کشور - Ayatollah Khamenei - 07th May 2014 - Farsi
Ayatollah Khamenei describes three main elements of the noble vocation of teaching 07th May 2014
Translation of speeech
souce: english.khamenei.ir
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the...
Ayatollah Khamenei describes three main elements of the noble vocation of teaching 07th May 2014
Translation of speeech
souce: english.khamenei.ir
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to welcome you dear teachers and managers of the educational system, who imbued our working environment and our life with your warm and friendly presence.
First of all, it is the month of Rajab which is an opportunity to serve God. Our entire life can be an opportunity for serving God in a proper way and true happiness lies in this. Some occasions increase our opportunities and the month of Rajab is one of these opportunities. We should prepare ourselves in this month. We should pray for one another so that Allah the Exalted helps us prepare ourselves in this month and in the month of Sha\\\\\\\'ban and Ramadan and so that He helps us take one step forward and achieve transcendence.
Reviving the memory of a number of martyrs is one of the opportunities of this meeting and this day as well. Primarily, I would like to revive the memory of our dear martyr, Shahid Ayatollah Motahhari, who was our great thinker, our teacher and a mujahid on the path of Islamic thought and belief. With his martyrdom, he achieved the blessing to obtain the approval of Allah the Exalted for his long jihad. Good for him!
I would also like to revive the memory of Shahid Rajai and Shahid Bahonar who spent their lives in the educational system. They were two mujahid, pious and sincere individuals who were at the service of the educational system. We witnessed up close the efforts of these two dear personalities in these areas for many years and for a short time after the Revolution.
Our annual meeting with teachers has a major goal and several minor goals. The major goal is expressing respect for teachers. With this meeting, we want to show our respect to the position of teachers. This symbolic move is necessary. Respecting teachers and teaching should become a widespread practice in our society. Everyone should feel proud of being a teacher. Everyone should be proud of greeting and respecting teachers. The higher the position of teachers is, the higher the position of education will be in our society.
Adopting a narrow-minded outlook towards teachers is a loss for society. This should be prevented. The outlook towards teachers should be a respectful one. There are many different professions in the country which are seemingly very prestigious, but the position of all of these professions is much lower than the position and the profession of teaching. All of us should know and understand this.
The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) is quoted as saying, \\\\\\\"I was sent as a teacher\\\\\\\" [Usul al-Kafi, Volume 2, page 95]. The fact that the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) considered himself to be a teacher is the greatest honor. Of course, teaching exists at different levels, but the truth of teaching is only one thing. This is a source of honor. This is our issue. With this meeting, we want to show that we hold teachers in great respect and that we are indebted to them because of what they did for ourselves and because of what they do for our children and for those whose future is important to us. This feeling is shared by all the people. All of us are indebted to teachers. This is our main issue.
There are some minor issues as well. One issue is addressed to teachers themselves. Another issue is addressed to the managers and officials of the large educational system. What is related to teachers is that the dear teachers should know their job is not only teaching. In other words, their job is not only to teach the textbooks that are available to them. Teachers should promote knowledge, teach the way to think and strengthen morality in themselves. If we consider teaching to have a broad meaning, it will include these three tasks:
The first task is promoting knowledge and teaching the textbooks that our children - the future men and women of the country - should learn. This is one task.
The second task, which is more important, is teaching how to think. Our children should learn how to think in a proper and reasonable way. They should be properly guided about how to think. Shallow outlooks and shallow learning of the issues of life cripple a society. In the long run, it destroys a people. Thinking should be firmly established in society.
This is why when we mention someone like Shahid Motahhari, we do not only speak about his knowledge. We speak about his thinking as well. If someone knows how to think, this spirit will help them to discover the important issues of knowledge. If our youth, our scholars and our scientists are thinkers, they will use the knowledge that they have to pose tens and hundreds of new questions and to get answers for these questions. So, using knowledge is only possible with thinking.
The third task is behavioral and moral education and what the honorable minister referred to in his statements: lifestyle and behavior. We are a people with lofty ideals, with great slogans and with clear and definite peaks that we want to reach - if there is time, I will briefly address this issue later on. This requires patient, wise, religious, innovative, kind, compassionate, courageous, polite and pious individuals who are ready to take action, who avoid laziness and who consider others\\\\\\\' pains to be their own pains.
The mold and make-up of a person that Islam wants to build is shaped through education. All people can be educated. Some people may learn late and some may learn sooner than others. Some learn more efficiently and some learn less efficiently than others. But all individuals are subject to change and this change takes place with education. Primarily, this falls on the shoulders of certain main elements one of which is a teacher. Of course, parents, friends and other such people are influential as well, but the influence that a teacher exerts is deeper and more permanent. This is a task that teachers should carry out.
Therefore, teachers teach how to acquire knowledge, how to think and how to be moral. Learning morality is not like acquiring knowledge. That is to say, one cannot be moral by reading books. Morality cannot be taught with books. Behavior is more influential than books and words. You teach with your behavior in your classrooms and among your students. Of course, you teach with words as well. You should provide verbal advice, but behavior has a deeper and more comprehensive influence. It is one\\\\\\\'s behavior which makes it clear whether one\\\\\\\'s words are sincere or not. This is what we wanted to say to teachers.
The society of teachers has been entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of children. We should pay attention to this issue. If, by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, our teachers decide to build children and teenagers with this method - that is to say, by paying attention to these three elements - then I believe that this will exert great influence on the future of society.
Of course, after the Revolution, certain good measures were adopted in this regard. The society of teachers exerted great influence with their commitment and by showing their presence in the revolutionary environment - whether during the Sacred Defense Era or afterwards. I sometimes read the books which are about teachers. A teacher who took part in the front lines of the Sacred Defense and who was martyred exerted great influence on the minds of his students. One can see this.
One issue about the educational system and its management is the issue of the transformation plan. The transformation plan - which has thankfully been prepared and established - was not something that was created all of a sudden. This plan was one of our desires from the beginning of the Revolution. Because the educational system in our country was created by imitating western educational systems with the same form, content and order, there was a need for a fundamental change in the educational system of the country, whether in terms of form or in terms of content.
Well, many people shared this thought for many years. Then, it was developed gradually and it led to the transformation plan. I am not saying that this transformation plan is the peak of our desires. This is not the case. For everything, there is a higher form. It is possible that by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, you take action, move forward and gain experience in a way that you can add something to what is available to you today.
However, this transformation plan is what is available to us in the present time and therefore, it should be taken seriously. My advice to the honorable officials and managers of the educational system is that we should take the transformation plan seriously. And this seriousness should be beyond formal statements. It should be shown in practice.
Well, as the friends in this meeting quoted what I had said before, if we want this transformation plan to be implemented, we need a roadmap and a plan. If our thoughts and the general ideas that officials and sympathetic personalities have in mind do not take the form of a practical plan, then it will remain a mere idea and it will decay. Therefore, it requires a practical plan.
You should prepare and implement this practical plan in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution - which is a great cultural center and a reference point for making decisions and in which officials are present. You should feel that this step has been taken. Then, you should go to the next step. Of course, some tasks should be carried out simultaneously and in line with one another.
An issue for the management of the educational system is the issue of manpower. As was pointed out in this meeting, the educational system is the greatest decision-making organization in the Islamic Republic. More than one million officials exist in this great system. These officials are directly involved with more than 12 million people and they are indirectly involved with tens of millions of people - that is to say, families. Such a great network is very important.
The forces that should be employed in this great network should have certain characteristics. One of these characteristics is that they should be motivated and enthusiastic. You should not give priority to tired, old and unimaginative forces - those who tried whatever they knew and who do not have new methods anymore. The priority should be given to young, enthusiastic, motivated, pious and revolutionary forces and to those for whom the main goal is what the main issue of the educational system is - which is building individuals.
You should benefit from these forces. This is one issue. Therefore, in my opinion, the first issue about the macro-management of the educational system is that they should see what forces they are using. They should benefit from religious, revolutionary, enthusiastic and zealous forces who love their job and who are ready to enter difficult arenas for the sake of the goals of the educational system. This is the most important task.
The second issue is the issue of support. All governmental organizations are responsible for supporting the educational system, whether the organizations which are in charge of the budget or the organizations which are formed on the basis of the laws that the Majlis passes. The outlook of all these organizations should be such an outlook. They should not think that the educational system is only a consumer. Sometimes, there is such an outlook. Some people say that the educational system is only a consumer. But this is not the case. The more you spend money on it, the more results you will achieve. The educational system is such a system.
This is an organization which creates the future generators of wealth, knowledge and civilization and the future managers of the country. It is not the case that we think the educational system is a costly organization. There is no achievement which is greater than the one the educational system makes. Whatever achievement and innovation you see throughout the country is rooted in the educational system. You should improve this organization so that everything will be improved. Therefore, spending money on the educational system and expanding the financial resources of this organization is one of the tasks that we hope government officials pay attention to.
Another issue is that - as I mentioned in the middle of my speech - the managers that we choose should be managers whose focus is on the main issue of the educational system. Adopting partisan, political and other such outlooks is poison for the educational system. Over the course of these long years, we have witnessed certain eras during which there was more attention to such issues. As a result of this, the educational system suffered a loss. You should be careful about this. You should adopt such an outlook towards the different issues of the educational system that for each manager in each sector of this large and vast organization, the main issue is the issue of education and building revolutionary forces.
Dear brothers and sisters, the reason why we stress the issue of building revolutionary and religious forces is that we have a long way ahead of us. Our people have a long way ahead of them. The goal that we have in mind for the Islamic Republic - which is based on the general guidelines of the Revolution - is a very lofty goal. When I say \\\\\\\"we\\\\\\\", I do not mean this humble person. Rather, I mean the people of Iran, officials and the owners of the Revolution. This goal is creating an exemplary society. You want to build a society in dear Iran - which has been located in a very sensitive geographical area in the world - which is a model in the shade of Islam and under the flag of the Holy Quran. This model is both in material areas and in spiritual and moral areas.
Westerners made a leap in material areas. They made a leap in a certain era, but this leap was separated from and opposed to the moral movement. It was a hundred percent materialistic leap. In the beginning, no one understood what had happened, but now they are beginning to understand. They are gradually feeling the irreversible damage of what they did. No one should think that a purely materialistic and secular civilization can help its people achieve happiness. This is not the case. The people in this civilization will face a great disaster.
In the present time, they are witnessing this disaster. This disaster is not because of the demonstrations which are held in European streets. For the west, this disaster is much deeper than this. Primarily, what humanity needs is psychological, moral and conscience-based security. Primarily, what it needs is the satisfaction of its conscience. Such satisfaction does not exist in western environments and it will get even worse.
If you are familiar with western writers, critics and thinkers, you will see that it is several years now that they have been raising their voices. These people are showing some aspects of increasing corruption in their societies. A materialistic lifestyle is like this. Although they have moved forward in the area of science, technological achievements and the like and although they have accomplished great feats in this regard, they have collapsed in the area of morality and they will continue to collapse because of this.
The society that Islam wants to build is a society that is at an advanced level in terms of wealth, knowledge and welfare. But it also wants this society to be at this level or even at a higher level in terms of morality and spirituality. This is an Islamic society. You want to build this society. So, you have a long way ahead of you. But it is possible. No one should say that it is not. Many things were considered to be impossible, but they happened.
When a people show determination, they can accomplish great and historical feats. Our societies have shown that they can be great, that they can blossom and that they can grow and exert influence. Man is an endless and infinite creature. Knowledge has made so much progress, but the main parts of man\\\\\\\'s brain are still unknown. This is what the scientists who work on this say. This physical aspect of man is unknown, let alone his spiritual, psychological and inner aspect. Man has many capabilities. We can carry out many tasks. An individual can simultaneously achieve great material and spiritual growth.
Well, we want to reach these goals. Reaching these goals requires manpower more than anything else. What is more important than the path is the person who takes this path. If there is not such a person, then even a well-paved road is useless. But if there is a determined person, then lack of a well-paved road will not be problematic. You have seen that mountaineers climb so high while there is no road. But they have feet and determination. So, it is possible to move forward and to reach peaks. It is possible to know and utilize unknown talents. It is possible to solve problems in a constant way.
All of these things require human resources. These human resources should be created in the educational system. Universities are important in this regard. The same is true of society and the IRIB. But none of these is as important as primary school. The teachers and managers of this great organization have such a responsibility. Therefore, we stress that they should be religious and revolutionary.
It is with this religious and revolutionary spirit that we can take this path. Even if there is a hard obstacle ahead of us, we can move forward. Even if there are certain hurdles, we can jump over them provided that this revolutionary spirit, this piety and this commitment to religious and revolutionary steadfastness exist. This is one point.
Another issue is the issue of textbooks. We should be very careful about textbooks. They should be well-developed. If they are poor in content, this is harmful. Not only is it not beneficial, but it is also harmful. If they contain deviant statements - whether political, religious or factual deviation - this is harmful. Those who are responsible for this should carry out their responsibility with complete trustworthiness and precision.
Another issue is the issue of the teachers\\\\\\\' training university. On my way to this meeting, I spoke with the honorable minister about this issue. This university is different from ordinary universities. As well as the advantages that other universities have, this university has the advantage of producing teachers. This has certain requirements. Great significance should be attached to this university.
Another issue is the issue of moral education and the deputy of moral education. This issue was neglected. This deputy was closed at one point. Later on, they opened and closed it again and again. The deputy of moral education is an organization in charge of attending to the issue of moral education - spiritual, revolutionary, behavioral and moral aspects of education. This deputy is important both at a ministerial level and at lower levels.
I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings and mercy on all of you. I hope that, God willing, the immaculate soul of our dear Imam (r.a.) - who opened this path for us - is pleased with you. I hope that the pure souls of our dear martyrs - particularly those martyrs who were teachers and students - benefit from divine blessings.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings
More...
Description:
Ayatollah Khamenei describes three main elements of the noble vocation of teaching 07th May 2014
Translation of speeech
souce: english.khamenei.ir
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to welcome you dear teachers and managers of the educational system, who imbued our working environment and our life with your warm and friendly presence.
First of all, it is the month of Rajab which is an opportunity to serve God. Our entire life can be an opportunity for serving God in a proper way and true happiness lies in this. Some occasions increase our opportunities and the month of Rajab is one of these opportunities. We should prepare ourselves in this month. We should pray for one another so that Allah the Exalted helps us prepare ourselves in this month and in the month of Sha\\\\\\\'ban and Ramadan and so that He helps us take one step forward and achieve transcendence.
Reviving the memory of a number of martyrs is one of the opportunities of this meeting and this day as well. Primarily, I would like to revive the memory of our dear martyr, Shahid Ayatollah Motahhari, who was our great thinker, our teacher and a mujahid on the path of Islamic thought and belief. With his martyrdom, he achieved the blessing to obtain the approval of Allah the Exalted for his long jihad. Good for him!
I would also like to revive the memory of Shahid Rajai and Shahid Bahonar who spent their lives in the educational system. They were two mujahid, pious and sincere individuals who were at the service of the educational system. We witnessed up close the efforts of these two dear personalities in these areas for many years and for a short time after the Revolution.
Our annual meeting with teachers has a major goal and several minor goals. The major goal is expressing respect for teachers. With this meeting, we want to show our respect to the position of teachers. This symbolic move is necessary. Respecting teachers and teaching should become a widespread practice in our society. Everyone should feel proud of being a teacher. Everyone should be proud of greeting and respecting teachers. The higher the position of teachers is, the higher the position of education will be in our society.
Adopting a narrow-minded outlook towards teachers is a loss for society. This should be prevented. The outlook towards teachers should be a respectful one. There are many different professions in the country which are seemingly very prestigious, but the position of all of these professions is much lower than the position and the profession of teaching. All of us should know and understand this.
The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) is quoted as saying, \\\\\\\"I was sent as a teacher\\\\\\\" [Usul al-Kafi, Volume 2, page 95]. The fact that the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) considered himself to be a teacher is the greatest honor. Of course, teaching exists at different levels, but the truth of teaching is only one thing. This is a source of honor. This is our issue. With this meeting, we want to show that we hold teachers in great respect and that we are indebted to them because of what they did for ourselves and because of what they do for our children and for those whose future is important to us. This feeling is shared by all the people. All of us are indebted to teachers. This is our main issue.
There are some minor issues as well. One issue is addressed to teachers themselves. Another issue is addressed to the managers and officials of the large educational system. What is related to teachers is that the dear teachers should know their job is not only teaching. In other words, their job is not only to teach the textbooks that are available to them. Teachers should promote knowledge, teach the way to think and strengthen morality in themselves. If we consider teaching to have a broad meaning, it will include these three tasks:
The first task is promoting knowledge and teaching the textbooks that our children - the future men and women of the country - should learn. This is one task.
The second task, which is more important, is teaching how to think. Our children should learn how to think in a proper and reasonable way. They should be properly guided about how to think. Shallow outlooks and shallow learning of the issues of life cripple a society. In the long run, it destroys a people. Thinking should be firmly established in society.
This is why when we mention someone like Shahid Motahhari, we do not only speak about his knowledge. We speak about his thinking as well. If someone knows how to think, this spirit will help them to discover the important issues of knowledge. If our youth, our scholars and our scientists are thinkers, they will use the knowledge that they have to pose tens and hundreds of new questions and to get answers for these questions. So, using knowledge is only possible with thinking.
The third task is behavioral and moral education and what the honorable minister referred to in his statements: lifestyle and behavior. We are a people with lofty ideals, with great slogans and with clear and definite peaks that we want to reach - if there is time, I will briefly address this issue later on. This requires patient, wise, religious, innovative, kind, compassionate, courageous, polite and pious individuals who are ready to take action, who avoid laziness and who consider others\\\\\\\' pains to be their own pains.
The mold and make-up of a person that Islam wants to build is shaped through education. All people can be educated. Some people may learn late and some may learn sooner than others. Some learn more efficiently and some learn less efficiently than others. But all individuals are subject to change and this change takes place with education. Primarily, this falls on the shoulders of certain main elements one of which is a teacher. Of course, parents, friends and other such people are influential as well, but the influence that a teacher exerts is deeper and more permanent. This is a task that teachers should carry out.
Therefore, teachers teach how to acquire knowledge, how to think and how to be moral. Learning morality is not like acquiring knowledge. That is to say, one cannot be moral by reading books. Morality cannot be taught with books. Behavior is more influential than books and words. You teach with your behavior in your classrooms and among your students. Of course, you teach with words as well. You should provide verbal advice, but behavior has a deeper and more comprehensive influence. It is one\\\\\\\'s behavior which makes it clear whether one\\\\\\\'s words are sincere or not. This is what we wanted to say to teachers.
The society of teachers has been entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of children. We should pay attention to this issue. If, by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, our teachers decide to build children and teenagers with this method - that is to say, by paying attention to these three elements - then I believe that this will exert great influence on the future of society.
Of course, after the Revolution, certain good measures were adopted in this regard. The society of teachers exerted great influence with their commitment and by showing their presence in the revolutionary environment - whether during the Sacred Defense Era or afterwards. I sometimes read the books which are about teachers. A teacher who took part in the front lines of the Sacred Defense and who was martyred exerted great influence on the minds of his students. One can see this.
One issue about the educational system and its management is the issue of the transformation plan. The transformation plan - which has thankfully been prepared and established - was not something that was created all of a sudden. This plan was one of our desires from the beginning of the Revolution. Because the educational system in our country was created by imitating western educational systems with the same form, content and order, there was a need for a fundamental change in the educational system of the country, whether in terms of form or in terms of content.
Well, many people shared this thought for many years. Then, it was developed gradually and it led to the transformation plan. I am not saying that this transformation plan is the peak of our desires. This is not the case. For everything, there is a higher form. It is possible that by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, you take action, move forward and gain experience in a way that you can add something to what is available to you today.
However, this transformation plan is what is available to us in the present time and therefore, it should be taken seriously. My advice to the honorable officials and managers of the educational system is that we should take the transformation plan seriously. And this seriousness should be beyond formal statements. It should be shown in practice.
Well, as the friends in this meeting quoted what I had said before, if we want this transformation plan to be implemented, we need a roadmap and a plan. If our thoughts and the general ideas that officials and sympathetic personalities have in mind do not take the form of a practical plan, then it will remain a mere idea and it will decay. Therefore, it requires a practical plan.
You should prepare and implement this practical plan in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution - which is a great cultural center and a reference point for making decisions and in which officials are present. You should feel that this step has been taken. Then, you should go to the next step. Of course, some tasks should be carried out simultaneously and in line with one another.
An issue for the management of the educational system is the issue of manpower. As was pointed out in this meeting, the educational system is the greatest decision-making organization in the Islamic Republic. More than one million officials exist in this great system. These officials are directly involved with more than 12 million people and they are indirectly involved with tens of millions of people - that is to say, families. Such a great network is very important.
The forces that should be employed in this great network should have certain characteristics. One of these characteristics is that they should be motivated and enthusiastic. You should not give priority to tired, old and unimaginative forces - those who tried whatever they knew and who do not have new methods anymore. The priority should be given to young, enthusiastic, motivated, pious and revolutionary forces and to those for whom the main goal is what the main issue of the educational system is - which is building individuals.
You should benefit from these forces. This is one issue. Therefore, in my opinion, the first issue about the macro-management of the educational system is that they should see what forces they are using. They should benefit from religious, revolutionary, enthusiastic and zealous forces who love their job and who are ready to enter difficult arenas for the sake of the goals of the educational system. This is the most important task.
The second issue is the issue of support. All governmental organizations are responsible for supporting the educational system, whether the organizations which are in charge of the budget or the organizations which are formed on the basis of the laws that the Majlis passes. The outlook of all these organizations should be such an outlook. They should not think that the educational system is only a consumer. Sometimes, there is such an outlook. Some people say that the educational system is only a consumer. But this is not the case. The more you spend money on it, the more results you will achieve. The educational system is such a system.
This is an organization which creates the future generators of wealth, knowledge and civilization and the future managers of the country. It is not the case that we think the educational system is a costly organization. There is no achievement which is greater than the one the educational system makes. Whatever achievement and innovation you see throughout the country is rooted in the educational system. You should improve this organization so that everything will be improved. Therefore, spending money on the educational system and expanding the financial resources of this organization is one of the tasks that we hope government officials pay attention to.
Another issue is that - as I mentioned in the middle of my speech - the managers that we choose should be managers whose focus is on the main issue of the educational system. Adopting partisan, political and other such outlooks is poison for the educational system. Over the course of these long years, we have witnessed certain eras during which there was more attention to such issues. As a result of this, the educational system suffered a loss. You should be careful about this. You should adopt such an outlook towards the different issues of the educational system that for each manager in each sector of this large and vast organization, the main issue is the issue of education and building revolutionary forces.
Dear brothers and sisters, the reason why we stress the issue of building revolutionary and religious forces is that we have a long way ahead of us. Our people have a long way ahead of them. The goal that we have in mind for the Islamic Republic - which is based on the general guidelines of the Revolution - is a very lofty goal. When I say \\\\\\\"we\\\\\\\", I do not mean this humble person. Rather, I mean the people of Iran, officials and the owners of the Revolution. This goal is creating an exemplary society. You want to build a society in dear Iran - which has been located in a very sensitive geographical area in the world - which is a model in the shade of Islam and under the flag of the Holy Quran. This model is both in material areas and in spiritual and moral areas.
Westerners made a leap in material areas. They made a leap in a certain era, but this leap was separated from and opposed to the moral movement. It was a hundred percent materialistic leap. In the beginning, no one understood what had happened, but now they are beginning to understand. They are gradually feeling the irreversible damage of what they did. No one should think that a purely materialistic and secular civilization can help its people achieve happiness. This is not the case. The people in this civilization will face a great disaster.
In the present time, they are witnessing this disaster. This disaster is not because of the demonstrations which are held in European streets. For the west, this disaster is much deeper than this. Primarily, what humanity needs is psychological, moral and conscience-based security. Primarily, what it needs is the satisfaction of its conscience. Such satisfaction does not exist in western environments and it will get even worse.
If you are familiar with western writers, critics and thinkers, you will see that it is several years now that they have been raising their voices. These people are showing some aspects of increasing corruption in their societies. A materialistic lifestyle is like this. Although they have moved forward in the area of science, technological achievements and the like and although they have accomplished great feats in this regard, they have collapsed in the area of morality and they will continue to collapse because of this.
The society that Islam wants to build is a society that is at an advanced level in terms of wealth, knowledge and welfare. But it also wants this society to be at this level or even at a higher level in terms of morality and spirituality. This is an Islamic society. You want to build this society. So, you have a long way ahead of you. But it is possible. No one should say that it is not. Many things were considered to be impossible, but they happened.
When a people show determination, they can accomplish great and historical feats. Our societies have shown that they can be great, that they can blossom and that they can grow and exert influence. Man is an endless and infinite creature. Knowledge has made so much progress, but the main parts of man\\\\\\\'s brain are still unknown. This is what the scientists who work on this say. This physical aspect of man is unknown, let alone his spiritual, psychological and inner aspect. Man has many capabilities. We can carry out many tasks. An individual can simultaneously achieve great material and spiritual growth.
Well, we want to reach these goals. Reaching these goals requires manpower more than anything else. What is more important than the path is the person who takes this path. If there is not such a person, then even a well-paved road is useless. But if there is a determined person, then lack of a well-paved road will not be problematic. You have seen that mountaineers climb so high while there is no road. But they have feet and determination. So, it is possible to move forward and to reach peaks. It is possible to know and utilize unknown talents. It is possible to solve problems in a constant way.
All of these things require human resources. These human resources should be created in the educational system. Universities are important in this regard. The same is true of society and the IRIB. But none of these is as important as primary school. The teachers and managers of this great organization have such a responsibility. Therefore, we stress that they should be religious and revolutionary.
It is with this religious and revolutionary spirit that we can take this path. Even if there is a hard obstacle ahead of us, we can move forward. Even if there are certain hurdles, we can jump over them provided that this revolutionary spirit, this piety and this commitment to religious and revolutionary steadfastness exist. This is one point.
Another issue is the issue of textbooks. We should be very careful about textbooks. They should be well-developed. If they are poor in content, this is harmful. Not only is it not beneficial, but it is also harmful. If they contain deviant statements - whether political, religious or factual deviation - this is harmful. Those who are responsible for this should carry out their responsibility with complete trustworthiness and precision.
Another issue is the issue of the teachers\\\\\\\' training university. On my way to this meeting, I spoke with the honorable minister about this issue. This university is different from ordinary universities. As well as the advantages that other universities have, this university has the advantage of producing teachers. This has certain requirements. Great significance should be attached to this university.
Another issue is the issue of moral education and the deputy of moral education. This issue was neglected. This deputy was closed at one point. Later on, they opened and closed it again and again. The deputy of moral education is an organization in charge of attending to the issue of moral education - spiritual, revolutionary, behavioral and moral aspects of education. This deputy is important both at a ministerial level and at lower levels.
I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings and mercy on all of you. I hope that, God willing, the immaculate soul of our dear Imam (r.a.) - who opened this path for us - is pleased with you. I hope that the pure souls of our dear martyrs - particularly those martyrs who were teachers and students - benefit from divine blessings.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings