Our Magnanimous Imam Khomeini (RA) is the Soul of the Islamic Republic | ||||
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The following are excerpts from the text of a speech delivered on June 4, 2022, by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the 33rd demise anniversary of Imam Khomeini (greetings be upon him). The speech was delivered at Imam Khomeini’s shrine. Our dear and magnanimous Imam is the soul of the Islamic Republic. If this soul is taken away from the Islamic Republic and if it is disregarded, there will only remain a pale mark of the Islamic Republic on the wall. My discussion today is about certain aspects of the personality of our dear and magnanimous Imam. Many aspects of our magnanimous Imam’s personality remain unknown. Having a correct understanding of Imam is significant for the young generation because it will help them manage the future of the country in an efficient way. Our young and intelligent generation, which is going to undertake the national and revolutionary duty to take the second step of the Revolution and manage the future of the country, needs real software. In order to correctly tread the path of the Revolution, which will help Iran and the Iranian nation reach the summit, the young generation needs a reliable and comprehensive software to rely on. This software, which could be accelerating, facilitating and even transforming at certain times, is Imam’s lessons, lessons that can be sought in Imam’s statements and behavior. The first point that should be discussed about Imam is the leadership of the greatest Revolution in the history of all revolutions. In the history of revolutions, there are many small and big revolutions. The most famous one is the Great French Revolution which was conducted in 1789, the eighteenth century, and another famous revolution is the Soviet Revolution carried out in 1917, the 20th century. These two revolutions are the most famous revolutions in the history of revolutions, but the Islamic Revolution is greater than these two. Why? There are different reasons. I will cite an important and fundamental reason and that is: these two revolutions, the French Revolution and the Soviet Revolution, were conducted by the people. It was the people who brought them victory, but after the revolution was conducted, the people were completely sidelined. The people failed to play any part in the continuation of the revolution that had been conducted by them with all their heart and soul on the streets. What was the result? The result was that these two revolutions quickly deviated from their initial popular course. After 12 or 13 years of the Great French Revolution – a revolution that had been carried out against the king and monarchy – turned into a monarchy of another ilk. Napoleon came to power, wore the crown and monarchy reappeared. He was in power for almost 15 years. Later, he was ousted and the same family which the French Revolution had been formed against returned and took matters into their hands. This did not even take 12 years to be repeated in the Soviet Revolution. The Revolution was conducted by the people, but after a few years, Stalin and his successors exerted such dictatorship and tyranny over the Soviet countries – the countries that constituted the former Soviet Union – that the monarchies before them had not witnessed in any way. The people did not have any role, but in the Islamic Republic, this is not the case. The Islamic Revolution too achieved victory with the bodies and lives of the people, but the people were not sidelined thereafter. Fifty days, less than two months, after the victory of the Revolution, a public referendum was held and the people chose the government. The people had the power to choose. The people chose the system and the Islamic Republic through a referendum and a free election. Hardly a year had passed from the victory of the Revolution when the first president was elected with the people’s votes. A few months after, the Islamic Consultative Majlis, the legislative branch, was formed with the people’s votes. From that day until today. The people entered the field and they are present in the field today. They choose and they cast their votes. Such is the greatness of this Revolution. Imam was the leader of such a Revolution. Of course, this is only one facet of the greatness of the Revolution. There are other facets as well that make the Islamic Revolution completely different from other revolutions. One of these facets is the role of spirituality in the Revolution. In former big and small revolutions, whether the French and Soviet revolutions or the small revolutions that were conducted in the 19th and 20th centuries, spirituality was completely missing. The spiritual aspect of humanity, which is one of its fundamental needs, was completely missing and ignored and no one paid any attention to it. The Islamic Revolution is, however, a Revolution that pays attention to and attends to both the worldly and otherworldly aspects of humans. Imam (may God bestow paradise on him) was the leader of this Revolution and the movement that led to it. What does “The leader of the movement and the Revolution” mean? This is where the significance of his work becomes clear. Of course, it was the people who brought victory to the Revolution. There is no doubt about this. If the people had not entered the Revolution with their bodies and souls, with their presence, with their self-sacrifice and offerings of martyrs, the Revolution would not have won. It was the people who brought victory to the Revolution, but whose was the powerful hand that managed to stir that ocean? This is important. That powerful hand, that steel personality, that confident heart, and that dhulfiqar-like tongue – which succeeded in bringing millions of people, from different social backgrounds to the arena, in keeping them there, in dispelling any hopelessness in them, and in showing them the direction - was our magnanimous Imam, the great Khomeini. Imam brought the people to the arena, showed them the way, kept them in the arena, and steered them away from despair and hopelessness. No other person in the country was capable of pulling this off. We knew political and seminarian personalities, some from close up and some from a distance. No person was capable of carrying that heavy load and bringing it to the destination. That endeavor was exclusive to our magnanimous Imam. It was he who managed to accomplish that feat. Well, leading the Revolution means this. Leading the Revolution is a really significant and meaningful term regarding our magnanimous Imam. In studying the personality of that great leader, we can examine his personal traits and his school of thought. I will try to briefly raise certain points in this regard: As for his personal traits, our magnanimous Imam was an exemplary personality in the true sense of the world. He was really exemplary. His personal characteristics were such that few personalities could have all together. I do not know any personality in our history who had all these characteristics together. A pious, pure, and moral personality in the literal sense of the word. Secondly, he was a man of spiritual and mystic sentiments. He was interested in spiritual and mystic feelings. He would cry at dawn. The late Hajj Ahmad Aqa said to me that the kerchief that he had for crying at dawn during the daily and other prayers would not suffice and that they had to put a towel so that he would be able to wipe his hands and face. He was a man of such a spiritual status. He was morally brave in the true sense of the word. Imam has been quoted as saying “By God, I have never feared.” He enjoyed acumen and wisdom. He was a man of making careful calculations. He would not do things without calculating them first. And when he reached a result in that calculation, he would put it into action with complete decisiveness. There was no doubts and weaknesses in his work. He would never become disappointed. So many incidents occurred in the first years of the Revolution, the martyrdom of many people and various other issues, but this never made him disappointed. He was honest in the literal sense of the word. He was honest with both God and the people. He would honor his promises. As for his school of thought, principles, and goals, if we wish to briefly explain the foundation of Imam’s school of thought and Revolution, we must say that the foundation for all his activities was rising up for the cause of God. The goal was to rise for the cause of God. This is what he wrote in his youth at the office of the late Vaziri-Yazdi (God’s greetings be upon him): “Say, O Prophet, ‘I advise you to do only one thing: rise up for the sake of God—individually or in pairs’” [34: 46]. This uprising for the cause of God is firmly rooted in the Quran. Of course, rising for the cause of God might occur in different ways in every era. Rising for the cause of God does not always take on a single form, but there is only one goal behind it and that is the establishment of the truth, the administration of justice, and the promotion of spirituality. This holds true at all times. This means the establishment of the truth. Rising for the cause of God might take place in the form of a military fight at one time and at another time, it might take on a scientific form and at yet another time it might take on a political form, but the purpose of rising for the cause of God must be to establish the truth. This is one goal and another is to administer justice. This is the second goal and the third goal is to promote spirituality. I said that Imam was a fighter. This means that Imam was continuously present in the arena of rising for the cause of God. Imam was truly vigilant about rising for the cause of God. The establishment of truth and justice was naturally Imam’s goal. Well, how can this goal be realized? The establishment of the truth and justice was Imam’s goal, but is it possible to establish the truth under the hideous roof of the Pahlavi regime and every other dependent regime? Naturally no. So, the next goal is to bring down this roof. Therefore, Imam tried to remove the hideous roof of the Pahlavi regime for the nation and lay the groundwork for their movement, their uprising, and their progress: This included both a rejection and an establishment. First, the rejection of the taghuti regime and then the establishment of a desirable political system that could move the people forward. This was Imam’s movement in the area of rejection and establishment. As for the era of the establishment of the Islamic Republic – Imam’s movement in the era of establishing the Islamic Republic is very important – Imam’s effort and plan were to completely separate the new plan from the country’s corrupt past. This was what he was trying to do. How did he want to make this future distinct? His idea was to make the plan for managing the country completely distinct from western culture, civilization, and tradition. Imam insisted that the Islamic Republic’s plan must not be placed under what was referred to as a republic and democracy in the west. That is why I stated in previous years, in the same meeting, that republic belongs to Islam and is not indebted to the west. It originates from Islam. The fact that Imam placed so much emphasis on the people’s votes resulted from his deep understanding of Islam. That was why Imam was determined to separate the Islamic Republic from the two common schools of thought in the world of those days – liberal democracy, which is based on capital, and communism which is based on dictatorship. That was why one of the main slogans of Imam was, “Neither eastern nor western”. This was a rejection of both communism and liberalism, of capitalism and unrestrained and uncontrolled freedom in the west, and dictatorship common in eastern systems. Imam did not agree with either of these: “Neither eastern nor western”. Imam presented a new model for the Islamic Republic, which was completely different from those two systems. In Imam’s model, certain dualisms became coordinated and harmonious. The dualisms that were previously attempted to be set against one another were brought together and harmonized. Imam put them next to one another One of these dualisms was the execution of divine rules alongside the observance of public expediency and interests. Islamic rules were enforced, but the expediencies of the time and public interests were observed as well. Another dualism was attending to the needy and insisting on economic justice – in particular economic justice – as well as generating wealth. Both the generation of wealth and justice in the case of the poor must definitely be observed from Imam’s viewpoint. Another dualism was a rejection of both oppression and accepting oppression. We will both strengthen science and economy, and the defensive mechanism of the country. It is not the case that we only think of the economy and ignore the country’s defensive mechanism and security. The opposite is true as well. Both national solidarity and unity, and diversity and the existence of various political orientations must be officially accepted. This is another dualism. Officials should have both piety and purity, and expertise and competence: commitment [to Islamic values] as well as expertise. These are dualisms that some people tried to set against one another before or at the beginning of the Revolution, but Imam harmonized and brought them together. These are the characteristics of Imam’s school of thought. | ||||
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