Supreme Leader’s Address at “Strategic Thoughts” Meeting

Supreme Leader’s Address at “Strategic Thoughts” Meeting
01/12/2010

The following is the full text of the speech delivered by Ayatollah Khamenei on December 1, 2010 in a meeting with a group of intellectuals and scholars in Tehran. The meeting was arranged to discuss various aspects of developing an Islamic-Iranian paradigm of progress.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Thankfully, tonight's meeting was a very good meeting, and I really benefited from it - both from the comments that were made and even more from seeing the potential of our country's scholars and intellectuals to raise issues and elaborate on different elements of a complex issue. Tonight I witnessed this general potential. I am truly grateful both to you dear audience who have attended this long meeting, and to those who arranged this meeting - including Mr. Vaezzadeh and those who cooperated with him. It is late, so I will not make detailed comments. I will speak briefly. [Mr. Vaezzadeh interrupts and asks the Supreme Leader to deliver a detailed speech.] Hopefully, there will be time for detailed comments as well.

This is the first meeting of its kind in the Islamic Republic. Many meetings have been held so far - both the ones I have attended and the ones I have not - but we have never held such a meeting so far. The primary purpose behind this meeting - or more specifically, this set of meetings, as they will hopefully continue in the future - is to engage our intellectuals in large-scale affairs of the country. The country has a number of essential issues. There are vital things that should be done. There are enormous capacities that can be at the service of this great movement. It will be impossible to achieve this purpose unless our intellectuals and scholars are involved in these large-scale issues. This has to happen, and by Allah's favor, it will. The issue of preparing an Islamic-Iranian paradigm for progress is one of our large-scale issues, which of course includes tens of other issues inside it, and I will speak about these issues later on. There are also other issues that should be raised.

The second purpose behind this meeting is to create a culture and a discourse first among our intellectuals and then among ordinary citizens in society. For example, the comments that you made in this meeting will steer the minds of our intellectuals and subsequently the minds of our ordinary citizens in a particular direction when they are disseminated in society. Then we will be encouraged to think about a paradigm of progress and a model for progressive movement. We will be encouraged to feel that we should be independent and stand on our own feet in this regard. We will be encouraged to detect the flaws of relying on foreign paradigms. Today we are in need of this. Unfortunately, our intellectuals have not yet achieved a correct and appropriate result in important aspects of this issue. This has to happen, and by Allah's favor, it will.

The third purpose is that there is a need to develop the infrastructures for the management of the country during the decades to come. This and similar meetings will result in creating these infrastructures. These are the purposes that we pursue through this meeting as well as similar meetings that will hopefully be held in the future.

Therefore, the work is not limited to certain individuals and government officials. The responsibility is not limited to me. All of us have a responsibility to fulfill regarding the work that is being done. Each of us is responsible according to our capabilities and capacities and the authority we have. And we will hopefully pursue our duties. This is one of the points I wanted to make.

The next point is that the work we are doing will not pay off in the short term. I became involved in the issue with this point in mind. Of course some of the gentlemen presented plans and suggestions for producing short-term gains, and nothing is wrong with these plans and suggestions. But what I have in mind will only be achieved in the long term - or in the medium term at best. This is a long-term endeavor. If by Allah's favor, we manage to achieve an Islamic-Iranian paradigm of progress through a reasonable process, the paradigm will be a seminal document compared to all documents that delineate national plans and policies. That is to say, even our 20-year and 10-year strategic plans - which will be formulated in the future - should be prepared on the basis of the Islamic-Iranian paradigm of progress. The policies that will be made - large-scale policies of the country - should be based on this paradigm. They should be formulated in a way to fit the paradigm. Of course this paradigm will not be a rigid paradigm. What will be formulated will not be unquestionable. New conditions will necessitate changes. And it will be necessary to make those changes in the paradigm. Therefore, the paradigm will be flexible. The goals are specified, but the strategies to achieve those goals may be changed or reformed to fit differing conditions. Therefore, we will avoid the pitfall of haste. Of course the speed should be reasonable. But we will not rush, and by Allah's favor, we will move forward at a dignified and appropriate speed.

Our friends engaged in good discussions about the basic elements of the Islamic-Iranian paradigm of progress. They engaged in good discussions about what is meant by "Islamic", what is meant by "Iranian", what is meant by "paradigm", and what aspects of "progress" are intended. What I would like to add is that I selected the word "progress" carefully. I intentionally avoided the word "development". The reason is that the word "development" is a loaded term. It is accompanied by certain requirements that we may be opposed to. I do not want to take a common international term - of which people have a certain understanding - and use it in the context of our own work. I will now discuss the concept that I have in mind. The concept that I have in mind is "progress". I will define this term. I will explain what I mean by progress - what the direction and the dimensions are. Avoidance of borrowing terms is something that we have witnessed in other cases as well in the discourse of the Revolution. I did not use the term "imperialism". I used "arrogance". I wanted to avoid certain aspects that imperialism may have. I did not want to highlight those aspects. My focus was on the aspects that are conveyed by the term "arrogance". Therefore, I proposed the term, and it became common in the discourse of the Revolution. The world knows what I mean by the term. The same is true of certain other terms as well.

I have a clear conception of progress. I will use the term "progress" and will explain what I mean by it. Regarding the Iranian aspect of the paradigm, our friends rightly pointed out that historical, geographical, cultural, climatic and geopolitical conditions affect the formulation of this paradigm. It has also been pointed out that the designers should be Iranian intellectuals, and this is a perfectly appropriate aspect of being "Iranian". That is to say, we do not want to borrow the paradigm from other countries. We want to put into a specific framework what we consider as necessary, what we think is in line with our national interests and what we can use to delineate our future. Therefore, this paradigm is Iranian, and it is Islamic at the same time. This is because the goals, values and methods will all be rooted in Islam. That is to say, our focus is on Islamic concepts and teachings. We are living in an Islamic society ruled by an Islamic government, and we feel proud that we can make use of Islamic sources.

Fortunately, we have access to Islamic sources. We have access to the Holy Quran, the Sunnah and the rich and prominent concepts that our philosophy, logic, fiqh and law contain. And this is the reason behind choosing the word "Islamic". The word "paradigm" means a comprehensive plan. When we say "the Islamic-Iranian paradigm", we mean a comprehensive plan. Without a comprehensive plan, we will face confusion, just as we have been suffering from zigzag and purposeless movements during the past 30 years and we have been running around without a plan. Sometimes we carried out a movement and then we did the opposite - in cultural areas, economic areas and different other areas. This was because of the lack of a comprehensive plan. This "paradigm" is a comprehensive plan. They ask which direction we are moving in and what goal we are pursuing. Naturally, as the dear friends said, the favorable situation and how to achieve that situation should be delineated. Undoubtedly, many questions will be posed. It is necessary to be aware of these questions. One of the gentlemen said that there are four thousand questions. This is very good. These questions should be identified. This movement should be started among our elites. Questions should be asked, and answers should be provided for them. This movement is long-term.

Of course "Islamic" or "Iranian" do not at all mean that we will not make use of the achievements made by others. In order to acquire knowledge, we will not create any limitations for ourselves. We will seek knowledge, appropriate understanding and appropriate experiences, no matter where they are. However, we will not borrow anything without considering it. We will make use of any knowledge in the world that is available to us.

There are questions some of which were asked in this meeting and answers were provided, but I will not repeat them now. Good comments were made, but there is no need for me to repeat them. Of course I have personally seen the work that has been done so far. Very good points were raised in this meeting. Some people ask, "Why now?" After they accept the necessity of the paradigm, they ask why it has not been developed so far or why it is necessary to do it now. The delay is not too long. 30 years is not a long time for a process that will definitely result in the formulation of such a paradigm. Knowledge and experiences accumulate, and political conditions necessitate different things. Then we reach certain points that have been unknown and by Allah's favor, we will clarify them.

I believe the country enjoys good capacities at this point. Of course it was pointed out that we do not have the necessary intellectual capabilities in order to formulate such a paradigm. This is not acceptable to me. The country enjoys a lot of capacities. As far as I know, there are very good capacities that have already been actualized - in academic circles, in Qom Seminary and in other seminaries of the country. Moreover, there are some potentialities and capacities that can be followed up and realized. They can be brought into the arena. If we fail to start this process and follow it up today, we will definitely fall behind and suffer from a loss. This is why it is necessary to continue the movement that has been designed like this.

What I would like to add again is that we should generally determine the levels on which this progress is to take place. There are four main levels. The arena of daily life is one of them, and this includes justice, security, government, wellbeing and other such things. Progress should start on the intellectual level. We should help society move towards thinking. This is a Quranic lesson. Just see how many times words like "think" and "reason" have been used in the Holy Quran. We should turn thinking and generation of ideas into an outstanding and clear truth in our society. Of course this will start from our elites and will spread to the general public. Of course this has its own strategies and requirements. Education and the media are the tools, and it is necessary to include all these things in our plans.

Knowledge is the second level - which is less important than the first level. We must make progress in the arena of knowledge. Of course knowledge is the product of thought. At present, it is necessary to use all our capacities and try as hard as we can when moving towards intellectual progress. Fortunately, this movement was started in the country several years ago - the movement towards scientific innovation, scientific progress and scientific independence. After all, this is the nature of knowledge - it shows itself in the form of technologies and other such things. In many cases, unlike the subject of our discussion, the product of a scientific movement is not long-term. It produces short-term gains. Scientific work should be deep and fundamental. This is another level of progress.

The third level is the level of daily life, which I mentioned earlier. All the things that are known as essential issues in the life of a society belong in this category - issues such as security, justice, welfare, independence, national dignity, freedom, cooperation and government. These are different levels on which progress has to take place, and it is necessary to take them into consideration.

Progress in spiritual areas is the fourth level - which is the most important level and is the soul of the other levels. We must formulate the paradigm in a way that it results in helping our Iranian society move towards further spirituality. Of course the necessity of this is clear to me, and it may be clear to many of the dear audience as well. However, it should be made clear to everybody that spirituality is not in conflict with science, politics, freedom or any other area. Rather, spirituality is the soul of all these things. It is possible to conquer the peaks of science while adhering to spirituality. That is to say, it is possible to have both spirituality and science. Then the world will become humane. It will be a world that is appropriate for man to live in. The modern world is governed by the law of the jungle. A world in which science, civilization and wealth are accompanied by spirituality will be a humane world. Of course a perfect example of this world will be formed after the re-appearance of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake), and I would say it will be the beginning of the life of man. Today we are in the early stages of human life. We are like people who are moving forward through mountains, hills and difficult routes in order to reach the main road, and when we get there, it will be time to move towards lofty goals. During its life on earth, humanity has been moving forward through these difficult routes in order to reach the main road. When it reaches the main road - which will be after the re-appearance of the Imam of the Age - then the main movement of man will start. The swift movement of man will start. The successful and effortless movement of man will start. The trouble will only be limited to moving forward on the main road. There will be no confusion then.

In any case, these are the four levels of progress, and we should move forward on these four levels taking the paradigm that you are pursuing into consideration. It is generally clear to me how the paradigm should be pursued, and I will speak about this.

Regarding the Islamic aspect of the paradigm, our friends made very good points. The first issue that has to be taken into consideration is the point of departure - the issue of monotheism. "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return." [The Holy Quran, 2: 156] The most important problem of the modern world - the most alluring example of which is the west - is that it has strayed away from God, faith in God, and commitment to this faith. Of course people may appear to have faith in God, but they are not committed to this faith. If the issue of point of departure is resolved, many other issues will be resolved as well. "Whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares His glory." [The Holy Quran, 59: 24] "For to Allah belong the Forces of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Exalted in Power, Full of Wisdom." [The Holy Quran, 48: 7] When people come to believe this issue, this divine glory and this monotheism provide them with an inexhaustible source of power. "He is Allah, besides Whom there is no god - the King, the Holy, the Giver of peace, the Granter of security, Guardian over all, the Mighty, the Supreme, the Possessor of every greatness. Glory be to Allah from what they set up (with Him)." [The Holy Quran, 59: 23] When one believes in monotheism like that and manages to extend this belief to the framework of one's life, this essential problem of humanity will be solved.

The second issue, which is the essential issue, is the Day of Judgment and divine accountability - the fact that death is not the end of everything. The fact that there is divine accountability is very important. "So he who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it, and he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it." [The Holy Quran, 99: 7-8] A nation that has this belief and includes these Quranic verses in its plans will witness an essential change in its life. Believing that the consequences of one's actions extend beyond one's material life makes self-sacrifice and jihad meaningful and logical. The issue of jihad is one of the greatest tools used by religions - and it is particularly highlighted in Islam. Jihad should be accompanied by self-sacrifice, otherwise it will not qualify as jihad in the first place. Self-sacrifice is something illogical within the framework of material wisdom. There is always the question, "Why would I sacrifice myself?" It is faith in the Day of Judgment that makes self-sacrifice logical and reasonable. When we believe that none of our actions will go unnoticed, that all our actions will be recorded and that we will see them in front of our eyes in our "real life" in the hereafter, then we will not feel regretful if we lose something in order to fulfill an obligation - even if that something is our life, our children and our dear ones. "And this life of the world is nothing but a sport and a play. And as for the next abode, that most surely is the life." [The Holy Quran, 29: 64] These things should be included in the paradigm of progress and should become meaningful in the progress of a society. Therefore, the main issue is the issue of monotheism and the Day of Judgment.

The next issue is the lack of a clear line between the world and the hereafter. "The world is the farm of the Hereafter." I think some of our friends mentioned the same point as well. This is very important. The world and the hereafter are not separate from one another. They are two sides of the same coin. "And indeed hell surrounds the unbelievers." [The Holy Quran, 9: 49] Unbelievers are living in hell, but they do not realize this. They will realize it when hell appears in a material form. They are not aware of what they are. And we fail to see them for what they are because we are blindfolded, but when death wakes us up, we will see their real nature. Therefore, this is the meaning of the lack of a clear line between this world and the hereafter. It is not right to think of the world as lottery tickets. That is not the case. Basically, the world and the hereafter are two sides of the same coin.

The next issue is Islam's view of man and centrality of man. This issue has an extremely vast meaning in Islam. It is clear that the Islamic view of man is completely different from the conception of man in materialistic western philosophies, 19th century positivism and similar other schools. Basically, the Islamic conception is one thing and the western conception is quite another. The two sides define man in completely different ways. Therefore, centrality of man in Islam is completely different from centrality of man in those materialistic schools. Justice, security, welfare and worship - all these things are supposed to bring about happiness for man. The issue of happiness is limited to the individual, but this does not mean that one should ignore the conditions of other people and not do anything for them. "And whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men." [The Holy Quran, 5: 32] According to a tradition, an Imam was asked what the Quranic verse means. He said that the most probable interpretation is that one should guide someone onto the right path. It is clear that this is an obligation that everybody should fulfill. However, from an Islamic perspective, a priority for man is the obligation to deliver himself. We have an obligation to save ourselves. Our salvation lies in the fulfillment of our obligations. Of course social responsibilities, administration of justice, fighting oppression, establishment of a righteous government and fighting corruption are all preliminary steps towards that salvation. Therefore, this is the most important goal, and everything else is just a preliminary step. Establishment of an Islamic community is a preliminary step. Justice is also a preliminary step. "That mankind may observe right measure." [The Holy Quran, 57: 25] It has been mentioned in the Holy Quran that this is a goal of divine prophets. Undoubtedly, justice is one of the goals, but it is a medium-term goal. The ultimate goal is salvation of mankind. This has to be taken into consideration.

Man has obligations to fulfill. He has free will and is faced with divine guidance. "Have We not given him two eyes, and a tongue and two lips, and pointed out to him the two conspicuous ways?" [The Holy Quran, 90: 8-10] Man is free to choose between being guided and misled. Man has a commitment to himself, his society and those around him. From this perspective, democracy is not only a public right, but it is also an obligation. That is to say, all people are responsible to play a role in governing their society. It is not acceptable to say, "This does not concern me." No, the well-being or corruption of a country and its government concern all people who live in that country. That is to say, people have a responsibility to play a role. This is one of the essential elements that should be taken into consideration from an Islamic perspective, and it should also be observed in the paradigm.

Government is the next issue. Again, Islam has special views in this regard. From an Islamic point of view, individual qualifications are an essential issue when it comes to government. Based on the level of one's involvement in management, one should have the necessary qualifications and consider oneself as qualified. Otherwise, his rule is unlawful. Avoiding arrogance, extravagance and selfishness are important issues in government. "Surely he was arrogant, (and) one of the extravagant." [The Holy Quran, 44: 31] God says this about Pharaoh. That is to say, the problem with Pharaoh was that he was arrogant. Therefore, for a ruler, being arrogant is a negative characteristic. A ruler does not have the right to behave in an arrogant manner. If someone is arrogant by nature, he does not have the right to accept power. Also, the people do not have the right to accept him as the ruler and leader of their society. A selfish person wants everything for himself. Selfishness is the opposite of self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice means depriving oneself of everything for the sake of others, and selfishness means depriving others of everything for the sake of oneself. Arrogance and selfishness are among negative characteristics of government. Speaking about the Umayyad dynasty, the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) says in Nahjul Balaghah that the reason why they were not qualified to rule was that public wealth was exclusively in their hands although public wealth belongs to the people. They also considered the people as their slaves. And they manipulated God's religion the way they wanted. Therefore, Islam has its own view of government. This has to be included and observed in our long-term paradigm of life.

You gentlemen made good points regarding the economic issue. "So that it may not be a thing taken by turns among the rich of you." [The Holy Quran, 59: 7] This is an important criterion. The issue of justice is very important. Justice should definitely be one of the main foundations of this paradigm. In fact, justice is the criterion to judge the whether a government is righteous or not. That is to say, in the absence of justice, the righteousness and legitimacy of a government are questionable from an Islamic point of view.

The next issue is the necessity of a non-materialistic view of economy. Many of the problems that the world is currently faced with are due to the materialistic view of economy, monetary issues and wealth. All the things that our dear friends mentioned regarding corruption of the west, various problems, the issue of exploitation, colonialism and other such things are due to the fact that there is a materialistic view of wealth and money. It is possible to rectify this view. Islam considers wealth as important. Production of wealth is something favorable in Islam. However, there has to be a divine and spiritual view of wealth. According to the divine and spiritual view, wealth must not be used to give rise to corruption, domination and extravagance. Wealth should be used to benefit society. There are many other issues in this regard which have to be taken into consideration.

Of course there are many issues in this regard. I do not want to make this discussion too long because it is late and there is no need to discuss these things in this meeting. By Allah's favor, we will have a lot of time for such discussions.

I said that this paradigm is the beginning of the path. That is to say, tonight's meeting was a start. This should be continued. It may be necessary to hold tens of meetings and conferences regarding the Islamic-Iranian paradigm of progress. It may be necessary to form tens of scientific teams in our universities. Hundreds of our intellectuals, elites and scientists - who are not interested in teamwork and prefer to work individually - may be prepared to study the paradigm in the comfort of their own homes. It is necessary to make use of their contribution as well. Intellectual links should be established. Our universities and Islamic seminaries should be involved so that we can pursue this issue to a favorable point.

Of course the report that was presented by Dr. Davoudi was a very good report. I was more or less aware of the points that he mentioned in the report, but I did not have such detailed information. The points he mentioned are very good indeed, and they are not at all in conflict. Preparing the paradigm is not the kind of work that can be done by a particular organization. It is something that must be done by deploying all intellectual capacities of the country. As I said, the paradigm is not a short-term project with short-term gains. It is a long-term endeavor. It has to be done, and we are not in a hurry. We will move forward. And this is not something that can be ratified by parliaments or administrations. As I said, the paradigm will be above all the other strategic documents of the country. It has to go through many stages before it can achieve the necessary coherence. These thoughts should first mature to a favorable point.

It is also necessary that a center be formed to follow up this issue. By Allah's favor, we will establish this center. It is necessary for such a center not to have exclusive control over this movement. We will not demand the center to do everything. Rather, we will demand it to supervise this great movement by the elites of our country. We will demand it to follow up the movement and provide different kinds of assistance. The center should act in a way that the movement is not thwarted. Of course as I said, it is necessary for us to establish a headquarters, and by Allah's favor, we will do so. Therefore, tonight's meeting is not the end of things. That is to say, this issue is not one that can be discussed and wrapped up in this meeting. By Allah's favor, the discussion will continue. Of course different groups of people will be involved. That is to say, there are many people and prominent figures who should be involved. As Dr. Vaezzadeh advised, those who have ideas should go ahead and put their ideas forward. Some of the points that were mentioned in this meeting deserve careful consideration. That is to say, intellectual teams should be formed to discuss, analyze and argue for and against this issue. It should be debated the way seminarians debate so that we can achieve results.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

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