The seminary must train “cultural warriors”/ The most important task of the seminary is to provide clear rhetoric and lay the groundwork for a new Islamic civilization

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Qom: At the beginning of his message, which was read today, Wednesday, May 7, by Ayatollah Alireza Aarafi, Director of the Iranian Seminaries, at the conference on the "100th Anniversary of the Re-establishment of the Qom Seminary", the Leader of the Islamic Revolution spoke about the history of the formation of the Qom Seminary in the midst of the great and terrible events of the beginning of the 14th century of the Islamic calendar and the role of Ayatollah Hajj Sheikh Abdul Karim Haeri in the establishment, sustainability and growth of the seminary, and added: One of the honors of the Qom Seminary is that from that sun, like the Holy Prophet Ruhollah, emerged, and in less than six decades, this seminary increased its spiritual power and popular prestige to the point where it was able to uproot the treacherous, corrupt and immoral regime of the monarchy by the hands of the people and, after centuries, establish Islam as the political ruler of the country.

Emphasizing that the seminary is not just an institution for teaching and studying, but rather a collection of knowledge, education, and social and political functions, Imam Khamenei explained the topics that can make the seminary “progressive and outstanding” in the true sense.

In explaining the first topic, he considered the Qom seminary to be a center with great Shiite scientific capital, which is the product of the thinking and research of thousands of religious scholars in sciences such as jurisprudence, theology, philosophy, interpretation, and hadith, over a thousand years.

Referring to the complex and numerous phenomena in human life and the unprecedented questions that contemporary jurisprudence must be ready to answer, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution noted: Today, with the formation of the Islamic political system, the main question is how the legislator’s broad view of the individual and social dimensions of human life and its fundamental foundations should be, and the fatwa of the jurist on each issue should reflect a part of this broad view.

Imam Khamenei considered one of the important duties of the seminary as a valuable scientific center with a thousand-year-old scientific foundation to be responding to issues related to Islamic governance and the way society is run, and added: Issues such as the state's relations with the people and with other states and nations, the issue of negating the mustache, the economic system and the fundamental foundations of the Islamic system, the origin of sovereignty from the perspective of Islam, the role of the people in it and taking a position on important issues and against the system of domination, the concept and content of justice, and dozens of other fundamental and sometimes vital issues are among the issues for which there must be a jurisprudential response.

In explaining the second heading of the "Progressive and Outstanding" seminary, emphasizing that the seminary is an outward-looking institution whose output at all levels serves the thought and culture of society and humans, he considered the seminary's most important duty to be "articulate rhetoric" and noted: The prerequisite for carrying out this duty is to train a civilized and efficient force.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution considered the scope of eloquent discourse to be a vast expanse, from the sublime monotheistic teachings to personal religious duties, and from explaining the Islamic system and its structure and duties to lifestyle and the environment, and protecting nature and other areas and aspects of human life. Emphasizing that one of the problems of the field is the lack of proportion between its propaganda contributions and the intellectual and cultural realities among the people, especially the youth, he noted: Hundreds of articles, magazines, parliamentary and television speeches, and the like in the field, in the face of a flood of fallacious insinuations, cannot fulfill the duty of "eloquent discourse" as it is needed and appropriate.

Imam Khamenei considered that the correct performance of the duty of "clarifying communicator" in the field requires two key elements: "education" and "refinement," and added: Delivering a message that is up-to-date, fills the void, and fulfills the goal of religion definitely requires education and learning. Strong persuasion methods, familiarity with the method of dialogue, awareness of the type of interaction with public opinion and the media and virtual space, and discipline in confronting opposing elements must be taught to the student, and through practice and practice, he or she must be prepared to enter this field.

Emphasizing that a positive and even aggressive stance in the work of propaganda is more important than a defensive stance, he added: To achieve this goal, the seminary must train “cultural fighters,” and in addition to training such forces, attention must also be paid to training forces for specific tasks in the system and administration of the country, as well as organizing the interior of the seminary.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution considered recognizing, preserving, and strengthening the seminary’s “jihadi identity” as the third heading of “a leading and progressive seminary.” Referring to Imam Khomeini’s (RA) meaningful and moving message to the clergy in late 1988, he added: “In that message, the late Imam defined scholars as pioneers in the field of jihad, supporting the homeland, and supporting the oppressed. At the same time, he expressed his concern that the trend of petrification and sanctification would tempt the seminary to separate religion from politics and social activities, blocking the right path to progress.”

Hazrat Imam Khamenei considered this concern of the venerable Imam to be the result of a dangerous trend that considers the seminary’s interference in the fundamental issues of the people and its involvement in social and political activities and its fight against oppression and corruption to be contrary to the sanctity of religion, and recommends the clergy to be peaceful and to avoid the dangers of entering politics.

In this regard, he emphasized: The sanctity of religion is most evident in the fields of intellectual, political, and military jihad, and is established through the sacrifice and jihad of the bearers of religious knowledge and the sacrifice of their pure blood. Therefore, the seminary should never be separated from the people, society, and its fundamental issues in order to protect its spiritual credibility and loyalty to its existential philosophy, and it should consider jihad in all its forms as its definitive duty in times of need.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution considered participation in the production and explanation of the systems of governing society as the fourth heading of the “advanced and outstanding school” and noted: The school must fill this void, and this is among the essential duties of the seminary. Today, jurisprudence cannot be considered as being immersed in individual and religious rulings, as the ignorant do, because “nation-building jurisprudence” is not limited to religious rulings and individual duties.

Imam Khamenei considered the school’s familiarity with current world findings, as well as cooperation with universities, as essential for designing and regulating social systems.

He considered the fifth chapter, “The Leading and Outstanding Field,” to be civilizational innovations within the framework of the universal message of Islam, and emphasized: The most prominent expectation from the seminary is to lay the groundwork for “establishing Islamic civilization,” a civilization in which science, technology, human resources, natural resources, all abilities, all human progress, government, politics, military force, and everything at the disposal of mankind are used in the service of social justice and public welfare, reducing class gaps, increasing spiritual development, scientific advancement, increasing knowledge of nature, and strengthening faith.

The Leader of the Revolution called Islamic civilization the opposite of the current materialistic and distorted civilization and emphasized: This false civilization is based on the inevitable tradition of creation, and our duty is to help refute this falsehood and prepare an alternative civilization in theory and practice. The Islamic seminary has a serious duty in this regard, which is, first of all, to draw the main and secondary lines of the new Islamic civilization, and then to explain, promote, and cultivate it in society, and this is one of the best examples of “clarifying rhetoric.”

Emphasizing the importance of paying attention to the two elements of time and place in ijtihad and ensuring that new understanding does not turn into a corruption of the Sharia, Imam Khamenei pointed out the current conditions of the Qom Seminary: The presence of thousands of teachers, authors, researchers, writers, speakers, and thinkers in Islamic teachings, the publication of scientific and research journals, and the writing of specialized and general articles, the large number of students and intellectuals, the active presence in all fields of the revolution and even in the military field, the opening of the world propaganda arena and the training of thousands of students of knowledge from various nations, the attention of fresh jurists to contemporary issues, the interest of young scholars in the accuracy of the epistemological points of authoritative Islamic texts, especially the Glorious Quran, and the important initiative of establishing women's seminaries, all show that the Qom Seminary is a living and dynamic complex.

He devoted the final part of his message to recommendations for realizing a “progressive and outstanding” seminary. Among the recommendations that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned in this section are: “The need for the seminary to be up-to-date,” “Giving importance to training personnel in all sectors,” “Increasing the relationship between seminarians and the public,” “Thinking about the seminary administrators’ countering biased suggestions that discourage young students from the future,” “Looking optimistically at the young generation and interacting with them,” “Developing seminary courses based on enlightened, responsive, and up-to-date jurisprudence, along with a clear philosophy that has a social dimension and an eloquent, solid knowledge of theology that has the power to persuade,” and “Strengthening the spirit of asceticism, piety, contentment, renunciation of anything other than God, reliance, progress, and readiness for struggle.”