Speech [The social standing of the teacher and his rank in Islam and the Qur'an]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate the Merciful

Whatever happened within the previous regime has passed and its disgraceful remains. What our nation suffered during all those years has passed, but the eternal reward is reserved for the Iranian nation. Our nation showed the world that faith and firm determination can overcome the satanic powers. Let bygones be bygones and think ahead to the future and to our responsibilities. The educational staff and teachers of the old sciences are in the first line. Clergies and teachers of the Islamic sciences work in the same profession as the teachers do. It is one of the most respectable and accountable jobs. It is the most respectable job, because it shapes man. It is the profession of all messengers. The Qur'an is the book of human perfection, descended to help man gain spiritual perfection. And the profession the educational staff are dealing with- either in the field of old or new sciences- intends to make man perfect. If we help man gain spiritual perfection, we can save out country. Men always take control of countries, but some of these men are human in appearance and satanic in nature, and some are human in nature. Those rising against oppression come from the educational sector. Those who can save the nation, develop the country, and assure the world and Hereafter of the people, are from the educational staff. Therefore, culture is the cradle of human intellectual development. The prophets came all for this purpose.

"Teaching" was the major duty of all prophets commissioned by God. God has commissioned the prophets to help people gain spiritual development. Those closer to the prophets in their beliefs are the closest ones to humanity. When the angels of God complained about creating man who was to make evil on earth, God said He knew many things that His angels did not. Then, the Lord taught Adam all about the names and the angels saw that they could not understand a word of it.

Adam came with divine preaching and he was the teacher of man. Prophets were all man's teachers. Teaching is a general profession for the prophets; from the philosophers and Imams, to the clergies and educational staff, and God Willing, we are among this group. Therefore, it is a very valuable job, making man perfect. Other professions never attain this rank because they deal with other aspects of human life. There is no creature on earth equal to man in status, and no other profession can be equaled to a teacher's job. In this sense, it is a great job, very respectable.

The educational staffs have been burdened with a very important responsibility. The greater the job in importance, the more important will be the liabilities. Educational staffs are responsible for administration of the affairs of the country, intellectual development of the nation, rearing the children, development and backwardness of the country. It is the teacher, who matures himself, then he develops the country and if God forbid, he is misguided, he will destroy the country. The teacher trains human beings either to become purified and committed people or parasitic and dependent. All rise from schools. All sources of prosperity and wickedness come from schools and the key to them lies in the hands of the teachers.

Teachers must first pay attention to their job, which is the noble job of the prophets and shoulder the responsibility of the prophets. The prophets are responsible, but they perform their responsibilities properly, they pass the test successfully. They are commissioned to take care of education and train the of people. The prophets did their best and you must do your best because you have the same responsibility and the same rank in the society.

As such, culture is a shade of prophecy and educational staffs are shadows of the prophets. These shadows must work. I liken these people to a shadow, because it has nothing in itself, and it moves as the person moves. Calling the kings" shadow of God" is blasphemy if we distinguish between right and wrong. The" shadows of God" must be he whose movement is like God's, and has nothing of himself. The Prophet of Islam was a shadow of God, because in Sourah al-Anfal in the Qur'an we read:" ... and you did not smite when you smote the enemy, but it was Allah who smote ..." Or elsewhere in Sourah al-Fath we read:" ... swearing allegiance to Prophet is swearing it to Allah." Why? Because whatever the Prophet (s) has is from God, whatever he sees is God, and he is steeped in God. Any step the prophets took was on the Will of God. They have nothing of themselves, they move when He wants. You educational staff! You must be the shadow of the prophets.

Teachers have the same job as the Prophet had, and it is quite a heavy responsibility, the same goes for the clergies. This is a heavy responsibility for all. All of us are somehow responsible in the sight of God. You are responsible for rearing those attending your classes; teachers of Islamic sciences have the same responsibility. If you do, you will gain nobility for them and honor for your country. It is impossible for a nation to undergo the rule of colonialism if it has good education. Therefore, those who wanted to plunder the nations in the East attacked two wings: clergies and culture. The attacks were sometimes obvious, and sometimes hidden. The first happened in the time of Rida Shah, and perhaps many of you cannot remember what they did with clergies. That time, the clerics could not attend classes in the theological schools of Qum and Faydiyyah Madrasah in the daytime. They used to go to the gardens and suburbs and returned home at night. The latter, or hidden attack, is the worst type of attacks. They target culture to make it regressive and do not let it grow. They wanted to impose non-Islamic culture.

It was not accidental; it was on purpose that non-Islamic values grew in our schools in the past. It was a well-calculated conspiracy, because they knew committed a man was the only one who could save his country. Those focusing on this world only, seeking automobiles from Satan or whoever; they seek parks and luxury life. It is not important for a materialistic man to make his luxury life with the assistance of a corrupt person or a prophet. The committed man cares about right and wrong, does not accept anything from a corrupt man, and values the slightest thing from a committed person. The religious or committed man can save the benefits of the country and can safeguard his nation; he differentiates between what he gets from Carter or a Muslim. He never goes after help from the king, from the criminal, etc. He cares where it comes from, not what it is. On the contrary, the materialistic man says goes after things is and does not care where it comes from. The religious man is sensitive about religiously permitted or prohibited things and whether they are stolen goods or not, while the other is not. These two groups are not in the same boat. He who is determined to safeguard the benefits of his country thinks about the origin of what comes to him but a materialistic one wants to have whatever may come from whomever, regardless of the religiously permitted or prohibited. He wants an automobile, the oil company or the embassy gives it to him, and whichever one gives it to him he will work for them. The religious and committed man does not accept even millions dollars from embassies; the embassy presents something but expects compensation and he knows that they come from a place who wish to deviate him. It is not free of charge. If the US Embassy, or UK Embassy, gives something to somebody, they want him to work for them.

Culture can solve all complexes. If the culture is of a kind to rear committed and believing people, if the culture forbids evil and stealing and encourages belief in God and in the metaphysical, it can protect the nation. A man reared in such a culture will never yield to treachery no matter how much they offer to him. They are like Imam `Ali (`a) who said in his Nahj al-Balaghah, that he would not take a seed from an ant if they gave him the entire world. Of course, no one can be like him. Those who attack our culture, our old science schools, and universities- openly and secretly- want to prevent the training of man in these schools, because rearing an upright man is contrary to their wishes. If on the contrary, some people are reared that are passive to everything and think of gifts, posts and accumulation of wealth, they colonize then.

Then our jobs, your job and my job, are the jobs of the prophets. If we betray our jobs, we have betrayed the prophets; we have betrayed the Almighty God. And the sign of our betrayal is this that the youth who ought to be reared in our classes go astray. Train the children and the youth towards the right path. If you want to safeguard your country and your religion, the key to this protection will be in your hands. The key to salvation and damnation of a nation is with the teachers. If teachers work well their country will be a good place for living, if not, it will be ruined. Then you are the ones who can work for the spiritual and material development of your country. God forbid, you are the ones who can make your country regressive in both areas of spirituality and materiality. Then your job is dignified and your responsibility is heavy. Your job is a Divine blessing, and we are with you in safeguarding this trust. Let us not betray this trust, God willing.

God will help you, and I hope our culture will be developed in the proper time and opportunity. You see these days we do not have much time, because the devils are around and busy conspiring plots. They understood that awareness of a nation, unity of a nation, and development of a nation would spell their end, thus they thought of plotting treason. The Senate does not make such decisions without a strong thought behind it; they know what they have lost in Iran. They do not respect human beings and humane values. They massacre nations wherever possible. Their recent complaints are because of what they have lost in this country and they are fearful of losing their stronghold in the other Muslim nations. God willing they will lose them all, God willing the East will be awakened.