Speech [The difference between an Islamic government and other governments]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

What we say and to which you have referred is that no regime can manage men and nations properly like an Islamic government. The reason is that all the non-monotheist regimes and those created by people other than the prophets function as much as their perspicacity allows, granted that they are honest and a hundred percent concerned about their nations. But it has to be seen how great the extent of man's perspicacity, needs and evolution is. Are the non-divine regimes perspicacious enough to match the orbit of man's existence and his ability to develop? Suppose that there are people who are concerned about their nations and who want to, and can, serve them. Are they limited to a certain extent in this? And if they want to serve up to this extent, are they able to do so? If we perceive this point that man's evolutionary pathway is from the natural state to the supernatural where he reaches the state of divinity and where he sees nothing but God, and that in his spiritual evolutionary stages he is able to create all the spiritualities within himself by means of proper training until he reaches a position above that of the angels, we can see that his needs are of such a kind. Man is not like an animal whose need are eating and sleeping. Man is a creature that God, the Blessed and Exalted, has so far created possessing all the peculiarities of the world within him. But these exist in the potential state; as competences. And these competences ought to be activated and realized.

The perception of all the regimes that have come into being through sources other than the prophets is limited to this natural state. They are able to fulfill natural needs very well. In former times, travel was by means of donkeys and horses; now it is by means of aircraft. Formerly, medical practice was defective, but now it is perfect and will become even better. All such things fall within the limits of nature. All these accomplishments of man are within the bounds of nature and also the things that he beholds and comprehends by means of his faulty understanding. Man's perception does not extend beyond the natural world. The training given by entities that are non-divine and are apart from the prophets- who train by receiving inspiration from God- is the natural kind. A doctor heals one's body. A doctor cures physical diseases very well. But spiritual ailments do not concern the doctor; not in the least. The physician has nothing to do with them, and cannot either, as he has no knowledge about them. The progress in the natural sciences enables man to gain access to whatever he requires in the natural world. But none of these sciences with which human beings are concerned can reach what is beyond nature. The regimes of man, if competent- we know that the majority of them are not- can engender man's progress in keeping with the degree of their perceptiveness. But they cannot do so in matters of which they have no knowledge.

We, therefore, see that all the non-revealed regimes; those that have no connection with the source of the revelation have nothing to do with man. In matters relating to man's inner self, the governments are not bothered about your thoughts, your beliefs and your habits. They have nothing to do with these. The extent of their concerns- that is, the people that are upright, and the governments with equitable systems- is to so organize their systems as to remain secure, their bazaars and countries to be orderly and robberies and injustices be prevented. This is the extent to which the regimes are interested. They are not concerned about what you do in your house. What have they to do with your domestic issues! You have to uphold the law when you step outside the house. But what you are inside the house concerns only you and God. These systems have no laws whatsoever in this regard and have nothing to do with the matter.

The only regimes and the only schools that are concerned about man from before this seed was sown until the very end, and they have no end, are those of the prophets. There is no school in the world, except those of the prophets, that tells you what type of woman to take for a wife or what kind of man a woman ought to choose. What is it to them; they are not concerned about it. There is nothing in their laws about the type of man or woman to choose. There is nothing in their laws that say what a woman ought to do during pregnancy and the period she nurses her baby. There is no mention about her duties during the period when the child is always with her, nor of those of the father when training the child. Worldly and natural laws and regimes that are not of the prophets have nothing to do with these matters. Only when a person matures and enters society does he find that they have laws to prevent the type of corruption that is harmful to the system. But they are indifferent to the corruption involving drinking and unwholesome pleasures. In fact, they even make it worse. They do not bother about human development and perfection. In their view, the difference between an animal and man only lies in the fact that man as a natural being makes more progress. Animals cannot make aircraft but humans can. An animal cannot become a doctor but a person can. Nature, however, is the limiting factor. The regimes of the prophets concern themselves with everything. The aim of a person who wants to get married is that upright and proper children result from the marriage. There are instructions as to what type of woman or man one should choose. Why are there instructions about this? The reason is that just as a cultivator or a farmer inspects a plot of land before setting up a farm, and then selects a suitable plot as well as seeds of wheat or whatever he requires, and so considers all these factors before cultivating his land and benefiting from it, so also does Islam consider the type of partner one ought to choose to ensure that the marriage results in good human beings being brought up and the correct procedures being followed subsequently. It tells us the customs regarding the marriage that must be adopted and then the conditions and customs concerning insemination. It, likewise, tells us what practices to follow during pregnancy and lactation. All this is because of the fact that the monotheistic religions, of which Islam is the leading one, came for the perfection of human beings. They did come to develop a being, possessing intelligence and aims to the same animalistic extent or a bit more. They did not come for this purpose; they came for the sake of man's development. What you said about there being neither school nor regime like Islam means that it is Islam that can train man to pass from the stage of the natural world to the spiritual and beyond the spiritual. Other schools that are not monotheistic have nothing at all to do with what is beyond nature. Their understanding and knowledge does not extend to the realm of metaphysics. The ones conversant with it received the knowledge through revelation. They are the ones whose understanding is linked to revelation. They are the prophets.

An Islamic government is not like the other ones. It is not that the difference between an Islamic government and the others lies in the former being just and the others unjust. No; there are differences, one of which is this. There are many differences between the Islamic government and Islam and among the other regimes. One of these is that the Islamic government is just. What are the attributes of a ruler? What are the attributes of the police and the soldiers? What attributes should the government employees, for instance possess? This is one of the differences, albeit small and above these (attributes) are the things that take man toward spirituality. Islam has come to draw this nature toward spirituality, and to control it. It views nature in the same way as everybody; not that it is not concerned with nature. Islam accepts civilization in its highest form and strives for its realization. The Islamic countries that had existed possessed all kinds of civilizations. But it does not mean that Islam accepts and strives for the things present in the civilized countries, whereas they attach importance to these things as such, and that is all there is to it. Islam aims to draw man toward spirituality and monotheism. In this respect, there is a difference between Islam and non-Islamic regimes; between the Islamic governments and non-Islamic ones and between the things Islam offers and those of other schools. The other schools are imperfect, but they think otherwise. The extent of these are limited to their perceptions; not more. Islam's perception is endless. Nature is referred to as the world." World" means low in the tongue of the prophets. Therefore, the word" world" means very low." The lowest of the low." «1» What appears in the Qur'an is this very nature and its manifestations that are above nature; they are of the highest status.

God wants man to reach the highest degree; to take him from the lowest to the highest stage. This is not at all the object of the regimes other than those of the prophets. They are not bothered about people becoming godly; what have they to do with it. They only want that there be no disorder and that nothing be done to harm the government. Everything else does not matter. The prophets thought differently. The (school of the) prophets concern themselves with your actions, even when you are in your storeroom. Nobody is there, but God's commands follow you. Their aim was to train man in such a way that his actions among the people and in private do not differ. Just as one does not behave dishonestly in public because he is careful of the people, it was the aim of the prophets to so train man that he remained the same in public and in private; a (proper) human being in both case. A (proper) human being is one whose conduct is food whether he is among people or alone. This was what they had wanted. And it is our desire, our wish, that such a school becomes a manifest reality. This is what the prophets had also wanted. It is everybody's wish to have a government like those of early Islam when there was justice; when justice, and even an excess of it, prevailed. We want everything that is there in Islam and the Holy Qur'an; all of it. As regards the Islamic Republic, this is the first step. Our government is now Islamic; it is an Islamic republic because you voted for it and so it was.

The previous regime has gone. It has been buried forever. Your government is now Islamic in which our responsibilities are many. We have the great responsibility of safeguarding the honor of Islam. Now that the government has become Islamic, we are obliged to become Islamic ourselves. If there is to be an Islamic republic but we ourselves and the government are not to be so, then we will not be able to call it an Islamic republic. If there is to be an Islamic republic but, God forbid, its police, its courts and its ministries are not Islamic, it would be a taghouti government in the name of Islam; that same taghout but with its name changed. We do not want the name to be changed. We want the substance to be there. We must strive to have the substance.

Islam, today, depends on your actions. Our government and our" regime" can only be Islamic if we and all the strata of the nation conduct ourselves well. The country would then have" an Islamic government and an Islamic nation". Our government will only be an Islamic one if all its ministries and offices, its army, police and gendarmerie become Islamic and we as individuals, engaged in our trades and occupations and observing Islamic precepts, will constitute an Islamic nation. Otherwise, it will only be meaningless words. If I and the religious judge keep on saying" Islam" but the people's deeds are to the contrary, then neither is the government nor the nation Islamic. Make efforts so that the people and the government become Islamic.

I beseech God, the Blessed and Exalted, to preserve this unity and high morale of yours until these stages are passed. May God protect all of you.