Speech [Education, Islam, freedom, and civilization]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I hope that the sisters, brothers, all the strata of society, and all of us be the servants of Islam and the Master of the Age (`a). We are in a country that belongs to the Master of the Age, and the duty of those who live in his country is a grave one. We cannot say that we are under the banner of the Master of Age (`a) in word, but are not following his path in practice, just as we cannot say that we have an Islamic republic but our deeds do not conform to it and to Islam. You who have formed an organized group in the holy name of Wali al-`Asr, are occupied in striving, serving, propagating the precepts of Islam, and teaching and training.

Teaching ought to be accompanied by training; proper training, Islamic training. Teaching alone without training is of no use. In fact, it is harmful at times. Training without teaching is also ruled out; it will bear no results. The two of them should be together. Teaching and training ought to be blended together. The human being is a creature that develops with teaching and training. Man's growth is like that of a vegetable and animal, a trait he shares with plants and animals. All of them- this caravan- are moving together; and man is a part of it. He is a vegetable first and then an animal like all of the other animals and is with them to the limits of" animality", just as he is with the plants to the limits of their nature. He is an entity that is both as vegetable and an animal. He moves with all the animals to the limits of animality and from there his path proceeds further. Animals are associated with man in these material matters: eating, sleeping and procreating. All the animals are like this. If man is merely this, then he, too, is like the rest of the animals even though his food differs from theirs. Even the animals differ in what they eat. Some are carnivorous; some are herbivorous. Man is also one of those that are herbivores, but now has also become a carnivore. If a human being does not receive instruction and training- both of them together- he will remain at this level of animality. And without having teaching and training, he is worse than all the other animals.

The extent of animal activity is very limited, and the extent of its aggression and encroachment is also limited. It finds a prey and eats it. And with the exception of certain animals, it does not store food; it goes after its other chores and falls asleep. The human being; that is, this animal that has not yet reached the level of humanity, this kind of an animal that we call" human being" because he might become one later on, knows no bounds. There is neither limit to his lust, nor to his desires and aspirations which ought to exist. Suppose there is a person; one of these. At first, he thinks to himself that if he had a nice house, it would be enough for him. If there was an orchard beside it, it would suffice. He acquires an orchard but sees that it is not enough. He tells himself that it would not be bad to have a farm, so he acquires one. And then he thinks that it would be good if he also owned a hamlet! He gets one. The more his acquisitions, the more it increases; his greed increases, his aspirations also increase. You may notice that those who have a country want another one; they seize countries. If a person takes the whole world, he thinks of going to the moon. When he goes and takes the moon, he begins to think of going to the planet Mars. Even after taking that, he goes after other places; there is no end to it. Man is a creature that God has created in such a way that, within the limits of animality, he has more of what the animals want. And there are no limits to what he wants. Animals become lustful at a particular time; when they need to reproduce. They are not like that at other times. But the human being is different. Man's lust has neither bounds nor limits. It also has no particular system except what the prophets regulated to some extent. Man is not concerned with such things. Even his nearest kin makes no difference to him. His daughter and a stranger make no difference to him. He is such an animal; he has no limits in anything( he does ). You are creatures that have no limits. If this limitlessness is directed toward animality, the result will be an animal without bounds; an animal that differs from all other animals. The passions of animals are limited, their desires are limited; it is man that knows no limits. If he remains in this animalistic state and is only concerned with these animal activities, these passions, these animal desires and wants, all of which are related to nature- all the desires and wants that are related to natural activities are animal ones- and if he remains at this level, he will be an animal to the end. His appearance here is human. When this curtain is drawn aside and that world emerges, his appearance will take another form. It is not that he will assemble there in a human face. If he becomes a human being here, he will be one there. If one is able to make a human being of himself here, his human state, on going there, will emerge in all perfection and in a way that the eyes of this world cannot behold; it will be realized there in all perfection. And his not being able to do so means that he has relinquished his self-control.

Well, there are many who have no control (over themselves). They are liberated; they are free. This is the very freedom that the Westerners want. They are free to do whatever they want; whatever things they want to do: they are free to oppress the people; they are free to illegitimately indulge their passions and they are free to slander and write against any and everybody. They are free. This freedom, which is the same limitlessness of this kind of animal, has no bounds for the person. The freedom is unlimited. The more of anything he does, the more freedom he wants in it.

If we do not have (proper) training and instruction, the training that the prophets brought for us, it is because the schools other than those of the prophets did not know the right way. We are nor perforce proceeding along a path which we ourselves do not understand. The path that they have shown us to take is the straight path that ends in a place which we are not able to comprehend. This is the path the prophets have shown us. The schools other than those of the prophets are not at all aware of what lies beyond nature. It is the school of the prophets that also deals with issues beyond the physical world. The other schools do not discuss such issues. Yes, they do say that it is a fallacy! A person who does not at all know what lies beyond nature, just sits in his house and says," No, these is no such thing." The prophets knew the way; they knew from where to proceed and how to proceed. It is the path that leads one to his destination only by means of the prophets and the training they give. If the straight path that leads human beings to their destination is not that of the prophets, they will go astray; they will go either this way or that. It is the prophets that guide us to the straight path and show us the manner of teaching and training so that it is also useful for that world- both this world and the next- not that they are not concerned with this world. They neither condemn nor contradict this world that has all the things that you name. They are against worldly attachments. People confuse these two issues.

The people who find fault with Islam say that it is against all the civilizations; that it is opposed to all of them. This is not true. Islam is not against any civilization. In fact, Islam gave rise to civilization. It civilized the world- almost all the populous places- over a period of 600 to 700 years, though it had not become firmly entrenched itself. Islam is not opposed to civilization. It is opposed to being attached to the world and limiting all our desires and aspirations to the world. It is opposed to all our efforts, like those of animals, being devoted to our needs, and our whole ambition being only to sleep well, eat well and indulging our passions well. It is against worldly attachments in that man be concerned only about his" fodder"! Islam is against this. The prophets acknowledge all the higher civilization within the constraints of spirituality. They acknowledge all the manifestations of civilization, but within limits; not absolute and unrestrained. They did not prevent passion; they prevented its overindulgence. They stopped such freedom and license. In connection with carnal matters, somebody who is our acquaintance had wittily told us in that past period hat these matters had been solved in the early days of creation; the donkeys had solved them! This (matter of) freedom that you say had been solved is the same freedom that the animals had at the beginning of creation. The prophets came to stop such freedom. They are not against the matter per se; they had even invited the people to it. This call to the people to get married; this commendation of marriage to such an extent, was to encourage marriages and prevent perversion. The prophets would prevent such unrestrained passions and these centers of corruption and prostitution; not passion per se. Passion itself is natural and ought to fulfill its role, but within constraints. If the instruction and training as brought by the prophets, and given under their tutelage, takes effect, people becoming proper human beings in accordance with a system, will become a reality. And there will be no more of these devourers and devoured, these encroachments, these acts of aggression, and these class differences. And that side (the hereafter) - which is the most important- that eternal existence that has no end, will also be secured. You who are now connected to Wali al-Amr (`a) should make efforts to give your attention to the school of Wali al-Amr whose purpose is to teach and train this human being in order to take him from the level of animality to that of humanity, and for him to develop and be trained as a human being, and for his education to be of the right kind. May God make all of you successful, God willing.

May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.