Speech [The importance of the roles of the seminary and the university; stating the duties of these two institutions of learning]

In the Name of God, the compassionate, the merciful

What an animated and blessed gathering this is! There was a time when the university and the centers of theology, being, as they were, separated from one another, had, perhaps, created an inimical atmosphere. The academic could not tolerate a cleric, nor a cleric an academic. The (ex-regime's) basic purpose was to keep these two classes separated, the reason being that if they were united, the whole nation would also be united. They wanted to keep these two groups opposed to each other so as to prevent the people from achieving unity. Thanks be to God that great transformation took place because of this Islamic movement and revolution following which neither of these two classes considers itself as being apart from the other, God willing. The mutual dread that existed between the clergy and the academics has now vanished by the will of God the Blessed and Exalted. You the academic and clergymen brothers have now come together. You stand beside one another in solving the problems and taking the revolution to victory.

The universities and the seminaries, together with the clergy, can constitute two centers for the country's progress and development. They can also be two centers of all deviations and perversions. It is from the university that committed intellectuals graduate. If the university be a university, if it is really a university and Islamic in nature; that is; together with the actual education, there is dedication and edification as well, then such people (the university graduates) will be able to lead the country to prosperity. Also, if the centers of theology be refined and committed, they will be able to save the country. Knowledge alone is of no use even if it is not detrimental. When we look extensively at the whole world and all the universities that are in it, we will find that the roots of all these misfortunes that have befallen humankind, lie in the universities. The roots lie in the specialization courses of the universities. All these tools of humankind's ruination and all these advances which they think lie in the implements of war, have been basically due to the scientists who graduated from the universities; universities that lacked the ethics and edification to go along with the education given. All the corruption that has been found in a nation, or nations, has sprung from the theological centers that lacked commitment to Islamic injunctions. All these fabricated religions have originated from the scholars and the `ulama'. The university where knowledge has not been accompanied with ethics, edification and commitment to Islam, has dragged the world into corruption. Likewise, the university takes the world towards betterment. If the universities all over the world are able to observe human principles, morals and whatever (good) there is in human nature, side by side with imparting education and training, the world will become an enlightened place. All the woes that emerge in the world are due to those very intellectuals and specialists that are produced by the universities in which specialization and knowledge are divorced from ethics, cultural refinement human awareness and dedication. These two centers, which are the centers of knowledge, could be the centers of all of humanity's problems, and could also be centers of spiritual and material progress. Knowledge and practice, knowledge and commitment are like two wings which, in tandem, can reach the heights of progress and excellence.

You have seen for fifty years that this tyrannical government had universities and university professors, and that these same universities and university professors dragged our country into the lap of the superpowers. It was tragic for our nation that the tools of knowledge lay in the hands of those that lacked commitment and were unmindful of themselves. It is a tragedy that the instruments of knowledge be possessed by people who are not committed and lack Islamic morality. There is no difference between the university and the theological center. The only thing is that if there is commitment and purification of the soul together with knowledge, they can then save their country, their homeland by means of these two devices of knowledge and morality, and the practice thereof. They can save it from the clutches of those who want to plunder everything of ours. But if knowledge alone is imparted by the universities and the seminaries, such knowledge, then, will lead man to ruination. All of a country's problems can stem from the university and the centers of theology, and so also its material prosperity and spiritual bliss. The grand design of infiltrating the universities and giving our youths a kind of training that went against our country's interests was for the purpose of corrupting the country which would be the case if the university became corrupted. If the aim of the university was solely to impart knowledge, and assuming that the university taught well- which was not the case- and that teaching our youths the arts and sciences, etc was carried out in the best manner, alongside all this, however, was the propaganda by which this very learning became the means to bring about decadence in a country. The persons who had come out of the universities and become ministers and such things, and also attained other positions were those who had pushed us into the lap of East and West. They made us dependent upon them. By saying that the university and education should be reformed, we do not mean that we do not want universities. We want universities that are of service to the nation and exist for our ownselves. It is better (for us) that a university which is in the service of America, does not exist at all. Many people are unhappy about the university being shut. According to what one of the informed persons told me just a few days ago, the university has served as a war (operations) room for the Kurdistan issue. That is, there is a room in the university where from they have been directing the war in Kurdistan; the democrat party's war, and that of other malevolent elements. Do you want such a university?

Do you who raised that clamor about the university being closed, want such a university to be reopened? Should the war room be opened for the guidance of Democrats and their like for them to ruin Iran? Do you want to feel sorry about this university? Isn't it better for it to be closed rather than remain open?

The people who have been assigned to carry out the Cultural Revolution in the universities, should, of course, make haste in the first place to get the opportunity for them to act so that the university becomes Islamic and exists for the nation. Otherwise, if it is reopened, anybody who wants to enter it will do so. Did you not see what mischief there was when it was open? It was the stronghold and the war (operations) headquarters of the communists. You are sorry that it is closed. Do you realize what you are saying? Are you saying this understandingly? If so, your position ought to be made known.

But if you are talking out of ignorance, on what grounds do you want it to be reopened now when, a few months or a year or so ago, it had been turned into a center of all kinds of mischief, and was in the clutches of the communists, the guerrillas and all the other hypocrite organizations? Do you want them to come back? Are you sorry that the hypocrites are not in the university? Are you sorry as to why there is an Islamic presence in the university? A university that is the center of such activities cannot even impart knowledge as education and learning require time; a time of calmness and a tranquil atmosphere. An atmosphere wherein people fall upon and beat one another daily cannot be conducive to learning. You who want the university to reopen with those same conditions obtaining, want to make us dependent as we were before. You wish to take us back to that dependent state. Neither does any academic nor do the people want this to happen. You, who have so much sympathy for the university and are distressed over its closure, should come and participate in the task of changing it into an Islamic one. You should extend your assistance instead of writing about the university being closed. Do you want the kind of university that existed in the days of Rida Khan and Muhammad Rida? Do you want the likes of" Sharif Imami «1» to graduate from the university? Reform yourselves sirs! You are not heedful of the issues. God forbid (the day) that you pay heed" But the truth is that you are heedless of the issues. You lack the feel for politics. The universities all over the world are- and have been- in the service of the superpowers. We do not want them to be so. There was not much activity in our universities either. Some of them were committed no doubt and had such virtues. But they were in a minority. They could not do anything against the strong fists of the communists. Even now- in case the universities reopen and we have dedicated professors- they will not allow the universities to be real ones. There was neither any knowledge in the universities to impart. In case they did have learning to impart to the students, why, after all these years and these big budgets of billions that have been spent on this nation, is it said that one who is unwell, who is stricken by an ailment that is rather difficult to treat, has to be sent abroad for treatment? Is this not being dependent? Do you want such a university that even after fifty years of its existence; a patient has to go to England to get himself treated? Is this not being dependent? If the university remains in that condition, the corruption in the country will increase with every day that passes. Like it or not, such a university will drag us into America's or the Soviet Union's lap. It cannot be otherwise as it all begins basically from the universities. The bazaar cannot drag us into the lap of America or the Soviet Union. The farmers cannot drag us into the lap of this one or that one. The factory workers cannot do such a thing, even if there is a corrupt person among them. It is the university which can make us dependent on America or the Soviet Union, as everything of ours lies in the university. You must jointly strive to reform it. Just do not keep on writing as to why it does not reopen. Such a university ought not to reopen. The university that educates people Sharif Imama should not be reopened. The university should take learning and specialization to that lofty level, and reach the heights of commitment, ethics and Islamic manners and behavior. The university ought to become refined and the theological centers as well.

The theological centers should produce clergymen who are committed in every sense of the word. They should be centers for nurturing people. The university, likewise, must be a center for nurturing human beings. We want an academic not a student or a teacher. The university must produce proper human beings. In such a case, nobody will be prepared to surrender his country to others. He will be ready to undergo suffering and captivity; and such people, they fear.

In the past, Rida Khan used to fear Mudarris because he was an upright man. Mudarris is quoted as having said in those days that there was one Muslim in the Majlis- Arbab Kaykhosrow. «2» Rida Khan considered Mudarris to be his rival. He did not care about the others. It was Mudarris whom he considered as his rival. He did not care about the others. He looked upon Mudarris as his rival. His speeches would have a great impact on all the listeners. He was the complete person. His way of living was that which you have heard about and I have seen. When he became a member of parliament; that is, he was installed as a jurist- which was necessary for the parliament to have- from the very outset, it is said that he purchased a cart with a horse in Isfahan and, riding in it, brought it with him to Tehran where he sold the cart. He had a house which was of humble construction, It was somewhat spacious, but the building itself was humble. His way of living was below the ordinary. His dress in those days was made of" karbas" (an indigenous kind of denim) as it was commonly known. He was adamant that it (the cloth) be of Iranian manufacture. Which one of these patriots dress up in material made in Iran?

All those who hold Islam, this country and this nation dear ought to combine their resources for reforming the university as, otherwise, it is more dangerous than a cluster bomb, just as the danger arising from (corrupt) theological centers is greater than that of the university. They ought to be cleaned. The committed people in the theological centers and the universities, ought to gird themselves to carry out reforms. Now gentlemen, you have taken the first step. It is a most fortunate step in that you have broken the big wall, that huge barrier which they had put up between you- between the faydiyyah and the university. This is the first step that you have taken. In your subsequent steps, you must try to be independent in every respect; not dependent. I am telling you all this because I cannot see you again; you who have reached that stage. As for me, it is the last stage. I am saying this so that the others and the generations to come, God willing, be careful about these two centers remaining united. These two centers should consider knowledge and edification, and knowledge and application of knowledge as two wings, and that flying with just one of them is impossible. The next steps are those that have to do with edification.

It is important for the one who graduates from a university to realize that he has received an education and has become a specialist attaining the highest level of knowledge by utilizing the country's budget. He must, accordingly, realize that he must serve the country and strive for its independence. For their part, the university professors must erase those things that had been instilled into the minds of these youths over these long years, particularly the last fifty years or so, and which had led them to believe that we ourselves are nothing and that everything must be obtained from there (abroad). This has caused them not to put their minds to work so as to make something by themselves. Those who have love for this country and this nation; those who are not dependent and do not serve the superpowers, ought to make efforts to turn the university into a center of knowledge and edification so that all the specializations be in the service of the country. It should not be that a person becomes a specialist and then drags us into the lap of America or uses his expertise to harm our country; the higher the specialization, the worse being the result.

The one who has not become refined, and one who has not felt that he exists for this country, that he has benefited by it and so ought to give back to it the educational benefit that he has derived should know that in the absence of such a feeling and such a conviction, the university will prove to be the worst kind of center as it will drag us towards ruination. But if such a feeling arises, and these university professors- those that are dedicated, who care and who used to worry about this country in the past- mobilize themselves to ensure that the sons of the soil be committed to serving Iran, the university, then, will be the highest institution that will bring prosperity to the country.

The university takes two paths: the path to hell and the path to prosperity; the path to ignominy, poverty and servitude, etc and the path to glory, honor and magnanimity. The university that we have is of no use. We have had one for the past fifty years. Whatever corruption there was in this country was because of these people who had been educated in it, and, perhaps, had even specialized. In the days of Rida Khan, that Ahmadi «3» who killed many dignitaries of the country by his injections, had also graduated from the university. He had specialized as well. But he used his specialization to kill by injection those people whom he had been ordered to kill. Do you want such a university, such professors and such specialization? On the other hand, noble people also graduate from the university. We want all of them to be noble.

The knowledge of monotheism will be of no use if there be no refinement in the Faydiyyah." Knowledge is the most important hijab." No matter how much knowledge is accumulated- even that of monotheism which is the highest kind of knowledge- in the hearts and minds of human beings, it will only distance them from God the Blessed and Exalted if there be no edification. Efforts must be made now and also later on, to make these seminaries refined. Together with the teaching of jurisprudence, philosophy, etc, the seminaries ought to be the seats of refinement, that guide people towards God. Do you know who the judge that tried the late Shaykh Fadlullah Nouri was? He was a clergyman from Zanjan. «4» A cleric from Zanjan handled the trial and sentenced him to death. When a clergyman is not an edified person, his corruption will be much more than that of other people. It is mentioned in some of the narrations that those who dwell in hell will be bothered by the smell emanating from some of the clergymen. And such is the case in this world as well.

Unless you purify your souls, unless you begin with edifying yourselves, you will not be able to make other people refined. A person who is not decent himself cannot reform others. It will be of no use no matter how much one insists. The `ulama' now teaching in the seminaries ought to make efforts to ensure that these youths of sound character who enter any of these Islamic seminaries, do not leave with corrupt natures after ten to twenty years. It is necessary to be refined; whether it be you or the others. Everybody of course; the whole nation and all human beings, ought to be refined in character. If a merchant is not upright, he will overcharge the people. He will indulge in such practices. When such practices increase, so will the corruption. A single (ordinary) person cannot create so much corruption. But if a learned person turns corrupt, he can corrupt a whole city, a whole country. It makes no difference whether he is a scholar from the university or the Faydiyyah. May the Blessed and Exalted God bless this step that you have taken towards forging unity between you and the university, and you and the clergy. Remember that now that you are getting closer to each other, the plots that are afoot to divide you will be put into effect with greater vigor.

They had separated you in the past. They had made a wall with you on one side and they (academics) on the other. Both these groups distrusted each other while the enemy derived the benefit. Now you can see that a change has taken place: the academic is favorably disposed towards the clergyman and the clergyman towards the academic. Both of them are together, and both want to take the country forward. The satans now are more keen on crushing the clergy on one side and the academics on the other. They intend to create mischief between the two and tell them what each of them is up to. Keep your eyes wide open. Your eyes and ears must be kept open at this time lest you find one day that they have corrupted and divided you in the university itself and the seminary. They cannot stand your unity. The people who do not want this country to be a safe and sound one, and also their masters who, from the beginning itself, did not want it to be so, cannot bear to see that you have come together and wish to work together. They know what the consequences for them will be in the event of the universities, wherever they be, and the theology centers joining together and planning together for the victory of the revolution. They have studied this matter. They understand it and, therefore, intend to prevent you from attaining unity. Open your eyes and your ears whether you be academics or theology students. If one approaches you and tells you something which concerns this matter, you should realize that there is some selfish motive to it. If at any time they come and tell you something (unsavory) about the clergy or the academics, you should know that the thing that you have accomplished is costing them dearly.

You must make headway, God willing. The persons, whoever and wherever they be, that are able to serve the people, the university and the Faydiyyahh, ought to do so. They must make them culturally refined, and also make" `alims," specialists and dedicated individuals out of them. I hope that this step that you have taken will be followed by bigger steps. I hope that by the grace of God, the Blessed and Exalted, you will deliver your country from these parasites who are creating sedition at present, and also the parasites who will come in future.

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