Speech [Need to be acquainted with Islamic spiritualities and knowledge]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I thank the honorable gentlemen for coming here so that we can meet each other in person. I pray for all of you, especially the experts throughout the country. I am not supposed to give advice to the gentlemen. But in order to have a discussion, I will mention two or three words.

The point I would like to make is that the main issue Islam has been pursuing since its advent till now, the main goal of prophets from the first to the last one, the goal of saints of Islam to their last is the spiritualities, mysticism and the gnosis of Islam. On top of all these affairs are these spiritualities. Establishment of government is exactly meant for this. Of course, it is the implementation of justice but the ultimate end is the knowledge of God and the mysticism of Islam. There is no divine scripture and philosophical book like the Qur'an that has stated the truths of knowledge in a plain manner in some places while referring to them so allusively in other places. The gentlemen have to give attention to acquainting the people with the divine knowledge. Islam is so rich in terms of spirituality. It occupies a lofty station in terms of mysticism. It is also rich in terms of administrative organization. Of course, the gentlemen know these things. Although it has not mainly focused on nature, and its major concern has been guiding towards the unseen, you can see that in some instances it has refuted the past astronomer. The Qur'an is the first book that has explicitly expressed the movement of the earth. It mentions the mountains to be moving like the clouds. «1» Do not imagine that they are solid, but since the Ptolemaic «2» astronomy was then dominant, some of the gentlemen had made explanation on the substantial movement and that now the substantial movement is not like the movement of the cloud and has no relation with it. In many other areas also, the Noble Qur'an has mentioned issues which have no precedence before; and have no earlier basis. On this account, our main attention should be focused on the Islamic mysticism. If you have ever noticed, in the noble verses related to the spiritualities, mysticism and, I should say, spiritual wayfaring and the like, it has no similar instances in other books. There is no book in the past having such mysticism and philosophy. Yet, since we were and are backward, we cannot talk in the same manner cited by the Qur'an. Commensurate to our power and knowledge, we should exert efforts in letting the people understand the teachings of Islam. The teachings of Islam are so rich and lofty and should be understood. For example, although its focus has not been on material things and its main focus is on spiritual things, contrary to the Ptolemaic astronomy, the Qur'an states that all the stars are situated in the lower heaven. This is while the past astronomy was not saying that every star was located in the lower heaven. From there it is clear that the" seven heavens" are different from the seven heavens presented by Ptolemaic astronomers. They are saying that there are seven heavens, one of which is this planet; the other is that planet and the last one is that which has stars. The Qur'an states that the stars are in the lower heaven; al of them are located here. Therefore, what is beyond it- the second heaven, for example- is not known to us. We know what is above it either." Lo! We have adorned the lowest heaven with an ornament, the planets;" «3» He has adorned the lowest heaven with the ornaments of planets. In any case, my advice to the people of knowledge, to all the gentlemen and to all the scholars is to try to strengthen the teachings of Islam, as the topmost affair is these Islamic teachings; once they are set right, all works will be set right.

If man possesses the Islamic teachings and is really faithful to them, then fundamental difference will not arise among the groups. Of course, there is difference of opinion, but the fundamental difference that causes this group to condemn the other group, or let us assume, this group to insult the other one is due to our weakness of faith. We should try to strengthen our faith. If all the prophets got together in one day, there would be no difference among them. Differences of opinion must be present. But what is necessary is that for the people, different groups, all Friday prayer leaders, congregational prayer leaders, clerics throughout the country, and all the strata make sure that that there is no dispute over the things related to carnal desires. It is not that some disputes are related to Islam; related to God. One cannot insult a believer for the sake of God; one cannot uncover the secrets of a believer for the sake of God; all of these are on account of the fact that such is the carnality of man.

I hope that we could all be successful in removing this veil. May God protect all the gentlemen, keep them well to render service. Thank God, all are servants of Islam and aware of the problems.

May God's peace and mercy be upon you.