Statements in a Meeting with a Group of Students on the Twenty-Fourth Day of the Blessed Month of Ramadan 1436

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Awaited One on earth.

Welcome, my dear ones, good youth; I am truly, wholeheartedly, deeply happy to be in this session. The enthusiastic, lively, and motivated presence of the youth in various issues of the country is a very important matter; it is a significant event. I have noted something that I want to express; I will say it right here: the Iranian youth is fortunately a motivated and enthusiastic youth; it is the exact opposite of what some biased centers, often with foreign origins or fundamentally foreign, announce. They say the Iranian youth is depressed; they even classify it and say the Iranian youth is at a certain level of depression - a very high level. This is a pure lie and a malicious act that is being carried out today and is an excuse for a series of other wrongful actions; the Iranian youth is depressed, so we must create a lively environment for them; how? With music concerts, with mixed-gender camps and sessions, and freedoms of this kind; this is the continuation of that narrative. No, on the contrary, the Iranian youth today is among the most lively, active, and vibrant youths. Look at the Western world; the European youth is depressed; the suicide rates there are so high. Depression is when a young person, due to mental pressures, takes a gun, goes to a seemingly safe beach, and shoots about eighty children in a barrage; an incident that occurred two or three years ago in one of the European countries that everyone became aware of and it was reflected worldwide; this is depression. Depression is when a European youth comes to join ISIS for suicide. Our reports show that a high number of ISIS suicide elements are European youths; they want to commit suicide, thinking this suicide has excitement and is better than drowning themselves in, for example, the river of a certain European country, [so] they come here; due to complete depression, they seek excitement; they are the depressed ones. The Iranian youth who, on the twenty-third of Ramadan, after spending the previous night in worship, with a fasting mouth, in the intense summer heat, comes out to march in the streets, then sits under the sun and holds the Friday prayer, is far from depression; he is lively, he is enthusiastic.

Your session today and the discussions that my dear children and young people had, which included a wide range of issues, are all signs of vitality; this affects us and people like me; that is, this vitality impacts your audience and listeners; in any case, I am very pleased with today’s session and I thank each and every one who spoke.

I have also noted some points that I want to mention in light of the remarks of these gentlemen and ladies who spoke; I do not know if there will be time or not.

One sentence was raised by one of the dear students, who said that slogans do not lead to action; yes, if this [slogan] means that we keep shouting slogans but do not follow them with action, then yes, it is true, nothing can be achieved from mere slogans; however, do not consider slogans to be insignificant; slogans are important. I do not forget, years before the revolution in Mashhad, we had a student meeting where I was giving a lecture. A number of students, which was a large crowd at that time - several hundred students [or] fewer gathered in one place - and I was giving a lecture; now the details are extensive. One person in that session shouted a slogan; I was conducting that session in a certain manner, with a certain prediction; that is, I was conveying fundamental and revolutionary discussions within the interpretation of the verses; I did not want to make the sensitive apparatus react and hinder our work. In my speech, I said please do not shout slogans; a slogan is neither a word nor an action; it is not a word because it is a single word; it is not an action because it is a sound that comes out of your throat; I said this in my speech there. The following week, on the day of the session, one of the students said I want to object to what was said last week; we said go ahead and object. He said, he said slogans are neither words nor actions; while, in fact, a slogan is both a word and an action. It is a word because it is a single word and has an important content; yes, it is a sentence, but it represents a collection of content and meaning; therefore, you who are people of words - we were people of words; we spoke, we expressed - should value this word. And as for action, it is because it is motivating; slogans bring people into the scene, they mobilize them, they give direction; thus, it is action. Yes, contrary to what the professor said - he was referring to me - who said slogans are neither words nor actions; a slogan is both a word and an action. That student who made that statement that day is now one of the officials of the country whom all of you know. I was sitting there and was ready to speak; when I listened, I said this gentleman is right, he is correct; a slogan is both a word and an action. Now I say the same to you; if a slogan is good, rich in content, indicative of a truth that can be intellectually expanded, it becomes both a word and an action; raising it is guiding and motivating. Therefore, if someone comes and, for example, just keeps repeating the word "resistant economy" that we have said, without following it with action, yes, from merely saying this word, nothing can be achieved; however, this slogan "resistant economy" if pursued and repeated in the hearts and tongues of the active people of the country, among whom you students are the most important, then it becomes significant.

Another point that was mentioned was the strictness towards revolutionary organizations; several of these dear young people here raised this, and I have been informed about it. I say right here to the esteemed officials present - the esteemed ministers - that under no circumstances should you allow individuals who hold the keys to work to impose strictness on revolutionary and Islamic organizations. Absolutely do not allow this to happen and do not tighten the atmosphere; let the Islamic and revolutionary organizations [work]. Well, the very words that were said here, these are our words; these are the same words that we must say; these young people are also saying these words that now I will emphasize the very effective role of saying and reiterating these words by students; let them say these words; let them come and work; allow the student organizations, the revolutionary and Islamic organizations - especially I emphasize on the revolutionary organizations - to have their hands free, to have resources, do not limit them.

One issue was the issue of concerts at universities, which a dear student raised, stating that the university is not a place for concerts. This is true; I have noted this and it is among my notes. That we come and take students, thinking we are enlivening the student environment, to mixed-gender camps or hold music concerts at the university is among the most incorrect actions. For student dynamism, effort, and liveliness, there are other ways; they should not be led to sin, they should not be led to break the barriers of piety - which fortunately the devout youth today insist on maintaining - they should be led towards paradise, not towards hell. Yes, these actions have no place in universities at all. I, of course, saw the signs of this issue and the problem many years ago - when a movement was carried out by a student organization at that time - and I warned, but unfortunately it was not followed up and we suffered the consequences; we suffered for several years; today, such actions should not be allowed; these are not signs of a desire for freedom, these actions are not indicative of a desire for freedom and liberty. These are the very things that the enemies of the Iranian society and the Muslim community and Islamic civilization and the enemies of the Iranian student specifically pursue to prevent the emergence of capable individuals among them, to prevent the emergence of figures like Dr. Chamran; they lived with purity, they lived with piety. It is not only about the nuclear issue; the fields that you hear about and in our statistics say we are among the eight countries, among the nine countries, among the ten countries that have achieved this progress, most of the pioneers of these works are devout youths, revolutionary youths; this is true in the nuclear issue, it is true in nanotechnology, it is true in many other research fields that exist today. All these great works have been done by the faithful, devout, revolutionary youths; they are the ones who have accomplished these great tasks. Should we distance the youths from revolutionary, Islamic, and spiritual tendencies with these wrong actions? This is the most incorrect action; of course, both esteemed ministers are trustworthy in my view, but they should be careful about their subordinates; they should be completely vigilant about those who hold the keys to such matters; they should know what is being done. This was another point.

Another point that one of the dear students mentioned was that truly free-thinking forums should be established. This is completely correct; I agree that free-thinking forums should be established. When we said free-thinking forums, our intention from the beginning was this; someone should come and express their opposing views; however, you, the revolutionary, Muslim, and loyal student, should acquire the power of logic and the strength of reasoning to be able to calmly confront them and refute their reasoning; this is good, this is correct. And this is possible today; [perhaps] ten years ago, twelve years ago, fifteen years ago this was not possible, today it is possible. Today, there are many youths who are active in the field of religion and have good intellectual capabilities; this is not a problem. Of course, it has its own etiquette and arrangements; that is, a free-thinking forum has arrangements and etiquette that the wise officials of the institutions should sit down and specify these arrangements and etiquette - so that they can properly guide these forums to fulfill their purpose - this was another point.

Another point that was raised was that some people speak on behalf of the leadership. Well, I myself, thank God, my tongue has not yet stopped working; my words take precedence over theirs. What I say is my own words; those who speak - representatives of the leadership and appointees of the leadership and many like them - do not speak on behalf of the leadership; keep this in mind. In the very issue that they specifically mentioned, the person they mentioned had spoken his own words; he did not say anything on behalf of the leadership. I also spoke my own words; both before that and after that; well, you should hear my words from me. Yes, it is possible that someone among the appointees of the leadership may have an opinion on a specific political, social, or ideological issue that differs from the leadership's opinion; we do not consider this a problem; what is important for us are the overall orientations, the revolutionary orientations. Otherwise, we do not sit in every issue to coordinate and see if our opinions are the same or not; well, he has expressed his own opinion. It is not that wherever one of our representatives says something, we immediately say, "Sir! You said this wrong, this right, the public relations should announce it;" this cannot happen. Yes, if someone says something on my behalf and it reaches my ears and it is incorrect, we immediately remind him; it has happened repeatedly; we have reminded, we have said that you should correct this, and the other side has also corrected it. I do not find it expedient that if someone says something, we should immediately issue a statement here that this person made a mistake in what he said; this cannot happen. Wherever something is said contrary to our opinion - of course, on my behalf; if he has said it on his own, no - if something has been said on my behalf, we inform and say, "Sir! You said this on our behalf, and you should correct it yourself." This was this matter.

Another point that was asked was, what is the duty of the struggle against global arrogance after the negotiations? Well, is the struggle against global arrogance suspendable? The struggle against global arrogance, the struggle against the system of domination is not suspendable. This is also among the very words that I have noted today to tell you. This is among our fundamental tasks, among the foundations of the revolution. That is, if there is no struggle against global arrogance, we are not following the Quran at all. The struggle against global arrogance does not end. In terms of the manifestations of global arrogance, America is the epitome of global arrogance. We have told these esteemed officials who are negotiating in the nuclear issue - who have now been allowed to speak face to face; of course, it had a history, not at this level, it had a history at lower levels; at this level, it was the first time - that you are only allowed to negotiate on the nuclear issue; you are not allowed to negotiate on any other issue, and they do not. The other side sometimes raises regional issues and Syria and Yemen and such matters; they say we have no discussion with you in these areas and do not talk. Negotiation is only in the context of the nuclear issue, and for the same reasons that I have explained and repeated several times why we chose this approach in the nuclear issue; I have elaborated on this. The struggle against global arrogance is not suspendable, its duty is completely clear, and prepare yourselves for the continuation of the struggle against global arrogance.

One issue that has recently been raised is the issue of the marriage of the youth, which, well, both boys and girls are certainly interested in. I hereby heed the advice of this dear youth who asked me to remind the fathers and mothers; I kindly ask and request from you to ease the marriage facilities a little. Fathers and mothers are being strict; there is no need for strictness. Yes, there are natural problems - the issue of housing, the issue of jobs, and such matters - but "If they are poor, God will enrich them from His bounty"; well, this is the Quran. A young person may not have suitable financial means right now, but God willing, after marriage, the Almighty God will provide for them. Do not stop the marriage of the youth; I kindly ask that fathers and mothers pay attention to this matter.

Of course, one of the important issues is that the custom of going to propose and mediating for the marriage of girls has unfortunately become less common; this is a necessary thing. There are individuals - it used to be common, now with the abundance of the young generation in our society, this should be prevalent - who know boys, introduce them to the families of girls; they know girls, introduce them to the families of boys; they facilitate and prepare for marriage; they should do these things. The more we can solve the issue of the sexual problems of the youth in society, the better it will be for the world and the hereafter of our society; it is beneficial for the world and the hereafter of our country; and also for the issue of generation, which I emphasize a lot [is important]. Again, I say here to the esteemed Minister of Health; I receive reports that your request, which is our request, [that is] the issue of preventing fertility - which was a policy; it was set to prevent this policy - is not being implemented correctly; in some places, it is still going on as before.

Dear ones! The month of Ramadan, the season of spirituality, the spring of spirituality, the spring of purity has ended; we are spending the last days of the month of Ramadan. If the fertile land of your hearts and pure souls has, God willing, been affected by the gentle rain of divine mercy and grace in this month, it will bear its fruits in the future. Of course, for the youth, the season of spiritual growth never ends; yes, the month of Ramadan has its own characteristics, it has its own exclusivity, but the growth of spirituality in the youth is always possible. The youth repeatedly ask me - in letters and through the communication means that exist - and seek advice regarding spirituality and spiritual elevation; well, there are those who spread the table of guidance and such things; all of these are not trustworthy; some of them are merchants, they cannot be trusted. What I have heard from the elders and I convey to you is one word; the most important task for spiritual elevation and soul enhancement is to avoid sin; this is the most important task. Try to avoid sin. Sins are various; there are sins of the tongue, there are sins related to the eyes, there are sins related to the hands, there are various types of sins; recognize the sins, take care of yourselves. Piety! Piety is exactly this; piety means vigilance. When you are moving on a dangerous road, you are very careful; this is piety; be vigilant, avoid sin; this is the most important way to achieve spiritual elevation. Of course, immediately after this, performing the obligatory acts is important; among the obligatory acts, the most important is prayer; prayer at the first time, with presence of heart. Presence of heart means that when you pray, you know you are speaking to someone, you have an audience. Keep this in mind. Sometimes a person's attention wanders; it is not a problem, as soon as a person's attention returns, they should revive and keep alive that feeling of having an audience; this is presence of heart. Prayer with presence of heart, prayer at the first time, as much as possible prayer in congregation, observe these things, you will achieve spiritual elevation, you will become an angel, you will become higher than an angel; know this. You are young, your hearts are pure, your souls are pure, you have little or no pollution; when a person reaches our age, their problems become very numerous; therefore, if you observe this, no other advice is necessary; special remembrance and such things are not necessary. Of course, it is very good to be familiar with the Quran, every day, at least read a few verses of the Quran; these are very good. Pay attention to the obligatory acts.

One of the obligatory acts is the student obligations. The student class is an exceptional class, a special class; for reasons that I have repeatedly mentioned in these Ramadan sessions with students and do not want to repeat; it has its own obligations. The first student obligation is idealism. Some promote and pretend that idealism is opposed to realism; no, sir, idealism is opposed to conservatism, not opposed to realism. Conservatism means that you submit to every reality - however bitter, however bad - and show no movement of your own; this is conservatism. The meaning of idealism is that you look at realities and recognize them correctly; use positive realities, confront and fight against negative and adverse realities. This is the meaning of idealism. Keep your eyes on the ideals. This is the first obligation of a student.

What are the ideals? Among the things that I have noted here as ideals, one is the issue of creating an Islamic society and Islamic civilization; that is, reviving the thought of political Islam; a group of people, centuries ago, tried to distance Islam from life, from politics, from the management of society as much as they could and to confine it to personal matters; they gradually limited personal matters to issues of the grave and marriage and such things; no, Islam has come to be obeyed by the permission of God; not only Islam; all prophets are like this. Divine religions have come to be implemented in society, to achieve real realization in society; this must happen. One of the most important ideals is this.

Another ideal is the ideal of self-confidence; that is, this "we can" that was also in your words; this is an ideal. There must be a pursuit of national self-confidence and belief in national power and capability [as an ideal] and it must be pursued.

Of course, pursuing ideals has its own requirements that must be acted upon.

One of the ideals that I have noted is the struggle against the system of domination and global arrogance. The system of domination is a system based on the relationship of the oppressor and the oppressed; that is, the countries of the world or human groups in the world are divided into oppressors and the oppressed; this is what is happening in the world today; a group is oppressing, a group is being oppressed. The conflict with Iran is over this; know this. The conflict with the Islamic Republic is that it has not accepted the oppressor and the oppressed system; it is not an oppressor, it has also removed itself from being oppressed and stands firm on this statement. If Iran succeeds and progresses - scientific progress, industrial progress, economic progress, social progress, expansion of regional and global influence - it shows the nations that it is possible not to be oppressed and to stand on one’s own feet and progress. They do not want this to happen; all the conflicts are over this, the rest of the statements are excuses.

Among the ideals is the pursuit of justice; the very statements that some of the brothers said here. The issue of justice-seeking is very important, it has various branches; one should not be satisfied with the name, one must truly pursue it. Among them is the issue of Islamic lifestyle. Among them is the pursuit of freedom; freedom not in the wrong and misleading Western sense that means this girl should live like this, this boy should live like that. Cursed be those who oppose the Islamic traditions and the tradition of marriage, who explicitly oppose the tradition of marriage, and some of our publications and cultural institutions unfortunately promote this; we must confront these. The issue of freedom-seeking in thought, in individual action, in political action, in social action, and in society, the meaning of freedom-seeking in society is independence.

Among the ideals is scientific growth; among the ideals is work and effort and avoidance of laziness and doing half-hearted work. Among the ideals is the establishment of an Islamic university; these are the ideals.

Well, someone might say how we can pursue these ideals? We have no influence in the country; a number of managers are doing their own work, and we are here shouting slogans, speaking. This is a misunderstanding of the issue; it is never like this. The student is a decision-maker; the student is a discourse-maker. When you pursue an ideal, you say it, repeat it, and firmly stand by it, it creates a discourse in society, this leads to decision-making; the decision-maker in a certain center of national management, when something becomes a discourse, is compelled to follow it. A living example of this is the discourse of the soft war movement and the revival of scientific movement that was raised, repeated, and fortunately welcomed and became a discourse; the movement of society has been based on it for ten to fifteen years, and we have been moving forward scientifically. It is the same in all areas; the student can be effective. One of the dear ones quoted the late martyr Beheshti, who said that "the student is the muezzin of society; when he remains asleep, the people also remain asleep"; well, this is a good expression; you can be a wake-up call, you can be a discourse-maker, do not ever think that your student activities are ineffective.

Do not waste your time; many of our young people - students and non-students - waste their time wandering in these social networks and such things or sitting in some pointless debates. Do not waste your time, use your time wisely, both attend to your studies and engage in organizational work; you must attend to both.

Well, the call to prayer has passed; I have spoken a very small part of what I wanted to say, a very large part remains; now what should we do, in your opinion? ... Now you be ready after iftar, provided that I have the energy [we will continue]; of course, if I speak, I will speak briefly.

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After the prayer and iftar

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

So I said that if the student environment firmly believes in a matter and pursues it in various student activities, this will impact the future of the country. It is a misconception to think that what benefit does it have for us as students to engage in this activity or make this effort? What impact does it have on the realities of the country? No, it has an impact; it has a significant impact. Its mechanism of influence is exactly what I mentioned; this turns into a discourse, first in the student environment, then gradually in the country, and this becomes a decision-making element. Yes, you may not be a decision-maker in a certain organization, but you can be a decision-maker. So let us pursue the ideals. I mentioned a few examples of the ideals, but these are not the only ones; search in the collection of Imam's statements, in the collection of the teachings of the Islamic Revolution, in the careful study of the Quran and Nahj al-Balagha, list the ideals, classify them, categorize them, work on them, and stand firm on the ideals. That is, realities should not distance us from the ideals; realities should bring us closer to the ideals like a staircase. If a troublesome reality arises, we should confront it, oppose it, remove it from our path; idealism means this. Of course, the opposite of this - as I mentioned - is conservatism; that is, to make peace with realities, to accept the bad and the good, as if to say "what can we do, we have no choice" to pass through, which is obvious where the fate of such a nation will lead.

If student organizations and the student movement want to achieve such an impact, it has requirements; these requirements must be observed. One of these requirements is to work on Islamic concepts, that is, to work deeply on issues; superficiality is harmful. I, of course, today in the speeches that these friends made - in some of the speeches, I do not say in all of them - I observed signs of depth. I saw that fortunately, the student youth looks at issues with a deep perspective. This is the first condition.

Sometimes slogans are given, seemingly Islamic slogans that are not Islamic in essence; among the things that have recently become very common and one hears in writings and speeches is "Rahman Islam"; well, it is a beautiful word, both its Islam is beautiful, and its Rahman is beautiful; but what does it mean? What is the definition of Rahman Islam? Well, the Almighty God is both Rahman and Rahim, and also "the most severe in punishment"; He has both paradise and hell. The Almighty God does not consider believers and non-believers the same; "Is he who is a believer like one who is a sinner? They are not equal." (Quran 32:18) The Rahman Islam that is mentioned, what is its judgment regarding the believer, the non-believer, the infidel, the enemy, the infidel who is not an enemy? Throwing a word without depth is a wrong and sometimes misleading act. Some who use the term "Rahman Islam" in their speeches and writings, one observes and feels that this Rahman Islam is a keyword for the teachings derived from liberalism, that is, what is referred to as liberalism in the West. Of course, the term liberalism and the title liberalism for Western civilization and culture and ideology is also a wrong term; because they are not truly liberal, nor do they believe in liberalism in the true sense; but now it is a term, liberalism. If Rahman Islam refers to such a thing, this is neither Islam nor Rahman; absolutely not. The liberal thought originates from the humanistic thought of Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - that is, the ideological foundation that denies spirituality and God and such things. Because there is no God, it is then subjective; human things are like this; even in scientific truths and laboratory truths, you see how subjective opinions vary. Today, a diagnosis is given about a substance that is, for example, useful for a certain disease or problem; a short time later, scientists announce that no, it is not useful, it is harmful! That is, actions not based on divine revelation are subject to error and mistake and dual thinking and such things. Therefore, when thought is not divine, it is subjective; when it becomes subjective, then values will be defined based on the interests of powerful groups.

Today, there is something called American values; you hear in the words of Americans, [they say] our values. The founders of independent America, in the eighteenth century when America broke free from British colonialism and introduced itself as a country on the other side of the world - those who were there at that time, George Washington and his companions and successors - established values; these are called American values. Many of these values, in terms of evaluation, are problematic; the same things that lead to the current world-dominating situation of the system of domination; however, those values - even those that are positive, even those that are good - have been forgotten in today's American political system. Some years ago, I was studying the words of those gentlemen who, more than two hundred years ago, were the founders of America - the words they said and the charter they drafted as American charter and American values - and I compared them with the behaviors of the gentlemen today, I found that many of them have been violated. It occurred to me at that time that someone should remind the American nation that these values you speak of are these, these do not exist in the behavior of the American government and the regime of the United States of America today; now, that is what exists. If this term "Rahman Islam" refers to such a thing, this is one hundred percent wrong.

If the meaning of Rahman Islam is that we should look at all beings in the world with eyes of mercy, with eyes of affection, this is also incorrect; this is also against the Quran. The Quran explicitly contradicts this statement. Yes, love and affection and justice are not limited to Muslims; it says that you who have the ability, you should also treat non-Muslims with affection and justice, provided they have not shown enmity towards you and will not show enmity; Amir al-Mu'minin in that famous sermon [says]: "I have been informed that a man among them would enter upon a Muslim woman and another who is a non-Muslim under the covenant;" then at the end, the Imam says that it is appropriate for a Muslim to die of grief; why should he die of grief? Because the army of Muawiya entered upon the non-Muslim women - the "Mu'ahid" women, that is, Christians or Jews who live under the protection of Islam - and insulted them and, for example, took their bracelets and jewelry from their hands and took them away. The Imam says that a person should die of grief over this. Yes, regarding a non-Muslim who does not show enmity, this is the case. The Quran says: "God does not forbid you from those who do not fight you in religion and do not expel you from your homes, that you should be good to them and act justly towards them;" (Quran 60:8) [those who] are infidels but have not shown enmity towards you and do not show enmity, be good to them, act justly towards them; but on the other hand, it says: "Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and aimed to expel the Messenger and they were the first to attack you?" (Quran 9:13) With those who break their oaths, strive to disrupt your life and your Prophet's life, and they are the initiators of enmity, do you want to not fight? This is the Quran; with an admonishing and reproachful address, it says: "Are you afraid of them?" Then it says: "God is more deserving that you should fear Him;" if you are truthful, if you are believers, you should fear God, not these people. Well, this is also the Quran. If the meaning of Rahman Islam is that we should treat enemies who are working against Islam, against Iran, against the Iranian nation, against the progress of Iran, and spare no effort with a loving face, with a pure and clean heart, no, this is not Islam. I do not recommend such self-made, fabricated teachings, but I recommend the true Islamic teachings. Student organizations should work on Islamic teachings. We do not have a shortage of books; we have many books. One day we had to refer only to the books of Martyr Motahhari - of course, those books are still at the peak and are very valuable - but today we have many other books; [students] can choose study methods, study, work, hold lectures, hold conferences, hold roundtables; that is, raise the level. One of the requirements is this.

One of the requirements for effectiveness is that you should be able to attract the student body. Organizations are a minority among students. When you gather all these organizations, you are not the majority among the multitude of students. You must create attraction within yourselves to attract students. How does attraction arise? I believe there are many ways; you are young, your innovations are more than ours - we also, of course, in our youth, for every issue, we had ten different methods and ways in mind, but now your minds work better - find innovations to attract student bodies.

Of course, attraction through mixed-gender camps is absolutely wrong and erroneous. Some want to create attraction in this way. A student organization, now either under the guise of a prominent professional and scientific organization or even under the title of Islamic, takes boys and girls together to the mountains, takes them on trips, takes them to Europe; trips abroad! These are undoubtedly treason to the student environment and treason to the future generation of the country; without a doubt. The way to create attraction is not this. Just as it was said, I also emphasized, the way to attract your organizations is not to hold music concerts. I said that one day - of course, many years ago - student organizations did such a thing. It raised a question for us why this student organization is doing this? It was very surprising to me. [When we] asked, they said we want to attract students. Well, they later faced the consequences.

I remembered a story that Sayyid Qutb narrates in one of his books, which I also quoted in one of my writings - it is from before the revolution - he says that in one of the cities of America, I was going, I reached a church; I saw next to the church there is a hall for gatherings. At that time, they had a program called "Night Program"; when I read the program, I saw it was written, for example, music of a certain kind, then music of another kind, then a light dinner, then a session of such; I became interested to see what the matter was? He says I went at night and saw that yes, there is a hall like a cabaret! There, girls, boys, youths come, sit, become familiar with each other; there are also programs on stage; there is music and such things; I was watching the situation there. Then a light dinner was served, we ate and [then] a drink, something; the interesting part is this; he says that after a few hours passed, at the end of the night, we saw that the priest - the priest of that church to which this hall belongs - entered from one side of the stage with dignity, went and turned off some of the lights and turned off some of the lights, then the priest left. He says I left and did not stay.

He says the next day I went to that priest, I said what is this situation? After all, you are a cleric, you are a religious person, you are a preacher of religion, what was this situation with all these youths and these programs? He said, sir, you do not realize; I have to do this to attract the youths to the church; he said to him - now in my expression - let the church go to hell! Well, let them go to the cabaret; [if] the same things they do in the cabaret are to be done here, well let them do it in the cabaret; why should they come to the church?

If we are to lead the youth to sin and debauchery and enjoyment and forbidden music and such things, well why should we call ourselves Islamic? This is no longer Islamic; this is un-Islamic, this is anti-Islamic. Therefore, the attraction that I say the Islamic organization should create is not of this kind; these are against the interests, against the truth; these are treason to the student environment; attraction should come from the right ways.

One of the types of creating attraction is to find new words: "Bring forth a new word, for the new has a different sweetness"; new words. New words do not mean fabricated words, there are many truths that through studying the Quran, through studying Nahj al-Balagha and in the narrations, one encounters them. I, for example, have been in this field for sixty or seventy years and have worked; sometimes I turn on the television, one of these gentlemen is speaking, suddenly he says a point that I see this point is new to me; I have not understood it until now, I have not used it, now I have used it. That is, for someone who has been in the religious science field for more than sixty years - I have been a cleric for more than sixty years - there are words that are new; there are many new words; they should search for new words; however, there should be people who have the competence to do this; they should be able to. New words [are not only religious words, but also political new words, social new words, new words in international issues]. When you present new words, new speeches in your organization, the youth are attracted; it has attraction, new words have attraction.

Another method is to use some artistic methods that have received less attention; [for example] theater; student theater. Unfortunately, in our artistic environment, theater has been poorly born from the beginning. That is, our theater has either been useless and frivolous theater like some of these ridiculous shows, or it has been pointless protest theater, that is, without a proper direction; then with an ambiguous language, they think that theater must have an ambiguous and symbolic and mysterious language, which is not the case. Theater means acting in front of the audience on stage. Unlike cinema, unlike film, where you only see something on the screen, here in theater, people feel people, they hear their words from their own mouths. This can be very constructive. Theater; student theaters. Artistic groups should genuinely express true Islamic concepts. Years ago in this Hosseiniyeh - perhaps twenty years ago - a theater was performed for us, related to Prophet Job, which lasted long; one hour, two hours, it lasted. After it was over, I told that director that I have read the story of Job in the Quran, perhaps a hundred times or hundreds of times until now, but the understanding I gained from the story of Job from your theater tonight, I have not gained from reading the Quran in this period. Is this a small thing?

Cartoons. Cartoons are one of the very effective artistic methods. Humor. Humorous works that the youth have fortunately done good works in this area and continue to do. These are very good works. Student activity is not merely about announcing positions through a statement, which is a repetitive task and may have no attraction; or writing a book and giving it, or establishing a student session; it is not just these; of course, these are good too, but new works can be done. For example, the discussion of songs, or audio publications; the discussion of songs, the discussion of poetry, is an artistic work; they should really engage. There are issues that through poetry, through artistic performance, the impact multiplies. They should use these methods. Of course, I have now mentioned that if I want to mention innovations, I may mention these seven or eight cases, you who are young, sit down and think, you may come up with twenty or thirty new innovations. Use these to create attraction.

One of the ways to influence and become attractive for organizations is intellectual persuasion; intellectual persuasion; you should be able to convince the other side. This is contingent upon your own proper work. Work properly; truly [when] a truth becomes part of your thought and mind, you can, you gain the power of persuasion, you convince your audience; intellectual persuasion. If we want to impose something on the mind of the other side with threats and intimidation and force, it is possible that, for example, under the influence of emotions, [momentarily] they may accept it, but it is not lasting.

The communists in the era when they were [advanced their agenda] with force. Now, fortunately, the defeat of communism is considered the defeat of Marxist thought in the world, and this is indeed the case. Of course, I have heard that in our university, some currents are trying to revive Marxism again, but this is blowing into a cold furnace, this is pouring water on the fire; it is no longer useful. With all their claims and all their noise and all their sacrifices and such things, the communist regimes of the world, after sixty years, seventy years, produced nothing but disgrace; that is, the falsity of their slogans has been proven, their incapacity and inefficiency have also been proven; therefore, that will not return. But now I have heard that some [are following this] if it is real and now the Marxist current is active in our university, it is certainly funded by the Americans; because there is no motivation. They pay money; because after all, this division of students is a great blessing for them. One of the divisions is to revive the Marxists again.

Those who were members of the Tudeh Party and had spent twenty years in prison, then came to the Islamic Republic television, without any pressure or force, wrote and read the "I was wrong" letter; you may not remember this; it was in the early 60s. Ten to twelve of the Tudeh Party elements came to the Islamic Republic television - at that time I was the President; I was surprised, we, active friends and top officials of the country were surprised that how they came; some of these we knew closely; some of them we had been co-prisoners with; some we had seen after prison and knew them, their claims and demands went to the heavens - they came, lined up, sat on chairs, one of them as a host started asking them questions [about] the instances that proved the treachery of the Tudeh Party to the country. Then each of them, when they were a little short and did not speak, this host, because he was one of them, would say, "Sir, at such a time, you did such a thing, you said such a thing," they were compelled to say yes, I said; that is, we were not the ones who wanted to extract confessions from them, they were extracting confessions from themselves. This is among the very valuable documents of the broadcasting organization; do not let it be lost; these are very valuable things. Well, after these statements, now the same ones write books and pamphlets in defense of Marxism; well, this is ridiculous.

Well, the Marxists in the places where they revolted and took power, advanced their agenda with force, even in student environments. You know that in our neighboring Afghanistan, after Zahir Shah and after that Dawood, a Marxist government came to power; it was before the victory of our revolution and coincided with the years of the revolution and continued - when the communist government was announced, I was in exile in Iranshahr; there I heard that a communist government had come to power in Afghanistan and gradually news began to spread - inside Kabul University, the groups affiliated with that Khalq Party that had taken power through a coup would go into the students' rooms, drag out students they thought were opponents, beat them so much that either they would die or be on the verge of death; those would come and take these students and hand them over to the government forces to imprison them; that is, they had polluted the university environment with such pressures and violence; [but] among us, it was not like this. In the early months of the victory of the revolution, I went every week to the mosque of Tehran University to speak to the students, both giving speeches and answering questions; every week. The students, the Muslim, revolutionary youths, would come, sit quietly, listen, and leave; there were many of them; there was no war room, no guns, no ugly slogans; at the beginning of the revolution, in the student environment, in Tehran, and I, at that time, was not even the President, I was a member of the Revolutionary Council - that is, all the revolutionary factors were gathered, we would go to the university to speak to the students, in a calm environment, in a rational environment; perhaps among these brothers and sisters who were students in those years, there are some of you who remember those years. The day when the university was besieged by communist groups, which was a dangerous situation, it happened to be a day - I do not know if it was a Monday or a Sunday - when I used to go to Tehran University. I came as usual. A few of the guards were with me, they said, "Sir, do not go, it is dangerous;" I said what danger? Well, we go. We came inside the mosque, and of course, there was no one, so we turned back. The ones who were making the university environment unsafe, creating chaos, either with force or if that did not work, with bullets, wanted to impose their thoughts on the opposite side, were not the Islamic groups; they were either Marxist groups or the Mojahedin Khalq, who were a substitute for Marxist groups; their name was Islamic, but their essence, their thought, their ideology, all their writings were purely Marxist. We do not have this in Islam; in Islam, we have persuasion; the meaning of "There is no compulsion in religion" (Quran 2:256) is this, that the religious thought cannot be conveyed and reflected except through persuasion. You should be able to persuade; this creates attraction. Therefore, one of the factors of attraction is this.

One of the other things that I find very necessary and good for organizations is the presence of valued professors. Use these valued professors. The other day, in the gathering of university professors who were present here, I said; in the early days of the revolution, there was a day when all our faculty members across the country were estimated to be about four to five thousand; today, fortunately, there are nearly eighty thousand or more faculty members. Most of these eighty thousand are good, Muslim, revolutionary, and interested youths. Of course, there are some who are indifferent - we are not unaware of this in our own university; we also have some who I hope are no longer there, who would show the talented students, these are the ones they wanted, encouraging them to emigrate from the country; [they would say] "Sir! What will you do here? What is the benefit of staying here? Go." That is, the professor, instead of encouraging the student to stay in the country, would encourage them to emigrate; we have some of these, but these are a minority; most are valued professors, believing professors; both in the Ministry of Science and in the Ministry of Health, it is the same; they are very good elements; use them in organizations; ask them to come and spend time; [even] from outside the university. Here, they mentioned one of our very good brothers who spoke in the Friday prayer; very good, use him, use such people in your organizations.

Of course, this is the affirmative aspect of the matter; the negative aspect is that do not use elements who have proven their untrustworthiness; absolutely do not use them. Some have shown and proven that they are untrustworthy elements. For whom are they untrustworthy? For me? No - I am very comfortable in dealing with this and that; I can deal with all kinds of people; my communication is good; someone can have no problem with me, except in terms of belief - they have proven their untrustworthiness for the system, for the country, for the Islamic Republic; both for its Islamic aspect and for its republican aspect. Those who instigated that game in 2009, well, these opposed the republicanism of the Islamic Republic without any logic, without any acceptable and commendable words in front of fair people. These are untrustworthy; I absolutely do not recommend using them, under any circumstances; neither to you nor to any student nor to any university do I recommend using them. Good professors are there, use them.

One of the things that I find very necessary for organizations is understanding the current situation of the country. The situation of the country, is not just the internal situation and the existing problems and the same matters that were mentioned - issues related to villages, justice-seeking, resistant economy, the problems that exist, managerial problems, jihadist management and such - these are of course part of the realities. There are several other important realities: Brothers, sisters, my dear ones, pay attention!

One reality is that in this country, after the passing of Imam, a determined group has tried to completely wash away the ideals of the revolution. Some made mistakes and announced this from the beginning. They wrote articles in newspapers, they spoke. Here, they made a strategic error or a tactical error and revealed their hand that they wanted to completely set aside the ideals. Of course, now they have become more mature, now they do not say it explicitly, they want to set aside some ideals but do not say it explicitly, instead of saying it, they act. At that time, the foolish ones before they acted began to speak. Well, they woke up those who did not suspect that such a thing existed. From that day on, they have worked tirelessly. They did not only work inside; they worked both inside and outside; they used intellectual elements, they used scientific elements, they used artistic elements, they used political elements, to erase the ideals in the country, that is, the new generation should completely forget the ideals. Now you look and see how much vitality and life of ideals exist in the country despite them. Before sunset, I said, most of our prominent scientific advancements have been achieved by valued youths; the most religious, spiritual, and religious gatherings are formed by the youths; the most participants in the manifestations related to the Islamic Republic and the revolution are the youths; these youths who have neither seen the war, nor seen the Imam, nor seen the revolution, nor have they been properly explained. I tell you, my dear ones - well, some of you are in the position of my children and some in the position of my grandchildren - you are unaware of many events, with all the statements that are now made. That is, the issues of the early revolution, the issues of the revolution, the details of the revolution, the details of the sacred defense era, have not even been properly explained - of course, books are written; [but] with a circulation of two thousand, three thousand, five thousand, ten thousand; I read these books related to the issues of the sacred defense; I take time for myself, I take a look and read - [these are] a very small part of the realities; you do not know these. At that time, a youth who has no proper information about these very brilliant, attractive, and exciting realities has such a tendency towards ideals. That is, despite and in the face of those who wanted the ideals in the country to be destroyed and disappear, the ideals have risen since the passing of Imam until today. This is one of the realities of the country.

One of the realities of the country is the astonishing presence of the Islamic Republic in this region; not a material and physical presence, but a spiritual presence. One of the things [is that] the Americans in their negotiations - in their hidden negotiations, their behind-the-scenes negotiations - in meetings they have with the elements of the governments of this region and with some of these Arab reactionaries, when they sit and talk, they complain about Iran and expect America to exert pressure, and he says, well, what can I do, I cannot! The summary of their conversations is this! All these complaints and grievances and laments are because of the expanded influence of Iran. Now for more than a hundred days, the Saudis have been bombing Yemen; not the military centers of Yemen, which they have little access to; they are killing groups of women and men and children in hospitals, mosques, homes, public squares; a hundred days; a hundred days is no joke! The 33-day war in Lebanon lasted 33 days. The longest war in the region in recent years that the Zionist regime has launched was last year's war with Gaza, which lasted fifty-three days. They have been pounding for a hundred days.

Now let me say in parentheses: the liberal West, that is, freedom-seeking and freedom-loving, has not opened its lips! A resolution of the United Nations, the Security Council published, which is among the most disgraceful resolutions of the United Nations that will not be forgotten. Instead of condemning the bombers, it condemned the bombed! They are liberals; liberalism means this! Now, a number of simple-minded individuals among ourselves, are applauding and writing articles and printing their photos in support of this style of governance and this style of ruling and community management, based on lies and deception and betrayal and indifference towards oppression and even participation in oppression.

Well, this is one reality; one of the realities is this: the widespread influence of the Islamic Republic. I have told our esteemed presidents, both the current president and the previous ones - I respect all of them, I support all of them, and I support any president that the people elect and comes to power - I have always told them; I have said: today, if you go to any Islamic country, if the people of that region are free and allowed, and you want to go among them, they will welcome you in a way that they do not welcome the leaders of their own countries. This is influence; this is influence.

Out of spite for this influence, they have been pounding Yemen for a hundred days; because they say you have influence in Yemen. Well, what have we done in Yemen? Have we sent weapons to Yemen? Have we invaded Yemen? They choose mercenaries from other countries, give them oil dollars, dress them in Saudi military uniforms, bring them and hand them over to the Ansarullah! They are intervening, what intervention do we have in [Yemen]?

Well, influence is a God-given influence. How can this be dealt with? Suppose our great Imam was sitting here speaking, his words would be carried from mouth to mouth to the farthest corners of Africa or Asia; it would influence so much that the resident of a distant African or Asian country would name his child after Rouhollah. Influence means this; without a single piece of paper being laid down for this meaning. Well, when the word influence comes up, when the word is correct, it comes from the heart and settles in hearts, well, there is nothing that can be done about it; "Say, die in your rage;" well, you cannot, as the late martyr Beheshti said - who was quoted as saying - "Die of anger!" Well, what can we do; this is one of the realities. This is one of the realities of the Islamic Republic; keep these in mind; that is, do not always look at everything negatively.

Yes, more is expected from us; I have many expectations from myself and from others; we must do more work, achieve more progress, truly complete the decade of progress and justice with progress and justice; I accept these, but that other part of the matter, the progress and successes and realities exist. Well, with such realities, student organizations can work. Sit down and work on the international issues of the Islamic Republic; on the issues of Yemen, on the issues of Iraq, on the issues of Syria, attractive analyses, looking to the future. This is also a matter that if you want the impact of the student environment on the country to be as I mentioned, this is the way: you influence the student environment, and the student environment influences the country.

Of course, there are also organizations that are like disposable containers, which only come into existence for elections; their only use is elections. Some organizations are like this; they create an organization, and some do not even feel ashamed, (they say) that we created this organization so that it would be useful for us in the elections of such and such; well, come on! This is an insult to the student; looking at the student instrumentally, especially the elite student who is supposed to gather in an organization, this is an insult to him. How much value does an election have that one should humiliate a student for it; especially an elite student? I do not believe in these organizations and do not believe that they are beneficial for the country or can be useful for the country; [I do not recommend] their formation, but organizations that are truly Islamic, interested, and in the service of the revolution and Islam and the future of the country can be very beneficial.

And peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.