In a book entitled ‘Islamic Beliefs, Reclaiming the Narrative’, compiled form speeches of Sayed Ali Khamenei, we see Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s views on mysticism, philosophers and so on.
First, Sayed Ali Khamenei gives context in so far as what the job of a prophet Muhammad (sawa) is. What is the prophet’s mission, and how did he go about accomplishing this mission. Firstly, here, we see Sayed Khamenei tell the Islamic Umma, that if you want God’s mercy by sitting around and allowing others to violate your dignity, trample upon your faith, and take everything you have, then you might as well get comfortable. You must obey God, and do your duties as a human being.
Sayed Khamenei further explains that when you try to fight, and you try to change your life situation, some people will tell you that you are stirring up trouble, why don’t you sit by and allow give up fighting. Instead, we can work on our own personal moral refinement by going to a “‘monastery and live as monks. We will spend all of our time ‘purifying’ ourselves and becoming better people, and we will save ourselves. Then, if someone comes to us and is receptive, we can teach him how to do the same, and we’ll make him a better person too!.’” He states this attitude is often an excuse to be lazy, and a coward, by choosing the path of least resistance. “This path does not put you into conflict with others, you just need to gather a few people, tell them some nice stories, make them a little less selfish, and say that you’ve helped them on the path of spirituality and moral refinement!”
However, he indicates that the prophets didn’t elevate people to virtue by preaching to them one-on-one. The prohpets didn’t take individuals by the hand to a school or mosque and preach to them. they did not wait for people to come to them like the ascetics and mystics of the world. The prophets were not philosophers that sat and opened a school.
Rather, “the prophets did not believe in educating only the individual”. They did not seek to make people into real human beings one at a time. Rather they sought to make millions or billions into real human beings, like a factory. This cannot be done one at a time.
Rather the prophets wanted to create an environment that is conducive to this (making a human being). If they wanted to change a society one person at a time, then they would die before they or anyone could accomplish this. There must be a system, an assembly line, that makes people in the desired fashion, that is all. Similar to a fruit tree, say a date tree or an orange tree. It can only grow in specific conditions (such as a warm climate). Sure, you could force one tree to grow in a colder climate if you take constant care of it, but this would take up too much energy, whereas millions of trees can grow with no oversight in the proper climate.
Sayed Ali Khamenei further writes that if you want to have knowledge, you must study! If you want wealth, you must work! If you want status in society, you must work for it! The door is open to all:
Rather there are those that mistakenly believe that they can find some knowledge by meditating, or repeating affirmations, or zikr (remembrance) of Allah in a trans like fashion. These people are mistaken according to my reading of Sayed Ali Khamenei’s writings. For now, these findings seem very revealing as to Sayed Ali Khamenei’s belief system. And these beliefs follow my understanding of Islam and our prescribed worship. Afterall, Allah made us in a society with duties and wants and needs, and he never declared any of these bad or unfavorable. Quite the contrary, work, marriage, and visiting family and friends is a recommended form of worship. Those that would have you believing in strange things you are ashamed to say in public, and then hiding from life, are working for the devil.
Leave a Reply