Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Lessons
from the Nahjul Balagah

by

Ayatullah
Sayyid Ali Khamene'i

Paramount
Leader of Islamic Republic of Iran

Introduction

Lesson
One

Lesson
Two

Lesson
Three

Lesson
Four

Lesson
Five

Lesson
Six

Lesson
Seven

It is necessary,
at the beginning, to provide our brothers and sisters with a brief
introduction to the Nahj-ul-Balagha. As you know, the Nahj-ul-Balagha is a
collection of Sermons, Letters and miscellaneous Sayings left as a
memorial from the Master of the Pious, the Commander of the Faithful, All,
peace be upon him. This book is divided into three sections of Sermons,
Letters and short Sayings or' wise Sayings' (hikam), as they are usually
called, some of which have been selected from among the Sermons and
Letters.

The
Nahj-ul-Balagha dates back to about one thousand years ago when the late
Seyyid Radi compiled these Letters and Sermons at the end of the third and
the outset of the fifth century (400A.H.) the Hejra after. It is, thus, a
one thousand year old book. It is to be noted, however, that before Seyyid
Radi made efforts in compiling All's Sermons and Sayings, they were
scattered in the books of the Traditions' and history. Other scholars had
also begun to perform this task in one way or another, but no one
succeeded in accomplishing what Sayyid Radi did. Therefore, we are
indebted to the endeavors and initiatives of this great scholar who left
the Nahj-ul-Balagha for us.

Another point to
be noted here is that, in addition to the contents of the Nahj-ul-Balagha,
a number of Sermons, Letters and short Sayings of Ali, peace be upon him,
can be found in different books which recent scholars have tried to
compile and introduce as appendices to the Nahj-ul-Balagha. Therefore, in
addition to the N2hjal-Balagha which is, in itself, a rich and invaluable
treasure, here are some other books of All's Sayings which shall later be
introduced to the readers in detail so that they may obtain a general
acquaintance with the bibliography of the Nahj-ul-Balagha and its related
books.

Another point to
note about the Nahj-ul-Balagha concerns the invalidity of this book, a
claim made by some people over the years. The motive behind such a claim
can easily be surmised, that is, the subject matter of the Nahj-ul-Balagha
threatened the interests of some groups or classes of people who therefore
found the best device, to be discrediting the book itself. It is also true
of the personality of individuals, and for this same reason those who
considered the personality of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him,
to be against their personal or group interests, naturally tried to
distort it. In the same manner, they claimed that the Nahj-ul-Balagha was
invalid on the grounds that they said it was without any authority
(sanad).

It is clear that
the Nahj-ul-Balagha is in the category of Traditions upon which we depend
for the understanding of Islamic teachings, as well as the Traditions of
the Prophet and the Book (the Holy Qur'an). There is no doubt as to the
authority of the Holy Qur'an, but as to the Traditions, valid authorities
are needed to remove any doubts, i.e., the narrators of a certain
Tradition, including the Imams and the Prophet, should be known and
trustworthy. This has always been the main concern of our great narrators
and jurisprudents in eliciting and understanding the divine ordinances.

Thus, we have the
'science of rijal' which deals with the recognition of narrators of
Traditions and the 'science of diraya' which concerns the recognition and
analysis of Traditions and which determines the correct and the unreliable
Traditions. Thus, this attention to detail that a Tradition must have an
authority and that authority must be valid, is necessary. It is because of
this that today great emphasis is put on expertise in understanding
Islamic sciences. An individual, who is not an expert, accepts the
Traditions which accord with his own intellect, understanding and mental
background and rejects all others. This leads to the weakening of the
religion.

When an expert
wants to rely on a Tradition, he first tries to acknowledge its authority
and validity through his special expertise. This necessity has been taken
care of by our jurisprudents in their recognition and understanding of
Islamic laws and regulations. Now, some people asserted that the
Nahj-ul-Balagha, as a collection of Traditions which should be based on
valid authorities, was without any authority and, therefore, was invalid
and unreliable.

As a matter of
fact, in one way these people were telling the truth for no chain of
narrators are mentioned in the Nahj-ul-Balagha in any of the Sermons so
that they can be attributed to the Commander of the Faithful and the
truthfulness of such narrators could be sought. However, in the books of
Traditions such as Vasa-al-Shi'a, al-Kafi and the like, as well as in the
old history books. such as those of Tabari, ibn Athir and Ya'qubi, no
chain of authorities can be found concerning the contents of the
Nahj-ul-Balagha.

Firstly, although
the Nahj-ul-Balagha itself does not mention the chain of authorities and
narrators, this can be checked in the Shi'ite and Sunni books of
Traditions where from the Sermons, Letters and Sayings of this book have
been extracted and compiled. Several years ago, one of the Arab writers
wrote a book entitled Madarik Nahj-ul-Balagha wa Masanidu (The Documents
and Authorities of Nahj-ul-Balagha) which may later be introduced to the
readers in an analysis of the books written about the Nahj-ul-Balagha. In
this book, the writer has quoted the authentic authorities of the Sermons,
Letters and Sayings of the Nahj-ul-Balagha from the books of the
Traditions. it is therefore, concluded that the content, of the
Nahj-ul-Balagha should not be considered to be without authority on the
mere ground that the book itself does not mention any authority.

Secondly,
although the authorities of Traditions are proper means of reliance or
vice versa, the text of Traditions can also be a means of obtaining
confidence for one who undertakes research, i.e. when you study a text and
find its contents miraculous (as you will, God-Willing, observe when
interpreting Ali's words), when you see that in one sentence the writer
has referred to something beyond the prevailing mentality of his own time,
which others have been able to understand only in the course of centuries,
when you are faced with a saying that predicts future events which cannot
be presaged except by the likes of Amir al-Muminin who are in contact with
endless divine knowledge and, in addition to all these merits, when you
observe the highly eloquent words and expressions of the writer, it
becomes quite clear to you that he is not an ordinary human being and that
his saying cannot be but those of an immaculate Imam.

Based upon this,
Seyyid Radi states that certain words and expressions of the
Nahj-ul-Balagha, are matchless in human expression, something which has
never been opposed, in the course of one thousand years, by eloquent
writers, Islamic thinkers and even the adversaries of Islam. These people
have always accepted that some statements of the Nahj-ul-Balagha are
superior to human expression and beyond the ordinary level of the human
being's knowledge at that time. The conclusion is therefore drawn that,
despite the absence of the chain of authorities and narrators in the
Nahj-ul-Balagha, this book is undoubtedly that of the Commander of the
Faithful and reliable as such.

Thirdly, as you
know and as we mentioned previously, the Nahj-ul-Balagha consists of the
Sermons (i.e. lectures, not the sermons delivered in the Friday ritual
prayers, although the book may have included some of these sermons as
well), Letters and short Sayings of Ali, peace be upon him, which he
expressed and wrote as a teacher, ruler and an Islamologist. Thus, in
addition to reflecting the general lines of Islamic thought, these Sermons
and Letters also cover daily matters, i.e. the current problems and
difficulties of Amir al Muminin's life.

In our own time,
that is, after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, many similar aspects
can be found between our social situation and that of Amir al-Muminin's
time, although our situation is more similar in many respects (i.e.
enemies, enmities and other problems) to the Medina social situation at
the time of the Prophet's migration. The difference, however, between the
social situation of Ali's rule and that of the Prophet lies in the fact
that under the Prophet's rule, the enemy had a clear and well-known
position, that is, not even one single group of the adversaries of Islam
shared an aspect common to the Prophet. The atheists among the Quraish,
the Jews of Medina, the western and eastern superpowers of the time and
the Christians of Najran, each had slogans of their own. In fact, there
was no organized group to cry the same slogan as that of the Prophet and,
at the same time, to stand openly against him in fight. Accordingly, the
Prophet suffered a great deal but never felt the heavy sorrows that All
ibn Abi Talib tolerated during his reign.

There were
hypocrites at the time of the Prophet as well but, first of all, they were
not organized; secondly, they did not have a manifest position against the
Prophet and they did not use the same slogans as those of the Prophet so
that the people might doubt as to whether the Prophet was truthful or his
rivals. Thirdly, the hypocrites were more or less known to all the people.
For instance, everyone, including his own son, knew that Abdullah ibn
Ubaid was the head of the hypocrites and even his son suggested to the
Prophet to kill his father or prevent him from entering Medina if the
Prophet permitted.

On the contrary,
at the time of the rule of Amir al Muminin, those who fought him used
exactly the same slogans as his. Moreover, they were among the
distinguished personalities of the time, with long, past records. For
example, the group of the Nakithin (the breakers of allegiance or the
front in the 'Battle of the Camel' comprising Talha, Zubair and Ayesha)
fought the Commander of the Faithful with his own slogans - slogans in
favor of Islam and the truth.

The group of
Qasitin, (the front of Mu'awiya, the Damascus front), too, pretended in
such a way that the impartial observers fell in a state of doubt as to
which group was telling the truth. When you study Mu'awiya's letters to
Ali, you find exactly the same words as those of Ali to him. For example,
Ali addresses, From the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib to
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan", and Mu'awiya writes, From the Commander
of the Faithful, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan to All ibn Abi Talib".

Mu'awiya does not
introduce himself as 'the commander of the faithless' or 'the commander of
the polytheists' but, exactly like Ali, as the Commander of the Faithful.
Then Ali advises Mu'awiya, for instance, to be pious to fear God and to
refrain from wasting the blood of Muslims, and Mu'awiya uses the same
advice for Ali. Therefore, the problem of Ali is that his enemy is not a
manifest enemy in the eyes of the people, for whatever he offers is also
offered by the enemy and, as a result, he cannot show the real character
of the opposing front to the people. It is true, of course, that Ali had a
great deal to say but not all the words spoken can necessarily be
understood by those who hear and this was Ali's constant sorrow. Perhaps
this was the reason why he used to sit beside a well and speak into it
about his grievances. In fact, other than a group of people who were
completely faithful to Ali for a special reason, and not because they
observed his doings and prayers or they heard about Mu'awiya's evil deeds,
others were always in doubt as to which side was telling the truth, for
they witnessed, as an example, that in the Battle of Siffin, both sides
performed the congregational ritual prayer with humility and modesty.

Thus, a
hypocritical atmosphere was characteristic of society during the time of
Ali. This does not imply, however, that all the people were hypocrites.
Even the followers of Mu'awiya were a group of honest, tribal Arabs, from
the area around Damascus, who had, from the very outset of their
conversion to Islam, seen and known no governors except Mu'awiya and his
family.1 They knew Islam through the words of these people. They had heard
so many good things about them - that they were scribes of the divinely
revealed Book, that since Mu'awiya's sister was the Prophet's wife and
thus called 'Umm al-Mu'minin (mother of the believers), Mu'awiya was Khal
al-Muminin (maternal uncle of the believers)2 - that they supported
Mu'awiya and fought against All with the best of intentions. So they were
not hypocrites. However, unlike the time of the Prophet, society enjoyed
an air of hypocrisy, about which more explanation may, God-willing, be
provided when discussing the words and sayings of the Commander of the
Faithful.

This atmosphere
of hypocrisy is also a peculiarity of our own time, although from the
point of view of social conditions, enmities, manner of opposition,
hostile parties and so forth, our time is more comparable to the time of
the Prophet. Today, the so-called followers of 'progressive Islam' in our
society are those groups who oppose each other quite openly. Also, those
who claim to be followers of the 'line of the Imam' sometimes draw swords
against one another. Those who claim to act for the benefit of the Islamic
Republic or to follow the policy of 'neither East nor West' are often so
divided among themselves that nothing but a hostile relationship can be
attributed to them. In fact, it cannot be said that they have differences
of opinion, for they are exactly at the opposite side of one another.
Therefore, taking into account that each of these groups finds some
followers for itself, we see that our society resembles the society at the
time of Ali.

The importance of
the Nahj-ul-Balagha then lies in two dimensions. First, it speaks about
the fundamental of Islam such as the matters concerning God, the human
being, Islamic views of humanity, prophethood and its position in human
history, the dignity and prophethood of the Prophets and other matters
which are today, a means of understanding Islam and thus necessary for us
to study. Secondly, the Nahj-ul-Balagha refers to the social problems of a
hypocritical society with which we deal today. Accordingly, this book can
be a source of Inspiration for us as regards the social and political
problems of life and the possible solutions to them.

The fourth point
about the Nahj-ul-Balagha is that a great number of its sermons are
unfortunately incomplete, i.e. either from the beginning or from the end
of each sermon some statements have been omitted. Even, in some cases,
Seyyid Radi has omitted statements from the middle of a sermon and then
continued the rest of it with the phrase "and from that", which
is what the journalists and reporters do repeatedly today. Now, we know
nothing about the omitted parts and this creates some difficulties in
interpreting the content of the Nahj-ul-Balagha. The reason why Seyyid
Radi has made these omissions is that the Nahj-ul-Balagha (The Peak of
Eloquence), as its name indicates, has been compiled from an artistic
point of view, i.e. eloquence of expression. This does not mean, however,
that he has been heedless of the subject matter and has merely paid
attention to the artistic aspects of Ali's Sayings. Yet', this eloquent
man, one of the great Arab poets of his own time, has dealt with the
Nahj-ul-Balagha with a poetic outlook.

He has endeavored
to pick out All's most beautiful and eloquent words and statements just as
one tries to choose the best distich of a sonnet. This is why a type of
semantic disconnection is observed among the statements of some Sermons.

It is to be
noted, of course, that both the highly eloquent and non-eloquent Sayings
of Ali carry very magnificent purports, and it is these purports which
make us appreciate the Nahj-ul-Balagha, now, in the fourteenth century
(A.11.) more than a great scholar of the fourth century (Seyyid Radi) did.
As a matter of fact, the human being has naturally faced so many hardships
in the course of centuries that he or she understands Ali's words and
message and the call of Islam from his tongue more easily than those who
lived centuries ago.

It is important,
as well, to know that when Seyyid Radi was compiling Ali's words and
sayings, there were few people who valued All and his words as much as you
value them today. Thus, Ali's lines of thought were only followed by a
minority.

On the other
hand, those people who took care of All's Sayings and tried to compile
them, attached more (or at least equal) importance to the form and beauty
as to the content of his statements and omitted some parts which they
considered less beautiful than others. If you were Seyyid Radi you would
definitely not treat Ali's words in this way. You would instead, try to
benefit more from the contents of Ali's sayings. This is why we believe
that today Ali and his words are more appreciated than in the fourth
century, and this is why history is moving towards All and his message,
something that we should accelerate.

The main subjects
of the Nahj-ul-Balagha which we are going to discuss in this book are as
follows:

Fundamental
Beliefs

A part of
Nahj-ul-Balagha is about monotheism, humanity, the Last Day, prophethood,
Imamat and other fundamental principles of Islam. Of course, contrary to
the manner of the dialecticians in the third and the fourth centuries,
these subjects have been discussed in the Nahj-ul-Balagha with a kind of
mystical and spiritual approach. Thus, the words of All about monotheism,
for instance, are quite different from the words of Nasir al-din Tusi and
other Islamic philosophers and theologians.

Social and
Political Matters

These matters
consist of both general and specific social affairs including the
administration of or Islamic country, the relation between governors and
subordinates, letters to the rulers of different states (the famous letter
to Malik Ashtar, for instance), the, way of facing the enemy, decisiveness
free from improper hate and revenge, treating both friends and enemies
exactly as they deserve, being not subjected to credulity and naivety and
many other social matters of that time and of the whole history.

Morality

The training and
purification of the human being's soul are among other subjects discussed
in the Nahj-ul-Balagha, which we shall, God-willing, talk about in the
coming pages.

Peace and the
mercy of God be upon you.

Lesson
one

Prophethood
(nubuwwah)

Prophethood is
among the subjects which have been dealt with in the Nahj-ul-Balagha and a
discussion about which can help us understand one of the basic principles
of Islam. In fact, it is not only a subject which can be followed
throughout the Nahj-ul-Balagha but one of the most important and
fundamental principles of Islamic ideology. I have repeatedly mentioned in
various discussions that in order to analyze and understand the numerous
matters of Islamic thought and ideology, the principle of prophethood is
an axis around which these matters can be discussed as well. As -to the
principle of monotheism, we believe that its social and revolutionary
dimensions can only be clarified when we discuss it within the vast
spectrum of the matters concerning prophethood.

Accordingly, our
method in this chapter is to point out and analyze the different
dimensions of prophethood and to support our discussion with an
explanation of Ali's ibn Abi Talib's sayings wherever necessary. In this
manner, two aims will be fulfilled, i.e. some important sections of the
Nahj-ul-Balagha will be translated and interpreted, and an issues among
the basic Islamic principles will be made apparent.

It is to be
mentioned at the beginning that in the discussion about prophethood,
revelation and its relevant matters will not be discussed. Rather,
prophethood will be viewed as a historical reality and an unquestionable
event. Undoubtedly, prophethood has existed as a phenomenon in the history
of mankind. There is no difference of opinion in this regard between us
and those who disbelieve in lt. However, the difference lies in the
interpretation of this event and the message it conveys. In fact, no one
denies such personalities as Moses, Jesus and other Prophets whether or
not the history of their lives be more or less known or vague. History
reports that all of them have existed.

Therefore,
prophethood will be considered as a historical event in our discussion and
the following questions will be answered in the analysis which follows:

1. What was the
social background (social, temporal and historical situation) when this
event occurred?

2. Where did this
event originate? Did it appear among the kings, the oppressed, the
scholars and thinkers... which class of people?

3. What position
did it enjoy? Was it to the benefit of a special class of people? Was it
directed towards material advantages? 'Was it directed towards mystical
and spiritual aspects of life? What was its social and intellectual
direction?

4. What was the
pros and cons when the Prophet first offered his message? Who were those
who opposed it and to which class of the society did they belong? What
were their motives and means of opposition? Who were in favor of it and to
which class did they belong? What were their motives and how did they
assist the Prophet?

5. What was the
aim behind the message of prophethood? Was prophethood aimed at material
welfare? Was it aimed at class distinction? Was it aimed at enhancing the
level of people's knowledge and understanding? Was it aimed at opposing or
accounting for the powers of the time?

6. Did the
Prophet call the people? Was it 'monotheism' with its social, political,
economic and revolutionary dimensions?

Answering these
questions, with regard to Islamic texts and records, will shed light on
different aspects of this social reality and will acquaint us with a vast
scope of Islamic thought. Of course the Nahj-ul-Balagha will be the axis
of our discussion, although different verses of the Holy Qur'an as well as
mental reasoning may be of great help both in answering the questions and
in interpreting All's words.

The first
question which is relevant is "What grounds were available for the
manifestations of prophethood?» What was the social, economic and
historical setting for the appearance of the Prophets? And among which
class of people have they appeared? The Nahj-ul-Balagha has answered these
questions on several occasions. In the first sermon, speaking about
monotheism, the creation of heavens and the earth, the angels and other
matters, the appearance of the Prophets and the background to prophethood
in general are discussed as well.

We read the
preceding sentence so that the connection to this matter is made clear.

From his progeny
(Adam) God chose prophets and took their pledge for His revelation and for
carrying His message as their trust. In the course of time, many people
perverted God's trust with them and ignored His position and took partners
along with Him. Satan turned them away from knowing Him and kept them
aloof from His worship. Then sent His messengers and series of His
prophets towards them to let them fulfill the pledges of His creation, to
recall to them his bounties....3 The last part of this quotation reveals
some peculiarities of the community in the 'Age of Ignorance', in which
Prophets were sent by God to people. These peculiarities are hereunder
explained.

It says that 'in
course of time many people perverted God's' trust. The Holy Qur'an speaks
about 'ahd on several occasions, examples of which are given below,

Thy Lord has
decreed you shall not serve any but Him ... " (17:23) Made I not
covenant with you, children of Adam, that you should not serve Satan -
surely he is a manifest foe to you ... ?" (36:60) ... and God made
them testify concerning themselves, 'Am I not your Lord?

'they said,' Yes,
we testify ... " (7:172)

These verses
imply that God's covenant ('ahd) is to abstain from servitude to Satan,
that man's servitude should be exclusively for God and that human beings
have primordially admitted that they are servants of God and should serve
Him alone.

This is the
meaning of 'ahd (trust and covenant)to which the Commander of the Faithful
refers in the Nahj-ul-Balagha. In fact, he says that most of the people
broke their allegiance with God and disobeyed His commands by worshipping
idols, taking partners (holders of power and possessions) along with Him,
imposing themselves on other people as worship-deserving idols and
perverting the divine decree through ignoring or exclusive obedience to
God.

It was under
these conditions, the Commander of the Faithful asserts, that God brought
about prophethood and appointed His Prophets. This is also emphasized in
other statements of the first Sermon after describing the appearance of
the Prophet of Islam and not the appearance of the prophets at large,
although the social conditions and mental atmosphere in which all the
Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others, have appeared have
been the same, and thus what is said about the Prophet of Islam fits other
Prophets as well.

The statements
run as under the people of the earth at this time were divided in
different Parties, their aims were separate and their ways were diverse.
They either likened God with His creation or twisted His Names or turned
to other than Him. ..,"4

It says that the
Prophet was appointed to prophethood at a time when people were divided in
groups with different ways of thinking, i.e.. a universal mentality did
not govern the is minds of all people, which indicates the lack of an
acceptable culture at that time, separation among people and, finally,
ignorance. It continues with the statement that 'their aims were
separate'.

This has two
implications. The simple one is that in different parts of the community
or in different corners of the world people enjoyed desires and manners of
their own. The members of each community or class of people favored
something which the members of other classes and communities despised. In
fact, the society at large lacked a common aim and aspiration, which shows
the decline of that society.

The second
implication is that there was not more than a few poles of power
throughout the world at that time, and they were Sassanian Kings, Roman
Emperors, Ethiopian Sultans and other despots, dictators and idols who
stood at the peak of their communities, ruling over the people with
tyranny and according to their own aims, desires and self-centeredness.
The existence of insufficiencies and oppression in the Iranian community,
the existence of impenetrable classes among the people, the boundless
mastery of Brahmans, aristocrats and soldiers over the lower classes and
the existence of moral, cultural, economic and class tyrannies, the
pressure of which tortured the people, were all a manifestation of the
sensuality and selfishness of the idols (kings) who possessed the
leadership of the Iranian community. Thus, the whims and desires of a
minority dominated all the affairs of a majority of mankind.

They likened
God with His creation". It implies that those people who, according
to their nature and spiritual feelings, believed in the existence of a
diety and a creator, found it in the form of creatures and small,
imperfect beings. Some of them worshipped cows as their gods. Others
worshipped stone or wooden idols. In fact, all the people were in some way
or another worshippers of God as their nature demanded but they were
devoid of a perfect knowledge concerning God. This was the most manifest
perversion.

"They
twisted His Names or turned to other than Him». This was a kind of mental
deviation prevailing among the believers of God. They were actually so
involved in the Name of God that they could not take step beyond it. In
ancient times, for example, those who had a vague view of God in their
minds, being unable to know God perfectly, turned to His Names Allah,
Mannan or Ilah and worshipped them. They were ignorant of the reality of
God.

Another example
can be observed in the extremist ideologies of today. Advocates of these
ideologies claim to believe in God but if they are asked what God is, they
cannot explain the true concept and meaning of this word. Rather, they
take the 'whole existence', the rules governing nature and the cause and
effect, conventions current in nature and history to be a god. They lack
the ability to know the real meaning of God, i.e. to know Him as an
independent 'Necessary Being' who is undoubtedly the Creator of this
universe rather than being Himself the universe. They cannot perceive this
reasonable, philosophical concept. Thus, they are confused about the Name
and the real Being of God.

Naturally,
wisdom, love, knowledge, spiritual attractions and moral Attributes, all
of which originate from monotheism and a knowledge of God, do not develop
in them and, therefore, prayers, incantations and the wise prayers of Imam
Sajjad, peace be upon him, for example, become meaningless to them.
Accordingly, what such people worship is 'God' as a word without being
concerned with its meaning and concept. This is a sign of the decline and
deviation of religious as well as a characteristic of the people who lived
at the time when Prophets appeared.

In the second
Sermon, the Commander of the faithful has more detailed statements
concerning the social background to the appearance of the prophets. They
run as follows At that time people had fallen in to vices whereby the
rope of religion had been broken, the pillars of belief had been shaken,
principles had been sacrileged, systems had become topsy turvy, openings
were narrow, passages were dark, guidance was unknown and darkness
prevailed. God was being disobeyed. Satan was given support and Belief had
been forsaken. As a result, the pillars of religion fell down, its traces
could not be discerned, its passages had been destroyed and its streets
had fallen into decay. People obeyed Satan and tread his paths. They
sought water from his watering places. Through them Satan's emblems and
his standard was raised in vices which trampled the people under their
hoofs, and treaded upon them with their feet. The vices stood on their
toes (in full stature) and the people immersed in them were strayed,
perplexen, ignorant and seduced as though in a good house with bad
neighbors. Instead of sleep they had wakefulness and for antimony they had
tears in the eyes. They were in a land where the learned were in bridles
(keeping their mouths shut) while the ignorant were honored."5

This is a very
beautiful and artistic picture (in the form of an ordinary lecture from
the pulpit) of the social conditions in the age of ignorance, in which the
Commander of the Faithful portrays the adversities, deficiencies and
disorders casting shadows over the people's life- the people who were
mentally bewildered and perplexen and who did not know the aim and purpose
of life.

We can easily and
clearly understand the meaning of these words of his, because they provide
us with an exact portrait of the situation of our own time, when the
Iranian nation was severely oppressed and fell victim to the tyrannies
brought upon it by the Pahlavi executioners and American mercenaries. In
fact, what in this Sermon and other Sermons has been expressed about the
background to the appearance of the Prophets (which the writer used to
interpret consciously in connection with the situations of strangulation
at the Pahlavi time conforms exactly to the conditions under which we
lived during the Pahlavi rule).

In those days,
especially in the last three years of the Pahlavi reign, the people were
so mentally deceived and misled that they got on the buses and trucks in
many cities, applauded, played the flute and shouted, Long live the
Shah". Meanwhile, the awakened conscience of a group of people was
severely wounded; yet, this was not the common conscience of our
community, for even those who refrained from participating in such shows,
whether they were government employees, clergymen of other classes of
people, accepted the ways and procedures of the ruling regime by their
indifferent and apathetic behavior towards the prevailing situation. The
people were actually bewildered and dead. No one was aware of the aim
behind his daily labor.

They worked day
and night but they were ignorant of the aim, aspiration and the future for
the achievement of which human beings endeavor. The similitude of them was
the like similitude of the 'mill donkey' who constantly moves in a
circular direction and never reaches an end. They were endowed with the
best dwellings and lands, having all the God-given bounties and with the
territory of human conscience, faculties and beauties which have been
hidden but now have bloomed in our revolutionary boys and girls, fathers
and mothers. In fact, such a blessed background existed in people but the
'neighbors were bad' in the words of the Commander of the Faithful, i.e.
the rulers and holders of power were incompetent and dishonest.

On the whole,
under such conditions which he recounts in the above-quoted statements,
and we experienced in our own time, the Prophets were appointed to
prophethood. We shall, God-willing, give more details about the background
to prophethood, as pointed out in the Commander of the Faithful's words,
which are very important so far as the philosophy of history is concerned,
and which is misunderstood by some deviated individuals who draw wrong,
material conclusions on the basis of their incorrect analysis in this
regard.

Questions and
Answers

Q. What is the
difference between prophethood (nubuwwah) and appointment to prophethood
(ba'tha)?

A. Appointment to
prophethood is the sudden resurrection and awakening of an individual or a
community of people who have plunged into the sleep of negligence,
ignorance and bewilderment. Prophethood is the principal factor of the
appointment, i.e. after the necessary competence and readiness is found in
someone to connect with god and the Divine revelation then he is appointed
as a prophet. Thus, the appointment is the consequence of prophethood.

Q. Is Ali's view
a universal one, applicable to all communities such as the corrupt western
ones? Are these communities subject to destruction without anyone saving
them?

A. Yes, it is
applicable to all communities at all times. But it should be added that at
a time when the chain of prophethood ends in the Last Prophet and no one
is appointed to prophethood any longer, it is the religious scholars as
heirs of the Prophets who will lead the people and save human communities
from destruction.

Q. Are, the signs
which Hadrat Ali provides us for the appearance of the Prophets the same
as the signs which we have received concerning the appearance of Hadrat
Mahdi?

A. Concerning
Hadrat Mahdi, mention should be made of the fact that before his
reappearance the world will achieve a relative perfection. In fact, the
universal government of Mahdi would be a perfectly just government. Half
of this justice should be provided by you and the coming generations
before his reappearance. Today, due to the establishment of the Islamic
government of Iran, which conveys a remarkable percentage of the message
of Islam in this strategic region of the world, we have approached nearer
to the reappearance of Hadrat Mahdi.

Q. It is true
that all these signs are existent in our Revolution and in the whole
world. Is the reappearance of Hadrat Mahdi possible in this period?

A. Yes, it is
possible. But another thing which is quite possible is the decline of the
superpowers of the world and the appearance of new movements and
resurrection which we have pointed out repeatedly. This is because the
world has entered a new period with the advent of our Revolution, a period
in which the deprived of the world and the weak nations will no more
remain indifferent to the tyrannies of the great powers, will stand
against them and will finally demolish them as a small animal can destroy
a huge elephant by mounting its back and biting its ears.

Lesson
Two

BACKGROUND
TO PROPHETHOOD

In the previous
lesson, the background to the appointment of the Prophets was discussed
with regard to a few statements of the Nahj-ul-Balagha. This lesson is
aimed at completing what was mentioned before by analyzing in detail the
peculiarities of two periods which are of concern in our discussion, i.e.
the pre-Islamic period or the 'Age of Ignorance' (the period before the
appointment) and the Islamic period (the period after the appointment).

The Age of
Ignorance

According to
Ali's words, in the Age of Ignorance, the people suffered from two kinds
of inadequacies: material and spiritual.

Material
Inadequacy

In this period,
the level of social welfare and security was very low. This is explicitly
expressed both in the Nahj-ul-Balagha (in different sermons) and the Holy
Qur'an. The Qur'an refers to the Age of Ignorance saying (106:4)

Spiritual
Inadequacy

Spiritual
inadequacy is the very ignorance and bewilderment of the people, i.e.,
they are devoid of a clear way of living and an aspiration for life. It
is, in fact, a great suffering for man and society not to seek a sublime
aim in life but only to try to provide for the daily requirements and
necessities. Unfortunately, this state of living was characteristic of the
'time of strangulation' (Pahlavi reign), when life was without any
aspiration and the best and most active individuals, in the eyes of
people, were those who made their utmost effort to enjoy a life of welfare
or those who did not have any involvement at all but spent their time in
lewdness and buffoonery.

Generally
speaking, the middle class, i.e., traders, workers, housewives, university
students and others were all endeavoring to provide for the ordinary
requirements of their lives. The similitude of them was the similitude of
the car which refuels from one gasoline station to another gasoline being
a means for it to constantly go from station to station.

In fact, the
people worked in order to gain their daily bread which enabled them, in
turn, to work again. They actually spent their lives in eating bread and
gaining bread. This state of living cannot be perfectly felt by the
idealist youth of today who have specific aims and aspirations in mind,
who work for the establishment of the true Islamic government and who seek
the fall of the superpowers. It is the existence of these aspirations in
the society of today which reveals the spiritual inadequacy (lack of aims
and aspirations) of the society during the Pahlavi rule.

Society during
the 'Age of Ignorance', i.e. before the appointment and revolution of the
Prophet, was likewise an aimless and deviated society. The people were
bewildered. They turned round themselves just like the 'mill donkey' that
permanently turns round the millstone, perhaps traversing ten or fifteen
kilometers a day, but never moving more than a short distance away from
the mill. They were ignorant but more ignorant than them were those who
followed destructive aims and aspirations which, if realized, would
destroy themselves as well as the whole community.

In this regard
the Holy Qur'an says, Hast thou not seen those who exchanged the bounty
of God with unthankfulness, and caused their people to dwell in the abode
of ruin?-Gehenna, wherein they are roasted,- an evil establishment!"
(14:28-29)

In fact, all the
holders of power and authoritative rulers of the world, all the great
capitalists who commit any crime to establish their vast economic networks
and all those who have brought about great corruption upon the earth in
the course of history can be categorized among the spiritually deviated
people with destructive aims and aspirations.

To say the least,
it was in such a deviated society and among such a misled people that the
Prophets were appointed to prophethood. The most outstanding
characteristic of such a society is the alienation of man which causes the
development of material aspirations in a group of people who follow the
aim of making material, monopolies and increasing the rate of material
products which, in turn, results in the poverty of other people.

The Commander of
the Faithful says, I never saw an ample blessing (wealth) unless beside
it I saw a trampled right." Poverty gives rise to class distinctions
which bring about deeper gaps among the different classes of people and
causes other problems such as the unjust division of social authority
under which rich classes gain more power than others, although money is
not always efficacious in gaining power, but sometimes social power, too,
is effective in making use of money and creating material monopolies.

Thus, both social
and economic factors are influential in the appearance of tyranny,
exploitation, ignorance and deceit in a society where perversive and
destructive aims have replaced noble aims and aspirations.

This is where
Islamic analysis and material analysis come face to face, for according to
materialists, mental possessions, beliefs and whatever comprises one's
soul, mind and thought originate from one's 'class position' which
includes the social, economic and even the cultural dimensions of life,
whereas the Islamic viewpoint is that the origin of all pressures and
adversities existing in a society results from the dominance of ignorance
and alienation in that society. Islam says that it is alienation which
brings about class distinctions and which divides society into two
classes, i.e. the oppressed and the oppressors.

Spiritual
alienation is, therefore, an outstanding characteristic of the Age of
Ignorance and the Prophets appear, in effect, to lead the people to the
straight path and to remove their spiritual depravities. This is what the
Commander of the Faithful emphasizes in the second Sermon of the
Nahj-ul-Balagha which was previously mentioned and which is hereunder
reviewed and explained in detail.

He says, I
also stand witness that Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him
and his descendants, is His slave and His Prophet. sent him with the
illustrious religion, effective emblem, written Book, effulgent light,
sparkling gleam and decisive injunction in order to dispel doubts
(shubuhat) present clear proofs ...

Shubuha is the
plural form of 'shubha' and means doubts and differences of opinion which
exist in the human mind and thought as regards truth and falsehood. These
doubts and differences appear, as far as the people's beliefs are
concerned, when the society at large goes astray. In fact, society comes
to believe that it lacks reality and to disbelieve the most manifest
realities.

For instance,
during the rule of the previous regime, the people had come to believe in
and accept 'monarchy' which was an untrue phenomenon, and had completely
forgotten a clear and undeniable reality named, 'Imamat'.

Thus, the Prophet
was sent by God to remove mental doubts and errors and to "present
clear proofs," as the Commander of the Faithful says i.e. to save
people from the perplexity of philosophical reasoning by offering them
clear proofs. This does not mean, however, that such reasonings are
basically useless and philosophy must be abandoned. Some people today,
find fault with Islamic philosophy, the classic philosophy of Islam on the
false basis that it is mixed with Greek philosophy. They insinuate that
Islamic philosophy is mixed with Aristotelian philosophy. They do not
realize that Islamic scholars and philosophers, centuries ago, cleansed
Islamic philosophy of Greek philosophy. Moreover, they are unaware of the
fact that a philosophy with a heavenly world-view cannot be mixed with a
philosophy having a material world-view, although they may share some
common aspects.

Thus, philosophy
should not be abandoned, although philosophical reasoning is not very
effective in awakening and provoking people at a time when a revolution is
to be conceived. At such a time, only the clearest proofs and reasonings
can make the people aware of the prevailing

situations, the
wrong ways upon which they step and the right path they should choose.

This has been the
manner of all Prophets of God. They called people to the belief in the One
God. They called them to their nature and to their natural beliefs,
without exposing them to ordinary, spiritual reasonings

In the case of
the Islamic Revolution of Iran the reasonings of the intellectuals for
fighting the West never contented the least number of people because the
intellectuals themselves were not satisfied with their own reasonings due
to the fact that they never made their appearance in the battle arena,
whereas the words and lectures of the Imam Khomeini, which contained clear
realities concerning the dependence of the tyrannical regime of Pahlavi on
the superpowers and the prevention of the society from practicing their
religion (Islam), doctrinal beliefs and worship, could be perfectly
understood by the people, and finally resulted in that great movement in
our society. It can be concluded, therefore, that the Prophets presented
clear proofs and reasonings which not only elicited but also which the
middle class of people could understand and then follow naturally.

The Commander of
the Faithful continues to enumerate the tasks of the Prophet saying,
administer warning through signs and to warn of punishments.» In fact, he
means that the Prophet came to acquaint the people with the signs of
chastisement and with the punishments which happened to the past nations
in the course of history, and to tell them that they would also be
afflicted with the same punishments if they followed the manners of those
nations.

Then he portrays
the situations during the Age of Ignorance (before the appointment of the
Prophet) and points out the troubles and calamities which endangered the
minds, hearts and the spirituality of the people, which blocked the ways
of guidance to them and which led them astray - the troubles which did not
have anything to do with the material life and apparent welfare of the
people.

He says ... At
that time, people had fallen in to vices, whereby the rope of religion had
been broken, the pillars of belief had been shaken, principles had been
sacrileged, systems had become topsy turvy, openings were narrow, passages
were dark, guidance was unknown and darkness prevailed. God was being
disobeyed. Satan was given support and belief had been forsaken. As a
result, pillars of religion fell down, its traces could not be discerned,
its passages had been destroyed and its streets had fallen into
decay."

The general
message of these words is that the society in which the Prophets were
appointed to prophethood was devoid of guidance and the Prophets' mission
was to lead the people to the straight path so that they could forsake the
state of indifference prevailing among them and seek good aims and
aspirations.

As was mentioned
before, should a motive more sublime and nobler than eating, drinking and
providing for the ordinary requirements of life become dominant in the
people's efforts and endeavors and should destructive aims and aspirations
forsake society, then social, political and economic conditions will
prosper, class distinctions will vanish and the idols of wealth and power
will be smashed.

This was
experienced during early Islam, at the time of all the Prophets and even
in our own revolutionary society (if the opponents let us finish this
experience). This is why we believe that our Islamic Revolution has
rendered useless all the social, political and revolutionary formulas
which support the idea that movements and revolutions originate from
material motives, class distinctions and class quarrels in societies which
have apparently political systems of their own and which are not subject
to colonial rule (like Iran during the Pahlavi regime). What happened in
Iran was exactly the experience of the Prophets, i.e. the people who lived
in a mentally-perverted society were awakened by factors of guidance and
hurried towards their natural promise to worship naught but God, to
appreciate God's plentiful blessings and to believe in their own social
power.

Guided in such a
way, these people who had for many years been subjected to the oppression
and coercion of the so-called masters and kings, suddenly arose, revolted
by the millions and brought about the Islamic Revolution. Today, to
continue the Revolution and to guarantee its survival, it is necessary to
keep the people's mental guidance intact in order to deepen their belief
in God and Islam and to make them more aware of their human dignity and
responsibility.

The Commander of
the Faithful continues his Sermon with the following statements, providing
more details about the mental and spiritual atmosphere of the Age of
Ignorance (before the appearance of the Prophet). He says ... People
obeyed Satan and tread his paths. They sought water from his watering
places. Through them, Satan's emblems flew and his standard was raised in
vices which trampled the people under their hoofs, and treaded upon them
with their feet. The vices stood on their toes (in full stature) and the
people immersed in them were strayed, perplexen, ignorant and seduced as
though in a good house with bad neighbors. Instead of sleep they had
wakefulness and for antimony they had tears in the eyes ... ".

In fact, he
believes that the origin of all adversities, oppressions, corruptions,
sufferings, disorders and crimes existing in society during the Age of
Ignorance, resulted from obedience to the satans of the time who, with
reliance on their social authority, i.e. wealth, power and deceit, wasted
God's noble blessings and devastated the plentiful, vital resources of the
time with unthankfulness and the transient lives of the people or
exploited them for their own benefit, regardless of what happened to the
real owners of those valuable resources. It was on the basis of such
obedience that the people went only the ways which the masters and
dominant groups showed them, the ways which ended in no desired
destination, which brought them nothing but increasing poverty, ignorance
and captivity and which provided the dominant groups of society, i.e. the
creators of evil, corruption and decadence, with their personal interests.

In the Islamic
world-view, the human being is considered a thoughtful, innovative and
independent creature. From these three characteristics, the power of
thinking of the human being is more important than others, for it provides
one with awareness which enables one to move and make progress.

Thus, the most
significant and fundamental factor for the movement of history and society
are the knowledge and awareness which stimulate human beings to action. It
is awareness which induces humanity to move and act. In the course of
history spontaneous actions and movements have never resulted in a
Revolution.

Maxim Gorki in
his book, Mother, endeavors to prove that it was the labor movements which
gave rise to the October Revolution in Russia, whereas a careful study of
his book indicates that these blind movements could obtain no results. In
fact, without the existence of awareness and guidance, the spontaneous
movements brought about in the history of revolutions could never end in
the desired aims.

Thus, class
conflicts and wars which materialists emphasize as the origin of all
movements and revolutions have not been effective at all.. Rather, the
most significant factor for the movement of history and society have been
understanding, guidance and stimulating awareness. Without these, all
actions and endeavors have usually ended in undesired effects which can be
observed in a great number of the revolutions throughout the world.

Now, since
awareness is the main source of inspiration in societies in which
ignorance is dominant, the antihuman elements (holders of corrupt
authority), in order to retain their tyrannical system, have always tried
to stifle any liberating thought by exposing people's minds to
stupefaction and poisonous instructions and to destroy the origins of
consciousness.

As a result, in
such societies, the people follow only the desires of these satans, learn
only what they teach and, like sheep, go only towards the water to which
they are led by these treacherous shepherds (they sought water from his
watering places").

It is quite
painful that, in the light of the sacrifices and endeavors of the
oppressed people, those who stand against the oppressors and criminals are
usually defeated and killed, while the chiefs of the atheists are rarely
killed. For instance, Mu'awiya, the manifest example of blasphemy, never
accepted Ali's call to challenge him in person because, as a Satan, his
emblems flew through the deprived people who have always been employed in
the course of history as a ladder which the arrogant have climbed to
approach their self-centeredness, dominance and power.

The life of the
deprived has always been blended with fear, anxiety, confusion, poverty,
hunger, ignorance, disgrace and lack of awareness. This has been an out
standing characteristic of the ages of ignorance. But according to the
principles of our religion and Islamic ideology and according to the Holy
Qur'an which says, We have honored the children of Adam ... >",
human beings are honorable. In fact, the belief in the Oneness of God is
followed in Islamic thought by the dignity and worth of human beings.

Generally
speaking, those societies in which human beings are honored because of
believing in God and having will-power, and not on the basis of their
social positions, move towards perfection and prosperity; while those
societies which grant no worth to human beings and their thoughts do not
tread the path of improvement and goodness and are usually administered
through dictatorship. Today, other than the Iranian community upon which
Islam has shed its light, all human communities throughout the world are
ruled either by black strangulation (such as the socialist communities in
which the Proletariat dictatorship is dominant and the so-called
supporters of the labor classes, i.e. their leaders, have never felt the
hardship and poverty of the laborers) or by despotism prevalent in such
despotic countries as Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and so forth.

There are,
however, other communities (Western ones) which are ruled by the
stupefaction of the people, i.e. keeping the people amused with passions,
sexual matters, alcoholic drinks and other means of corruption and
adversity.

It is only the
Islamic community which establishes equal rights for all the people,
whether they be workers, physicians or peasants. But that very Islamic
community will keep aloof from Islam, should decision-making, judgment and
awareness be confined to a special class of people (whoever they might be)
and others be compelled to follow them blindly.

On the whole,
what the Commander of the Faithful says is that in societies which are
dominated by ignorance and alienation, although humility and worthlessness
cast shadows over all human aims and aspirations and hunger, horror,
disease, captivity, corruption and bewilderment threaten the society, the
people are surprisingly tolerant and in agreement with the oppressors.
This is what he calls sedition and calamity (fetna), something which
brings a person to the state of consternation and deception, which causes
damage to one's heart and mind and which destroys one's life completely.
It is, in fact, under these circumstances that the Prophets appear.

They do not
appear merely to remove poverty, to establish social welfare, to eliminate
ignorance and to teach the people how to read and write. But each of these
is a part of a great whole which comprises the aims of the Prophets. The
Prophets' aim is to eradicate human deviation, alienation and bewilderment
and to give one spiritual elevation. The realization of this aim will,
however, be followed by material welfare, social security, eradication of
ignorance and class distinctions and so forth.

Questions and
Answers

Q. You said that
alienation gives rise to class distinctions. Now what are the causes of
alienation?

A. The cause of
alienation is the lack of the use of the power of thinking, for this
faculty can be effective only if it is trained, educated and used
properly. It is just like a very powerful projector which can offer its
sparkling nature only if it is clean and not covered by dust and mist. The
power of thinking may lose its usefulness under the influence of various
factors, the most important of which being whims and passions. Of course,
other spiritual factors as well as the holders of worldly power are also
effective in this respect, but material and economic factors alone should
not be regarded as a basis for lack of thinking and alienation. Thinking
is the faculty by which the human being analyzes different matters and
comes to a general conclusion. It is, therefore, independent and can
provide people with reasons concerning their doings.

Q. In one of his
sermons, Ali says, I shall bring out the truth from falsehood.» How do
you interpret the leftists' justification of the 'dialectic conflict' on
the basis of this statement?

A. 'Dialectic
conflict' cannot be justified by this statement. By this statement he
implies that he can analyze a collection of saying in which right and
wrong have been mixed, distinguish the right from the wrong and introduce
it to the people. This is the art of all the thinkers who know the truth.

Q. What is a
classless, monotheistic society? Are monotheism and class not two
contradictory notions?

A. A classless
society is one in which there is no legal distinction among different
groups of people and all the individuals are provided with equal rights
and opportunities. In such a society, every individual makes efforts in
accordance with one's physical and mental faculties and whatever one earns
belongs to one's self. No one has the right to ask another for a part of
what one has earned. Of course, if an individual kept a long distance from
others, that person would be advised to assist them. Islam holds equal
possibilities and opportunities for all individuals. Every one has the
right to educate one's self, to enhance one's knowledge, to take one's
desired job, to work in the best possible manner and so forth. At the same
time, lazy people are not permitted in Islam to have a share in what
hardworking people acquire. In Islam the people are free to work and
endeavor for themselves, contrary to socialist communities in which all
productive jobs and services are a monopoly of the governments and thus
being wrongly called classless.

As to the
'monotheistic society', it should be stated that it is a society in which
all the people stand at the same level so far as legal, judicial and
social laws and regulations are concerned. In a monotheistic society,
there is no difference between the ruler and a layman before the law. A
Jew and a Muslim are equally treated (the judge calls Ali and the Jew to
his presence and addresses both of them in the same manner).

A monotheistic
society is an Islamic society and a classless one is also Islamic but only
within the limits which were explained above. We do not believe in the
classless society which Marxists define. We do not believe in what they
call class, classlessness and class war. These are all Marxist concepts
which the group of so-called Mujahidin (the anti-Islamic group of
hypocrites) have mixed with Islamic notions to deceive people. To say the
least, society should either be called 'monotheistic', which is in
conformity with Islamic culture, or classless (as defined by the
Mujahidin) which reminds one of Marxist ideology.

Q. Are all human
beings equipped with equal talents and faculties?

A. No, not all
human beings enjoy the same talents and faculties and not all of them are
equal in understanding different matters and performing various tasks. In
fact, every individual has a talent for certain types of work and no one
is found to be devoid of certain gifts and talents.

Lesson
Three

TO
WHICH CLASS OF SOCIETYDO THE PROPHETS BELONG?

In this chapter
we are going to discuss the social origins of the Prophets themselves,
i.e., to find out the social class to which the Prophets belonged. We are
going to see whether they belonged to the rich people, aristocrats and
holders of worldly power or to the poor, the needy and the deprived. It
is, in fact, very import-ant to know the social and economic classes from
which the Prophets have arisen in the course of history, founded
monotheistic movements and revolutions and provided the masses with divine
words and messages.

The Holy Qur'an,
the Traditions and the Nahj-ul-Balagha are rich sources which can help us
in the analysis of this matter, but here the emphasis is only on the words
of the Nahj-ul-Balagha. In the long and famous sermon of al-Qasi'ah (the
Sermon of Disparagement) there are statements which deserve careful
reflection and which offer information concerning the matter being
discussed.

The statements
run as follows: Certainly , if God were to allow anyone to indulge in
pride, He would have allowed it to His selected prophets and vicegerents.
But God, the Sublime, disliked vanity for them and liked humbleness for
them. Therefore, they laid their cheeks on the ground, smeared their faces
with dust, bent themselves down for the believers and remained humiliated
people (they were from the oppressed people). God tested them with hunger,
afflicted them with difficulties, tested them with fear, and upset them
with troubles."6

Here, the
Commander of the Faithful speaks about pride and vanity and emphasizes
that since God disliked these two qualities, He misrepresented them in the
eyes of His Prophets and righteous beings. Therefore, the Prophets hated
self-deceit and superiority complexes, but liked humbleness and humility.
Thus, they bent themselves down for the believers, lived among the lowest
classes of the people, rubbed their faces with the dust (in prostration)
before God and refrained from indulging in haughtiness. They did, in
effect, what the Holy Qur'an orders to be done to the parents. It says:
... and lower to them (one's parents) the wing of humbleness out of
mercy ... " (17:24)

The Prophets.,
according to the Commander of the Faithful were from the oppressed masses
of the people. They knew the, pains and agonies of the needy. They felt,
for instance, what hunger was, because God had tried them with hunger. The
Holy Qur'an quotes Moses, peace be upon him, to have said, Oh God! I
need what you shall send me." According to narrations, Moses, peace
be upon him, was hungry and implored God in this manner to send him bread
so that he could satiate his hunger. Thus, the Prophets felt the pains of
hungry people. They had tasted the sufferings of life. They knew well the
troubles of hard physical labor in cold and hot weathers. They understood
the meaning of hardship.

Timidity and the
state of being fearful are characteristics of the oppressed. They are
usually fearful of the future, poverty and the dominance of a powerful
hand over their destinies. They are always worried and in a state of
mental disturbance, concerning the existing situations and the coming
conditions. They expect at any moment to be put under pressure by a
Powerful oppressor. Likewise, the Prophets suffered from such fears and
anxieties and, to say the least, were so surrounded by hardships and
difficulties as to become pure in the same way as gold derives its purity
under the pressure of very hot temperature. In fact, the Prophets were not
pampered individuals to suddenly come Out of their Palaces and call the
people to make a revolution.

There was a close
link between them and the common people. They had, like all members of the
society been subjected to ignorance, tasted the pains and sufferings of
life and then became worthy to be called 'Prophets'.

The Definition of
the Deprived (mustad'af)

A society
dominated by ignorance is always made up of two groups of people. One
group consists of those who make Plans, administer society and have total
authority over all affairs. The other group consists of the subjects and
subordinates who have nothing to do with different affairs of society.
They work hard (and thus they are not good-for-nothings as they are
usually called, compared for example, to the amount of work Pharaoh
performed with the slaves in building the Pyramids), but they have no
right to apply their will, personality and points of view in the
administration of the affairs of their society.

The first group
is a minority consisting of the powerful families and dynasties with
various degrees of authority over society. They are called 'the arrogant'
(mustakbirin). The second group are the common people and the masses who
are regarded as the weak and who are devoid of authority whatsoever. They
are called 'the deprived' (mustad'afin). Our own country, during the
corrupt regime of Pahlavi, was administered by a limited number of
individuals, with the Shah at the head of them. It is true that an
institution named the 'National Consultative Assembly' existed but all the
decisions were made by the Shah and his American advisers and dictated to
the members of the Assembly, who had no will of their own.

At the lower
levels, decisions were made by the big money makers who acted in collusion
with governmental personages, by governor generals and so forth. In fact,
the total authority was centralized in the hands of one person, the Shah.
If all the ministers, Assembly members, director

generals and the
like agreed on something, but the Shah opposed; it was his will and
decision which prevailed. The rest of the people, i.e. the masses, had no
authority (even over their own destinies) to interfere with the affairs
pertaining to foreign relations (with Russia and America, for instance),
internal industries, agriculture, animal husbandry, etc. let alone matters
concerning religion and morality. They had no right to meddle with the
total course of affairs of their society due to the absolute lack of
democracy, voting and elections in the country.

This state of
affairs is nowadays an obvious characteristic of all socialist countries
but in a more respectable form, i.e. one party (the Communist Party)
possesses the total power and authority in administering the affairs of
these countries. In fact, all the affairs of these countries are
determined by the high governmental cadres, supreme councils and the
general secretary himself. Other people have no right to express their
viewpoints, and their will and decisions are not taken for granted. Thus,
mental development is repressed in such countries, and perhaps this is why
the youth usually engage in Sports and physical training and blossom out
as the first rate athletes in international competition such as the
Olympics as we observed in the recent Olympic games held in Russia.

In western
societies, too, the situation is more or less the same (mostly in the
so-called civilized countries of America and Europe where 'freedom' and
'democracy' have widespread literal application). Nowadays, there are
unfortunately some people who try to transform freedom and democracy to
western conceptions of freedom and democracy, without knowing that the
West itself is bereft of real freedom; (in America, West Germany and the
likes, people imagine that they elect their representatives freely whereas
the reality is that it is specific currents which lead them to one side or
another to cast their votes in favor of one party or another. Recent
elections in America and the conflicts between the Democratic and
Republican parties are the best evidence, verifying this reality).

Generally
speaking, in all countries of the world, people are divided into two
classes: the deprived and the arrogant. The deprived masses are themselves
two groups: the needy and the non-needy. In fact, a poor and wretched
peasant who performs fifteen hours of physical labor a day under the
difficulties of rain, snow and hot weather and one who lives an ordinary
life, being a shopkeeper, or employee, etc., without suffering so much,
are both in the category of the deprived, because both of them are
considered to be worthless and good-for-nothing and are devoid of the
right to participate in the administration of their society.

According to the
Commander of the Faithful in the quoted Sermon, the Prophets belonged to
the deprived classes and, like them, have been deprived of the authority
to carry out a responsibility in their society. A historical review of the
life-accounts of Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him and his
descendants, and other Prophets will clarify this matter further.

Moses, peace be
upon him, was born to a deprived family among the children of Israel who
lived under severe pressures. But after birth he was brought in a
completely arrogant house and became a favorite with the Pharaoh's family
although he had not been born of the Pharaoh's wife.

He was brought up
under the best living possibilities, the most delicious food and different
kinds of luxuries (as a perfect aristocrat). Then, when Pharaoh noticed
that he was nourishing an enemy within his house, Moses decided to escape.
In fact, Moses had begun his invitation and calling people to God, had
started his revolutionary propagations within the royal palace and had
succeeded in converting the Pharaoh's wife to submission to God when
Pharaoh experienced a feeling of danger and decided to prosecute him.
Moses escaped to Egypt.

To say the least,
Moses became a Prophet and invited the people to make a revolution when he
was within the royal house and at the peak of arrogance (this biographical
account of Moses is narrated in the Qur'an, and no use was made here of
the Traditions).

Our Prophet,
Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him and his descendants was
born in a tribal house of high rank. He was the grandson of and a favorite
with 'Abd al-Muttalib, the chief of Mecca (although he was, unlike
Pharaoh, a pious, chief and a believer in God). When his father, Abdullah,
who was one of the dearest children of 'Abd al-Muttalib, died in youth,
the latter brought up Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him and
his descendants, until he became four years of age (although Moses was the
favorite with a great emperor and Muhammad with a tribal chief, both of
them enjoyed the favor of highly respectful families). Then 'Abd
al-Muttalib passed away and Muhammad came under the guardianship of his
uncle Abu Talib who did not enjoy the same respect as his father, 'Abd
al-Muttalib, but who was himself a distinguished personality, not
belonging to the masses.

Abu Talib acted
as a good guardian for a period of time and then he was afflicted with
poverty. Thus, Muhammad lost the (financial) support of his uncle at this
time. But before long he married Khadija, a rich woman. He first acted as
a functionary to Khadija but later on, (fifteen years before his
appointment to prophethood) he married her, thus becoming a relatively
rich man in Medina.

The very
financial state remained with him until he became a Prophet at the age of
forty (this is why it is said that Islam advanced through Khadija's wealth
and Ali's sword).

Accordingly, the
Prophet of Islam was born to an aristocratic family and lived a
comfortable and affluent life until he was appointed to prophethood by
God. After the appointment, however, due to the high expenses of
propagation and calling people to monotheism and due to the lack of
opportunity for conducting business, he became poor.

Other prophets,
too, were more or less wealthy. It is in the Traditions (although there is
no clear, historical accounts available) that Job, for example, possessed
lands, gardens and trees which were destroyed when God wanted to test his
belief. David, too, had a rural origin. He was a commoner. Yet he became a
commander and a ruler. Solomon was born in the house of this commander
(David). In fact, this chosen Prophet of God (although there is no
difference between him and Moses as far as his purity, piety,
revolutionary spirit and prophethood are concerned) was the son of a
ruler. Abraham was born in the house of an idol-carver, and the history of
nations and religions reveals that idol-carvers were not only not among
the low, deprived classes but were also considered to be saintly and
respectable.

We come to the
conclusion, therefore, that a considerable number (not all of them) of the
Prophets have been brought up among affluent and powerful families. Thus,
we have two points here to be considered along with each other: First, in
the Commander of the Faithful saying that Prophets have belonged to the
deprived and humble masses of the people. Second, the Prophets (some of
them), as we see above, have been born among the socially, comfortable
families of high ranks.

Are these two
realities incompatible? No It is not the main point here to see whether
they are compatible or not, The main point is to nullify the (communists')
imaginary legend that all the revolutionary agents have originated from
the proletarian, bare-footed and needy classes. What is essential is that
a revolutionary person (be he a leader of the revolution or a commoner)
should be dressed with revolutionary morals and Attributes.

Materialists and
the interpreters of Marxism, in fact, hold a wrong belief that only those
individuals can enjoy revolutionary morals and Attributes who themselves
belong to the poor, bare-footed or proletarian classes, for man is always
and everywhere a human being and thus corrigible. He can, like the
Prophets about whom Ali says, They were from the deprived people,"
equip himself with correct, revolutionary habits and with the attributes
of the deprived.

It is true that
aristocratic training and education entail no result but an aristocrat
human being, yet it is untrue to believe that such an education (in a
person who is brought up in an aristocratic atmosphere) is unchangeable
and indestructible. In fact, should divine guidance (either in the form of
thinking, meditation and the awakening of conscience of the individuals
themselves or through training and purification of the soul by the
teachers of morality, i.e. the Prophets) enlighten the sick bodies of
those who are under the influence of aristocratic habits and training,
they would come out of their spiritual depression and become dressed with
revolutionary dispositions.

SUMMARY

Two points are
perceived when the social origin of the Prophets is put to discussion:
First those who are appointed to prophethood are dressed with the
Attributes of the deprived, revolutionary morals and combative spirit
against the existing class systems of the arrogant, i.e. at the time of
the appointment (and even before it) they have an anti-arrogant position
in support of the deprived.

Second, having
these Attributes does not necessarily imply that all the Prophets belong
to the deprived classes. They can either belong to these classes or not
but, as was mentioned before, even at the time of appointment to
prophethood and at the beginning of their revolution they may belong to
the arrogant strata, having a comfortable life. There is no need for them
to have suffered from forced labor and hard work before the appointment.
Of course, they should have felt pain and distress but this does not
necessarily mean that they should curtail the bonds of relationship with
their social class and their (comfortable) life.

Spiritually-exalted
Beings Have Understanding as Well as the Feeling of Sympathy.

Subsequent to the
discussion concerning the arrogant and the deprived, it should be added
here that such a class division does not exist in monotheistic societies.
It is, in fact, the exclusive characteristic of' societies suffering from
ignorance and alienation. We have of course, rulers, ruling classes,
caliphs, holders of religious authority and governments in monotheistic
societies but none of them are arrogant enough to manage the affairs of
these societies on the basis of personal beliefs. Also, there are
commoners in such societies, consisting of workers, businessmen, peasants,
bricklayers, government employees and so forth, but none of them arrogant
either. Each class has, in fact, some authority over its own social
affairs in proportion to the total number of its members.

For example,
under the present situations of Iran (although Iran is not a 100% or even
50% Islamic society at the present time), every individual has some
authority and the right to vote as a member of a society with thirty-six
million individuals. It is on this basis that the great movements and even
the political affairs of our country are nowadays managed and led by the
people themselves, although it may be considered wrong so far as the
prevailing patterns of politics on the international level are concerned.
The truth is that if the people were not inclined towards certain actions
and policies, connections and disconnections, the government (itself
consisting of Muslims belonging to the low classes of people) would not
dare take such positions as it does today and perform such courageous
actions. This is indicative of an Islamic country (although Iran is still
not a perfect Islamic country).

When Islam shall,
God-willing, shed its light on our society in all its dimensions, the role
of every individual in the administration of the whole country will be to
the extent that he or she (although being the lowest in social position)
can act and promise on behalf of the Islamic community. Today, if a given
government or a certain action be condemned in the sermons of the Friday
ritual prayer in front of a multitude of people, or if a treaty between
our country and a given government be orally made (or violated) in such
sermons, neither our own government nor the addressee will take care of
it.

But in a perfect
Islamic community, there is no irresponsible individual. In such a
community, in which Islamic culture and education are perfectly dominant,
every individual (being a businessman, a housewife and so forth) can
conclude a treaty or announce an agreement for the cessation of
hostilities or a special occasion and the Islamic government is obliged to
take it into account, although that individual not be a minister, an army
commander or a diplomat. In fact, every individual can decide for the
whole community on specific occasions, and his or her decision is accepted
by all.

This is not,
however, practicable under the present culture and habits of our society.
But as the society gets closer to Islam and its teachings, this is more
likely to be accomplished. It should be added, of course, that when we say
something is not for the time being practicable, it does not mean that
Islam as a whole cannot be materialized. It can, but only when the world
has a complete readiness for its acceptance.

Questions and
Answers

Q. You said that
Khadija's wealth and Ali's sword made the progress of Islam possible. Does
this not lead to a deviating concept that wealth and material things have
been the only factors for the spread of Islam?

A. We do not
believe that wealth alone played a role in this regard, but the truth is
that wealth, too, had certain roles and this is undeniable. It was, is
fact, necessary for the satiation of the newly-converted people's hunger
as well as for providing the expenses of those who were sent here and
there by the Prophet. This does not negate the influence of the
spirituality and dynamism of Islamic thought and ideology, since the very
dynamism is in need of material things when acting and making progress in
the same way as it needs physical labor and activity.

Q. You defined
the deprived in its social and political aspects. Is it not necessary to
explain the economic and cultural aspects of it as well?

A. The economic
activities of the deprived (as previously defined) are also under the
influence of the powerful, i.e. economic activities are usually
centralized where power is centralized (under the previous regime of Iran,
for example, no productive and economic activity took place except through
the direct or indirect interference of the government). Therefore,
economic aspects are dependent on political aspects. It may, however, be
argued that political power originates from economic power. This is
possible but it lacks universality. Sometimes political power is the cause
for the absorption of money and sometimes money gives rise to political
power. They are inter-connected, but in a society wherein political power
is centralized in a certain group, economics cannot grow and progress
independently. The cultural aspects (culture in its prevailing, not in its
revolutionary sense) of society, too, are affected by the opinion of those
who possess political and economic power. Thus, when political oppression
dominates society, the existing cultural and political aspects of the
deprived are also influenced by lt.

Q. Is the
following tradition, narrated from the Imams concerning deprivation,
authentic? The deprived are those who endeavored in the way of God but
could not achieve their aim in establishing the divine system. The highest
of them are the Prophets and saints, next to them are the believers who
make efforts in the way of God."

A. It may be
authentic for all the Prophets and their true followers belong to the
category of the deprived. It provides us with the definition of the
deprived not with the concept of deprivation.