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Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem.
Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family.
Dear brothers and sisters…
Assalaamualaykum
Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/videos/videos/show/18638310-political-aspects-of-an-islamic-identity-and-imam-khomeini-by-imam-muhammad-al-asi-06-07-2014 (06-07-2014)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-USCz8kkWo
TRIBUTE TO AN ISLAMIC LEADER - IMAM KHOMEINI PART 5
I'd like to begin by just making a couple of adjustments to the introduction concerning your humble speaker here. There's been almost twenty volumes of the tafseer that I'm working on that have been completed as far as writing is concerned instead of the seventeen that were mentioned. Six of them should be available if anyone wants them. The seventh and eighth volumes are in customs in New York
Now to speak about or when you say political sometimes people understand it as a dirty word. In and of itself there's nothing dirty or negative about the administration of the public affairs of Muslims or of any other people. In the vocabulary in today's world you're a public servant. There's nothing wrong. There is nothing that tarnishes you from being a public servant. The fact of the matter is we have a political world- the world around us. We speak politics, we speak about partition politics, we speak about politicians (and) you speak about policies then you begin to enter into a realm in which there is bribery and there is connections and there are lobbies and interests- personal interests, group interests, national interests- and we get into this murky area in which you know the word becomes defiled (and) the word become polluted but its not that way in its original sense. So when we use the word political Islam or Islamic politics or these types of things there's nothing- one doesn't contaminate the other. Politics doesn't contaminate Islam. It is the moral character that the Muslim has that gives politics its positive connotation- because we are moral. Muslims in the grain of them are moral. So if we are moral and we come to an economic issue or we come to an educational issue or we come to an administrative issue or we come to a political issue we come with our moral selves, with our moral motivation, with our moral input and with our moral objectives. So politics in this respect will gain a positive and a noteworthy description and definition. But the problem with we the Muslims has been that when we go back to our sources- the words of Allah (and) the teachings of His Prophet and the instructions of the Imams and those who are considered in the realm of Allah's Awliya'- we find that the legacy (i.e.) these references and this reference material we haven't worked our political minds to give these ayaat and these hadiths to give them their pertinent and their practical meanings- that's the problem there. To take just an example… (In) the recitation you were just listening to (in) the wonderful voice that rendered the ayaat in the Qur'an, it began by saying
Certainly you have in the Apostle of Allah an exemplar (or) a model of perfection for those of you who are anticipating Allah and the final day and are conscious in recalling the presence and the power of Allah. (Surah Al Ahzaab verse 21)
You know- this ayah many of you have heard, I'm sure, if not hundreds of times scores of times.
You have in the Apostle of Allah an exemplar of perfection… (Surah Al Ahzaab verse 21)
You've heard that many times. You've had it translated in your own language besides the English language and all this but what happens in this particular incident, (I am using this as an example to drive home the point), is that you don't think about this in a political much less in a military context. Everyone quotes this ayah or mostly everyone quotes this ayah and they say "oh the Prophet of Allah is our prototype in whichever direction we are going in life" which is generally true. That is one of the general meanings of the ayah but to be more specific this ayah is coached in a context of ayaat. You just listen to this but what I'm trying to say to you is you listen to this in the absence of an active, working political mind. Then it says
You see this ayah came just before a military affair. It is an introduction to what Allah and His Prophet are saying to the committed Muslims when they are in an existential battle with the confederates that came to undo Islamic political self determination in Al Madinah when they were besieged. There were two incidents that are related to us in the lifetime of our beloved Prophet (about) the two most difficult times in his struggle- the battle of Uhud when he was injured and blood was running down his face and he was cut and he was harmed and he was in pain- that was one. The other one was the military siege of Al Madinah when all of the forces of the Arabian Peninsula that were adverse and hostile to Islamic determination in Al Madinah in addition to the Yahudi combination of these forces came to finish off Islamic self determination in Al Madinah and Islamic self determination. It had nothing to do per se with rituals. No one's speaking about rituals. The war against Muslim governance in Al Madinah was not because Muslims weren't praying and fasting and doing their rituals, it was because Muslims had and social and a political character; something that Al Imam Al Khomeini came and brought into public discourse. So if we cared to live up to our responsibilities our future outlook should be that this wasn't a free event. Now when you listen to some Muslims, when they whisper in the privacy of their personal discussions, some of them will tell you that when you speak about Islamic self determination- not many people say this; when was the last time you heard a speaker speak to you about Islamic self determination or Islamic liberation or the meaning of freedom in Islam? When was the last time you heard these types of presentations or lectures or sermons or khutbahs or whatever? If it was some months ago or some years ago that means there is some type of eternal drift away from this momentous effort that was set into motion by the beloved Imam. So these people in the privacy of their own personal discussions will tell you- as if it is something that happened (and) it is like a miracle. It is not.- "now we have to settle back." What do you mean settle back? If you want to go back and settle back the only back that I know was the Shah and Imperialism and you not being in control of your own affairs and Islam being a ritualistic Islam that is incarcerated in the Masjid or in a Hawzah and an Islam that doesn't have a social and a collective character. You want to go back to that?! So there is a type of back peddling that is taking place. In some areas it is very subtle (and) in some areas these types of individuals try to be shrewd. They will accompany you- like here I am in front of you. I am just an individual just like each and every one of you but they know who I am. I say this with meekness (and) minus the ego in all of this. So they'll walk with me as far as I can go and then they will try to throw in a curveball at the end and say "well, you know this Islamic effort has run its course and now we have to look at ourselves as Shi'is first or Iranians first (or whatever other description that they may have) and this whole talk about liberation, about Islam, about an Islamic future, about the oppressed, the oppressors…" Just as I said at the beginning, I mentioned some things that you may not be hearing frequently any more well these are another two words. When was the last time you heard al mustad'afin? When was the last time you heard al mustakbirin? This is a good way to judge those speakers who come to speak to you. Do they use these words? If they don't, what is wrong?! These are not words that were made up by Imam Khomeini. No. These are Qur'anic words. You'll find these words in the Qur'an. So if these are Qur'anic words why do some certain speakers- those who travel to speak go a great distance- want to dodge and avoid and skip using these words? What's wrong? Is something wrong? To come back to the initial point, what is wrong is they refuse to use, to stimulate (and) to activate in political thinking mind. That's what it is. That is the core of the issue. They don't want a political thinking mind when there are ample ayaat in the Qur'an that activate the political part of our mind- many of them.
This Pharaoh figure had an elevated status in the world and then, he rendered the occupants of earth divided segments of people… (Surah Al Qasas verse 4)
That's an ayah that begs our political thinking.
Oppressors are natural allies of each other, indeed … (Surah Al Jathiyah verse 19)
That's a political statement. Are we going to have political minds coming forth? "I'm going to pick this meaning (or) I am going to take this meaning from the Qur'an and I'm going to place it in the real world out there, in the real world today; I'm going to define who these oppressors are"- do we have that element? Do we have that moral and intellectual courage to come out and say "yes- I understand what Allah is saying to me and Allah has endowed me with the capacity to think so I am going to define who meets this meaning in real life out there in tangible terms!" Who's going to do that? I invite your memory (and) I stimulate your memory to think about the speakers who come to you.
I don't withhold any words- I think throughout all of these years many of you know I'm not hiding things. We have a trend now in which speakers exactly fit that description. They want to avoid the political mind. I'm not going to mention any names but I've heard it. Some of them were as frank as to express themselves, "what was all this revolution about- the revolution of Imam Khomeini and the followers of Imam Khomeini?" Khat Al Imam- remember that word? It went down the memory hole. Khat Al Imam is a word that went down the memory hole of many people. So one of these characters says "what was all this revolution about? It wasn't worth the effort and the time and the struggle and the blood and the treasury and everything that went into it. It wasn't worth it. Wouldn't we have been better off with just continuing maybe a change of the regime of the Shah and then have some type of administration and some type of government?" Remember this word is not coming from n average individual. This word is coming from a person who fought at the warfronts, who studied in Qum , who was an official in one of the Hawzahs. So it's not coming from some Joe Blow. It is coming from someone who has some kind of weight, at least, in his own circles. I thank him for his candidness. So he comes and he says "what's all this about? We could have just done away with the old regime and establish some type of administration that gives and takes in a diplomatic way and we have prosperity in our country and we come up to par. Look at what's happening in the Persian Gulf ." He takes a look at Dubai , Abu Dhabi and Doha
Remember in the beginning- I'm sure some of you who are my age still remember those words in the beginning of this monumental change that took place with the leadership of the Imam… The Imam- what's that word?! I saw on television- just the other day I was watching PressTV in English, of course. I can't remember the name of the program but it was on in this past week- they made reference in English, I think there was some visitation by some officials from the Islamic government to the mausoleum of the Imam and in English it said something like "the late Ayatollah Ruhullah Al Musawi Khomeini" and then it said "also know as Al Imam Al Khomeini." This is at high level. We're not speaking about some low level. Sometimes you forgive people who are ignorant and they say these things out of ignorance- they don't know better but when this begins to appear on this level, as if to say the correct reference to this personality is Ayatollah Ruhullah Al Musawi Al Khomeini and then there are some people who are call him Al Imam Al Khomeini. When I was reading it, that is what it said to me. What's wrong? What happened? You couldn't say this type of thing during his lifetime! You couldn't say it in the couple years after his lifetime but this creepy and creeping in effect began to take affect and here we have it. We see it on this level. Someone should have yanked the person who was responsible for his wording and say "do you really mean this?" Do they have people who are responsible (and) who can you take them to task for something like that? I don't know but this is how it goes. I don't know who's responsible for the wording, the editors and all of this but I do know that there is this gradual eroding that is taking place in the psychology of many people and the reason why this descending psychology is in effect is because, and once again, I refer to the absence of a political thinking Muslim mind. That's what's needed.
I'm not trying to present you with a sales pitch- far from it; and I am not here to promote anything but I've been spending the last fifteen years at least on trying to stimulate this Islamic thinking political mind in public without getting on anyone's nerves and without touching on anyone's cultural and background sensitivities. I'm to deliver a message and this message is in the spirit and is in the core of what Al Imam Khomeini stood for and I hope in due time we will see the eventual victory of the powerless and the oppressed and the excluded men women and children of this world who will overcome the barrier of injustice and we will recapture the essence of our responsibilities that is to do justice on earth.
I'll end with bringing to your attention that we use two words: al adl and al qist. These are Qur'anic words. I'm sure you are familiar with them but what you may not be familiar with is the difference that exists between al adl and al qist. You can't use them interchangeably because these are two different words. In a sense they have a general meaning that is similar but they have a peculiar meaning that is different. There are many ayaat in the Qur'an that mention the word al adl and now is no time to get into it, (I'm running out time here (and) I was just alerted from back there). Al adl simply means justice- organic justice, personal justice- that's what it means. You can do adl. I can do adl. Anyone can do adl because each one of us is capable of that
Verily, Allah orders justice … (Surah An Nahl verse 90)
But al qist is social justice, its organized justice, its collective justice, it is governmental justice. That is what al qist is.
Say: Allah orders institutionalized justice … (Surah Al A'raf verse 29)
So there is a difference here between these meanings. Why is it that in all of these years (and) in all of these encounters and listening to these words it hasn't been clear in our minds that al qist is the responsibility of al jama'ah and al adl is primarily the responsibility of al fard? Because, as I said and I continue to say, we don't have a politically thinking collective Muslim public mind.
I hope with those words I don't encroach on the presentation of the following speaker. If I've taken a minute or two I beg your pardon and your patience.
May Allah rest the soul of Al Imam Khomeini in heavenly abode and may his message radiate with our efforts at whichever level these efforts are required.
Wa Salaamualaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh.
Thank you very much brothers and sisters.
This presentation was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of the Memorial of Imam Khomeini on 7 June 2014 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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