Where Shall we Begin?

In the tradition of Abudhar, who is my mentor, whose thought, whose understanding of Islam and Shi'ism, and whose ideals, wants, and rage I emulate, I begin my talk with the name of the God of the oppressed (mustad'afan). My topi is !ery spe ifi . "ften people who do not approa h issues with s ientifi method and language riti i#e me for not in luding ertain issues whi h they think ha!e dire t bearing on the topi of my spee h. $ut you are well aware that on e a speaker or an author hooses a parti ular topi , his sole responsibility lies in his staying within the s ope of his topi , and doing his best to pro!ide an a urate analysis or substantiation of the thesis he has put forward. %or e&ample, when the topi is Islam with spe ial on entration on the harges brought against it by its enemies or those who are not familiar with it, a speaker or an author who wants to respond to those harges logi ally and s ientifi ally must limit himself to the sub'e t matter at hand, i.e., those spe ifi issues to whi h he has raised ob'e tions. Su h a dis ussion logi ally should not be on erned with pro!iding an introdu tion to Islam in whi h e!ery on ei!able Islami topi omes within the s ope of the dis ussion. "ur imaginary author laims only that, in some spe ifi instan es, Islam has been misunderstood, and he sets as his goal to orre t those mistakes. Should he su eed in his endea!ors, he has performed his responsibility. (ith that in mind, the sub'e t of my talk is a !ery spe ifi sub'e t and aims to answer an e&pli it and narrow )uestion, one whi h is e!er present in the minds of the masses in general, and the *enlightened souls* (roshan+fekran) in parti ular. ,hat )uestion is(here Shall (e $egin. ,his is a uni!ersal, pertinent, and fundamental )uestion. It is not a )uestion that I ha!e put forward based on my own understanding or as a result of my own ontemplation/ rather it is the )uestion of our time, to whi h I ha!e tried to pro!ide an answer. (hen one looks at the history of so ial de!elopment in the world, one en ounters ertain histori al epo hs during whi h numerous works were published entitled *(here Shall we $egin.* or *(hat Is ,o $e 0one.* At least fi!e su h works immediately ome to mind. Most of them ha!e been published at the times when the so ieties of their origin were in a parti ular state of so ial transformation. %or e&ample, no book with similar titles appeared during the Middle Ages. Su h )uestions are raised when a so iety is in the pro ess of e!ol!ing from one state to another. ,he so ial ons ien e warrants that ertain steps be taken to free the so iety from the domineering effe ts of the e&isting so ial order and the status )uo on the a tual, intelle tual and religious life of its members, and to repla e that order with another. ,he )uestion of where to begin, than, is a matter of 'so ial strategy' and not of 'ideology.' ,herefore, I do not need to talk about the nature of a do trine a religion or a parti ular s ientifi theory. 1ather, I want to draw attention to where one should begin in terms of strategy in our so iety in a gi!en period of time in order to a hie!e our shared ob'e ti!es and to prote t our !alues whi h are at present sub'e t to ultural, intelle tual and so ial onslaughts. ,he gra!est tragedy in traditional so ieties in general, and in the Muslim so ieties in parti ular, is that there is a la k of ommuni ation and a differen e of outlook between the masses and the edu ated lass. 0ue to the broad e&tension of the mass media, litera y,

and edu ation in the industrial ountries of the (est, the masses and the intelle tuals understand ea h other rather well and share a relati!ely similar outlook. In 2urope, a uni!ersity professor an easily ommuni ate with the 'unedu ated' masses. 3either does the professor see himself as of higher stature nor do the masses treat him as an untou hable person wrapped in a pie e of ellophane. 2!en in the early history of Islami so ieties, the present large gap between the intelle tuals and the masses did not e&ist. ,he great Muslim traditional intelligentsia, the '"+lama4in luding the 'urist4 onsults (fu)aha), the diale ti al theologians (mutakallimun), the interpreters of the 5ur'an (mufassirun), the philosophers, and the literalists ('"+daba)4had lose bonds with the general publi through religion. 0espite tea hing and studying in their seemingly isolated seminaries (haw#ah), they su essfully a!oided losing tou h with the people. Su h rapport between the '"+lama and the people e&ists e!en today. ,he ma'ority of our unedu ated masses, who ha!e ne!er e!en heard of a night lass or an adult ourse, an sit ne&t to the '"+lama, who ha!e a hie!ed prominent s holarly stature, and dis uss their problems. ,hey feel omfortable enough with the '"+lama to dis uss their needs, omplaints, their personal or family problems, and to settle religious ta&es or to ask for biblioman y or legal opinion. 6nfortunately, under the modern ulture and edu ational system, our young people are edu ated and trained inside in!in ible and fortified fortresses. "n e they reenter the so iety, they are pla ed in ertain o upational and so ial positions ompletely isolated from the masses. In effe t the new intelligentsia li!es and mo!es alongside the people, but in a losed *golden age* of e& lusi!e ir les. As a result, on the one hand, the intelligentsia pursue life in an i!ory tower without ha!ing any understanding of their own so iety, and, on the other hand, the unedu ated masses are depri!ed of the wisdom and knowledge of the !ery same intelle tuals whom the masses ha!e sponsored (albeit indire tly) and for whose flourishing they ha!e pro!ided. ,he greatest responsibility of those who wish to rebuild their so iety and bring together the unintegrated, and at times, antagonisti elements of the so iety into a harmonious whole is to bridge the gap between these two poles4the pole of theory and the pole of pra ti e4and to fill this great abyss of alienation between the masses and the intelle tuals. %or any responsible enlightened soul who wants to a hie!e something, regardless of his ideologi al on!i tion, it is a duty to build a bridge between the beautiful, !aluable, and the mysterious (in the mind of the masses) island of the intelle tuals and the land of the masses/ a bridge a ross whi h both the intelle tuals and the masses an intera t. 1egardless of any answer to the )uestion *(here shall we begin.* and regardless of your agreement with my answer, we annot help but a ept and agree with this fundamental prin iple- the first step is to build su h a bridge. Impli it in the )uestion *(here shall we begin.* there is an understanding on the part of the audien e and the person who poses su h a )uestion that two prior )uestions namely, *(ho should begin.* and *%or what purpose.* ha!e already been answered. "b!iously, the )uestion of where to begin is asked by those who ha!e a sense of responsibility with regard to their time and so iety and wish to do something about it. 6ndoubtedly, they are

the enlightened souls, for only su h indi!iduals feel a so ial responsibility and ha!e a sense of so ial mission. "ne who is not enlightened is not responsible either. 3ote that I stress enlightened souls and not those who ha!e obtained degrees. 2nlightened does not mean *intelle tual*. ,he latter, whi h has in orre tly been translated into 7ersian as enlightened (roshan+fekr), refers to a person who does mental (as opposed to manual) work. Su h an indi!idual may or may not be an enlightened soul. 8on!ersely, a person may not be an intelle tual if he works in a fa tory for e&ample4but he may ne!ertheless be an enlightened soul. ,he relation between the two is not that of two interrelated on epts. 3ot e!ery intelle tual is enlightened but some are and !i e !ersa. 9ery few are both. %or e&ample, Sattar :han was an enlightened man but was not an intelle tual, while Allamah Muhammad 5a#!ini was an intelle tual but not enlightened(Ali Akbar) 0ehkhoda was both. Many are neither and among these are the *honorable and great politi ians;* (ho is an enlightened soul. In a nutshell, the enlightened soul is a person who is self4 ons ious of his *human ondition* in his time and histori al and so ial setting, and whose awareness ine!itably and ne essarily gi!es him a sense of so ial responsibility. And if he happens to be edu ated he may be more effe ti!e and if not perhaps less so. $ut this is not a general rule, for sometimes an unedu ated indi!idual may play a mu h more important role. A study of the so ieties that ha!e leaped forward from the oppressi!e olonial state to a !ery progressi!e, aware and dynami state demonstrates that their leaders and those who assumed leadership in the re!olution and the s ientifi and so ial mo!ements ha!e often been unintelle tual. ,he so ial mo!ements in Afri a, <atin Ameri a and Asia easily pro!e this prin iple, whi h has !ery few e& eptions. "ne an safely on lude that re!olutionary leaders ha!e rarely belonged to the edu ated lasses. In the modern time, when man has rea hed a dead end in his e!ol!ing so iety, and when the underde!eloped ountries are struggling with numerous diffi ulties and short omings, an enlightened soul is one who an generate responsibility and awareness and gi!e intelle tual and so ial dire tion to the masses. A ordingly) an enlightened person is not ne essarily one who has inherited and ontinues the works of Galileo, 8operni us, So rates, Aristotle, and Ibn4Sina (A!i enna). Modern s ientists su h as 2instein and 9on $raun omplement and ontinue their a hie!ements. In prin iple, the responsibility and the rule of ontemporary enlightened souls of the world resembles that of the prophets and the founders of the great religions4re!olutionary leaders who promoted fundamental stru tural hanges in the past. 7rophets are not in the same ategory as philosophers, s ientists, te hni ians or artists. ,he prophets often emerged from among the masses and were able to ommuni ate with the masses to introdu e new mottoes, pro'e t new !ision, start new mo!ements, and beget new energies in the ons ien e of the peoples of their time and pla es. ,he great re!olutionary, uprooting and yet onstru ti!e mo!ements of the prophets aused fro#en, stati and stagnant so ieties to hange their dire tions, life4 styles, outlooks, ultures and destinies. ,hese prophets, therefore, are neither in the ategory of the past s ientists or philosophers, nor are they in the ategory of unaware ommon people. 1ather, they belong to a ategory of their own. ,hey neither belong to

the ommoners, who are usually the produ ts and also apti!es of an ient traditions and so ial molds or stru tures, nor do they belong to the ommunity of the s ientists, philosophers, artists, mysti s, monks or lergymen, who are apti!es of abstra t on epts and are o!erwhelmed with their own s ientifi or inner e&plorations and dis o!eries. Similar to the prophets, the enlightened souls also neither belongs to the ommunity or s ientists nor to the amp of unaware and stagnant masses. ,hey are aware and responsible indi!iduals whose most important ob'e ti!e and responsibility is to bestow the great God4gi!en gift of *self4 awareness* (khod4agahi) to the general publi . "nly self4awareness transforms stati and orrupt masses into a dynami and reati!e antor, whi h fosters great genius and gi!es rise to great leaps, whi h in turn be ome the springboard for the emergen e of i!ili#ation, ulture and great heroes. 8learly then, it is the enlightened soul who should begin. 3ow we should turn to the )uestion of *for what purpose.* ,his )uestion deser!es an independent in)uiry. =ere, I will look only at one interpretation of it and let the audien e, whi h is familiar with this topi , ponders about it on its own. Although not a prophet, an enlightened soul should play the role of the prophet for his so iety. =e should prea h the all for awareness, freedom and sal!ation to the deaf and unhearing ears of the people, inflame the fire of a new faith in their hearts, and show them the so ial dire tion in their stagnant so iety. ,his is not a 'ob for the s ientists, be ause they ha!e a lear4 ut responsibility- understanding the status )uo and dis o!ering and employing the for es of nature and of man for the betterment of the material life of the people. S ientists, te hni ians, and artists pro!ide s ientifi assistan e to their nations, or to the human ra e, in order to help them to impro!e their lot and be better at what *they are.* 2nlightened souls, on the other hand, tea h their so iety how to * hange* and toward what dire tion. ,hey foster a mission of *be oming* and pa!e the way by pro!iding an answer to the )uestion, *(hat should we be ome.* A s ientist 'ustifies, e&plains, and reates the onditions for produ ing as affluent, omfortable, strong, and leisurely life as possible. At most, he dis o!ers the *fa ts,* whereas an enlightened person identifies the *truth.* A s ientist produ es light, whi h may be utili#ed either for right or wrong ob'e ti!es/ an enlightened person, analogous to a *tribal guide*, (ra'id) and as the !anguard of the ara!an of humanity, shows us the right path, in!ites us to initiate a 'ourney, and leads us to our final destination. Sin e s ien e is power and enlightenment light, from time to time, the s ientist ser!es the interests of oppression and ignoran e/ but the enlightened person, of ne essity and by definition, opposes tyranny and darkness. ,he word *hekmat* (wisdom), whi h is used in the 5ur'an and within the Islami ultural milieu, on!eys the same meaning we ha!e attributed to enlightenment. 2!en when there is dis ussion of knowledge (elm'), it does not refer to te hni al, s ientifi or philosophi al learnings. It means neither irreligious knowledge* (those dis iplines whi h a religious student studies, i.e., 'urispruden e, tradition, life of the 7rophet, the 5ur'ani interpretation, ethi s, theology et .) nor *temporal knowledge* (those dis iplines whi h are pursued by a so ial or natural s ien e students i.e., physi s, medi ine, so iology, literature, psy hology, history, et .). ,hese are olle tions of spe iali#ed information and

ultural knowledge, whi h are taught as parti ular ourses in a spe ifi edu ational system. (hile religious and se ular knowledge an be helpful for enlightened awareness (agahi4e4 roshanfekri), and may ser!e as !aluable tools at the disposal of the enlightened indi!iduals, they are not *in and of themsel!es* the desired *light* or awareness. ,hat kind of knowledge ('elm') whi h is emphasi#ed in Islam is an awareness uni)ue to man, a di!ine light and a sour e of ons iousness of the so ial ons ien e. As the famous tradition puts it, *:nowledge is a light whi h God shines in the heart of whome!er =e desires.* It is this awakening, illuminating, guiding and responsibility4generating knowledge whi h we all the *di!ine light,* not the tea hings of physi s, hemistry, literature 'urispruden e, et . ,he former begets faith and responsibility of the kind the unedu ated Abudhar possessed but Ibn4Sina (A!i enna) and Molla Sadra did not. ,hat is why sometimes an unedu ated person emerges and energi#es life in a stati so iety and leads it toward an ob'e ti!e, while numerous s ientists do not e!en take the first step toward generating hanges, self4awareness and the formation of a ommon ideal, a new faith and lo!e in the ons ien e of their so iety. "n the ontrary, by utili#ing their s ientifi power, the s ientists may a t as for es hindering the progress of their own national so ieties as well as that of humanity. ,herefore, the goal of the enlightened souls is to bestow upon their ontemporary fellow men a ommon and dynami faith and to help a )uire self4awareness and formulate their ideals. 3ow, we turn to the )uestion of the *how*. %irst, an important e&planation is in order. <a k of a pre ise definition of *enlightened*, oupled with the ambiguity of the ensuing responsibilities, ha!e ost the human ra e in general, and the 2asterners, in parti ular, dearly. ,o begin with, unless there is a uni!ersal man, there annot e&ist a uni!ersal enlightened prototype with ommon !alues and hara teristi s. Man is far from the age when the earth will be one human so iety or one nation with ommon language, ulture, ideals and ommon problems. As a orollary, whereas one an speak of the uni!ersal s ientists with ommon hara teristi s and fi&ed !alues, there is no group of enlightened indi!iduals in some uni!ersal mold with a ommon trait. After studying in a uni!ersity, whether he has studied engineering, medi ine, or astronomy, an edu ated person a )uires the stature of a s ientist, regardless of whether he is from an Afri an tribe, the Islami world or a $uddhist ountry/ whether he is from the white, whether yellow, or the red ra ers whether he is a member of a apitalist so iety or a so ialist one, whether a member of the old mer hant lass or the new bourgeoisie/ in short, regardless of whate!er ba kground he omes from. ,he reason is that s ien e is based on general laws, whi h go!ern man as well as nature, and whoe!er learns these an be useful and effe ti!e in any setting or en!ironment. In short, a s ientist learns a set of fi&ed prin iples, whi h are appli able in all ases irrespe ti!e of time, pla e or politi al regime. ,he same annot be said about the enlightened person. An enlightened person is not a man, who has gone to 2urope, has studied a spe ifi s hool of thought, has passed a spe ifi ourse, or obtained a diploma. ,he fa t is that our assumption that the *enlightened,* *s ientist and *intelle tual,* are synonymous has onfused us so that we are not able to understand who is enlightened. 3or do the enlightened indi!iduals know to what ategory they belong. ,he !irtues of being enlightened annot be learned in a prestigious uni!ersity. If there is an e& eption in whi h

an enlightened indi!idual is also an edu ated one, his enlightenment is not due to the uni!ersity edu ation/ rather, the indi!idual was an enlightened soul e!en before his uni!ersity edu ation. Another misunderstanding stems from the fa t that, more often than not, people think that if a person has gone abroad and studied !arious so ial, politi al, ideologi al and philosophi al s hools of thought, and he has be ome enlightened. ,his is not the ase. Granted that he has studied Mar&, Sartre, 1ousseau, St. Simon, et . (i.e., the founders of the so ial theories and the ideologies that ha!e played a onstru ti!e and re!olutionary roles in 2uropean so ieties, and the sour e of inspiration for 2uropean enlightened indi!iduals of the eighteenth through the twentieth enturies), this only makes him a spe ialist, analogous to his ounterparts in medi ine and natural s ien es. =e is a so ial s ientist who an tea h these s hools of thought and ideologies at the uni!ersities. It does not follow that merely be ause one has studied these ideologies, he is apable of playing the role as a epting the responsibility of being an enlightened person in his so iety. ,he uni!ersity edu ation of su h an indi!idual makes him a s ientist and enables him to tea h where!er he goes. $ut it does not ne essarily enlighten him to the point of understanding the inner pains of his so iety or enabling him to generate self4awareness in the people or help the masses fashion their ommon ob'e ti!es and ideals. In short, there is no uni!ersal prototype for being enlightened.* ,here are different types of the enlightened. "ne may be an enlightened soul in $la k Afri a, but the same person is not one in an Islami ommunity. "r one may be onsidered enlightened in %ran e or in post4war industrial 2urope, a genuine and honest enlightened person who has made a differen e in his own so iety, but the same person in India will not be enlightened and may be unable to perform the role of an enlightened one there. More on retely, take >ean 7aul Sartre, whose philosophy and personality I ha!e great respe t for and would ne!er ondemn based on my ideologi al on!i tions. In industrial 2urope with its ad!an ed apitalist system and its pe uliar so ial stratifi ation, and where there has been for se!eral hundreds of years a turning away from its religious history of the Middle Ages, Sartre an be alled an enlightened soul. (ould a person who emulates Sartre's philosophy and pra ti es his world4!iew of e&istentialism or methods of so ial and e onomi analysis4in short, who is a arbon opy of Sartre4still be onsidered enlightened if he went to a different ountry. It would depend on where su h an indi!idual went. In %ran e, Germany, 2ngland or the 6nited States he would be enlightened be ause the problems, attitudes, ideals, people, politi al system, and the histori al onditions are similar. ,he (estern so ieties in general are in need of a *Sartrean* re!olution. ,hus, Sartre or those who emulate his philosophy are enlightened only in the (est where man has be ome the !i tim of onsumerism and where all human dimensions and potentials ha!e be ome restri ted and limited by the produ tion of goods, e& ess in onsumption and the freedom of se&. It is thus in need of a sa!ior who will free it from this hedonisti lust of onsumerism- Sartre is su h an enlightened sa!ior. (a!ing a Sartre4like sa!ior in Asia, Afri a or <atin Ameri a, where people are struggling to eradi ate po!erty, hunger, ignoran e and other shortages, and where they suffer from la k of industriali#ation, would simply be a atastrophe. In these so ieties, a Sartrologist

or a follower of Sartre's philosophy would not be enlightened. In pra ti e, his well4 intentioned sa rifi e would translate into disser!i e. "nly the ontemporary post4 Medie!al industrial so ieties fa e a philosophi al impasse/ hen e they are in sear h of some kind of e&planation of their being and in need of spirituality, or a religious mysti ism to break their onfined and restri ted materialisti world !iew. A (estern enlightened person is one who, understanding the situation, feels the urgen y to pro!ide appropriate slogans, ob'e ti!es, and dire tions for his people in promoting a moralisti , monasti , and anti4 onsumeristi life4style. Su h a person should adopt Indian spirituality and philosophy of illumination, and e!en rebel against automationism and 8artesian rationalism. 3ow, imagine a follower of Sartre in India. =is words and deeds would in!ite the po!erty4stri ken people of India to stop onsumer4 ism, do away with the material things they possess and dire t their attention to their inner spiritual instin ts and needs. %or the people who are being eliminated by famine and hunger, and whose religion or philosophi al outlook alls upon them to retreat from the material world, su h prophe ies are nothing but tragi omedy. "ne may also see the a tual ases in our own so iety. A prea her may be an e& ellent ommuni ator in the ,ehran region but not so in other regions. Sometime ago, I heard of a prea her from a small town who, emulating a su essful prea her in ,ehran, deli!ered the latter's sermon word by word. =e repeated, *<adies and gentlemen, " you who ride in your big 8adilla and dri!e in these streets, don't you know that there are people who do not e!en ha!e a de ent pair of shoes. If you do not help them, at least be areful not to bother them. " you who attend big parties and eat du ks ooked in whiskey, be aware that there are people who ha!e only read in story books about eating a hot meal.' ,hese words are striking, but they only make sense in ,ehran and not in a small town. ,he man who deli!ered this sermon in the town turned his pulpit into a omi tragedy. A prea her is an enlightened indi!idual and should a t as one. $ut when the same enlightened indi!idual takes the sermons, whi h are effe ti!e in ,ehran to a different geographi al lo ation, he be omes an alienated person who annot ommuni ate with anyone. In other words, there is no uni!ersal prea her. (e ha!e to ask, the prea her of what lo ation. $y the same token, there is no uni!ersal enlightened indi!idual. In short, enlightenment is dire tly related to time, pla e, so ial en!ironment and histori al onditions. %or e&ample, we all know that %ran is $a on is one of the greatest figures in the history of human thought. =e strongly propounded the notion that superstition must be done away with, and s ien e be separated from sub'e ti!ity and es hatology. Moreo!er, he maintained that s ien e should enhan e material life by seeking to understand nature and thus impro!e people's li!es. At his time, $a on was an enlightened parson. In his era and so iety, s ien e was but abstra t ideas and analysis, 'ustifi ation, and substantiation of religious te&ts and leri al postulations. 6nder su h ir umstan es, by liberating s ien e, reason, and the masses from the restri tion (of the hur h), $a on ser!ed humanity greatly. If $a on were ali!e today, howe!er, he would ha!e to say almost the opposite of what he said then (if he wished to be onsidered an enlightened indi!idual). In ontemporary 2urope, those who

follow $a on's footsteps and say that s ien e should fo us solely on e onomi and material produ tion and that human potential should be used to promote onsumerism and generate more power are not enlightened at all. Although they propagate and e&er ise $a onian philosophy, they are at best s ientists in the ser!i e of the status )uo. ,he reason is that times ha!e hanged, needs are different and ontemporary problems and rises are su h that any sa!ior in 2urope today must begin from a different angle and take a different approa h. ,hird (orld ountries, and parti ularly Islami so ieties, ha!e witnessed mistakes and de!iations ommitted by the so4 alled enlightened thinkers. An unfortunate de!elopment, whi h I all the history of * onfusing the issues* (awadi gereftanha) onstitutes the story of the fundamental errors ommitted by the edu ated Muslims as well as those of other 2astern so ieties, <ike a s ientist who imports medi ine to his ountry, these people belie!ed that enlightenment ould be imported to their home while they themsel!es played the role of enlightened persons. ,he tragi result was that the 2astern and Islami so ieties were depri!ed of their best minds, indi!iduals who ould help their ountries to re o!er from their ba kwardness. %or years the feelings. ons ien es and thoughts of our people were dire ted by the so4 alled *enlightened,* who deli!ered the wrong messages while thinking they were showing the path to sal!ation. %ollowing their in orre t diagnoses, struggles and stri!ings, opportunities were lost, and people's potentials were wasted. ,he end result was hopelessness, desperation, hatred, e!asion of responsibility, isolation, mysti ism, and !arious games of e&istentialism. ,his ontinued until it was gradually repla ed by another wrong dire tion, inappropriate ob'e ti!e or mistaken diagnosis. ,he y le repeated itself with the result that the people wasted their talents gathering around these so ial prophets. ,ake the e&ample of 7eter the Great. =e studied in the 3ether4 lands and then returned to Mos ow to work for the welfare of his people. =e was enlightened, but in the wrong way. 1ussia was a ba kward ountry, whi h had ontinuously suffered defeat by her neighbors. %or e&ample, Iran had defeated that ountry many times. 7eter the Great asked himself why the 3etherlands should rule the world and the o eans but 1ussia be so ba kward. After long ontemplation, he saw the root ause in the beard; (hen he took o!er the go!ernment he ordered e!eryone to sha!e be ause, he argued, the reason 0anish people are ad!an ed is that they sha!e e!ery day. ,he 1ussians began to look like the 0anes but no fundamental hange o urred. ,he beards were gone but that did not take the 1ussians e!en one step forward. Another e&ample goes ba k to my high s hool years in the ity of Mashhad/ we had a tea her who thought of himself as an enlightened so ial philosopher. =e taught us drawings. =e used to argue that the only solution to our problems lies in drawing. =e belie!ed that drawing ould show us the diffi ulties of our so iety as well as their solutions. ,o demonstrate his point, he would pro!ide spe ial models. =is themes dealt with en ouraging o4edu ation in Iran. =e thought that the ause of ba kwardness in Asia lay in la k of o4edu ation, and he pointed to 2uropean s hool system for proof. Moreo!er, he said that Iran should en ourage mi&ed s hools, lubs, and organi#ations

where men and women would intera t freely. It appeared that he was pro'e ting his failure in his lo!e life on the so iety as a whole. 2!en today there are thinkers and authors who try to on!in e parents and youngsters that the ause of the misery in Islami so ieties lies in se&ual restri tions. If these barriers are remo!ed and men and women intera t freely. ,hey argue, 2astern so ieties will be free from all miseries. 3ote how deep the tragedy is and how the attentions of the young generation is dire ted to this. (hile parents resist and the young generation insists on this issue, the so iety is affli ted with se&ual wars. 7arents onsider se&ual freedom the root of all misery, while their sons and daughters see it as the ause of sal!ation, progress, i!ili#ation, independen e and freedom It is assumed that these *a hie!ements* strike serious blows to olonial4 ism; In reality the war of se&ual freedom, whi h suddenly has assumed paramount importan e in Afri a, Asia, and espe ially in the Islami so ieties, is a sham to pre!ent the o urren e of the war that ought to be taking pla e, the anti4 olonialist war. ,his war of se&ual freedom is waged in order to pre!ent the waging of a struggle, whi h would be dangerous to the powers that be in the world. Se&ual freedom is used as a substitute for the other kinds of freedom by di!erting the attention of the young generation and dis ouraging them from thinking about and pursuing e onomi or politi al free4 dom. Se&ual freedom is indeed freedom of the *bottom* in pla e of the freedom of the *top* (head). In Afri an and Asian ountries, this kind of freedom has been a hie!ed, but so ial problems remain unresol!ed. ,he effe t is felt in the osmeti s industry where, from ?@AA to ?@BA, osmeti onsumption in reased fi!e hundred fold. $ut why. ,he answer lies in the fa t that after a youngster goes to s hooled reads books, enhan es her knowledge, and a )uires a degree of so ial and human awareness and an understanding of the responsibilities of ontemporary man4and 'ust at the time when human ideals begin to blossom in her mind her intelle tual de!elopment is stopped find her ideals are all dire ted toward the *bottom* only. =er energy is wasted in deli!ering talks on or writing arti les about se&ual freedom. A group who also has only se& to worry about then emerges in the other side of the issue to oppose her. ,he result is that the so iety may waste ten or e!en twenty years. Another e&ample is related to the 7ersian alphabet. 0uring the peak of the Iranian politi al struggle in Iran, ?@C?4?@AD, a group of intelle tuals propagated the following*" people of Asia, " Muslims, " Iranians, and " you who feel ba kward, de adent, miserable, hungry, and si k, beware that first you ha!e to understand the root ause of your misery;* $ut what did they onsider to be the root ause. ,he answer was the 7ersian alphabet; ,heir main ob'e tion was that the spelling of ertain words is onfusing and time onsuming. Is our time so pre isely allo ated that spending a little time in writing ould bring su h disastrous results. I am not saying that the 7ersian alphabet is flawless. (hat I am saying is that to onsider the flaws in the alphabet as the root of our misery and ba kwardness would be like attributing the illitera y of our population to the potholes in the streets. ,his does not mean that potholes should be tolerated, but it means that our intelle tuals ha!e wasted their energies on the wrong sub'e ts and * onfused the issues.* $esides, suppose we did hange our alphabet, then we might be ome another

,urkey. Is ,urkey in a better ondition than we are. Are we too far behind ,urkey. And, supposing we are; Is it be ause of our alphabet. In short, if the alphabets were the ause of ba kwardness, >apan and 8hina should be the most ba kward ountries in the world. Someone e!en suggested that, if it is not the root of all our problems, our alphabet is at least the root ause of illitera y in Iran. I argue that illitera y is aused by those who ha!e a !ested interest in keeping the people illiterate. ,here are languages with more than a thousand hara ters but that has not been an obsta le in the way of litera y. ,ake the e&ample of Islami history during the third through the ninth enturies when Islam ruled o!er Spain. Illitera y was uprooted altogether. ,hus, those who blame the omple&ity of an alphabet for their misery are trying to di!ert the attention of the people from the real ause, i.e., those who benefit from illitera y. Another e&ample was the problem of *bookburning,* an issue whi h affli ted our so iety for some time. ,here were intelle tuals who used to argue that none of our miseries were aused by feudalism, e&ternal onditions or internal degeneration/ rather, they were aused by the ways in whi h poets des ribed their mistresses. ,hey reasoned that our poets', parti ularly =afe#'s, des riptions of their feelings had led our so iety toward non halan e, lyri s, poetry and literature. ,o remedy this, these people and their followers ongregated on e a week and burned sele ted books in a eremony a ompanied with spee hes, e& itement and fanfare. It is not my aim to defend Iranian traditional poetry. My intention is to point out that this issue was brought to the fore as a way of setting a false dire tion so that the real auses of the problems in Iran would be pushed into obli!ion. ,he best opportunities and the best talents were wasted on defending or ondemning bookburning, while the real riminal li!ed in pea e and se urity. "n e, someone asked my opinion about Mr. :asra!i. In my answer I told him that I ha!e a thesis. I do not dis uss the ontent of these people's ideas. I do not ask whether :asra!i's riti ism of the si&th Shia Imam, >a'far Sadi), of Shi'ism, of Islam and its history and literature is !alid or not. I e!en assume they are !alid. ,he )uestion is that, gi!en the parti ular histori al epo h in our so iety ?@C?4?@C@, and gi!en the deep impa t of :asra!i's works on our youth, were his words warranted and were the topi s he raised of the most pressing and the most fundamental issues. (hy was it that during that parti ular time, (after ?@C@), all atta ks were dire ted against religious materials and =afe#'s paramour, identifying them as the most tragi problems fa ing our so iety, but no mention was made, for e&ample, of the Anglo4lranian "il 8ompany. 0uring this relati!ely demo rati era, what was the most pressing and fundamental issue to raise. (as it identifying =afe# as the root of all Iran's misery, or was it elaborating on the e onomi , politi al and olonial onditions whi h pre!ailed in the world. ,he opportunity to analy#e politi al and e onomi problems does not present itself often. A general prin iple may be dedu ed from the abo!e dis ussion. In a ademi settings debate on s ientifi , philosophi al, te hni al and e!en artisti issues affords the lu&ury of logi al e!aluation and re!ision. 2!eryone may e&press his parti ular opinion, but the !iew, whi h is substantiated by e&perimentation and stands the test of s ientifi laws, will

pre!ail and be a knowledged. %or theories on so ial issues, howe!er, logi al onsisten y does not suffi e. ,he onte&t of the argument or the thesis should be taken into a ount. A !alid and true statement e&pressed at an improper time and pla e will be futile. 8on!ersely, an unsubstantiated argument may be of signifi ant onse)uen e in a parti ular atmosphere. %or e&ample, during the re ent struggles in Afri a, the Afri an leaders and the enlightened persons relied on mu h mass folklore in order to a hie!e their goals. ,hey apitali#ed on the popular notion that if one strikes one's enemy but only in'ures him, the enemy's soul would get re!enge and kill the person who had stru k him. 3aturally, to a!oid the re!enge of enemy souls, an Afri an would try his best to kill the enemy. ,his belief ertainly la ks s ientifi basis and is logi ally *false*/ yet, in the Afri an struggle against olonialism, the enlightened persons utili#ed it as an effe ti!e weapon. Another e&ample is nationalism. It played a !ery positi!e role in 2uropean ountries toward the end of the Middle Ages, but now it plays the opposite role in Afri a. ,here, nationalism is like a dagger whi h, in the fa e of olonialism, hops up $la k Afri a, a ontinent whi h fa es a ommon destiny and thus should be united. In ontrast, towards the end of the Middle Ages, nationalism eman ipated 2uropean so iety from the yoke of the 7opes who had used 8hristianity to dominate 2urope. In Algeria in the ?@AEs, in order to di!ide and fra tionali#e the people and in turn to infli t a great disaster in 3orth Afri a, the olonial powers propagated the progressi!e !iews of thinkers su h as 1ousseau, 9oltaire, and Morris 0ubare, whi h are s ientifi and emphasi#e nationalism. ,he entral thesis of nationalism that ea h nation should ha!e its own state was used to di!ide the Arabs and $erbers, who had until then been united by their belief in Islam4 thus they be ame !i tims of %ren h olonialism. 3ow, in pla e of fighting the ommon enemy, Arab and $erber nationalists were fa ing and fighting one another. In short, when presented with a so ial theory, before e!aluating its positi!e or negati!e ontribution, one should understand the onte&t and onse)uen es of its presentation. Another e&ample in my dis ussion is what I all *false bonds* or *fake ommon denominators.* >ust as it is possible to reate animosity between two related groups, it is e)ually possible to establish spurious or false links between two enemies. ,his is a ta ti , whi h has been used in Afri a, <atin Ameri a and the Islami 2ast, by misusing the theses of ommon religion, nationalism, and humanism. ,hese three s hools of thought are legitimate ways of thinking, but if utili#ed in the wrong time and pla e they an easily turn into the tools of reating unity among people who should be fighting one another. =umanism is a s hool of thought, whi h is used to ombat nationalism, be ause today the latter has be ome a progressi!e anti4 olonialism front in Afri an Asia, and <atin Ameri a. In the ,hird (orld, parti ularly Afri an it is e!en more progressi!e than Mar&ism. It has taken the leadership away from offi ial Mar&ism in the struggle fur independen e. =umanism is a thesis utili#ed by the powers that be in the world, whi h ontrol the destinies of other nations to establish superfi ial and false relationships between the oloni#er and the oloni#ed. It aims to eliminate the natural state of enmity, struggle and ran or between these two opposing poles and to reate a mysti al, humanisti and general pea e between them. "b!iously, I am not talking about the s ientifi and philosophi al aspe ts of humanism, for ertainly, the oneness of the human ra e is a sa red truth. ,he

)uestions I am raising here are those of by whom, for what purpose, and at what time this sa red truth is being utili#ed. Are 2ast and (est and the oloni#ed and the oloni#er the members of the same amp. 1eferring to a parti ular nation, when used in the wrong pla e, nationalism ser!es as a amouflage, a way of establishing an artifi ial blood4based unity and relationship, but only by and for those who do not truly belie!e in this idea, in order to su k the blood of the people under the banner of nationalism. Ironi ally, su h a relationship really is based on blood be ause, after all, the blood of a lee h is the same as that of its !i tim. 6nder the disguise of the e&isten e of ommon religious on!i tion and rituals, religion has also been used to reate a false and spurious relationship between the e&ploited and the e&ploiter. 1eligious rituals, slogans, and false indo trination are easily misused for the attainment of this purpose. As a result, people who in a tuality should be enemies are linked together with the false presumption of *religious brotherhood.* =a!ing said all this, the greatest responsibility of the enlightened soul is to identify the real auses of the ba kwardness of his so iety and dis o!er the real ause of the stagnation and degeneration of the people of his en!ironment. Moreo!er, he should edu ate his slumbering and ignorant so iety as to the basi reasons for its ominous histori al and so ial destiny. ,hen, based on the resour es, responsibilities, needs and suffering of his so iety, he should identify the rational solutions, whi h would enable his people to eman ipate themsel!es from the status )uo. $ased on appropriate utili#ation of the resour es of his so iety and an a urate diagnoses of its suffering, an enlightened person should try to find out the true ausal relation4 ships between misery, so ial illness and abnormalities, and the !arious internal and e&ternal fa tors. %inally, an enlightened person would transfer this understanding beyond the limited group of his olleagues to the so iety as a whole. 8ontemporary *intelle tuals* generally belie!e that diale ti al ontradi tions at work in any so iety, of ne essity mo!e the so iety forward toward freedom and re!olution, and gi!e birth to a new state of being. A ording to this logi , mere *po!erty* or * lass differen es,* whi h symboli#e the e&isten e of so ial onfli ts, ine!itably lead to a diale ti al ontradi tion. (hi h in turn reates motion in the so iety. In reality, howe!er, this is not more than a big illusion. 3o so iety will be mobili#ed and obtain its freedom merely be ause of the e&isten e of lass differen e or tragi disparity between ri h and poor. 7o!erty and lass onfli t may e&ist in a so iety for thousands of years without ausing any stru tural transformation. 0iale ti has no intrinsi motion. 8onsidering that motion in any gi!en so iety is the produ t of transformation of the so ial onfli t from within the so iety into the ons ien e of its members, the responsibility of the enlightened person is ob!ious. $riefly, it is ''to transfer the short omings and abnormalities of his so iety into the mind and ons ien e of the members of that so iety.* ,hen, the so iety will take it from there. Another definition of the enlightened person is that he is one who is aware of the e&isting so ial onfli ts and their real auses, who knows the needs of his age and his generation, who a epts

responsibility for pro!iding solutions as to how his so iety an be eman ipated, who helps his so iety to shape and define its olle ti!e goals and ob'e ti!es and, finally, who takes part in mobili#ing and edu ating his stati ignorant so iety. In a word, a ontemporary enlightened person should ontinue in the path of the prophets. =is mission is to *guide* and work for 'usti e, his language is ompatible with his time, and his proposed solutions onform to ultural !alues of his Spe ify. ,herefore, *(here shall we begin.* is an irrele!ant )uestion. "ne should ask, *(here shall we begin in our so iety.* "ur greatest and most pressing responsibility is to see, histori ally speaking, where the Muslim so iety is. 0o Muslims li!e under the same onditions as those of twentieth entury 2urope, and is it thus possible for 2uropean solutions, ideologies and writers to be useful. 0o Muslims li!e in an industrial age, and so e&perien e the same problems as those of industrial so ieties. =a!e Muslim so ieties rea hed the modern bourgeois era. =a!e they passed the era of the rule of religion. Are they e&perien ing some kind of religious reform; Are Muslims li!ing under the same onditions as were the 2uropeans during the 1enaissan e or during the %ren h 1e!olution. =ow does one hara teri#e Muslim ulture. "n e the histori al ondition and the ulture of the so iety are understood, both the enlightened and the general publi will know what their responsibilities and duties are. =istori ally speaking, the present ondition of Muslims, as om4 pared to that of the (est, is where the latter was at the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the 1enaissan e. Similar to that time, Muslims are in a period of so ial and intelle tual transformation. 2 onomi ally, the dominant system in the Islami so ieties is an *agri ultural market* or the intermediate bourgeoisie. In other words, the largest and the basi foundation of the e onomy is agri ultural produ tion and not urban4market e onomy and bourgeois apitalism, as ommonly understood. ,he reason is that 2uropean bourgeoisie, whi h ontributed greatly to the %ren h 1e!olution, was ompletely different from that of the present Iranian or other Islami so ieties. ,he bourgeoisie in the Islami So ieties in ludes the ba#aar mer hants and not the modern industrial and banking apitalists. ,o be more e&a t, the ba#aar mer hants la k the !igor and dynamism of the modern bourgeoisie. ,hey only a t as a mediator between the agri ultural se tor and the onsumer. ,here is, no doubt, a newly e!ol!ing bourgeoisie resembling that of eighteenth entury 2urope, but it has not had the same influen e that the latter had. ,he new bourgeoisie in Iran has repla ed the old shops with modern ones, only to be ome a middleman in spreading (estern ulture in these traditional so ieties. 6nlike its ounterpart in eighteenth entury 2urope, whi h prompted urban produ tion at the e&pense of rural produ tion, the Iranian bourgeoisie has only enhan ed urban onsumption without ontributing to urban produ tion. "f ourse, there are indi!iduals who ha!e begun urban produ tion, but they are simply s attered enterprises, whi h annot be alled a national modern bourgeoisie. (e also need to know our * ultural ta&onomy.* %or e&ample Gree e has a philosophi al ulture, 1ome a militaristi and artisti one, India a spiritualisti one/ and our so ieties ha!e a religious and Islami ulture by * ultural ta&onomy*. I mean the pre!alent spirit that go!erns the body of knowledge, hara teristi s, feelings, traditions, outlooks and

ideals of the people of any gi!en so iety. ,he ommon spirit, whi h onne ts the said hara teristi s of the so iety and gi!es meaning to them is ulture by whi h people breathe, get nourishment and grow. As su h, to know the ulture of a so iety is to know its inner truth, its inner sensiti!ities and its inner feelings. %or instan e, it is hardly possible to laim that one knows the Greek ulture without ha!ing a philosophi al understanding and knowledge. Similarly, one annot laim to be an e&pert in Indian so iology without knowing $uddhism and 9edanta. It is also una eptable for one to laim to be an enlightened person without ha!ing a profound knowledge of and a presen e in the ons ien e of the masses of his so iety. %or instan e, if one is an enlightened Indian, he must ha!e omplete knowledge of 9edanta and $uddhism. Indian ulture being 9edi , a modern (estern edu ated so iologist has !ery little rele!an e in India. A Gandhi, be ause he knew his so iety and the mind of his fellow Indians, ould mo!e the so iety far greater than others ould. ,he same is true of an enlightened Muslim. =e must know that the Islami spirit dominates his ulture and that the histori al pro esses of his so iety, as well as its moral odes, ha!e all been shaped by Islam. ,o fail to understand this, as the ma'ority of our *intelle tuals* ha!e, limits and restri ts a person to his own irrele!ant atmosphere. Also, sin e generally su h an indi!idual has no religious belief and beha!es within the bounds of his 2uropean edu ational ba kground and e&perien e, he fails to establish any relationship with his own people. 8on!ersely, he is ne!er a epted in the ommunity. %ran# %anon, whom I knew personally and whose books I translated into 7ersian, was pessimisti about the positi!e ontribution of religion to so ial mo!ement. =e had, in fa t an anti4religious attitude until I on!in ed him that in some so ieties where religion plays an important role in the ulture, religion an, through its resour es and psy hologi al effe ts, help the enlightened person to lead his so iety toward the same destination toward whi h %anon was taking his own through non4religious means. I added further that %anon's anti4 religious feeling stemmed from the uni)ue religious e&perien e of 2urope in the Middle Ages and the ensuing freedom of 2uropean so iety in the fifteenth and si&teenth enturies. "ne annot e&tend this e&perien e to the Islami world, be ause the ulture of an Islami so iety and the tradition whi h has shaped that so iety is utterly different from the spirit whi h under the name of religion ruled 2urope in the Middle Ages. <ogi ally, therefore, one annot 'udge and ondemn both religions on the same ground. A omparison between the role of Islam in Afri a and that of 8hristianity in <atin Ameri a illustrates my point. ,hus, to fight Islam the same way that the enlightened indi!iduals of si&teenth and se!enteenth entury 2urope fought 8hristianity would be the gra!est error, be ause religious feelings and the religious ulture of Iran are ompletely different from what e&isted in the Middle Ages under the name of religion. ,o draw the same on lusion after omparing 8hristianity with Islam is a mistake. %or a historian or a philosopher to see all religions in the same light is tolerable, but not for an enlightened person. =e has to identify the kind of so iety in whi h he li!es, understand its people, and at the same time, appre iate the histori al ondition they are in. An enlightened person in the Islami world an ommit a great error by mistaking the religious feeling that e&ists among the Muslim masses today as their true histori al and ultural religion, thus fighting it as a sour e of

alamities. =e may then in!ite his so iety to a ept an ideology ompatible with nineteenth entury German industrial so iety, thereby playing a de!iant role in his so iety. Su h an *intelle tual* will frighten the masses by alienating them from the edu ated lass, whi h in turn will for e them to take refuge with the rea tionary, de!iant and olonial lement in order to es ape the anti4religious edu ated group. ,his may, in fa t, be the entral ause of the estrangement of the intelle tuals from the masses in Islami so ieties. A stri tly formal and proper intelle tual has no pla e among the masses and annot ommuni ate with them. It is as though they share no ommon language or ulture. An enlightened person should be aware that the de!iant and rea tionary elements whi h ha!e always been against the masses and ha!e always played with their destiny and e&ploited them4 misuse religion as an effe ti!e weapon to di!ert the feelings and the attention of the masses from their present affairs and make them think about past problems only. ,hey di!ert people's attention from the present as well as the a tual and material problems while, in the name of religion keeping the people preo upied with the afterlife as well as abstra t and sub'e ti!e issues, so that Muslims are pre!ented from stri!ing for a omfortable, affluent, and free life, 2!en their ideals and thinking regarding these matters are fo used on the hereafter. As a result religion, whi h had been the greatest sour e of energy and aspiration and the guide to a meaningful life on earth, be omes distorted to su h an e&tent that the eyes, ears and hearts of its followers are fo used on the hereafter. 7aying attention to life on this earth is onsidered a sour e of orruption while mysti ism and es hatology are greatly en ouraged. Most ontemporary enlightened indi!iduals are aware and feel these issues, but their appre iation is not deep enough to draw the right on lusion. ,hey think that religion Fi.e., IslamG plays a negati!e role in the so iety by ausing the masses to negle t their a tual and material li!es. Se reti!e and rea tionary elements along with in!isible foreign hands take ad!antage of this erroneous on lusion and use this ru ial for e against both the masses and the enlightened alike. An enlightened Muslim should a!oid imitation and superfi ial understanding of so ial problems, and appre iate the fa t that the orrupt role whi h, at present religion plays among the masses has no relationship to the true Islami ulture and religion whi h onstitute the philosophi al foundation of his so iety. More4 o!er, the anti4religious e&perien e of 8hristianity in the Middle Ages annot be e&tended to the Islami world, whether its past or its present. An enlightened person in an Islami so iety, regardless of his own ideologi al on!i tions, must, of ne essity, be an Islamologist. =a!ing understood Islam, he will in astonishment reali#e the gra!e and disastrous waste of the intelle ts and the efforts of the people due to *wrong start,* misunderstanding, irrele!ant appre iation and irrational onne tions. ,he tragedy Fin IranG is that, on the one hand, those who ha!e ontrolled our religion o!er the past two enturies ha!e transformed it into its present stati form and, on the other hand, our enlightened people who understand the present age and the needs of our generation and time, do not understand religion. As a result, our Islami so iety, despite Islam with its ri h ulture and history whi h would ha!e otherwise enabled it to eman ipate itself, ould not a )uire the religious awareness ne essary for its sal!ation.

,he intelle tuals erroneously fought Islam and the rea tionaries used it to nar oti#e the masses and to ma&imi#e their own gains. Meanwhile, true Islam remains unknown and in ar erated in the depths of history. ,he masses buried in their own stati and restri ted traditions. and the intelle tuals isolated from the masses and disliked by them. (estern and 2astern *intelle tuals* know that, in prin iple 8atholi ism, $uddhism, 9edaism and ,aoism are indi!idualisti s hools of thought, whi h di!ert people's feelings from this life. (ith its a tual and ob'e ti!e issues, to the hereafter and other abstra t and sub'e ti!e on erns. %urthermore they reali#e that their task is to bestow upon their so ieties power, responsibility and ob'e ti!ity. (hat they do not re ogni#e, howe!er is that our religious ulture4 parti ularly Shi'ism, whi h is a uni)ue interpretation of Islam4is ompletely the antithesis of those s hools of thought and religions. ,he enlightened person who sees that the present ondition of Muslims resembles that of 8hristians in the Middle Ages ommits the error of fighting Islam, 'ust as the nineteenth entury intelle tuals fought 8hristianity. ,he rea tionaries referred to earlier ha!e aused this onfusion. (hat was an enlightened 8hristian, a 7rotestant, doing during the si&teenth through the eighteenth enturies. =e was pointing out that by ignoring and negle ting the progressi!e elements of 8hristianity, the established hur h and priesthood had aused mali e and misery. Moreo!er, they had en ouraged monasti ism, intro!ersion, indi!idualism and metaphysi al beliefs and prayers. ,hus, the enlightened knew that, in order to implement religious reform and 8hristian 7rotestantism, he should re!itali#e and re!i!e the awakening and moti!ating elements of his religion. In Islam, howe!er, su h is not the ase. Islam has ne!er ignored the progressi!e, awakening and moti!ating elements. In a !ery lear manner, the two slogans of *blood and sword* and *leadership and 'usti e,* whi h embody all the rele!ant dimensions of the pro ess of generating mo!ement and awareness, ha!e been adopted as the symboli essen e of Shi'ism. ,hese slogans ha!e endured in Islami history. Indeed, of all aspe ts of Islami ideology and ulture, people preser!e must dearly the uprising of =ussein. It is his martyrdom that they mourn and ommemorate yearly. "n the other hand, the 7rophet of Islam and other religious leaders ha!e always in!ited people to wage struggle ('ihad). Het, in a tuality, one sees little effe t. (hy. ,he reason is that although slogans are authenti and genuine, their interpretation has been negati!e. ,he form has been kept inta t but the ontent has been distorted. It is as though a benumbing me hanism is at work to transform the rage of =ussein's blood to mourning tears. ,o be sure :arbala is not forgotten, but the sword of Islam is. ,he sword is now used only for beating oneself on the days of mourning. An enlightened Muslim, thus, should not be easily de ei!ed. =e should be fully aware of the fa t that he has a uni)ue ulture whi h is neither totally spiritual, as is the Indian ulture nor totally mysti al, as is the 8hinese, nor ompletely philosophi al, as is the Greek, and nor entirely materialisti and te hnologi al, as is the (estern ulture =is is a mi&ture of faith, idealism and spirituality and yet full of life and energy with a dominant spirit of e)uality and 'usti e, the ideology that Islami so ieties and other traditional so ieties of the 2ast are in desperate need of. ,herefore, instead of being a translator of the works of foreign authors4whi h are useless to the masses anyway4 a Muslim

enlightened person should engage himself in dis o!ering, e&tra ting, and refining the life gi!ing and powerful spirit of his so iety. =e e&ists in the onte&t of a dynami ulture and so iety as well as in the ons ien e of his people. "ne hara teristi of this spirit is that, unlike other religions, whi h 'ustify po!erty, Islam ondemns it. A great student of Islam, Abudhar, says, *(hen po!erty enters a home, religion e&its from the window.* ,he prophet of Islam and the founder of that religion de lared- *(hoe!er is not able to pro!ide for himself will not ha!e a good life in the hereafter.* ,hese are ontrary to the ontemporary understanding of Islam whi h laims that *one who is aught in po!erty and misery has a leaner and humbler heart and is, thus, more amenable to re ei!e unseen inspirations.* An empty stoma h la ks e!erything. A so iety, whi h has e onomi problems also, la ks spiritual wealth. (hate!er is alled ethi s in a poor ountry is nothing but de!iant ustoms and habits, not spirituality. "ne way that the dynami aspe ts of Islami ulture an be understood is through omparing Imam Ali's way of life with that of the 7ope. (hen Ali assumed power he ordered all e&isting pay s ales to be an eled, and began paying e)ual salaries to e!eryone whether the highest ranking military offi er, who was at the same time an important so ial and politi al figure in the so iety, or the sla!e of the same offi er. Is there any go!ernment in the ontemporary world whi h is ommitted to the prin iple of e)uality as mu h. Is there any ontemporary so ialist system, whi h would be ready to implement su h a measure. (e ought to state and e&press the outlook, the ob'e ti!es and the in linations that make up Islam and tell the enlightened persons that, in the onte&t of their so iety and ulture, in order to be able to obtain mutual understanding with the masses and in order not to be separated from the masses not only must they rely on religion (i.e., Islam) but also honestly belie!e that the elements of this religion do not in!ite people to think of the past instead of the present. ,hese elements are based on onstant stri!ing ('ihad) and 'usti e ('A+dalat). Islam pays attention to bread, its es hatology is based on a ti!e life in the world, its God respe ts human dignity and its messenger is armed. A+dalat is not simply a religious prin iple but the spirit that go!erns all aspe ts of Islam, and is onsidered the !ery ob'e ti!e for whi h all the prophets were sent. "ne day Imam Ali noted that Maytham, one of his ompanions, had di!ided the dates that he was selling into two different 8ategories and was selling them at two different pri es. =e angrily reminded Maytham that he was not allowed to ategori#e God's people into different lasses by di!iding the fruits into !arious types. ,hen, he mi&ed the dates with his own hands and ordered Maytham to sell them for one pri e to e!eryone. "r, note the pra ti es of Abudhar as ompared with those of St. 7aul. If one passes identi al 'udgments about the two. It is not enlightenment but in fa t the e&er ise of absolute ignoran e and in'usti e Abudhar, who de!oted all his life to the struggle against e&ploitation and e!entually died in the pro ess annot be ompared with St. 7aul, who laimed that *the temples of God are built upon hunger,* and that *hunger is a ompanied by inspiration.* A philosopher or a historian an study religion any way he wishes. An enlightened person, howe!er, is not allowed to onsider religion, either s ientifi ally or sub'e ti!ely,

as an absolute phenomenon. 2!ery enlightened person must find out for himself what the so ial role of his religion is. ,his is e&tremely important be ause the mistake of an enlightened person is not similar to that of an ordinary writer it is the mistake of a so ial leader, of a so ial sa!ior, of an heir to the prophet of Islam as well as other prophets in the history of mankind. <et us summari#e the points raised here. Gi!en our ulture and spe ifi definition of *enlightened* as a person with a propheti mission, the ob'e ti!es and responsibilities of su h a person are to transform the e&isting so ial onfli ts from the onte&t of the so iety into the feelings and self4 ons iousness of its members. An enlightened person should obtain the raw materials from his ontemporary so iety and so ial life. ,here e&ists no uni!ersal type of enlightened person, with ommon !alues and hara teristi s e!erywhere. "ur own history and e&perien e ha!e demonstrated that whene!er an enlightened person turns his ba k on religion, whi h is the dominant spirit of the so iety, the so iety turns its ba k on him. "pposition to religion by the enlightened person depri!es so iety of the possibility of be oming aware of the benefits and the fruit of its young and enlightened generation. 0ue to their uni)ue world!iews and awareness, enlightened indi!iduals an play the most effe ti!e and long4lasting role in edu ating and mobili#ing the masses of their so iety. (ith great intensity, the so iety e&pe ts its enlightened persons to edu ate it on erning !arious elements of danger, rea tionism, orruption, ana hronism and onfusion. ,he dominant spirit of the Islami ulture is that of >usti e and <eadership. Islam is a religion unlike other religions it hallenges other religions, e&presses la k of belief in them and de lares them !oid. "ur so iety is based upon a religion and outlook, whi h is the ideal of all ontemporary men, be ause our religion has the *tradition of martyrdom.* 3one of the holy leaders of Islam ha!e died of natural auses in isolated a!es or monasteries- rather, they ha!e all been martyred in prisons or on the battlefield. ,o eman ipate and guide the people, to gi!e birth to a new lo!e, faith, and dynamism, and to shed light on people's hearts and minds and make them aware of !arious elements of ignoran e, superstition, ruelty and degeneration in ontemporary Islami so ieties, an enlightened person should start with *religion.* $y that I mean our pe uliar religious ulture and not the one predominant today. =e should begin by an Islami 7rotestantism similar to that of 8hristianity in the Middle Ages, destroying all the degenerating fa tors whi h, in the name of Islam, ha!e stymied and stupefied the pro ess of thinking and the fate of the so iety, and gi!ing birth to new thoughts and new mo!ements. 6nlike 8hristian 7rotestantism, whi h was empty4handed and had to 'ustify its liberationist presentation of >esus, Islami 7rotestantism has !arious sour es and elements to draw from. Su h a mo!ement will unleash great energies and enable the enlightened Muslim to?42&tra t and refine the enormous resour es of our so iety and on!ert the degenerating and 'amming agents into energy and mo!ement.

I4,ransform the e&isting so ial and lass onfli ts into ons ious awareness of so ial responsibility, by using artisti , literary and speaking abilities and power as well as other possibilities at hand. D4$ridge the e!er4widening gap between the *island of the enlightened person* and the *shore of the masses* by establishing kinship links and understanding between them, thus putting the religion, whi h ame about to re!i!e and generate mo!ement, at the ser!i e of the people. C4Make the weapon of religion ina essible to those who ha!e undeser!edly armed themsel!es with it and whose purpose is to use religion for personal reasons, thereby a )uiring the ne essary energy to moti!ate people. A4<aun h a religious renaissan e through whi h, by returning to the religion of life and motion, power and 'usti e, will on the one hand in apa itate the rea tionary agents of the so iety and, on the other hand, sa!e the people from those elements whi h are used to nar oti#e them. $y laun hing su h a renaissan e, these hitherto nar oti#ing elements will be used to re!itali#e, gi!e awareness and fight superstition. %urthermore, returning to and relying on the authenti ulture of the so iety will allow the re!i!al and rebirth of ultural independen e in the fa e of (estern ultural onslaught. B4And finally, eliminates the spirit of imitation and obedien e, whi h is the hallmark of the popular religion, and repla es it with a riti al re!olutionary, aggressi!e spirit of independent reasoning (I'tihad). All of these may be a omplished through a religious reformist mo!ement, whi h will e&tra t and refine the enormous a umulation of energy in the so iety, and will enlighten the era and will awaken the present generation. It is for the abo!e reasons that I, as a ons ientious tea her who has risen from the depth of pains and e&perien e of his people and history, hope that the enlightened person will rea h a progressi!e self4awareness. %or whereas our masses need self4awareness, our enlightened intelle tuals are in need of *faith.* The End