Khamenei Also Knows Secularism and Religious Disaffection Have Gripped Society

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi is the ideologue favored by Ayatollah Khamenei. Khamenei's numerous praises for Mesbah are unforgettable. Now, Mesbah Yazdi is referred to as "Allameh" (a title of respect), but it is unclear what he is an "Allameh" of. He sits in Qom, constantly lecturing and teaching to strengthen Islam, Muslim identity, and the Islamic Republic. On the anniversary of the 9th of Dey, Mesbah Yazdi gave an extensive interview to the weekly 9 Dey. He faces the fundamental question of why the Islamic Republic has not fulfilled the promises made by the clergy before the revolution after 40 years. To justify this, he turns to the Quran, the Prophet, and Ali ibn Abi Talib, saying: "Is there a better program than the Quran? Is there a better executor than the Prophet and the Commander of the Faithful? But how many Islamic goals were realized during the presence of the Prophet and the Commander of the Faithful? Therefore, it should always be kept in mind that this world is not for the complete realization of all goals; it is a place for testing." He suggests that we should be content with what we have achieved and not have high expectations. However, Mesbah forgets that Ayatollah Khomeini and the jurists claimed - and still claim - that religion is a program for life from birth to death and that there is no issue for which religion does not have an answer. But now that the 40-year record of the Islamic Republic does not match the promises made by the jurists, he states that the prophets and Imams also failed, and people rose against them. People accused the prophets of great crimes, killed them, and treated Ali ibn Abi Talib in the same way. He defends a kind of otherworldliness, saying that the lifespan of this world is very short, and only a few people live to be a hundred years old. But the afterlife is eternal. We must view this world as a moment for that world. This approach requires cultural activity and justifying the people. He rejects the transformation of Iran into America and Japan, stating that after the war, Hashemi Rafsanjani's Reconstruction Government sought to develop by looking to America and Japan for models. They sent a group of experts to Japan and spent a lot of money to learn their methods. This policy was wrong because: "The essence of this movement and the formation of this government is for cultural work, for human development; it is to succeed in this test for eternal happiness." Mesbah Yazdi's claims contradict not only the slogans and promises of the clergy but also the statements of Ayatollah Khamenei, who constantly says that the main issue is the economy and that all officials must devote their efforts to economic development. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has an interesting trick to solve this issue. He says these statements are pragmatic. Because the leadership: "If they do not say this issue, the enemies will use it as a subject and take this lever from the system, saying you ruined it, now we want to build it; therefore, he emphasizes that we must provide for people's livelihoods; so that the Marxists do not take this slogan from us; even now, you see in the Islamic Republic, in the universities of Tehran and Islamic universities, Marxist tendencies are taking shape." On 6 Dey 97, he also told women that the root of all societal problems is the forgetting of religion. In this speech, he questioned why Ayatollah Khamenei says the main issue is the economy and constantly emphasizes social justice. He stated that economic inequalities in many countries have led to the emergence of atheistic Marxist parties. He then said: "If it were not for the presence of the Supreme Leader and his wisdom, such parties might have emerged in our country as well. His wise management has controlled the situation with regard to priorities and taken the slogan from the socialists. Meanwhile, it is clear that Islam did not come solely for the livelihood of the people." Thus, according to Mesbah, Ayatollah Khamenei is not concerned about people's livelihoods; he is worried about losing power to rivals. He harshly criticizes officials who seek to transform Iran into a developed country, claiming that their model is America and Israel, and they want to make Iran similar to one of the states of America. He states that these types of officials have an instrumental view of God, religion, and the afterlife, and consider becoming American as a goal: "If we only think about technological advancement, will society be corrected? With this view, we will ultimately become like a state of the United States or another Israel. Did we revolt for this? I am sure that in the minds of many officials, their greatest aspiration is to reach the level of one of the states of America. They want to say we became America; we, who were not counted anywhere, became America. God, religion, values, and martyrdom were also tools for this purpose." Khamenei constantly speaks of growth. He claims that the current youth are certainly more religious than the generation of the revolution and the generations after it. If there has been a decline, there has also been much growth. However, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, contrary to him, is very worried. Mesbah's report on society contradicts Ayatollah Khamenei's report. Mesbah says that based on rights and freedoms, they are uprooting the essence of Islam. According to him, young people, the public, and university professors say: "If someone wants to go to heaven, what should they do? We have nothing to do with heaven and hell. Do I have the right to say I do not care about Islam or not? Then what happens to human rights? What happens to freedom? Did you not say independence and freedom of the Islamic Republic? Freedom means if I want to become an infidel, I should be able to. Why do you speak so badly of us that we have deviated from Islam? I do not want Islam. These kinds of issues are serious, and even professors raise them in universities. They want to distance our youth from the main issues of religion. Tomorrow, we may open our eyes and see that our high school children mock heaven and hell and the first night of the grave and such matters." Mesbah warns that the entire system, based on Ayatollah Khamenei's statements, is busy fixing the country's economy - just like the Marxists and liberals - but in the meantime, spiritual values are being destroyed. Contrary to Ayatollah Khamenei, he states: "The educations and religious values are gradually fading, and in their place, freedom, democracy, human rights, progress, technology, and such issues are taking their place. This is a danger that threatens the future of the revolution. It is gradually coming forward, and suddenly we open our eyes and see that, God forbid, the revolution has been lost." He also laments the state of women's hijab in Qom, stating that this form of women's appearance in the religious city of Qom was entirely unimaginable. Why does Khamenei not take action? The Guardian Jurist has absolute powers. He must intervene to prevent deviation and disaffection from religion. So why does he not act? Mesbah claims that Khamenei also knows the reality very well, but he does not intervene pragmatically. The leadership is well aware that with this trend, the next generation will say: "We must have Western democracy with all its characteristics, even if religion is trampled." To prevent this "potential danger," he has limited himself to the legal powers that people have voted for. But if he wants to act beyond the law, "the people (the powerful and wealthy) will not tolerate it" and will question the essence of religion. He states that certainly the understanding of the Guardian Jurist is better than the general understanding, and he acts pragmatically, and our duty is absolute obedience. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi considers pluralism and secularism as two threats to Islam in this interview. However, he states that the danger of secularism is much greater than the danger of pluralism because secularism negates the essence of religiosity. However, if we prove the necessity of religiosity, then the danger of pluralism arises, which claims that all religions are equal and it does not matter what religion you have. On 27 Azar 97, Ayatollah Mesbah stated: "The dominant tendency among intellectuals is that religion is not necessary for human life; this is secularism; because secularism means the separation of religion from serious aspects of human life... even within our own Islamic country, there are traces of secularism among high-ranking officials of the country." In the interview, he again warns about the officials of the system and the seminaries, saying: "Now there are traces of secularism among our officials, and even in our seminaries, it is unconsciously infiltrating, and we are oblivious. When religious values become diluted and disrespect towards religion occurs, this danger becomes pronounced." To support this claim, he says that before the revolution, if a pious merchant lent money and charged five percent interest, he would be completely ostracized in religious environments because usury is war against God and the Prophet. But now the official economy of the Islamic Republic operates with interest rates of 20 to 35 percent. Secularism has removed the stigma of usury, and officials of the system officially say that nothing can be done without it. When the Islamic Republic wants to help the poor with a loan at five percent interest, it becomes the usual usury before the revolution. In practice, with brokerage, this five percent becomes twenty percent. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, who stated in the Friday prayer on 13 Tir 1382 in Tehran: "Today, our Islamic Republic system has become one of the most usurious systems in the world" (Mesbah's Discourse, Islamic Revolution Document Center, 1387, p. 814), adds in this conversation: "Well, this is a trace of secularism. It means that religion should not interfere in the economy, and today's economy is just that, and if we want an economy, this is it; the same goes for other issues. In politics, they say we only give slogans that America cannot do anything, but what do we have against America? If America sanctions a certain product, we will be miserable. That is, whatever promises they make, we cheapen it, in reality, they want to reconcile with America. It is called that the government wants to plan, and they promise the people that goods will become cheaper, but the reality is that they want to make a deal with America, and they tell them that we will give you this concession, and you will lift this sanction and not be too strict." Thus, the secular government of Hassan Rouhani is conspiring behind the scenes to reconcile with America. Sanctions and concessions and reconciliation go hand in hand. Another conspiracy is that Hassan Rouhani said on 19 Azar 97: "Whether or not the JCPOA exists must be translated for the people regarding how much benefit it has and how much harm it can cause if it does not exist; can we not cooperate with the world's banks today? However, someone is sitting in a corner and inciting the people that if this contract is signed, Islam will be lost. I wish he understood Islam and said such a thing. Running the country is with the people, and they must be asked about it. The costs of actions must be communicated to the people so that if something is done or not, what facilities and costs it brings for the people," these are because "deep down, they believe that with America, not to mention, we cannot even confront its servant!" Therefore, we have no choice but to reconcile with America. Khamenei and his followers intend to marginalize the Green Movement's suppression and the house arrest of its leaders by "mythologizing" the government protests of 9 Dey 1388. However, their most important ideologue acknowledges that the situation is critical. When he looks at the heart of society, he sees nothing of religion and Islam. It seems that secularism has engulfed the entire system and seminaries, and Khamenei is also pragmatically moving along this path.