Iranian-Islamic civilization today needs re-reading and re-presentation more than ever

Ayatollah Ahmad Mobaleghi, a member of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership and Iran's representative to the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, spoke to the Taghrib News Agency(TNA). Explaining the relationship between Iran, Islam, and civilization, he considered raising the discussion of Iranian-Islamic civilization in the current circumstances an intellectual, social, and strategic necessity. He stated: "Given Iran's regional and international situation, raising these discussions has become doubly necessary in the current situation, because Islamic Iran, in facing the world's great powers, has displayed a manifestation of resistance, strategic planning, revolutionary patience, political wisdom, and military prudence."

Ayatollah Mobaleghi stated: "This resistance is not merely a political or military event, but a sign of the civilizational backing of Islamic Iran. The enemy also observes Iran from a civilizational perspective; if civilization were absent, Islamic Iran would not have the strength to resist, stand firm, and achieve victory."

Iran's representative to the International Islamic Fiqh Academy added: "The roar that rises from the throats and footsteps of these people in the nights is not an instantaneous phenomenon; rather, it is an eruption from the springs of the innate nature and essence of this land. This eruption from the heart of this land once gave rise to Rostam Dastan, and when the raw brick of epic was baked in the kiln of Islam, the Iranian spirit rediscovered its lost self in the stature of Ali Akbar and the epic-makers of Ashura, and that roaring river of epic evolved into a superior vision."

Stating that the Iranian soul has always wandered in search of wisdom, he said: "This land has always been a center for the aggregation and alchemy of ideas. Practical wisdom has deep roots in this soil, which later manifested in Illuminationist philosophy and Transcendent Theosophy, and in the shade of Islam donned a more magnificent garment, appearing in the passionate ghazals of Hafez and the wisdom-teaching Gulistan of Saadi."

This member of the Assembly of Experts, referring to the status of knowledge in the history of Iran, said: "Turning the pages of ancient records shows that the seat of governance in this land has never been an arena for the empty-handed. In many cases, knowledgeable ministers sat on the seats of chancellorship to guide the ship of society with the anchor of knowledge through the turbulent sea of time to the shore of salvation."

Referring to Iran's historical capacity to absorb, digest, and elevate ideas and cultures, he stated that against historical invasions, due to its civilizational structure, Iran has always been "the digester, not the digested." Islam has flourished the latent capacities of Iranian civilization at a superior and more complete level.

Referring to the fact that when a human being enters the world and appears on the horizon of existence, he mirrors language, culture, wisdom, and identity, he said: "The Iranian human has a remarkable story and a strong presence in the process of history. The Persian language is one of the important pillars of the emergence of Islamic civilization in Iran. In conveying mysticism, wisdom, poetry, ethics, and religious concepts, it is not merely a tool for verbal transmission, but rather plays a role in the construction and development of concepts, because the Persian language has been able to reveal an important part of the semantic capacities of Islam and make them accessible to culture and society."

In conclusion, he emphasized: "For its consolidation, society needs three groups: scholars, sages, and economic activists. Politics without wisdom is deprived of the capacity for deep leadership. Malik bin Nabi's theory on the relationship between 'ideas, persons, and things' in the formation of civilization, by focusing on the primacy of thought in civilization-building, makes it possible to integrate people and utilize material resources on the path of civilization. Therefore, a society that wants to preserve and strengthen its civilization must expand the field of thought, dialogue, and theorizing."