AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Ayatollah Ali Akbar Rashad, a member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, said at the opening ceremony of the first international conference on the "School of the Martyred Imam Mujahid" with a focus on explaining the thought, conduct, and governance of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, "The great martyred figure marks the beginning of a historical, eternal, and civilization-building revolution, and we hope this conference will serve as an introduction and prelude to this great, history-making, and civilization-building movement."
He added, "How can one speak of a vast ocean with unparalleled depth? How can one speak of a prismatic, comprehensive, multifaceted, and wondrous personality? As the poet said, 'If you pour the sea into a jug,' it is impossible, and no matter how much is said about such a personality, it will not be enough."
Rashad continued, "I only wish to briefly refer to some aspects of this personality and provide some examples."
He stated, "From ancient times, the division of knowledge has been proposed as the division of wisdom; theoretical wisdom with its branches and sub-branches, practical wisdom with its vast scope, and industrial wisdom. The martyred leader was the gathering place of all these types of wisdom and all their branches and sub-branches; of course, in some areas with greater scope and depth along with numerous innovations, and in some areas with a more limited range."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution added, "If the Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Leader's Works and all the professors present at this conference were to prepare only a detailed list and index of the dimensions and elements of that great man's personality until the main event and the closing ceremony, even this list alone would become a thick book and an extensive collection."
He continued, "The limited time does not allow for entering into details, and doing such a thing is a monumental task that is not possible in a limited time."
Rashad, referring to some of the personality traits of the martyred leader, said, "One of the most important characteristics of his was the comprehensiveness of his personality and his being a gatherer of opposites."
He added, "Our dear leader was a miniature image of the personality of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (a.s.). The meaning of this expression is that if we want to present an image of a comprehensive, multidimensional, and gatherer-of-opposites personality, this expression can be used, of course, not by way of comparison with the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), because he is without equal."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution stated, "Just as it is said of perfect human beings that they are manifestations and reflections of divine names and attributes, not that they are God, about the martyred leader it can also be said that he was a reflection and manifestation of many aspects of the personality of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), and an image of that great personality was manifested in him."
He continued, "The martyred leader, in addition to being comprehensive in all aspects, was also a gatherer of opposites; meaning that characteristics were gathered in him that, in conventional view, seem difficult or even impossible to combine in one person."
Rashad stated, "In many fields, he was an expert, had views, had done academic work, and had innovations; including in the field of mysticism, which is usually not considered among the conventional fields of activity of a jurist and mujtahid, but he also had views and a high rank in that area."
He added, "The martyred leader was without a doubt a great jurist. Although his advanced jurisprudence classes had been discontinued in recent years, in the early years after he began teaching, I had the opportunity to attend his classes. After that, due to conflicts with my own academic schedule, I could not continue, but I always followed his discussions."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution continued, "Not enough academic work has yet been done on his jurisprudence. Of course, the Imam Reza (a.s.) Institute has done valuable work in this field, but there is still much room for work."
He said, "He was an outstanding and extraordinary personality in jurisprudence, and I believe that in the history of Shiite jurisprudence, he was superior to many jurists in two respects."
Rashad added, "Before the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom announced its opinion on his religious authority, I announced his supreme juristic knowledge in a speech before the Friday prayer sermons in Tehran."
Regarding the reason for this opinion, he stated, "Ijtihad has two wings; one major part is knowledge of rulings and the other is knowledge of subjects. The martyred leader had extraordinary power in understanding and deriving rulings, and on the other hand, due to his continuous presence in various social, political, and managerial arenas, he was also unparalleled in subject knowledge."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution continued, "The late Sayyid Muhammad Kazem Yazdi, the author of 'Urwah al-Wuthqa,' which for over a century has been the main text of advanced jurisprudence classes in seminaries, considered supreme juristic knowledge to be 'goodness of understanding'; meaning that the most learned is one who has more intelligence, acumen, precision, and power of understanding, not merely one who has more extensive information about the opinions of jurists, legal theorists, hadith scholars, and biographers."
He emphasized, "The martyred leader was also an outstanding personality in this regard, and in addition to his innate intelligence, he possessed very high intelligence and power of understanding."
Rashad continued, "The martyred leader had extraordinary mastery over the tools of ijtihad. His mastery of the science of legal theory and also of the Holy Quran was unparalleled."
He added, "He sometimes spoke frankly about the Quran being abandoned in the process of ijtihad; an issue that perhaps was not pleasing to many. The martyred leader stated that sometimes we act in ijtihad and jurisprudence in such a way that if someone never even opened the Quran from the beginning to the end of their life, they might still be considered a mujtahid. This statement was a very precise and thought-provoking point."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution stated, "He also held an outstanding position in Quranic exegesis, the science of narrators, and Quranic sciences, and had specific opinions in these fields."
He continued, "The martyred leader was unparalleled in Islamic history, and in general, he also had very deep and extensive knowledge and analysis of Islamic history, Iranian history, contemporary history, the history of the region, and Western history."
Rashad added, "As I mentioned earlier, he was also unique in subject knowledge, and in my opinion, among contemporary jurists, there was no one at his level in this field."
He stated, "Despite being a prominent jurist, the martyred leader also had specialized expertise in areas that many people are unaware of."
Referring to the martyred leader's familiarity with music, the member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution said, "For example, he had extensive studies in the field of music. He had thoroughly studied 'Al-Aghani' by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, a 25-volume collection that is in fact a kind of encyclopedia of art, especially music, and had also written marginal notes on it."
He added, "The martyred leader had deep familiarity with musical topics and the science of music. Of course, it should be noted that the science of music is not merely a performing skill, but a body of knowledge that has a precedent in the scholarly tradition of Islamic sages and Shiite scholars, and he had scholarly expertise in this field."
Rashad continued, "I had observed on many occasions that when a eulogist was reciting elegies in his presence, after the program ended, the martyred leader would comment on the musical mode used, and would even recommend that if this poem were performed in another mode, it would have been more appropriate."
Referring to the martyred leader's literary abilities, he stated, "Regarding his literary abilities in poetry and prose, Professor Haddad Adel has already spoken, and there is no need to repeat them."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution added, "When the collection 'Hadith of Guardianship' was being compiled and reviewed in the presence of the martyred leader and a group of institute members, upon the recommendation and decision of the group, it was decided that no word from the text of his remarks would be changed."
He continued, "The text that is now available to audiences under the title 'Hadith of Guardianship' is exactly the martyred leader's own statements; because his prose and expression were so fluent, firm, elegant, and refined that there was no need for editing or polishing."
Rashad continued, "The martyred leader repeatedly invited novelists and fiction writers whose works he had studied to meet with him."
He added, "In one of these meetings, about 70 writers were present, and the martyred leader had studied all their works, written marginal notes and critiques on them before the meeting."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution stated, "He had even recorded the time of studying the works, and in many cases, the study time was in the middle of the night, after 12 o'clock; when he would usually intend to rest, he would instead study novels and stories."
He continued, "It is reported that in the early editions of some books, there were notes with the date and time of his study, which were later removed when published. The collection of these critiques and marginal notes forms a considerable volume."
Rashad added, "This point shows that a prominent jurist and mujtahid paid serious attention to the novel, a modern form in literature, and often encouraged writers to work in the field of fiction and novels."
Referring to the martyred leader's familiarity with military affairs, he said, "During the Sacred Defense, it is reported that when operations were being designed, army and IRGC commanders would gather in the war room, each presenting their specialized views and suggestions on how to execute the operation."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution continued, "After the commanders presented their views, the martyred leader would also enter the discussion, pointing out the flaws in some plans and presenting his own suggestions."
He added, "This issue had also been asked of the martyred Lieutenant General Ali Sayyad Shirazi, and he confirmed that the martyred leader would enter into completely technical discussions related to the design of military operations, and his suggestions were often accepted by the commanders."
Rashad stated, "This was while he had never received formal military training and had not even completed his military service. This demonstrates his intelligence and analytical power in a field that had no direct connection with jurisprudence, legal theory, or exegesis."
Referring to the martyred leader's cultural perspective, he said, "In my opinion, and with the little knowledge I have of the field of culture, he was the greatest cultural scholar in Iran's history."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution added, "The martyred leader's cultural understanding, both in theory and in application, was unparalleled. The theories of 'cultural invasion,' then 'cultural surprise attack,' 'soft war,' and 'cultural NATO' were among the concepts that he proposed and explained in accordance with the developments of the time."
He continued, "The martyred leader had raised these issues even before the beginning of his leadership. Two years before being elected as the leader, when he was president, he spoke about cultural invasion in the artistic field, but those remarks did not receive much attention. After becoming the leader, he raised these issues again, and they gradually became a comprehensive theory."
Rashad stated, "A few years later, some friends who had traveled to regional countries as well as France brought books on the same topics, and it became clear that theories the martyred leader had proposed years earlier were later also considered in academic centers around the world."
He added, "One of the prominent characteristics of the martyred leader was his leadership and pioneering in raising many issues and theories."
Referring to the martyred leader's economic views, the member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution said, "Researchers in the field of economics were also always amazed by his scientific precision, innovation, and depth of vision in economic issues."
He continued, "The theory of resistance economy, although numerous academic and practical works have been done on it, is still not fully understood, and if the country had adhered to the full implementation of this theory, many of the problems we face today would have been resolved."
Rashad, referring to the martyred leader's role in the development of the Persian language, stated, "He also held an outstanding position in the field of coinage and terminology. Professor Haddad Adel, who has chaired the Academy of Persian Language and Literature for many years, knows better than anyone the importance of coinage. In my opinion, if the terms, combinations, and words the martyred leader invented or proposed were collected, a valuable and rich dictionary would emerge."
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution continued, "The martyred leader made a great contribution to the richness of the Persian language by coining combinations, precise equivalencies, and substituting Persian words."
He said, "Leadership, innovation, creativity, and comprehensiveness in various scientific, cultural, economic, and social fields were among the prominent characteristics of the martyred leader, and it can be said that he embodied a collection of all perfections."
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