“The Islamic Awakening might be suppressed in part of the Islamic world for a while but undoubtedly it would not be uprooted. It would keep growing. Such a concept and understanding seen in countries and the younger Muslim generation in the region is not something which can be easily discarded. Of course, they (hegemonic powers) will continue trying and their efforts might seem successful in certain domains for a short period of time, but will not continue in the long run,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a huge crowd of people participating in the 25th demise anniversary of the founder of the Islamic Republic and Father of the Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini, in Tehran on Wednesday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has the first say when it comes to policy making in the region; it stands alone against the usurper regime (of Israel), that is supported by the world bullying powers; it does not tolerate the tyrant while defending the oppressed,” the Leader added.
Ayatollah Khamenei further underscored Iran’s scientific and technological progress as well as political and social success, specially the country’s valuable achievements in the establishment of democracy in the years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and said, “In these 35 years, we have had 32 elections.”
“An exceptional instance of the elections was the Islamic Republic referendum with the highest rate of public participation, which was several times higher than the world average. Our elections are distinguished by 70 percent and 72 percent turnout, which is a clear instance of the establishment of democracy in the country. Two more exceptional instances for proving Iran’s democratic establishment are the rallies marking the victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the International Quds Day,” the Leader pointed out.
The Leader further noted Iran’s giant progress in the post-revolution era, and added that the country has sent satellites and living creatures into the space and has produced nuclear energy despite the Western sanctions.
The Leader reminded that the pace of Iran’s progress has been 13 times more than the world average.
Late in April, Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Awakening has emerged in the form of a social and organizational movement under the influence of the intellectual movement of Imam Khomeini (RA) and the Islamic Republic.
The Islamic Awakening has proven its existence and influence in security and political disputes and is on the path to becoming an undisputed power on the international scene, the Leader said.
Imam Khomeini’s movement started in 1964 and finally led to the victory of the Islamic Revolution and establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
For over thirty years, the imperialists have been trying to contain the influence of the Islamic Revolution to the borders of Iran, but finally the Islamic Awakening bore fruits and created great waves across the region.
Although Islamic Awakening has always been present among Muslims, Imam Khomeini turned it into a great force which revived the socio-political role of Islam. The Islamic Awakening emerged concurrent with the all-out aggression of the West against the Islamic world and the era of imperialism, and progressed through various stages since its beginning until the era of Imam Khomeini.
Formed on the basis of the ideas and thoughts of figures such as Seyed Jamal al-Din Assadabadi, the movement circulated among limited and known circles but it could never become a dominant discourse. Even when figures such as Hassan al-Banna and Sayed Qutb promoted the movement in Egypt, it could not enter the lives of all Muslims and cause a change.
For the first time, Imam Khomeini turned the Islamic Awakening discourse in to a “political practice”. He not only introduced it into the practices of all Muslims but also into the collective memory of all the oppressed people across the world.
Connection between collective memory and the Islamic Awakening discourse, thanks to Imam Khomeini’s insight, paved the way for obtaining major achievements for the Islamic and humane society. The first and foremost achievement was that the sub-discourse of Islamic Awakening turned into a dominant one.
Obtaining such achievement, however, was never easy because competing discourses always sought to obstruct its progress. The awakening discourse, engineered by Imam Khomeini, was a historic movement, never a temporary one, which will continue throughout the history, everlastingly.
