Be’that of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.): The source of all virtues

3. Moral virtues
Again, if we imagine a third situation in which there is a movement towards moral virtues, this would be different from the other two cases I discussed earlier. Sometimes a society might have individuals who enjoy moral virtues. The people of that society might be forgiving, intellectual, wise, benevolent, cooperative, patient in the face of problems and hardships, well-behaved and ready for self-sacrifice wherever needed.
The opposite situation may also exist. That is to say, there might be a society whose people might formulate their relationships on the basis of self-interest, rather than on the basis of mercy, clemency, justice and good behavior. In such a society, people tolerate each other only as long as this is in line with their interests, otherwise they would be prepared to annihilate each other. This is another kind of society.
Such a society would be a society of Jahiliyya and it is very different from an Islamic society in which moral virtues are dominant. One characteristic of the Holy Prophet’s (S) Be’that was that it called people to moral virtues. And this is another point about the life and Be’that of the Holy Prophet (S). Therefore, one can say that ethics is in fact one of the boundaries and characteristics that sets apart Islam and the era of Jahiliyya.
4. Not limiting one’s outlook to the material world
Another point, which is the last point, is that people should not limit their outlook to their worldly life. This is an essential point. One of the characteristics of a Jahiliyya society is that its people believe that their worldly life is everything. If they manage to achieve certain things in their lives such as food, comfort and whatever that is related to one’s personal well-being they consider themselves winners. But if they make an effort or do something that will not produce results in this world, they believe that they have been deceived, that they have failed, and that they have suffered a loss.
This is another characteristic of living in Jahiliyya. Doing something for the sake of God, spirituality and the Day of Judgment does not make sense in a Jahiliyya society. One of the characteristics of an Islamic society is that one’s entire life and efforts is not limited to this world. This is the characteristic of Be’that and the opposite point is Jahiliyya. 6
The Importance of unity and the necessity of efforts to create it
Thanks to the awareness of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.), one of the blessings of the Islamic Revolution was that the birthday anniversary of the Holy Prophet (S) motivated the introduction of “Unity Week”. This is interesting because Islamic unity is an unfulfilled wish. Some people truly cherish this wish and some others only pay lip service to it. In any case, it is necessary to find a practical way to fulfill this wish.
It is not possible to fulfill any wish in the absence of selfless efforts. And when we think about practical ways of fulfilling this wish and this goal, one of the best ideas that comes to mind is building everything around the greatest personality in all creation, namely the Holy Prophet of Islam (S) who represents the point at which all Muslims’ emotions and beliefs come together. Among all Islamic truths and teachings, there might not be another point that all Muslims agree on both emotionally and ideologically. In Islam, emotions play an important role as well. Except for certain groups who have separated from Muslims and do not attach a lot of importance to emotions and affection, the majority of Muslims have strong affection for the Holy Prophet (S). Therefore, the Holy Prophet (S) can be the pivot of Muslim unity.
Characteristics of the enemies of Islam and Islamic Awakening
Today I would like to put special emphasis on the issue of unity in the presence of high-ranking officials and outstanding personalities from across the world of Islam. Dear brothers and sisters, today the issue of unity is an absolute necessity for Muslims. Today the enemies of Islam and Muslims have two characteristics which they never had throughout the history of Islam. One characteristic is that they are well equipped with money, political means, propaganda tools and various kinds of instruments that they can use to influence others, to infiltrate and to harm.
Who are the enemies of Islam? The camp of the arrogant powers including Zionism, America, oil companies, mercenary writers and intellectuals who work for them is well equipped. There has never been a time in the history of Islam when the enemies of Islam were equipped with so many instruments.
Another characteristic of the enemies of Islam is that this well-equipped camp has become very sensitive to the threat that Islam and Islamic Awakening poses to them. And this sensitivity is because they see that Islam can go beyond the boundaries of moral recommendations and appear in a position to create a new order. The enemies of Islam saw that Islam gave rise to a revolution in Iran. They saw that Islam established a firm and solid government. They saw that Islam raised the awareness of a people and helped them recover from the state of spiritual defeat and achieve stability, self-reliance and confidence in themselves and in their religion. They saw that Islam made a nation so powerful that all the instruments I discussed earlier proved ineffective against it.
Around seventeen years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the only superpower that existed in the world was forced to retreat in its political and economic confrontation with the Islamic Republic. Today this issue has become visible to them. This issue is not hidden from the eyes of the analysts who work for the arrogant powers. Islam has revealed its power.
They saw that in the world of Islam, any group of people who are after reforming their society and their country, rely on Islam. Before Islam had achieved victory in Iran, when certain groups of people in different countries wanted to shout slogans of reforms, they would rely on Marxism or on radical nationalism. However, today in Islamic countries, intellectuals, youth, clerics, academics and different groups of people who want to demand reforms, rely on Islam. This shows the high capacity and potential that Islam enjoys. The enemy can see these things and therefore has become sensitive.
The world of Islam is faced with enemies who have these two characteristics: they have more instruments than ever before and they have become more sensitive to Islam than they ever were. What will these enemies do?
The best option that is available to the enemies of Islam is that they can foment discord among Muslims, particularly among those who can be inspirational to other Muslims. Notice how much money is spent in different Islamic countries in order to write books and attribute fanciful beliefs to Shia people. Once I gathered a large number of such books and I realized that many books had been written in this regard.
The cleverest individuals are employed to try to prepare such books with the aim of fomenting discord, with the aim of isolating portions of the Islamic Ummah in which the flag of Islam has been raised. Islamic Iran is the pioneer in this area and thanks to Islam, Muslims have managed to gather their forces in certain other places to counter different events against the arrogant powers.
Today there is a lot of money in the world of Islam. There are many ideas. There is enormous manpower. There are a large number of religious scholars, poets, writers, artists and competent political personalities in Islamic countries. A major portion of financial and subterranean resources belongs to Muslim countries. Notice what will happen in the world if Muslims move in the same direction or at least avoid working against each other.
The enemy is trying to pit all these human and financial resources of the world of Islam against one another. They provoked the Iraqi regime and gave rise to eight years of destructive war in this region. Then they helped the Iraqi regime in the hope that it will manage to uproot the young sapling of Revolution. Of course, they failed. “Have you not considered how Allah sets forth a parable of a good word (being) like an immaculate tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven?” This is the characteristic of the word of Islam: it cannot be uprooted.
“… and whose branches are in heaven, yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord?” 7
And today they are doing everything in their power on the political front. Therefore, as a servant of Islam, as a person who sees and feels what machinations the enemy is designing, my conclusion, my understanding, my interpretation and my recommendation to our Muslim brothers is that today Islamic unity is a vital necessity for Muslims. This is not a joke or a slogan. Islamic communities should seriously look for ways of achieving unity and they should move forward in the same direction. Of course, creating unity is a complex task.
Unity between different Muslim nations is possible despite the differences that exist among Islamic denominations, among customs and lifestyles of different Muslim nations, and among various approaches to Islamic jurisprudence. Unity among Islamic nations means that in the case of issues relating to the world of Islam, Muslim nations should move ahead in the same direction, help each other and avoid using their domestic resources against one another in their countries.
• 1.Sura al-Furqaan, Ayah 30
• 2.Supreme Leader’s speech delivered on August 26, 1994 to government officials and participants of the Islamic Unity Conference
• 3.Wasa’il al-Shia, Vol. 1, P. 15
• 4.Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 18, P. 202
• 5.Sura an-Nahl, Ayah 90
• 6.Supreme Leader’s speech delivered on December 31, 1994 in a meeting with government officials on the occasion of Mab’ath
• 7.Sura Ibrahim, Ayahs 24-25