Hizbullah fighting under the Leadership of Imam Khamene'i (20.10.1997)

[Elias] Your Eminence, your 18-year-old son Hadi was killed by Israeli soldiers during a Hizballah operation in mid-September. What do you feel about this loss? Hatred or grief?
[Nasrallah] My son was not killed while he was loitering in the street. He faced the enemy with a gun in his hand. He marched to the front determinedly and self-confidently, inspired by the desire to destroy the enemy. His death is not a victory for Israel, but a victory for the Hizballah. We are proud of this dead man. As secretary general of the Hizballah, I am happy.
[Elias] Are you also happy as a father who has lost his son?
[Nasrallah] I would be lying if I tried to make you believe that the loss of my son does not hurt. But you have to look at things this way: he died as a martyr; and this is the greatest joy that a father can feel. We very greatly respect and honor martyrs; they are like saints to us. [Elias] Are your political motives stronger than your paternal feelings?
[Nasrallah] My friend, listen carefully. What I am saying now has a religious basis: we believe in God, and according to our belief, martyrs begin a new, much more beautiful life in paradise. They have a special place with God. At the Last Judgment, when the good and the bad will stand before God, the martyrs are allowed to plead for their family members.
[Elias] Does that mean that your son has sacrificed himself for his family as well?
[Nasrallah] Hadi will certainly take us to paradise, all families of martyrs will experience that joy. It is the greatest happiness for us to leave our short life on earth and live beside God, His representative, and His representative's successors. I thank God for making me the member of a martyr^/s family.
[Elias] Did you encourage your son?
[Nasrallah] He made the decision all on his own and voluntarily. Hadi was determined to be accepted to the ranks of the special units, the elite of the Lebanese resistance, at any price. These men are given a particularly severe military training, which takes almost 36 months. My only share in this was that my wife and I did not stand in the way of his decision, but respected it.
[Elias] Three years of training means that your son became a fighter when he was 15. Can such a serious decision be left to a child? Did you not have any qualms?
[Nasrallah] No, we regard our sons at that age as men-to-be who can make their own decisions. And I must admit that I was very pleased and happy with his decision. The path of resistance is stony and thorny. Each of these young men knows that the path he embarks upon is the path of a martyr. Each one of them expects to die and longs for this martyrdom. We are not afraid of death, we love it and yearn for it.
[Elias] The Israelis were rejoicing when your son died. For them, his death is a victory in the fight against terrorism.
[Nasrallah] The Zionists should not rejoice too early. They should understand the martyr's death of my son Hadi properly. They are facing resistance fighters who do not fear death, but who provoke it. The leaders of the Hizballah are not leading a comfortable life in luxury. Let me tell you a secret: my son Hadi is not the only son of a Hizballah leader who fights in the ranks of the resistance. Many sons of Hizballah leaders are fighting in the front row.
[Elias] After your son's death you threatened that a merciless fight will now break out between the Hizballah and Israel. What did you mean by that? Will you pick Israeli politicians or their sons as targets?
[Nasrallah] We are not murderers, but men of the resistance. We will chase the enemy everywhere. All methods are allowed in a merciless war. We will turn the ground under the occupiers' feet into hell. Palestine can only be liberated by men who are prepared to die a martyr's death—like my son did.
[Elias] Are your emotions not running away with you? Hizballah is only a small resistance movement, and Israel is one of the biggest military powers in the Middle East.
[Nasrallah] You do not seem to be watching what happens at the border between Lebanon and the Zionist entity.
[Elias] Missile attacks, ambushes, followed by punitive operations by the Israelis. This has been going on for years.
[Nasrallah] How do you interpret the Zionists' behavior after each military debacle in the occupied territories in southern Lebanon? The lamentations in the Zionist society can no longer be ignored. Netanyahu said recently: I am prepared to withdraw from southern Lebanon, if someone guarantees that the Hizballah does not follow us to northern Israel. Just think what these words mean, coming from a head of state of what you consider as one of the biggest military powers in the region.
[Elias] Netanyahu has to take the population's feelings into account, which—unlike you—does not want to continue sacrificing their sons.
[Nasrallah] Netanyahu no longer demands a peace agreement with Lebanon. He no longer demands a security zone, he only wants us to leave him alone. He wants a guarantee that we will not pursue him to northern Israel. But I can tell Netanyahu that we do not know a northern Israel; it is called: the occupied northern Palestine. Never will we recognize the existence of northern Israel.
[Elias] Does that mean that you will continue your fight if Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon?
[Nasrallah] Let us think rationally. Let us assume that hell freezes and Israel makes the unimaginable true, which means that it withdraws from southern Lebanon and the Syrian Golan Heights. Let us also assume that the borders remain calm. Do you think that there will be reconciliation and peace between Arabs and Jews?
[Elias] Why should Arabs and Jews not be able to live in peace?
[Nasrallah] Even if all this happened, there would be no reconciliation and no peace as long as Palestine is occupied by the Zionist enemy. The Jewish entity is the symbol of terrorism. It is a terrorist state through and through. There can be no peace with an entity that makes Jews from all over the world come to Palestine and robs the Palestinians of their land and their home.
[Elias] Israel's right to exist has been recognized by many Arab states. Will you never accept an Israeli state?
[Nasrallah] Exactly. Palestine belongs to the Palestinians, not to the Jews. Only our guns and our martyrs will bring peace to the region. The times are over when we were afraid of the Zionists.
[Elias] The civilian population suffers from the Israeli retribution.
[Nasrallah] It is true that the Zionists have a strong air force, but the army of the Zionist entity has long ceased to be the legendary army it used to be. The deaths of the Israeli soldiers who died in southern Lebanon have made an end to the myth of the invincible Israeli army. The strategy of that army was to fight without suffering any losses. But what can such troops do against people who like to die and want to die as martyrs? Can you not see this new development?
[Elias] Israel's Internal Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani threatened recently that if the Hizballah terrorism does not stop, Israel will destroy the infrastructure of Lebanon--roads, bridges, electricity, and water supply--to make the Lebanese realize what price they have to pay for the attacks on Israel. Do you really want to risk everything that has been rebuilt after 15 years of civil war?
[Nasrallah] We are very well aware of these threats. They are nothing new. They reflect nothing but sheer fear and helplessness; they prove that the Zionists are no longer able to defeat us by military means.
[Elias] Oh yes, they are.
[Nasrallah] What military answer do the Zionists have? Overrun Lebanon again like they did in 1982? Expand the security zone toward the north? This would only mean enlarging the region in which we offer resistance. That would be good for us, for then the Zionists would return home in wooden coffins like they did after the invasion in 1982. Netanyahu had better not forget what happened when Rabin and Peres had such plans.
[Elias] Are you not afraid of the possibility of complete destruction?
[Nasrallah] The Zionists should not believe that we and our brothers, the Mojahedin in Palestine, are unable to blow up every civilian target. In the event of an Israeli attack on civilian targets in Lebanon, we are very well capable of putting the Zionist entity in a state that leads to the collapse of tourism. I would advise the Zionists and their political leaders to understand the message of my son's death. The Zionists cannot do anything against someone who loves death and wants to be a martyr.
[Elias] How far have the negotiations got on the exchange of captured and dead soldiers and fighters between you and Israel? Who acts as mediator between you and the Israeli side?
[Nasrallah] The International Red Cross. But this is not fast enough for us. They are content with acting as postman. The present situation is that the Zionists only want to exchange dead bodies. We also want to get Lebanese prisoners free. So far, the Zionists have refused to discuss this. And that is why the family of missed Israeli soldier Itamar IIja should know that they will not get the remains of their son until our prisoners have been released in return.
[Elias] The Israelis are still missing flight navigator Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986.
[Nasrallah] Arad is not in our hands.
[Elias] Where is he?
[Nasrallah] I do not know. I would be glad if we had him. That would allow us to increase our demands.
[Elias] The Israeli side hopes that the death of your son will make negotiations with you easier, because it is important for you to get his dead body.
[Nasrallah] Nonsense. Our priorities are clear. It depends on when a fighter died or was taken captive. According to this, my son is at the end of the exchange list. The Israelis should not have any false hopes. My son is a martyr like all the others, he does not get any preferential treatment.
[Elias] During the last exchange of dead and prisoners, German Intelligence Service Coordinator Schmidbauer acted as mediator. Do you want to get the German Government involved again?
[Nasrallah] No, we do not want the Germans at the moment. They established contact with us immediately after the Zionists' debacle on 5 September, offering their help; but we rejected the offer.
[Elias] Why? You could at least accept humanitarian help.
[Nasrallah] No. Since the verdict in the "Mykonos" trial, relations between Germany and Iran have been very poor.
[Elias] But these are bilateral problems by which Hizballah does not need to feel affected.
[Nasrallah] Oh yes, we do. This does not only concern Iran and Germany. Shiites all over the world are offended and hurt by the accusations against the spiritual leader of Iran, 'Ali Khameine'i.
[Elias] German courts are independent. The Federal Government did not influence the verdict.
[Nasrallah] The German court made its verdict under the pressure of the US Government. Washington wanted to do the Zionist entity a service, and Germany had to give in. The West still has to develop a lot of sensitivity and instinct to realize what a spiritual leader of the Shiites is. I can assure you that the Iranian Government will stick to its decision to let the German ambassador return to Tehran only after all the other European envoys have come back.
[Elias] But new Iranian President Khatami seems to be adopting a more flexible course.
[Nasrallah] Nobody will question that decision. Our spiritual leader Khameine'i is untouchable, we respect and honor him. I would advise the German Government to accept that the German ambassador will be the last one to return to Iran. And Germany will certainly not get the favored position it had before the trial.
[Elias] Your oldest son, a part of your heart and the light of your eye, as he is called in Arabic, is dead. You have another son. Would you sacrifice him as well?
[Nasrallah] If this is my second son's wish, of course. He has just turned 15 and said that he wants to adopt the path of his older brother and become a martyr. I do not want to be in his way.
[Elias] What does your wife say?
[Nasrallah] I only wanted to be sure that my son has made up his mind. His mother was faster than I: she said she is happy, if he adopts. the path of his older brother.
[Elias] Your Eminence, thank you for the interview.

Ayatollah Hashemi’s Course On Wilayat al-Faqih

Notice:This important discussion was presented by Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroodi in his course of Khariji Fiqh (post advanced jurisprudence)in the holy city of Qom in the autumn, 1997. He is the head of the institute of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh)Encyclopedia and the professor of Islamic sciences in the chief Islamic seminary in Qom and recently has been appointed as the head of Iranian Judiciary.

In the name of God and peace be upon our master & prophet Muhammad. This discussion was about appointing the judge, in the second and the last part of this discussion we are dealing with the case of Wilayat al-Faqih (leadership of a jurist over society). In last session we discussed on three narrations concerning Wilayat al-Faqih which called Ibn Issac correspondence, Abi Khadijah narration and Maqboulah narration. From the above narrations it was infered that they refer the muslims to the jurists not only for judgment but also in all affairs and happenings. The narration of Issaq Ibn-Jaqub which has been narrated from Imam Al-Mahdi (may God hasten his uprising) the twelfth Imam, is one of the most reliable reasons for proving Wilayat al-Faqih which is one of the greatest findings in Fiqh of Shia. Recently some spiteful remarks have been revealed by some unaware friends and other spiteful people against Wilayat al-Faqih.This remarks are really silly and have got many negative points. It is really unfair to attack this important and fundamental principle of our state and our nation by making doubts about Wilayat al-Faqih. I am positive If Imam Khomeini was alive he couldn`t tolerate this matters, as far as I remember in his period, there were less important remarkes against Wilayat al-Faqih which were reacted by Imam very severly and were blamed all of them by him and called them as the ones who didn’t understand the real concept of Wilayat al-Faqih. To clarify that, these spiteful remarks really aren’t based on a good will, I point out to this fact why their attacks are against Wilayat al-Faqih ? I think the answer is really easier to think of it, because they know this Wilayat al-Faqih is the base of our state and the secret of our succession

First, I would like a word with yon as an intrduction of Wilayat al-Faqih and secondly, a detailed discussion on Wilayat al-Faqih and Marjiyyat. I think no one doubts that the best person to accept the responsibilty of Wilayat al-Faqih is Ayatollah Khamenei. Maybe at frist there were some doubtful ideas. After these year Ayatollah Khamenei’s manner was so brilliant that made no question for friend and enemy. Praise be to God that he has got the necessary qulifications as a leader perfectly, some characters like the good understanding of social circumstances and also the spirit of Islam. In additon to what mentioned above he has a lot of expericnces in the Islamic state of Iran that has made him as a deserved person for leadership so that these characters can’t be found so perfectly in any other one in our society. I forget to say about Ayatollah Khamenei's power and dominance on Ijtihad (the authority of decision making on Islamic laws by a jurist). In some new cases the other Mujtahids (leading jurists) haven`t revealed any solution or legal decisions but he has. I dare consider this matter as a distintive point for him comparing other great jurists. It is not very hard work to expose the topic which had existed in great books such as Orwah and Javahir(two famous book of the Shia Jurisprudence). I believe Ijtihad can’t be shown by trying on former discussed topics but by working on matters that other Jurists didn’t try on them or didn't pay enough attention.

Some of our friends and I have been witness that Ayatollah Khamenei starts and analyzes a matter very perfectly finding the causes and caused very accurately so that the relations are quite clear. I think it is unfair to neglect of having such leader and following our selfish wills. Consequently I believe there is no doubt in the high rank of Ayatollah Khamenei. Some of his researches and essays have been published in the Quarterly of Fiqh-E-AhlulBait (the quartely of the Institute of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh)Encyclopedia.

In additions to general qualifications of any Mujtahid which were mentioned some, Ayatollah Khamenei has gained some other special scientific and Fiqhi (Jurisprudential) characters as Follows :

First, he has gaind a good Knowledge on Rijal (The science of studying Hadith norrators’ biography and their reliablity). Ayatollah Khamenei considers a lot of importance for this matter in his researches so that has presented some new topics and also settled some old problems. His another distinction is, having a good understanding of Quran and Hadith (narrations and traditions). He can infere and clarify the matters by clear and nice reasons. This kind of understanding is the basis of Fiqh.

One of the most important critiques toward Foqaha (relgious jurists) is related to the way of reasoing which is caused by weakness on underestanding Quran and Hadith, but as it was said, Ayatollah Khamenei is very powerful in this case. He also analyzes the literal point of Quran and narrations very beautifully and sometimes gets to new points.

Another distinction of Ayatollah Khamenei is his logical and accurate discipline of thinking which can help in analyzing the complicated cases. Finally I deeply believe there is no doubt in the competence of Ayatollah Khamenei for Leadership although there are always some pricless and spiteful ideas.

After this introduction, I come to the main point which includes Wilayat al-Faqih (The authority of a leading jurist as the Leader of society) and Marjaiyyat (the authority of a leading jurist as the people's reference on Islmic practical laws), the latter “Marjaiyyat” was functioing before Islamic revolution but the second (Wilayat al-Faqih )didn’t function because Maraji (famous leading jurists) weren`t authorized and also weren`t on power for ruling and leadership, therefore the principle of Wilayat al-Faqih couldu`t function and just Marjaiyyat which was a part of Wilayat al-Faqih worked.

This authorization as Wilayat al-Faqih started by Imam Komeinei`s great endeavour who made the governing of Foqaha(leading Jurists) practical and possible. So nowadays we can see Wilayat al-Faqih which is the most perfect form of Marjaiyyat is functioning. Wilayat al-Faqih not only includes refering to a leading jurist by people for the Islamic practical laws (Marjaiyyat) but also involves the leadership of the society by that leading jurist. This change in our society aims starting the realization of religion in whole society.

Now a Faqih (leadeing jurist) shouldn`t act just in very detailed cases such as managing the orphan`s properties and the matters like this. It is really unreasonable that a Faqih engages himself with very detailed matters and doesn`t feel any resposibility in society for imporant social problems. What does this belief mean saying a Faqih should just function for the detailed and practical laws such as orphan`s affairs, and a Faqih isn`t deserved to come to power as Wilayat al-Faqih. This is my question, why isn`t it possible for a Faqih to have power to execute all Islamic laws in society as a ruler or autuorized responsible?

The author of Javahir Al-Kalam says, " whoever doesn’t accept the principle of Wilayat al-Faqih won`t taste the sweet taste of Fiqh". So it is clear that Wilayt al-Faqih is one of the most fundamental principles of Fiqh. The only disagreement comes back to the mentioned thought that a Faqih can`t govern. I think the root of this thought comes back to the periods and eras in which, the govering of a Faqih looked quite impossible, the thought which was formed gradually.

However this principle “ Wilayat al-Faqih is a clarified and a settled point which can be infered from Quran and narrations and also by rational causes and understandiug the spirit of Fiqh.

The author of Javahir profist from his Fiqhi (Jurisprudential) talent and makes some interesting decision about imprtant cases like Judgment. Some jurists doubts the improtant documents which indicate Wilayat al-Faqih such as Maqboulah or Abi_khadija narrations, even if we put this important document aside, we can infere by a rational method which says that a legislator surely wouldn't be satisfied with not being a Judge, Shiite in a Shia society. So we can infere that there is a kind of appointment for a Shiite Judge who is a well qualified jurist.

Here is a fundamental question, If we are not left in a simple point like appointing of a judge, in the case of appointing a deserved person as the Leader (Wali-E-Amr) this fact is very clear and this appointment and its conditions should be practiced in a society.

Another point which I want to have a word on it includes this fact that `Wilayat al-Faqih is the continuation of Imamate(Leadership of Tweleve Shia Imams). Todays we see some spiteful ones who are instiling some doubts into people’s mind that the legitimacy of Wilayat al-Faqih is given by people, these ideas are perfectly against the Quranic verses and famous narrations which explicitly express that Wilayat (Leadership) firstly belongs to God then his prophet next the Imams and finally the ones who are appointed by Imams so in this case there is no chance for the people to choose. In the narration which indicated the appointing the judge it`s been told that "we choose for you a judge, not you ".

In here, maybe someone rely on the theory of Al-Showra (Counsil) or the modern ideas such as direct election which has come from the West. The point is, Shiism hasn`t any background or any record about it. The best reason for not existing this point in Shia culture is that, there isn`t any narration of our Imams (peace be upon them) about Al-Showra or clarifying the condition of voters. This point “Al-Showra”can be applied nowadays for choosing the responsibles of a state but for the case of Wilayat al-Faqih we see all the Quranic verses are against it and there is no way. Some Quran verses like “ The ruling is for no one except God " or " There is no authority for them " or " Obey God and his prophet and those among you who have been authoized by the prophet to rule over you ". If we care, we’ll see there is no expression indicating the election of a ruler by people.

Among narrations we also see some such as “ They are my deputies to you and I am God`s deputy “ which was told by the prophet Muhammad (p.b.h).As we see in the Islam history Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (p.b.h) when he was the head of the Islamic State chose all of his governers himself and didn`t say to people which one you like to choose.

I believe the matter of election has come completely from the West and there is nothing about it in Islamic documents. In sunni culture even the concept of Al-Showra (counsil) is quite different from its today`s concept because the appearance of Showra for sunni was based on political reasons. As we see in the period of Omayyads and Abbasids there isn`t any institution called Al-Showra and just is defined in the period of four caliphs.

There is another meaning for election and electing in the Fiqh of Shia in which the act of electing means knowing and introducing someone by people. This concept is highly different from its western concept, neverethless in this concept there is a special role for the people to supervise the governers.

Nowadays we see some people who wants to make the principle of Wilayat al-Faqih dependent on electing by people so that people can authorize or depose whenever they want. I believe the purpose of such an idea is sweeping Wilayat al-Faqih away and they want to deviate this important principle.

Hereby, I deeply request the young and learned scholars to study on this case carefully and try not to be influenced by the deviating matters which are exposed here and there.

The next point which I want to discuss about, is" A'lamiyyat" (to be the most learned among the famous jurists).In old books on Fiqh this expression hasn`t been mentioned and recently has been used in comtemporary texts especially in the case of “Ijtihad” which includes refering to the jurist by people for their practical laws.The root for forming this idea comes back more to a rational cause. It means when there is a disagreement between two Faqihs (Jurist) in their opinion for a practical law, the people can refer to the more learned one(A'lam).

Some contemporary jurists believe in following the A'lam (the most learned jurist) as a obligatory precaution, meanwhile I have to mention some points about definition of A'lamiyyat. I believe the kind and the degree for A'lamiyyat which can be considered as the base of preference between two learned jutist is the difference which is really highly deep and clear between them.

If the difference of two" Learned Jutist is" little but there is a lot of common points, in here we can`t say which one is A'lam (more learned) because they have attended in the same seminary, the same school of thinking and also education and the methods are the same. When this differences is really deep so that they belong to two different periods, school or method, in here we can say the one who is more qualified and has attended more famous teachers and more advanced period can be considered as A'lam(more lerned).

The other point concerning the concept of A'lamiyyat is that, the theory of A'lamiyyat doesn't consist of being dominant just on Usul-al-Fiqh (principles of Fiqh) or Rijal (the science of studying narrators' biography and their reliablity). We consider these factors effective on A'lamiyyat when they've got a practical and applied use in Fiqh whereas we know these factors haven`t merely so much effective use in Fiqh by themselves.

So what are the other effiective factors except above and also important aspects which are functioning in Fiqhi (Jutisprudential) inference that can make a jurist as the most Learned Jurist (A'lam).

In my opinion these factors can be as follows :

First,Having a deep understanding of the spirit of Islam which can be very important for an inference. This kind of understanding not only needs having a good knowledge of Quran, traditions and narrations (Hadith), Fiqh and principles of Fiqh but also is in a great need of being familiar to the practice and manner of the prophet(p.b.h) and the Imams(p.b.t). It means a Faqih (leading jurist) should accurately know how the ptophet and the Imams who had the contorl of society behaved facing different problems. How did they executed the Islamic laws in the society ? I think for having a good knowledge on the prophet and the Imams practice and behaviour, first we should care that what kind of priorities they considerd for the good of society paying attention to the circumastances of the society.

In here I should fire to this point that one of the reasons which made Imam Khumeini as the most learned jurist was this character, I mean understanding the prioroties. The time he presented the theory of Wilayat al-Faqih really shows his genius of undestanding the situations and priorities. He felt a kind of suitblity for exposing this theory and finally suceeded. Before Imam Khumeini this theory “Wilayat al-Faqih” just consisted of supervision of a jurist on the matters like appointing the judge, caring orphan`s affairs and the subjects like these. If Imam Khumeini hadn`t gained such a deep underestanding of the reality of Islam, the prophet`s and the Imams' practice and especially a good understanding of social situations, he couldn`t infere the theoty of Wilayat al-Fiqh through the Islamic laws and Fiqh.

Paying attention to this point shows the character of A'lamiyyat in Imam Khumeini made a practical and applied benefit for the society, not just trying fruitlessly doing some theorical work without any effects.

There is a narration which Wilayat al-Faqih can be infered from it which is called “Ibn Issac Correspandence”. Imam Khumeini with well justified and presuading reasons infered the theory of Wilayat al-Faqih from it. The mentioned reasons were literal and verbal or nonvrbal.

Another factor which is effective on A'lamiyyat is having a good underestanding of cultural, intellectual and legal matters which is very influential on infering the new and old matters, some new subjects like banking and banking systems, economy and Islamic economy, Judgment and etc …., although such matters like prayer and cleaness are basically important but aren`t very effective on governing a country as a leader.

The other point which is really necessary for a Leading Faqih is being dominant on Ahlulbait`s (the shia Imams) knowledge, theological matters, moral and histoical points. If we suppose two Leading Faqih and the fitst one has limited himself just in a special Hadith book like Wasil al-Shia (one of the biggest hadith book of Shia) and the second Faqih has got a perfect knowledge of shia Imams' narrations, surely I consider the second one as a dominant person on pubilc culture and Islamic knowledge. The mentioned skill can be very useful for underestanding the Quran verses and narrations more deeply. In above example the first Faqih who lacks this knowledge is unable to infere perfectly and his reasonings are incomplete. We can conclude of what I told above, that it is not enough for a scholar to study just some years in a Islamic seminary studying only Fiqh or Usul al-Fiqh very well and then say now I am a Learned Faqih or the most Learned (A'lam).This is Just a small point of A'lamiyyat as I enumarated some factors already.

The charateristics which I told for being A'lam are really existed in Ayatollah Khamenei. He believes that Fiqh should be gotten from the Fiqh itself and it shouldn`t be influenced by outer factors. This adavantage is one of his high characters. In the case of infering and making jurisprudential (Fiqhi) decisions, his decisions are really close to the famous decisions. He respects the great scholars' ideas very much and tries to get all of the good point of them and then expose his own opinion. This character is also one of the brilliant character of Ayatullah Khamenei for being A'lam.

To summatize what I told about the case of A'lamiyyat, I belive, for ttis case we should consider a full dimentional definition as I explained in details.

Now as the final subject I pay a little attention to Marjaiyyat (the state of being as a Leading Jurist as people`s reference for their ptactical Laws and needs). Here is a questions which expresses that A'lamiyyat isn't the only condition for Marjaiyyat. If we care, we'll see Marjaiyyat is a kind of leadership of the people for their religious and ptactical laws needs, in other words, it is a kind of religious and legal legislation. For this reason there are some other conditions for Marjaiyyat such as justice, righteouness and legitimate birth. For some of these conditions we can`t find an important reason but we can just say because it is an important position in the society therefore, the owner of this responsibilities should qualify these conditions.

Ayatollah Sadr in his epistle of the practical laws called " Al-Fatawa Al-Waziha" enumartes another conditions as well as the other conditions mentioned by other jurists for the case of Marjaiyyat. Theses conditions are efficiency and adequacy of a jutist. I haven`t seen this point in other jurists epistles and books.

I think it is a good topic to be discussed and analyzed in Islamic studies centers and seminaries. Now the point is that, the justice and righeouness which are necessary for Marjaiyyat, how should be their degree ? I believe it should have a high degree, even higher than the righeousness and justice which were mentioned through narrations and former jutists' tales. But on the whole, I believe among the conditions enumarted for Marjaiyyat the most important is efficiency and the merit, because lots of people follow a Jurist who has the title of "Marjayyat" and they ptactice his decisions.

It is nice to say that this institution I mean Marjaiyyat didn`t exist in Shia cultuer until Muhammad Ibn-Makki Al-Amili (13 - 14 th century) known as Shahid-E-Awwal founded it, expressing that in a Shia society should exist a Leading Jurist for refering people to him for their religious needs and Islamic practical laws.

As I already mentioned the qualifications of A'lamiyyat, Muhammad Ibn-Makki as a brillant Jurist and A'lam (the most learned)who had understood the spirit of Islam and Fiqh, founded one of the most impotrant and fundanmentall principles of Fiqh which is Marjaiyyat and in our era the late Imam Khumeini as a unique jurist could expand the limits of Marjaiyyat having a perfect understanding of the spirit of Fiqh and Islam he presented the theory of "Wilayat al-Faqih" giving the persuading reasons and well justifed causes and discussions so that, Marjaiyyat with all it`s importance is considered only as a part of Wilayat al-Faqih.

At the end, I thank God that our present leader Ayatollah Khamenei possesses the necessary qualifications for Marjaiyyat and Wilayat al-Faqih.

I pray the Almighty God for you all to be succeeded.

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