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Hawza, the Pioneer of Changes

Monday, 31 January 2011 10:06
Published in Views

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful

The Islamic seminaries are the invaluable legacy of the Infallibles (a.s.). The first ever educational circles were set up in the blessed presence of the Holy Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him and his progeny, and they were carried and passed on by the Infallible Imams and the Ahlul-Bayt, peace be upon them.  Over the history, the Islamic seminaries have been the forerunner of real and genuine Islamic concepts, and they have been the guardians of the legacies of the Ahlul-Bayt (a.s.). Hawza (seminary) scholars have been trying throughout the history to avail themselves of what they had received from the Ahlul-Bayt and to ponder over them, as far as they could so as to enable others to benefit from this limpid ocean of knowledge.

The Shiite Seminaries are marked by the basic characteristic of dynamism.  They have kept pace with the social and political changes adapting themselves with the requirements of their times. Shiite scholars have constantly tried to answer the needs of their times. As Imam Khomeini (r.a) said, the Islamic seminaries have the cultural pulse of the society in their control and they have been the flagship institution moving before the time. The seminaries have been the pioneer of metamorphic changes in the society and this trend is continuing still today. An instance of the unremitting change and progress of the Islamic seminaries and a clear example of their leading role is the very Islamic revolution. The Islamic revolution was a scheme in the contemporary time propounded 32 years back. No one ever believed that the religion could have such an extensive and encompassing presence in all the social and political spheres of man's life. But the Islamic seminaries could, with the help of late Imam Khomeini (r.a) who was a student of the Hawza and with the efforts made by grand religious authorities, the scholars and clerics, start such a big revolution and influence the entire intellectual process throughout the world and change the direction of humanity. In fact, the revolution which took place in Iran was not restricted to Iran or to Shiites or even to the Islamic world; rather the whole world was influenced. The revolution originated in the Islamic seminaries and in the innovative thinking of the seminary scholars. The seminaries continue to be effective and to maintain their leading role. As the Supreme Leader (may Allah grant him long life) said during his recent journey to Qom: The change is something that should take place constantly and continuously.  During the past 32 years following the victory of the Islamic revolution, the Islamic seminaries have taken giant and extensive steps towards answering the contemporary needs and challenges keeping pace with the social developments and steering them even before they arise.

As the Supreme Leader (may Allah grant him long life) said, these changes should be properly monitored and controlled and that the whole management, as he said, should be under the supervision of the grand jurists. The management should be efficient and well aware of the developments and changes. This is an urgent need about which there is no doubt. The Supreme Leader's speech among the seminarians in Qom was meant for us to know that the scholars and the grand jurists should supervise the changes.

The important point which was raised by the Supreme Leader during his journey to Qom and which came in the aftermath of the recent political events was the explanation of the concept of "change". Why did he say that a change may occur but it might be wrong or retrogressive? It might be a deviation. Why did he raise this question? Why did he say that the jurisprudential method in the Islamic Seminaries should be established and consolidated? He said that anything that would create a hindrance in the way of jurisprudential method in the Seminary is wrong. Why did he say so? He must have been worried lest there might occur an error in the interpretation of the terminology of "change" even though it might be out of good intention or sympathy. And that the mistake might cause the Hawzah to derail from the right path. You must have read his statements.  It is a reality that the educational methods of the Islamic seminary are the best of the methods and better than those of the most advanced academic centers. Had we said this sometimes back, they would say 'you are uninformed' but now they cannot say it. If the Supreme Leader said that the scientific centers of the world are seeking to adopt Hawza methods, it is a truth. I do not have time to give you numerous examples of various religious leaders in different international scientific centers that I personally visited. It is a truth and there is no doubt about it. Therefore, the traditional form of plans and schemes launched in the seminaries should be retained and preserved.

The Supreme Leader (may Allah grant him long life) pointed out that one of the traits of the Seminary is the freedom of choice. At present, this is a very important discussion among the people in charge of education in the country. Some advanced centers in the world have been bearing a lot of costs in trying to create an atmosphere in which the student could freely choose his own teacher but they have not been successful despite all the costs and expenditures. In fact, the leading universities of the world are the products of such an effort. For example, Christon University in the US was launched on the same ground during the early period of the World War II.  However, it could not attain the results which it wished to whereas we know that choosing a teacher in a free way had been a routine and natural process in the Islamic Seminaries resulting in very positive outcomes.  A few years ago, some of the friends were worried lest "free choice" should lead to some sort of imbalance in the seminaries in the sense that there might not be enough teachers for those lessons which required more teachers, and those lessons which did not require more teachers might have more teachers than they were required. That is because the teacher himself chooses the lesson and teaches on his own free choice. This very concern caused some of the friends to conduct a study into the seminary lessons which took approximately two or three years. Per chance, the person in charge of this research project was Mr. Ali Akbarian who delivered his speech today before me. The results of this study were interesting for me. I myself did not believe that the Hawzah could have so much capacity. However, when the study reached its conclusion, we came to know that there has always been a balance between supply and demand. That is to say, there is a high demand for all those lessons which are offered and supplied in great numbers with more students attending such classes. Contrary to it, where there is less supply, there are fewer students to take part. Thereupon, we came to know that any interference on our part would disrupt the whole system.  That was why, the conclusion that the friends drew and the reports which they formally presented announced that we were not going to make any reform initiatives and that they were leaving the Islamic Seminary to adjust by itself.

The Supreme Leader (may Allah grant him long life) made a point which you are well of. I should say one thing before I carry on my speech. Last week, I visited His Eminence, Ayatollah Javadi Amuli (may Allah protect him). He made a good description of our meeting. I would like to mention it here. He said that this meeting is unique in the country because of the humble presence of so many scholars and intellectuals therein.

I wanted to say that what the Supreme Leader said and which you definitely know is that the Seminary should answer the current day needs. What he meant by ‘change’ is that we should update the traditional method content-wise so that it can serve the present-day needs and purposes. Praise belongs to Allah, the reports of the meeting held by the friends during the past six or seven years are available. They have constantly been endeavoring towards achieving this objective. Indeed, as every one of you knows, these people have been carrying out their task with the support and guidance of the sources of emulation, the religious authorities, and with the Supreme Leader’s prior information and guidelines.

Before the inauguration of the first periodic meeting, I met the Supreme Leader (may Allah grant him long life) and said to him that there is a group of people in the Islamic Seminary that is voluntarily coming into being without there being someone working out plans for it from outside. He welcomed it and recommended that we should be careful not to be excessive or to go to extremes. The friends were careful enough and they acted accordingly.  The Supreme Leader did say some six or seven years ago that the relationship between Hawza teachers and the Society of Teachers of the Islamic Seminary of Qom (Jame’ah Mudarresin) should be constructive and we said “Okay”. I met late Ayatollah Mishkini (may his soul rest in peace) and when I let him know about what we were doing and what our friends had undertaken, he (may Allah’s blessings be upon him) said that you have undertaken an unattended obligatory task and that 'there is no one better and more capable than you to carry out such a task'.

[Before I further elaborate on this point, I would like to welcome Grand Ayatollah Saafi Gulpaigani (may Allah protect him) to this gathering. Indeed, his coming to this gathering despite his physical problems is a great kindness on his part. It shows the extent of his respect for you, and the importance attached by the grand religious authority. We are grateful to him for his kind presence in this gathering. Let me be short.]

What is important is that I said that after I informed late Ayatollah Mishkini about our joint efforts, he said that you have undertaken an unattended obligatory task and there is no one better and more capable than you to undertake it. Despite being ill and while it was during the moments of his life, he expressed readiness to attend one of our meetings and deliver a speech but unfortunately we could not benefit from him because he did not live long to attend our meeting.

Ever since, we have had meetings regularly with members of the Society of Teachers including Ayatollah Yazdi. We used to update him about certain issues. You know that last year, he attended our meeting and made comments. He said that he liked to come to our meeting and share his ideas.  Therefore, it is not that the periodic meetings of the teachers aim to adopt a strategy different from that of the Hawza. The periodic meeting is attended by a number of the seminary teachers. Some of the members of the Society of Teachers also regularly and constantly attend the meetings.

On the other hand, we must note that as the Supreme Leader (may Allah grant him long life) said that every development and change in the Islamic seminary should be in a way such that it should retain and preserve the traditional features and at the same time it should answer the needs. Finally, all of the changes and developments should take place under the supervision of the grand religious authorities and with reliance on the views of seminary experts. Definitely, if we act in accordance with the guidelines which the Supreme Leader (may Allah grant him long life) put forth in his speech in Qom, God willing, we will be able to supervise and manage the developments. That is to say, the seminary will do it. God willing, we will be able to reach a point where we will have a more dynamic and a more capable seminary and God willing, we will be the flag-bearer of the reappearance of the Imam of Time, may Allah hasten his reappearance.[1]

 


[1] - Full speech of Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani in the periodic meeting of teachers and lecturers of the Islamic Seminary of Qom dated 19/Jan/2011.