Freedom has various definitions and interpretations in different social schools and political concepts. These differences are the reason for the abuse of freedom by the West in the name of freedom itself. The Islamic Revolution of Iran presented to the world the original Islamic concept of freedom that has exposed the West's hypocrisy regarding its decadent system of liberal democracy.
Freedom in the real sense of the term can lead to the ideal civilization in which not merely the material interests but also both spiritual values of mankind are safeguarded. It is thus obvious that the West when it speaks of freedom and liberties, does not think of the interests of all mankind, but of a specific group of people, and this is the reason for the threats, pressures, wars, and massacres, the West, especially the US launches on the free world from time to time in the name of freedom.
In view of the importance and status of freedom, Iran recently held the fourth meeting of the Strategic Thoughts of the Islamic Republic which focused on the various aspects of freedom. The meeting was attended by about 150 thinkers, elites, university and theological school professors, researchers and authors of scientific works in the field of science and humanities. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, addressing the meeting said the discourses of freedom over the last two centuries in the West, especially after the French Revolution and the October Revolution in Russia, set off widespread intellectual waves across the world.
In Iran, however, prior to the Constitutional Movement, freedom remained largely undefined, because of the drifting away from Islamic values and the blind imitation of the West by the so-called intellectuals.
Ayatollah Khamenei said: In the West, freedom is among the concepts regarding which western thinkers embarked upon elaborate theories, after the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, especially in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. These theories became the basis for social movements in the west, especially after the French Revolution, which was regarded as an ideal. The western political systems took shape on these theories and the human rights statements were written on the basis of these western theories. Very soon the western theories on freedom attracted the attention of the intellectuals in the Asian, African and Latin American states and they followed the concept of freedom, as defined by the West.
But what they presented of freedom to their countries was corruption and trampling of moral values, since the freedom, as defined by the west, claims humanism as its basis, the very factor that has plunged western societies into moral depravity. One of the main points of the Leader’s speech regarding the concept of freedom was the impact of the writings of renaissance thinkers on the French Revolution, which in turn impacted the concept of freedom. As Ayatollah Khamenei said, the absolute despotism of the Christian Church in Europe led to the emergence of anti-religious movements diametrically opposed to the Church.
For over two centuries, hundreds of books were written on this subject by thinkers in France, Germany, Britain and other European states. These writings led to the shaping of the idea that freedom means opposition to the Church. This notion of freedom was inculcated into the thinkers and intellectuals of other parts of the world who came into contact with Europe. As a result, they translated the definition of freedom to be opposition to their own religion in their countries.
Ayatollah Khamenei, criticizing this group of anti-religious intellectuals in the Muslim World, especially in Iran, said: Basically the direction of renaissance in Europe was anti-religious and anti-Church because of the havoc Christianity had wrought. This means that such a laic or anti-religious concept of freedom is totally irrelevant to Muslim countries, especially in Iran, although the western regimes – in pursuit of their nefarious political and economic goals – have spared no efforts to impose upon Iran and other Muslim states, the anti-religious concept of freedom and liberties.
Hence, he said, it is necessary to find the opinion of Islam regarding freedom in order to present to world societies the egalitarian and morally upright concept of freedom, based upon Islamic teachings. This is of paramount importance, because if the teachings of Islam are absent from the society, Iran and the Muslim world will be trapped in the same confusion from which the western thinkers are suffering in various fields including philosophy, literature, art and social issues.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: “In Islam, the basis of freedom of the human being is monotheism. Monotheism is not just belief in God but it is submission to none and no imaginary thing or power, except the Almighty Creator.”
Actually in the Islamic teachings, freedom becomes meaningful within the framework of servitude to God and preservation of moral values. Ayatollah Khamenei elaborating on freedom in the three fields of economy, politics and ethics, said: Freedom in the West in these three fields, because of the wrong concept of liberties, has enmeshed the societies into very evil and ugly developments, and in cases hateful factors, such as discrimination, bullying, war-mongering and selective approach to human rights, religious values, and democracy.
He reiterated that despite all these regrettable developments, evaluation of the opinions of western thinkers for probing the concept of freedom is useful, because real freedom means refraining from imitation of the views of western thinkers, since this is against the spirit of freedom.
