The Leader of Islamic Ummah Imam Khamenei’s viewpoint on the real concept of freedom

The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed 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 The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali 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.
The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali 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.
TThe Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei 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 and religious values. The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei 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.