Resistance acts as a power. The more power a country has, the more dynamic resistance it would show towards the aggression of the enemy. From this perspective, the resistance front is the front of power the leadership of which is in the hands of Ayatollah Khamenei.
The discourse of resistance is one of the issues raised in the “Second Phase of the Revolution Statement,” which was issued by Ayatollah Khamenei at the beginning of the second forty years of the Islamic Revolution. According to Ayatollah Khamenei, the aim of the enemies of Islam and the emperors of infidelity and hypocrisy led by the United States is to turn the spirit of jihad and resistance in the region into Takfiri and terror, or in other words, a Shiite-Sunni conflict in order to dominate all the material and spiritual aspects of the Islamic world. Furthermore, they seek to dominate all the nations of the world.
The solution he proposes for fighting global arrogance is resistance. Therefore, since we have an enemy, we must resist. For Ayatollah Khamenei, resistance is a factor that introduced the thoughts, views and ideologies of Imam Khomeini (ra) to history.
He states: “We want to render services and show kindness to everyone. We want to establish a friendly and kind relationship with all human beings and all nations. We even have no enmity with the American people even though the government of the United States is an arrogant, hostile and evil government which bears a grudge against the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic.” Therefore, the logic of resistance on the one hand is accompanied by love, serving people and friendship, and has nothing to do with violence and crime, and on the other hand considers the arrogance, not the non-Muslims, as its enemy because the Islamic system is based on Quranic teachings and has the logic of love and mercy. Imam Ali (a) says:
“Show kindness and affection to people, since they are of two kinds, either your brother in religion or one like you in creation.”
The Concept of Resistance
In the logic of Islam, resistance has been introduced as an international and universal concept. Therefore, resistance against any oppressive power at any time is the duty of all humans which should be fulfilled regardless of race, nationality, gender and religion, and if a person, nation and government do not fulfill this duty, he will face the same fate and punishment of the oppressor. Ayatollah Khamenei states: “The reason we do not give in to the United States demands is that if we do not fulfill our duty, God Almighty will punish us with the same punishment that the oppressors would face.” Therefore, resistance is the duty of all human beings.
The Necessity of Resistance from the Perspective of the Holy Quran
Many verses of the Holy Quran are dedicated to the issue of resistance. In two verses, God Almighty instructs His Prophet (s) to be steadfast: “So be steadfast” (11:112) and “be steadfast, just as you have been commanded” (42:15).
In addition, Ayatollah Khamenei refers to the steely resistance or the resistance at the best possible level. In his view, one must resist the enemy’s invasion like a strong pillar or an impenetrable wall: “Indeed God loves those who fight in His way in ranks as if they were a compact structure” (Quran, 61:4).
The Holy Quran considers not only resistance but also fighting as the universal duty and responsibility of Muslims: “Why should you not fight in the way of God and the oppressed men, women, and children, who say, ‘Our Lord, bring us out of this town whose people are oppressors and appoint for us a guardian from Yourself, and appoint for us a helper from Yourself’?” (Quran, 4:75). In the view of Ayatollah Khamenei, this verse denotes that we have a responsibility to ensure freedom for other people.
“Another Islamic rule is jihad. In Islam, jihad is assistance to those peoples who exist behind the scenes of colonialist, arrogant and despotic policies so that they cannot receive the light of Islam and guidance. The purpose of jihad is to destroy these barriers and veils. This is Islamic jihad. The question of whether jihad is defensive or offensive is a peripheral issue. The main issue is this: ‘Why should you not fight in the way of God and the oppressed men, women, and children’ (Quran, 4:75); this is a sense of universal responsibility. It means that you should endanger your own life in arenas of danger for the sake of saving the weak. This is the meaning of responsibility. Islam wants people to have a sense of responsibility towards themselves, their relatives, their society and the entire humanity.”
He believes that victory belongs to those who are more determined and tolerate the hardships: “Indeed those who say, ‘Our Lord is God!’ and then remain steadfast, the angels descend upon them, [saying,] ‘Do not fear, nor be grieved! Receive the good news of the paradise, which you have been promised” (Quran, 41:30).
The enemies seek to undermine the determination of the army of Islam and free humans by using various means such as force and deception. According to Ayatollah Khamenei, relying on the divine promise is the only solution to deal with this aggression of enemies: “And We desired to show favour to those who were abased in the land, and to make them imams, and to make them the heirs” (Quran, 28:5).
In the view of the Supreme Leader, resistance is not easy but surrender brings more difficulties. However, the reflection of the difficulties they cause is different:
“The difference is that God Almighty will reward you for whatever hardships you endure in the way of resistance. In fact, ‘they neither experience any thirst, nor fatigue, nor hunger, in the way of God, nor do they tread any ground enraging the faithless, nor do they gain any ground against an enemy but a righteous deed is written for them on its account. Indeed, God does not waste the reward of the virtuous’ (Quran, 9:120). Whatever hardship you endure is a righteous deed, while if you surrender to the enemy, your endurance will have no reward, rather submitting to the oppression has punishment.”
While referring to the verses of the Holy Quran, Ayatollah Khamenei states that not only resistance is necessary, but also struggle and resistance must be permanent: “Moses said to his people, ‘Turn to God for help and be patient. The earth indeed belongs to God, and He gives its inheritance to whomever He wishes of His servants, and the outcome will be in favour of the Godwary” (Quran, 7:128). This means that without patience, resistance and reliance on God one would not succeed.
The logic of resistance, which was founded by Imam Khomeini (ra), is based on the Quranic element of fulfilling the divine promise. In various verses of the Holy Quran, God Almighty has promised that the followers of truth ultimately will gain victory. Many verses of the Quran indicate this meaning. They may make sacrifices, but in the end, they do not fail; they are victorious. Ayatollah Khamenei quotes from Nahj al-Balaghah: “Imam Ali (a) says that some people used to move forward on the correct path, but their hearts were overturned. Why are they overturned? God does not oppress anyone. It is we who become corrupted with materialistic things, who show inappropriate kindness, who become corrupted with over-ambitiousness, who associate with bad friends and who become involved in partisan games. This is how our hearts are overturned and how we turn away from that correct path and the initial resistance that we had. Therefore, we should not let the enemies deviate the resistance.”
In the view of Ayatollah Khamenei, “The goal of the enemy is to wage a civil war among Muslims and unfortunately, they have succeeded to some extent. They are destroying Islamic countries one after another. They are destroying Syria, Yemen and Libya and they are destroying their infrastructure. Why? Why should we give in to this plot? Why should their goal remain unknown to us?” He emphasizes that “If we want to succeed in this path, we should find insight as Imam Ali (a) has stated.”
The Supreme Leader stresses that “Harsh and challenging conditions make nations firm. They make the heads, managers, officials and leaders of countries strong. They have the same effect as physical exercise. They make them strong. They strengthen their determination.”
According to him, resistance is the cause of the enemy’s retreat. In the case that the enemy insists on its wrong position, the followers of the truth should not fall back, otherwise, the enemy will undoubtedly advance. Resistance is the way to prevent the enemy from advancing. What proves this idea is the experience of forty years of resistance of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the arrogant front. There is a cost to both resisting and surrendering to the enemy, but the latter has a greater cost. The reason behind the victory and progress of the Iranian nation is resistance. Therefore, other nations are also encouraged to take the same path. This process is called exporting the Revolution.
In the view of Ayatollah Khamenei, “Imam Ali (a) was the one who advanced vigorously without retreating in all the spheres of life. This means that he always held a firm, logical and strong stance on principles and never backed off and that he persevered in promoting values and firmly dealt with injustice, oppression, deviation, evil and wrongdoing. If you study the life of Imam Ali (a), you will notice that he was characterized by this feature during his whole life. This is also the only remedy for our present problems.”
According to Ayatollah Khamenei, staying focused on the goal, not to be afraid of the enemy, not to covet what the enemy has, not to give in to the privilege that the enemy wants to grant, will undoubtedly bring about endurance, peace and trust in the path, goal and God to Whom this goal belongs.
The Supreme Leader believes that as history shows, resistance and not being afraid of loneliness would contribute to the prosperity and victory of the nations. As he states, the Lebanese Resistance overcame the vicious army of the Zionists in less than ten years. First, it was the Lebanese Resistance and later on, it was the Palestinian Resistance. First, the Lebanese Resistance threw the Zionists out of southern Lebanon. Later on, it crushed them in the 33-Day War. the United States helped the Zionists. So did traitors in the region, but the resistance force – which relied on people and was religious and purposeful- managed to throw all of them out of the arena. The same is true of the Palestinian Resistance. A group of people who had limited capabilities and weapons and were living in a small area managed to defeat them in the 22-day and 8-day wars and in the 51-day war which broke out in the month of Ramadan. They managed to defeat them because the people were committed and also, they supported the Palestinian Resistance. The Palestinian Resistance managed to defeat and humiliate the vicious army of the Zionists and it made this army accept the truce. On the other hand, the Gaza Strip also resisted alone. The Islamic states did not help the Gaza Strip, and the Zionist regime which was backed by petrodollars attacked the Gaza Strip. This shows the power of a nation’s resistance.
Reference: Journal of Islamic Humanities. Vol 7, No 13, Spring & Summer 2020, Pp 129-150.
Archive of Ayatollah Khamenei
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