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April 9, 2008 Special Dispatch No. 1854

Ahmadinejad in Landmark Address to Iran's Assembly of Experts: Islamic Revolution, Islamic Republic – Next To Muhammad's Appointment as Messenger of Allah, Imam Hussain's Martyrdom

April 9, 2008
Iran | Special Dispatch No. 1854

In a special address to Iran's Assembly of Experts, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expounded his idea of a perfect society and his views on the Islamic Revolution and Muslim ideology. [1] He stated that the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran were the "two greatest events of the contemporary history, since they marked the continuation of the path laid before mankind by the divine Prophets, next to the appointment of Prophet Muhammad as messenger of Allah and the martyrdom of the Prophet's grandson Imam Hussain."

Ahmadinejad also said that the Islamic Revolution was "a long leap towards mankind's reaching the peak of perfection," and added that the Iranian nation's mission was to become a model for humanity by living an exemplary and perfect life, based on the only perfect ideology - Muhammad's Islam.

The following are excerpts from the address, in the original English as published by IRNA: [2]

"The Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran are Both Great Divine Gifts… Awarded to the Entire Mankind"

"Building a model society and introducing the Islamic Revolution are our nation's missions… The Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran are both great divine gifts, not only awarded to the Iranian nation, but to the entire mankind.

"Yet, we had better say that the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran were the greatest events of the contemporary history, since they marked the continuation of the path laid before the mankind by divine Prophets, next to the appointment of Prophet Muhammad as messenger of Allah and the martyrdom of the Prophet's grandson Imam Hussain."

"The Islamic Revolution… Was a Long Leap towards Mankind's Reaching the Peak of Perfection"

"Like those great events, the Islamic Revolution, too, was a long leap towards mankind's reaching the peak of perfection… The Iranian nation, the practicing Ulema, and the followers of the idea of leadership of the blessed (Wilayah) are shouldering the responsibility of keeping on hoisting the flag of a movement whose nature is the same as the revolutions of divine Prophets.

"The Iranian nation also has two heavy responsibilities, one of which is constructing Iran, since the message of a revolution would be heard and welcomed when it would be accompanied by practical models. Such model making would lead to leading the mankind towards the peak of perfection, and assist the world nations in embracing eternal salvation in the Hereafter, by convincing them that Islam is capable of presenting an ideal model for social life.

"Our culture and our administrative structure must be reshaped rapidly so that their basis would be the divine laws of Islam so that we would be able to claim that we have reached the status of a model society that can be the witness for the entire mankind."

"The Only Perfect School of Thought That Can Lead Human Society towards Blessed Life in This World and Salvation in the Other World is Mohamedan Islam"

"By grace of God, such a movement began as of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, despite the entire heavy obstacles and hindrances on its way, which have been removed one after the other, and the movement of the Islamic Revolution aimed at constructing a model society has kept on accelerating ever since then.

"Our nation's second important mission is introducing the Islamic Revolution to the entire mankind. Today, the mankind has reached a point of dissatisfaction with the status quo of the social life and is so desperately in pursuit of better lives that the nations' minds are quite ripe for grasping such truths.

"Based on such presuppositions, the only perfect school of thought that can lead the human society towards blessed life in this world and salvation in the other world is Mohamedan Islam.

"We need to elaborate the divine rules of this school of thought and present to the world nations a model of social life based on it, while atop those who shoulder this responsibility there are the Ulema who gain the divine thoughts from the origin of divine revelations, or from the Prophet and the Infallible Imams."


[1] The Assembly of Experts is a senior government body authorized to choose Iran's supreme leader and to oversee his activity. It also has the legal authority to remove him should he fail in his duties.

[2] IRNA (Iran), February 25, 2008.

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