[Ghamidi] I thank Allah Almighty that the task that we had begun many years ago,
has reached the whole wide world -
people the world over were willing to partake in it.
Even here, a good institution has been established.
And it is God's favour and blessing upon us that it is progressing.
The account of its work / achievements is before you -
you may make up your own opinion about it.
An old man like me - what will I comment upon the work?
For I have more or less severed myself from such things now.
Nevertheless, I shall say some things with regard to this aspect -
that all of you have participated in the love of the religion.
Therefore, you must work as well, make programs (for the future),
dream big dreams of its progress,
take your call to the world as well -
make big plans as well.
But give the most importance to this -
that as you have partaken in a religious work,
so what transformation has it brought within you?
Those people who wish to work in this -
they must be vigilant about this at all times -
that what improvement has it brought in my ethical being?
Because in our religion, the greatest importance is given to the construction and
purification of human beings' ethical life.
How much I have improved?
With my family, kith and kin, in my business dealings and transactions,
this is that very thing - which if a human being is able to achieve,
then he is making true progress,
and if it is not being achieved,
then even religious works, qua their compensation and results,
become akin to worldly works.
The second thing is that, this work is for Allah.
So we should be vigilant about our relationship with God as well.
i.e. what improvements have taken shape in my ethical life,
and how close have I come to my Lord.
And there are only two criteria for this -
how much of a desire and enthusiasm do you have to read, and connect with God's book,
and how much has your prayer improved.
The prayer, in itself, is a standard and a criterion.
That is, how much did we care for it? Did we pray it on time?
Did we pray it as considering it an attendance before one's Lord.
How much of an improvement in one's connect to it was achieved.
A person should always be vigilant about it.
I shall say only one thing about the institution.
And it is this - whoever is working here,
whether it is in an intellectual capacity,
or in the administrative capacity,
their real struggle and target should be that
this work, from the beginning to the end,
in how we deal with others, the way we spend,
the way we present things to people, they must be so pure and sanctified,
about which their own conscience should testify at all times.
Nobody's influence, nobody's status, no nepotism, no special relations,
none of these things should influence them in the least bit.
Clean, pure, and an open culture - whoever wishes may come, and whoever wishes
may come and critique,
and whoever wishes may come and make suggestions.
Such a work about which there is nothing that needs to be hidden,
and it must remain clean and pure to the highest degree.
In the same vein, that this institute works together with scholars,
its nature is such that people have to contribute toward scholarship in it,
and with respect to Ulema - and I'm not using 'Ulema' to mean traditional scholars,
but those people, who connect with this institute to contribute in some research,
teach, training, proliferate knowledge, or
partake in any of your projects, they need only thing -
only one thing - and that is that there must be no constraint on their intellectual freedom.
Please remember, that we can live without bread -
but not without freedom.
That's all I had to say to you.