GTI-Pesantren Pelajar Mahasiswa ASWAJA Nusantara, Global Thinkers Institute (GTI), held a public discussion, "Understanding Culture and Resistance in Iran", Assessing Multipolar World World Order from the Perspective of Civilization, 25/09/2026 at the AULA of PPM Aswaja Nusantara, Mlangi, Yogyakarta.

Present were the speakers, Muhammad Ma'ruf, Ph.D, Director of Global Thinkers Institute, Gus Mustafid, chairman of Pesantren Pelajar Mahasiswa Aswaja Nusantara, Lukman Nur Hakim, Ph.D, Director, Institute of International Studies (IIS), Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yahya Jahangiri Shurowahdi, Ph.D, Cultural Counselor, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran for Indonesia.

The event opened with a rebana salawat performance, the national anthems of Indonesia and Iran. Ma'ruf in his presentation explained that Culture and Resistance in Iran is not something that was born accidentally. The State of the Islamic Republic of Iran, since 1979, came from the womb of an Islamic revolution that produced a culture of revolution, the result of resistance against the despotic Shah, a puppet of the US-Israel.

Just as the French, English, USA, Soviet, and Chinese Revolutions were shaped by distinctive conditions. The Islamic Republic of Iran as a state was born from the result of resistance against Western and Eastern secular powers.

The meaning of Resistance in the dictionary of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a constitutional mandate that has strong legitimacy, the result of the people's vote through a referendum and divine spirit based on Islamic law. The State of the Islamic Republic was born as the prophetic mission, to uphold justice and defend the oppressed in the world. The human being desired by the Islamic Republic of Iran is a human being or ummah guided by a spiritual leader/wali faqih with the political system of wilayatul faqih.

The result of the 1979 Iranian Islamic revolution produced a culture of resistance that radiates in all dimensions. Manifested in politics, art, culture, economy, social affairs, and daily life. Pro-Palestinian foreign policy, anti-Zionism Israel, the art of film and resistance music against Hollywood materialism, resistance media against colonialism, anti-exploitation, resistance economy against materialism and unilateral Western sanctions, social cohesion against oppression (anti-oppression demonstrations), critical culture, to resistance against lust with the dimension as a medium of daily suluk (spiritual journey).

Resistance is the natural trait of humans who regard life as a journey of battle to conquer their own lust, doing good to others while at the same time preventing evil. The state functions and provides the atmosphere and means so that the development of the people's spiritual journey runs well.

Meanwhile, Yahya explained the importance of understanding the relationship between faith, knowledge and action. In Islam, knowledge or science is the embodiment of faith, while faith determines that the course of science has ethics. Faith and knowledge must be shared with society (action).

Science without ethics will become like Israel which uses science to genocide the people of Gaza. Ethics without science will become the Gulf states which desire the implementation of Islam against Israeli colonialism over Palestine, but do not have the capability. The existence of the US military base in the Middle East is proof that the kingdoms in the Middle East cannot manifest faith, knowledge and action maximally, so that they do not bring forth a culture of resistance against Zionism.

Lukman explained about the success of Iran's resistance strategy, especially in the military, making US-Israel hegemony drop drastically. Iran's military and diplomatic capability is able to contribute to the formation of a Multipolar World order significantly. Making BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation shine more, and reducing the prestige of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and NATO as branches of the representation of the Unipolar world.

Gus Mustafid emphasized that the world is moving fast, the old World Order is declining drastically. Iran is the best candidate, a representative of the Islamic world capable of contributing to the change towards the formation of a Multipolar world.

China, India, Russia, with their long historical backgrounds move together with Iran with their history and civilization to replace the Unipolar World Order led by the US and Israel. Iran's resistance accompanied by the progress of its military science gives new hope for the emergence of a real Islamic civilization.