When the students increased in number some had to sit out of the class since it was not large enough to accommodate all of them. But in that situation they could not hear the voice of Imam clearly.
For this reason, they asked the Imam to deliver his speeches from a pulpit so that everybody can hear his voice and see him.
There was of course a pulpit from which the late Ayatollah Boroujerdi used to deliver his lectures, but the Imam did not like to use it out of respect for the grand Ayatollah.
It was after the demise of Ayatollah Boroujerdi that the Imam accepted to speak from the pulpit while the students were still insisting on.
On the first day of using the pulpit the Imam after remembrance of God stated:
“From this pulpit the late Mr. Naeini (a renowned Shiite scholar), may he receive Allah’s Mercy, would speak to his students. He shed tears when he used it for the first time. And it was again from this pulpit that our great master Sheikh Ansari (an outstanding Shiite theologian) would deliver his lectures. I don’t know if I deserve to use it today!”
After such expressions, he began to teach seriously as ever!
Narrated by: Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Islamic Republic
Taken from: Shahed Journal, no. 195