Imam Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic once said that the country and the nation are in need of construction, and spiritual construction has priority over all others.
Imam in a historic message on September 20, 1979 said as following:
One who seeks to purify a society will not be able to achieve one's goal if one's self is not purged and purified. A group of people who strive to purge and Islamize a center will not be able to do so if they have not prepared themselves for it.
They cannot correct others if they themselves are not corrected.
Imam on another occasion said as following:
The jihad (spiritual and physical struggle for the cause of God) should begin from the ‘self’; to fight against the internal Satan. This jihad will be the basis of other jihads and struggles.
Man cannot construct others unless he himself is constructed and the country cannot be constructed if others themselves are not constructed. The greatest jihad is the jihad against selfish desires and egoism, because all jihads will become victorious if in jihad against the 'self' we come out victorious.