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Speech delivered by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, with the participation of a number of student groups and academic personalities on May 11, 2021.

Who Fascinated the Leader at a Young Age? We all get inspired and fascinated by different personalities throughout our lives. If we get fascinated by pious, brave, and knowledgeable personalities, we find success in both the worlds. Whereas if we get fascinated by celebrities, you can only imagine what our destiny be! This is the importance of role model in our lives. What the clip to see who Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei got inspired by. #RoleModel

On the Ashura night, in the year 1974, Ayatollah Khamenei explained the concept of the appointees of Imam Husayn (A). Sometimes, we see these personalities as merely great historic figures. Know that the infallible Imam appointed these personalities for carrying out certain actions. It was known to the Imam that they will go to different areas of the world and hence Imam appointed them for those regions with certain responsibilities. Who were those personalities? The movement of Imam al-Husayn (A) was very carefully crafted and planned and continues till date.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution recalls two dynamic personalities who were targeted by MKO. What are some of the Western policies aimed at accomplishing? The Leader speaks

Sayyid Nasrallah talks about the two personalities who informed Hezbollah of their future.

What was \'The New Middle East Plan\' of the enemy? How did it fail? Listen to the two most beloved and trustworthy personalities of our time!

We owe big time to our martyrs. Are we working to introduce our martyrs to the world? All these prominent personalities must be presented to the world. Who should carry out this task? The Leader speaks.

Labbayk To My Leader | Poetry for Sayyid Nasrallah Some personalities are simply lovable. This piece of poetry is delivered while soaked in love for this great personality of our time. May Allah give him long and healthy life.

Leader of the Islamic Ummah, Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei, explains a few very important points regarding our master Imam Mahdi (A): - Refrain from commoner (simple) and ignorant actions and statements. The Leader explains why. - Refrain from applying signs of zuhoor on situations and personalities. The Leader explains why. - Specialists must perform authentic and research based work on Imam Mahdi (A) and educate people. - Claims of meeting with Imam Mahdi (A) are mostly lies or imagination. - The reality of Tawassul (intermediation from Imams).

An outstanding clip of some great personalities of contemporary times who provide explanation to some of the common confusions regarding Wilayat al-Faqih. This special clip features Imam Khomeini, Imam Khamenei, Martyr Murtada Mutahhari, Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi, Ayatollah Mohsin Qara\'ti, Agha Alireza Panahian and Dr. Rahimpour Azghadi. Some of the questions are: - Does Wilayat al-Faqih introduce dictatorship? - Does Wali al-Faqih act based on his whims and wishes? - Is Wilayat al-Faqih the Wilayah of a person or of an ideology? - What are some of the requirements and conditions for the Wali al-Faqih? - What invalidates the Wilayah of a Faqih? - What are some of the unrealistic expectations from the Wali al-Faqih? Why? - Why is the authority of the Wali al-Faqih not time bound?

Martyrdom in the way of truth and justice for the sake of Allah is our heritage. Our history is filled with extraordinary and exceptional personalities who were martyred at the hands of the evil powers of their times. Today, we are proud of our beloved Martyr Qasem Soleimani who was cowardly attacked and martyred by the United States of America simply because America could not fight him off in the battlefield. Martyr Qasem Soleimani foiled countless plans and projects of the enemy of Islam and Muslims i.e. the great satan, USA. Martyr Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, likewise, is an outstanding personality without whom America couldn\'t have been defeated in Iraq that easily. May Allah elevate the ranks of all our martyrs - especially these two. The Leader speaks a few days before their first martyrdom anniversary.

Congratulations on the birth anniversary of the beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S), Sayyida Fatima Zahra (A), who is undoubtedly a perfect role model. It is very difficult for one to fathom how this great lady fulfilled her responsibilities towards her husband, her family, her kids. Her nurturing and education produced personalities like Imam Hasan (A), Imam Husayn (A), and Sayyida Zaynab (A). The grandson of Sayyida Zahra (A), Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei highlights the amazing role of this outstanding personality of Islam.

Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei is the flagbearer of the global Islamic movement. Shaheed Qasem Soleimani held a very special position around the Leader. He was referred to as \"Malik Al-Ashtar of Ali\". This clip is a compilation of a few sentences that these two great personalities said about each other.

Salutations to all the believers across the world upon the blessed month of Sha\\\'ban and the month in which great Islamic personalities such as his eminence Ali al-Akbar (A), Abul Fazl al-Abbas (A), Imam Zaynul Abideen (A), Imam Husayn (A), and the 12 Imam (A) were all born in. So in this One Minute Wisdom, Sayyid Shahryar speaks about the greatness of the holy month of Sha\\\'ban and a great tradition from his eminence, Imam Ali ibne Musa al-Ridha (A). But what are some of the things we can do in this holy month of Sha\\\'ban that will benefit us both in this world, and most especially in the hereafter? And they are easier than you could imagine! Sayyid Shahryar points us in the right direction when it comes to \\\"The Holy Month of Sha\\\'ban\\\". #IslamicPulse #OneMinuteWisdom #OMW #Akhlaq #Ethics #Morality #Islam #Quran #AhlulBayt #Shaban #ImamRidha

A beautiful clip about the qualities of Shaheed Muhammad-Baqir as-Sadr who was one of Islam\\\\\\\'s greatest thinkers. There was so much Shaheed Sadr could have given to the Muslims, but the American-backed Saddam end up imprisoning and martyring this great Islamic scholar of the contemporary age. Unfortunately, human rights organizations remained deathly silent at the murder of this great scholar. Take a listen to the qualities of Shaheed Sadr in the words of Shaheed Mustafa Chamran, Imam Khomeini, Shaheed Abu Mahdi, Sayyid Hasan Nasrullah, and Imam Khamenei.

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on October 9, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with participants of the 7th Elite Youth Conference. The meeting was held at Imam Khomeini (r.a.) Hussainiyah. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Well, as usual, meeting with you dear youth is very sweet and inspiring for me and it prepares the ground for taking action and implementing policies and plans. Most of the things that the friends mentioned in this meeting was informative and notable. Today, I did not write down what you said because I decided to take the prepared notes of each one of you. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, officials in our office - they have heard what I said in this regard now - will collect and categorize the suggestions that you put forward in this meeting. It is necessary for us to pay attention to these suggestions and, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, they will receive attention. A number of these suggestions should be submitted to different organizations. A number of the points that the friends made in this meeting requires further explanation. That is to say, it was not clear to me what you meant. For example, one of the friends pointed out that a road map of knowledge should be prepared. I did not understand whether he meant that we should prepare something different from the comprehensive scientific plan on which extensive research has been carried out for a very long time and which has been prepared and implemented. You dear outstanding personalities who have participated in this meeting and all other outstanding personalities who have not participated in this meeting for any reason should know that whatever your field of study of is and whatever area you work on - including the humanities, technological sciences, fundamental sciences, medical sciences, sciences related to health and all other fields of study on which you work - you are the engineers of the future progress of the country. It is you who are building the future of your dear country, Iran. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, if you pursue this goal with firm determinations, great efforts and constant follow-up, you will achieve results and you will build the future Iran. The point that I would like to address to you is that you should know the strategy of scientific progress with rapid acceleration is a fundamental strategy for the Islamic Republic. The intellectuals of our country have reached the conclusion that if overcoming difficulties and taking difficult paths in Islamic Iran requires two, three prerequisites, one of them is scientific progress. This is a fundamental policy. This policy has been pursued for about 10-12 years now. Different administrations and officials in charge of such things and outstanding youth have worked and made many efforts in these areas and thankfully today, when we see the results, we become hopeful. I have said many times to the youth, to officials and to you and I would like to say it now: the young individuals and outstanding personalities of our country and our manpower are able to help their country and their people to conquer peaks of progress in different arenas. This capability exists in you. We used to say this based on the experience of other people and the information that we had received from them. But later on, we ourselves experienced this. I have said many times that Iranian youth and Iranian outstanding personalities can carry out all kinds of scientific and technological tasks provided that the necessary infrastructures exist in our country. There is nothing which Iranian talent and outstanding Iranian personalities cannot produce and build, unless the necessary infrastructure does not exist in the country and these infrastructures should be built. Our country enjoys such a high level of capability and talent. Real progress of the country is not possible except with scientific progress. This is the reason why we said our main discourse and policy is this. Real progress cannot be achieved except with scientific progress. A number of countries may offer their natural resources and oil barrels to leading countries in terms of wealth and knowledge and they may buy their products in return. In such countries, a kind of superficial progress may be achieved, but this is not real progress. The real progress is inborn and it is made when a nation depends on its own domestic capabilities. The value of countries, governments and nations depends on this inborn power. If a country makes a leap on its own and if it achieves growth from the inside, this will make this country and this nation valuable, important and respected. But if such growth is not achieved from the inside and if it is achieved with the help of others, then this country will not earn respect. Well, during the time of taghut, it was foreigners and westerners who were prepared to do part of the work related to the nuclear technology in our country and they used to sign certain contracts with Iran. The Bushehr nuclear power plant, which we built with great difficulty after the passage of many years, was supposed to be built by the Germans. Of course, the Germans took the money and did nothing in return and after the Revolution, they did not give us any answer. Now, imagine that such and such a western country builds and manages a nuclear power plant for us and then we benefit from the electricity that such a power plant can generate. This has no dignity and value for a nation. Respect and dignity are achieved when a nation shows its own capabilities. When you develop such a capability, then you can benefit - on an equal footing - from the capabilities of other people, as they benefit from your capabilities. The point that one of the friends in this meeting made was correct. It is evident that a country cannot only rely on its own capabilities in scientific and technological areas. It should borrow from others as well, but this borrowing should not take place in the form of begging. It should take place on an equal footing. You should offer your scientific achievements to others and you should benefit from their scientific achievements. You should offer your technological achievements to other people and you should benefit from their technological achievements. In such circumstances, you will remain respectable in the world. This is what is necessary. I will tell you dear youth - who are the children of the Revolution and the Islamic Republic - that the enmity of the camp which confronts Islamic Iran and shows hostility towards it, is focused on the power of Iran. They do not want Iran to become powerful. You should always pay attention to this fundamental point during all events including political, economic, international, regional and domestic events. You should not forget this point. Today, there is a political and powerful camp in the world which does not want Islamic Iran to turn into a powerful country and nation. Since the beginning of the Revolution, the situation has been like this. I will tell you that in the year 1357, when the Islamic Revolution emerged in Iran and caused that great commotion in the world, a number of outstanding western personalities such as Kissinger, Huntington and Joseph Nye - who are outstanding political personalities in America and Europe - published a series of articles during the early years of the Revolution. These articles and writings warned the western political system and western governments that the Revolution which has been conducted in Iran does not only mean a transfer of power and a change of governments. It means the emergence of a new power in - as they say - the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Middle East\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" region. I do not at all like this term. They said that a new power is emerging in - as we say - \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"West Asia\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". This new power may not be on a par with western powers in terms of technology and science, but in terms of political influence in areas surrounding this country, it is either better than or as good as western powers and it will challenge them. These outstanding personalities warned western powers about this. This means that, in their opinion, the emergence of this power would put an end to or at least weaken western influence in this sensitive, wealthy and very strategic region which connects three continents to one another and which is the center of oil, wealth and important and necessary minerals. The West has made many efforts to achieve political, economic and - naturally - cultural domination over this region. At that time, these outstanding western personalities guessed that this would happen and of course, they guessed correctly. Today, after the passage of more than three decades, the nightmare which they have been suffering from is gradually coming true. That is to say, a great national and regional power has emerged which has not been defeated by different economic, security, political and psychological pressures. On the contrary, this power has managed to influence regional nations, to establish and promote communal Islamic culture and to help regional nations have a sense of identity. The events which occurred two years ago in our region were very important events. You can see how westerners reacted to such events. The events in Egypt, North African and West Asian countries were very important events. The awakening of nations with empty hands and their resistance against the humiliation which the West and America in particular had imposed on these nations with the help of their agents were very great events. Of course, it has not come to an end. Westerners think that they have suppressed this Islamic Awakening but in our opinion, it has not been suppressed. This was a historical juncture and the region is passing through this historical juncture. The fate of this Awakening has not been sealed yet and westerners themselves know this. This can be seen in their analysis of Islamic Awakening and they are still concerned about it. They do not know what is happening in the region. This happened thanks to the uprising of the Iranian nation, the victory of the Revolution and the formation of the Islamic Republic which manifested the emergence of a national, deep-rooted, religious, steadfast, talented and developing power. Now, on each branch of scientific, technological and research areas you outstanding personalities throughout the country work, you are valuable constituents of this great order which is fulfilling this historical mission. Today, you have shouldered this great responsibility. What is important is that your movement should not stop progressing. What is important is that your movement should continue without any interruption or pause in the middle of the way. The same is true of all important social, political and military movements. When a movement starts, when a great and long-term task begins, you should not let any pause and interruption take place in the middle of the way. During the Sacred Defense Era, we saw this with our own eyes when we were engaged in battle. During the war, when a movement started, it would achieve victory if it was not stopped. But if our determination was undermined in the middle of the way, if there were doubts, if we showed laziness and if there was a pause or interruption in our work, it would lead to frustration and defeat. You should not let this rapid scientific movement stop progressing. Of course, I am addressing all people involved in this issue, both you dear youth and different organizations including the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Health and the Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs. You dear youth work hard, acquire knowledge, carry out research and engage in self-edification and often, you carry out interesting and outstanding work. The statements that you made in this meeting is part of this work. Work is not only physical. Offering thoughts, ideas and opinions and making an effort in order to put forward excellent suggestions are among the best pieces of work. The Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs is a very important organization and what it does is very sensitive. A few years ago, this organization was formed at my insistence and later on, the National Elites Foundation was formed. There were certain people who rendered genuine services such as Mrs. Soltankhah and Mr. Vaezzadeh. And today, Mr. Sattari, who is the son of a martyr, is in charge of this vice presidency and this foundation. My advice to the officials in charge of Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs and the National Elites Foundation is that they should pursue the matter. You should not start to do things all over again. Outstanding work has been carried out in this regard. You should move forward according to such work. You should try to find and remove shortcomings and weak points and you should not forget about your strong points. In my opinion, the most important thing which these two organizations can do is that they should focus their efforts on preparing the ground for innovation. Innovation is very important. This process of innovation should not be stopped. Each step should bring about another step. Constant follow-up is necessary in order to preserve the process of innovation in the country. The honorable officials who are in charge of Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs should constantly follow up this scientific process in the country. They should see where problems and hurdles lie and they should resolve them. The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution - which, of course, deals with these issues within the remit of its responsibilities - is important. The Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs, which is an organization for coordinating other organizations, other scientific organizations in the country - that is to say, these two ministries - research centers and different scientific and technological centers in charge of implementing these policies should all act in a coordinated and well-organized way. Any kind of disorder and disharmony should be removed. Of course, our scientific growth is very good on a regional and international level. Our absolute growth rate is good and we enjoy a very fast rate of scientific growth, however this is not the sole standard. This rate of scientific growth should be preserved. This rate of scientific growth does not mean that we have achieved or are close to achieving our goal because we used to be very backward. And the world does not wait for us to move forward. It does not sit and watch. The world is constantly moving forward as well. Of course, the rate of our scientific growth is faster [than the global average] and we should preserve it. If this rate of scientific growth is preserved, there will be this hope that we can conquer peaks and reach front lines and, as I said many times, our country and our scientific centers can be reference points for the world. This should happen and, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, it will happen. Of course, I do not think that this will happen in five, ten, fifteen years. No, this is not the case. A few years ago, I said that you can picture this future in 40, 50 years when everyone in the world has to learn Farsi if they want to have access to new scientific achievements. Your efforts should be focused on this. You should do something to make others need your knowledge and learn your language in order to acquire the knowledge that you have. This is possible. The late Dr. Chamran was an outstanding scientific personality. In the present time, he is known for war tactics, martyrdom, military expertise and other such things, but he was also an outstanding scientific personality. He studied at an outstanding American university, but later on, he left this university and went to Lebanon and - after that - to his own country to engage in jihad. He used to tell me that in American universities - including the university that he was studying in - there were few outstanding students and the number of Iranians among them was larger than other nationalities. Iranians are more talented than the global average. We have repeatedly heard this from other people and, as I said, in the present time experience shows that this is true. The point which I have stressed from the beginning and which has not been properly addressed yet is the issue of the connection between science and industry, between universities and industries and between research centers and industrial centers. Of course, it is several years that I see this issue has been addressed by students, outstanding personalities and officials. This is a very important point. We have a scientific community and an industrial community. Our industrial community is thirsty for having access to the scientific and research achievements of our universities and research centers. And our scientific organizations need a market to consume their scientific achievements so that their enthusiasm continues to flow like a bubbling spring. In the present time, there is not a reasonable and complete relationship between these two communities. If we manage to establish a strong relationship between industries and universities, between industries and research centers or - in the general sense of the word - between industry and science, this will lead to the growth of industrial centers and the blossoming of our universities. Our industrial centers can turn to universities in order to solve their problems. As well as solving their problems, they can utilize the scientific achievements of universities in their industries. Our universities too can begin to flow smoothly. This is like a dam which has been built, but which does not have an irrigation system. Well, this dam has no value. Half of the work that we should do is to build certain walls and gather water behind these walls. The other half is to build an irrigation system so that the water behind these walls can flow to areas and lands which in are in need of water. This should be done. Of course, companies and factories should turn to scientific centers more than the past and scientific centers too should prepare themselves more than the past. Each year, we should witness hundreds of research projects - which are requested by industrial centers - in universities and scientific centers. Of course, these requested projects should address domestic needs. In my opinion, today one of our great weak points is that our scientific centers are after foreign projects. Even many youth, professors and other academic people sometimes acknowledge this. Such projects are not things that the country needs. I do not want to say that this is absolutely forbidden, but if you sit and work on certain scientific and research projects in order to meet the needs of such and such a scientific and technological organization in the world - which will buy these projects at a low price - this is not a major achievement. You should see what our domestic needs are, how your research - particularly the research that Ph.D. students and students at higher levels carry out - can help the country and what gaps it can fill. Therefore, there should be a great and serious competition in the area of innovation. There should be a competition, in the real sense of the word, whether in scientific or in technological areas. In graduate theses, particularly doctoral theses, one of the points which should definitely receive attention is innovation. In these theses, it should be clear in which areas innovation occurs and this should be the standard for evaluation. The National Elites Foundation should work in a serious way to create an environment for scientific enthusiasm. If this happens, the Iranian specialists who live outside Iran will be excited to come to their country and the talented Iranian youth will find the enthusiasm to stay in their own homeland and render services to their own country. There is a fundamental and important point in this regard which is piety and self-purification. The capabilities of outstanding personalities in our country - including young men and women and their professors - will increase in the shade of piety, self-purification and attention to God. Their capabilities will increase and they can easily make achievements. One of the greatest advantages that you have is youthful purity. This is not a permanent thing. During youth, there is a kind of purity and enlightenment which makes it easy for an individual to enjoy divine mercy. If Allah the Exalted opens up the path for individuals, if He smoothes the way for them and prepares the ground, they will achieve their goals more easily. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We will indeed make smooth for him the path to Bliss\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 92: 7]. You should appreciate the value of the piety, purity, faith and enlightenment which exist in you and which prepare the ground for spirituality. You should ask Allah the Exalted to help you and your country. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, we will be able to reach the desired point for our country and our nation. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, I will always pray for you, as I have prayed for you so far. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\'s Speech on 25th Demise Anniversary of Imam Khomeini (r.a.) Print 06/06/2014 Hotuba ya Kiongozi Muadhamu katika Maadhimisho ya Mwaka wa 25 wa Kufariki Dunia Imam KhomeiniThe following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 4, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on the occasion of the demise anniversary of Imam Khomeini (r.a.). The speech was delivered at Imam Khomeini\\\\\\\'s shrine. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings upon our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, and upon his immaculate household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth. \\\\\\\"Our Lord, forgive us and those of our brethren who had precedence of us in faith, and do not allow any spite to remain in our hearts towards those who believe. Our Lord, surely You are Kind, Merciful\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 59: 10]. \\\\\\\"Our Lord, surely You have given to Pharaoh and his chiefs finery and riches in this world\\\\\\\'s life. To this end, our Lord, that they lead people astray from Your way. Our Lord, destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they believe not until they see the painful punishment\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 10: 88]. Allah the Omniscient said in His book: \\\\\\\"Have you not considered how Allah sets forth a parable of a good word being like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven, yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord?\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 24-25] On this unforgettable and important day, I would like to divide my statements to you dear brothers and sisters into three parts. In the first part, I will speak about an important reality which exists about the Islamic Republic. Today, paying attention to this reality is very important. In the second part, I will provide a brief explanation of our magnanimous Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) permanent and eternal school of thought. Although we have said and heard many things about Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) school of thought, it is necessary to provide a brief explanation at this point in time. I will provide a short portrayal of all the things that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) created as a unique phenomenon in the contemporary world. The third part is about two important challenges which lie ahead of the people of Iran and the Islamic Republic. It is important for us to pay attention to these two challenges in order to move forward in the right way and on the right path. As for the first part, the reality that I referred to is that 25 years have passed from the demise of our great Imam (r.a.), but people\\\\\\\'s enthusiasm and excitement to hear and know about him has not diminished. And this is not particular to our country. Rather, this reality exists in the world of Islam and even beyond that. Not only in our country - where the third generation of the Revolution is growing and blossoming - but also in the entire world of Islam, the youth of the age of communications and Internet are after gaining more information about the issues of the Revolution, about the Islamic Republic and about the architect of this great structure. And these youth can easily familiarize themselves with the issues which occur far away from their own environment. The phenomenon of religious democracy and the theory of Wilayat-e Faqih are issues which are significant and attractive for the intellectual environments of the world of Islam. From the first days, our enemies began making a comprehensive effort and the more we moved forward, the more comprehensive this effort became. They used hundreds and thousands of television, radio stations and Internet sites to abuse the Islamic Republic, its great founder and its supporters. Of course, this issue has been helpful to us because it has aroused the curiosity of listeners and viewers throughout the world. These listeners and viewers want to know the reason behind all these enmities, hostilities and mudslinging. They want to know the nature of the truth which has been the target of these enmities. So, our enemies mentioned our names and they spoke about our Imam (r.a.) and our system with the purpose of showing their enmity, but \\\\\\\"...surely they will scheme, and I too will scheme\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 86: 15-16]. This is what Allah the Exalted says. They started this widespread movement with such an intention, but it eventually created an opportunity for us because the sense of curiosity of the listeners to these stations was aroused throughout the world. Islamic Awakening - in which anti-arrogant feelings were dominant more than any other phenomenon - in Islamic countries and our region is the sign of this curiosity and search for the truth and it continues to exist. It is possible that western and American intelligence services report to their seniors that they have managed to suppress Islamic Awakening in our region. If they have such a notion, then this will be another strategic mistake and another wrong interpretation on the part of our enemies. Islamic Awakening might be suppressed for a while in part of the world of Islam, but it will undoubtedly not be uprooted. On the contrary, it will develop. This understanding, this perception and this awareness in all countries and among Muslim youth in the region is not something that can be destroyed easily. Of course, they will make certain efforts in order to destroy it and these efforts may seem to be successful in some areas in the short run, but in the end, they will prove to be fruitless. The curiosity that exists in today\\\\\\\'s young generation all over the world - particularly in the world of Islam - about the phenomenon of religious democracy is rooted in the fact that the Islamic Republic is a phenomenon from whose birth 35 years have passed. And during all these 35 years, it has faced the violent and hostile reactions of the dominant powers in the world. They showed military reactions, they showed propaganda reactions, they showed economic reactions - which began from the beginning of the Revolution and which have been reinforced on a daily basis - and they showed political reactions. It is 35 years now that this powerful western camp has been doing whatever it could against the Islamic Republic. It has made military efforts, it has helped the aggressors who attacked our country, it has supported the enemies of the Islamic Republic in any area, it has used widespread propaganda and it has made perfect and unprecedented efforts in the area of sanctions and economic siege. But in the face of all these invasions and all these violent and unscrupulous hostilities, the Islamic Republic was not destroyed, it did not adopt a conservative outlook, it was not blackmailed by the west and it made progress on a daily basis. This is what forms the essence of this curiosity. Despite the fact that the primary military, political and economic powers of the world joined hands against a country and a government and despite the fact that they made efforts for 35 years, not only was this government not destroyed, but it also became stronger on a daily basis. This government was not blackmailed by them and it did not pay any attention to them at all. The Islamic Republic showed its power and capability to survive in different arenas. Today, when they look at the Islamic Republic, they see that the second and third generations of the Revolution in the country are comprised of several million students, several thousand knowledgeable clergy, several thousand researchers, several thousand university and seminary professors, thousands of scientific and intellectual personalities - some of whom are well-known on an international level - and thousands of activists and producers and thousands of political, cultural and economic personalities. This is the reality about our today\\\\\\\'s society. In the arena of science and technology, the Islamic Republic launches satellites into space despite all sanctions. It sends living creatures into space and it brings them back. It produces nuclear energy. It is ranked among the first ten countries in the world in many new sciences. The centers in charge of releasing statistics have announced that the rate of scientific progress in the Islamic Republic is 13 times faster than the global average. It gives scientific and technological services to different countries. Despite unprecedented sanctions, it manages a 75-million-strong country. It has the final word on regional policies. It shows resistance against the usurping Zionist regime, which is supported by global bullies, and it does this on its own. It does not compromise with oppressors and it defends the oppressed. Any well-informed individual becomes curious to know what this organism and phenomenon is and how it benefits from all these innate capabilities and this potential to survive despite all the enmities. This is the nature of this curiosity. This was about the issues related to scientific, technological and other such areas. As for political and social issues, the higher aspect of this religious democracy is that we have had 32 elections during the 35 years from the beginning of our Revolution. Thirty two public elections have been held in this country. Is this a minor achievement? This is an exceptional phenomenon. Elections in the Islamic Republic are held with a high turnout - higher than the global average and in some cases, it is much higher. Our elections witness a turnout of 70, 72 percent. Our elections are like this. These elections are the manifestation of democracy. Another exceptional example is the two phenomena which we people have gotten used to, but which are extraordinarily exciting and important for global inspectors and witnesses. These two phenomena are the 22nd of Bahman rallies and Quds Day Rallies in the month of Ramadan. During the past 35 years, the people have held the Revolution celebration each year with a great, exciting and glorious rally on the cold days of late Bahman. We have gotten used to this and we do not truly see the significance and greatness of this issue, but global witnesses see these things and they are very astonishing to them. These are the factors behind the element which arouses people\\\\\\\'s curiosity and which presents a new path to the minds of enthusiastic, inquisitive and research-oriented individuals. This is the important reality of our time which can be described as the general curiosity of youth, intellectuals, well-informed personalities and analysts throughout the world of Islam about the phenomenon which has emerged and grown on a daily basis in Islamic Iran. This is the first issue. This reality has been built by the hands of our great architect. We have said many things about Imam (r.a.). Perhaps some people think that we have spoken about Imam in an exaggerated way. But this is not the case. What we have said about our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) is neither exaggeration nor magnification of the truth. Rather, it is the truth. Our magnanimous and dear Imam (r.a.) was more complex and meaningful than what we managed to say and reflect about him. What is available to the people of Iran and what is in front of the eyes of people throughout the world has been built by those powerful hands. We should know about the architect\\\\\\\'s plan in order to take the path in the right way. If developers and builders do not have access to a plan in order to build an ordinary building and if it is not clear what the main plan is, then they may make a mistake no matter how skilled they are. We should know the main plan so that we can use our expertise in building on the basis of this plan. Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) plan was not one that could be designed by a human being. It was definitely God\\\\\\\'s work. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) himself knew and acknowledged this. He himself used to say, \\\\\\\"What has occurred is a handicraft of divine power\\\\\\\". He had understood this correctly and his insightful and vigilant eyes had seen this correctly. We should be careful. We should know the plan so that we can continue the path. If we do not know the plan, we will deviate from the right path. And when we deviate, we will drift away from the main and the straight path on a daily basis. When we drift away from the straight path, we will drift away from goals and we will fail to reach them. In order to reach the goals, we should take care not to lose the path and in order to avoid losing the path, we should have the main plan in front of our eyes. We should know and identify this plan. Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) plan and main task was to create a civil-political system on the basis of Islamic reason. The prerequisite for carrying out this task was to uproot the monarchic regime which was corrupt, dependent and dictatorial. The monarchic regime had these three characteristics: it was corrupt - different moral, financial and other such corruptions. It was dependent on powers. One day, it was dependent on England and another day, it was dependent on America. It was prepared to abandon its own interests and the interests of the people for the sake of the interests of foreigners. And it was dictatorial and oppressive. For the monarchic regime, the people\\\\\\\'s votes and requests counted for nothing. Each of these characteristics forms a long chapter. Each of them forms a long book. The prerequisite for the great task that Imam (r.a.) wanted to carry out was to uproot this corrupt, dependent and dictatorial regime. He focused his efforts on doing this and consequently, the regime was uprooted. In our country, the issue was not replacing a monarchic regime with another monarchic or semi-monarchic regime. The issue was uprooting the characteristics that the monarchic regime had and this was done by our magnanimous Imam (r.a.). Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) statements, guidelines and behavior were oriented towards this goal. There are two fundamental points in building this civil-political system and these two points are interconnected. In one sense, these two points are two sides of the coin of truth. One is entrusting the affairs of the country to the people through democracy and elections and another is launching this movement - which originated from Islam - and any movement which originates from democracy and entrusting tasks to people, within the framework of Islamic sharia. These are two parts. In other words, these are two sides of the same truth. Some people should not think that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) derived elections from the western culture and then mixed it with Islamic thoughts and Islamic sharia. This was not the case. If elections, democracy and reliance on the votes of people had not been part of religion and Islamic sharia, then Imam (r.a.) would have told us. If this had been the case, he would have announced it in an outspoken and decisive way. Democracy is part of religion. Therefore, Islamic sharia is the framework. When passing and implementing laws, when assigning individuals different tasks and discharging them from their service and during all tasks that follow this political-civil system, Islamic sharia should be observed. All tasks in this system revolve around democracy. All the people elect the members of the Majlis and the president, they elect ministers indirectly, they elect the members of the Assembly of Experts and they elect the Leader indirectly. All tasks are in the hands of the people. This was the main base of our magnanimous Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) movement. The great structure that this great personality built was founded on these two bases. Commitment to Islamic sharia is the soul and truth of the Islamic government. Everyone should pay attention to this issue. If Islamic sharia is completely observed in society, this will ensure both civil and individual freedom - the freedom of individuals - and collective freedom which is called independence. Independence means freedom of a people. It means that a people are not dependent on anyone and any place. \\\\\\\"A free people\\\\\\\" means a people who are not under the influence and domination of their opponents, their enemies and foreigners in any way. If Islamic sharia is observed, it will ensure both justice and spirituality in society. These are the four main elements: freedom, independence, justice and spirituality. If Islamic sharia dominates society, these main phenomena in the order of Islamic society will show themselves. Therefore, our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) stressed the necessity of Islamic sharia which is the soul of the Islamic Republic. He also stressed the necessity of religious democracy which is a means and a tool and which is derived from sharia. According to Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) school of thought, any power and force which has come into being through deception and oppression is unacceptable. In the Islamic government, oppression and subjugation are meaningless. Power and authority are meaningful, but only the one that originates from people\\\\\\\'s free will and choice. The kind of power which originates from bullying, subjugation and weapons is meaningless from the viewpoint of Islam, Islamic sharia and Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) school of thought. The kind of power which emerges on the basis of people\\\\\\\'s choice is respectable. No one should confront this power. No one should try to suppress and subjugate this power. If they do so, this is called fitna. This is the new prescription that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) introduced to the world. He added this important chapter to the political literature of the world. As we pointed out, one of the main elements in this new version is rushing to help the oppressed and confronting the oppressor. We should help the oppressed and in the present time, the concrete manifestation of being oppressed is the people of Palestine. As you witnessed, from the first day until the end of his life, our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) stressed the issue of Palestine. He supported the issue of Palestine and stated in his testament that the people of Iran and the officials of the country should not forget about this issue. Helping the oppressed, showing resistance against the oppressor, condemning his transgressions, rejecting his power and grandeur in an outspoken way and shattering this grandeur are among the parts of this system and this new version presented by our magnanimous Imam (r.a.). This is a short summary, portrayal and description of the political order and the foundation that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) introduced to society after overthrowing the monarchic regime in the country. This matter was completely accepted by the people and it was put into practice. Unlike many political slogans, this matter was not confined to books. Rather, it was realized, put into practice and reflected in reality. And the people of Iran showed their determination, loyalty and self-sacrifice by preserving this matter and strengthening it on a daily basis until today. So, Imam (r.a.) succeeded. He achieved complete success in what he wanted to do. Will this great task continue? Will the empty boxes of this table - naturally, there are some empty boxes in social and historical tables - be filled in? This depends on how determined and aware you and I are and to what extent we observe and move in the direction of that clear line. It is completely possible to do this. Considering the people that we see, considering the experience that they have gained and considering the successful and continuous movement that they have launched in the past 35 years - and in the past 25 years since Imam\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) demise - it is possible to continue this path. The empty boxes will be filled in, great feats will be accomplished and by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor and grace, our people will reach the peaks. Like all the important paths which have been delineated for reaching great goals, this path involves certain challenges and obstacles. We should identify these obstacles so that we can pass through them. If we do not identify obstacles, overcoming them will be either difficult or impossible. I am saying these things to you honorable participants of this great and magnificent meeting and, in fact, to the people of Iran who will hear these statements. But it is our youth, our scholars and our intellectuals who should think about, work on and study each of these chapters and parts. They should work on not only semi-intellectual and theoretical discussions but also on practical and functional discussions which reflect the truth. What we are saying is some chapters for carrying out intellectual tasks. By Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, these chapters will be followed up by our youth who are much better and prepared than we are. I would like to refer to two challenges: one is an external challenge and another is an internal challenge. Our external challenge is the interferences of global arrogance. I would like to speak without any consideration. The external challenge is the interferences of America. They engage in mudslinging. Although some of their thinkers say in their analyses that it is useless or impossible to confront this great movement, they engage in mudslinging. We should know their plan. This is America\\\\\\\'s plan which has been revealed through their discussions, reports, statements and behavior: America divides all countries, orientations and people throughout the world into three groups: the first group is made up of the submissive including submissive countries, submissive political and social orientations and submissive individuals. The first group is comprised of these people. The second group is comprised of countries which are not submissive and which should be tolerated. From the viewpoint of America, a number of countries, personalities and orientations should be tolerated. They believe that they should define common interests with these countries and that they should get along with them somehow. Later on, I will explain this more. The third group is made up of disobedient countries, those which do not give in to America and which refuse to be blackmailed by it. The third group is comprised of these countries. From the viewpoint of the Americans, no country, no political, social, civil and economic orientation and no individual in the world is out of these three groups. Everyone is either submissive and docile or independent - and you should get along with them - or disobedient, bold and courageous. One should behave in a different way towards the third group. America\\\\\\\'s policy towards the first group is complete support. Of course, they do not provide this support for free. They support them, but they also milk them. In fact, they use their capabilities and resources to the advantage of their own interests and for safeguarding their own interests. The Americans ride roughshod over these people and they make them render all kinds of services to them. As I said, they milk them and they do not care at all. Of course, if these people and countries behave in a way that is considered to be indecent according to global conventions, the Americans do not condemn it. On the contrary, they defend and justify it. For example, there are some dictatorial countries which are managed by biased, reactionary and completely dictatorial regimes, but they have friendly relations with the Americans. These countries give in to the Americans and they are prepared to serve and obey them. They are members of the first group. When the Americans want to describe them, they do not refer to them as dictatorial countries. Rather, they say that they are patriarchal countries and thus they cover up their dictatorship. They say, \\\\\\\"They are not dictators. Rather, they are patriarchal countries\\\\\\\". What is the meaning of patriarchal in political systems? What does it mean? Is a patriarchal country a country in which there is no parliament, no elections, no power to speak freely, no freedom of speech and no freedom of expression? Is a patriarchal country a country in which the slightest disobedience to the wishes of the rulers is suppressed in a very serious and severe way? In one part of his life, Saddam Hussein was one of these obedient and submissive individuals. In that stage of his life, they gave him all kinds of support and they rendered some services to him. They gave him chemical weapons and they provided him with the plans of our military movement which had been discovered via satellite. They gave him military plans because he was at their service and because he was against the disobedient Islamic Republic which was a member of the third group. So, these people represent the first group. As I said, the second group is made up of the countries which America gets along with. The policy and plan of America is to get along with these countries. What does getting along mean? It means defining common interests and establishing friendly relations with someone. But when America has the opportunity, it will stab them in the back and tear their hearts open and it will not show any consideration for them. Which countries represent the second group? European countries represent the second group. Today, European countries are in such conditions. America gets along with them, but this does not mean that it defends their interests. This is not the case. It will kick them as much as it can. For example, it spies - Internet espionage - on the number one in its allied country. It also spies on him by tapping his cell phone. The Americans even keep watch on his personal life and they have no scruples whatsoever. When it comes out, they say, \\\\\\\"Sorry, it happened because we had no choice\\\\\\\". They are not even willing to apologize in a sincere way. My understanding of political issues tells me that the Europeans are making a great strategic mistake by serving America. They promote the interests of America, but America does not and will not do so and it will be the same until the end. This was about the second group. The third group is made up of countries which do not give in to America. America\\\\\\\'s policy towards this group is to use each and every tool they find against these disobedient countries. They use any tool they find and they do not have any limits for that. If you see that there is a country which is disobedient to America and that America does not attack or impose sanctions on it, then you should know that there is a problem - that is to say, there is an obstacle in their way. To put it simply, they cannot do it. If they can, they will definitely do it. The only crime that this disobedient country has committed is that it is not willing to give in to America, to be blackmailed by it and to let the interests of America have priority over its own interests. This is the definition of a disobedient country. In order to bring this country to its knees, the Americans do everything that they can. They do whatever is possible for them. If they do not do something, it is because they cannot. Well, what are the things that the Americans do? Today, launching a military attack is not a priority from the viewpoint of the Americans. They have understood that they suffered a loss on the issue of Iraq and Afghanistan where they launched military attacks. They have understood that launching a military attack is as dangerous for the aggressor as it is for the defender and sometimes, it is even more dangerous for the aggressor. They have understood this correctly. Therefore, it can be said that they have changed their mind about launching a military attack. They have other ways ahead of them. One of these ways is entrusting the task of furthering their goals in the target country - which is the target of their attacks - to the elements inside this country. The issue is not only about Islamic Iran and the Islamic Republic. They are doing these things all over the world and we are witnessing some instances of their effort in the present time. Another way is launching a coup d\\\\\\\'état. They empower some people inside the target country so that they can launch a coup d\\\\\\\'état and overthrow those governments and political systems which do not give in to them. One of the ways that they use is this. Another way is drawing part of the people to the streets. An example is the color revolutions which were carried out in each and every part of the region in recent years. Take the case of a government which comes to power in a country. After all, if the government that comes to power holds 60 percent of the votes, it means that 40 percent of the people did not vote for it. The Americans go to that 40 percent, choose certain elements and leaders among them and make them - either by bribing or by threatening them - draw that 40 percent or part of it to the streets. America\\\\\\\'s hands were behind the color revolutions - for example, such and such an orange revolution and other revolutions in different countries - that were carried out in recent years. We do not make any judgment about the events which are taking place in an area in Europe. But when one takes a look, one sees what a role an American senator and official can play - by showing his presence - in the demonstrations of a minority against a country. They showed their presence in such areas. One of the measures that they adopt is that they draw part of the people to the streets and make them break the law, thereby overthrowing the government which they do not approve of and which is not blackmailed. Another measure that they adopt is empowering and forming terrorist groups. They did this in Iraq, Afghanistan and some Arab countries in the region. They did it in our country as well. They form terrorist groups in order to kill well-known personalities. In our country, they struck and martyred scientists and experts on atomic energy. Before that too, they struck political, cultural, scientific and seminary personalities. These terrorists grew with the help of the Americans. Some of them were accepted into America by the Americans for the services that they rendered. Today, munafeqeen are in America\\\\\\\'s arms. They take part in different meetings and commissions of the U.S. Congress. The same munafeqeen who killed people from different social backgrounds - including great personalities, ulama, scientists and political personalities - and who carried out explosions are with the Americans today. So, this is another way they use. Another way is creating discord among decision-makers of countries. One of the measures that they adopt is this: they try to create a rift in the highest levels of the government and system that is not with them. They try to establish a dual government. Of course, they do not succeed in many countries. But unfortunately, they succeed in some areas. This is one of their ways. Another way is that they discourage - with their propaganda - the hearts and minds of people from following their ideological and religious principles. They try such measures. The regime of the United States of America has done all these things to our dear and Islamic Iran and by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, it has failed in all of them. Launching military coups d\\\\\\\'état, supporting those who instigate fitna, drawing some people to the streets, confronting elections and creating rifts were some of the measures that they either adopted or tried to adopt and thankfully, they failed in all of them. Why did they fail? It was because the people were vigilant and religious. It is here that I want to speak about the second challenge which is the internal challenge. Dear brothers and sisters, the internal challenge for our people is the risk of ignoring, forgetting about and losing the spirit and orientation of our magnanimous Imam (r.a). This is the greatest danger. The internal challenge is making a mistake in knowing our enemies and our friends and confusing the camp of our enemies and friends so much so that we do not know who our enemies and friends are. Another mistake is failing to know our major and minor enemies. This is another danger. You dear brothers and sisters and all the people of Iran should pay attention that sometimes, someone shows enmity towards you. But if you pay careful attention, you will see that his enmity is not the main one. It is a function of another factor and another person. You should find the main enemy. Otherwise, if one confronts the lesser enemy, one\\\\\\\'s energy is sapped and the result will not be good. Today, some people in different parts of the world of Islam - which go by the name of takfiri, Wahhabi and Salafi groups - are adopting bad and inappropriate measures against Iran, Shia Muslims and Shia Islam. But everyone should know that they are not the main enemies. They show enmity and they adopt foolish measures, but the main enemy is the person who provokes them, who gives them money and who motivates them with different means when their motivation is weakened to some extent. The main enemy is the person who sows the seeds of rupture and discord between that foolish and ignorant group and the oppressed people of Iran. These measures are adopted by the hidden hands of intelligence and security services. That is why we have constantly said that we do not consider these foolish groups - who confront the Islamic Republic in the name of Salafism, takfiri and Islam - to be our main enemy. We consider you to be the deceived. We have said to these people: \\\\\\\"If you stretch your hand against me to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against you to slay you: for I fear Allah, the Cherisher of the worlds\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 5: 28]. If you make a mistake and if you prepare yourself to kill your Muslim brothers, we do not consider you to be so important that we try to kill you. Of course, we defend ourselves. Anyone who attacks us will face our firm fist. This is natural, but we believe that these people are not our main enemies. They have been deceived. The main enemy is the person who acts behind the scenes. The main enemy is the visible hand that comes out of the sleeve of intelligence services, that confronts Muslims and that pits them against one another. This is our internal challenge: becoming busy with domestic differences - those which are trivial and unimportant. Such differences make us busy, pit us against one another, create tension and make us forget about the main issues and guidelines. This is one of the manifestations of the main challenge which was referred to. Losing national solidarity is one of our challenges. Suffering from laziness, lack of confidence, idleness, desperation and hopelessness and thinking that we cannot succeed and that we have not succeeded until today are among the internal challenges we should confront. As Imam (r.a.) said, we can. We should show determination. National determination and jihadi management can untie all the knots. As we said, our dear youth, our outstanding personalities and our scholars should sit and study these issues. These are our main points. The auspicious name of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.), the remembrance of that great man and the plan of that great architect can help us in all these chapters. It can give us hope, enthusiasm and morale, as it has done this until today and by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, it will continue to do this in the future. Dear God, bestow your blessings on our dear people. Dear God, help our dear youth on the path of building an ideal Islamic structure. Dear God, protect us from deviations and digressions. Dear God, make the hands of the people of Iran stronger than the hands of their enemies. Help them achieve victory over their enemies. Make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) kind to us. Help us benefit from the prayers of that great Imam (a.s.). Associate the pure souls of Imam (r.a.) and our dear martyrs with the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1921

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech to Participants of International Conference on Islamic Awakening‌ 11/12/2012 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on December 11, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution at the International Conference of Muslim University Professors and Islamic Awakening. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful‌ First of all, I welcome you honorable guests who have come here from different countries and I also welcome the dear and honorable professors from our own universities. Since almost one and a half years ago until today, many meetings and conferences on Islamic Awakening have been held in Tehran, but I think that the International Conference of Muslim University Professors and Islamic Awakening has a special significance. This significance is because of the role of outstanding personalities and intellectuals in promoting new ideas in every society. They are the people who can lead a nation to salvation or to - God forbid - destruction. Unfortunately, the latter happened in certain countries, including our own country, over the last 70 or 80 years. There is a narration from the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), Muhammad ibn Abdullah, which says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The masses do not follow the right path unless outstanding personalities guide them towards it.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" When he was asked who these outstanding personalities are, he answered, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Religious scholars.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Religious scholars were the first people whom he referred to as outstanding personalities and then he mentioned other groups of people. Therefore, university professors, luminaries and outstanding personalities can be the leaders of the people in every country, provided that they show purity and courage. They should not be afraid of the enemies. If they show fear, greed, negligence and laziness, they will fail to achieve the desired result. If they do not show fear, greed and negligence- if they show courage, then their efforts will achieve the desired result. During the early days of the Revolution, about thirty one years or thirty two years ago, I and two other people went from Tehran to Qom to meet Imam Khomeini (r.a.). At that time, he was still in Qom. We - who were members of the Revolutionary Council at that time - went there to ask for his opinion about a very important issue. When we explained to him what the issue was, Imam (r.a.) looked at us and asked, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Are you afraid of America?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" We said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"No\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Then he told us to implement our decision. Then we implemented our decision and we succeeded. If you show fear, greed and negligence and if you let deviant orientations play a role [in your decision-making], you will face serious problems. Today the entire world is faced with a great event. This great event is Islamic Awakening. This is a fact. Muslim nations and the Islamic Ummah have awakened. Today achieving domination over Muslim nations is not as easy as it used to be during the time after World War I and during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Today, if global arrogance wants to dominate Muslim peoples, they will face serious difficulties. Islamic Awakening has penetrated the Islamic Ummah which has resulted in a number of revolutions and the fall of corrupt and dependent regimes in certain countries. But this is only part of Islamic Awakening, not all of it. Islamic Awakening is a deep and widespread movement. Of course, the enemies are afraid of the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Islamic Awakening.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" They are trying not to let the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Islamic Awakening\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" be used to refer to the current great movement in the region. Why are they doing this? It is because they tremble with fear when they see genuine Islam. They do not fear the kind of Islam which is based on money, corruption, aristocracy and the kind of Islam which is not supported by the majority of people. But they are terrified when they see the kind of Islam which is supported by the majority of people and which is based on action, reliance on God and divine promises. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And surely Allah will help him who helps His cause\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 22: 40]. Whenever this kind of Islam emerges, whenever there are signs that this kind of Islam is approaching them, they tremble with fear. They are filled with fear \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"as if they were frightened donkeys, fleeing from a lion\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 74: 50-51]. Therefore, they do not want the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Islamic Awakening\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" to be used. But we believe that the current great movement is a true example of Islamic Awakening and it has penetrated the world of Islam. This movement will continue in the future and it will not easily deviate from its path. We should identify the problems of these regional movements. This is the first point that I want to discuss with you. You should identify the problems of these movements and revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and similar countries. What are the dangers? What are the problems? Why do we say that these movements are Islamic in essence? Take a look at the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s slogans. Take a look at the role of Muslim believers in overthrowing corrupt regimes. If Muslim believers and Muslim groups who firmly believe in Islam and who are greatly respected by the people had not participated in these movements, these large public demonstrations would not have been held. The pressures that the people exerted, with their presence, on oppressive regimes like those of Hosni Mubarak and Ben Ali, completely destroyed their shaky foundations. They were Muslim peoples with Islamic slogans. The crucial role of Islamist parties in overthrowing these regimes is a clear proof that this movement is an Islamic movement. And whenever there was an election in these countries, the people voted for Islamist parties. They supported Islamic parties and they preferred them to other parties. Today, if a free election is held almost everywhere in the world of Islam - there may be a few exceptions - and if Islamist leaders and politicians participate in this election, the people will vote for Islamist politicians. This is the same everywhere in the world of Islam. Therefore, this movement is undoubtedly an Islamic movement. Well, I said that we should identify the problems in these movements. Besides identifying the problems, we should delineate the goals of these revolutions, otherwise there will be confusion. We should delineate these goals. One of the most important goals of Islamic Awakening is getting rid of global arrogance. We should announce this openly because it is wrong to think that global arrogance - headed by America - may get along with Islamic movements. Wherever Islam and supporters of Islam prevail, America does its best to destroy them while putting on a friendly smile. Regional revolutions have no other choice than distancing themselves from global arrogance. We do not say that they should go to war with America, but we say that they should determine what the position of America and global arrogance is on the recent events in the region. They should do this correctly because if they do not gain a proper understanding of their position, they will be deceived. Today, global arrogance is ruling over the world by using money, weapons and science. But it lacks new ideas and a road map. Today global arrogance has this big problem. It does not have any new ideas to help the people and intellectuals. But you do. You have Islam. When we have new ideas and a road map, we can delineate our goals and we can stand up against global arrogance. In this way, their weapons, their science and their money will not be effective as they were in the past. Of course, they will not be entirely ineffective, but we should think of ways to counter them - if there is time, I will explain more. Thus, in the first place, we should have new ideas, a road map and an ideology. We should know what we want to do. We should delineate the goals of Islamic Awakening. One of the important goals of Islamic Awakening, which regional developments should pay attention to, is to preserve the pivotal role of Islam. Islam should be the pivot. Islamic principles and sharia should be the pivot of things. There is an all-out effort to claim that sharia is not compatible with progress, change and civilization. This is what the enemy says. No, it is perfectly compatible. Of course, there are many people in the world of Islam who do not have enough knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and who have supported the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s claim with their dogmatic and old-fashioned ideas. These people are Muslims, but they are at the service of the enemy. There are such people in Islamic countries which are located near us. They call themselves Muslims, but they do not have any new ideas about and any new outlook on Islamic teachings. Islam is for all eras and centuries. Islam answers all the needs of human beings. We should only develop the necessary expertise in order to find Islam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s answers to all the questions of human beings. Some people do not have this expertise and they only know how to excommunicate and drive certain people out of religion. And they call themselves Muslims. Sometimes we discover that these people cooperate with the enemy. We should make Islam and sharia the pivot of our activities. This is one of the goals of Islamic Awakening. Another goal of Islamic Awakening is building a governing system. If a governing system is not built in countries which have carried out a revolution, they will face dangers. In North African countries, similar revolutions were carried out about 60 or 70 years ago. It was in mid-twentieth century that a revolution was carried out in Tunisia and certain people came to power. Similarly, a revolution and a coup d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état were carried out in Egypt and certain people came to power. The same thing happened in some other countries. But they failed to build a governing system. This resulted in not only the destruction of these revolutions but also in the complete political transformation of the individuals who had come to power as revolutionaries. There was a complete change in their political behavior and they turned their backs on their values. This happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan during that time. It was around 1343, 1344 or 1345 that I and a couple of my friends were listening to Sawt al-Arab radio station in Mashhad - Sawt al-Arab used to be broadcast from Cairo in Egypt. It was broadcasting the interviews of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Muammar Gaddafi and Jaafar Nimeiry who had gathered in one place. We were being suppressed by the dictatorial regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Mashhad, but these fiery and impassioned speeches made us very enthusiastic and brought us great joy. Well, Abdel Nasser died and you saw what his successors did. You also saw what happened to Gaddafi and Nimeiry. Those revolutions underwent drastic changes because they had no plans and they did not build a governing system. There should be a governing system in countries which have carried out a revolution. They should build a solid foundation. This is one of the important issues regarding Islamic Awakening. Another important issue is strengthening popular support. Islamic governments should not separate themselves from the people. The people have certain expectations and needs. The real power is in the hands of the people. Whenever the people hold demonstrations, whenever they become firmly united and whenever they unanimously support their leaders and government officials, then America and even powers that are greater than America cannot do anything to harm them. We should maintain the support of the people and you intellectuals, authors, poets and religious scholars can do this. The most significant people are religious scholars who have a heavy responsibility. They should clarify for people what they want and where they are going. They should enlighten them about the problems and the enemy. They should help the people remain vigilant. In this way, no harm will be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah. Another issue is training the youth in scientific areas. Islamic countries should make progress in scientific and technological areas. I said that the west and America dominated the world by means of science - one of the means they used was science. They acquired wealth by using science. Of course, they acquired part of their wealth by using political machinations and immoral methods, but science also played an important role. We should make progress in science. There is a narration which says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Knowledge is power. Anybody who has knowledge will be able to dominate those around him. Anybody who fails to gain knowledge will be ruled.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" You should make progress in science. Acquiring knowledge is like having strong arms. If you do not have strong arms, other strong people will twist your arms. You should encourage the youth in your countries to make progress in science. This is possible. We have done this in Iran. Before the Revolution, we were ranked one of the lowest nations in terms of science. No one paid any attention to us. Today those who carry out research in this regard say that Iran ranks 16th in the world in terms of science and the news of our achievement spread quickly in the world. This has been achieved in the shade of the Revolution, Islam and sharia. News of this achievement spread several months ago. Those organizations who said this predicted that Iran\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s scientific rank would be single-digit in a few years. They specified a year by which Iran will achieve this rank - in 10, 12 years. They said that Iran will be ranked fourth. This is because Iran has a fast rate of scientific growth. Of course, we are still far behind the world. Our scientific growth is several times faster than the global average, but we are still behind other countries. If we move forward at this speed, we will make great progress. The world of Islam should continue making progress. Islamic countries are talented. We have good young people. They are very talented. Muslim peoples used to be pioneers in science during a certain period. Why would we not expect that the world of Islam will be an authoritative source of reference in scientific areas? Why would we not expect that we can reach a point where all countries turn to Muslim countries in scientific areas? This is possible in the future. We should try very hard. Progress in science can be achieved in the shade of Islam and regional revolutions. The Islamic Ummah has proved that it can move forward at a greater speed. Another important issue is unity - it is almost time for praying and we need to go. Dear brothers and sisters, our enemies are making the best of the discord that exists among us. They are trying to create discord among Muslim peoples under such pretexts as Shia and Sunni Islam, ethnicity and nationality. They are trying to create discord by magnifying Shia and Sunni differences. You see that they are creating discord in Islamic countries which have carried out a revolution and in other Islamic countries. Everybody should be vigilant. The west and America are the enemies of the world of Islam. We should address and respond to this issue from this perspective. They are provoking the emotions of the people. Their intelligence services are working very hard and they sow destruction wherever they can. On the issue of Palestine, they created as many obstacles as they could. Of course, they failed in their efforts. We are moving forward. The world of Islam is moving forward. The recent event in Palestine is very important. An 8-day war broke out between the people of Gaza and the Zionist regime which claims to have the strongest army in the region. But when both sides decided to declare a ceasefire, it was the Palestinian side that set conditions. Is this believable? Would anybody have believed ten years ago that one day there would be a war between the Palestinians - not all Palestinians, a group of them in Gaza - and the Zionist regime and it would be the Palestinians who set conditions for a ceasefire? Well done to the Palestinians. Well done! Well done to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the soldiers who fought in Palestine and Gaza for their outstanding courage. What they did is a perfect example of courage. I want to express my gratitude to the Palestinian soldiers for their sacrifices, their efforts and their patience. They saw that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Verily, with every difficulty there is relief\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 94: 6]. If we show patience, God Almighty will resolve our problems. Because they resisted the enemy and showed great patience, God Almighty resolved their problems. This is a lesson for both the Palestinians and other people. You should not underestimate the significance of unity between Muslim peoples. It is a very important issue. The point that our Bahraini brother raised about the silence of the world of Islam on the issue of Bahrain is true. The reason why some people are silent on this issue is that they have a denominational bias. According to these people, you can help people who have risen up against their corrupt government unless these people are Shia like the people of Bahrain. Some people have such an attitude towards this issue. They should change their attitude. We should know the enemy. We should know what his plots and machinations are. We should know how he tries to harm us. Our position on the issue of Syria was based on such an outlook. We cannot even stand to see that blood runs from the nose of a single Muslim. Even this is very painful for us. What we say is that those who are dragging Syria into a civil war, destruction and fratricide are to blame for the current situation in Syria. The demands of all peoples should be met in conventional ways and without using such violence. I hope that Allah the Exalted guides all of us. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings on your efforts. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows a bright future on this great wave of Islamic Awakening. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\'s Speech at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference 29/04/2013 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 29, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad al-Mustafa, and upon his immaculate household, chosen companions and those who follow them well, until the Day of Judgment. I welcome you honorable guests and I ask Almighty and Merciful God to bless this collective effort and make it an effective step towards happiness of Muslims. \\\\\\\"Surely He listens and responds.\\\\\\\" Today the subject of Islamic Awakening, which you will discuss in this conference, tops the list of the issues of the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah, an amazing phenomenon that will result in the re-emergence of Islamic civilization - for the Islamic Ummah and then for all of the world - in the not too distant future providing that, with Allah\\\\\\\'s permission, it stays healthy and continues. Today what lies in front of our eyes and cannot be denied by any informed and intelligent individual is that the world of Islam has now emerged out of the sidelines of social and political equations of the world, that it has found a prominent and outstanding position at the center of decisive global events, and that it offers a fresh outlook on life, politics, government and social developments. This is considered an important and significant phenomenon in today\\\\\\\'s world, which is suffering from a deep intellectual and theoretical vacuum after the failure of communism and liberalism. This is the first sign of the political and revolutionary events in North Africa and the Arab region on a global scale, which itself is a harbinger of greater truths that will come to pass in the future. Islamic Awakening, which speakers in the arrogant and reactionary camp do not even dare to mention in words, is a truth whose signs can be witnessed in almost all parts of the world of Islam. The most obvious sign of it is the enthusiasm of public opinion, especially among young people, to revive the glory and greatness of Islam, to become aware of the nature of the international order of domination and to remove the mask from the shameless, oppressive and arrogant face of the governments and centers that have been pressuring the Islamic and non-Islamic East in their clutches for more than two hundred years and have been exposing nations to their brutal and aggressive thirst for power disguised with the mask of civilization and culture. The dimensions of this auspicious awakening are widespread and mysterious, but what was witnessed of its immediate outcomes in a few North African countries can make hearts confident about the great and amazing outcomes that will be achieved in the future. Miraculous fulfillment of divine promises is always a hope-inspiring sign that promises the fulfillment of greater promises. The Quranic account of the two promises that Allah the Exalted gave to the mother of Prophet Moses is an example of this divine tactic. At that difficult moment, when she was ordered to cast her baby in the river in a basket, Allah the Exalted said, \\\\\\\"Surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of the messengers.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 7] The fulfillment of the first promise, which was the smaller promise and a cause for happiness for the mother, became the sign of the fulfillment of the promise of prophetic mission, which was far greater and of course, it required long-term suffering, struggle and patience: \\\\\\\"So We restored him to his mother that her eye might be refreshed, and that she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true...\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 13] This true promise was the great mission which was fulfilled after many years and it changed the course of history. Another example is the reminder about the overwhelming power of God to suppress the invaders of the Holy House: in order to encourage His audience through the Holy Prophet to submit to His order, Allah the Exalted makes use of this example \\\\\\\"so let them serve the Lord of this House\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Quraysh, Ayah 3] and says, \\\\\\\"Did He not cause their war to end in confusion?\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fil, Ayah 2] Similarly, in order to raise the spirits of His beloved Prophet and convince him of the truth of the promise \\\\\\\"your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He become displeased\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 3], Allah the Exalted gives the reminder about the miraculous blessing: \\\\\\\"Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? He found you astray and guided you.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 6-7] And there are many such examples in the Holy Quran. The day when Islam achieved victory in Iran and managed to capture the fort of America and Zionism in one of the most important countries in this extremely sensitive region, those who were wise and quick to learn realized that if they had patience and insight, other victories will come one after another. The brilliant truths in the Islamic Republic, which are acknowledged by our enemies, have all been achieved in the shade of trust in divine promises, patience, resistance and asking God for assistance. In the face of temptations by weak people who, during tense times, shout \\\\\\\"we are sure to be overtaken,\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 61] our people have always shouted \\\\\\\"by no means, my Lord is with me and soon will He guide me.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 62] Today this is a precious experience that is available to the peoples who have stood up against arrogance and tyranny and have managed to overthrow and shake corrupt governments that are subservient to and dependent on America. Resistance, patience, insight and faith in the divine promise \\\\\\\"surely Allah will help him who helps His cause\\\\\\\" will pave this path of glory for the Islamic Ummah until it reaches the peak of Islamic civilization. At this important meeting, which has been attended by a group of religious scholars of the Islamic Ummah from different Islamic countries and denominations, I believe it is appropriate to discuss a few necessary points regarding the issue of Islamic Awakening. The first point is that the earliest waves of awakening in the countries of this region, which started simultaneously with the entry of the pioneers of colonialism, were mainly caused by religion and religious reformers. The names of outstanding leaders and personalities - such as Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, Muhammad Abduh, Mirza-e Shirazi, Akhund-e Khorasani, Mahmoud al-Hassan, Muhammad Ali, Sheikh Fazlollah, Hajj Agha Noorullah, Abul A\\\\\\\'la Maududi and tens of famous, great, mujahid and and influential clerics from Iran, Egypt, India and Iraq - have been recorded in history books forever. Similarly, in the contemporary era, the brilliant name of the great Imam Khomeini is shining like a brilliant star at the forefront of the Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, today and in the past, hundreds of famous religious scholar and thousands of lesser-known religious scholars have played a role in great and small reform movements in different countries. The list of non-cleric religious reformers, such as Hassan al-Banna and Iqbal Lahori, is also long and amazing. Almost everywhere, clerics and theologians have been the intellectual authority and spiritual support for the people and wherever they have appeared in the role of guides and pioneers at the time of great developments and have moved forward in the first rows of popular movements in the face of dangers, the intellectual bond between them and the people has been strengthened and they have played a significant role in showing the path to the people. This is as beneficial to the wave of Islamic Awakening as it is unpleasant and distressing to the enemies of the Islamic Ummah, those who bear grudges against Islam and those who are opposed to the rule of Islamic values, and they are trying to take away this intellectual authority from religious strongholds and create new centers for it. They have learned through experience that they can easily reach a compromise with these centers over national principles and values, and this is something that will never happen in the case of pious religious scholars and devoted religious personalities. This makes the responsibility of religious scholars heavier. Through vigilance and caution and by identifying the enemy\\\\\\\'s deceptive methods and machinations, they should completely shut the door to infiltration and foil the enemy\\\\\\\'s plots. One of the greatest calamities is becoming attracted to the lure of worldly wealth. Exposure to the favors of wealthy and powerful people and being indebted to taghuts of lust and power are the most dangerous cause of separation from the people and loss of their trust and friendliness. Self-centeredness and thirst for power, which lure weak individuals towards developing an inclination to poles of power, prepare the ground for involvement in corruption and deviation. It is necessary to constantly keep this holy Quranic ayah in mind: \\\\\\\"(As for) that future abode, We assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves in the earth nor to make mischief and the good end is for those who guard (against evil).\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 83] Today in the era of hope-inspiring movements of Islamic Awakening, sometimes certain things are witnessed which on the one hand, show the efforts by the agents of America and Zionism to create unreliable intellectual authorities and which on the other hand, show the efforts by debauched Qaruns to drag religious and pious people towards their poisoned and contaminated activities. Religious scholars and pious men should be extremely vigilant and careful. The second point is the necessity of delineating a long-term goal for Islamic Awakening in Muslim countries, a noble aim that gives orientation to the awakening of nations and helps them reach a certain point. It is through identifying this particular point that one can prepare a roadmap and specify the medium- and short-term goals in it. This final goal cannot be anything less than creating a brilliant Islamic civilization. All parts of the Islamic Ummah - in the form of different nations and countries - should achieve the civilizational position that has been specified in the Holy Quran. The main and the general characteristic of this civilization is that it should allow human beings to utilize all the material and spiritual capacities that Allah the Exalted has bestowed on them and on the world in order to bring about happiness and transcendence for humanity. The surface structure of this civilization can and should be witnessed in popular government, in the laws that have been extracted from the Holy Quran, in identifying and addressing different needs of humanity, in avoidance of rigidity and reactionary attitudes as well as unwarranted innovation and adulteration, in creating public welfare and wealth, in establishing justice, in liberation from an economy that is based on special privileges, usury and taking pride in wealth, in promoting human values, in defending oppressed people in the world, and in hard work and innovation. Adopting an ijtihadi and scholarly outlook on different areas - ranging from humanities to the system of formal education, from economy and banking to technical and technological production, from modern media to art and cinema and to international relations and other areas - are all among the requirements for this civilization-building. Experience has shown that all of these things are possible and within the capacities of Muslim communities. This outlook must not be treated with haste and pessimism. Being pessimistic about one\\\\\\\'s capabilities is ingratitude to God\\\\\\\'s blessings, and neglecting help from God and the laws of creation amounts to slipping into the morass of entertaining \\\\\\\"evil thoughts about Allah.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fath, Ayah 6] We can break the chain of scientific, economic and political monopolies of the domineering powers and help the Islamic Ummah become the pioneer of restoring the rights of the majority of nations in the world, which have been dominated by a minority of arrogant powers. Through religious faith, knowledge, ethics and constant struggle, Islamic civilization can gift advanced thought and noble codes of behavior to the Islamic Ummah and to the entire humanity, and it can be the point of liberation from materialistic and oppressive outlooks and corrupt codes of behavior that form the pillars of current Western civilization. The third point is that in the movements of Islamic Awakening it is necessary to pay constant attention to the bitter and horrifying experience of following the West in politics, behavior and lifestyle. In more than a century of following the culture and politics of the arrogant powers, Muslim countries suffered from deadly calamities such as political dependence and humiliation, economic plights and poverty, decline of moral virtues and ethics and shameful scientific backwardness, and this was while the Islamic Ummah enjoyed a glorious history in all of these areas. This statement must not be interpreted as hostility towards the West. We are not hostile towards any group of human beings because of geographical differences. We have learnt lessons from Ali (greetings be upon him) who describes human beings in this way: \\\\\\\"Those who have the same religion as you, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you.\\\\\\\" Our complaint against oppression and arrogance and against bullying and transgression is the moral and practical degeneration that has been imposed on our nations by the colonial and arrogant powers. Currently, we can witness the bullying and interference of America and some of its followers in the region in the countries in which the breeze of awakening has turned into the storm of uprisings and revolutions. Their promises must not affect the decisions and actions of outstanding political personalities and the great movement of the people. In this case as well, we need to learn lessons from our experiences: those who pinned their hopes on the promises of America for years and based their behavior and policies on the inclination towards the oppressor did not manage to resolve any problems of their nations or eliminate an injustice to themselves or to others. By surrendering to America, they did not manage to prevent the demolition of even one single Palestinian home in a territory that belongs to the Palestinians. The politicians and outstanding personalities who are deceived by the bribe or intimidated by the threats of the camp of the arrogant powers and miss the great opportunity of Islamic Awakening should be apprehensive about this divine threat: \\\\\\\"Have you not seen those who have changed Allah\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition into hell? They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Ibrahim, Ayah 28-29] The fourth point is that today one of the most dangerous things that threatens the movement of Islamic Awakening is the efforts to foment discord and turn these movements into bloody sectarian, ethnic and national conflicts. Currently, this plot is being seriously pursued by intelligence services of the West and Zionism with the help of petrodollars and bribed politicians from East Asia to North Africa and particularly in the Arab region. And the money that could have been spent to bring about happiness for mankind is being used to make threats, excommunicate, assassinate, bomb, shed Muslim blood and to kindle the fire of long-lasting grudges. Those who consider the unified power of Islam as an obstacle in the way of their evil goals have come to the conclusion that fanning the flames of conflicts inside the Islamic Ummah is the easiest way to achieve their satanic goal and they have used differences of opinion in Islamic jurisprudence, kalaam, history and hadith - which are natural and inevitable - as a pretext to excommunicate, shed blood and cause fitna and corruption. A vigilant look at the scene of domestic conflicts clearly reveals the enemy\\\\\\\'s hands behind these tragedies. These deceptive hands undoubtedly take advantage of the ignorance, prejudice and superficiality that exists in our societies and they add fuel to the fire. The responsibility of religious and political reformers and outstanding personalities is very heavy in this regard. Currently, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq and Lebanon are in one way or another involved in or exposed to these dangerous flames. It is necessary to be extremely careful and to look for a remedy. It would be naïve to think that all of these things are due to ideological and ethnic factors and motives. Propaganda campaigns of the West and dependent and mercenary media in the region pretend that the destructive war in Syria is a Shia-Sunni conflict and they create a safety margin for the Zionists and the enemies of resistance in Syria and Lebanon. This is while the two sides of the conflict in Syria are not Shia and Sunni, rather they are the supporters and opponents of anti-Zionist resistance. Neither the Syrian government is a Shia government, nor is the secular and anti-Islam opposition a Sunni group. The only achievement of the plotters of this calamitous scenario is that they have managed to make use of religious sentiments of simple-minded people to kindle this deadly fire. A look at the scene and those who are involved in it at different levels can clarify the issue for any just individual. Also, in the case of Bahrain, this wave of propaganda is spreading lies and deception in another way. In Bahrain, the oppressed majority - who have been deprived of the right to vote as well as other fundamental rights that a nation should enjoy - have risen up to demand their rights. Should this be considered a Shia-Sunni conflict simply because the oppressed majority are Shia and the oppressive secular government pretends to be Sunni? Of course, the European and American colonialists and their friends in the region want to make things appear like this, but what is the truth? These are the things that call religious scholars and just reformers to careful thinking and sense of responsibility and they make identification of the enemies\\\\\\\' goals behind highlighting sectarian, ethnic and partisan differences an obligation for everybody. The fifth point is that one of the standards for judging whether Islamic Awakening movements are on the right path is the positions they adopt on the issue of Palestine. Since sixty years ago up until today, the occupation of Palestine has been the biggest tragedy that has been imposed on the Islamic Ummah. Since the first day up until today, the tragedy of Palestine has been a combination of killings, assassinations, destruction, usurpation and transgression against what is held sacred in Islam. The necessity of putting up a resistance against this warring and usurping enemy and fighting him has been agreed upon by all Islamic denominations and all honest and healthy national currents. Any current in Islamic countries which disregards this religious and national responsibility out of consideration for the domineering demands of America or under the pretext of unreasonable justifications should not expect to be viewed as loyal to Islam and sincere in its nationalistic claims. This is a test. Anybody who does not accept the slogan of liberating Holy Quds and saving the Palestinian nation and Palestinian territories or anybody who sidelines this slogan and turns his back on the camp of resistance, will be condemned. The Islamic Ummah should keep this clear and fundamental standard in mind everywhere and at all times. Dear guests, brothers and sisters, never lose sight of the enemy\\\\\\\'s plot. Our lack of vigilance creates opportunities for our enemies. The lesson that Ali (greetings be upon him) teaches us is that \\\\\\\"whoever is careless about his cause, his enemy will not sleep over this advantage...\\\\\\\" In this regard, our experience in the Islamic Republic is also a source of lessons. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the arrogant Western governments and America - which had long established full control over Iranian taghuts and used to determine the political, economic and cultural destiny of our country and which had underestimated the enormous power of Islamic faith in society and remained unaware of the power of Islam and the Holy Quran to deploy forces and to guide - suddenly realized that they had been unaware and their governmental organizations, intelligence services and control rooms resumed work in order to make up for the overwhelming defeat they had suffered. We have witnessed various kinds of machinations from them over the past thirty-something years. In essence, there have been two factors that have foiled their plots: insistence on Islamic principles and presence of the people on the scene. These two factors are the key to the problems everywhere. The first factor is guaranteed by sincere religious faith in divine promises and the second factor is guaranteed by sincere efforts and honest clarification. A nation that has faith in the honesty and sincerity of its leaders will bring in enthusiasm with their blessed presence, and wherever a nation stays on the scene with a solid determination, no power will have the capability to defeat it. This is a successful experience for all the nations that gave rise to Islamic Awakening through their presence. I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow His guidance, assistance and mercy on you and on all Muslim nations. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1772

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference 29/04/2013 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 29, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad al-Mustafa, and upon his immaculate household, chosen companions and those who follow them well, until the Day of Judgment. I welcome you honorable guests and I ask Almighty and Merciful God to bless this collective effort and make it an effective step towards happiness of Muslims. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Surely He listens and responds.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Today the subject of Islamic Awakening, which you will discuss in this conference, tops the list of the issues of the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah, an amazing phenomenon that will result in the re-emergence of Islamic civilization - for the Islamic Ummah and then for all of the world - in the not too distant future providing that, with Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s permission, it stays healthy and continues. Today what lies in front of our eyes and cannot be denied by any informed and intelligent individual is that the world of Islam has now emerged out of the sidelines of social and political equations of the world, that it has found a prominent and outstanding position at the center of decisive global events, and that it offers a fresh outlook on life, politics, government and social developments. This is considered an important and significant phenomenon in today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s world, which is suffering from a deep intellectual and theoretical vacuum after the failure of communism and liberalism. This is the first sign of the political and revolutionary events in North Africa and the Arab region on a global scale, which itself is a harbinger of greater truths that will come to pass in the future. Islamic Awakening, which speakers in the arrogant and reactionary camp do not even dare to mention in words, is a truth whose signs can be witnessed in almost all parts of the world of Islam. The most obvious sign of it is the enthusiasm of public opinion, especially among young people, to revive the glory and greatness of Islam, to become aware of the nature of the international order of domination and to remove the mask from the shameless, oppressive and arrogant face of the governments and centers that have been pressuring the Islamic and non-Islamic East in their clutches for more than two hundred years and have been exposing nations to their brutal and aggressive thirst for power disguised with the mask of civilization and culture. The dimensions of this auspicious awakening are widespread and mysterious, but what was witnessed of its immediate outcomes in a few North African countries can make hearts confident about the great and amazing outcomes that will be achieved in the future. Miraculous fulfillment of divine promises is always a hope-inspiring sign that promises the fulfillment of greater promises. The Quranic account of the two promises that Allah the Exalted gave to the mother of Prophet Moses is an example of this divine tactic. At that difficult moment, when she was ordered to cast her baby in the river in a basket, Allah the Exalted said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of the messengers.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 7] The fulfillment of the first promise, which was the smaller promise and a cause for happiness for the mother, became the sign of the fulfillment of the promise of prophetic mission, which was far greater and of course, it required long-term suffering, struggle and patience: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"So We restored him to his mother that her eye might be refreshed, and that she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true...\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 13] This true promise was the great mission which was fulfilled after many years and it changed the course of history. Another example is the reminder about the overwhelming power of God to suppress the invaders of the Holy House: in order to encourage His audience through the Holy Prophet to submit to His order, Allah the Exalted makes use of this example \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"so let them serve the Lord of this House\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Quraysh, Ayah 3] and says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Did He not cause their war to end in confusion?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fil, Ayah 2] Similarly, in order to raise the spirits of His beloved Prophet and convince him of the truth of the promise \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He become displeased\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 3], Allah the Exalted gives the reminder about the miraculous blessing: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? He found you astray and guided you.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 6-7] And there are many such examples in the Holy Quran. The day when Islam achieved victory in Iran and managed to capture the fort of America and Zionism in one of the most important countries in this extremely sensitive region, those who were wise and quick to learn realized that if they had patience and insight, other victories will come one after another. The brilliant truths in the Islamic Republic, which are acknowledged by our enemies, have all been achieved in the shade of trust in divine promises, patience, resistance and asking God for assistance. In the face of temptations by weak people who, during tense times, shout \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"we are sure to be overtaken,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 61] our people have always shouted \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"by no means, my Lord is with me and soon will He guide me.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 62] Today this is a precious experience that is available to the peoples who have stood up against arrogance and tyranny and have managed to overthrow and shake corrupt governments that are subservient to and dependent on America. Resistance, patience, insight and faith in the divine promise \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"surely Allah will help him who helps His cause\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" will pave this path of glory for the Islamic Ummah until it reaches the peak of Islamic civilization. At this important meeting, which has been attended by a group of religious scholars of the Islamic Ummah from different Islamic countries and denominations, I believe it is appropriate to discuss a few necessary points regarding the issue of Islamic Awakening. The first point is that the earliest waves of awakening in the countries of this region, which started simultaneously with the entry of the pioneers of colonialism, were mainly caused by religion and religious reformers. The names of outstanding leaders and personalities - such as Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, Muhammad Abduh, Mirza-e Shirazi, Akhund-e Khorasani, Mahmoud al-Hassan, Muhammad Ali, Sheikh Fazlollah, Hajj Agha Noorullah, Abul A\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'la Maududi and tens of famous, great, mujahid and and influential clerics from Iran, Egypt, India and Iraq - have been recorded in history books forever. Similarly, in the contemporary era, the brilliant name of the great Imam Khomeini is shining like a brilliant star at the forefront of the Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, today and in the past, hundreds of famous religious scholar and thousands of lesser-known religious scholars have played a role in great and small reform movements in different countries. The list of non-cleric religious reformers, such as Hassan al-Banna and Iqbal Lahori, is also long and amazing. Almost everywhere, clerics and theologians have been the intellectual authority and spiritual support for the people and wherever they have appeared in the role of guides and pioneers at the time of great developments and have moved forward in the first rows of popular movements in the face of dangers, the intellectual bond between them and the people has been strengthened and they have played a significant role in showing the path to the people. This is as beneficial to the wave of Islamic Awakening as it is unpleasant and distressing to the enemies of the Islamic Ummah, those who bear grudges against Islam and those who are opposed to the rule of Islamic values, and they are trying to take away this intellectual authority from religious strongholds and create new centers for it. They have learned through experience that they can easily reach a compromise with these centers over national principles and values, and this is something that will never happen in the case of pious religious scholars and devoted religious personalities. This makes the responsibility of religious scholars heavier. Through vigilance and caution and by identifying the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s deceptive methods and machinations, they should completely shut the door to infiltration and foil the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plots. One of the greatest calamities is becoming attracted to the lure of worldly wealth. Exposure to the favors of wealthy and powerful people and being indebted to taghuts of lust and power are the most dangerous cause of separation from the people and loss of their trust and friendliness. Self-centeredness and thirst for power, which lure weak individuals towards developing an inclination to poles of power, prepare the ground for involvement in corruption and deviation. It is necessary to constantly keep this holy Quranic ayah in mind: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"(As for) that future abode, We assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves in the earth nor to make mischief and the good end is for those who guard (against evil).\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 83] Today in the era of hope-inspiring movements of Islamic Awakening, sometimes certain things are witnessed which on the one hand, show the efforts by the agents of America and Zionism to create unreliable intellectual authorities and which on the other hand, show the efforts by debauched Qaruns to drag religious and pious people towards their poisoned and contaminated activities. Religious scholars and pious men should be extremely vigilant and careful. The second point is the necessity of delineating a long-term goal for Islamic Awakening in Muslim countries, a noble aim that gives orientation to the awakening of nations and helps them reach a certain point. It is through identifying this particular point that one can prepare a roadmap and specify the medium- and short-term goals in it. This final goal cannot be anything less than creating a brilliant Islamic civilization. All parts of the Islamic Ummah - in the form of different nations and countries - should achieve the civilizational position that has been specified in the Holy Quran. The main and the general characteristic of this civilization is that it should allow human beings to utilize all the material and spiritual capacities that Allah the Exalted has bestowed on them and on the world in order to bring about happiness and transcendence for humanity. The surface structure of this civilization can and should be witnessed in popular government, in the laws that have been extracted from the Holy Quran, in identifying and addressing different needs of humanity, in avoidance of rigidity and reactionary attitudes as well as unwarranted innovation and adulteration, in creating public welfare and wealth, in establishing justice, in liberation from an economy that is based on special privileges, usury and taking pride in wealth, in promoting human values, in defending oppressed people in the world, and in hard work and innovation. Adopting an ijtihadi and scholarly outlook on different areas - ranging from humanities to the system of formal education, from economy and banking to technical and technological production, from modern media to art and cinema and to international relations and other areas - are all among the requirements for this civilization-building. Experience has shown that all of these things are possible and within the capacities of Muslim communities. This outlook must not be treated with haste and pessimism. Being pessimistic about one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s capabilities is ingratitude to God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s blessings, and neglecting help from God and the laws of creation amounts to slipping into the morass of entertaining \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"evil thoughts about Allah.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fath, Ayah 6] We can break the chain of scientific, economic and political monopolies of the domineering powers and help the Islamic Ummah become the pioneer of restoring the rights of the majority of nations in the world, which have been dominated by a minority of arrogant powers. Through religious faith, knowledge, ethics and constant struggle, Islamic civilization can gift advanced thought and noble codes of behavior to the Islamic Ummah and to the entire humanity, and it can be the point of liberation from materialistic and oppressive outlooks and corrupt codes of behavior that form the pillars of current Western civilization. The third point is that in the movements of Islamic Awakening it is necessary to pay constant attention to the bitter and horrifying experience of following the West in politics, behavior and lifestyle. In more than a century of following the culture and politics of the arrogant powers, Muslim countries suffered from deadly calamities such as political dependence and humiliation, economic plights and poverty, decline of moral virtues and ethics and shameful scientific backwardness, and this was while the Islamic Ummah enjoyed a glorious history in all of these areas. This statement must not be interpreted as hostility towards the West. We are not hostile towards any group of human beings because of geographical differences. We have learnt lessons from Ali (greetings be upon him) who describes human beings in this way: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Those who have the same religion as you, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Our complaint against oppression and arrogance and against bullying and transgression is the moral and practical degeneration that has been imposed on our nations by the colonial and arrogant powers. Currently, we can witness the bullying and interference of America and some of its followers in the region in the countries in which the breeze of awakening has turned into the storm of uprisings and revolutions. Their promises must not affect the decisions and actions of outstanding political personalities and the great movement of the people. In this case as well, we need to learn lessons from our experiences: those who pinned their hopes on the promises of America for years and based their behavior and policies on the inclination towards the oppressor did not manage to resolve any problems of their nations or eliminate an injustice to themselves or to others. By surrendering to America, they did not manage to prevent the demolition of even one single Palestinian home in a territory that belongs to the Palestinians. The politicians and outstanding personalities who are deceived by the bribe or intimidated by the threats of the camp of the arrogant powers and miss the great opportunity of Islamic Awakening should be apprehensive about this divine threat: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Have you not seen those who have changed Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition into hell? They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Ibrahim, Ayah 28-29] The fourth point is that today one of the most dangerous things that threatens the movement of Islamic Awakening is the efforts to foment discord and turn these movements into bloody sectarian, ethnic and national conflicts. Currently, this plot is being seriously pursued by intelligence services of the West and Zionism with the help of petrodollars and bribed politicians from East Asia to North Africa and particularly in the Arab region. And the money that could have been spent to bring about happiness for mankind is being used to make threats, excommunicate, assassinate, bomb, shed Muslim blood and to kindle the fire of long-lasting grudges. Those who consider the unified power of Islam as an obstacle in the way of their evil goals have come to the conclusion that fanning the flames of conflicts inside the Islamic Ummah is the easiest way to achieve their satanic goal and they have used differences of opinion in Islamic jurisprudence, kalaam, history and hadith - which are natural and inevitable - as a pretext to excommunicate, shed blood and cause fitna and corruption. A vigilant look at the scene of domestic conflicts clearly reveals the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s hands behind these tragedies. These deceptive hands undoubtedly take advantage of the ignorance, prejudice and superficiality that exists in our societies and they add fuel to the fire. The responsibility of religious and political reformers and outstanding personalities is very heavy in this regard. Currently, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq and Lebanon are in one way or another involved in or exposed to these dangerous flames. It is necessary to be extremely careful and to look for a remedy. It would be naïve to think that all of these things are due to ideological and ethnic factors and motives. Propaganda campaigns of the West and dependent and mercenary media in the region pretend that the destructive war in Syria is a Shia-Sunni conflict and they create a safety margin for the Zionists and the enemies of resistance in Syria and Lebanon. This is while the two sides of the conflict in Syria are not Shia and Sunni, rather they are the supporters and opponents of anti-Zionist resistance. Neither the Syrian government is a Shia government, nor is the secular and anti-Islam opposition a Sunni group. The only achievement of the plotters of this calamitous scenario is that they have managed to make use of religious sentiments of simple-minded people to kindle this deadly fire. A look at the scene and those who are involved in it at different levels can clarify the issue for any just individual. Also, in the case of Bahrain, this wave of propaganda is spreading lies and deception in another way. In Bahrain, the oppressed majority - who have been deprived of the right to vote as well as other fundamental rights that a nation should enjoy - have risen up to demand their rights. Should this be considered a Shia-Sunni conflict simply because the oppressed majority are Shia and the oppressive secular government pretends to be Sunni? Of course, the European and American colonialists and their friends in the region want to make things appear like this, but what is the truth? These are the things that call religious scholars and just reformers to careful thinking and sense of responsibility and they make identification of the enemies\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' goals behind highlighting sectarian, ethnic and partisan differences an obligation for everybody. The fifth point is that one of the standards for judging whether Islamic Awakening movements are on the right path is the positions they adopt on the issue of Palestine. Since sixty years ago up until today, the occupation of Palestine has been the biggest tragedy that has been imposed on the Islamic Ummah. Since the first day up until today, the tragedy of Palestine has been a combination of killings, assassinations, destruction, usurpation and transgression against what is held sacred in Islam. The necessity of putting up a resistance against this warring and usurping enemy and fighting him has been agreed upon by all Islamic denominations and all honest and healthy national currents. Any current in Islamic countries which disregards this religious and national responsibility out of consideration for the domineering demands of America or under the pretext of unreasonable justifications should not expect to be viewed as loyal to Islam and sincere in its nationalistic claims. This is a test. Anybody who does not accept the slogan of liberating Holy Quds and saving the Palestinian nation and Palestinian territories or anybody who sidelines this slogan and turns his back on the camp of resistance, will be condemned. The Islamic Ummah should keep this clear and fundamental standard in mind everywhere and at all times. Dear guests, brothers and sisters, never lose sight of the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plot. Our lack of vigilance creates opportunities for our enemies. The lesson that Ali (greetings be upon him) teaches us is that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"whoever is careless about his cause, his enemy will not sleep over this advantage...\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" In this regard, our experience in the Islamic Republic is also a source of lessons. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the arrogant Western governments and America - which had long established full control over Iranian taghuts and used to determine the political, economic and cultural destiny of our country and which had underestimated the enormous power of Islamic faith in society and remained unaware of the power of Islam and the Holy Quran to deploy forces and to guide - suddenly realized that they had been unaware and their governmental organizations, intelligence services and control rooms resumed work in order to make up for the overwhelming defeat they had suffered. We have witnessed various kinds of machinations from them over the past thirty-something years. In essence, there have been two factors that have foiled their plots: insistence on Islamic principles and presence of the people on the scene. These two factors are the key to the problems everywhere. The first factor is guaranteed by sincere religious faith in divine promises and the second factor is guaranteed by sincere efforts and honest clarification. A nation that has faith in the honesty and sincerity of its leaders will bring in enthusiasm with their blessed presence, and wherever a nation stays on the scene with a solid determination, no power will have the capability to defeat it. This is a successful experience for all the nations that gave rise to Islamic Awakening through their presence. I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow His guidance, assistance and mercy on you and on all Muslim nations. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1772

This video is the English audio transcription of the speech delivered on January 19, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with government officials and foreign participants of the 27th Conference on Islamic Unity. The meeting was held in Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah on the occasion of the birthday anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and Imam Sadiq (a.s.). Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech in Meeting with Government Officials and Participants of Conference on Islam Print 19/01/2014 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on January 19, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with government officials and foreign participants of the 27th Conference on Islamic Unity. The meeting was held in Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah on the occasion of the birthday anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and Imam Sadiq (a.s.). In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful I would like to congratulate all of you dear audience who are present in this meeting, the dear guests of Unity Week, the ambassadors of Islamic countries and all the honorable officials who have accepted heavy responsibilities in the country, on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and his outstanding grandson - Imam Sadiq (a.s.). I would like to extend my congratulations to all the people of Iran, all Muslims and all liberated people throughout the world. This auspicious birthday is the source of many blessings which have been bestowed on the lives of human beings over the course of many centuries. It has helped nations, peoples and humanity in general to achieve the best human, intellectual and mental qualities. It has helped them to create a lofty civilization and to achieve bright prospects for a better life. On this birthday anniversary, what is important for the world of Islam and the Islamic community is to pay attention to the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) expectations of the Islamic community and to try hard to meet these expectations. The happiness of the world of Islam lies in this and nothing else. Islam emerged for the liberation of humanity- both liberation from the suppression and pressures of oppressive and dictatorial regimes which have ruled over all people and in order to form a just government for the entire humanity, and liberation from deceptive thoughts and illusions which dominate the lives of people and which make their lives deviate from the right path. At a time when Islam was about to emerge, the Commander of the Faithful (peace and greetings be upon him) described the environment in which people were living as an environment of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"fitna\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\": \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"At that time, people had fallen into fitna, whereby the rope of religion had been broken\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 2]. Fitna means a dusty climate in which one cannot see anything. In such a climate, one cannot see the path and he does not know what to do. This was the conditions of the people who lived in that difficult area. The same conditions dominated - in a different way - the lives of the people in great countries and civilizations which existed at that time. It is not the case that we can think the people who were living in the Arabian Peninsula at a time when Islamic was about to emerge had terrible conditions while other people living in other areas were happy. The domination of cruel and oppressive regimes, their indifference towards the position of human beings and human principles and the outbreak of disastrous wars which were waged by powers for the sake of power had destroyed the lives of people. History shows that the two well-known civilizations of those days - that is to say, the Persian Sassanid civilization and the Roman civilization - were in such terrible conditions that it makes one pity the masses of the people who were living in those societies. The living conditions of those people were terrible and they were living in captivity. In such conditions, Islam came and freed people. This freedom first manifests itself in the hearts and souls of people. When one feels that he is free and when he feels the need to break chains, the forces inside him will be influenced by this feeling and then he can achieve social freedom if he shows determination and if he moves forward. Islam did this for people. The same message that Islam delivered at that time exists today in the world of Islam and in other parts of the world. The enemies of freedom kill the thought of freedom in people. When there is no thought of freedom, the movement towards freedom will either slow down or stop. Today, what we Muslims should do is to try to achieve the kind of freedom that Islam wants. The independence of Muslim nations, the establishment of popular governments throughout the world of Islam, the participation of all people in making decisions and determining fates and their movement on the basis of Islamic sharia are things which liberate nations. Of course, Muslim nations feel that they need this movement today. This feeling exists throughout the world of Islam and without a doubt, it will finally achieve results. If outstanding personalities - whether political, scientific and religious personalities - in Muslim countries carry out their responsibilities in the proper way, then the future of the world of Islam will be a bright one. Muslims are hopeful about this future. Today, the world of Islam feels that it is awake. It is exactly at this point that the enemies of Islam - those people who are opposed to Islamic Awakening, independence of nations and the domination of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s religion in all countries - enter the arena. It is exactly at this point that all kinds of tricks are used for creating obstacles in the way of Islamic societies. And the most important trick that they use is creating discord. It is 65 years now that the world of arrogance has been trying with all its power to impose the existence of the Zionist regime on Muslim nations and to make them accept this regime. But it has failed. We should not look at some countries and governments which are willing to act against their national interests in order to safeguard the interests of their foreign friends - who are the enemies of Islam - and to consign Islamic interests to oblivion. Peoples are opposed to the presence of the Zionists. It is 65 years now that they have been trying to erase the memory of Palestine, but they have failed. During the 33-day war in Lebanon and during the 22-day war and - for the second time - the eight-day war in Gaza which were waged in recent years, Muslim nations and the Islamic Ummah showed that they are alive. The Islamic Ummah showed that despite the investment of America and other western powers, it has managed to preserve its identity, to slap the fake and imposed Zionist regime across the face and to frustrate the allies of oppressive Zionists who did their best during this time to preserve this imposed, oppressive and criminal regime. The Islamic Ummah showed that it has not forgotten about Palestine. This is a very important issue. It is in such conditions that the enemy is focusing all its efforts on making the Islamic Ummah forget about Palestine. How do they want to do this? They want to do this by creating discord, waging domestic wars, promoting deviant extremism in the name of Islam, religion and Islamic sharia. They want a group of people to say takfiri things against Muslims. The existence of these takfiri orientations which have emerged in the world of Islam is good news for arrogance and the enemies of the world of Islam. It is these takfiri orientations that attract the attention of Muslims towards insignificant issues instead of letting them pay attention to the truth about the existence of the malevolent Zionist regime. This is the exact opposite of what Islam wants. Islam has asked Muslims to be \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"strong against unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 48, 29]. Muslims should be strong against the enemies of religion. They should stand firm and they should not be influenced by the enemies. Being \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"strong against unbelievers\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is the clear message of this ayah. Muslims should be compassionate towards one another, they should stay together and join hands and they should hold fast to the rope which Allah stretches out for them. This is the command of Islam. Now what happens if an orientation emerges which divides Muslims into believers and unbelievers, which targets a group of people as unbelievers and which pits Muslims against one another? Who can doubt the role of arrogance and the security services of arrogant and malevolent governments in creating, supporting and enriching these orientations and in equipping them with weapons? These arrogant powers sit and plan for this. The world of Islam should attend to this issue because it is a grave danger. Unfortunately, a number of Muslim governments unwittingly add fuel to the fire of this discord. They do not understand that fueling this discord will kindle a fire which will burn them as well. This is what arrogance wants: they want a group of Muslims to wage a war against another group of Muslims. Those who give rise to this war are people who benefit from the money provided by puppet rulers. These puppet rulers give them money and weapons in order to pit people in such and such a country against one another. This move has been reinforced by arrogance in the past three, four years during which a wave of Islamic Awakening has emerged in a number of Islamic and Arabic countries. They want to do this in order to overshadow Islamic Awakening. By making this move, they are pitting Muslims against one another. Moreover, the propaganda networks of the enemies are projecting an ugly image of Islam for public opinion throughout the world. They are doing this by magnifying events. What do people think of Islam when media networks show a person who is devouring the liver of another person in the name of Islam? The enemies of Islam have planned this. These are not things that happen all of a sudden and out of the blue. These are things for which many plans have been devised over a long period of time. There are different policies and spy rings behind these moves. There is big money behind these moves. Muslims should confront any phenomenon which is against their unity. This is a great responsibility for all of us. Both Shia and Sunni Muslims, and different groups which exist among Shia and Sunni Muslims should shoulder this responsibility. Unity means reliance on common points. We have many common points. Muslims\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' common points are more than their disagreements and therefore, they should rely on them. The main responsibility in this regard falls on the shoulders of outstanding personalities - whether political, scientific or religious personalities. Religious scholars in the world of Islam should prevent Muslims from creating sectarian and religious discord. Academic scholars should help students understand that today, unity is the most important issue in the world of Islam. The most important issue is unity for the sake of reaching goals. These goals are achieving political independence, establishing religious democracy and observing divine rules in Islamic societies. Islam invites people to freedom, dignity and honor. This is an obligation and responsibility today. Political personalities too should know that their dignity and honor lies in their reliance on Muslim peoples, not on foreigners and those who are arch enemies of Islamic societies. One day, arrogant powers dominated people everywhere in Islamic regions. One day, policies carried out by America and before that England and other countries, dominated the lives of people in Islamic regions. Nations gradually managed to liberate themselves from this direct domination. In the present time, the enemies want to replace this direct domination, which they imposed during the era of imperialism, with indirect domination - that is to say, political, economic and cultural domination. Of course, in some areas they are imposing this direct domination again. As you see, a number of European countries want to create the same situation which existed in the past in Africa. The path is Islamic Awakening. The path is awareness about the position of Muslim nations. Muslim nations have many resources, they have sensitive geographical locations, they have a very valuable historical legacy and they have unique economic resources. If Muslims collect themselves, find their true identity, rely on themselves and extend the hand of friendship, then this region will be an outstanding and enlightened region and the world of Islam will witness dignity, greatness and honor. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, this is what will happen in the future. One can see the signs of this future such as the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the establishment and stability of the Islamic Republic in this sensitive region. It is 35 years now that arrogant regimes - including America and other powers - have been doing their best to work against the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran. Despite this, the people of Iran and the Islamic Republic are becoming stronger, more rooted, more powerful and more influential on a daily basis. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, this strength, this stability and this power will increase in the future. In the world of Islam too, one sees that the awareness of people and youth about Islam and the future of Islam has increased compared to the past. In some countries, people are much more aware than they were in the past. Of course, the enemy is making some efforts, but if we look carefully and vigilantly, we will see that - by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor - this wave of Islamic movement is going forward. God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy be upon our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) who opened up this path for us. He taught us that we should rely on God, ask Him alone for help and be hopeful about the future. Then, we moved forward on this path and by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, we will continue to do this. I hope that Islam and Muslims achieve victory and I ask God to bestow His mercy and forgiveness on the martyrs of this bright path. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1859

[English Sub] Islamic Unity Conference - Birthday of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w / Imam Sadiq a.s Ayatullah Ali Khamenei\\\\\\\'s Full speech Farsi sub English 19 january 2014. Supreme Leader\\\\\\\'s Speech in Meeting with Officials and Participants of Conference on Islamic Unity Print 19/01/2014 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on January 19, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with government officials and foreign participants of the 27th Conference on Islamic Unity. The meeting was held in Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah on the occasion of the birthday anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and Imam Sadiq (a.s.). In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful I would like to congratulate all of you dear audience who are present in this meeting, the dear guests of Unity Week, the ambassadors of Islamic countries and all the honorable officials who have accepted heavy responsibilities in the country, on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and his outstanding grandson - Imam Sadiq (a.s.). I would like to extend my congratulations to all the people of Iran, all Muslims and all liberated people throughout the world. This auspicious birthday is the source of many blessings which have been bestowed on the lives of human beings over the course of many centuries. It has helped nations, peoples and humanity in general to achieve the best human, intellectual and mental qualities. It has helped them to create a lofty civilization and to achieve bright prospects for a better life. On this birthday anniversary, what is important for the world of Islam and the Islamic community is to pay attention to the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) expectations of the Islamic community and to try hard to meet these expectations. The happiness of the world of Islam lies in this and nothing else. Islam emerged for the liberation of humanity- both liberation from the suppression and pressures of oppressive and dictatorial regimes which have ruled over all people and in order to form a just government for the entire humanity, and liberation from deceptive thoughts and illusions which dominate the lives of people and which make their lives deviate from the right path. At a time when Islam was about to emerge, the Commander of the Faithful (peace and greetings be upon him) described the environment in which people were living as an environment of \\\\\\\"fitna\\\\\\\": \\\\\\\"At that time, people had fallen into fitna, whereby the rope of religion had been broken\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 2]. Fitna means a dusty climate in which one cannot see anything. In such a climate, one cannot see the path and he does not know what to do. This was the conditions of the people who lived in that difficult area. The same conditions dominated - in a different way - the lives of the people in great countries and civilizations which existed at that time. It is not the case that we can think the people who were living in the Arabian Peninsula at a time when Islamic was about to emerge had terrible conditions while other people living in other areas were happy. The domination of cruel and oppressive regimes, their indifference towards the position of human beings and human principles and the outbreak of disastrous wars which were waged by powers for the sake of power had destroyed the lives of people. History shows that the two well-known civilizations of those days - that is to say, the Persian Sassanid civilization and the Roman civilization - were in such terrible conditions that it makes one pity the masses of the people who were living in those societies. The living conditions of those people were terrible and they were living in captivity. In such conditions, Islam came and freed people. This freedom first manifests itself in the hearts and souls of people. When one feels that he is free and when he feels the need to break chains, the forces inside him will be influenced by this feeling and then he can achieve social freedom if he shows determination and if he moves forward. Islam did this for people. The same message that Islam delivered at that time exists today in the world of Islam and in other parts of the world. The enemies of freedom kill the thought of freedom in people. When there is no thought of freedom, the movement towards freedom will either slow down or stop. Today, what we Muslims should do is to try to achieve the kind of freedom that Islam wants. The independence of Muslim nations, the establishment of popular governments throughout the world of Islam, the participation of all people in making decisions and determining fates and their movement on the basis of Islamic sharia are things which liberate nations. Of course, Muslim nations feel that they need this movement today. This feeling exists throughout the world of Islam and without a doubt, it will finally achieve results. If outstanding personalities - whether political, scientific and religious personalities - in Muslim countries carry out their responsibilities in the proper way, then the future of the world of Islam will be a bright one. Muslims are hopeful about this future. Today, the world of Islam feels that it is awake. It is exactly at this point that the enemies of Islam - those people who are opposed to Islamic Awakening, independence of nations and the domination of God\\\\\\\'s religion in all countries - enter the arena. It is exactly at this point that all kinds of tricks are used for creating obstacles in the way of Islamic societies. And the most important trick that they use is creating discord. It is 65 years now that the world of arrogance has been trying with all its power to impose the existence of the Zionist regime on Muslim nations and to make them accept this regime. But it has failed. We should not look at some countries and governments which are willing to act against their national interests in order to safeguard the interests of their foreign friends - who are the enemies of Islam - and to consign Islamic interests to oblivion. Peoples are opposed to the presence of the Zionists. It is 65 years now that they have been trying to erase the memory of Palestine, but they have failed. During the 33-day war in Lebanon and during the 22-day war and - for the second time - the eight-day war in Gaza which were waged in recent years, Muslim nations and the Islamic Ummah showed that they are alive. The Islamic Ummah showed that despite the investment of America and other western powers, it has managed to preserve its identity, to slap the fake and imposed Zionist regime across the face and to frustrate the allies of oppressive Zionists who did their best during this time to preserve this imposed, oppressive and criminal regime. The Islamic Ummah showed that it has not forgotten about Palestine. This is a very important issue. It is in such conditions that the enemy is focusing all its efforts on making the Islamic Ummah forget about Palestine. How do they want to do this? They want to do this by creating discord, waging domestic wars, promoting deviant extremism in the name of Islam, religion and Islamic sharia. They want a group of people to say takfiri things against Muslims. The existence of these takfiri orientations which have emerged in the world of Islam is good news for arrogance and the enemies of the world of Islam. It is these takfiri orientations that attract the attention of Muslims towards insignificant issues instead of letting them pay attention to the truth about the existence of the malevolent Zionist regime. This is the exact opposite of what Islam wants. Islam has asked Muslims to be \\\\\\\"strong against unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 48, 29]. Muslims should be strong against the enemies of religion. They should stand firm and they should not be influenced by the enemies. Being \\\\\\\"strong against unbelievers\\\\\\\" is the clear message of this ayah. Muslims should be compassionate towards one another, they should stay together and join hands and they should hold fast to the rope which Allah stretches out for them. This is the command of Islam. Now what happens if an orientation emerges which divides Muslims into believers and unbelievers, which targets a group of people as unbelievers and which pits Muslims against one another? Who can doubt the role of arrogance and the security services of arrogant and malevolent governments in creating, supporting and enriching these orientations and in equipping them with weapons? These arrogant powers sit and plan for this. The world of Islam should attend to this issue because it is a grave danger. Unfortunately, a number of Muslim governments unwittingly add fuel to the fire of this discord. They do not understand that fueling this discord will kindle a fire which will burn them as well. This is what arrogance wants: they want a group of Muslims to wage a war against another group of Muslims. Those who give rise to this war are people who benefit from the money provided by puppet rulers. These puppet rulers give them money and weapons in order to pit people in such and such a country against one another. This move has been reinforced by arrogance in the past three, four years during which a wave of Islamic Awakening has emerged in a number of Islamic and Arabic countries. They want to do this in order to overshadow Islamic Awakening. By making this move, they are pitting Muslims against one another. Moreover, the propaganda networks of the enemies are projecting an ugly image of Islam for public opinion throughout the world. They are doing this by magnifying events. What do people think of Islam when media networks show a person who is devouring the liver of another person in the name of Islam? The enemies of Islam have planned this. These are not things that happen all of a sudden and out of the blue. These are things for which many plans have been devised over a long period of time. There are different policies and spy rings behind these moves. There is big money behind these moves. Muslims should confront any phenomenon which is against their unity. This is a great responsibility for all of us. Both Shia and Sunni Muslims, and different groups which exist among Shia and Sunni Muslims should shoulder this responsibility. Unity means reliance on common points. We have many common points. Muslims\\\\\\\' common points are more than their disagreements and therefore, they should rely on them. The main responsibility in this regard falls on the shoulders of outstanding personalities - whether political, scientific or religious personalities. Religious scholars in the world of Islam should prevent Muslims from creating sectarian and religious discord. Academic scholars should help students understand that today, unity is the most important issue in the world of Islam. The most important issue is unity for the sake of reaching goals. These goals are achieving political independence, establishing religious democracy and observing divine rules in Islamic societies. Islam invites people to freedom, dignity and honor. This is an obligation and responsibility today. Political personalities too should know that their dignity and honor lies in their reliance on Muslim peoples, not on foreigners and those who are arch enemies of Islamic societies. One day, arrogant powers dominated people everywhere in Islamic regions. One day, policies carried out by America and before that England and other countries, dominated the lives of people in Islamic regions. Nations gradually managed to liberate themselves from this direct domination. In the present time, the enemies want to replace this direct domination, which they imposed during the era of imperialism, with indirect domination - that is to say, political, economic and cultural domination. Of course, in some areas they are imposing this direct domination again. As you see, a number of European countries want to create the same situation which existed in the past in Africa. The path is Islamic Awakening. The path is awareness about the position of Muslim nations. Muslim nations have many resources, they have sensitive geographical locations, they have a very valuable historical legacy and they have unique economic resources. If Muslims collect themselves, find their true identity, rely on themselves and extend the hand of friendship, then this region will be an outstanding and enlightened region and the world of Islam will witness dignity, greatness and honor. By Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, this is what will happen in the future. One can see the signs of this future such as the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the establishment and stability of the Islamic Republic in this sensitive region. It is 35 years now that arrogant regimes - including America and other powers - have been doing their best to work against the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran. Despite this, the people of Iran and the Islamic Republic are becoming stronger, more rooted, more powerful and more influential on a daily basis. By Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, this strength, this stability and this power will increase in the future. In the world of Islam too, one sees that the awareness of people and youth about Islam and the future of Islam has increased compared to the past. In some countries, people are much more aware than they were in the past. Of course, the enemy is making some efforts, but if we look carefully and vigilantly, we will see that - by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor - this wave of Islamic movement is going forward. God\\\\\\\'s mercy be upon our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) who opened up this path for us. He taught us that we should rely on God, ask Him alone for help and be hopeful about the future. Then, we moved forward on this path and by Allah\\\\\\\'s favor, we will continue to do this. I hope that Islam and Muslims achieve victory and I ask God to bestow His mercy and forgiveness on the martyrs of this bright path. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1859

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 17, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with commanders and officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The meeting was held on the occasion of the 20th Congress of Officials and Commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful First, I would like to welcome you and second, I congratulate you on this auspicious Eid. You turned our day into an Eid with your presence and warm breath and with the good programs that you performed. I hope that, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, your hearts will always be happy. I hope that your hearts will always remember God and achieve loftier positions. I would like to say a few things about our great Imam and knowledgeable member of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household, Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (thousands of greetings and praise be upon him). In fact, we cannot understand the spiritual position of these holy personalities, let alone describe them in words. However, before our eyes and before the eyes of history, the lives of these great personalities are a practical, eternal and undeniable lesson. If, in certain cases, we take a look at the lives of the Imams (a.s.) and if we put great emphasis on their policies, the measures they took and their biographies, this does not mean that these are the most important parts of their lives. This is not the case. Their spiritual world, their effort to get close to God and the wisdom and love which radiated from their peerless hearts are other important parts of their lives. However, what is before our eyes is the lives of these great personalities and we should learn from them. Imam Ridha (a.s.) lived for almost 55 years. That is to say, he was born in the year 148 - the year when Imam Sadiq (a.s.) was martyred - and he was martyred in the year 203 of the Hijri calendar. The entire life of this great personality with all its greatness, depth and dimensions took place in this fairly short era. Nineteen, twenty years out of these 55 years constituted the era of the Imamate of this great personality. But if you take a look at this short era, you will see that it exerted a considerable influence on the world of Islam, it gave great depth to the true meaning of Islam and it helped people follow the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household and get familiar with their teachings. This is an extraordinary phenomenon and it is like a deep sea. When that Imam achieved Imamate, his close friends and his followers said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"What can Ali ibn Musa do in such an environment which is filled with Harun\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s oppression?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" There is a narration which says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Blood trickles from Harun\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s sword.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" These friends and followers used to say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In such conditions, what can this young Imam do to continue the jihad of Shia Imams and to carry out the great responsibility which falls on his shoulders?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is the beginning of the Imamate of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (a.s.). When you take a look, you will see that after the passage of 19, 20 years - when Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha was martyred and his Imamate ended - the ideas and thoughts of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household and the issue of commitment to the Imams were established, in the world of Islam, so firmly that the oppressive and dictatorial Abbasid regime could not confront it. Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha had done this. You have heard that De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee went to Merv in Khorasan and composed and recited a number of well-known poems in praise of Imam Ridha for which he was rewarded. He stayed in Merv and other cities of Khorasan for a few days and then he went towards Baghdad, Kufa and other cities that he wanted to visit. In the middle of the way, some bandits attacked and looted the caravan on which De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel was travelling. The travelers sat and watched the looting of their property. The chief of the bandits was sitting on a rock and proudly watching the prisoners and captives of this caravan and the things which they had stolen and collected. De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel heard that the chief was whispering a poem. He listened and he realized that it was his own poem. It was one of the couplets of the qasida that he had recited one month or one month and a half ago in Merv: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I see that their property has been looted and divided among outsiders and wicked people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Speaking in Arabic] In the middle of the way to Rey and Iraq, the chief of the bandits was reciting this poem from memory. De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel became happy. He stood up and said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Who has composed the poem that you are reciting?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" The chief said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"It belongs to De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Well, I am De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" When the chief saw that this person was De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee, he stood up, held De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel in his arms, kissed him and said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Because of the presence of this person in the caravan, give them back all their property.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" They gave them back all their property, respected them and helped them move towards their destination. Well, this is a small event in history, but it has a great significance. The poem which was composed in praise of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha was recited and memorized, in Rey and Iraq, by a bandit after the passage of almost one month or one month and a half since the poem was composed. What does this mean? It means that the ground for promoting the position of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household and the auspicious name of Imam Ridha was so prepared that, in a short time, this poem - at that time, poetry was one of the most effective means of communication - spread rapidly by word of mouth until it was picked up by a bandit in the middle of a desert. This indicates the great movement which was launched during the Imamate of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha in order to promote the school of thought of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household. During this time, the love of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household was shared by all individuals and the hearts of all people felt the presence and existence of the Imams in the Islamic community. The movement of the honorable children of the Imams towards Iran has a positive and meaningful dimension as well as a tragic dimension because of their martyrdom in the middle of the way to Iran. The reason for their movement towards Iran was the request of the people and their acceptance of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household. As you know, when we speak about the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household, we mean the school of thought which was established by the Imams and the Islamic concepts which they introduced. It means a deeply cultural and spiritual achievement and a great ideological feat. This is the movement of Imam Ridha (a.s.). According to the events that you know and have heard about, Ma\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'mun finally feels that he has to martyr Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (a.s.) - he had forced that great Imam to leave Medina in order to get close to him and he did not plan to kill Imam Ridha at first - contrary to what he had planned. The divine will and plan to bury a member of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household in this place, which was faraway from Medina, was exercised by the enemies of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household. This is divine wisdom and engineering. In order to reach lofty goals, one should carry out his responsibilities in such a way. Long-term outlooks should be adopted with such intention, motives and hopes. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has such a position. The issue is not that a new government was formed after the Revolution and that it has certain supporters and opponents and certain soldiers, guardians and armed forces. The issue is not this. It is beyond such things. The issue of the Islamic Revolution - which is protected by you members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps - is beyond such things. First of all, I would like to say a few things about the experience of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over these many years. Then, I will raise the point which I had wanted to discuss with you dear brothers. The performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over the past 30-plus years has been brilliant. I am not saying this as a ceremonial gesture, like the words of praise which are uttered in many places. This is a fact. The performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps represents the experience of our nation. That is to say, the depth of the personality and identity of the Iranian nation can be seen in this performance because the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps enters the arena with faith and belief. What kind of arena? The arena of jihad and resistance. It has built the strongest and the most intelligent military commanders. During the war, those who became designers- and as foreigners say \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"strategists\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"- while they were young and below thirty years old and had not received any military education. It was the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps who built them. It was this organization which created such a spiritual environment. It was the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps which founded such an organization on the basis of faith and belief. It has built a number of outstanding personalities whom our nation and our history will never forget. This is the art of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. These are the things which this organization has done in the area of war. Besides these, we can see that it has built and introduced the wisest, the strongest and the best managers in non-military areas. The list of people that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has introduced to the ruling organizations of the Islamic Republic is very long and glorious. This is the performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. One of the important parts of the performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is that it lives a revolutionary life and it preserves its revolutionary nature. That is to say, different events have not been able to make this strong and powerful organization deviate from the main and the right path. It has not changed its path just because life and the world have changed. These are the excuses that a number of people make. These people make excuses for compromising their principles and they justify their mistakes. Their excuse is that the world has changed, that everything has changed. Well, certain things do not change. Since the beginning of history until today, the virtue of justice and the tendency of human beings to seek justice have not changed. The fact that oppression is bad and national independence and national dignity are great virtues has not changed. These things and many other principles cannot be changed. The fact that the world has changed cannot give us an excuse to change our behavior, our ideals and our goals. When our ideals change, our path changes too. When our ultimate goal changes, then it is absurd to follow the previous path. In such circumstances, we should move towards achieving a new goal and we should follow a new path. One of the most important strong points of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is its resistance and steadfastness on this enlightened path. These are the points which I wanted to raise about the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Of course, one can say many things about this organization. We have said many things about it. Other people too have said many things. Of course, there are many points which have not been raised about this organization, but right now, I am not going to speak about this issue more than this. What is important is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is the guardian of the Islamic Revolution. I do not want to say that this guardianship means the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should protect the Islamic Revolution in all arenas including scientific, intellectual, cultural and economic arenas. This is not what I mean. What I want to say is that as a living organism, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should know what it wants to protect and what this Revolution is. It is not necessary for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to engage in protection of the Islamic Revolution in political arenas, but it should gain a proper understanding of political arenas. Some people mix certain issues together. This should be clarified. It is not possible to describe a certain organization as the arm and the guardian of the Revolution, but make it ignore and close its eyes to different political orientations - while some of these orientations behave in a deviant way and become dependent on such and such a group and some of them do not. This is meaningless. Such an organization should know what it wants to protect. If we relegate the challenges that the Revolution is faced with to political and partisan challenges and to confrontation between certain people, this is negligence and carelessness. These are not the challenges that the Revolution is faced with. The main challenge of the Revolution is that it has introduced a new system for humanity. We are not saying that since the beginning, the Revolution addressed the entire humanity. This is not the case. At first, it was the Islamic Revolution of Iran and it only addressed issues which were related to Iran and fundamental changes in this country. However, the language and message of this Revolution could not naturally be confined to the borders of Iran. Through this Revolution, a message which was based on a universal and human truth was conveyed to the entire humanity. Anybody in the world who hears this message feels that they are attached to it. What is this message? If we want to describe the social and human function of this message in a phrase we should say that it is: confrontation with global arrogance. This is the message of the Revolution. Global arrogance is a system which divides the world into the oppressed and the oppressor. The logic of the Revolution, which is based on the logic of Islam, is \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Deal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 2: 279] You should not oppress others and you should not let others oppress you. Who in the world is not happy about and interested in this message? This message is: neither oppress other people nor let them oppress you. This is the exact opposite of the current order in the world which was imposed after the emergence of the new industrial civilization and the prevalence of industrial tools and the culture of domination. Any organization in the world which is dependent on global arrogance is against this message. Those who like to achieve domination over other countries - that is to say, oppressive governments and economic networks which suck at the resources of other nations - are against this message because they are oppressors. The dependent governments which rule over poor or rich nations, which follow global arrogance, which have no power but which follow and obey these arrogant powers are also against this message. Such and such a government which completely implements the policies of arrogant powers such as America or England is naturally against the message of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[D]eal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" The international, multinational or domestic organizations which loot people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s wealth are against this message. Those politicians who promote the three elements of war, poverty and decadence throughout the world are against this message. During the last two, three centuries, many of the wars which were waged were influenced by global arrogance. Global powers either waged a war against a certain country or made two other countries fight one another. They have done this for the sake of their own interests. Poverty too is the result of their policies. They are to blame for the situation that they have created in many poor countries where the people live in poverty and cannot benefit from their natural resources. With their political domination, these arrogant powers have prevented many countries from drawing on their own intellectual resources. You should read the book \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Glances at World History\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" written by Jawaharlal Nehru. In the chapter which is about the interference of the English in India, he says that the kind of industry and science which existed in India was not inferior to the one in Europe, England and the west. Rather it was superior to European science. Well, Nehru was both trustworthy and well-informed. When the English entered India, one of their plans was to prevent the domestic industry of India from developing. Well, India ended up watching tens of millions of people in that era and hundreds of millions of people in future eras suffer from hunger in the real sense of the word. The same is true of Africa. The same is true of many Latin American countries. So, not only does global arrogance wage wars but it also brings about poverty. The great treasure which has been accumulated on the peaks of wealth and which belongs to the richest individuals in the world reminds us of this hadith: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I have not seen any kind of wealth which was accumulated without someone\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s right being violated.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Derasat fi Nahjul Balaghah, page 40] When they loot the oil, agricultural products and tea resources of a country, when they take control of financial sectors of a country in a way that the people have no access to it and when they do not let the people in such a country have control over production, industry and other areas related to national progress, this country and nation becomes poor. So, they are responsible for war, poverty and decadence. They are responsible for the prevalence of decadence and fueling the fire of sexual desire - which is a natural process and which can be ignited in all individuals. Each of these issues requires a long and detailed discussion. Well, global arrogance promotes war, poverty and decadence and it does this by dividing the world into the oppressed and the oppressor. Islam - that is to say, the Islamic Revolution which is based on Islamic concepts - says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Deal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" It rejects all these negative elements. This is the main challenge. This is the root of their enmity. This is why they fight the Islamic Revolution. Other issues are all excuses. We should adopt such an outlook on sanctions, domestic wars, coups d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état and other events which have taken place during the recent years such as the nuclear issue. Contrary to what everyone thought, our Revolution achieved victory. Then it formed a government which managed to prevail. This was while everyone in the world thought that the Islamic Republic would be destroyed in six months or in one or two years. Then they gave a generous figure and said that the Islamic Republic would be destroyed in three, four years. Contrary to what they thought, it became stronger on a daily basis and its \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"root is firm and its branches are in heaven, yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 24-25]. It has turned into a regional power and a country which is influential in major international issues. They are against this. They raise the issue of nuclear weapons. Well, we do not believe in nuclear weapons, not because of such and such people and not because of America and other countries. Rather, we are against nuclear weapons because of our belief. No one should have nuclear weapons. When we say that other countries should not have nuclear weapons, it means that we ourselves should not and will not have them. But, their problem is something else. If certain countries emerge which put an end to their exclusive right, they will have no problems with that. Of course, they do not want to give up their self-proclaimed right, but if this happens, they will not create uproar about it. But when it comes to Islamic Iran and the Islamic Republic, they create uproar. Why do they do this? It is because having such a capability and power is a source of support for the Islamic Republic which is based on \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[D]eal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is the main challenge. We should know and see this. With such an outlook, we should analyze and interpret the behavior of America, the west and such and such a country and orientation which is dependent on and attached to these powers. This is the Islamic Revolution. In the eyes of these enemies, no one is more hated than our magnanimous Imam who was an outstanding personality and who was like a shining sun. They looked at him with respect, but they also showed enmity towards him from the bottom of their hearts because he resisted and because he was perceptive and wise due to two unique characteristics that he enjoyed: complete wisdom and complete decisiveness. He put up resistance in a determined way and he was like a barrier in the way of their progress and in the way of the harm which they wanted to inflict. This was why they were his enemies. Of course, as I said, they looked at him with respect. They knew about his greatness, but the greater he was, the angrier they became. Today, the same situation exists. They show the same hatred towards anybody who is committed to these main values and principles - that is to say, values which determine the political identity of the Revolution such as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[D]eal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". They hate anybody who realizes that the problems the enemies created for the Islamic Republic are based on this outlook and who takes this path by adopting such an outlook and showing such resistance. Of course, the world of diplomacy is the world of smiling. They smile and ask to negotiate with us. They themselves offer to negotiate with us. A few days ago, one of the western politicians was asked, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You want to negotiate with Iran. This is while Iran is your enemy.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Well, negotiations should be conducted with the enemy, not other people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" That is to say, they admit that they are the enemies of Iran and they say this openly. The reason for their enmity is not the behavior of certain people. Rather, the reason is the true nature and identity of the Islamic Revolution. Everything that they say should be analyzed, interpreted and identified from this perspective. We are not against proper and reasonable moves, whether in the world of diplomacy or in the world of domestic policies. I believe in the idea which was referred to as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"heroic flexibility\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Flexibility is necessary in many areas. It is very good and there is nothing wrong with it. But the wrestler who is wrestling against his opponent and who shows flexibility for technical reasons should not forget who his opponent is and what he is doing. This is the main condition. Our politicians too should know what they are doing, who they are faced with, who their opponent is and which area the opposing side wants to attack. They should pay attention to this point. Well, you are the guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The meaning of the guardian of the Islamic Revolution is not that you should be present in all arenas and you should have a responsibility in all areas. As it was reflected in the statements of the dear and honorable commander who delivered a speech today, you have a certain and clear responsibility. As he pointed out, it is an appropriate move to take a look on the scope of activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. I agree with what he said. But, first, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should always know what it wants to do and what it wants to protect. Second, it should preserve its stability and steadfastness which is the main characteristic of the glorious identity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. It should not forget this. Everybody, at all levels, should pay attention to this point. I have repeatedly pointed out that what the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps does is based on spirituality. Spirituality does not contradict scientific progress, systematic organization, new methods and different scientific and practical innovations. We should not think that when we pay attention to spirituality, we should ignore the material aspects of life. This is not the case. During the early Islamic era, the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and Muslims employed the best and the cleverest tactics in the arenas of war. In our own times too, revolutionary elements - whether the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army or other revolutionary elements - employed the cleverest tactics and methods during the Sacred Defense Era. Spirituality does not contradict the idea that we should pay attention to the material aspects of our work and the effective organization of things. This spirituality should be preserved because it is the essence of our work. The last point I want to raise is that, in my opinion, the future of the Islamic Revolution is a bright future. This is not a vain hope. I am saying this because we have taken everything into consideration. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is experience. Well, during the early years of the Revolution, we were in a terrible condition because of our lack of manpower, lack of material resources, lack of weapons, lack of executive experience and different other shortcomings. But, where are we now? Today, we benefit from a wealth of manpower, material resources, scientific and political progress and international dignity. Where were we 30-plus years ago and where are we now? All of our moves during the past 35 years were made while we were under pressure from the opposing side. That is to say, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, but we managed to move forward. On the path that we were taking, there were fierce and adverse winds, but we managed to move forward. Is this experience not good? Is it not enough? Hostile orientations cannot confuse or stop a nation who is united, determined and religious and who knows what is wants to do. On the issue of the regional events which recently took place in the world of Islam, wherever Muslims suffered a loss, it was because they did not know what they should do. In these events, there was not a clear guideline and therefore such things happened. Of course, it will not remain like this. The event which happened in regional and Islamic countries - that is to say, Islamic Awakening - is an unprecedented phenomenon and it will play its part in these events. So, our experience is the first reason. Another reason is that we are moving forward with rationality and scientific precision. Our opposing side suffers from increasing weaknesses and internal contradictions because of the wrong way the infrastructures of this civilization are built. They are retreating. Of course, they do not need to admit that they are retreating and it is not necessary to visibly and clearly see this in their statements. This is the truth of the matter. When a people move things forward with precision and by finding the right way, they will definitely achieve the desired results. We have said that we should promote the idea of building the Islamic Republic from the inside. We have said that knowledge should develop and spread. We have said that domestic production should be the essence of our work. We have said that we should adopt a serious outlook on the issue of optimism about the domestic capabilities of the country. We have said that talents should develop and blossom. These things are the essence of our work. When a country moves forward by relying on its domestic capabilities, its manpower, its knowledge, its faith and its unity, it will certainly achieve the desired results. Therefore, we have no doubts that we have a bright future ahead of us. Whether this future arrives sooner or later depends on you and I. If laziness, negligence, selfishness, materialism and attachment to superficial things divert our attention and if we do something to cause our downfall - whether individual downfall or social downfall - then this future will be achieved later than expected. But it will definitely be achieved and this is because of the efforts and sacrifices which were made. Thankfully, in the arena of sacrifices too, you have been very active. You have put in a good performance and made brilliant moves in this arena. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, it will be the same in the future. I hope that God will make you benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). I hope that He will make you and us the guardians of Islam and the Islamic Revolution in the real sense of the word. I hope that He will associate the pure souls of our martyrs and the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam with His saints and with the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

رہبر مسلمین آیت اللہ العظمی سید علی خامنہ ای کا پیغام حج - Rehbar Ayatullah Sayyed Ali Khamenei Ka Payghame Hajj - Urdu Leader\\\\\\\'s annual Hajj message in full Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year’s hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of the message: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and peace and greetings be upon the Master of Prophets and Messengers and upon his immaculate and pure household and chosen companions. The arrival of the hajj season should be regarded as the great Eid of the Islamic Ummah. The great opportunity which these precious days provide for Muslims throughout the world is like a miraculous elixir. If the value of such days is appreciated and if we benefit from such days in an appropriate way, many of the maladies of the world of Islam will be cured. Hajj is the bubbling spring of divine blessings. Each and every one of you happy pilgrims has gained the opportunity to cleanse your hearts and souls with these religious practices, which are full of warmth and spirituality, and to collect many blessings for your entire life by using this source of mercy, dignity and power. In this divine arena of self-edification you can express your humility before Allah the Merciful, carry out the responsibilities which have fallen on the shoulders of Muslims, show enthusiasm and dynamism in the affairs of the world and in your religious duties, offer mercy and forgiveness when you interact with Muslim brothers, demonstrate your courage and determination in the face of difficult events, become hopeful about divine assistance in all arenas and, finally, build your human character the way Muslims should. When you are ornamented with these precious resources and when you have benefitted from them, then you can offer yourselves as gifts to your country, your nation and the Islamic Ummah. More than anything else, the Islamic Ummah needs individuals who can utilize thoughts and actions as well as faith, sincerity and purity, who can show resistance in the face of the spiteful enemies as well as exercising self-purification and piety. This is the only way for the liberation of the great Muslim community from the problems which have been created, either by the enemy, or as a result ofthe lack of determination, faith and foresightamong Muslims. Muslims have suffered from these things for a very long time. Without a doubt, the present era is an era of awakening, one in which Muslims can find their true identity. This truth can be easily discovered through the challenges which Muslims are faced with. It is exactly in such conditions that our determination- which is based on faith, reliance on God, foresight and wisdom- can help Muslim nations achieve victory against these challenges and bring about a dignified and honorable fate for Muslims. The opposing camp which cannot tolerate Islamic Awakening and the dignity of Muslims has entered the arena with all its power and it is using all kinds of psychological, military, security, economic and propaganda tools to suppress Muslims, make them inactive and busy them with trivial things. Taking a general look at the conditions of West Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, and North African countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and a number of other countries- reveals many truths. The existence of civil wars, religious and denominational prejudices and political instabilities, the prevalence of cruel terrorism, the emergence of extreme groups and orientations- which like savage tribes in history, cut open the chests of human beings and rip their hearts out with their teeth- the emergence of armed mercenaries who kill women and children, cut off the heads of men and rape women and who do such horrible and disgusting crimes in the name of religion are all the products of the satanic and arrogant plots of foreign intelligence services and their regional agents. Such plots are implemented in countries in which the ground is prepared before-hand and as a result, they create a disastrous situation for these nations and peoples. In such conditions, it is clear that one cannot expect Muslim nations to remedy their material and spiritual shortcomings and to achieve security, welfare, scientific progress and international dignity which are the results of achieving awakening and finding one’s true identity. These disastrous conditions can abort the progress of Islamic Awakening, destroy the mental awareness which has been created in the world of Islam, drag Muslims- once more- towards stagnation, isolation and decline and consign to oblivion important and fundamental issues such as the liberation of Palestine and other Muslim nations from the transgressions of the USA and Zionism. The most important cure for this situation can be summarized in two key phrases, both of which are among the clearest lessons of hajj: First: unity and brotherhood of Muslims under the flag of monotheism. Second: knowing the enemy and confronting his plans and methods. Strengthening the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation is a great lesson of hajj. During hajj, even quarrelling and arguing with others is forbidden. During hajj, wearing the same clothes, following the same practices, making the same moves and behaving in a kind way,all mean equality and brotherhood for all those who believe in and rely on monotheism. This means that Islam strongly rejects any idea and belief which views a number of Muslims and believers in Ka’bah and monotheism as people who are outside the circle of Islam. Theseorientationswhich are based on takfirism, which have become playthings in the hands of the treacherous Zionist politicians and their western supporters- commit serious crimes and shed the blood of Muslims and innocent people, and the people who claim to be religious, who call themselves clerics and who fuel the fire of fitna between Shia and Sunni and otherdenominations- should know that the hajj pilgrimage will thwart their claims. I, like many Islamic scholars and sympathetic personalities in the Islamic Ummah, announce that any statement or action which fuels the fire of discord among Muslims, any insult to the sacred beliefs of each one of the Muslim denominations and any act of takfirism against Islamic denominations equals serving the camp of atheism and polytheism and betraying Islam. All of these things are haraam. Knowing the enemy and its methods is the second important factor. First, we should not forget about the existence of a spiteful enemy. Performing the ritual of the stoning of the jamarat during hajj is a symbolic sign of this awareness. Second, we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network. Third, we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims, promoting moral and political corruption, threatening and tempting outstanding personalities, exerting economic pressures on all nations and arousing doubts about Islamic beliefs. Moreover, we should identify their agents and those who are, knowingly or ignorantly, dependent on them. Arrogant governments, headed by the USA, conceal their true character with the help of comprehensive and advanced propaganda tools. By claiming that they support human rights and democracy, they deceive public opinion in different countries. They speak about the rights of all nations while each day Muslim nations feel- with their bodies and souls- the fire of discord more than the past. For decades, the oppressed Palestinian nation has been receiving strikes as a result of the crimes of the Zionist regime and its supporters. In the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, terrorism - which originates from the policies of global arrogance and its agents in the region - has ruined the lives of the people. Syria has come under the attack of arrogant powers and their regional agents because of supporting anti-Zionist orientations and it has experienced a bloody civil war. In Bahrain and Myanmar, Muslims have been ignored and their enemies are supported. Other nations are threatened by the USA and its allies with military attacks, economic sanctions and different acts of sabotage. Taking a general look at all these countries can reveal to all people throughout the world the true face of these leaders of global arrogance. Political, cultural and religious personalities throughout the world of Islam should consider it their responsibility to draw everyone’s attention to these facts. This is the moral and religious responsibility of all of us. North African countries, which are unfortunately suffering from deep domestic conflicts today, should pay attention to this responsibility more than other countries. They should pay more attention to the issue of knowing the enemy and its plots and methods. The continuation of these conflicts among nationalist orientations and Muslims’ negligence about the threat of domestic wars in such countries is a great danger. The loss that may be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah because of such events will not be quickly compensated for. Of course, we have no doubts that the people who have risen against global arrogance and who have become the embodiment of Islamic Awakening in such countries will not, by Allah’s favor, allow time to go back so much so that the era of the corrupt, dependent and dictatorial rulers starts again. However, ignorance about the role of arrogant powers in creating discord and bringing about destructive interference will create a difficult situation for such countries and will cause a very long delay in achieving an era of dignity, security and welfare. We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, in the capability of nations and in the power, faith, determination and foresight which Allah the Omniscient has offered to the masses of the people. For more than three decades, we have seen this in the Islamic Republic with our own eyes and we have experienced it with all our hearts and souls. Our determination is an invitation forall Muslim nations, to this experience of their brothers in this dignified and indefatigable country. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow peace on Muslims and to foil the plots of the enemies. I ask Him to accept your hajj pilgrimage and bestow physical and spiritual health on you. I ask Him to provide you pilgrims of the House of God with an overflowing supply of spiritual blessings. Greetings be upon you and Allah’s Mercy Sayyid Ali Khamenei

رہبر مسلمین آیت اللہ العظمی سید علی خامنہ ای کا پیغام حج - Rehbar Ayatullah Sayyed Ali Khamenei Ka Payghame Hajj - Urdu Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s annual Hajj message in full Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year’s hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of the message: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and peace and greetings be upon the Master of Prophets and Messengers and upon his immaculate and pure household and chosen companions. The arrival of the hajj season should be regarded as the great Eid of the Islamic Ummah. The great opportunity which these precious days provide for Muslims throughout the world is like a miraculous elixir. If the value of such days is appreciated and if we benefit from such days in an appropriate way, many of the maladies of the world of Islam will be cured. Hajj is the bubbling spring of divine blessings. Each and every one of you happy pilgrims has gained the opportunity to cleanse your hearts and souls with these religious practices, which are full of warmth and spirituality, and to collect many blessings for your entire life by using this source of mercy, dignity and power. In this divine arena of self-edification you can express your humility before Allah the Merciful, carry out the responsibilities which have fallen on the shoulders of Muslims, show enthusiasm and dynamism in the affairs of the world and in your religious duties, offer mercy and forgiveness when you interact with Muslim brothers, demonstrate your courage and determination in the face of difficult events, become hopeful about divine assistance in all arenas and, finally, build your human character the way Muslims should. When you are ornamented with these precious resources and when you have benefitted from them, then you can offer yourselves as gifts to your country, your nation and the Islamic Ummah. More than anything else, the Islamic Ummah needs individuals who can utilize thoughts and actions as well as faith, sincerity and purity, who can show resistance in the face of the spiteful enemies as well as exercising self-purification and piety. This is the only way for the liberation of the great Muslim community from the problems which have been created, either by the enemy, or as a result ofthe lack of determination, faith and foresightamong Muslims. Muslims have suffered from these things for a very long time. Without a doubt, the present era is an era of awakening, one in which Muslims can find their true identity. This truth can be easily discovered through the challenges which Muslims are faced with. It is exactly in such conditions that our determination- which is based on faith, reliance on God, foresight and wisdom- can help Muslim nations achieve victory against these challenges and bring about a dignified and honorable fate for Muslims. The opposing camp which cannot tolerate Islamic Awakening and the dignity of Muslims has entered the arena with all its power and it is using all kinds of psychological, military, security, economic and propaganda tools to suppress Muslims, make them inactive and busy them with trivial things. Taking a general look at the conditions of West Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, and North African countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and a number of other countries- reveals many truths. The existence of civil wars, religious and denominational prejudices and political instabilities, the prevalence of cruel terrorism, the emergence of extreme groups and orientations- which like savage tribes in history, cut open the chests of human beings and rip their hearts out with their teeth- the emergence of armed mercenaries who kill women and children, cut off the heads of men and rape women and who do such horrible and disgusting crimes in the name of religion are all the products of the satanic and arrogant plots of foreign intelligence services and their regional agents. Such plots are implemented in countries in which the ground is prepared before-hand and as a result, they create a disastrous situation for these nations and peoples. In such conditions, it is clear that one cannot expect Muslim nations to remedy their material and spiritual shortcomings and to achieve security, welfare, scientific progress and international dignity which are the results of achieving awakening and finding one’s true identity. These disastrous conditions can abort the progress of Islamic Awakening, destroy the mental awareness which has been created in the world of Islam, drag Muslims- once more- towards stagnation, isolation and decline and consign to oblivion important and fundamental issues such as the liberation of Palestine and other Muslim nations from the transgressions of the USA and Zionism. The most important cure for this situation can be summarized in two key phrases, both of which are among the clearest lessons of hajj: First: unity and brotherhood of Muslims under the flag of monotheism. Second: knowing the enemy and confronting his plans and methods. Strengthening the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation is a great lesson of hajj. During hajj, even quarrelling and arguing with others is forbidden. During hajj, wearing the same clothes, following the same practices, making the same moves and behaving in a kind way,all mean equality and brotherhood for all those who believe in and rely on monotheism. This means that Islam strongly rejects any idea and belief which views a number of Muslims and believers in Ka’bah and monotheism as people who are outside the circle of Islam. Theseorientationswhich are based on takfirism, which have become playthings in the hands of the treacherous Zionist politicians and their western supporters- commit serious crimes and shed the blood of Muslims and innocent people, and the people who claim to be religious, who call themselves clerics and who fuel the fire of fitna between Shia and Sunni and otherdenominations- should know that the hajj pilgrimage will thwart their claims. I, like many Islamic scholars and sympathetic personalities in the Islamic Ummah, announce that any statement or action which fuels the fire of discord among Muslims, any insult to the sacred beliefs of each one of the Muslim denominations and any act of takfirism against Islamic denominations equals serving the camp of atheism and polytheism and betraying Islam. All of these things are haraam. Knowing the enemy and its methods is the second important factor. First, we should not forget about the existence of a spiteful enemy. Performing the ritual of the stoning of the jamarat during hajj is a symbolic sign of this awareness. Second, we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network. Third, we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims, promoting moral and political corruption, threatening and tempting outstanding personalities, exerting economic pressures on all nations and arousing doubts about Islamic beliefs. Moreover, we should identify their agents and those who are, knowingly or ignorantly, dependent on them. Arrogant governments, headed by the USA, conceal their true character with the help of comprehensive and advanced propaganda tools. By claiming that they support human rights and democracy, they deceive public opinion in different countries. They speak about the rights of all nations while each day Muslim nations feel- with their bodies and souls- the fire of discord more than the past. For decades, the oppressed Palestinian nation has been receiving strikes as a result of the crimes of the Zionist regime and its supporters. In the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, terrorism - which originates from the policies of global arrogance and its agents in the region - has ruined the lives of the people. Syria has come under the attack of arrogant powers and their regional agents because of supporting anti-Zionist orientations and it has experienced a bloody civil war. In Bahrain and Myanmar, Muslims have been ignored and their enemies are supported. Other nations are threatened by the USA and its allies with military attacks, economic sanctions and different acts of sabotage. Taking a general look at all these countries can reveal to all people throughout the world the true face of these leaders of global arrogance. Political, cultural and religious personalities throughout the world of Islam should consider it their responsibility to draw everyone’s attention to these facts. This is the moral and religious responsibility of all of us. North African countries, which are unfortunately suffering from deep domestic conflicts today, should pay attention to this responsibility more than other countries. They should pay more attention to the issue of knowing the enemy and its plots and methods. The continuation of these conflicts among nationalist orientations and Muslims’ negligence about the threat of domestic wars in such countries is a great danger. The loss that may be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah because of such events will not be quickly compensated for. Of course, we have no doubts that the people who have risen against global arrogance and who have become the embodiment of Islamic Awakening in such countries will not, by Allah’s favor, allow time to go back so much so that the era of the corrupt, dependent and dictatorial rulers starts again. However, ignorance about the role of arrogant powers in creating discord and bringing about destructive interference will create a difficult situation for such countries and will cause a very long delay in achieving an era of dignity, security and welfare. We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, in the capability of nations and in the power, faith, determination and foresight which Allah the Omniscient has offered to the masses of the people. For more than three decades, we have seen this in the Islamic Republic with our own eyes and we have experienced it with all our hearts and souls. Our determination is an invitation forall Muslim nations, to this experience of their brothers in this dignified and indefatigable country. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow peace on Muslims and to foil the plots of the enemies. I ask Him to accept your hajj pilgrimage and bestow physical and spiritual health on you. I ask Him to provide you pilgrims of the House of God with an overflowing supply of spiritual blessings. Greetings be upon you and Allah’s Mercy Sayyid Ali Khamenei

Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year’s hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of the message: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and peace and greetings be upon the Master of Prophets and Messengers and upon his immaculate and pure household and chosen companions. The arrival of the hajj season should be regarded as the great Eid of the Islamic Ummah. The great opportunity which these precious days provide for Muslims throughout the world is like a miraculous elixir. If the value of such days is appreciated and if we benefit from such days in an appropriate way, many of the maladies of the world of Islam will be cured. Hajj is the bubbling spring of divine blessings. Each and every one of you happy pilgrims has gained the opportunity to cleanse your hearts and souls with these religious practices, which are full of warmth and spirituality, and to collect many blessings for your entire life by using this source of mercy, dignity and power. In this divine arena of self-edification you can express your humility before Allah the Merciful, carry out the responsibilities which have fallen on the shoulders of Muslims, show enthusiasm and dynamism in the affairs of the world and in your religious duties, offer mercy and forgiveness when you interact with Muslim brothers, demonstrate your courage and determination in the face of difficult events, become hopeful about divine assistance in all arenas and, finally, build your human character the way Muslims should. When you are ornamented with these precious resources and when you have benefitted from them, then you can offer yourselves as gifts to your country, your nation and the Islamic Ummah. More than anything else, the Islamic Ummah needs individuals who can utilize thoughts and actions as well as faith, sincerity and purity, who can show resistance in the face of the spiteful enemies as well as exercising self-purification and piety. This is the only way for the liberation of the great Muslim community from the problems which have been created, either by the enemy, or as a result ofthe lack of determination, faith and foresightamong Muslims. Muslims have suffered from these things for a very long time. Without a doubt, the present era is an era of awakening, one in which Muslims can find their true identity. This truth can be easily discovered through the challenges which Muslims are faced with. It is exactly in such conditions that our determination- which is based on faith, reliance on God, foresight and wisdom- can help Muslim nations achieve victory against these challenges and bring about a dignified and honorable fate for Muslims. The opposing camp which cannot tolerate Islamic Awakening and the dignity of Muslims has entered the arena with all its power and it is using all kinds of psychological, military, security, economic and propaganda tools to suppress Muslims, make them inactive and busy them with trivial things. Taking a general look at the conditions of West Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, and North African countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and a number of other countries- reveals many truths. The existence of civil wars, religious and denominational prejudices and political instabilities, the prevalence of cruel terrorism, the emergence of extreme groups and orientations- which like savage tribes in history, cut open the chests of human beings and rip their hearts out with their teeth- the emergence of armed mercenaries who kill women and children, cut off the heads of men and rape women and who do such horrible and disgusting crimes in the name of religion are all the products of the satanic and arrogant plots of foreign intelligence services and their regional agents. Such plots are implemented in countries in which the ground is prepared before-hand and as a result, they create a disastrous situation for these nations and peoples. In such conditions, it is clear that one cannot expect Muslim nations to remedy their material and spiritual shortcomings and to achieve security, welfare, scientific progress and international dignity which are the results of achieving awakening and finding one’s true identity. These disastrous conditions can abort the progress of Islamic Awakening, destroy the mental awareness which has been created in the world of Islam, drag Muslims- once more- towards stagnation, isolation and decline and consign to oblivion important and fundamental issues such as the liberation of Palestine and other Muslim nations from the transgressions of the USA and Zionism. The most important cure for this situation can be summarized in two key phrases, both of which are among the clearest lessons of hajj: First: unity and brotherhood of Muslims under the flag of monotheism. Second: knowing the enemy and confronting his plans and methods. Strengthening the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation is a great lesson of hajj. During hajj, even quarrelling and arguing with others is forbidden. During hajj, wearing the same clothes, following the same practices, making the same moves and behaving in a kind way,all mean equality and brotherhood for all those who believe in and rely on monotheism. This means that Islam strongly rejects any idea and belief which views a number of Muslims and believers in Ka’bah and monotheism as people who are outside the circle of Islam. Theseorientationswhich are based on takfirism, which have become playthings in the hands of the treacherous Zionist politicians and their western supporters- commit serious crimes and shed the blood of Muslims and innocent people, and the people who claim to be religious, who call themselves clerics and who fuel the fire of fitna between Shia and Sunni and otherdenominations- should know that the hajj pilgrimage will thwart their claims. I, like many Islamic scholars and sympathetic personalities in the Islamic Ummah, announce that any statement or action which fuels the fire of discord among Muslims, any insult to the sacred beliefs of each one of the Muslim denominations and any act of takfirism against Islamic denominations equals serving the camp of atheism and polytheism and betraying Islam. All of these things are haraam. Knowing the enemy and its methods is the second important factor. First, we should not forget about the existence of a spiteful enemy. Performing the ritual of the stoning of the jamarat during hajj is a symbolic sign of this awareness. Second, we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network. Third, we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims, promoting moral and political corruption, threatening and tempting outstanding personalities, exerting economic pressures on all nations and arousing doubts about Islamic beliefs. Moreover, we should identify their agents and those who are, knowingly or ignorantly, dependent on them. Arrogant governments, headed by the USA, conceal their true character with the help of comprehensive and advanced propaganda tools. By claiming that they support human rights and democracy, they deceive public opinion in different countries. They speak about the rights of all nations while each day Muslim nations feel- with their bodies and souls- the fire of discord more than the past. For decades, the oppressed Palestinian nation has been receiving strikes as a result of the crimes of the Zionist regime and its supporters. In the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, terrorism - which originates from the policies of global arrogance and its agents in the region - has ruined the lives of the people. Syria has come under the attack of arrogant powers and their regional agents because of supporting anti-Zionist orientations and it has experienced a bloody civil war. In Bahrain and Myanmar, Muslims have been ignored and their enemies are supported. Other nations are threatened by the USA and its allies with military attacks, economic sanctions and different acts of sabotage. Taking a general look at all these countries can reveal to all people throughout the world the true face of these leaders of global arrogance. Political, cultural and religious personalities throughout the world of Islam should consider it their responsibility to draw everyone’s attention to these facts. This is the moral and religious responsibility of all of us. North African countries, which are unfortunately suffering from deep domestic conflicts today, should pay attention to this responsibility more than other countries. They should pay more attention to the issue of knowing the enemy and its plots and methods. The continuation of these conflicts among nationalist orientations and Muslims’ negligence about the threat of domestic wars in such countries is a great danger. The loss that may be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah because of such events will not be quickly compensated for. Of course, we have no doubts that the people who have risen against global arrogance and who have become the embodiment of Islamic Awakening in such countries will not, by Allah’s favor, allow time to go back so much so that the era of the corrupt, dependent and dictatorial rulers starts again. However, ignorance about the role of arrogant powers in creating discord and bringing about destructive interference will create a difficult situation for such countries and will cause a very long delay in achieving an era of dignity, security and welfare. We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, in the capability of nations and in the power, faith, determination and foresight which Allah the Omniscient has offered to the masses of the people. For more than three decades, we have seen this in the Islamic Republic with our own eyes and we have experienced it with all our hearts and souls. Our determination is an invitation forall Muslim nations, to this experience of their brothers in this dignified and indefatigable country. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow peace on Muslims and to foil the plots of the enemies. I ask Him to accept your hajj pilgrimage and bestow physical and spiritual health on you. I ask Him to provide you pilgrims of the House of God with an overflowing supply of spiritual blessings. Greetings be upon you and Allah’s Mercy Sayyid Ali Khamenei

The following is the full text of the sermons delivered on August 9, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, during Eid ul-Fitr prayers in Tehran. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Creator of all creatures, Whom we praise, from Whom we seek help, to Whom we repent, and Whom we rely on, and peace and greetings be upon His beloved and noble one, the best among His servants, the protector of His secret, the promoter of His message, the harbinger of His mercy, the warner of His chastisement, our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, and upon those who guide the guided, and who are immaculate and respected, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth. I advise myself and all of you dear brothers and sisters, who said your prayers in this magnificent meeting, to fear God and engage in piety which is the source of happiness and victory in this world and in the hereafter. I would like to congratulate all of you, all the people of Iran and all Muslims throughout the world on the occasion of the auspicious Eid ul-Fitr. The month of Ramadan, which is full of divine blessings for our nation and other Muslims, is over and many happy people benefited from the blessings of this month. These people spent the day obeying God while they were fasting and while they felt hungry and thirsty in such hot weather and on such hot days and they avoided carnal desires and curbed their human passions. At night, many people engaged in prayer and dhikr and they kept a vigil for God. Those who carried out their responsibility by worshiping God and fulfilling divine obligations in this month feel satisfied and happy. Engaging in spiritual deeds and fighting against human passions in this month gives a feeling of joy and spiritual happiness to you dear people who are the masters of determination and willpower and who exercised patience in fasting. One of the characteristics of carrying out responsibilities for the sake of God and making efforts and engaging in jihad for the sake of God is that one feels happy although one endures hardships and difficulties. And God has connected this happiness with the happiness that we feel on the day of Eid ul-Fitr. In order to show the greatness of this day, I should merely say that, during the nine qunuts of the auspicious prayers of Eid ul-Fitr, you swear by the blessedness of this day: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"By the blessedness of this day I ask you...\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Mafatih al-Jinan, Eid ul-Fitr] I hope that Allah the Exalted accepts your prayers, bestows and showers His mercy and blessings on the people of Iran and bestows abundant rewards on you for the efforts that you made in this month. One of the great efforts that the people made in this month was the Quds Day rallies. One cannot describe in any way, how significant what you did is. Throughout the country, you marched on the streets in such hot weather and while you were fasting in order to prove the resistance of the Iranian nation on this important issue of the world of Islam and the history of Islam. This is the meaning of a living nation. I deem it necessary to express my gratitude, from the bottom of my heart, to the Iranian nation for this effort. This year, more than previous years, a good tradition was witnessed. It is good to pay attention to this issue which is the act of providing the people with simple and unadorned iftar meals in our mosques and on the streets of many cities of the country. Unlike the act of offering extravagant iftar meals which we heard a number of people did, this is a very appropriate act. Under the pretext of offering iftar meals, these people engaged in extravagant acts. Instead of becoming an instrument for establishing a psychological relationship with the poor and the deprived in the month of Ramadan, they indulged themselves in carnal desires by doing this. We do not want to say that if somebody eats a delicious food during iftar, this is forbidden. No, according to Sharia, these things are not forbidden. But extravagance and overindulgence are forbidden. The extravagance which is sometimes witnessed in such occasions is forbidden. It is so much better for those who want to offer iftar meals to do this by cherishing the tradition which has become common. In such traditions, a number of individuals offer free iftar meals - with great generosity - to people and passers-by and those who like to benefit from these iftar meals on the streets and in different Hussayniyyahs. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings on all of you people of Iran and accepts your actions. I hope that He bestows on you the blessing to preserve the achievements of the auspicious month of Ramadan until next year. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful I swear by the time, Most surely man is in loss, Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 103] All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially upon the Commander of the Faithful, the Mistress of all Women, Hassan and Hussein- the children of mercy and the Imams of the guided, Ali ibn al-Hussein Zayn al-Abidin, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir, Ja\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, Musa ibn Ja\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'far al-Kadhim, Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad, Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, Hassan ibn Ali al-Askari and Hujjat al-Qaem al-Mahdi. Greetings be upon them all and upon the Imams of Muslims, supporters of the oppressed, and those who guide the faithful. We ask for Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s forgiveness and we turn repentant to Him. I advise all the brothers and sisters to observe piety in their speech, behavior and positions and in different social, economic and political arenas. These days, many events are taking place in West Asia, North Africa and, generally, in Islamic regions. I will briefly refer to a number of these events. In our own country, the important event is the formation of the new administration. Thankfully, with the determination and all-out efforts of the people, this legal request was granted and this national tradition was preserved in the best way possible. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, after the Majlis carries out its responsibility of choosing competent ministers, the administration will be formed and it will start to fulfill the great and important tasks which it is in charge of although it has already started to fulfill many of the tasks. I hope that the honorable president and the executive officials of the country will benefit from divine blessings. I hope that the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s support and assistance will help them carry out the great responsibilities - great responsibilities have great advantages as well as great difficulties - which they have in the best way possible. However in countries which are located around us - countries in West Asia and North Africa - the events that are taking place are not happy events. Rather, they are worrying events. One event is the event of the oppressed Palestine. After the passage of 65 years since the official occupation of Palestine, this oppressed nation continues to suffer from oppression and cruelty on a daily basis. Houses are destroyed, innocent people are arrested, children are separated from their parents and prisons are filled with people who are innocent or who have served their prison terms. What is distressing is that western powers support these criminals with all their power. One of the disasters of today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s world is that an act of clear oppression, which is a combination of tens and hundreds of oppressive acts, is supported by those who claim they support human rights and democracy and who chant beautiful and colorful slogans, but who support criminals in practice. Now, a number of negotiations have begun again between the self-governing government of Palestine and the Zionists. These negotiations will definitely not produce any results other than what happened during previous negotiations in which Palestinians gave up their rights and encouraged the transgressors to transgress more and stop the lawful political activities of the people of Palestine. They destroy houses, build unlawful buildings for the people who have occupied Palestine and then they say that they are negotiating. Now, they have announced that negotiations will be conducted in secret. The way global arrogance cooks these negotiations will definitely be to the disadvantage of the Palestinians. We believe that the world of Islam should not back down on the issue of Palestine and it should condemn the usurping act of the predatory and wolf-like Zionists and their international supporters. It should not let these negotiations which are conducted with the so-called mediation of America lead to more oppression against the people of Palestine and to the isolation of Muslim Palestinian fighters. In fact, America is not a mediator. Rather, the Americans themselves are one side of these negotiations and they are on the side of the usurpers of Palestine, the Zionists. Another issue is the issue of Egypt. We are concerned about what is happening in Egypt. Considering the things that are being done in this country, the idea that a civil war may break out in Egypt is gaining strength on a daily basis and this is a disaster. It is necessary for the great people of Egypt and political, scientific and religious personalities in this country to take a look at the current situation and see what catastrophic consequences this situation may have. They should see the current situation in Syria. They should see the consequences of the presence of western and Zionist mercenaries and terrorists wherever they are active. They should see these dangers. Democracy should receive attention. The killing of people is vigorously condemned by Muslims. Using the language of violence and bullying by different groups of people is absolutely useless and it will cause great harm. The intervention of foreign powers - the way it is witnessed in the present time - will produce nothing except for loss and harm. The problems of Egypt should be solved by the people of Egypt and the outstanding personalities of Egypt. They should think about the catastrophic and dangerous consequences of this situation. If, God forbid, there is mayhem and if, God forbid, a civil war breaks out, what can then preclude this? In such conditions, there will be excuse for the intervention of superpowers which are the greatest disaster for any country and nation. We are concerned. We would like to offer a brotherly piece of advice to outstanding Egyptian personalities, the people of Egypt, political and religious groups and religious scholars. They should think of a solution on their own and adopt this solution on their own. They should not allow foreigners and powers - whose intelligence services have, most likely, played a role in creating this situation - to make more interventions. Another issue is the issue of Iraq. In Iraq, a democratic administration and government has come to power with the votes of the people. Because superpowers and the reactionary forces of the region are unhappy about this situation, they do not want to let the people of Iraq feel comfort. These explosions, these killings and these criminal and terrorist activities results from the assistance and financial, political and arms support of a number of regional and ultra-regional powers which do not want to let the Iraqi nation live its life the way it wants. It is necessary for Iraqi politicians and officials, Iraqi groups, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Arabs and Kurds to take a look at the situation which exists in a number of other countries. They should notice that the consequences of civil wars and domestic conflicts, which destroy the infrastructures of any country, ruin the future of any nation. In all these events, the Zionist regime and usurpers sit and watch this situation with satisfaction and they feel comfort. Should this be allowed to continue? Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), awaken us from ignorance. Dear God, cut off the hands of malicious people and transgressors in Islamic nations and countries. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), make Islam and Muslims achieve victory wherever they are. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful To you, have We granted the Fount (of Abundance), Therefore to your Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice, For he who hates you, he will be cut off.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 108]

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 5, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the chairman and members of the Assembly of Experts.The meeting was held on the occasion of the 14th Congress of the Assembly of Experts which was held on the 12th and 13th of Shahrivar. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful I would like to welcome the honorable gentlemen and the ulama and seminary scholars who are outstanding personalities from throughout the country and who have thankfully gathered in this meeting. Although the responsibilities of the Assembly of Experts have been defined in the Constitution, the arrangement of this meeting has resulted in the generation of different discussions about different arenas of the country and the expression of different opinions by the gentlemen. Well, executive officials are also present in this meeting. Fortunately, the esteemed President and a number of other honorable officials are also members of this assembly and this has boosted the hope that the opinions of the gentlemen in this meeting will receive more attention. I hope that this will be done and we too will help, within the scope of our capabilities and responsibilities, for the gentlemen to achieve the stated matters. I deem it necessary to point out that your participation in the funeral procession of the [unknown war] martyrs - which was held in the beginning of this congress - was very valuable and constructive. When the people see that honorable and great personalities, such as the esteemed chairman of the Assembly of Experts and other personalities, pay their respects to the bodies and graves of martyrs - whom they do not know - and participate in their funeral procession because of the fact that they are the martyrs of the path of the Revolution and the path of righteousness, this will be a lesson for our society. And I will say that our country and our society will be in need of keeping the memory of the martyrs alive and preserving their path for a very long time. The point that I would like to make is that on different levels of decision- making for the Islamic Republic, it is our responsibility to adopt a comprehensive outlook towards the issues of the country. It is obvious that different events - on regional, international and domestic levels - occur which are beyond our power to prevent. The Islamic Republic, the officials, the people and those who protect the foundations of the Islamic Republic have certain responsibilities. These responsibilities cannot be defined on the basis of the events which occur. That is to say, when something happens, we cannot make a certain move and adopt a certain position in an inactive way. This should not be done. This means that the Islamic Republic is being dragged into different events. It is necessary to preserve our comprehensive outlook towards the issues of the country and we should adopt positions and identify events with this comprehensive outlook. Thankfully, this comprehensive outlook has dominated the country until today. It is not the case that officials have ignored this issue since the beginning of the Revolution until today. The Islamic Republic was formed amid a whirlwind of events. This has been repeatedly mentioned, but we should not forget that the heart of this statement is the preservation of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s religion in people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s lives, in society and in our country. The heart of this statement is the formation of our social lives on the basis of sharia, the divine religion and the divine values and rules. The formation of such a government in a world which was quickly moving towards materialism was like a miracle and this miracle happened. When the Islamic Republic was formed, there was an opposition to the issue of reliance on Islam. We should not say that their opposition and enmity was because of our independence or because our policy of fighting against global arrogance. Of course, this is true and this is one reason for their enmity, but fighting against global arrogance grew out of the heart of Islam. Our democracy grew out of the heart of Islam as well. It has been said many times that when we speak about religious democracy, this does not mean an unusual combination between democracy and religion. This is not the case. Our democracy has originated from religion and Islam has shown us this path. We managed to form the Islamic Republic with the guidance of Islam. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, it will be the same in the future. As a result of this belief in Islam, the enemies have focused their attention on Islam. If they can take Islam away from the Islamic Republic, the products of Islam will naturally be destroyed and undermined. Issues should be analyzed by adopting this outlook. There are certain deployments in the world and we are always one side of things in many of these deployments. We should see who and what our opposing side is. We should see why it shows hostility towards us and why we put up a resistance against it. We should take a look at these things with a comprehensive outlook. Allah the Exalted says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Is then one who walks headlong, with his face groveling, better guided- or one who walks evenly on a straight path?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 67: 22] The meaning of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"walks evenly on a straight path\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is that we should see - with open eyes, with wisdom and foresight and by considering all aspects - what the goal is, how we should achieve it and what the existing realities are. We should make a decision and move forward by paying attention to these things. Today, you can see that different events are happening in our region. For several years up until today, global arrogance has chosen West Asia as a place where it can launch its attacks. But despite the presence of arrogant powers in the region and despite their activities, Islamic Awakening has emerged. And I will tell you that Islamic Awakening has not come to an end. It is not the case that we can think Islamic Awakening has been destroyed by the events which have taken place in a number of countries. Islamic Awakening is not like a mere political event or a coup d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état. It is not like a process in which power is transferred from one individual to another. Islamic Awakening means the emergence of a kind of awareness and self-confidence which is based on Islam. Under certain circumstances, this Islamic Awakening created certain events in North Africa, Egypt, Tunisia and, before these countries, in Sudan. In other countries too, there is an enormous potential for such events. We should not think that Islamic Awakening has been destroyed. Islamic Awakening is a reality which is hidden beneath the outer layers of Islamic societies. This is why the people in any country which claims to be oriented towards Islam vote for an Islamic government. This is a sign of people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s orientation towards and attention to Islam. Therefore, Islamic Awakening is a very great event and despite the efforts of global arrogance, this event has taken place. It was not what global arrogance wanted. Therefore, it is natural for the opposing side to react to it. Today, we are witnessing the reactions of the camp of the enemies. These reactions and responses can be seen in East Asia - that is to say, in Pakistan and Afghanistan - and the farthest corners of West Asia such as Syria and Lebanon. Arrogant powers - the government of the United States of America being the outstanding power among these arrogant powers - have defined certain interests for themselves based on their colonial outlook. This outlook is the same as the colonial outlook which they adopted in the 19th century, but it has a different form. And they are trying to solve all the regional issues by promoting the interests which they have defined for themselves. They are doing the same thing in Syria and Bahrain. The presence of global arrogance in the region is one which is based on transgression, oppression and greed and which wants to destroy every resistance which is put up against arrogant powers. Of course, thankfully, they have not managed and will not manage to do this. This region has enormous wealth and it has a very important geographical and natural location. Therefore, it is natural for them to pay attention to this region. If one takes a look at what they say and what they have already done, he will see that their goal is to possess and establish their domination over the region by making the Zionist regime play a pivotal role. They are after achieving this goal. As you can see, on the issue of the latest events in Syria, the excuse which they have recently made for their interference is the use of chemical weapons in this country. Of course, with sophistry and clever use of reasons, they are trying to pretend that they want to interfere on humanitarian grounds. Who in the world does not know that this is a false claim? Undoubtedly, what is not important at all for American politicians is humanitarian needs. These are the people who kept, for many years, thousands of prisoners in Guantanamo prisons and, before that, in Abu Ghraib in Iraq while there were not any trials for these prisoners. They were imprisoned just because of certain allegations. A number of them are still in prison. Well, is this humanitarian? These are the people who saw the heavy bombardment [with chemical weapons] of the region - whether what happened in Iraq\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Halabja or what happened in our cities such as Sardasht and other cities - which was conducted by Saddam, but who did not at all react. Not only did they not react, but they also helped Saddam. Given that the Americans did not help Saddam by giving him chemical weapons - of course, westerners gave him chemical weapons and there is no doubt about this because we have the information which is related to this issue - they at least saw what happened. They became aware of this, but they did not express any opposition. This is the way they show their humanitarian support. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, they fire a volley of bullets at wedding caravans and kill many people. In Iraq, they killed hundreds of thousands of people with oppressive measures. Today too, their agents are still doing the same things, but they behave in an indifferent way. No one in the world believes that the Americans care about humanitarian issues. Of course, they use sophistry and give clever reasons, but they say such things to justify their own moves. We believe that they are doing is a mistake. On this issue, they will receive a serious blow and they will feel it. They will definitely suffer a loss in this regard and there is no doubt about this. Well, this is the condition of the region. The Islamic Republic was formed amid a whirlwind of events. At that time, it stood up against different hostile groups for many years. Not only was the Islamic Republic and its slogans not weakened and undermined, but it also became stronger, in the real sense of the word, on a daily basis. Today, the Islamic Republic is completely different - in terms of power, influence and domestic capabilities - from the Islamic Republic which existed 25, 30 years ago and today, its slogans are firm. Therefore, it should know what it wants to do by taking a look at its miraculous background and paying attention to the plots of the enemy in the region. Our responsibility, the responsibility of all the officials of the country and the responsibility of the Islamic Republic\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s government is to pay attention to three great criteria for all decisions and actions: The first criterion is the ideals and goals of the Islamic Republic. These ideals and goals should never be ignored. We can refer to one of the most important ideals of the Islamic Republic in a short phrase: ‘Creating an Islamic civilization\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'. Islamic civilization means an environment in which we can achieve growth in spiritual and material areas and in which we can attain the ultimate goal for which Allah the Exalted has created us. It means living a good and dignified life. Islamic civilization means building a dignified, powerful, confident and innovative individual who can improve the natural world. This is the goal and ideal of the Islamic Republic. The second criterion is the methods and guidelines which help us achieve these goals. These are general guidelines and they should be identified. These guidelines are relying on Islam and taking care not to become the oppressor or the oppressed in different interactions. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Be an enemy of tyrants and oppressors and be a friend and helper of those who are oppressed and tyrannized.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 47] This is a responsibility. This is a general guideline. Reliance on the votes of the people and reliance on what helps us establish democracy and other such things constitute the main policies and the major guidelines of the Islamic Republic for achieving ideals. Other guidelines are communal work, communal effort, communal innovation, national unity and other such things. And the third criterion is taking realities into consideration. We should see realities. In a meeting which was held in the auspicious month of Ramadan, I said to officials of the Islamic Republic that what we need is a kind of idealism which takes realities into consideration. We should gain a proper understanding of realities. We should take a look at realities and see what our weak and strong points are and we should know what prevents us from moving forward. We should gain a proper understanding of realities. In that meeting, I referred to a number of sweet realities which exist in our country. We should not always take a look at our weak points and shortcomings. The emergence of outstanding ideas and thoughts, the existence of active and innovative elements, the promotion of religious teachings and spiritual concepts among many youth, the preservation of religious and Islamic slogans, and the increasing influence of the Islamic Republic in the region and in the entire world constitute a number of the existing realities. These realities should be seen. Of course, besides these sweet realities, there are a number of bitter realities. This is similar to our [personal] lives which is a combination of sweetness and bitterness. By relying on and strengthening sweet realities, we should try to decrease bitter realities or make them fade away. These three elements should receive attention. Ideals and the guidelines which are necessary to achieve these ideals should not be ignored. Of course, realities should be taken into consideration as well. If we do not take realities into consideration, we will not tread our path in the right way. However, realities should not prevent us from treading our path. If the existence of a rock makes us turn back from our path, we have made a mistake. Also, if the existence of this rock is ignored and if we tread the path in a careless way, we have made another mistake. But if we take a look and see what ways we can find around this rock or how we can take the rock away from our path, make a hole in it or find an alternative path, then we have adopted the right outlook on realities. This is what our magnanimous Imam did in the first chapter of the Revolution - that is to say during the first 10 years of the Revolution which were very fateful and sensitive years. Our magnanimous Imam did not close his eyes to realities, but he did not back down and did not forget about the guidelines either. You should take a look at Imam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s life and slogans. Our magnanimous Imam was a person who was not afraid of anyone on the issue of the Zionist regime. The idea that the Zionist regime is a cancer and should be destroyed was expressed by Imam. He was not afraid of anyone on the issue of the evil, arrogant and meddling moves of America. It was Imam who said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"America is the Great Satan.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" It was Imam who said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The attack of Muslim youth and Muslim students on the U.S. embassy and taking their documents and tools - which were used for spying - is like conducting a second revolution and is perhaps better and more important than the first revolution\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". These are the methods of Imam. One the issue of the war, he said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We fight until we end the fitna.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is what Imam said. Other people used to say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We should continue fighting until we can achieve victory.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" But Imam said that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We fight until we end the fitna.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" It was such resistance which strengthened the foundations of the Islamic Republic. You can see what happened to those people who did not know this path, who acted in a different way in their own countries and who compromised their principles and forgot about their main slogans in order to please arrogant powers. If the slogan of fighting against Israel had been advocated in Egypt and if they had not accepted the false promises of America and its agents, the situation would definitely not have been like this. Today, the dictator of the Egyptian people, who destroyed their dignity for 30 years, has been released from prison and those who had been elected with the votes of the people may be sentenced to death. If they had not done these things, such a situation would never have been brought about. If the elected officials had adopted proper positions, those who gathered around Tahrir Square and chanted slogans against the elected officials- half or more than half of them would have started to support these elected officials. That is to say, they were not the kind of people to confront and oppose the elected government, but when one stops adopting correct and appropriate positions, such things happen. These are things which should receive attention. What we feel we should do to solve problems is that we should strengthen the Islamic Republic from inside the country. It is not only in this era that problems exist. Problems have always existed. Problems exist in all countries. If anyone thinks that there are no problems in such and such an advanced country, or in such and such a wealthy European or western country which is densely or sparsely populated, then they are wrong. Problems exist everywhere. Naturally, each nation faces certain problems when it wants to do something. The officials in such a country should solve the problems and move forward. Now, some people may want to solve problems by asking for help, by relying on others, by bribing other people and by suffering humiliation. And a number of people may want to solve problems with their own power and with the capabilities which exist in their own country. We believe that we should strengthen the Islamic Republic from inside the country. This is the essence of our work. We should strengthen ourselves from the inside. It is possible to strengthen ourselves from inside the country by thinking rationally and adopting a wise outlook. It can be done by making scientific progress and by building economic infrastructures and managing economic issues in the right way. In my opinion, these are things which are possible. Today, you can see that when they exert pressures on our oil industry, we will face certain problems. What is the reason for this? This is because since the war ended until today, we have not managed to reduce our dependence on oil. If we had reduced our dependence on oil, such pressures would not have brought about this situation. Therefore, we should take a look at ourselves and we should want to solve problems with our willpower. Thankfully, there is a new administration in our country today. One of the advantages of the current condition is that a fresh administration has entered the arena. With new ideas and thoughts, with new innovations and with a competent group of people, it wants to carry out its responsibilities and move things forward. It wants to move towards the goals which it has highlighted. The honorable President is a cleric who is active and experienced in different revolutionary arenas. This is also one of the advantages which we enjoy today. Naturally, all of us should help the administration. I think it is my responsibility to help. As we helped and supported all administrations, we will definitely help and support this administration as well. And officials will do this too. Of course, my support for different administrations does not mean that I agree with all the things that they do. In different eras, there were different administrations. We both supported and criticized all these administrations. But, such criticisms should not make us think that the administration is an outsider and it should not make us withdraw the support that we should provide to all administrations. It is necessary to provide such support and help. It is also necessary to pray for all administrations and offer our advice to them. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Advice is necessary for all believers\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [speaking in Arabic]. A friendly piece of advice may sometimes be offered in a harsh and severe way. I believe that if the officials who receive such a harsh and severe piece of advice think carefully, they will be happy to have received such advice. Even this harsh and severe piece of advice is to their advantage. Anyway, when I take a look at the current conditions in the country, I see that the future is very promising despite the problems which were referred to by the friends in this meeting - of course, they did not refer to many of the existing problems. I see that we have a clear path ahead of us and we have clear and definite ideals. We know what we want to do. Also, the path to achieving these ideals is clear and well-defined and there is no ambiguity and confusion in our guidelines and it is clear what should be done. During the recent years, it has become clear where alignments - on a regional and international level - lie. Of course, flexibility and clever maneuvers in all political arenas are good and acceptable, but such maneuvers should not make us cross certain red lines, stop pursuing the main guidelines and ignore ideals. These things should be observed. Of course, each administration and each individual uses specific methods and implements specific ideas and they move things forward with these ideas. I am completely optimistic and I believe that all the existing problems - including economic, political and security problems and cultural problems which are deeper and more important than economic problems although a number of economic problems have a higher priority - can be solved and the path to achieving this goal can be taken. I ask Allah the Exalted to help us do this. There is a certain point that I have written down to discuss. You should pay attention to the fact that one of the main methods used by the enemies of Islam, particularly the enemies of the Islamic Republic in the region, is to create sectarian and denominational discord between Shia and Sunni Muslims. You should pay attention to this issue. There are two groups of people who have turned into the agents and mercenaries of the enemy. The first group is made up of a number of Sunni Muslims and the second group is made of a number of Shia Muslims. The first group engages in takfirism and has deviated from the essence of religion and the second group is made up of people who work for the enemy. In the name of Shia, these people provoke the feelings of other Muslims, justify their enmity and fuel the fire of fitna. Each group, each institution and each government which is deceived by this great plot, which involves itself in this issue and which makes a mistake in this regard will certainly harm the Islamic movement and the Islamic government. Our country in particular will be harmed if this happens. I insist that outstanding ulama - whether Shia or Sunni ulama and whether those who live in Iran or those who live in other countries - should pay attention to the fact that differences between Islamic denominations should not make us create a new camp against ourselves. Such differences should not make us ignore the main enemy which is the enemy of the essence of Islam and the enemy of the independence and welfare of the people of the region. I hope that Allah the Exalted will help all of us and I hope that all of you and us benefit from the blessings and prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings