The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 3, 2010 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.).
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
May God make this Eid and this great birthday anniversary of the history of Islam auspicious for you dear brothers and sisters, panegyrists, Fatima al-Zahra's (s.a.) eulogists and all Iranian people. I am truly thankful to God who has bestowed these kind hearts and these strong emotions on our people to help us achieve prosperity and save our honor.
If it had not been for Shia Muslims' love for the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household and for those divine people, undoubtedly the Shia movement - in spite of all its firm teachings - would not have survived among all that enmity throughout history. These emotions and this enthusiastic love should not be underestimated. Undoubtedly logic plays an important role in promoting justice, and it is not possible to establish any kind of justice without the support of logic and philosophy. But promoting the tendency towards justice and the survival of this permanent justice throughout the history of Islam would have been impossible except through love, friendship, and emotional bonds. Therefore, since the early years of Islam up until today, intellectual bonds have been accompanied by emotional bonds.
You see in the history of Islam that whenever the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) performed wudu after the conquest of Mecca - that is to say, eight years after the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) migration from Mecca to Medina - his companions used to compete with each other to rub their heads and faces with the water from his wudu [ritual ablution] as a blessing. This was because of that emotional bond. This is different from faith in the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) teachings. This is something else. This is what astonished spiteful enemies such as Abu Sufyan. He saw this and said, "I have seen many powers, governments and monarchies, but I have seen nothing that has such power to influence the hearts of people. I have not seen anything like Islam." This is because of the emotional bond. This emotional bond should be preserved.
Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.) is the greatest lady in human history. She is an honor for Islam. She is an honor for the Islamic Ummah. The position of Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.) is one of those positions that are either impossible or difficult for ordinary people like you and I to image. After all, she was infallible. Formally, she was neither a prophet nor an Imam. But in terms of her position, she was at the level of a prophet or an Imam. The infallible Imams (a.s.) used to mention the holy name of Fatima al-Zahra with a lot of respect. They used to speak about her teachings. These are very important points. This is who Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.) was.
On the one hand, her daily life was filled with knowledge and wisdom. Even in a sermon like the famous Fadakiyyah sermon, when you take a look at the introductory part of this sermon, you see that it is full of knowledge and wisdom. This sermon has been narrated by Shia Muslims, and Sunni Muslims have also narrated at least some parts of it. And thankfully we have access to that sermon today. In this sermon the highest divine and Islamic teachings - which are understandable to us - have been mentioned in spite of the situation in which there was no opportunity for education and there was no sermon related to knowledge. It was in fact a political debate. On the other hand, the life of that great lady is filled with selfless efforts - just like the life of a selfless soldier who has an active and effective presence in different arenas. This great lady was actively making efforts in all those stages since her childhood in Mecca, in the Valley of Abu Talib, when helping her honorable father and providing psychological support for him, when supporting the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) during those difficult times in Medina, throughout all those wars, during those lonely times, during her illness, among those threats and during the difficult times that Imam Ali (a.s.) went through after the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) passed away. She was a mujahid scholar and a mujahid mystic.
Moreover, she was an exemplary woman in terms of her duties as a woman, a wife and a mother, and in terms of her parenting skills and kindness to her husband. According to the narrations, she was an exemplary woman in terms of the way she spoke to the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), the humility and obedience that she showed in front of him, and raising such children as Imam Hassan (a.s.), Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Zeinab al-Kubra (s.a.). She was an exemplary woman in terms of performing her duties as a woman and a mother and in terms of her female affection. And all those unparalleled virtues were shown in a life that lasted only 18 years. The existence of such a person is a source of honor in all societies, eras and countries - an 18-year-old young woman with all those spiritual, moral and behavioral virtues. There was not a second such woman in history. Knowing these teachings makes you familiar with the virtues of that great lady, but you would not get anywhere without the emotional bond, without that love and without the fire of enthusiasm that fills your eyes with tears - both when you hear about the difficulties she went through and when you hear about her virtues. This is something different. This is the emotional and spiritual bond, and it should be preserved.
Since the beginning of the history of Shia Islam up until today, this emotional bond has been a crucial element in Shia Islam and the Shia movement. Of course this emotional bond is one that is based logic and the truth, not empty emotions. Therefore, you see in the Holy Quran that the reward of a mission, love and friendship is in closeness to God. "Say: I ask of you nothing in return for it but love for relatives." [The Holy Quran, 42: 23] This is a very important point which should be taken into consideration. Any effort to damage this love in any way is a betrayal of the great love for the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household and the enthusiasm to follow their teachings. You should preserve this love. You see that during the time of the infallible imams (a.s.), all those hadith experts and all those knowledgeable students and great religious scholars - who were studying under Imam Sadiq (a.s.), Imam Baqir and other infallible Imams - narrated and recorded the teachings, rules of sharia and ethical principles. However, when you take a closer look, you see that the focus is on such people as Da'bal-e Khazai, Seyyed Homeiri and Komayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi. While there were people like Zarrarah, Mohammad ibn Moslem, and other such luminaries among the infallible Imams' companions, Imam Reza (a.s.) decided to pay attention to Da'bal and Imam Sadiq decided to pay special attention to Seyyed Homeiri. This is because the emotional aspect is sufficiently represented in the poems of poets and the eulogy of eulogists, but it is missing in other areas. And when this emotional aspect is present, it is normally weak - or maybe I should better say it is less effective. This is the role that poetry, eulogy and dhikr have in the history of Shia Islam.
Most of the people who are present in today's meeting are panegyrists of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household, and this is a great position. I do not want to encourage you to continue this profession and the responsibilities you have taken on - which are definitely accompanied by love - because you are already doing this. You started to tread this path of your free will and because of the interest you had in this path, and by Allah's favor divine blessings will be bestowed on you, and the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household will pay attention to you. My purpose is to encourage you to gain an appropriate knowledge of this movement, and benefit from it the way the infallible Imams wanted. What I want to say is that you dear brothers are among the eulogists of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. This is an honorable and valuable job. It plays a role in preserving Shia Islam and Shia knowledge and promoting the path of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. You should appreciate this.
We have been holding this meeting on this day of the year for more than 20 years now. Many things have been said about eulogy and eulogists. I have also made many comments in this regard. Of course one can see that good things have been done and good progress has been made. But I want to say that the present capacity is a great capacity. Maybe I have repeatedly addressed this point to the friends who have attended this annual meeting. Sometimes a single line of poetry that you read has more influence on the hearts of the audience than an hour of strong reasoning by a skillful orator. This is a great capacity. It is necessary to make good use of this capacity. Through this great capacity it is possible to instill the teachings of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household into the hearts of the people throughout the country. It is possible to deepen their teachings in the hearts of our people through the emotional aspects. This is not a small achievement. We are in need of this today. We will always need this.
We need to strengthen our faith and make the principles explicit and permanent. We need to strengthen the foundations so that they are not shaken by different waves of the enemy's propaganda. We will always need this. Today the enemies of the truth, the enemies of Islam and the enemies of the knowledge of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household have entered the arena with their effective means. Today they are more heavily armed than ever before. They are using various methods in order to weaken this society - that is to say, the Islamic Republic and Islamic Iran -which has risen today to uphold justice, has attracted the attention of the world of Islam and has weakened the evil claws of the arrogant powers. They are using various methods to tarnish its honor among Muslim nations and before the Islamic Ummah. These are what they are looking for.
You Iranian people have made great achievements during the past 30 years. The enemies of the Iranian nation are strong. All bullies, all plunderers, all great capitalists, all the centers of power and all the mafias of wealth and money have deployed their forces against you. You put obstacles on their way and created problems for them. The Iranian nation has moved ahead very effectively during the past 30 years. So there is a good reason why they are so hostile and spiteful towards the Iranian nation. If you had not put obstacles on the way of their plundering, and if you had not created problems for the hegemony of the arrogant powers, they would not have shown so much hostility. These enemies are trying to purge the Iranian nation of its confrontational characteristics - namely, this explicit and well-founded faith. They are using different kinds of methods. They promote false ideas and create entertainments. They create intellectual entertainments. They create immoral entertainments. They create political entertainments. They create fitna. These are all part of a policy. What can we do to confront them? It is necessary to strengthen this faith, which is a source of revolt, resistance and stability for the Iranian nation.
One of the factors that can help us do this great work is to promote Islamic, spiritual and revolutionary teachings in a transparent way and instill the love for the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household into the hearts and souls of people. This is a responsibility that all of us should fulfill today. A large portion of this responsibility should be shouldered by panegyrists. This is how you should consider the profession of eulogy. When you stand in front of people to perform eulogy, you should feel that you are standing there as a preacher and as a messenger of religious truths who should promote religious concepts in the most effective way. If you have this feeling, then the poetry that is selected, the way eulogy is sung and the people who should perform eulogy will be limited to a few options. This is inevitable. This is what you yourselves should do. It is eulogists themselves who should do this. Today if you were asked, "What are the prerequisites for eulogy?" and "If a person is determined to become a eulogist and starts practicing today, what does he need?" you would normally mention two or three requirements. You would say, "A eulogist should have a good voice and a good memory, and he should be able to learn poetry." Of course a eulogist should also have the necessary spiritual tendency as well. Is it possible for a person who has a good voice and a good memory to become a eulogist? I believe these two factors are not enough. You should consider a eulogist as a teacher who wants to teach something to his audience. All of you are qualified to do this. Nobody should be forced out of this profession. Everybody who has the enthusiasm to do this job should start practicing, but he should also acquire the necessary qualifications.
The poetry you sing should be educational whether it is about daily life issues - just like some of the poems that certain gentlemen recited today, and this kind of eulogy is very valuable and instructional - or about other things. Imagine that you want to describe Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.) to your audience. You should describe her character to your audience in a way that a Muslim - a Muslim woman, a Muslim youth - can learn lessons from your description. You should describe her character in a way that your audience feels humble and emotionally attached to that embodiment of sanctity, purity, wisdom, spirituality and jihad. This is human nature. Human beings are by their nature predisposed towards perfection. If we have the opportunity to achieve perfection within ourselves, we will definitely do so. And if we cannot achieve perfection, we naturally develop a tendency towards a person who has already achieved this perfection. We should describe to our audience the perfection that Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.), the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and other infallible Imams achieved in order to enable them to benefit from our description which is presented in the form of poetry and sung appropriately in a good voice. This is something that many orators, artists and teachers cannot do. But you can easily do this.
I have repeatedly advised you to divide your eulogy sessions into two parts. The first part should be allocated to religious teachings and ethics. Today we are in need of ethics and religious teachings. Today we need to make our young generation hopeful, enthusiastic, optimistic, faithful and emotionally attached to the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. We need to make our youth feel proud of being a member of Islamic Iran. We need to make them feel proud of Imam Khomeini (r.a.), the Islamic Republic, their religion, their denomination and following the teachings of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. Today we need young people who know that their fate and the fate of their extended family and their society depend on their efforts. We need young people who are active and are prepared to make persistent efforts. We need young people who are not lazy and unprincipled. How can we educate them like this? You can play a role in this regard. Therefore, one part of your eulogy session should be poetry that instills such concepts into the hearts of your audience. And the best way to say something is to say it in an indirect way.
You should promote the teachings of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household through good poetry - this is where the role of poets becomes clear. Fortunately we are not short of good poets today. Some of the poems that were read today are among good poems. Thankfully we have poets today who are very good at expressing the realities and turning them into poems. You should look for such people. As panegyrists, when you look for poetry, poets will be encouraged to compose poetry. If you ask for poetry, poets will provide it for you. When you sing their poems, their motivation to produce more poems will be increased by several times. This interaction will encourage both of you to make more efforts. Poets will help you, and you will help them.
The second part of a sermon should be about elegizing and eulogizing the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. Of course I have many things to say about elegy. In my meetings with you dear panegyrists and in other meetings, I have repeatedly said that in elegy one should be committed to the validity of the tragedy one is narrating. Although what you want to do in elegy is to make your audience cry, you should achieve this effect through artistic expression of a valid tragedy, not through narrating a story that did not happen. In the past I knew some people who used to fake tragic stories on the spot - hopefully this is not the case now. Whenever they got an idea and realized that the situation was appropriate, they used to spin a story to bring tears to the eyes of their audience. This is wrong. The goal is not to simply make people cry. The goal is to submerge the crying heart - whose tears reach the eyes and make them tearful - in pure Islamic teachings. Of course this should be done artistically.
About fifty years ago, we had a famous preacher in Mashhad, the late Ruknul Waezeen - may God bestow mercy on his soul. Whenever he performed elegy, his audience used to cry their hearts out. This was while he himself repeatedly said that he avoided mentioning the words "spear" and "sword". I had listened to his elegies many times, and he did not really mention these words. He used to depict the tragedy so artistically that his audience became truly sad, and he did so without even saying "they killed ...", "they shot an arrow" or "with a swipe of the sword or dagger". He used to avoid saying these things. It is possible to elegize well through artistic methods and make people cry.
I would like to make another point now. The esteemed elegists and preachers insist that their audience should cry loudly. This is not necessary. They may cry quietly. When the audience beat their chests during mourning ceremonies or when they send greetings, it is not necessary to say, "This is not loud enough for such a crowd." You should just ask people to send greetings, and they may decide to send greetings very quietly. The goal is not to warm up your audience through such methods. Just try to take control of the hearts of your audience. When you take control of their hearts, you will achieve the goal. Even if your audience cry quietly, you will still achieve your goal. If you capture their attention, again you will achieve the main goal.
Therefore, the conclusion of what I said today is that eulogy is a great profession. It is an important and highly effective profession. It can be a prominent example of selfless efforts in the way of God. When we say that we are prepared to be present in the arena, this presence is different for every person. One day you may literally be present in a battlefield. Another day you may be present in an arena in which the enemies have waged cultural wars and soft wars - this is a different kind of war, and it has its own requirements. In your position as panegyrists, being present on the scene and making selfless efforts are done through effective preaching that provides guidance for hearts - of course through artistic methods. Artistic methods include a good voice - thankfully all of you have a good voice - and the well-established tones. Of course sometimes I hear some tones in different places which are not appropriate for this purpose even if they attract certain people. The tone should be solemn and suitable for the content that you are presenting, lest the tone gradually resemble haraam music. This is a very import point. Not every poem, every song and every tone that is out there can be incorporated into your profession. There are some things which are haraam in themselves, and if they enter the arena of eulogy and conveying the truths about God and His Messenger, they will become doubly problematic. Therefore, it is necessary and important to have artistic and appropriate tones, good poetry, good voice and above all a pure and sincere heart.
I hope Allah the Exalted will make you all successful and accept these efforts from you by the blessedness of Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.). Dear God, make the blessings of Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.) permanent for our country, our society and our hearts. Dear God, do not separate us from the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household neither in this world, nor in the hereafter. O God, include us among the people who benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). O God, associate us with these honorable people in this world and in the hereafter. O God, associate the souls of our dear martyrs and our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) with Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.) and the infallible Imams in the hereafter.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings