The following is the full text of the sermons delivered on August 19, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution during Eid ul-Fitr prayers in Tehran.
Salaamun alaikum wa rahmatullah
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Two Worlds, 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, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth. And greetings be upon the leaders of Muslims, those guide the oppressed and those who support the faithful.
I invite all the dear brothers and sisters to fear God. And I would like to extend my congratulations on the auspicious occasion of Eid ul-Fitr, which is a day for mercy, a day for forgiveness, a day for rewarding the faithful, those who do good deeds and those who have done something or made a move for the sake of God and His cause and have brought their hearts closer to the Merciful and Forgiving God. We are thankful to Allah the Exalted who gave us the opportunity to experience another month of Ramadan and another Eid ul-Fitr. We should appreciate this divine blessing.
From what one hears and witnesses here and there, thankfully this month of Ramadan has been an auspicious month. Hearts were engaged with God, truth and spirituality. People from various social backgrounds created an effective and permanent spiritual atmosphere in the country through religious meetings, through recitation of the Holy Quran, through praying during the auspicious Nights of Qadr. It is necessary to appreciate this blessing and be thankful to Allah the Exalted for it.
From another perspective, as far as the issues of the Muslim world and the Islamic Ummah are concerned, the people launched a brilliant movement on Quds Day. They commemorated the great occasion that was introduced by Imam Khomeini (r.a.). They showed their support for the oppressed people of Palestine and an essential issue of the world of Islam. They took part in Quds Day rallies in hot weather while they were fasting, and it is necessary to thank them for this. I thank all Iranian people for their timely and appropriate movement, which will undoubtedly have a great impact on the world of Islam.
Compared to previous years, this year other nations showed more harmony and solidarity with the Iranian nation. In certain countries, where the hegemony and domination of the survivors of taghuti regimes used to prevent the people from showing their emotions regarding Palestine, thankfully the people managed to step into the arena this year and by Allah's favor, this is a movement that will continue in the future. We should ask Allah the Exalted to generously give value to the prayers of our dear people in this month.
"O He who collects the little that is given to Him and shows gratitude for the paltry that is done for Him!
O He who shows gratitude for the small and rewards with the great!
O He who comes close to him who comes close to Him!
O He who invites to Himself him who turns his back on Him!
O He who changes not favor and rushes not to vengeance!" [Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, Dua 46]
This is the dua that Imam Sajjad (a.s.) would recite on a day like this - on Eid ul-Fitr - and he would also teach others to recite it.
If you take one single step towards Allah the Exalted, He will help you move closer to Him. Those who have turned their backs on God and religion, Allah the Exalted invites them to turn to Him out of His mercy and kindness. This is divine mercy and grace. By Allah's favor, our dear youth, who developed certain spiritual characteristics in this month, will preserve these characteristics. By Allah's favor, they will preserve these spiritual characteristics until the end of their lives or at least until the next month of Ramadan, the next Eid ul-Fitr. We should preserve our close bond with the Holy Quran, our attention to God, our involvement in divine remembrance, our presence in the arenas in which Allah the Exalted wants His servants to be present - including the arenas relating to our inner selves and the arenas relating to the world of Islam, our society and the Islamic Ummah. And Allah the Exalted will bless us.
Dear God, bestow Your mercy and blessings on this nation and on the entire Islamic Ummah. Dear God, help this honorable nation and the Islamic Ummah overcome their enemies. Dear God, strengthen our spiritual and heartfelt bond with genuine spirituality on a daily basis.
"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Say: He, Allah, is One.
Allah is He on Whom all depend.
He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And none is like Him." [The Holy Quran, 112]
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Two Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, and upon his immaculate household. And greetings be upon the Commander of the Faithful, Seddiqat al-Tahera, the mistress of all women, Hassan, Hussein, Ali ibn al-Hussein, Muhammad ibn Ali, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, Musa ibn Ja'far, Ali ibn Musa, Muhammad ibn Ali, Ali ibn Muhammad, Hassan ibn Ali 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. I advise you servants of God to fear God.
I call on all the brothers and sisters who have attended this massive gathering to observe piety and to fear God. In this sermon, I will discuss a couple of issues related to our country and society and to the Islamic Ummah. The most important issue related to our country is the bitter and tragic earthquake that grieved our dear countrymen. Although the earthquake hit only a group of our people in one corner of the country, it saddened all our people throughout the country. Experience shows that the people of our country have never been indifferent in the case of such events that strike a corner of the country. One can feel this. And in the case of this tragedy, thankfully the people stepped into the arena and they should continue their presence. It was a tragic event. It caused a lot of damage. There were a number of casualties and our government officials presented the statistics. Our people and government officials should fulfill the responsibilities that lie on their shoulders.
Thankfully, good measures have already been adopted. One can witness this when one sees everything up close. One also learns about the good measures when one speaks to the quake-stricken people. However, the work is still going on. Greater and heavier responsibilities remain to be carried out. Our government officials should be able to completely offset the effects of this event. Moreover, they should try to turn this event into an instrument to turn a new and brilliant page in the life of the people of the quake-stricken areas. By Allah's favor, the development that will result from the efforts of the people and government officials and from the cooperation that exists between them, will completely erase the tragic memories in those areas.
One issue is the issue of Quds Day. Quds Day was a movement that was started by our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) and by Allah's favor, this movement will become better and more vibrant day by day and year by year. It is a very significant movement. It is not just a demonstration: it is new blood that is pumped into the veins of the Islamic Ummah on a particular day. Despite the will of those who want the issue of Palestine and the Palestinian nation to be consigned to oblivion, Quds Day revives the issue on a daily basis and this will continue in the future. Government officials of the Islamic countries have heavy responsibilities to shoulder and I hope Allah the Exalted guides everybody towards their responsibilities and helps them so that they can fulfill the responsibilities that lie on their shoulders.
Of course, the world of Islam is faced with unprecedented issues at this stage. The developments that have taken place in the world of Islam are amazing events that will determine the future path of the Islamic Ummah. So far, the regional nations have managed to accomplish great achievements and their government officials have also adopted appropriate measures. I hope that they continue in the same way and that the enemies of the Islamic Ummah - who make their machinations more complex on a daily basis and step into this arena from all sides with all their power - do not succeed in overcoming the Islamic Ummah. And by Allah's favor, they will not manage to overcome us. A new era has started. A new situation has emerged in the world of Islam and hopefully this situation will gradually affect the life of all nations of the world.
We should try to avoid mistakes in our analyses and in our understanding of the events. We should know that America and Zionism are enemies of the Islamic Ummah, that leaders of oppressive regimes are enemies of the Islamic Ummah. Wherever we see that they have adopted a particular position, we should know that their position is the wrong position. We should not make mistakes in analysis. They will never care about the Muslim nations. They destroy whatever they can and they cause as much disruption as they can. Take the uproar that they cause these days - and their comments are repeated by certain unaware people - about sectarian, ethnic, racial and linguistic differences.They highlight thesedifferences. This is while these things are not important in Islam. "Surely the most honorable of you with Allah is the one among you who is most pious." [The Holy Quran, 49: 13] All Muslims are equal. They are all religious brothers. All of us should stay vigilant. We should have insight. We should open our eyes and avoid mistakes in analysis.
Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, make the great movement of the Islamic Ummah result in happiness for the Islamic Ummah. Humiliate the enemies of the Islamic Ummah.
"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]
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings