Leader's Sermons at Eid ul-Fitr Prayers

The following is the full text of Ayatollah Khamenei's Eid ul-Fitr prayer sermons delivered on November 4, 2005.

First Sermon

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the 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, 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.

And greetings be upon the leaders of Muslims, those who guide the oppressed and those who support the faithful.

Said All-Wise Allah: "(He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you" [The Holy Quran, 2: 185].

I congratulate all the faithful people of Iran, the entire Islamic Ummah and all you dear worshippers on auspicious occasion Eid ul-Fitr. Spending the month of Ramadan in worship, fasting, tawassul, dhikr and humility until the last day is a true eid for a faithful person. This Eid is not similar to materialistic and worldly celebrations. Eid ul-Fitr is an eid of divine mercy. It is an eid of divine forgiveness. It is an occasion for thanking God, an occasion for the people to thank God for having been able to worship God for a month and to successfully celebrate the great divine Eid at the end of it, for having been able to benefit as much as possiblefrom dhikr, dua, tawassul, humility, fasting and praying in the month of Ramadan. This is an Eid for pious Muslims who have successfully spent a month in worship and abstinence, hoping that Allah the Exalted would bestow mercy and divine rewards on them.

There is a narration by Sawayd ibn Qafala, who was a friend of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and has been described as "a companion of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.)." One day he visited the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) on Eid ul-Fitr. "He was eating a very simple meal." The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was eating the kind of food that used to be prepared with the least possible ingredients, such as a dough made by mixing milk and flour, the kind of food that was for poor people. "I said, ‘Commander of the Faithful, you eat such a simple food on an eid?'" On an eid, it was customary for people to eat the best food they could afford. He asked why the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) had limited himself to that simple food. "He said, ‘It is an eid for those who have received divine mercy.'" The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said that it was an eid, but for those on whom Allah the Exalted had bestowed mercy and forgiveness. That is to say, child-like happiness and eating good food does not make a particular day an eid, rather a true eid is a day when a person manages to achieve divine forgiveness. In another narration, the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) has been quoted as saying: "Surely, this is an eid for those whose fasting and worship have been accepted by God." Eid ul-Fitr is an eid for a person whose fasting, praying and worship have been accepted by Allah the Exalted. "And any day in which no sin is committed, is an eid." A day in which we are fortunate enough to commit no sins, is an eid and an occasion for celebration and joy.

Of course, Muslims have been advised to congratulate each other on the day of Eid ul-Fitr, to put on new clothes and to consider it a day of joy and celebration. But the essence of this eid is attention to spirituality and asking Allah the Exalted for forgiveness and mercy.

Dear brothers and sisters, you fasting believers have created an opportunity for yourselves to bring your hearts closer to Allah the Exalted through fasting throughout the month of Ramadan, through worship, through dua, through tawassul, through ihya, through reciting the Holy Quran, through dhikr and through humble prayer. You should appreciate the value of this opportunity. You should consider it a great achievement and try to preserve it. Our people are pious. Our youth have pure and enlightened hearts. The men and women living across our country have established a sincere bond between Allah the Exaltedand their hearts. This is a great opportunity for our people to achieve divine mercy.

Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, make our nation successful in areas of spirituality, in areas of material growth and development and in social and individual areas. Dear God, bestow on us the blessing of fearing You, the blessing of achieving and preserving piety. Dear God, make our nation glorious and proud. Bestow Your mercy and forgiveness on all of us and our ancestors. Help us benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).

"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].

Second Sermon

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 our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, particularly upon the Commander of the Faithful, as-Siddiqat al-Tahera, al-Hassan, al-Hussein, the Master of the Youth of Paradise, 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.

We are thankful to Allah the Exalted for making our nation successful in different arenas. Last year on this day, I told the people of Iran during my Eid ul-Fitr prayer sermons to prepare themselves for the presidential election. And I told the people at the beginning of the year that this year would be "The Year of National Unity and Public Participation". The honorable people of Iran accepted this humble request, stepped into the arena of elections with joy, pride, enthusiasm and dynamism and gave rise to a memorable election that will go down in the history of our country and in the history of the Islamic Republic. The movement of the Iranian nation towards the values should continue more seriously day after day while observing the principles and regulations. Our nation is prepared. Although the enemies of our nation and the enemies of the Islamic Republic - which is a government that rose up from the hearts of the people and their religious beliefs and determination -have tried since the beginning of the Revolution to undermine the light of the Islamic Revolution, they have been unsuccessful, both inside the country and in the world of Islam.

It is true that if it had not been for the negative propaganda of your enemies, today our country would have had even more surprises for our brothers in different parts of the world of Islam as well as in different parts of the world. But in spite of those propaganda efforts, today the Iranian nation has projected the image of a nation that is courageous and enjoys strong determination, noble values, diligence and various capacities. Our people are known in the world as a people who can achieve any goal they want if they set their minds to it and pursue it seriously. And this is the truth. This is why they create all those controversies. I would like to mention and stress one more characteristic of the Iranian nation: the Iranian nation is an oppressed nation. Our nation is brave and determined and it has been oppressed. Who are the people who have oppressed our nation? The powerful and wealthy people who neither care about human beings, nor human rights, nor human dignity. The only thing that they care about is domination and infinite power without accountability and this is the goal that they are pursing in the world.

The 13th of Aban was a manifestation of the oppression that the Iranian nation had suffered. On the 13th of Aban, the Iranian nation demonstrated to the world the oppression that it had suffered. The documents that were recovered from the Den of Espionage - which have been published and are available in the form of around one hundred books - showed that the American government had not missed a single opportunity to work against the Iranian nation and its interests, especially after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. However, our nation does not surrender to oppression. Our nation has suffered oppression, but it stands up against oppression and does not tolerate it.

Many years have passed since the event that happened on the 13th of Aban. That event is history now, but the truth that was represented by the event and the capture of the Den of Espionage - namely, the oppression that the Iranian nation had suffered despite refusing to surrender - still remains intact. The same is true today. Today we do not oppress anybody. We do not attack any country. We do not trample on the rights of any nation in any part of the world. But if the superpowers want to trample on our rights, as they always have, the Iranian nation will not tolerate oppression, no matter who the oppressor is. That is to say, our nation has been the target of oppression, yet it has refused to surrender and it has chosen to rely on its own capacities, not on the unreliable international powers.

It is necessary to preserve this identity. What I would like to ask all Iranians - including the political groups and parties - is that this identity must not be damaged. They must not let different illusions and trivial problems undermine this great and glorious identity. It is this identity that has helped the great Iranian nation move forward for many years thanks to its religious faith.

We need to make more efforts and work harder to make up for the backwardness that has been imposed on us. But by Allah's favor, you people of Iran will succeed and you will achieve the position that our nation deserves, providing that you rely on your identity, that you trust Allah the Exalted, that you ask Him for guidance, assistance and success, that you do not let this great and glorious identity of the Iranian nation be undermined as a result of discord, trivial political disagreements and other such unimportant issues.

Dear God, by the blessedness of Your saints, make the Iranian nation more successful on the glorious path that it has been following. Dear God, associate the souls of our proud and honorable martyrs with the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). Dear God, associate the soul of our dear magnanimous Imam (r.a.) with his close companions and with righteous religious leaders. Dear God, help us benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age.

"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