Khamenei.ir

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, Ab-al-Qassem Al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household, especially what remains with Allah on earth.
Almighty Allah said in His Book :"Do you not see how Allah draws a comparison: a pure word (being) like an immaculate tree whose roots are firm in the ground and whose branches are in heavens, yielding fruit in every season by permission of its Lord? Allah draws such comparisons for men so that they may take heed" (the Holy Qur'an, 14: 24-5).
This is a great and magnificent gathering. Even more magnificent are the millions of hearts throughout the country, or rather across the world, which have been beating in the memory of our magnanimous Imam for the past days. This all indicates the greatness of that personality who, by divine assistance, imbued the Iranian nation, or rather the Muslim Ummah, with grandeur and dignity.
Almighty Allah has compared the immaculate word to a pure and prolific tree whose roots are firmly fixed in the ground and whose branches are rising high in the sky, a tree which gives its fruit to those interested at all times: "...yielding fruit in every season by permission of its Lord."
The immaculate word is any thought which takes root in the heart of a great and godly man and becomes the source of blessings for mankind. It is any deed which is performed by a pious man, and which proves beneficial in guiding mankind and promoting human values. The immaculate word is also the human being who gives rise to the above thought or the above deed.
Next, Almighty Allah says, "Allah will establish in strength those who believe, with the word that stands firm, in this world and in the hereafter" (the Holy Qur'an, 14: 27).
That firm word will also cause the believer in that word to become firm and steadfast. Therefore, the immaculate word is both the word and the believer in the word, and the thought, and the deed which results from the thought and the prominent personality who gives rise to the thought and the deed.
This is the reason why, as you can see, our late magnanimous Imam is becoming more prominent as time goes by, and his thought and his path are becoming more clearly understood and more deeply felt in our society and in the Islamic world. What has caused this durability and continuity of existence and given rise to all these blessings? It is genuine faith and sincere deeds.
Our magnanimous Imam was the evidence corroborating this holy verse:
"Surely (as for) those who believe and do pious deeds, Allah will bring about love for them" (the Holy Qur'an, 19: 96).
His objective was a divine objective; his behavior was combined with faith, and his actions were pious deeds. This is the reason why this personality remains permanently alive and experiences no death in the collective memory of the Islamic community, similar to divine prophets whose bodies have disappeared from the scene, and who are no longer before the eyes of the public, but their truth and their identity have remained alive.
They clutch at straws and use every stratagem to keep materialist leaders alive in the hearts of people, but they do not succeed in doing so. They mummified the dead body of Lenin, the former Soviet leader, so that he would remain before the eyes, but he did not remain so. That mummy - a worthless body - and that thought and those principles and that memory were all doomed to destruction, both in Lenin's own society and in the entire world.
This is what marks off religious and spiritual leadership. The reason for this difference is the connection to the main source of power, that is to say, relationship and communion with Almighty Allah, and considering everything to be originating from Him and doing everything for His cause and in His way.
This is the secret of power and influence and eternity of godly men. From this viewpoint, Imam Khomeini will continue to remain alive. His enemies and antagonists and religious and political opponents disappeared from the scene and will continue to do so. But our magnanimous Imam will continue to live in the Islamic ummah and in the great human community with his thought and identity and with his real existence, and he will become more prominent and more powerful and more noticeable as time goes by. This is the secret of Imam Khomeini's spiritual power.
The secret of the surprising influence of this great man, who deeply influenced masses of Muslims in different countries, was to practice self-denial and renounce his self, obey Allah, receive inspiration from the Almighty and strive in the way of Allah in a wholehearted manner. This is the secret of the grandeur of our magnanimous Imam and of any spiritual leader.
This was also the secret of the influence and permanence of prophets; otherwise, everybody is familiar with outward things and collusion and secret deals and empty slogans that are aimed at attracting the masses. Others are doing so, but this is not what helps a spiritual leader to influence and dominate the hearts. The rule of a spiritual leader is not like the rule of tyrants and oppressors, but it is like the rule of prophets.
Therefore, if you study the life of Imam Khomeini, you will notice that his relationship and communion with Almighty Allah had created in him a sense of composure and peace of mind. He was calm and self-possessed at the time when others were frightened. He was determined and unwavering at the time when others wavered and showed signs of indecision.
In his last will and testament, Imam Khomeini tells the Iranian people, or rather all the Muslim nations, that he bids farewell to them and ascends to his heavenly abode in the vicinity of divine mercy with a peaceful mind and a reassured heart. Even at the time of his departure, he left this world behind with a peaceful mind.
At that time, it crossed the minds of some individuals that, considering that Imam Khomeini was so heedful of Islamic tenets and so aware of the significance that was attached by Islam to the lives and properties of people, and in view of the fact that so many people had been martyred in the course of the revolution and the war, why he did not feel worried, and how he could leave this world behind and meet the Almighty with a peaceful mind.
They used to ask: "Who will answer for all the blood that has been shed?" The late Imam's response to such questions is that he who answered for the blood shed at Saffain and Nahravan will also answer for this blood, that he who answered for the hardships and sufferings and afflictions that the Commander of the Faithful underwent in his lifetime will also answer for these sufferings.
Any revolution for the sake of delivering a nation entails a certain cost. The eight-year war to defend the independence of this nation involved a certain cost. Standing up to the world's bullies in order to prove one's rightfulness and attain one's rights entails a certain cost.
The late Imam paid this cost. The cost that he paid was public trust. However, Almighty Allah recompensed him for this cost and rewarded him with something much more valuable. The large crowd of people who took part in the funeral procession of this great man were by far greater in number than the people who welcomed him upon his return to his homeland.
What this indicates is that whoever strives in the way of Allah, the Almighty will also help him in different ways. People were devoted to Imam Khomeini, but he did not want to take advantage of this devotion; rather, he viewed it as belonging to Almighty Allah, an asset which had to be spent in the way of Allah, and he did so. The Almighty also returned this asset to him which was many times as much as it was first.
This is what characterizes the path of Allah; treading this path involves striving and perseverance and also some cost, which should be paid.
Even if a nation does not believe in the Creator and the hereafter and a religion but aspires to honor and dignity, it should meet the cost of attaining honor and dignity; if it wants to attain independence, it should pay the cost of independence; if it wants to protect its rights against the threats posed by the world's bullying powers, it has to pay a certain cost. It is not possible to aspire to and attain progress and development and honor and dignity through inaction and in the absence of earnest efforts and endeavors.
Efforts are needed on the part of any nation or any group or any individual so as to accomplish noble ideals and objectives. Our nation made an effort and paved the way for the victory of the Islamic Revolution; it also made an effort and achieved victory and honor in the eight-year Iraqi imposed war.
All the world's powers joined hands and tried to destroy our revolution and our Islamic Republic system through the agency of the Iraqi Ba'thist regime. But our nation stood up to them. The result of this resistance was that the world realized that the Iranian people would never withdraw form hazardous arenas whenever they are expected to defend the truth and rightfulness and protect their rights.
The only way for nations to attain their rights is prudent resistance. Nations should be aware and cognizant of their rights, and they should also insist on their rights. It is not possible to attain one's rights by begging others.
It is not right to implore the domineering and aggressive powers. If you implore them and withdraw and show flexibility, it is in the nature of the domineering powers to clench their fists harder, threaten you more seriously, display an angrier look on their face and take a longer step forward.
One has to attain one's rights through resistance and perseverance. The Iranian nation achieved its independence and restored its dignity and established a stable government in the country and secured the country's borders as a result of its resistance and perseverance as well as its striving and endeavors.
My dear ones! The great Iranian nation! Dear youngsters! Take yourselves seriously and have self-confidence. You have shown your ability in the past, and you will have this ability in the future as well.
What the world's domineering powers decide to give to a nation is not worthy of taking. The Iranian nation would never implore the world's bullying powers - the world's spoiled brats - to accept that it has a right to use nuclear energy! This is not the way with a free and independent nation. The case is also the same with respect to other rights.
Another reality on the ground is that our late magnanimous Imam managed to create a new identity in this region in the turbulent world of politics. This identity is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was established and safeguarded by the Iranian nation. It is an Islamic and national identity; however, the Islamic aspect of this identity does not only belong to the Iranian nation, but it also belongs to the entire Muslim ummah. Through the perseverance of the Iranian nation, our magnanimous Imam created and infused life into this identity.
The West had dominated this region for many years. After World War II, the domination of the Middle East had almost become complete. The regional countries, including Iraq and Iran and Jordan and Syria and Lebanon and Egypt, were each dominated by the Western colonial powers - first the European powers and then the United States.
They also created the usurper regime of Israel in this sensitive region in order to make sure that the West could maintain an active military and political presence in this region through the agency of the Zionists and exercise control and dominance over the region.
During the last years of the first half of the 20th century and the early years of the second half of this century, there were freedom movements in a number of regional countries such as Iraq and Egypt. But the Westerners quickly suppressed those movements and did not allow this sensitive region, which is rich in vital natural resources, to slip out of their control.
Under the circumstances, the Westerners were taken aback by the Islamic Revolution. They could not believe that a movement launched by the Islamic clergy and led by the late Imam Khomeini could develop into such a great popular movement. The Iranian nation emerged on the scene in its entirety. It was the Iranian nation's perseverance and our late magnanimous Imam's unique leadership that gave rise to this miraculous event.
In the world of politics, nobody could believe that in this region - especially in Iran where American officials wielded complete influence over government officials and the court - a system would be established based on religion, a system which would raise the banner of Islam and promote the slogans of "There is no God but Allah" and "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah".
In those days, the individuals with deep political insight realized that the course of the region had changed. Nevertheless, the domineering and arrogant powers made every attempt to extinguish this flame, to nip this movement in the bud and stop it in its embryonic stage. But wise and insightful individuals could observe that Almighty Allah was helping this newly established system.
That sapling flourished and turned into a fructiferous tree, and its roots extended deeper and deeper into the ground with the passage of time. The fructiferous tree is the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is that same immaculate word "whose roots are firm in the ground and whose branches are in heavens."
Today, the Islamic Republic system is the most stable system in the entire region. Today, the Iranian nation is the most ardent and the most determined and the most dynamic nation in this region.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has taken great strides in different areas. In the field of politics, it has changed the world's political literature with important factors. In the area of science, it has put an end to the absolute stagnation that used to dominate this country and this region. Our youngsters have become aware of their capabilities and attained self-confidence. Our nation and government are taking steps toward the accomplishment of their ideals and objectives at a fast pace.
The different governments and officials who have taken office in our country in the post-revolution era have all followed the path of the Islamic Revolution, and great deeds have been done in this country. In the Islamic world also, the face of the Islamic Republic has become more brilliant, and the honor and dignity of the Iranian nation has increased day by day.
Today, if an opinion poll is conducted anywhere in the Islamic world, and if youngsters and academics and the general public in any Islamic country are asked to comment on the Islamic Republic system and our magnanimous Imam and our nation, the majority of them will approve of and voice support for and express devotion to our system and our nation and our late Imam.
It is true that our nation is present on the scene, that our system is making considerable progress, that our country is treading the path to the accomplishment of noble ideals and objectives, and that the hearts of our youngsters are filled with hopes and aspirations. Still, we should bear in mind and pay attention to the fact that the continuation of this auspicious movement depends on our not forgetting the main features of this movement. Fortunately, to date, the Iranian general public and a great majority of our elites and intellectuals have not forgotten these features and have closely adhered to them.
If we try to mention only the major features of our system, we may refer to them as being Islamic and adhering to the Islamic law, being popular and relying on the public, and being innovative.
Being Islamic has various aspects. When we say that our system is Islamic, what we mean is that it belongs to all Muslims, not to a certain Islamic sect and school of thought. It is true that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been established based on Shia teachings under the guidance and leadership of a senior Shia clergyman, but the Islamic nature of our system is such that it encompasses all the Islamic schools of thought, and it is not confined to a single branch of Islam.
This is the reason why throughout the Islamic world, youngsters following different Islamic schools of thought express their devotion to our system and commemorate our late magnanimous Imam. Over the past 28 years in Arab countries and also in many non-Arab Islamic countries in the east and west of the Islamic world, youngsters have been fond of Imam Khomeini and devoted to the Islamic Republic.
Today, the Sunni Palestinian youngsters are looking to and pinning their hopes on the Islamic Republic of Iran just as the Shia Lebanese youngsters are doing. The perseverance and dignity of the Islamic Republic of Iran also imbues them with hopefulness and a sense of honor and dignity.
In any Islamic country that our senior government officials have visited, they have been accorded a very warm welcome and enthusiastically received by the ordinary people. The more explicitly and the more clearly our officials convey the positions of the Islamic Republic through their stances, the more devotion is expressed to them by the general public in the Islamic countries.
Therefore, the Islamic nature of our system means that it is not confined to a single branch of Islam or a certain Islamic school of thought. The majority of the Iranian people, who are Shia Muslims and devoted followers of the Holy Prophet's household (greetings be upon them), together with the majority of the Islamic world who are Sunni Muslims, along with our Shia brethren in Iraq and Lebanon and Pakistan and Bahrain and other Islamic countries hold the same attitude toward the Islamic Republic and are prepared to make any sacrifice for the sake of the Islamic Republic. During the Iraqi imposed war, there were Muslims from other countries who were ready to make sacrifices for the purpose of defending the borders of our country.
Another aspect of our system's Islamic nature is that besides moral values, we have also derived our social and political and religious principles from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and we are proud of this, since we believe that a proper understanding of the Book and the Sunnah and a broad and scholarly outlook on them can provide the Islamic communities and other nations with many ways of fulfilling their individual and social requirements.
Furthermore, one more important aspect of this Islamic nature is that Islamic jurisprudence is capable of meeting all the requirements of human beings. In other words, the scientific knowledge of Islamic jurisprudents and dialecticians and philosophers and experts in Islamic sciences is able to open new ways.
The second major feature of the Islamic Republic system is its being popular and relying on the public. Under the Islamic system, the people's vote plays a decisive role, and the fulfillment of public requirements, including their material and spiritual and moral requirements, is the major objective that is being pursued by government officials and the Islamic Republic system.
Under the Islamic system, the people's security is as important as their economy, and their moral security is as important as their physical security. The preservation of the familial system is as important as the safeguarding of the governmental system. The Islamic Republic considers itself duty-bound to fulfill the requirements of the public.
The Iranian people are vested with authority in the real sense of the word, contrary to the defeated and disgraced Western liberal democracy. Western democracy, as a matter of fact, does not vest freedom of choice in people, but it vests the right to choose in those possessing great wealth and fortune. Even the body of the Western political parties plays no decisive role, but it is the heads of those parties that bring governments to power or remove them from office; they are the ones that make macro decisions.
The general public in the Western countries are not involved in the macro decision-making process. They are given no important role to play; instead, they have been made busy with so many preoccupations that they get no opportunity to say what they want and what they aspire to.
Today, a despotic and dictatorial government in a very modern and sophisticated form is in power in many Western countries headed by the United States. Under the dictatorial Western systems, people play no role in bringing governments to power, and the real powerbrokers are those who own great wealth, those who determine and direct everything on the political scene as they wish.
The Islamic Republic system rejects the kind of democracy that is based on the wrong principles and erroneous foundations of the West. Religious democracy aims to preserve the genuine dignity of mankind and adopt a course of action within the framework of divine religion, not within the framework of unenlightened traditions and the desires and goals of economic conglomerates and the self-made principles of militarists and warmongers.
The course of action adopted by the Islamic Republic system is opposite in direction to the path followed by the Western systems, since the handling of affairs under the Islamic Republic system is within the framework of divine religion, and the people's will and resolve is the absolute determiner under this system.
Today, the Western systems headed by the United States are trying to impose their failed and defeated democracy on some countries by force. They are expressing opposition to the Palestinian government which has emanated from the Palestinian people's votes. They are creating all kinds of problems for the Iraqi government which has originated from the Iraqi people's votes in a real sense. They extend full support to military coups and those behind those military coups if they are under their command. Still, they keep talking about democracy!
The third feature of the Islamic Republic system is its innovation and initiative. I would like to urge the Iranian political and cultural elites and intellectuals to expound the Islamic principles as they are understood from the Book and the Sunnah to those who are interested both inside our country and abroad. It is too bad that some of us, probably because of their feeling of inferiority in the face of the West, try to explain and interpret the Islamic thoughts and tenets in such a way as to match them with the Western views and principles. This is quite an improper and misguided action.
Today, we have a vast body of Islamic knowledge. Our political literature holds great attraction for other nations in the world. A number of individuals, because of their sense of fascination in the face of the Western concepts, are elucidating the Islamic thoughts and principles, including the foundations of government and various social principles in Islam, in such a manner as to make them conform to the Western principles with the intention of pleasing the Westerners!
We should try to introduce the Islamic innovations, which have so far manifested their many blessings - although we have had some shortcomings in practice, to the world. Today, there are many individuals in the world who are interested in and enthusiastic about the genuine spiritual knowledge, not what some deviant schools of thought present as spirituality. Many people in the world have become fed up with the materialistic life, with the incessantly turning wheels of the mechanized life.
The Islamic school of thought is able to open a window before the eyes of those nations and show them a new world. However, while we expound on the Islamic truths, we should not destroy the attraction of the Islamic innovations by trying to make them conform to the wrong principles and erroneous foundations of other schools of thought.
We do not feel ashamed of learning from others. Whatever we do not know, we try to learn it from others. We accept whatever is logical and reasonable and whatever makes sense. This is what we have been told by Islam to do. However, when we want to quote and elucidate the word of Islam, we are expected to refer to the word of pure Islam.
Dear brothers and sisters! I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the day when our late magnanimous Imam established this new identity, there was an expression of disbelief on the face of the whole world. The day when the Islamic Republic put up a brave and strong resistance during the Iraqi imposed war and achieved victory, it once again surprised the world. The day when our country demonstrated its capabilities through its scientific progress in the field of nuclear energy and in other scientific areas, it once again made the world's experts and scientists stare at our achievements in surprise.
I would like to tell you that you still have a long way to go, but there are also many achievements in store for you. What the Iranian nation has accomplished so far does not count much in comparison with what it is going to attain in the future as a result of its perseverance and wisdom and awareness, God willing. The future of the Iranian people will be by far better than their past.
Today, the enemies' media empire is trying to present a distorted image of the Iranian nation and the Islamic system. However, the following are the features which make up a real image of the Iranian nation:
The Iranian nation has resisted and achieved victory in the face of all the threats and challenges that it has been confronting over the past 28 years; the Iranian people have been able to preserve their principles and keep moving in the right direction despite all the different pressures.
Our nation, because of its perseverance and steadfastness, has been able to attain a very high status in the scientific area by accomplishing marvelous scientific and technological achievements and also in the area of social and political management; the honor and dignity of the Iranian nation has also greatly increased in the international arena.
Finally, the Iranian nation has turned into a model for other Muslim nations in the region. The resistance and perseverance of the Iranian nation has imbued other nations with a sense of grandeur and dignity. They regard the honor of the Iranian nation as their own honor. This is the identity that the Islamic Revolution has created as a result of the determination and perseverance on the part of our late magnanimous Imam and the Iranian nation.
The officials of the Islamic Republic have been entrusted with heavy duties and responsibilities. The Iranian nation is entitled to ask government officials to give priority to the administration of social justice. Everybody should try to dispense social justice, which is also a very difficult task to perform.
As I mentioned in the New Year's message, several issues such as the issue of economy and the issue of the enemies' psychological war and also the issue of the country's scientific progress are of great significance to the Iranian nation. The honorable Iranian people are expected to make every effort in the economy-related fields such as the investment and labor sectors, the area of technological and industrial innovation and the field of agricultural development.
As far as national unity and confronting the enemies' psychological war is concerned, everybody should remain vigilant. By the favor of Allah, the Iranian nation is quite capable of dealing with various dangers and what are regarded by the enemies as threats.
Late this year parliamentary elections are going to be held in our country. The enemies are assuming that they can use the issue of elections to foment discord and division among the ranks of the Iranian people. However, by divine assistance, the upcoming parliamentary elections will further contribute to the honor and dignity of the Iranian nation.
The bonds of brotherhood among all members of our society are necessary but not enough. Such bonds should also exist among all members of the great Islamic ummah and among all Muslim nations throughout the world.
The creation of conflict and confrontation between the Shia and the Sunni is one of the major plots hatched by the enemies, who have created a bigoted and reactionary group that is ignorant of religious knowledge and spirituality, so that there may be disputes and war and bloodshed among various Islamic sects and schools of thought in Iraq and Lebanon and also in other parts of the Islamic world.
Our Muslim brethren in Iran and Iraq and Pakistan and Lebanon and Palestine and other parts of the world belonging to whatever Islamic school of thought know that our view, which the genuine Muslim ulama also share, is that tainting one's hand with the blood of one's Muslim brethren is among the unforgivable sins.
Now, there are some who taint their hands with the blood of their Muslim brethren on the pretext of following and adhering to Islam! What they do is indeed tantamount to renouncing the religion of Islam.
All should know that the bonds of brotherhood between the Iranian nation and other Muslim nations are real and genuine bonds. It is true that there are differences of opinion between the Shia and the Sunni. There are differences of opinion and religious discrepancies even among Sunni Muslims and among Shia Muslims themselves. However, despite their differences of opinion, Muslims belonging to various branches of Islam are expected to close ranks and join hands under the banners of "There is no God but Allah" and "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" and stand up to the enemies of Islam and of the Muslim ummah.
I pray to Almighty Allah to associate our late magnanimous Imam with divine prophets and make us grateful for the precious spiritual heritage that he bequeathed us and for his unique personality.
I also pray to the Almighty to confer victory and success and greater honor and dignity on the Iranian nation and make the great Muslim ummah more dignified with all His blessings and favor and more united as time goes by.
I hope that all our Muslim brethren throughout the world who are devoted to the Islamic Republic system and to our late beloved Imam will benefit from the divine grace and favor. I also implore Almighty Allah to make His Holiness Imam of the Age - may our souls be sacrificed for his sake - pleased and happy with us.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings