Leader's Sermons during Eid ul-Fitr Prayers

The following is the full text of the sermons delivered by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on October 24, 2006 during Eid ul-Fitr prayers in Tehran.

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, in Whom we believe, 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 and pure household and upon his chosen companions. And greetings be upon the leaders of Muslims, those who guide the oppressed and those who support the faithful. I advise you servants of God to fear God.

I would like to congratulate all the Muslims in the Islamic Ummah, the honorable people of Iran and all you who say prayers on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr. I advise all you dear brothers and sisters to observe divine piety and morality.

The month of Ramadan, which is the month of purity, sincerity and spirituality for religious people, has passed. Throughout this month, the people of Iran showed their preparedness and enthusiasm both in the area of spirituality and in the area of political issues. On the issue of political affairs, the people from all areas of the country unanimously raised their cry on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan. They supported the oppressed people of Palestine with their slogans, presence and loud cries. Thankfully this year, the same attention, enthusiasm, understanding and sense of responsibility was witnessed in many areas of the world of Islam. Without a doubt, the high morale of the Islamic Ummah - because of the victories of Hezbollah - was effective in this mental preparedness and political enthusiasm.

As for spiritual freshness, this year, our dear people in all areas of the country experienced a very pure and delightful month of Ramadan. Quranic and prayer meetings and the meetings in which the people kept a vigil during the Nights of Qadr enjoyed a memorable freshness and enthusiasm. In all areas of the country - including cities and villages - our people, particularly youth, bathed their hearts and souls with the water of repentance during the Nights of Qadr. The reliable news which I have received and eyewitness reports show that our youth - from all different social backgrounds and with different appearances, feelings and orientations - showed their presence in the mosques of Tehran and provincial cities and in all places of worship in the country in order to pray and speak to their God during the Nights of Qadr.

This youthful purity and enlightenment of young hearts and this willingness to get close to God and to speak to Allah the Exalted is a very great blessing which thankfully exists among our youth and which has increased on a daily basis. On the last days of the month of Ramadan, thousands of people participated in itikaf ceremonies in a number of mosques. They spent day and night praying and saying dhikr. The Holy Quran was recited thousands of times. I would like to raise two points about this spiritual cleansing of our youth:

One point is that all the people - particularly our dear youth - should not allow the relationship which they have established with Allah the Exalted to break off. You should preserve this relationship with God. And the means to achieve this purpose is available to everyone. If five-time daily prayers are said with careful attention and by considering the fact that we have stood before God, this will be the best relationship and it will make your hearts more enlightened on a daily basis. Those youth who gathered in mosques, hussainiyahs and holy places during the Nights of Qadr in order to shed tears, pray, recite the Holy Quran and enlighten their hearts with the light of divine kindness should preserve this relationship because they will benefit from it. By Allah's favor, this relationship will be strengthened over time and in future years. This is how human beings can achieve perfection and the goal for which they were created. Success in all the arenas of life depends on this.

The second point is that all kinds of requests - even small ones - can and should be made to God during these prayers, supplications and dhikrs. However, you should not confine your requests to minor needs. There are greater needs and requests which should not be forgotten. The greatest request is divine forgiveness. You should ask God to remove signs of sin and violation from your hearts and souls. You should ask God to smooth the path of repentance for you. Another great request is divine kindness. You should ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His kindness on you. Another great request is correcting the affairs of the Islamic Ummah. You should ask Allah the Exalted to correct the affairs of all Muslims - not only the people of Iran - and all Islamic countries. You should ask Him to guide humanity towards the straight path. These prayers have a good chance of being answered. They are the ones which are answered. They open the path and prepare the ground. They help us to reach great goals.

I ask Allah the Exalted to help you preserve the blessings of this month.

"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].

Second Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon His beloved and noble one, our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household, especially upon the Commander of the Faithful, Siddiqat at-Tahira, Hassan, Hussain - the master of the youth of paradise - Ali ibn al-Hussain, 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. And greetings be upon the Imams of Muslims, supporters of the oppressed, and those who guide the faithful.

Oh God of the Worlds, send abundant greetings - with Your power - on all of them in a way that it satisfies them and in a way that it befits Muhammad and his household. I ask for Allah's forgiveness, I turn repentant to Him and I rely on Him.

In the second sermon, once more, I would like to advise myself and all the brothers and sisters who say prayers to observe divine piety and to preserve morality. I want to address two, three important issues which are among the noteworthy and significant issues of these days.

One issue which all the people of Iran should pay attention to is the elections which are ahead of us. Two important elections are ahead of us: one is the Assembly of Experts elections and another is city and village councils elections.

The significance of the Assembly of Experts elections lies in the fact that the people choose their trusted candidates so that they prepare themselves for the sensitive moment when the country suffers from lack of a Leader. Perhaps no other election in the country enjoys such significance and sensitivity. These people - who are trusted by the people - should sit and choose a leader who is able to carry out Leadership responsibilities. They should do this with complete wisdom and insight and then they should introduce him to the people.

If such a group of people are not present and ready to work during the time when the country needs to choose a Leader because the previous one has passed away or because, God forbid, he is no longer qualified, the management of the country will face such a problem that no one is able to solve. This is the characteristic of Leadership elections.

Primarily, the important responsibility of the Assembly of Experts is to choose the Leader and secondly, their responsibility is to supervise the activities of the current Leader to see if he is still qualified or not. They should see whether he has preserved his knowledge, piety, management, insight, purity and sincerity or not. They should exercise this supervision. This is the important responsibility of the Assembly of Experts. There is no other organization in the country which can carry out this important task and which is legally allowed to fulfill this mission. Therefore, the Assembly of Experts elections are very sensitive.

In the previous term - that is to say eight years ago, when the previous elections were held - foreign media began their propaganda a few months before the elections were held. Their goal was to disappoint the people with these elections so that they do not participate. Their goal was to create a great problem and obstacle so that this well-qualified Assembly would no longer exist. By Allah's favor and with divine assistance and guidance, our people participated in the arena of elections with their strong and enthusiastic presence despite what the enemies wanted. They elected the members of the current Assembly which is at the end of its term. You brothers and sisters should know that today too, this election is very important and participation in it will help the main interests of the nation and the country. The stronger and wiser and the more credible, stable and vigilant this Assembly is, the more secure the future of the country will be.

You should participate in these elections with complete enthusiasm and wisdom. Send to the Assembly of Experts your trusted candidates or those who are introduced to you by trustworthy individuals - they should testify to their competence - so that this Assembly will continue to exist with the same strength and authority which the law has defined for it and so that the future of the country will be guaranteed.

Of course, today too, there are some propaganda efforts in some corners, but they are not as strong as eight years ago. This is because they are disappointed at their chances of influencing the people. Everyone should participate based on their sense of responsibility. Because of legal considerations, the term of the future Assembly will be a little longer. The next term will be about nine-plus years.

The other election is the city and village councils election which signifies the management of daily and civic affairs by the people themselves. This election is the manifestation of democracy and it is very important. It has its own conditions.

These two simultaneous elections will be held with a short interval - less than two months. By Allah's favor, all the people of Iran will participate in them. Officials should do their best to hold these elections in a completely healthy, flawless and peaceful way. Those who are involved in the area of promotion and election campaigns should not make the environment of the country tumultuous by slandering and insulting this and that. Political parties should not confront one another either. Why should the people's minds become agitated and nervous because of the political motives of different individuals, groups and parties? These parties and groups should allow the environment of elections to be healthy. Of course, everyone has the right to defend and support themselves and their candidate. There is nothing wrong with this. Launching normal campaigns without extravagance and extremism is very good, but they should not insult and slander individuals. Such courses of action are among the ugly and inappropriate traditions of western countries. They should allow the people to make their choice in a quiet and peaceful environment and in a vigilant and wise way.

The next point is about the census. This is also addressed to the people of Iran. In a near future - in a few days' time - a population census will be held in the country. According to the law, this census is conducted every 10 years. Everyone should pay attention that the basis of planning for the country is statistics. And statistics are prepared through censuses. The more exact and accurate censuses are, the more exact and accurate plans will be and the higher our chances of success in the area of construction and development will be. Therefore, the people should cooperate in the area of conducting this census.

The last point is related to regional events, issues related to the people of Palestine, and the devious policies of the United States of America in the Middle East region. Everyone in the world has understood that a new page and a new chapter has begun in the history of the Middle East region with the victory of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the clear and catastrophic defeat of Israel in the arena of war - in 33-day war. The policy and the plan which the Americans wanted to implement in the Middle East region failed. Of course, this does not mean that America and Israel have stopped pursuing their vicious goals. This is not the case, but today, they have taken one step back from their previous position. Today, they have lost many of their great privileges.

All nations should be vigilant. Our nation and the Lebanese and Palestinian nations should be vigilant. Arab peoples in the region, the people of Iraq and other Muslim nations should be vigilant as well. They should take care not to make a move in the direction of the new treacherous plots of America and Zionism. Today, what the government of America and the Israeli regime consider to be a success is to the disadvantage of all Islamic countries. It is not the case that some people profit and that some others suffer a loss. This is not the case at all. What gladdens transgressors, looters and greedy individuals in the region saddens and affects all nations in the region. Even if they are not affected by it in the short term, they will definitely be affected in the middle term.

Countries should be careful and they should preserve their unity. Nations should preserve their national unity. The Palestinian brothers from different parties and groups should know that unity is more important than all other factors for victory. They should be careful lest they fight against one another because of the enemy's wish - he wants to create discord between Palestinian groups - and lest they show negligence about the enemy's plot for them. The same is true of Lebanon. The people of Lebanon should preserve their unity with the help of the vigorous slogans of Lebanese Resistance. The people of Iraq too should seriously avoid denominational and tribal discord. Today, this is the solution and cure for the problems of our region. We hope that Allah the Exalted bestows success on all of us. We hope that He bestows success on all Islamic nations so that they can carry out their responsibilities.

"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].

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings