The
following is the full text of the speech delivered on May 16, 2015 by
Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a
meeting with government officials and the ambassadors of Islamic
countries in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The meeting was held on the
occasion of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) be'that.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
God's greetings be upon Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his immaculate household (a.s.)
I would like to congratulate all you dear participants and guests, all the people of Iran, all Muslims throughout the world and all those people whose hearts beat for justice, human values and freedom on the occasion of this great, historical and unique Eid. Be'that is an Eid for everyone, not just for Muslims. The purpose of celebrating and commemorating be'that is, in fact, to review its meaning and to learn lessons from it. We are always in need of be'that's lessons. Be'that was not merely a historical event for a specific era. Rather, it is for all eras in history.
Today, what I have selected from the great and numerous lessons of be'that and what I want to say - in brief - about this matter is that be'that emerged for confronting jahiliyya. In Islamic literature, jahiliyya is the era before the emergence of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) prophethood. It should not be thought that jahiliyya was particular to the Arabian Peninsula and those Arab peoples living in Makkah, Hijaz and other Arab areas. This was not the case. Jahiliyya was common everywhere. At that time, Iran was drowned in jahiliyya as well. The same was true of Rome. Islam and the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) be'that emerged to confront that jahiliyya. Jahiliyya does not only mean lack of knowledge. In Islamic terminology and literature, the meaning of jahiliyya is beyond this. Part of jahiliyya is lack of knowledge, but jahiliyya in its broad sense means the domination of human lust and rage over the environment of life. This is the meaning of jahiliyya. Jahiliyya means that human societies lose virtue and are subdued by evil mainly under the influence of their rulers' lust and rage. This is the meaning of jahiliyya.
Ignorance in the lives of the people of those days was so vast in scope. On the one hand, people were involved in lust, sexual desire and other such temptations in an unbridled way - you can take a look at the Arabian Peninsula of those days, but other environments were the same and anyone who had the opportunity indulged in lust in an unbridled way - and on the other hand, these followers of lust exploited all imaginable boundaries of cruelty, destruction and blood-shedding. They used to kill their own children: "Lost are those who slay their children from folly and without knowledge" [The Holy Quran, 6: 140]. This is done out of folly and this folly is the same as jahiliyya. Their cruelty reached as far as killing their own children, let alone others' innocent children and women. This is jahiliyya.
On the one hand, it was out of lust and on the other hand, it was out of rage. At that time, life was a prisoner of these two unbridled and uncontrolled feelings. Islam emerged to change that condition. Of course, the same thing could be witnessed in the behavior of Sassanid courtiers in Iran and courtiers in the Roman Empire. The same thing could be witnessed in all those places where empires, courtiers and cruel and taghuti monarchies existed. Islam rose against all these ugly realities: "That it may be an admonition to all peoples" [The Holy Quran, 25: 1]. The Holy Quran addressed its warning to all the people in the world. This is Islam's message.
Jahiliyya exists in today's world as well. We should open our eyes to indentify jahiliyya. Today, the same phenomenon exists: incalculable, unbridled and unreasonable lust. Today, the logic of the western world for indulging in lust is based on one's interest and desire. When we ask, "Why do you engage in homosexuality?" they answer, "Well, this is a human desire". This is their logic. When it comes to cruelty as well, the same people - who observe no red lines in lustfulness and who do not show any resistance against different kinds of human lust - behave in the same way: they kill innocent people and they suppress nations without any reason. This is the kind of jahiliyya that exists today. It is a modern jahiliyya.
The difference between this jahiliyya and the jahiliyya during the early Islamic Era - as the Holy Quran says, "the first jahiliyya" - is that in the present time, jahiliyya is equipped with the weapon of knowledge. Knowledge - which should be a means for people's happiness - has become an instrument for bringing darkness and disaster to human beings and human societies. Those people who are bullying the world in the present time are doing so by relying on their products of knowledge. The weapon that is available to them has been built by knowledge. It is a product of knowledge. Their great information, security and propaganda tools are all products of knowledge. And all these products are at the service of lust and rage. This is the condition of today's world. The Islamic community faces such a reality and the world of Islam should feel and understand this.
Today, jahiliyya has been reproduced and it enjoys a great capability. It is hundreds - it should be said, thousands - of times more dangerous than jahiliyya during the early Islamic era. Of course, Islam has thankfully become equipped as well. Today, the great Islamic force has spread everywhere by using different tools. The hope to achieve success and to overcome the plot of the enemies is a great hope, not a frail one. Primarily, what is necessary to achieve this is foresight and secondly, it is determination and willpower. These are what we Muslim nations need.
Today, the world of Islam really and truly has many problems. Take a look at the condition of Islamic countries in our region ranging from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria to Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Libya. The Islamic countries in West Asia and North Africa have many problems in the present time. They have security and fratricidal problems. They have the problem of being dominated by those groups which know nothing about God. Behind all these things, there is the problem of arrogant plots hatched by great powers. These powers are headed by America and they enter the arena in the name of safeguarding their interests. They do whatever they want out of lust and rage. They kill innocent people and they support criminal groups.
Their propaganda really enjoys a vast scope and they cover up all these crimes. Churchill, this well-known politician in England's former generation - we Iranians are very familiar with the name "Churchill" - has said something which is astonishingly ironic. He says, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies. Notice that this is their logic. They tell lies, use false propaganda and say things which are the opposite of truth. This is what we can see in westerners' policies.
Today, the Americans claim that they want to fight against terrorism. This is while they themselves have created the most dangerous terrorist groups which are very large in number. Who created DAESH? They themselves acknowledge that they have played the main role in creating DAESH. Who pitted other small and large groups like DAESH against Iraq, Syria and other areas? Where do the bullets, weapons and dollars that exist in the pockets of these criminal assassins come from? Where does such money come from? Who are the people that support these numerous and dangerous terrorist groups at America's command? Is there any doubt that the hand of arrogance has played the largest part in creating terrorism and in strengthening, helping and supporting terrorists in the region?
When we take a look at all regional areas, we see the evil fingerprints of the enemies in producing the event of terrorism. Who assists the fake Zionist regime that has exerted massive pressure on the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank? Who supports them? Who clears the road for them? Who stands behind them? It is western powers - headed by America - that are doing so. This is while they say in their slogans that they are opposed to terrorism and DAESH. They are lying. They say things which are not true. This is jahiliyya. This is the kind of jahiliyya that exists in today's world.
We should be awake. You dear brothers, dear people of Iran, Muslims in the great Islamic Ummah and officials in different countries, should know that we can stand up against this jahiliyya. Today, the vicious policy of arrogance in our region is to wage indirect wars with the purpose of safeguarding their interests and to provoke regional countries or certain groups inside countries into killing one another so that they can fill the pockets of weapons factories and repair their economic policies which are on the verge of bankruptcy. This is their goal. Therefore, we should be awake.
They speak about the Persian Gulf region. Ensuring the security of the Persian Gulf region is to the advantage of all countries surrounding it. We countries surrounding the Persian Gulf have many common interests. We are neighbors. Ensuring the security of this area is to the advantage of all of us. If the Persian Gulf is safe, all of us will benefit from this security and if it is insecure, it will be insecure for all. An insecure Persian Gulf would be insecure for all. There are some people who are the owners of the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf belongs to them and it is their home. What business does America have in the region which gives it the right it to express its opinion about the issues of the Persian Gulf and to gather allies. They are not after security, rather they are after their own interests. If they deem it necessary to create an insecure environment for an area, they do it or they support those who do so.
Well, Yemen has become insecure. It has been turned into an arena for killing children and women. Is this not insecurity? Who is backing up this insecurity? It is America. Unfortunately, America's agents are some regional countries which call themselves "Muslims", but they have been deceived. The main supporter and architect is America. It is the Americans who promote terrorism.
This is while they say that Iran is supporting terrorism. We have fought against terrorism. We have slapped terrorism across the face! Terrorism rose inside our country with our enemies' money and with America's plot, but the people of Iran gave terrorism inside the country a serious blow to the head! From now on too, they will act in the same way.
We have cooperated with those people who fought against terrorism in our country and in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. We helped them and we will continue to do that. We are opposed to terrorism. The most dangerous and vicious terrorists in the region are the Zionists. We are faced with and opposed to the Zionists. They say to us that Iran supports terrorism. It is you who support terrorism! It is America that supports the terrorist Zionist regime. It is America that created DAESH. You supported those terrorists in Syria who kill people, burn individuals alive, tear open a dead man's chest and pull out and sink their teeth into hearts.
It was you who supported such terrorists. It was you who encouraged them. Your drones destroyed the people's houses in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They turned people's wedding ceremonies into funerals - this was done in Iraq. It is you who are doing such things. Terrorism belongs to you. It is you who are terrorists. This is while you say that Iran supports terrorism. Terrorism is your job. We are opposed to terrorism and we fight against every terrorist.
We will support every innocent and oppressed person. Today, the people of Yemen have been oppressed. There is no oppression which is more severe than killing Muslims in a haraam month - the month is Rajab is a haraam month. Even the pagans in Makah used to stop wars when the month of Rajab arrived.
Today, those people who make Yemeni families mourn the loss of their dear ones in the month of Rajab - which is a haraam month - are uglier and worse than the pagans in Makah of those days. Those people who launch air attacks on an area one hundred, two hundred times and who do so with stupid reasons, wrong arguments and false claims are worse than the pagans at that time. These people are an oppressed people. The people of Yemen are an oppressed people. The people of Bahrain are an oppressed people. The people of Palestine are subject to severe oppression. It is many years now that the people of Palestine are under pressure. We support the oppressed as much as we can. We support them within the scope of our capabilities because it is our responsibility to do so.
Islam has said to us, "Be hostile towards the oppressor and supportive towards the oppressed" [speaking in Arabic]. This is the Commander of the Faithful's advice. We do not say, "Help your brothers no matter if they are the oppressor or the oppressed" [speaking in Arabic]. This was a slogan during the time of jahiliyya. They used to say, "You should defend and support your brother, whether he is the oppressor or the oppressed". This is not what the Holy Quran says. Islamic teachings forbid this. No matter who the oppressor is, we should confront and prevent them and we should support the oppressed no matter who they are.
Regional countries should be vigilant. The policy of the enemies of the region and the Islamic Ummah is to frighten countries of one another. Their policy is to create an imaginary enemy and to sideline the main enemy who is arrogance, transgressing companies and their agents, and Zionism. They want to create an imaginary enemy. They want to pit Iran against Arabs, such and such a tribe against another tribe, and Shia against Sunni. These are the policies of the enemies and therefore, they should be confronted. Confronting such policies is confronting jahiliyya. Today's modern jahiliyya is a violent, merciless and dark-hearted jahiliyya which is equipped with all sorts of weapons. We should confront this jahiliyya in a vigilant way. The people of Iran have done this and they will continue to do so in the future.
Fortunately, regional peoples have awakened. They have temporarily suppressed Islamic Awakening, but awakening is not suppressible. Insight is not suppressible. The people of Iran are awake. Many regional peoples are vigilant and awake. Thankfully, the Islamic Ummah is awakening as well. Of course, the enemies may achieve some domination: "Evil prances around" [speaking in Arabic]. These are the responsibilities that we have today towards commemorating the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) be'that. We should pay attention that we should not forget about the Islamic Ummah's mission and that we should not ignore its power. Fortunately, the power of the Islamic Ummah is a great power. The clear reason for this is that it is many years now that they have been trying to suppress the force of awakening and resistance in the region with all their power, but they have failed to do so. It is 35 years now that they have been fighting against the Islamic Republic which was the pivot of this awakening, but they have thankfully been defeated. From now on too, they will continue to be defeated.
Dear God, shower Your greetings and mercy on all the martyrs and mujahids of this path. Dear God, associate our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) who taught these lessons and opened this path to us. Associate our dear martyrs with the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.).
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings