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 pure, immaculate and infallible household
I would like to welcome all the honorable participants particularly the dear guests who have come from various Islamic countries and who have participated in this great Quranic program. In particular, I would like to mention university professors, judges and Quran researchers. Also, I would like to thank the officials who organized this glorious ceremony and who managed it in the best way possible.
First of all, you should know that what you have done is a great deed. Today, throughout the world of Islam, every task that is carried out for the sake of the Quran and in the direction of understanding and promoting it is one of the greatest deeds that one can imagine. What you have done is a good deed. You should purify your intentions for God and you should purge them of selfish desires and various other motivations so that your actions will be accepted by God and so that you will be rewarded by Allah the Exalted.
And this Quranic movement should continue in our country. We are away from the Quran. We are unfamiliar with the Quran and with Quranic concepts. We should do something in this regard. We should work so hard that Quranic concepts will turn into popular concepts and public discourses among Muslim nations and countries. By Allah's favor, I will speak about this in another opportunity.
What I want to say here is that we have certain concepts in the Quran which really build a powerful and glorious life for the Islamic Ummah. They are really a source of liberation from difficulties for the Islamic Ummah. We have such concepts in the Quran. In order to implement these concepts, we should primarily instill them into Muslims' minds in Islamic societies. We should act in a way that these concepts become transparent for the Islamic community so much so that nothing can stop them from moving forward. We have serious problems at this stage.
We should do something to turn these concepts into well-established norms and common thoughts among all the masses of the people in the Islamic Ummah. This is a task that should be carried out in the area of the Quran. All these meetings, gatherings, recitations and efforts to memorize the Quran – all of which are necessary and good – are an introduction to that public understanding.
I would like to mention one of these concepts as an example. God says, "Whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks" [The Holy Quran, 2: 256]. This is a concept. This is a principle. Rejecting evil and believing in God is a principle. We have divided the whole world into two zones: one is the area where evil exerts its influence which should be rejected by us and another zone is the area where God exerts His influence. We should believe in this zone. This is faith-based identity versus evil-based identity.
Of course, this does not mean that we should constantly fight against everyone who believes in evil-based identity. It does not mean that we should kill them, that we should disconnect ourselves from them and we should stop exchanging knowledge and information with them, rather it means that our faith-based identity should be independent and have clear boundaries so that we can protect ourselves, achieve perfection and move forward in the face of evil-based identity.
What is the main problem of the Islamic Ummah today? The main problem is the domination of western culture over the Islamic Ummah. The main problem is the domination of the western economy and western politics over the Islamic Ummah. These are the main problems. Today, there is no sign of "Islamic identity" in many Islamic countries. Of course, the people in such countries are Muslims. They say daily prayers, they fast and they probably pay zakat, but society as a whole is lacking in Islamic identity. In other words, there is not a personality or a reality that confronts the reality of evil and kufr.
That is why westerners interfere. They interfere in their culture, in their beliefs, in their economy and in their social relationships and they control their politics. The result is that because of lack of a single identity inside Islamic societies, there is fighting, war, hatred and lack of understanding. This is what happens. Today, the world of evil is after destroying and annihilating this identity. They want to destroy everything that has remained from this identity in every part of the world.
This is an Islamic principle: "Whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things." This is a truth. If we understand this truth correctly, if we are committed to it, if we pursue it and if we turn it into a public reality in the Islamic community and the Islamic Ummah, notice what a great transformation will take place! Notice what a great transformation this single truth – and there are hundreds of such truths in the Quran – will bring about in the world. If we understand, believe in and promote this very issue and concept, notice what will happen!
The Quran should be understood. We are very distant from the Quran. The enemy is taking advantage of our distance from the Quran. The enemy is injecting in us lack of faith, decadence and dependence on himself on a daily basis. You should look at Islamic governments and Islamic countries and see in what condition they are in the face of the US, Zionism, the enemy and looters! This results from drifting away from the Quran. If we get close to the Quran, all these voids will be filled and all these rifts will be closed. If this happens, the Islamic identity will show itself in the face of the evil-based identity.
When we say that if we act on the Quran, life will improve, this is what it means. Quranic concepts exist, but they should be turned into public discourses among people. They should be repeated, worked on and researched into until they become well-established beliefs in the Islamic community. Poets, literary personalities and artists should keep writing and doing artistic work on them until they become well-established beliefs in the Islamic community. This is not impossible. This is not improbable. They should not think that if we want to carry out such tasks, it will take a hundred years. This is not the case. If those who love Islam and religion show determination, these tasks will be accomplished very soon. We should pursue the Quran like this.
Thankfully, in the Islamic Republic our achievements in getting close to the Quran have not been few in number. We used to be very distant from the Quran. During the time of the taghuti rule, the Quran was completely isolated in the country. There was no trace of the Quran in our schools – in primary schools and in schools for adults: high schools and universities. There was no trace of the Quran in our society. There were a number of Quranic meetings, but they were rare. We had seen examples of such meetings up close in Tehran, Mashhad and other cities and we had heard about similar meetings in other cities. A group of people would gather together, recite the Quran and that was it. Memorizing the Quran, reciting it in a continuous manner and promoting Quranic teachings were very rare.
However, the Revolution helped us get close to the Quran. It familiarized us with the Quran. Today, we are proud that we are interested in and fervent with the Quran. We are proud that our youth are interested in the Quran. Today, if it is announced that there is going to be a Quranic meeting in every city of our country, youth will rush towards it in large numbers. You witness Quranic meetings in all cities and in various gatherings. They pour into these meetings and they listen to the Quran. These are things that have taken place thanks to the Revolution and Islam.
Those who are interested in the Quran and in charge of Quranic affairs should not abandon this field. You should pursue this task seriously. You should not say that because you have reached such and such points, it is over now. This is not the case. Working on the Holy Quran is infinite. We should endeavor and work very hard. Everyone should endeavor and work in order to establish a close relationship with the Quran. All our family members, our youth and our people should get close to the Quran. Memorizing the Quran is a source of getting close to it. Repeating such meetings is a source of getting close to the Quran. Getting close to the Quran has many advantages and benefits because it will familiarize us with those [above-mentioned] concepts, God willing.
I hope that Allah the Exalted rewards you. I hope that He bestows His blessings and His mercy on those who have taken a lot of trouble on this path in the course of many years. Some of them have passed away. I hope that God will raise their position and I hope that He preserves, for our society, those who are still alive.
I hope that God associates our magnanimous Imam – who opened this path – with his pure ancestors and with the followers of the Quran on Judgement Day. I hope that He makes us be among the followers of the Quran, God willing.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings
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