In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad, and his pure Progeny, particularly the Remnant of God on earth.
Welcome, my dear brothers and sisters! Your presence here, in our home, has rekindled the memory of the great jihad of the people of Mazandaran. Truly, one of the regions in the country that stands out in terms of self-sacrifice and wide-ranging contributions to the Revolution is undoubtedly the people of Mazandaran. Perhaps there is not a single city or village across Mazandaran from its east to its west that does not have a martyr or a disabled veteran [of the Imposed War].
A sweet, interesting point about the sacrifices of the martyrs of Mazandaran Province is that these martyrs are scattered throughout all the important periods of the battle against counter-revolutionaries. They are not limited to the Imposed War, also known as the Sacred Defense, or the Defense of the Shrines. When you look back to the beginning of the Revolution, the first people who went to fight the counter-revolutionaries in the eastern part of Mazandaran Province were young people from the very cities of Mazandaran. Others joined them later.
Furthermore, regarding the case of the Jungle epic that took place throughout Mazandaran, particularly in Amol, Imam Khomeini (may God be pleased with him) stood up and spoke about this matter (Sahifeh-ye Imam, 16: 2). Later, during the Imposed War, the Sacred Defense, the expression "Special Division" that he used is noteworthy. Why were they "special?" We had so many divisions. Why "Special Division?" This "special" indicates that whatever situation may arise for a military unit in a war, this division is prepared to face that situation.
At that time, when I went to the military barracks that Commander Morteza Ghorbani had established, which looked like it had occupied half of Mazandaran, he had transformed an entire desert into a military base! No matter how far we drove, it never ended. It was a vast place. This compound had everything: personnel, experience, documents, people, and intelligence. After the Sacred Defense, the people of Mazandaran participated in all areas. And if sacrifices and dedication were needed, they would do it. The martyrs of Mazandaran exemplified this spirit. This carried on into the Defense of the Shrines, the Khan Tuman event, and such. So, a notable aspect of this movement in Mazandaran is the diversity in its martyrs, which stands out as a defining characteristic in their contributions in this province.
Another notable feature is the presence of individuals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Army, the Law Enforcement Force, and other organizations from among the revered martyrs, commanders, and distinguished figures. In the army, there were figures such as Niyaki (ra), Shiroudi, and others. In the IRGC, there were prominent individuals like the ones whose names were mentioned and others. In the Basij, ordinary, common citizens could be seen. For example, there were children who were 11 or 12-year-olds and similar individuals. We see all kinds of people amidst the various martyrs of this province. This is very important. The memory of these martyrs must be honored.
I would like to address two topics. One is about the martyrs themselves, and the other is about your plans for commemorating the martyrs. In my opinion, the existence of the martyrs themselves is an infinite treasure. Future successive generations will all benefit if they know about the biographies of martyrs such as Martyr Keshvari, Shiroudi, or the other great martyrs who came from there. This isn’t specific to just one period. After Shiroudi’s martyrdom, I visited Shiroud. It is a small village with a modest population.
A young man like this comes from a village and performs a heroic operation. He gets promoted, but then he writes a letter to his commander asking him to take away this promotion from him. He states, “This is not why I came to the battlefield. I came because of Imam Khomeini’s words and a sense of duty. I came for the sake of Islam.” These things are easy to say. Which one of us — including a cleric like me, as well as others — can so easily be unconcerned about our name, title, and status?
He was a young man. Shiroudi was a young man from one of the villages in Mazandaran. He had attained such a high level of knowledge, certainty, and sincerity that he made such sacrifices and spoke in the manner that he did. For a soldier in the army, even a six-month promotion is significant. [They say,] “Because of what you did, you get a six-month promotion!” This is important. Then, someone [Shiroudi] is promoted by two or three ranks because of an important action of his — the promotion the martyr was given was two or three ranks — and he responded, "I don't want it!" This is very significant.
Today, you and I are benefiting from these things. Tomorrow, our grandchildren will benefit from these. And if the young people in the next generation are informed about these, they will benefit from them as well. This treasure is eternal. Similarly, our other great martyrs are overall an eternal treasure whether they are from Mazandaran or elsewhere. Their dispositions and characteristics need to be examined and the important points about them should be found. So it’s time to discuss the second topic, which addresses you.
You need to focus on the points that can be drawn from the lives of martyrs. This is important. Of course, the actions that were mentioned are good and necessary. [For example, they spoke of] making a carpet with a martyr’s picture on it and giving it to their family or naming a street after a martyr. But you don't have 14,500 streets. So, what will you do?
Each one of these martyrs has a story. People usually say, “It’s a small world.” This is wrong. The world is actually very big because there are eight billion people living in it, and each person has a world of their own. They have their own unique story, thoughts, and goals; everyone does. If you sit next to someone and they tell you about their life story and dreams, it’s an entire world on its own. Every life has unique features. For those who have become martyrs and achieved the status of martyrdom through sacrifice, this information is worthy of being shared. It should be extracted and presented so that it can be preserved. Of course, books — good books — are one way to do this.
The recommendation I want to make is this that when you are giving your statistics, evaluating your accomplishments, or presenting your work to people like me, focus less on the number of books printed and more on the number of people who have read them. How many people have opened the books and studied them? How many people have taken notes from the book? There are ways to measure this, and you have to find the way.
When you publish a book about the life of a particular martyr, see how you can get this to the hands of the largest possible number of readers, especially young people and teenagers. Then, ask their opinion regarding the book. Connect with your audience and convey the key aspects of the martyr's life that you believe are most significant to their minds. These are the necessary things that you need to do.
Of course, we can do this with books, films, TV serials, paintings, sculptures, and fictionalizing. You must do these things. These must be carried out. These must be done.
You can hold various gatherings in memory of the martyrs. For instance, choose a location, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a large building. It could be a mosque or a shrine for example, and praise God, there are many of them in your province. Choose a certain mosque or shrine and hold weekly gatherings there in memory of a certain martyr. Those who attend these gatherings will hear, speak, or see something about that particular martyr.
You can repeat this gathering in the same place the following week in honor of a different martyr. This cycle won’t end. It will continue indefinitely. You may choose one location for this, or if necessary, ten different locations. Mazandaran is a long province. In other words, its length is greater than its width. Hold these gatherings in the eastern, middle, or western parts of Mazandaran, or even in Golestan. These words apply to Golestan Province as well. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of your work is to highlight the important qualities of the martyrs. You must do this. Otherwise, their photographs will remain on shelves and gradually no one will notice or remember them.
You must keep the memory of the martyrs alive and fresh. Imam [Khomeini] (may God be pleased with him) was a man whose profound insight was truly amazing. I know of no other person who could look at all issues with that kind of insight. He said, “It is Muharram and Safar that have kept Islam alive. It is Ashura that has kept [Islam] alive” (Sahifeh-ye Imam, 15: 330). Why? Because Ashura will never die or be destroyed. That is what martyrdom is, especially that martyr [Imam Hussain (pbuh)] and those martyrs. They are alive. And as long as they’re alive, their presence permeates. That is how something that is alive is. It moves; it does things; it permeates. And it has preserved and continues to preserve Islam, the Shia belief, and the Wilayah [Guardianship] of Imam Ali (pbuh).
Praise God, Mazandaran is well prepared to carry out these tasks. That is, the people of Mazandaran are truly ready to travel the right path. During the reign of taghut [Pahlavi], the efforts to secularize the north of the country — whether Mazandaran or Gilan — were more than in most other parts of the country. And yet, you can see what these very people, whether they’re in Gilan or Mazandaran, have done for Islam since the Revolution. This shows how prepared they are.
Islam didn’t enter Mazandaran by way of war and swords. When Iran was conquered and the blessing of Islam was brought to Iran during the time of the caliphs, it was brought using military armies. [However,] these armies weren’t able to cross the mountains, so Mazandaran was left behind the mountains. They weren’t able to get to Mazandaran. Later, the descendants of the Imams crossed those mountains on foot while they were in concealment, hungry, unclothed, and fleeing [from being taken captive], and they reached Mazandaran. They were able to convert the people of Mazandaran to Islam. Therefore, the Muslim population in Mazandaran were Shia from the beginning.
This is because those who went there and invited the people to Islam were the children of the Imams (pbut), and what hardships they endured! If you look at history, you will see how difficult it was for them to cross those mountains. A great, valuable, righteous descendant of the Imams would share a single prayer garment with his wife. They would take turns wearing it to pray. This is how they were able to climb and cross those mountains with their bare hands and feet to reach Mazandaran. This is how Islam was brought to Mazandaran. That’s why when the Alawi government was being established in Yemen, they came to Mazandaran to recruit forces. The Yemeni leaders who ruled there for a thousand years, the beginning [of their government] was formed by people from Mazandaran. The young men of Mazandaran went to Yemen from here and fought in order to strengthen Islam and the Shia school of thought there.
May God bless you with the ability to successfully accomplish this great task, God willing. Please convey my regards to the dear people of Mazandaran in your speeches.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
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