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, upon his pure Progeny, upon his chosen companions, and upon those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment.
I am very pleased and grateful to God for granting us the opportunity to once again have this pleasant, desirable, cherished Quranic gathering in this Hussainiyah. I would like to thank Mr. Khamoushi and the Organization of Endowments and Charitable Affairs for organizing this round of competitions and, praise God, for the continuous promotion of the Holy Quran in various forms throughout our country. My congratulations on the birth anniversary of Hazrat Aba Abdallah al-Hussain (pbuh). I am hopeful that Almighty God will place us amongst the followers of this magnanimous man and this noble family.
Regarding the Holy Quran, many religious scholars and great figures have spoken of thousands of profound, pleasant points, and thousands upon thousands of unsaid points still remain. No matter how much we speak about the Quran, we will never reach the pinnacle of the virtues of the Quran or understand the value of this sacred, heavenly book. I will only speak about one point today, and I expect that our dear people and the audience listening to this speech will pay attention to and reflect on this matter.
The key point to note is that whenever we read the Quran, we should keep in mind that it is the miracle of the Prophet (pbuh). The Quran is a miracle. That is, Almighty God used the Quran to affirm the prophethood of the Holy Prophet of Islam, which is a very significant matter. It’s an everlasting miracle. The difference between this miracle and the miracles of other prophets is that those miracles were specific to the time of those particular prophets. Seeing those divine miracles was specifically for the people of their time. [For example], the camel at the time of Saleh was seen only by the people of his time, and Moses' staff was only seen by those who lived during his era. Other people only heard about these miracles. However, the miracle of the Prophet (pbuh) is being seen by people in front of their eyes throughout history and will continue to be seen for thousands of years to come. People see this miracle [the Quran] with their own eyes. This continuity of this Quranic and prophetic miracle is an immense blessing for all of humanity and the universe.
Everything about the Quran is a miracle. The words of the Quran are a miracle, the structure of the Quran is a miracle, the concepts in the Quran are a miracle, the information in the Quran about the past and the future is a miracle, the Quran’s descriptions of the laws of the universe are a miracle, and the Quran informing us about the inner aspects of human beings is a miracle. Everything about the Quran is a miracle. We must benefit from and make use of this great miracle. If we benefit from the Quran, human life will become organized and all problems will be solved. The lessons in the Quran for humanity are practical lessons, and they are things we can experience. This is apart from the higher knowledge that is only accessible to special personages, God’s most beloved friends, and those close to God. What I am referring to are the apparent features of the Quran and the very words that all of us understand, “Certainly, We have made the Quran simple to understand for the sake of admonishment. So is there anyone who will be admonished?” (Quran 54:17). The Quran can be used by all human beings. We should look at the Quran from this perspective.
Let me share an example to illustrate how the Quran clarifies matters. The Quran says, for example, “And whoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him” (65:3). If you put your faith in Almighty God, if you rely on Him and put your trust in Him, God will be enough for you. We don’t need any other means or factors to be able to achieve our goals. This is an important, general lesson, and we must contemplate on this [truth]. What does this mean? If we put our trust in God, we won’t need anything else. Under what circumstances and conditions will this definite, undeniable truth be realized? We must ask this from the Quran itself. The Quran itself clarifies this meaning for us. Trusting in God and the resulting effects of that trust have a spiritual prerequisite and a real condition that we must carry out. If these two conditions are met, then “whoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him.” You won’t need anything else. One of the two conditions is a spiritual prerequisite. What is the spiritual prerequisite? It involves trusting in the truthfulness of God's promise, “And who is truer in speech than Allah?” (4:122). You must have faith in this. You need to believe that God's promise is true and definite. This is part of the spiritual foundation needed for trusting in God.
Without this faith, we cannot trust in God. That’s why you see that Almighty God condemns those who harbor ill thoughts about Him, “And those who entertain a bad opinion of Allah, for them shall be an adverse turn of fortune. Allah is wrathful with them, and He has cursed them and prepared hell for them, and it is an evil destination” (Quran 48:6).
In other words, we must not doubt about God's promises. We must have faith that when He says, “Allah will surely help those who help Him” (Quran 22:40), that this is true. We must have this trust.
This is a spiritual prerequisite. Let me add this sentence that I have noted here. With regard to that spiritual prerequisite, we should be certain that by God's will, the impossible becomes possible. Something that seems impossible becomes possible. We need to wholeheartedly believe in this. Many things in our world and our lives are considered to be impossible. For instance, the resurrection of the dead is considered to be impossible.
We should have faith that by God's will, if Almighty God determines something and wills it, what seems impossible becomes possible and happens. Examples of this can be seen in the Quran itself. In one place, it’s relating the words of Jesus, and in another place it’s from God Himself, “I will create for you the form of a bird out of clay, then I will breathe into it, and it will become a bird by Allah’s leave” (3:49). I will shape a bird or an animal from clay, I will breathe into it, and it will become a pigeon. Isn’t this something that’s considered to be impossible? But by God's will, the impossible becomes possible. “I heal the blind and the leper, and I revive the dead by Allah’s leave” (3:49). Akmah [the blind] is referring to a person who is born blind. [Jesus says,] “I make those who were born blind able to see, and I bring the dead to life by the will of God.” That’s how it is. One should believe that by God's will, everything that’s impossible in the world and things that seem impossible to achieve can indeed happen.
[Or consider this verse,] “How many a small party has overcome a larger party by Allah’s will!” (2:249). A small number of people can defeat a large number by the will of God. “Thus, they routed them by Allah’s will” (2:251). A small group of people who were with Talut were able to overcome a powerful enemy by God's will. This shows us that by God's will, Gaza prevails over the Zionist regime and the US regime! That’s how it is. Didn’t it seem impossible? If they had told you that Gaza, a tiny strip of land, would face a great power like the military power of the US, they would fight it, and that Gaza would prevail over it, would you have believed it?! You wouldn't have believed it. It would have seemed impossible. But by God's will, this becomes possible. [So,] this mindset [spiritual prerequisite] is essential. We must understand that anything that seems impossible in the world can be realized by God's will, by the divine will.
And the impossible may be realized. That was the spiritual prerequisite. As for the prerequisite that we must perform — this prerequisite that we must do in order for the event to happen — Almighty God assigns a part of the work to human beings themselves. It isn’t enough to simply sit at home and say, “How many a small party has overcome a larger party by Allah’s will!” (Quran 2:249). No, a part of the work is our responsibility. This is similar to the case of Jesus, where a part of the work rested with him. That is, the creation of the bird from clay had to be performed by Jesus. If he hadn’t done it, the bird wouldn’t have come into existence. This part was up to him to carry out.
If Prophet Moses (pbuh) hadn’t thrown his staff on the ground, that event wouldn’t have taken place, “‘Moses, what is that in your right hand?’ He said, ‘It is my staff. I lean on it, and with it I beat down leaves for my sheep; and I have other uses for it.’ He [God] said, ‘Moses, throw it down.’ So, he threw it down, and behold, it was a snake moving swiftly” (Quran 20:17-20). [The command] “throw it down” was a necessary condition. [God said:] You must throw down your staff. When you throw it down, the result will be achieved, the miracle will occur, the impossible — the transformation of wood into a serpent — will be realized. Thus, this is a practical prerequisite. We must accept a part of the responsibility for what needs to be done, “If there are twenty patient men among you, they shall overcome two hundred” (8:65). This is what the Quran says regarding an obligation that the Muslims had in the early days of Islam, [meaning] even if you are few, you can prevail over many.
We, the Iranian nation; we, the Islamic Ummah; and we, the human community; have problems today, some of which seem insurmountable. But no, this is the solution, “And whoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him” (Quran 65:3). We must put our trust in God, with the following two conditions. First, we must be certain. We must have faith that if we enter the field [of action], Almighty God will help us. Second, we must enter the field, “For once, you have entered it, you will be the victors” (Quran 5:23).
God Almighty told Moses’ companions that they must enter that city, and if they enter, “you will be the victors.” But they didn’t enter [that city], and they didn’t prevail. If you do the part that is in your power, you will surely achieve that result, and Almighty God will fulfill that promise.
Today, we are facing [Global] Arrogance, and not just the Iranian nation. But the difference between the Iranian nation and many other nations is that the Iranian nation has the courage to say that the US is an aggressor, the US is a liar, the US deceives, the US is arrogant, and “Down with the USA.” Others also sense that the US is a liar, that it deceives, that it is a colonialist, that it is an aggressor, and that it doesn’t adhere to any human principles, but they don’t have the courage to express this. They don’t have the courage to stand up to it. Well, they don’t do their part. When they don’t do their part, the [desired] results won’t be attained. They must do their part, they must be patient, and they must strive and put in effort to achieve these results. The Iranian nation has been patient for these 40-some years, and they’ve put in effort. All the arrogant powers of the world have lined up against it and worked against it. But not only has the Iranian nation not been harmed, it has also advanced, made progress, and grown.
Today, Iran is not the same as it was 40 years ago. We have grown in every way. Now, some may say that we haven't progressed in spiritual matters, but look at the example of the Quran. It’s truly enjoyable to listen to these young people recite the Quran. They memorize the Quran and are reciters of the Quran. When I was young in Mashhad, we were devoted to the Quran too. We participated in Quranic meetings. The number of people who could recite the Quran with Tajweed [rules of recitation] in all of Mashhad was truly fewer than ten people. Today, thousands of young people across the country can recite the Quran with good, perfect Tajweed, and there are thousands of people who memorize the Quran. Today, our spirituality and the progress we’ve made with respect to the Quran has improved, praise God. We have also made progress in material aspects. Our youth have undertaken various projects, and this progress will continue. The Iranian nation, God willing, will reach its desired peak thanks to its reliance on Almighty God.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you
Comment