In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
It is hajj time, the spring of spirituality and brilliance of monotheism on world horizons. The hajj ceremony is a transparent spring that can purge hajjis of their sins and negligence and restore the brightness of their God-given nature to their heart and soul. Removing the clothes of ostentation and distinction during the hajj and putting on the identical, white clothes of Ihram symbolize the sincerity of the Islamic Ummah and call Muslims throughout the world to unity and unanimity. On the one hand, the hajj represents the ayah "So your God is One God, therefore to Him should you submit. And give good news to the humble." [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Hajj (22), Ayah 34] On the other hand, it represents the ayah "... the Sacred Mosque, which We have made equally for all men, (for) the dweller therein and the visitor." [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Hajj (22), Ayah 25] Thus, in addition to being the symbol of monotheism, Ka'bah is the symbol of Islamic solidarity, brotherhood, and equality.
Muslims who have come together from different parts of the world - filled with enthusiasm of making tawaf and visiting the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) shrine - should make the best of this opportunity to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood among themselves, which is the remedy for many great maladies of the Islamic Ummah. Today we can see clearly that the hand of the ill-wishers of the world of Islam is fomenting discord among Muslims more than ever before. This is while the Islamic Ummah needs solidarity and unanimity more than any other time.
Today the bloody clutches of the enemies are causing tragedies in different parts of the Islamic territories. Under the vicious domination of the Zionists, Palestinians are suffering from increasing pains and hardships. Masjid al-Aqsa is exposed to a serious threat. After that unprecedented genocide, the oppressed people of Gaza are still living in the most difficult conditions. Suffering under the boots of the occupiers, Afghanistan is faced with a new tragedy every day. Insecurity in Iraq has deprived the Iraqi people of peace and comfort. The killing of our brothers in Yemen has inflicted a new pain on the Islamic Ummah.
Muslims should figure out where and how the recent fitnas, wars, explosions, assassinations, and indiscriminate killings in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are being planned. Why did the regional nations not experience so many hardships and tragic events before the western armies- led by America- domineeringly entered this region as if they had proprietary rights to it? On the one hand, the occupiers label as terrorist the resistance movements of the people of Palestine, Lebanon, and other countries of the world. On the other hand, they mastermind and lead brutal sectarian and ethnic terrorism among the nations of this region.
The Middle East and North Africa were colonized, occupied, and humiliated for more than a century by western governments, including the British and French governments, and subsequently by the American government. Their natural resources were plundered and their spirit of freedom-seeking was suppressed. Their people were the hostages of the foreign aggressors' greed. And when the Islamic Awakening and national resistance movements made it impossible for international oppressors to continue their oppression, and the issue of martyrdom and ascension to God reappeared as a unique factor in Islamic jihad, the disgraced aggressors resorted to hypocrisy and replaced their old method with new methods of colonialism.
In order to bring Islam to its knees, the hypocritical fiend of colonialism is currently making use of all its capabilities - anything ranging from military coercion, iron-hand policy, and outright occupation to the evil chain of propaganda and to utilization of thousands of slandering centers; from organizing terrorist groups and brutal murders to preparing the ground for corruption, to distributing and promoting drugs, and to destroying the determination, spirits, and morality of the youth; and from all-out political attacks against the centers of resistance to provoking ethnic conceit and sectarian prejudice as well as enmity among brothers.
If suspicion - which is what enemies desire - is replaced with kindness, trust, and unanimity among Muslim nations and Islamic denominations and ethnicities, a large part of the ill-wishers' plots will be foiled and their evil plot of establishing domination over the Islamic Ummah will be thwarted. The hajj is one of the best opportunities to achieve this lofty goal.
Through cooperation and relying on the common principles discussed in the Quran and Sunnah, Muslims will be able to stand against this hypocritical fiend and defeat it through their willpower and determination. By following the lessons of the great Imam Khomeini, Islamic Iran has become a prime example of this successful resistance. They have been defeated in Iran. Thirty years of machinations, conspiracy, and enmity - anything ranging from staging a coup d'état and causing the eight-year imposed war to imposing sanctions and freezing our assets; from psychological and propaganda warfare and media confrontation to efforts to thwart our scientific growth and acquisition of knowledge- especially nuclear knowledge- to engaging in open provocation and interference in the impressive and significant presidential election - all these turned into scenes of the enemy's defeat, disgrace, and confusion. And the ayah "surely the machinations of the devil is weak" [the Holy Quran, Sura al-Nisa (4), Ayah 76] was once again realized in front of the eyes of the Iranian people.
In any other part of the world, where resistance that was rooted in determination and religious faith deployed the people against the boastful arrogant powers, the ultimate victory was for Muslims and the oppressors were doomed to suffer defeat and disgrace. The prominent victory gained in the 33-day war on Lebanon as well as the proud and victorious jihad of the people of Gaza during the past 3 years are the living proof of this reality.
I strongly recommend that the hajjis who were graced to make this pilgrimage - especially the ulama and orators of Islamic countries who have attended this divine appointment as well as Friday prayer leaders of the holy shrines [of Mecca and Medina] - identify the urgent duty which they shoulder today through appropriate understanding of the issues. With all their power, they should explain the plots of the enemies of Islam to their audience and call the people to friendship and unity. They should seriously avoid whatever causes suspicion among Muslims, and they should inundate their shouts on the arrogant powers and the enemies of the Islamic Ummah, especially America and the Zionists who lead all fitnas. They should demonstrate expressing hatred towards polytheists in words and action.
I solemnly pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow His guidance, grace, assistance, and mercy on all of us.
Wa salaam alaykum wa rahmat Allah
Sayyid Ali Khamenei
Dhul-Hijjah 3, 1430