In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
First of all, I would like to thank the dear brothers - Mr. Jannati and the brothers who work for the coordination council. Thankfully they have stepped into the arena for many years whenever they felt a sense of responsibility to manage these popular movements. Of course, all of us know that hearts are controlled by Allah the Exalted. It is Allah the Exalted who encourages the people to take to the streets in large numbers on different occasions such as the 22nd of Bahman, Quds Day and the 9th of Dey, which was added to the previous occasions two years ago. Everything is in God's hands. He controls hearts. Gathering only a thousand people in one place requires careful management, let alone managing massive rallies on such occasions as the 9th of Dey: the supreme council of public relations has handled this management task very well. I bear testimony to their efforts and I thank the friends who are responsible for these affairs.
There is an essential point regarding the event that took place on the 9th of Dey in the year 1388 and that point is related to the essence and identity of the Revolution. That is to say, the spirit which was revealed on the 9th of Dey was the same spirit which had dominated the essence of our Revolution and that unparalleled massive presence in the year 1357. The spirit had been revealed in different other events as well, but on the 9th of Dey this spirit was revealed more clearly, such that no room was left for denial and doubts by anybody, including the ill-wishers, our friends, our enemies and others. What was that spirit? The spirit of piety that controls the hearts of the people. So we have two elements in this regard. One element is the people: if the people of a country or society make efforts, if they act with insight, if they step into the arena and take action, they can solve all the problems. That is to say, the biggest obstacles can be removed by the presence of the people. The people can remove obstacles that are as big as mountains. This is an obvious truth that has not been understood properly by many analysts in Islamic and non-Islamic countries. We understood this truth properly. And this was the great genius of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.).
Fifteen, twenty years ago, I offered this prescription to an anti-arrogance activist. He is a famous person now and I do not want to mention his name. He went and followed the prescription immediately afterwards. I said that the great genius of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) was that he encouraged the people to step into the arena of action. The people stepped in and they consolidated what they were determined to achieve. When the people enter the arena, all political and non-political obstacles are removed and all colonialists and superpowers that have spread their domination over the nations of the world are forced to retreat. And this is true of the modern world as well. Today in any part of the world, if the people step into the arena of action with particular goals and slogans, if the people step into the arena with firm faith accompanied by righteous deeds, then no obstacle can stand in their way. This is a prescription and it was followed by our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) during the Revolution. Allah the Exalted helped Imam Khomeini (r.a.) and made his language influence the hearts of the people. The people developed faith in that path and goal and they acted according to their faith. Righteous deeds are defined as actions that are in line with one's faith. This is true of everything. As a result, the event that took place in our country was unbelievable and astonishing to all political analysts of the world - both the superpowers and their followers. Therefore, the first element is the presence of the people.
The second element is religious faith of the people. Religious faith is the miraculous element that can deploy the people in the arena and keep them there. It can also make hardships easier for the people to tolerate. No other kind of faith has this characteristic. Religious faith tells you that if you take action and move forward, you will achieve victory. It tells you that even if you are killed, you will still be victorious. It tells you that even if you are thrown into prison, you will still be victorious. This is because you have fulfilled your responsibility. When a person has such beliefs, defeat becomes meaningless to him and he enters the arena of action. This is the same factor that proved effective during the early years after the introduction of Islam. It also proved effective in our Revolution and the 9th of Dey is a testimony to this fact. The 9th of Dey exemplified a characteristic of the Revolution. That is to say, the people were motivated by their religious sense of responsibility and they fulfilled their responsibility afterwards. The righteous deed that they had to do was taking to the streets and showing who the people of Iran are. This popular movement foiled all the plots in spite of all the propaganda campaigns that were focused on presenting the seditionists as the people of Iran, trying to show that the people of Iran had turned their backs on their Revolution and their government. But the people showed them who the people of Iran are. When foreign analysts considered the situation, they announced that in terms of its massive and vibrant nature, the movement was unprecedented since the demise of Imam Khomeini (r.a.) or even the early revolutionary activities. This is the nature of the 9th of Dey.
The movement that took place on the 9th of Dey was a great movement and its achievement was also great. As was rightly pointed out by Mr. Jannati, the fitna of the year 1388 was not limited to what was seen in the streets. The fitna was a deep-rooted malady. It had certain goals. A lot of efforts had been made to lay the ground for it. The fitna was pursing very dangerous goals. It was not possible to resolve the problem with different kinds of political and security measures. There was a need for a massive popular movement and this movement was carried out on the 9th of Dey. The people stepped in and ruined the plans pursued by the sedition and the seditionists. For this reason, the event that took place on the 9th of Dey was an event that will go down in the history of our country. As I said a couple of years ago, the event is not an insignificant event. It was similar to the events of the early revolutionary era. It is necessary to safeguard and commemorate the event.
Of course, you dear gentlemen who are in charge of managing this movement should not let the slogan-like aspects dominate the event. I would like to repeat once again that the coordination council is only in charge of managing the event, otherwise it is the people who do the work and it is God who controls their hearts. It is Allah the Exalted who brings the people into the arena. That is to say, it is religious faith and divine grace that encourage the people to enter the arena. However, it is necessary to manage the event. You are in charge of managing this event and you are doing your duty properly. But take care not to let the slogan-like aspects dominate the event. Of course, slogans are necessary. Slogans are an absolutely necessary element. There is a need to create enthusiasm and excitement through slogans, but it is also necessary to specify the depth of the slogans. It is necessary to specify the things that were mentioned in the meeting: what was the Iranian nation trying to say on that day and what is it trying to say today? What is the nature and orientation of the Iranian nation's movement? We are moving forward in the shade of religion. We are moving forward with the help of Allah the Exalted and the Origin of religion, and our goal is to achieve divine ideals - namely the same things that religion has promised and presented to humanity.
Moreover, you should pay attention to the fact that being involved with Ashura is another characteristic of the event that took place on the 9th of Dey - which brings it even closer to the events of the Revolution. That is to say, the early revolutionary events coincided with the month of Muharram and Imam Khomeini (r.a.) made that great historical comment about Muharram: "The month in which blood gains victory over the sword." This is a significant comment. We have become used to such comments. We repeat such comments so many times that we sometimes forget how deep they are. Blood gains victory over the sword, the oppressed overcome oppressors, those who get killed overwhelm their killers - these are the same things that happened on the day of Ashura. Imam Khomeini (r.a.) made this comment in the month of Muharram in the year 1357. Similarly, Imam Hussein (a.s.) and the day of Ashura were involved in the event that took place on the 9th of Dey. If those cheap - and saddening - actions had not been done by those cheap groups on Ashura, it was not clear whether this great popular movement would have taken place in the way it did. Therefore, Ashura was involved in the event that took place on the 9th of Dey.
I hope Allah the Exalted will help you. I hope Allah the Exalted will not deprive us of the shade of Imam Hussein (a.s.), Ashura, Islam and religious faith. May Allah the Exalted bestow success on all of you.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings