Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year's hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of this message issued on April 23, 1996.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and greetings upon the first and the last Master, Muhammad al-Mustafa, and his righteous household and greetings be upon the one remaining with Allah on earth.
Hajj is the source of piety, spirituality and blessings and every year it showers its blessings on the world of Islam and on every successful Muslim, so that every person and every group of people benefit from these blessings as much as they can.
Hajj pilgrims are not the only people who benefit from this source of
blessings. If this great religious obligation is understood and
practiced appropriately, Muslim peoples and individuals will benefit
from its blessings in every part of the world.
Individuals and
communities are harmed by two factors. First, they are harmed by their
inner selves, and the source of this problem is human weaknesses,
unchecked passions, doubts, lack of faith and destructive
characteristics.
Second, they are harmed by external enemies. These enemies create problems for individuals and communities because of their greed and aggression and their oppressive nature. Through wars, oppression, impositions and bullying, these enemies plague the life of individuals and societies alike.
Islamic communities have always been exposed to these two threats, and today Muslims are more exposed to these threats than ever before. On the one hand, the deliberate promotion of corruption in Islamic countries and imposing western cultural norms on Islamic societies with the help of certain dependent regimes and on the other hand, the military, political and economic pressures that are exerted on certain Muslim nations and the mass killings in Lebanon, Palestine, Bosnia, Kashmir, Chechnya, Afghanistan and other places - these are clear manifestations of these two threats to Islamic communities.
Hajj is an inexhaustible source of divine blessings and an ever-flowing river in which Muslims can cleanse themselves of sufferings, bitterness, corruption and maladies, and with the help of this inexhaustible source, they can always eliminate both inner passions and outside enemies.
During hajj, piety, divine remembrance, humility and attention to Allah the Exalted counter the first threat. And the second threat is countered by Muslim unity and the feeling that the Islamic Ummah is great and powerful.
The more these two aspects of hajj are strengthened during hajj, the more Muslim individuals and societies will become resistant and immune to the two kinds of threat. The more one of these aspects or both of them are undermined, the more the Islamic Ummah - including Muslim individuals and societies - becomes vulnerable.
In holy Islamic sources and in the Holy Quran, both of these aspects have been stressed and no ambiguities have been left for insightful eyes and just hearts. "Laud Allah as you lauded your fathers, rather a greater lauding." [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Baqarah, Ayah 200] There is also another command in the Holy Quran: "So go about in the land for four months and know that you cannot weaken Allah and that Allah will bring disgrace to the unbelievers." [The Holy Quran, Sura at-Taubah, Ayah 2] The hope-inspiring melody of "that they may witness advantages for them" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Hajj, Ayah 28] has been revealed in harmony with the ayah "there does not reach Allah their flesh nor their blood, but to Him is acceptable the guarding (against evil) on your part. Thus has He made them subservient to you, that you may magnify Allah because He has guided you aright, and give good news to those who do good (to others)" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Hajj, Ayah 37].
Every recommendation and every effort that aims to sideline either of these two aspects is an effort to act against Quranic orders.If Islamic teachings and recommendations - which are an inexhaustible source for Muslims and for all humanity - are because of the unawareness and ignorance of political and religious leaders of the Islamic Ummah and the people are denied the opportunity to benefit from these teachings and recommendations, this is the greatest loss for the Islamic Ummah.
Hajj is an inexhaustible source and all Muslims have an obligation to understand it better and to help the Islamic Ummah benefit more from it.
Today the world of Islam is faced with big problems and threats and if Muslims do not eliminate these problems by relying on the power of faith, on selfless struggle, on Allah the Exalted, on firm determination and on vigilance, if they fail to use the resources that Allah the Exalted has entrusted in Islam, the arrogant enemies of Islam - who have political, military and technological power - will create new problems every day. They will push liberation of Muslim peoples decades and even centuries into the future. They may even completely transform certain peoples and destroy their Islamic characteristics by imposing and promoting the corrupt and corrupting side of western culture.
After the uprising of the Iranian nation and the blossoming of Islamic Awakening in many Islamic countries, today many pleasant and unpleasant truths have been disclosed and many people throughout the world of Islam are capable of analyzing events and extracting the truth. But one should admit that the magical hand of propaganda by radio stations, TV channels and the printed press - which in most cases comes out of the sleeves of the Zionists and their western accomplices as well as so-called Muslims who act as mercenaries of the arrogant governments - completely distorts many obvious truths. Therefore, it is befitting to make a list of the problems and resources of the world of Islam.
When listing the resources of the Muslim world, one should start with the one billion and several hundred million population of Muslims, which includes more than fifty governments and vast stretches of land extending from the Pacific to the Atlantic. This massive number of people includes peoples who are famous for being very intelligent. It also includes outstanding scholarly and political personalities as well as civilizations that date back to several thousand years ago. This massive entity, which is called the Islamic Ummah, enjoys a rich culture, numerous legacies and exceptional blossoming and brilliance. Despite this diversity, the Islamic Ummah enjoys amazing unity and harmony, which is due to the fact that Islam and pure Islamic monotheism have permeated every aspect of the Muslim world. These empathetic nations - which consist of people who are from various racial backgrounds and speak tens of different languages - consider themselves as equal members of the great Islamic Ummah and they feel proud of this. All of them turn to the same center every day and worship God in the same language. All of them are inspired by the same divine Book, which lays out all truths regarding the needs and obligations of Muslims. "We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit." [The Holy Quran, Sura an-Nahl, Ayah 89] In terms of natural resources, the geographical areas which are populated by members of the Islamic Ummah are among the richest regions in the world. In particular, the oil resources of the Islamic Ummah keep the wheels of modern civilizationspinning. If the Islamic Ummah refuses to sell oil to its customers for only a few months, major portions of the world - especially the countries whose governments have been toying with the destiny of Muslim nations for many centuries because of their greed and domineering nature - will be plunged into darkness, coldness and helplessness.
Apart from these things, the list of the resources that the Islamic Ummah enjoys includes hundreds of human, cultural, material, economic, political and social categories, which can be extracted through reflection and careful analysis.
Now let us take a look at the big problems that the great Islamic Ummah is faced with, problems that have prevented the Islamic Ummah from using all those exceptional and valuable resources. As a result, Muslim peoples and countries have fallen behind in science. They have failed to benefit from their great material resources. In the global cultural competition, they have been dominated by foreign cultures. In the area of international politics, they have become followers of other countries. Militarily, they have often been exposed to aggression and oppression by the arrogant powers.
These problems - the majority of which are the result of negligence, lack of vigilance, wrong actions and betrayal by members of the Islamic Ummah - are very large in number, but the most important problems among them can be listed as follows:
1. Sectarian conflicts, which are mostly intensified and spread by wicked religious scholars and mercenary writers.
2. Ethnic and nationalistic conflicts, which are mostly provoked by western-dependent intellectuals.
3. Surrendering to interfering powers, which has reduced certain countries to satellite states of the superpowers.
4. Surrendering to corrupt western culture and even making efforts to promote it with ulterior political or ideological motives.
5. Certain governments' distrust of their people and their willpower, beliefs and needs, and their indifference and autocratic attitude towards their people.
6. Fear of the domineering powers, especially America, which exists in the hearts of many political and cultural personalities of the world of Islam.
7. The presence of the usurping Zionist regime at the heart of an Islamic region, which is the source of numerous problems.
8. Efforts to promote separation of religion from politics and to reduce Islam to a personal belief, one that is completely independent of such issues as government and political and economic matters.
These problems as well as many other great and fundamental problems - the majority of which would be solvable despite their historical roots if political and religious leaders were sincere, determined and liberated - are the source of the current afflictions of the world of Islam and they have resulted in poverty, ignorance, discrimination, political inferiority, backwardness, war, destruction, superstitions and prejudice.
The point is that if hajj is performed in the right way and as commanded by God, it has the capacity to act like a universal remedyand eliminate all the major maladies and causes of failure. This will not happen abruptly, rather it will happen gradually over the course of many years.This gathering of millions of religious brothers and sisters from the four corners of the Muslim world in one place in order to perform harmonious and significant rituals under the glorious banner of monotheism with refreshed memories of the early years of Islam, of the battles of Badr and Uhud, and of pilgrimage to a mosque within whose walls still reverberate the animating ayahs of the Holy Quran as recited by the Messenger of God (God's greetings be upon him and his household) and the powerful cries of "Allahu Akbar" of the warriors of early Islam in an atmosphere that is full of divine remembrance, worship and sense of presence before Almighty and Glorious God, which liberates human beings from their weak, selfish and crooked selves and unites them with the source of divine glory, greatness and power - this is a healing spring that strengthens hearts and wills, instills confidence into souls, broadens perspectives, brings people closer to their values, unites religious brothers, humiliates satan and undermines his tricks.
Yes, a genuine and perfect hajj pilgrimage - one that is worthy of monotheism and is the source of love for God and believers, one that results in rejection of satans, idols and polytheists - prevents all problems of the Islamic Ummah from increasing and then eliminates them. It becomes a source of glory for Islam and a source of blossoming for Muslims, and it also brings about independence for Islamic countries and liberates them from foreigners.
It was on the basis of this appropriate understanding of hajj that after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the issue of hajj was placed at the top of the Islamic Republic's international agenda. The noble Islamic Republic combined the political aspect of this obligation - which is a manifestation of divine glory and power - with the divine aspect, which is a manifestation of divine mercy, thereby bringing hajj closer to hajj ceremonies of the early Islamic era. The Islamic Republic revived the ceremony of renouncing polytheists during hajj and it has pursued this Islamic obligation so far despite all the political limitations and radical behaviors which are inspired by non-Islamic motives.
As a government that has preserved its vibrancy despite the propaganda and anti-Islam efforts of the past one hundred years and has proven the capacity of Islam to run the affairs of human communities, the Islamic Republic does not view hajj as an instrument that can be used to promote its own interests, rather it views hajj as an instrument that can bring about awakening for Muslims and instill into Muslims the spirit of piety, the spirit of faith in implementing sharia, the spirit of honor and independence.
Those who reject vibrancy and comprehensiveness of hajj, are in fact rejecting Muslim honor and independence and liberation of Muslims from the bloody claws of the arrogant powers and Zionism. Any kind of fatwa or religious theory that rejects vibrancy and comprehensiveness of hajj goes against divine revelations, which is most probably due to ignorance of global and local realities and lack of vigilance and insight into the affairs of Muslims.
Today anybody who knows about the harsh conditions of Muslim peoples and the hegemony that the oppressive government of the United States has established over them, anybody who is aware of the crimes committed by the Zionists and their secret plots against Muslim countries, anybody who feels threatened by the spread of this malignant cancerous tumor into the economic and political foundations of the regional governments, anybody who witnesses the conditions of the Palestinian people who are suffering in refugee camps and whose homes have been occupied by their executioners, anybody who knows about the conditions of south Lebanon and the parts that have been occupied by the Zionists and are under constant attacks, anybody who has heard of the recent tragedies in Lebanon - where the Zionists have been bombarding more than half of Lebanon for twelve days with the support of the American government, massacring children, women and civilians.
Anybody who knows about Bosnia, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Tajikistan and Chechnya, anybody who knows about constant plots and hostile actions of aggressive America and anti-human Zionism against the Islamic Republic, which is currently the manifestation of the rule of Islam and the Holy Quran, anybody who knows these things and has a sense of Islamic honor and responsibility will have no doubt that missing the great opportunity which has been provided by hajj and wasting this solid source of divine support for Islam and Muslims, is an irreparable loss and an unforgivable sin.
The weakness of Muslim governments and the tragic discord among Islamic countries are undeniable realities. Today the Arab world has plunged itself into such conditions that regrettably it is not able to step into the arena of fighting an enemy who has occupied its territories, not even for one single day. It is not able to defend the Lebanese people who are victims of the crimes committed by the usurping Zionist regime. Today while the tools of air combat and air defense have been bought from western companies at extremely high prices and stockpiled in their countries, the warplanes of the blood-thirsty Zionists are freely destroying the homes of Arab people and none of these governments can stop them. These bitter realities coupled with the political influence of the arrogant powers over many of these Arab countries, the unchecked attacks aimed at complete cultural domination of these countries as well as many other alarming issues, are enough for every pure conscience and every healthy mind to understand that Muslim countries and peoples and a representative sample of them - who have gathered around holy Ka'bah and other sacred places of the land of revelations - are in need of the essence of hajj and its numerous blessings more than ever before and it is essential that they benefit from these blessings. This is our view. This is our claim regarding hajj and other redeeming Islamic obligations.
Because of this firm and courageous defense of Islam and Islamic rules, the Islamic Republic has been the target of the wrath and hatred of the arrogant powers - led by the Great Satan, America.
They accuse the Islamic Republic of pursing expansionist policies, warmongering and spreading insecurity in order to justify their grudge and hostility before global and Muslim public opinion. Their mercenary radio channels and newspapers - which are published everywhere, particularly in Islamic countries, and are funded by the Zionists or the puppets of America and Zionism - constantly spread accusations, rumors and false and biased analyses and reports against the Islamic Republic so that they can undermine the spiritual influence of the Islamic Revolution and the sanctity and popularity of our magnanimous Imam (may God sanctify his soul). Using the most advanced propaganda techniques, they try in a wicked way to tarnish the reputation of the Islamic Republic and make its supporters in the world of Islam turn their backs on it.
They try to build a wall of lies and accusations between proud Islamic Iran and other Muslim countries, where they fear the possibility of an event that happened in Iran. The most disgraced terrorists in the world - namely, the leaders of the usurping Zionist regime and their evil supporters in the American government - are accusing Islamic Iran of terrorism. The leaders of America and Israel use every opportunity to point the finger of accusation at the Islamic Republic and every time they make political statements, they mention the sacred name of Islamic Iran with rage and resentment.
It is a source of honor for us that infamous and disgraced people in the world hate us. We too hate them and their wicked actions. God and His Messenger also hate them. "Allah and His Apostle are freefrom liability to the idolaters." [The Holy Quran, Sura at-Taubah, Ayah 3] By the grace of God and despite the enmity and obstructionism of the ill-wishers, today the Islamic Republic is moving forward with power, honor and firm determination, with stability, with increasing development, with populist government officials and managers, with appropriate presence and honor in the world, with enthusiastic faith in Islam, with dynamic and animated youth who are free from saddening problems which afflict youth in many other countries, with vigilant and courageous people who are prepared to defend Islam and Iran, with widespread spirituality accompanied by development and growth, and finally with exceptional and exemplary unity. Thankfully, the massive amount of negative propaganda that is broadcast against us is a sign of the increasing greatness and power of our nation and our country.
Finally, I call on all honorable hajj pilgrims to appreciate the opportunity that has been provided by these great days. I call on all hajj pilgrims to reflect on hajj and acquire a spiritual provision for the rest of their lives. I ask the honorable clerics of hajj caravans to introduce these concepts to Iranian and non-Iranian pilgrims in an appropriate way and to make their hearts and souls aware of the spirituality of hajj and its political essence.
I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow glory on Islam and Muslims, and genuine independence on Islamic countries. I pray to Allah the Exalted to liberate Islamic countries from the political and economic domination of the arrogant powers. I also pray to Allah the Exalted to preserve the glory and greatness of Islamic Iran in the shade of special favor and attention of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
Greetings be upon all of our pious brothers
Ali Hosseini Khamenei
Dhul Hijjah 4, 1416
Ordibehesht 4, 1375