The following is the full text of the speech delivered on May 19, 2003 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the government officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The meeting was held on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.).
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to congratulate the entire Islamic Ummah, the honorable people of Iran and all you dear people who have attended this meeting - particularly the esteemed guests and ambassadors of Islamic countries who have come from different Islamic countries to attended this meeting - on the birthday anniversaries of Imam Sadiq (a.s.) and the savior of mankind and the divine gift to humanity, the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah (s.w.a.).
The birth of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) is a source of divine mercy on mankind. In the Holy Quran, God's Messenger (s.w.a.) has been described as "a mercy to the Worlds". This mercy is not limited. It includes education of mankind, spiritual purification, guiding human beings onto the right path and bringing about progress in material and spiritual aspects of life. And it is not limited to the people of those times: it includes all history. "And others from among them who have not yet joined them" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Jumu'ah, Ayah 3]. The path to that goal is observing the teachings and rules that Islam has specified for mankind.
The Islamic Ummah has had challenges and deviations over the course of many centuries. We Muslims have drifted away from Islam and become busy with things that Islam has advised us against. Over the course of many centuries, we became busy with civil wars. Taghuti powers kept us busy. The result was that after the first few centuries, the Islamic Ummah failed to reach the goal and destination that had been specified by the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and by dear Islam. Despite the fact that Allah the Exalted has bestowed many sources of material wealth on Islamic countries, which could have been used to achieve progress, Muslim countries fell to the level of the most backward countries in the world in terms of science, industry and many other standards of progress. This was not what Islam had determined for us: this was only the result of our lack of vigilance and the bad actions that we took. "Whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself" [The Holy Quran, Sura an-Nisa, Ayah 79]. It was we ourselves who caused these conditions over time as a result of our lack of vigilance.
Today the conditions have changed in the world of Islam. Islamic Awakening is tangible throughout the world of Islam. One can witness a great movement in the entire world of Islam, a movement that is at different stages in different parts of the world of Islam. There is a tendency to return to the principles of Islam, which are the source of glory and progress. Intellectuals, religious scholars and politicians of the world of Islam should strengthen this movement.
It is wrong for members of the Islamic Ummah to think that the wave of Islamic Awakening among youth will harm Muslim governments. Thanks to Islamic Awakening, Muslim governments can restore the glory that has been stolen from them by the arrogant powers. Our country, our Revolution and our Imam are a case in point. After we had suffered from autocracy for many centuries, after we had suffered from the domination of foreigners for two centuries, we became conscious and our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) managed to restore glory to our people. The English, the Russians and the Americans dominated our country in the true sense of the word. Although they were not ruling our country on the surface of it, they were in charge of every affair of the country. Our people had been deprived of their rights and their resources: their dignity and religious faith had been taken away from them.
Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) managed to restore our dignity and eliminate the long-standing hegemony of autocracy and colonialism by returning to Islam, by adhering to Islam. He managed to give our people a sense of identity and made them feel that they can stand on their own feet, that they can say "yes" or "no" in the case of essential matters. Our people had been deprived of such things for centuries. It was Islam that gave these things to our people. In any country in any part of the world where the waves of Islamic Awakening are strengthened or started and the people and youth of that country feel that they are moving closer to Islam, there will be this renewed sense of identity and dignity.
Of course, the enemies of Islam do not want this. Allah the Exalted says: "Surely satan is your enemy, so take him for an enemy" [Sura al-Fatir, Ayah 6]. Today America is the biggest enemy of Islam and it is the embodiment of evil, satan incarnated. Today the main enemy of the world of Islam is the arrogant powers, led by America. This is among the most basic principles of our Revolution and our Islamic system. The Islamic Revolution has been shouting this for twenty four years and today this is becoming tangible to the people of the world and to Muslim communities. The issues of Palestine and the tragedies that are taking place in Palestine day and night with the support of America, are in front of everybody's eyes. How can the Islamic Ummah close its eyes to these tragedies? The events that are going on in Iraq are in front of the eyes of the people of the world. This historical and political testing ground is in front of the eyes of the people of the world, particularly members of the Islamic Ummah.
The Americans attacked Saddam's regime in the name of democracy and freedom, but today they do not let the people of Iraq take their destiny into their own hands. They say they should be present [in Iraq].
They deprive an Islamic nation of all its rights. They say: "You cannot do this on your own. We have to be present. We have to give you democracy." What kind of democracy? Is this democracy? Is this respect for the rights of the people? How can they say these things after the mass killings that took place in Iraq?
They said that they were after weapons of mass destruction. The Islamic Ummah started to ask: who provided Saddam with chemical weapons, weapons of mass destruction and tools of committing crimes? Was it anybody other than themselves who had provided Saddam with such weapons? It was they themselves who equipped Saddam with the tools to harm Islam and the Revolution. As long as they were hopeful that Saddam would cooperate with them and help them, they would equip him with as many weapons as they could. After they realized that Saddam could not do anything to confront the Islamic Revolution and the wave of Islamic Awakening in the world of Islam, they did what they did.
The Islamic Ummah can see these things. This is a testing ground. How can the Islamic Ummah close its eyes to these things? These are lessons.
Today there is only one way for the Islamic Ummah to restore its dignity and identity: returning to Islam, of course genuine Islam, not a rigid and ineffective Islam that is mixed up with the superstitions that are promoted as Islam by the enemies of Islam, not an Islam that has been modified to fit with American principles and with what westerners have in mind, both of which are instances of American Islam.
Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) made a distinction between "American Islam" and "pure Muhammadi Islam". Pure Islam is the Islam of monotheism and Muslim unity, the Islam of "Allah will by no means give the unbelievers a way against the believers" [The Holy Quran, Sura an-Nisa, Ayah 141], "The kind of Islam that is superior to all and inferior to none", the kind of Islam that says, "If the people of the towns had believed and guarded (against evil) We would certainly have opened up for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they rejected" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-A'raf, Ayah 96]. Returning to this kind of Islam is the only solution for the Islamic Ummah and this is possible. Today the movement towards this kind of Islam has engulfed the entire world of Islam, from east to west, and this is what has panicked the enemies of Islam.
Do not be fooled by the propaganda campaigns of the arrogant powers. Do not be fooled by their show of power and the uproar they cause. They are afraid of Islam and this great wave of Islamic Awakening has panicked them. Therefore, they are forced to resort to coercion. Even coercion will prove useless for them and it will not solve their problem. Coercion can wipe out governments, but it cannot wipe out great Islamic and popular movements. The Islamic Ummah is awakening. The Islamic Ummah is rising up. They have realized this. The future of the Islamic Ummah is the future that Islam has delineated. As intellectuals, as religious scholars, as government officials, as politicians, we have a responsibility to delineate this future and facilitate and accelerate this progress.
I hope this holy Eid is auspicious for the Islamic Ummah and I hope it turns into an instrument for awakening all of us. I hope Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings on us. I hope Allah the Exalted turns the attention of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) towards us.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings