The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 15, 2010 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with participants of the 27th International Quran Competition.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Today's meeting was very good and I really enjoyed listening to holy Quranic ayahs which were recited by the nightingales of the Quranic garden. I thank those who organized this glorious and valuable ceremony and I hope that by Allah's favor, we will find more opportunities - on a daily basis - to get close to the Holy Quran.
The truth is that we are still far away from the Holy Quran. Our hearts should become Quranic. Our lives should become close to the Holy Quran. If we can establish a close relationship with the Holy Quran and if we can fill our hearts and souls with Quranic teachings, our lives and our society will become Quranic. If this is done, we will no longer need to formulate policies and adopt such and such measures. The main thing that we need is to really make our hearts and souls Quranic.
I will tell you that an effort has been made for many years to make the hearts of Muslims and the Islamic Ummah drift away from Quranic concepts. In the present time, the same effort is being made. Today, in many Islamic countries, rulers are prepared to remove jihad from their Islamic teachings in order to show considerations for the enemies of Islam. When Quranic teachings jeopardize the interests of the enemies, some rulers of Islamic countries are prepared to remove them from school lessons. They want to make their youth drift away from these Quranic teachings. Today, the same effort is being made.
The Holy Quran has promised us a pure life: "Verily, to them will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure" [The Holy Quran, 16: 97]. What does a pure life mean? It means a life in which our bodies and souls enjoy happiness. It is a life that brings us worldly and otherworldly comfort. Our individual life is secure in that world. Psychological tranquility and material comfort exist in such a life. It contains social benefits, happiness and dignity. It contains public independence and freedom. The Holy Quran has promised these things to us. When the Holy Quran says, "Verily, to them will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure" it means all these things. It means a kind of life in which dignity, security, welfare, independence, knowledge, progress, morality and forgiveness exist. We are away from these things and we should reach them.
Familiarity with the Holy Quran helps us get close to these things. This is the reason for the existence of Quranic meetings and competitions. This is the reason why we have engaged in educating qura and memorizers of the Holy Quran. All these things are preliminary steps, but they are necessary.
Once more, I would like to advise our youth to read the Holy Quran and establish a close relationship with it: "No one will sit beside this Quran but that when he rises he will achieve one addition or one diminution - addition in his guidance or elimination in his blindness" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 176]. Each time you sit beside the Holy Quran, one curtain from the curtains of your ignorance will be removed and one spring from the springs of enlightenment will flow in your hearts. Getting close to, sitting beside and understanding the Holy Quran are necessary.
The condition for this is to read and memorize the Holy Quran. Memorizing the Holy Quran is very helpful. Young individuals should appreciate the value of youth and the ability to memorize things. Families should encourage their children to memorize the Holy Quran. Sometimes, they should make them do that. Memorizing the Holy Quran is very valuable. Memorizing the Holy Quran will give the memorizer the opportunity to acquire expertise in understanding it. This is done through repetition of ayahs. This is an opportunity and a boon and you should not miss it. Those who have memorized the Holy Quran should appreciate the value of this great blessing. They should not allow their ability to decrease or - God forbid - to be lost.
Reading the Holy Quran, from the beginning to the end, is necessary. The Holy Quran should be read from the beginning to the end and this shall be repeated again so that our minds become familiar with all Quranic concepts at once. Of course, we need certain teachers to interpret and explain Quranic ayahs for us and to resolve ambiguities in our minds. All these things are necessary. If this is done, we will move forward as time goes by and we will never experience any pause.
And I will tell you that this forward movement has existed during the past 31 years. Before the Revolution, there was no trace of the Holy Quran in our country. Only some lovers of the Holy Quran used to organize a Quranic meeting in a corner of the country with 10, 15, 20 enthusiastic participants. We used to witness this. Such a situation existed in all cities including Tehran and our Mashhad. There was no trace of this great movement which has been launched by youth. This enthusiasm to read and recite the Holy Quran and to build such a large number of qura did not exist at all. The tradition to memorize the Holy Quran did not exist at all. There was no trace of such things. When these youth - who have memorized the Holy Quran - come and recite the Holy Quran from memory, I thank Allah the Exalted from the bottom of my heart. These achievements have been made in the shade of the Revolution and Islam. Therefore, you should appreciate their value.
When we get close to the Holy Quran, two things happen: one is that we become stronger and another is that our international enemies become more united against us. Well, there is nothing wrong with this. The more we move towards the Holy Quran and the closer we get to it, the angrier the enemies of humanity will be. As you can see, they make accusations, they lie, they spread rumors, they exert economic and political pleasures and they use all kinds of malevolent tricks against our people, but our capability to endure and to influence will increase on a daily basis. In the present time, you can see that it has increased.
Take a look at the hostile camp which is opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a very large camp in which all shaitans and thugs of the world have gathered, ranging from the Zionists, the Americans and the most malevolent western governments to the meanest and most dependent non-western governments, let us not tighten the circle on this. Everyone is in this camp. They are doing whatever they can. You should not think that our enemies forget about any single plot that they can hatch against the Islamic Republic. This is not the case. They have done whatever they could until now and they will continue to do whatever they can. If they fail to do something, it is because they cannot. But the people of Iran have stood up against all of them with power, dignity and honor.
There is a narration which says, "This rope has been stretched from heaven to earth" [Irshad al-Qulub, Volume 2, page 306]. This divine rope is the Holy Quran. It is a firm and divine rope. If we keep a firm hold on it, we will never fall and get lost.
Dear God, make us live and die with the Holy Quran. Associate us with the Holy Quran. Dear God, make the Holy Quran satisfied with us. Dear God, do not separate us from the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household even for one single moment. Dear God, associate our dear martyrs and the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) with Your saints.
I thank all the dear guests, particularly the two honorable qura - Mr. Naeena and Mr. Shazli - who recited the Holy Quran. The recitation of both of them was very good. I hope that God will bestow success on them.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings