The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 20, 2016 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with people from different social backgrounds on the occasion of Eid al-Ghadir.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad and upon his immaculate, pure and impeccable household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth
May this eid be blessed for you. I hope that by the blessedness of this great eid and by the blessedness of Moula’s [Imam Ali (a.s.)] remembrance, Allah the Exalted always enlightens your hearts with His kindness, peace, tranquility and grace and I hope that He helps us to benefit from this occasion and other similar occasions in the best way possible.
Thankfully, our meeting began very well today: there was a good recitation of the Holy Quran and the poems that were recited were very good in terms of form and content. Your hearts are full of love and affection for Moula al-Muwahiddin (God’s greetings be upon him). By Allah’s favor, this enthusiasm, love, affection and attention should become an instrument with which we take the direction that Moula (a.s.) wants.
One issue is about Ghadir itself. In some narrations, it has been said that Eid al-Ghadir is the eid of Allah the Great and that it enjoys a status which is higher than all other eids. What is the reason for this? Well, in the Holy Quran there are ayahs which can only be matched with the issue of Ghadir, not with any other issue.
There is a well-known ayah which says, “This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion, yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” [The Holy Quran, 5: 3]. This ayah is in the beginning of Sura al-Maeda and it is not compatible with any issue other than the issue of Ghadir in terms of weight, significance and value.
Only such an issue can match the sentence “This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion.” Those who have questioned the content of these ayahs and those who make certain comments in rejecting this issue – the opponents of Ghadir and those who do not believe in it – have interpreted this ayah in certain ways, but this part of the ayah cannot be interpreted otherwise. Today is a day that the enemies – kufar – have become disappointed with your religion. What has been added to the religion that has disappointed the enemy? How significant are the religious rules that have appeared in this ayah and in the beginning of Sura al-Maeda both before and after this part of the ayah?
This part of the ayah does not refer to daily prayers, zakat and jihad, nor does it refer to any peripheral rule: “This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion.” So, there is another issue involved, one that is not related to the religious rules that have appeared in the Sura. What is that issue?
It is the issue of the leadership of the Islamic community. It is the issue of government and imamate in the Islamic community. Of course, it was possible that Muslims would not obey this edict and actually they did not do so! For several centuries, the Bani Umayyad, the Bani Abbasid and other such groups lived like kings and ruled over the people in the name of imamate, caliphate and the like. However, this does not harm the philosophy of Ghadir.
The event of determining Ghadir is the event of determining a rule and regulation. A certain regulation was introduced in Islam. In the last months of his life, the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) issued a regulation. What is that regulation? The regulation of imamate, the regulation of Wilayat. Since long before the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), human societies had government. Humanity has experienced all sorts of governments, but Islam does not believe in such systems, in such kinds of power and in such governments. It believes in imamate. This is the regulation of Islam and Ghadir announced this regulation.
And it is clear who it refers to. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) is a person whose personality and status as God’s representative of Quranic concepts and teachings cannot be blemished by anyone living either in those times or afterwards. Well, they used to curse him, but they even curse God and the Holy Prophet- I seek Allah’s protection. Cursing someone is not a good reason for rejecting them. When everyone thinks, when everyone abandons their biased feelings, they can not cause the least amount of damage to this enlightened and sacred body. The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) chose that person as the embodiment of imamate. This became a regulation.
Until the end of the world, whenever Muslims want to be guided by God so that they implement Islam and achieve the Islamic community, this will be the rule and the regulation: they should revive imamate. Of course, they can never get close to any of the criteria and standards that the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) announced. They cannot even get close to lesser degrees. If we want to compare our greatest scholarly, spiritual, mystic and philosophical personalities with the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), they are like a faint ray of light that one sees at the bottom of a well. Now, compare this with the sun. Of course, they are the same and they have the same radius, but what is the distance? How different they are from each other?
If we want to compare our best personalities – for example, a personality like our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) who is truly a complete, great, magnificent, and comprehensive personality and who is an outstanding and unique person in every area – with the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), this comparison will be like what I said. You should compare sunlight with the ray of light that is seen at the bottom of a well or in the corner of a storeroom which comes from the sun itself. This is how distant and different they are from one another.
Such distances exist, but this is the regulation: the regulation of imamate. The regulation of government, power and ruling in the Islamic community was determined by Ghadir. This is the significance of Ghadir. The significance of Ghadir is not confined to the appointment of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). Of course, this appointment is important, but what is more important is that the rule and the regulation was specified. It became clear that in the Islamic community, monarchic government is meaningless. It became clear that individual and aristocratic government, the government of gold and power, the government of showing arrogance to people, the government of bullying, greed and accumulation of wealth for oneself and the government of lustfulness are meaningless. It became clear that Islam is like this. This regulation was issued in Ghadir.
When this regulation was issued, then “This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion.” When it was issued, the enemies lost all hope of changing the path of religion. This is because the path of religion changes only when the main point and the main nucleus change. If the nucleus of power, management and leadership changes, then everything will change. Of course in reality, certain changes take place. Certain individuals from Bani Umayyad and Bani Abbasid seized power in the name of Islam, so did Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, but they could not disrupt the regulation.
Today, if some people in the world of Islam – those who are familiar with Islamic teachings – refer to the Holy Quran and if they look at the regulations that exist in the Holy Quran about worshipping the Truth, about one’s lifestyle, and the orientation that those nations who worship the Truth adopt, it will not be possible in any way that they reach a conclusion other than the imamate of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and what follows this imamate.
This is our claim and we can prove it completely. If anyone in the world of Islam – including intellectuals, thinkers, philosophers and those who have had other beliefs since the first day – chooses the Quran, Quranic values and Quranic regulations for the life of human societies as the main standard, they will not reach any conclusion except that a person like Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) should rule over Islamic societies. This is the path. The path is the path of imamate. This was related to Ghadir.
Well, when Ghadir is of such significance, then it becomes clear what the other holy ayah means: “Oh Messenger, deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord. And if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message” [The Holy Quran, 5: 67]. It says that if you do not announce this edict to the people, you have not fulfilled your mission. It was 23 years then that the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) had been working hard. All those efforts in Makka, in Madina, those wars, those self-sacrificing acts, that strictness about himself and the great guidance that that great personality provided for humans were accomplished during those 23 years. So, what was that event and duty without which, all those efforts would not exist: “And if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message.”
This edict could not be related to some peripheral religious rules, rather it was something beyond that. What was it? It was imamate. Who is the first Imam? The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) himself. Imam Sadiq (greetings be upon him) said in Mina, “God’s Messenger was the first Imam. Ali ibn Abi Talib was Imam after him” [Kafi, Vol. 4, page 466]. And they were followed by the other Imams (a.s.). After putting Abraham the Messenger to all those tests, and after he passed through all those difficult stages – he was thrown in the fire in his youth and after that he went to Babylon and other areas and went through a lot of trouble – Allah the Exalted said to him when he had become old, “I will make you an Imam to the nations” [The Holy Quran, 2: 124].
He said to him that He wants to make him an Imam. This is what imamate means. This is an ideology, an Islamic ideology which is based on firm principles and irrefutable arguments. We invite the entire world of Islam and all thinkers to this: the unity that the world of Islam needs today can be easily understood by contemplating on Quranic ayahs and truths provided that thinkers and experts pursue such issues.
Of course, on the other hand, their feelings should not be provoked. Some people think that proving Shia should be done through insulting and cursing the great personalities of Sunni Islam and other denominations. But this is not the case. This is against the tradition of the Imams (a.s.). When you witness that certain radios and television channels are launched in the world Islam whose job is to insult the great personalities of other denominations under the title and in the name of Shia, it is clear that this is funded by the English Treasury. This is funded by the English Treasury. This is English Shia! No one should think that developing Shia and Shia ideology and strengthening Shia faith is dependent on such insults and such a manner of speaking. This is not the case because such courses of action produce the opposite result.
When you say offensive things, a wall is built around them whose material is anger and hard feelings. Under such circumstances, they cannot even stand listening to the truth. We have many cogent and logical ideas. We have many ideas that are cherished by anyone who thinks if they have the opportunity to hear them. You should allow these ideas to be heard. You should allow these ideas to have the opportunity to infiltrate the heart of the other side. When you swear and when you insult the other side, a dam is built around him with the result that your ideas are not heard at all. They will not listen.
Under such circumstances, malicious, dependent and mercenary groups who receive money from America, from the CIA and from other intelligence services – groups such as DAESH, Jibhat al-Nusra and other such groups – create the situation that you witness in Iraq, Syria and other countries. And they do so by using a bunch of ordinary, foolish and ignorant individuals. This is the enemy’s job. He is waiting for an opportunity. In fact, he uses every opportunity. We have many truthful, logical and firm ideas. One small example is what I said to you today. This was related to Ghadir.
The next issue is about the Commander of the Faithful (greetings be upon him). All the values and characteristics that individuals – including the individuals who believe in Islam, the individuals who believe in any religion and the individuals who do not believe in any religion- every individual in general – respect and appreciate, exist in Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.). Ali ibn Abi Talib (God’s greetings be upon him) is a personality whom you respect if you are a Shia. If you are a Sunni, you respect him as well. If you are not a Muslim and if you know him and take a look at his life, you will respect him.
There are many Sunnis who have written about the virtues of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) in the course of many years. The Christian George Jordac has written a five-volume book about him [Imam Ali: The Voice of Human Justice]. A Christian wrote, many years ago, a book about the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) with love.
He visited me and we had a discussion about his book [May 20, 1996]. He said that he had become familiar with Nahjul Balaghah during his teenage years and that Nahjul Balaghah guided him towards the personality of Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.). He wrote this book, “Imam Ali: The Voice of Human Justice.” Even a person who does not follow any religion – that is to say, a person who does not believe in any religion - shows humility and bows to the personality of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) when they begin to know him.
The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) has three kinds of characteristics: one is related to his spiritual and divine characteristics which are not measurable, in any way, for the likes of us people. These are his spiritual characteristics: having faith – exalted and deep faith – taking a leading role in Islam, behaving in a self-sacrificing manner on the path of Islam and showing sincerity. There was no single non-divine intention in his actions. Do we understand this at all? Is this understandable, in any way, for people like me? All his actions were for God, for gaining divine satisfaction and for executing God’s orders. This means sincerity. These are things that are not measurable for us, nor are they explicable.
He had knowledge and understanding about God. Understanding about God. What do we know about God? When we say, “My God the Great is pure and I praise Him”[a recitation that is part of daily prayers], what do we understand about this greatness? And what does the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) understand? He had understanding about God. These are a number of characteristics which the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) had and which are not describable and understandable for us at all. Even if they come and explain them to us, we will not get to the depth of their meaning correctly. This is because such characteristics are so great and deep. These were one set of characteristics that the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) had.
Another set is related to his outstanding human characteristics. These are characteristics that attract everyone – including Muslims, non-Muslims, Christians, non-Christians, those who believe in a religion and those who do not believe in any religion. For example, he had courage and mercy. Whenever that person who fought in the arenas of war in a glorious manner met with orphans, he would treat them very kindly. He would bend over and he would play with the orphans. He would put them on his shoulders. These are characteristics that we respect no matter if we are religious or not, or what religion we practice. When every individual faces such greatness, they feel humble and they bow in respect.
Another characteristic of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was sacrifice. Sacrifice means preferring others to oneself. It means behaving in a self-sacrificing way. It means that you forget about your rights – of course, individual rights - for the sake of God and for a specific reason, whether these rights are related to your financial position, to your reputation or to any other right that you have. This is the meaning of sacrifice. This is another set of characteristics that the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) enjoyed. If one wants to count these characteristics, they will turn into a book and a long scroll.
The third set of the characteristics of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) is his governmental characteristics which are an offshoot of the issue of imamate. Imamate means governing like this. Of course, there are some peaks and troughs, but the best form of it can be seen in a personality like the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). What are examples of governmental characteristics? These characteristics are justice, fair-mindedness, and considering all people as equal, even those who live in your society but who do not practice your religion.
When the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) heard that Basar ibn Artat [one of the commanders in Muawiyah’s army who was the governor of Basra for a while] attacked a city and entered people’s houses by force, he delivered a sermon which was full of grief and sorrow: “I have come to know that every one of them entered upon Muslim women and other women under protection of Islam and took away their ornaments from legs, arms, necks and ears” [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 27]. In this sermon, he says that he heard that these oppressive, cruel and transgressing forces have entered the houses of Muslim and non-Muslim – “Muahad” means the Jewish and Christian people who lived in the Islamic community – women and that they have pulled away their clothes, their ornaments, their bracelets and anklets.
After that, he says that, “if any Muslim dies of grief after all this he is not to be blamed”. Notice that this is his personality. Such is his pity and sympathy for people. And it was for all people because in the Islamic community of those times, there were Jews, Christians and the like. Such people were referred to as Muahad. So, these are his governmental characteristics: justice, fair-mindedness, and equality for everyone.
Avoiding the trifles and luxuries of the world was another characteristic of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). This is one of the disasters for governments in the world. When we become the head of a country, the financial resources of the country will be at our disposal. We might become tempted and say that there are good lands, good resources and good money available and let us take a part of them for ourselves. Those who are very mean, poor and notorious take all of it for themselves. An example is Reza Khan. Those who are a little more fair-minded give a small part of it to others – mostly to their own friends and relatives – and they take part of it for themselves. This is one of the disasters of governments.
All democratic governments in the world are like this. You hear in news that the wife of such and such a president travels to such and such an island that has good weather for her winter or summer vacation and that she spends millions of dollars there. Where does this money come from? Or you hear that such and such an aristocratic and royal family enter such and such a city for their vacation. A great number of hotels and other luxuries are at their disposal and they spend millions – they spend on a million scale – during the 10, 20 days that they stay! An imamate-based government is opposed to such things. Personal usage of public resources is forbidden in such a government. In this government, one should avoid the luxuries of the world.
Another characteristic of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was acumen. He showed acumen in managing the Islamic community. He used to separate enemies and friends from one another and he used to divide the enemy into several categories. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) had three wars. Those three wars were fought with three kinds of enemies, but he did not fight against them in a similar way. He fought against Muawiyah and the Shaami in one way, and he fought against Basra in another way. And when he was engaged in a war against Talha and Zubayr, he fought in a different way.
In that war, he summoned Zubayr and he spoke to him in the middle of the battlefield. He said to him in admonitory tone, “Brother, you should remember our history together. We wielded our sword together for so long and we worked together for many years.” And his advice paid off. Of course, Zubayr did not do what he should have. He should have joined the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). He did not do so, but he abandoned the battlefield and he left. This was how he behaved towards Talha and Zubayr at the time of war. But he did not behave towards the Shaami like this. What should he have said to Muawiyah? Should he have said to him that he and Muawiyah fought together? When were they together?
They stood against one another during the Battle of Badr. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) killed his great grandfather, his uncle, his kin, his relatives and his family members. So, they had no history together. In fact, Muawiyah was using the same enmities to fight against the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.).
So, the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) used to categorize his enemies. On the issue of Nahrawan – in which the enemy had 10,000 soldiers – Hazrat (a.s.) said, “Of these 10,000, anyone who comes to this side - where I have set up a flag - will not face us in the battle.” And they did so. Most of them came to his side. Hazrat (a.s.) said to them that they should go and they let them go. Of course, he fought against those who showed obstinacy and who stayed because of their prejudice. And he defeated them.
This is acumen in managing the country. This is how one knows one’s enemies and friends. Not all enemies are the same. He forgave some of them. Some of his enemies did not pledge their allegiance to him in the beginning. Once, Malik al-Ashtar was standing next to Hazrat (a.s.) and he was carrying a sword. He said, “Oh Commander of the Faithful, let me cut the neck of this person who does not pledge his allegiance to you.” Hazrat (a.s.) smiled and said, “No, this person was bad-tempered and angry even when he was young. Now that he has become older, he has become even angrier. Let him go.” And they let him go. This is acumen. The highest form of acumen is that a person who is at the top of government knows who he is faced with and how he should behave towards everyone. This was one of the governmental characteristics of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.).
Another characteristic that he had was promptness. He did not hesitate. As soon he decided that he should do something, he would do it.
Another characteristic is clarification. He used to clarify the truth for the people. You should take a look at the sermons of Nahjul Balaghah. Many of those sermons are a clarification of the truths that existed in the society of those days. This holds true for both his sermons and his letters. One part of Nahjul Balaghah is his sermons and another is his letters. Those letters were mostly addressed to those whom he wanted to complain to. They were either addressed to his enemies – such as Muawiyah and others – or to his own officials to whom he wanted to complain about something. Most of his letters are like this. And some of them were words of advice, instructions and edicts such as the one about Malik al-Ashtar’s duties [as governor of Egypt]. In all these letters, he clarified the truth for the people. This is one of the branches of the Commander of the Faithful’s (a.s.) work.
The next issue is about society’s guidance towards piety. There are very few sermons by the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) that do not invite to piety: “fear Allah”! This is because piety is everything. When piety exists in a society, all the worldly and after-worldly problems of that society will be resolved. This is how piety works. Of course, we should pay attention to the correct meaning of piety. Piety does not only mean that you avoid looking at namahram or that you refrain from doing such and such a haraam act. Of course, these are part of piety, but piety has a much broader meaning. The real meaning of piety is taking care of ourselves, taking care of our moves, and trying to keep ourselves on the straight road and on the straight path. This is the meaning of piety. If this exists in society, all problems will be solved. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) always invited the people towards piety.
He was courageous in implementing the truth and he did not show any consideration. He was also courageous in administering justice and he did not show any consideration in this area either. In his life, the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) did not stand on ceremony with anyone. The same person who said to Malik al-Ashtar that he should allow that individual – the one who refused to pledge his allegiance to him – to go behaved in a strict and meticulous manner in other cases.
This is the third series of the Commander of the Faithful’s (a.s.) characteristics, which are governmental characteristics. These characteristics are different from his individual, spiritual and divine characteristics which are not understandable for us and which are indescribable for our flawed and incomplete tongues. This is the personality of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), a complete personality which is really the manifestation of this poem: “You are great and you cannot be seen in a small mirror” [from a poem by Saadi]. We cannot see that great personality with these weak and incapable eyes, with our incomplete vision and with these hearts which are covered by illusions. We only know certain things and certain descriptions about that great personality and we express them in words. That individual was appointed in Ghadir.
Now, what should we do? It is clear that we cannot live like the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). We cannot act like him. We cannot be like him. That great personality said himself: “Certainly you cannot do what I do” [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. Hazrat (a.s.) said to the rulers and governors that he had appointed that they cannot act in the same way that he does. However, we should look at the peak. We have said many times that he is a peak. They say to you that that peak is the goal and that you should move towards it. This is our duty. We should move towards the peak.
We should look at these characteristics of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and then we should move towards the peak within the scope of our capability and power, but we should not move in the opposite direction. Our society should move in the direction of the Commander of the Faithful’s (a.s.) piety, not that we should be as pious as he was because we can neither do so nor is that what they want from us. We should only move in that direction. In other words, we should stay away from wastefulness, extravagance and jealousy. This way, we can become Shias of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.).
Our actions make some people believe in us. It is said in a narration that “You should be a source of enhancing our reputation, not a source of damaging our reputation” [al-Amali, page 400]. It is said that we should be a source of enhancing the reputation of the Imams (a.s.). What does this mean? It means that we should act in a way that when someone looks, they say, “Wow, how good the Commander of the Faithful’s (a.s.) Shias are!” A person who takes a bribe is not enhancing the reputation of the Imams (a.s.). This is a flaw. If a person asks for a lot of money from the public treasury, this is a flaw for Shia. If a person closes their eyes to evil and if they have no sense of responsibility for guiding society towards piety, this is a flaw for the Islamic Republic and for Islamic government. If an individual adopts an extravagant lifestyle, this is a flaw.
We are unfortunately trapped. We are trapped in wastefulness and extravagance. It is many years now that we have been constantly advising ourselves, the people, and others on this matter. We keep speaking about these things. Well, we should move forward. We should decrease extravagance in society. Our men, our women, our youth and our elderly should avoid extravagance – extravagance in clothes, in food, in the luxuries of life, in ornaments and jewelry. Another thing that we should avoid is jealousy. For example, a woman says that such and such a woman is wearing special clothes in a wedding, that she is wearing such and such jewels, that she has put on such and such make-up and then she says to herself that she should not fall behind her. These are very grave mistakes and dangers. These are the things that ruin our lives. These are the things that create injustice in society. And these are the things that eventually ruin the economy.
An important part of the destruction of the economy is related to such things. If a society wants to reach a point where it is not vulnerable in terms of the strength of its domestic economy, one of the necessary tasks that it should carry out is to avoid wastefulness, extravagance, unnecessary use of products and the like. Of course, this requires a long discussion and there are many examples. I have a spoken at length about such matters and I do not want to repeat them. When it comes to water, bread, food and all sorts of products, we are extravagant and wasteful, and we consume things in a bad and unnecessary way. We do a lot of these things. Therefore, we should attend to such matters.
Many of these tasks are not related to the administration. It is we ourselves that should carry them out. It is we ourselves that should do them in our family and in our personal lives. This is following the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.).
We say, “All praise is due to the God Who made us follow the Wilayat of the Commander of the Faithful and his immaculate children” [Iqbal al-A’mal, Vol.1, page 464]. How should following Wilayat be done? Part of following Wilayat is related to the feeling that you have in your heart. In other words, you believe in Wilayat. This is very good and necessary. Undoubtedly, it is very efficient as well, but following Wilayat is not confined to this. Following Wilayat means that we take a look and achieve the characteristics that are measurable for us. The sacrifice, spirituality, understanding, knowledge about God, praying, supplication, attention to God and other such characteristics that existed in the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) cannot be achieved by us. We are very very backward in such areas. However, we can achieve the human characteristics of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and the characteristics related to managing society, government and the like. Of course, we cannot get close to that great personality, but we can move in that direction. We should carry out these tasks. If we do so, this is following the Commander of the Faithful’s (a.s.) Wilayat.
There are many things to say. Dear brothers, dear sisters, you should pay attention. Notice that we say many things about the enemy, about understanding and standing up against him and about other such matters and what we say is correct. The slogans that you and your friends say are correct. When officials and great personalities say that they stand up against the enemy, this is correct. We too know that the enemy exists, but you should pay attention that sometimes the enemy takes advantage of our weaknesses without going through any trouble. We should correct and improve our behavior so that the enemy does not take advantage of our weaknesses.
Today, our enemies have pinned their eyes on the needs, shortcomings and problems of the economy of the country. The reason why we have been constantly speaking about the issue of the economy, the economy of resistance and other relevant matters in the recent years – in the beginning, middle and end of the year – is that the enemy has focused on this specific point. They want to ruin the economy of the country. They want the people’s living conditions to be bad. They want the people’s pockets to be empty. They want their resources to decrease. They want their money to lose its value. They want to decrease the people’s purchasing power so that they become dissatisfied. This is the goal.
They want to make the people dissatisfied with Islam and the Islamic Republic. This is the enemy’s goal. That is why they are focusing on the economy. The reason is that they want the people’s living condition to be in a poor state so that they become disappointed with Islam and the Islamic government due to appalling conditions. So, whose responsibility is it to confront this situation? It is everyone’s responsibility. It is the responsibility of the administration, the Majlis, different officials and the masses of the people. All of us have responsibilities and we should fulfill them.
Of course, the general movement of the country is fortunately a good movement. I am well-informed about the conditions. This is because officials refer to me a lot. They write letters, meet with me, deliver messages and present the tasks that have been accomplished and I show patience and look at many of them. Thankfully today, the youth who are seriously working on the revival of Islam and establishing religion in the country are increasing on a daily basis. These are the same youth who will, by Allah’s favor and grace, bring every enemy – including America and Zionism – to their knees.
When I say frequently in different speeches that I am optimistic about the future, this is because of witnessing these realities. We have many good realities that can help us move forward and that can lead the general movement of society. Good, pious and prepared youth and those who shed tears for presence in the arenas of jihad and defense of the country and religion – they shed tears so that they are allowed to go and defend - are many. The issue is not about two, ten, a hundred individuals.
This is a motivation that will save the country. This motivation should be strengthened [audience chants, “If the Leader commands, I will lay down my life for him!”]. You who want to lay down your lives, why do you not do it for Islam? Why do you want to lay down your lives for the Leader? Who is the Leader? You should lay down your lives for Islam, for this path and for the goals [audience chant “Hussein, Hussein is our slogan and martyrdom is our pride!” and “There is only one love and that is the love of Sayyid Ali!”].
Greetings be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings
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