The Islamic Republic recognized the importance of Hajj: thanks to the insight of Imam Khomeini. Imam focused on principled subjects. In Islam, there are many obligatory rituals (known as wajibat); fasting is an essential wajib; but, Imam emphasized on Friday prayer and Hajj, that is, the important and essential parts, and he repeatedly talked about Hajj from the very first year, issuing messages regarding Hajj.
I remember that he even issued messages to Hajj pilgrims before--in 1962. Between the initial efforts for state and provincial associations and the time when the government accepted the associations, there was a certain period of time: in this period, which was between winter and early spring, the Fayzieh School incident happened; it was a very sad event. There was a lot of mobility, effort, and danger, we could not predict the situation. I recall that one night, accompanied by the now deceased Mr. Sheikh Ali Haidari Nahavandi, a martyr of the Islamic Republic Party, two others, and I went to see Imam Khomeini to share with him some ideas about Hajj.
One of our suggestions was that a message should be issued from him on the occasion of Hajj: but, he said that he had already written one! We learned that he had written and issued a message for Hajj. That means in 1962, in early years of struggle for the revolution, he had already recognized the principle aspects of the religion and paid careful attention to them.
Ayatollah Khamenei, July 14, 1991
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