Khamenei.ir

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 Muhammad al-Mustafa and upon his immaculate household and his noble companions.
Greetings be upon the pilgrims of the House of God, the guests of the Friend's House, and those responding to His invitation. And special greetings be upon the hearts which have become revitalized through the remembrance of Allah, and which have opened to His unsparing grace and mercy.
In these revivifying days and nights and hours, there are many who have gratefully submitted themselves to the attraction of spirituality and illuminated their hearts and souls through repentance and contrition, those who have cleansed themselves of the stain of sins and polytheism in the waves of divine mercy which frequently flow on this sacred land. Allah's greetings be upon these hearts and upon these pious and immaculate individuals.
All the brothers and sisters are expected to ponder on such an attainment and make the most of this great opportunity. They should not allow the concerns of material life which are our constant preoccupations to make them preoccupied here as well. Through the remembrance of Allah and penitence and supplication and firm adherence to truthfulness and by acting well and thinking well and seeking assistance from Almighty Allah, they should make their enthusiastic hearts fly in the sky of monotheism and pure spirituality and use the occasion to increase their perseverance in the way of Allah and the right path.
This place is the pivot of authentic and pure monotheism. It was here that Prophet Abraham (greetings be upon him), by bringing his beloved son to the altar, bequeathed one manifestation of monotheism, namely self-restraint and utter submission to the divine command, to all the monotheists throughout the history of the mankind. It was also here that Prophet Muhammad al-Mustafa (peace be upon him and his household) raised the flag of monotheism in the face of the arrogant elements of his time and those possessing great wealth and wielding great power and described the abhorrence of evil along with belief in Allah as the prerequisite for deliverance and salvation:
"And whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold,..." (The Holy Qur'an, 2: 256).
The hajj pilgrimage is the reviewing and learning of these great lessons. The disavowal of polytheists and abhorrence of idols and idol-makers constitute the spirit dominating the hajj pilgrimage undertaken by the believers. At every stage of this pilgrimage, devotion to Allah and endeavors in His way and disavowal of the Satan and rejecting and confronting it are displayed. And at every stage of this pilgrimage, the unity and solidarity of those who face the kiblah, the lack of importance of their natural and superficial differences and the significance of their real unity and brotherhood based on faith are manifested.
These are the lessons which we Muslims from any part of the world should learn, and we are expected to make plans for our life and future based on these lessons.
The Holy Qur'an has referred to firmness and show of strength in the face of the enemies, benevolence and kindness among the believers and servitude and humility before Allah as the three signs of the Islamic community:
"Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are hard and firm of heart against the unbelievers, (but) compassionate among themselves; you will see them bowing down, prostrating themselves (in prayer), seeking grace from Allah and pleasure" (The Holy Qur'an, 48: 29).
These are the main pillars buttressing the dignified and glorious edifice of the Islamic community.
Considering this reality, all Muslims are able to accurately identify the present maladies besetting the Islamic world. Today, the treacherous enemies of the Muslim ummah are the arrogant and covetous and aggressive powers that regard Islamic awakening as a major threat to their illegitimate interests and oppressive dominance over the Islamic world. All Muslim nations headed by their statesmen and religious scholars and intellectuals and national leaders should close ranks and form a solid united Islamic front in the face of these aggressive enemies.
They should obtain all the constituents of power and strengthen the Muslim ummah in an appropriate manner. Knowledge and scholarship, prudence and vigilance, a sense of responsibility and commitment, reliance on Almighty Allah and belief in the divine promise, forgoing petty and trivial wishes for the sake of obtaining divine satisfaction and performing duties are the main constituents of the power of the Muslim ummah, the factors that contribute to the dignity and independence and material and spiritual progress of the Muslim ummah and thwart the enemies in their covetous intentions and in their attempts to encroach on Islamic countries.
Compassion and benevolence among the believers is the second pillar and another sign of the ideal condition of the Islamic community. Discord and altercation between different portions of the Muslim ummah is a dangerous malady that should be cured by using all possible means. The enemies have long been making ceaseless and wide-ranging attempts in this arena as well and presently, alarmed by Islamic awakening, they have intensified their attempts. The gist of what sympathetic individuals say is that differences should not turn into discord and diversity should not lead to altercation.
The Iranian nation has called the present year "the Year of Islamic Solidarity". This designation was motivated by an awareness of the escalated plots of the enemies to foment discord among Muslim brethren. In Palestine and Lebanon and Iraq and Pakistan and Afghanistan these plots proved to be effective and a portion of the population of an Islamic country engaged in a confrontation with another portion of the same population, and they shed each other's blood. In all these bitter and tragic incidents, the signs of conspiracy were evident and sharp eyes were able to observe the hands of the enemies.
The divine command "compassionate among themselves" in the Holy Qur'an is aimed at uprooting these hostilities. During these glorious days and in the course of various ceremonies of the hajj pilgrimage, you can see Muslims from everywhere and following different Islamic schools of thought circumambulating one house, praying toward one Kaaba, throwing stones at the symbol of the accursed Satan together, acting in a similar manner in sacrificing the symbol of their carnal desires, supplicating to Almighty Allah in the land of Arafat and Mash'ar next to each other, and so on. The Islamic schools of thought are this close to each other with respect to the majority of their religious duties and ordinances and tenets and the most important ones among them. Therefore, why should fanaticism and prejudice give rise to altercation and conflict between them and the treacherous hands of the enemies fan the devastative flames of this conflict?
Today those who, because of their shortsightedness and lack of wisdom, call a large community of Muslims polytheists on unfounded pretexts and even regard the shedding of their blood as permissible, whether they know it or not, are at the service of polytheists and atheists and arrogant powers. How many individuals there were who described as polytheism and atheism the veneration of the shrine of Exalted Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his household) and those of the friends of Allah and Imams (greetings be upon them) despite the fact that this veneration is a show of respect for religion and piety, but who themselves served the court of infidels and oppressors and furthered their nefarious goals!
True scholars and dedicated intellectuals and sincere statesmen are expected to counter such dangerous phenomena. Today, Islamic unity and solidarity is an indispensable duty, and cooperation among wise and sympathetic individuals will prepare the ground for the accomplishment of this objective.
When these two pillars of dignity and power, namely closing ranks and forming a solid united front in the face of arrogant powers and also compassion and convergence and brotherhood among Muslims, are accompanied by the third pillar, namely servitude and humility before Almighty Allah, the Islamic ummah will continuously advance on the path which led Muslims of the early Islamic era to the summit of grandeur and power, and Muslim nations will be freed from the humiliating backwardness that has been imposed on them during the recent centuries. The first steps of this great movement have already been taken, and the waves of awakening are flowing almost all over the Islamic world.
The media and propaganda apparatus of the enemies and their agents are trying to attribute any liberation movement demanding justice in any part of the Islamic world to Iran or to Shiism and portray the Islamic Iran, which is the first victorious standard-bearer of Islamic awakening, as responsible for the blows that they are receiving in the field of politics or culture from the dedicated individuals of Islamic countries. They are alleging that the unparalleled epic created by the Lebanese Hezbollah in the 33-day war, the prudent perseverance of the Iraqi nation which resulted in the formation of a legislative assembly and government not favored by the occupiers, the amazing patience and endurance of the legal Palestinian government and the devoted Palestinian nation and many of the signs of the revival of Islam in Muslim countries have been influenced by Iran or by Shiism with the intention of creating obstacles to the all-out support extended by the Islamic world. However, this stratagem will not be able to alter the divine ordinance which has ensured the victory of those striving in the way of Allah and upholding the divine religion.
The future belongs to the Islamic ummah, and we are all able to play our role in making that future nearer in time to the extent that our capabilities and responsibilities make it possible for us to do so.
The hajj ceremonies have provided you the fortunate pilgrims with a great opportunity for making yourselves more prepared than in the past to perform this duty.
It is hoped that divine favor and the prayer of His Holiness the Promised Mahdi (may Almighty Allah hasten his appearance) will assist you in accomplishing this great objective.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings
Al-Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Khamenei
Zilhajjah 4, 1428
Azar 24, 1386