In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Mercifu
My dear children! First of all, the anthem you sang together was wonderful. Both the poem was good, and its melody was good. And you sang it well. I congratulate you on this Taklif Celebration. I also congratulate all of you, my dear daughters, on this Eid, the birth anniversary of Imam Ali (pbuh). God willing, you will be successful. My dear daughters and dear young flowers, tonight you have prayed the obligatory prayers in group in this Hussainiyah. May God accept your prayers, God willing.
My dear children! The Taklif Celebration is a real celebration. It is truly a celebration. It is truly an Eid. Why? Because from the moment you reach the age of being required to carry out your religious obligations, you talk with God and God talks with you. In other words, you are in a position where God will talk with you, He will entrust you with responsibilities, and you will carry out those responsibilities. This is a valuable rank for human beings that people are addressed by God and God talks with them. This is what the Taklif Celebration means that after this you are not a child anymore. You are not a small child. You are now young girls with responsibilities, and you can have an influence on your family, in your school environment, and when you are playing with your friends. You can show others to the straight path and guide them, which is a responsibility that all of us have. A young girl like you who has just reached the age of observing the religious obligations is no different before the Almighty God than an adult woman or an elderly man in terms of the religious obligations.
The advice I wish to give you young people, my advice to my dear daughters, is that you become friends with God. Try to become friends with the Merciful God from the start of your youthhood. What is it like to be friends with God? One of the ways of becoming friends with God is when you are talking with God in prayer to pay attention to this that you are talking with God. You are speaking with God. Learn the meaning of the words in the prayers. Learn from your elders and teachers the translation of Surah Al-Hamd, Surah Al-Ikhlas, and what you are saying when you are bowing and prostrating. When you pray, pray in such a way that you are talking with God. This is becoming friends with God. This is one of the ways of becoming friends. Another way of becoming friends [with God] is to be careful to avoid the deeds that He has told you not to do and to do the deeds that He has said you should do. This is the way to become friends with God. Today, you have bright hearts. You have shining hearts. You have pure hearts. Become friends with God from today.
Now, you said this beautifully in your anthem. You said that this is Iran. Your country, dear Iran, had great women in the past, and I can tell you that today the number of outstanding women is much more than in the past. We have important, outstanding women in all the scientific sectors, in applied work, in jihadi activities, in positions of responsibility, in management, etc. These things are a source of pride. Outstanding women in a country is a source of pride for any country that has outstanding women. And there are many such women in our country. You too must try to become one of these women. How? Study your lessons. You should study your lessons well. You should do your homework well. Work, think, and read books so that, God willing, you will be one of these great women in the future.
I hope that God will help all of you to be successful. You too can play an important role in this momentous struggle that the Iranian nation started during the Revolution against oppression, misery, and discrimination in the same way that many women have played an important role in this before. They have done important work. Today, the work that they have done has been written in books and been published. People are reading about the struggles and efforts of outstanding women who have been in this country throughout these years of the Revolution. God willing, you too will be one of these women.
Now, send greetings to the Prophet [salawat] loudly so that we can start our evening prayer.
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