Khamenei.ir

Disintegration of family foundation

In an Islamic environment, a woman achieves scholarly growth; she achieves personal growth; she achieves ethical growth; she achieves political growth; she becomes a pioneer of the most essential social issues: yet, she remains a woman. Being a woman is an advantage for any human: a source of pride. Isolating women from much needed feminine environments and characteristics will not bring about a feeling of honor for most women. Moreover, housekeeping, raising children and taking care of one's husband must not be considered a source of disgrace for women! Western culture led to the collapse of family values. Today, one of the greatest problems of the Western world is the breakup of family environments and an increase in the number of orphaned children! The West is suffering from the consequences of neglecting family values and will suffer more: these social developments build up over time. The West will be harmed greatly by this problem, and the flashy, materialistic civilization of the West will collapse along the faults of this problem.

In the western perspective, women are basically viewed as products

The western view of women is an insult to women: they call it "freedom," but it is not, in fact, representative freedom. Over the past two, three decades, Westerners have chosen charming names for their crimes against humanity. Whenever they've committed murder; whenever they've plundered a country; whenever they've enslaved people; whenever they've confiscated other nations' sources of wealth; whenever they've imposed wars on nations or whenever they've committed other crimes, they chose deceptive and beautiful names for their actions: liberation, human rights, democracy and other such things. Describing the western attitude towards women as "freedom" is a deception: it has nothing to do with freedom. The cornerstone of Western culture is that women should be socially presented as a product, an object that men can benefit from; for instance, promoting immodest clothing is a step in this direction. Over the past 100 years, or more, violence against women in the West has been on the rise: there has been no decrease of violence in this regard. Sexual freedom and unprincipled sexual behaviors in the West have not curbed sexual desires, which are natural and instinctive. In the past, they used to promote the idea that men and women should be allowed to have free relationships with one another to diminish their sexual desires; later on, clearly, quite the opposite happened. The more that they allowed men and women to have free sexual relationships with one another, the more the resulting situation of sexual desires increased. Today, Westerners feel no shame of promoting homosexuality as a moral value: this makes any dignified human embarrassed, but Westerners have no shame. The Western view of women is perverted, flawed, misleading and simply wrong. The Islamic view of women brings about dignity, honor, growth and an independent identity for women: this is our assertion, and we can prove it with extremely compelling evidence.

Imposing Western culture on Islamic societies, especially on women

For a hundred years, now, the West has been trying to impose Western culture and lifestyles on women of Islamic communities: relying on its money, power, weapons, and diplomacy. Efforts have been made over the past one hundred years to detach Muslim women from their identity. All implements of power and propagation have been employed to achieve this goal: money, propaganda, weapons, different deceptive materials, sexual impulse; they have employed all these things to separate Muslim women from their Islamic identity. Today, carrying out efforts to restore the Muslim woman's identity is the greatest service that you can render for the Islamic Ummah, Islamic Awakening, and Islamic dignity... Islamic Awakening and Islamic dignity will be strongly affected by the women's awakening, the women's sense of identity, and women's awareness and insight.

Islam ensures women's growth in all aspects

The Islamic view of women brings about dignity, honor, growth and an independent identity for women. This is our claim and we can prove it with very compelling reasons. In an Islamic environment, a woman achieves scholarly growth. She achieves personal growth. She achieves ethical growth. She achieves political growth. She becomes a pioneer in the most essential social issues. Yet she remains a woman. Being a woman is an advantage, a source of pride. Isolating women from womanly environments and characteristics will not bring about any honor for women. Housekeeping, raising children and taking care of one's husband must not be considered a source of disgrace for women. Western culture made the family collapse. Today one of the great problems of the Western world is the breakup of the family and the increase in the number of abandoned children. The West will suffer from the consequences. Social developments build up over time. The West will be harmed most by this problem and the flashy materialistic civilization of the West will collapse along the fault lines of this problem.

Violence against women is on the rise in the West

The basis of western culture is that women should be presented in society as a product, an object that men can benefit from. Promoting immodest clothing is a step in this direction. Over the past 100, 200 years, violence against women has been on the rise. There has been no decrease in this regard. Sexual freedom and unprincipled sexual behaviors in the west have not curbed sexual desires, which are natural and instinctive. In the past they used to promote the idea that men and women should be allowed to have free relationships with each other so that their sexual desires are diminished. Later on it became clear that what happens is the opposite. The more men and women are allowed to have free relationships with each other in society, the more the resulting situation increases sexual desires... The Western view of women is a degenerate, flawed, misleading and wrong view.

Iranian women played significant role fighting Pahlavi regime

It is women who prepare and encourage their husbands and children to step into the most dangerous arenas. We have clearly witnessed the significance of the role women played during the time we were fighting taghut in Iran and after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. If our women had not fought in the battlefields during the eight-year war which was imposed on us, if they had not been present in different national arenas, we would not have achieved victory in that difficult test. Our women helped us achieve victory. The mothers and wives of our martyrs and war veterans created an atmosphere with their patience in which our youth and men were encouraged to have a determined presence. And this atmosphere spread to every part of the country. As a result, the general atmosphere of our country was filled with selflessness and self-sacrifice, and we achieved victory.

Iranian women have a significant role in all arenas against fighting arrogant powers

In this great wave of Islamic Awakening, women play an unparalleled role and it is necessary for them to continue this role. It is women who prepare and encourage their husbands and children to step into the most dangerous arenas. We have clearly witnessed the significance of the role women played during the time we were fighting taghut in Iran and after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. If our women had not fought in the battlefields during the eight-year war which was imposed on us, if they had not been present in different national arenas, we would not have achieved victory in that difficult test. Our women helped us achieve victory. The mothers and wives of our martyrs and war veterans created an atmosphere with their patience in which our youth and men were encouraged to have a determined presence. And this atmosphere spread to every part of the country. As a result, the general atmosphere of our country was filled with selflessness and self-sacrifice, and we achieved victory

Leader Meets Participants of International Conference on Women and Islamic Awakening

Leader’s Speech to International Conference on Women and Islamic Awakening

The following is the full text of a speech delivered on July 11, 2012, by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with participants of the International Conference of Women and Islamic Awakening in Tehran.

Leader Meets with Judiciary Officials

In a meeting with judiciary officials, Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed the need for cooperation among the three branches of government and added: "Today the bullying powers of the world have reached the conclusion that they should do everything in their power in order to deal a blow to the Islamic Republic, in order to harm the Islamic Republic."

Leader’s Speech to Judiciary Officials

Leader’s Speech to Participants of 29th International Quran Competitions

How does Islam want to save the world?

There are different aspects to be'that. The beams of light that have emanated from be'that are more than a few. But today humanity needs two things that have their roots in be'that. One is promotion of thinking and the other is moral purification. If these two things are ensured, the old wishes of humanity will be fulfilled, justice will be ensured, happiness will be ensured, material welfare will be ensured. The main problem lies in these two areas. The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) says, "I was appointed as Prophet to perfect moral virtues." Also, the Holy Quran says, "He it is Who raised among the inhabitants of Mecca a Messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His communications and purifies them." [The Holy Quran, 62, 2] After mentioning purification in the ayah, the Holy Quran continues, "... and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom." This is a lofty goal: purifying human beings, cleansing hearts, improving commitment of humanity to ethics and saving human beings from moral problems, ethical weaknesses and human passions. This is a goal. The issue of thinking is also an essential issue and it is not particular to the Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.). All prophets were sent to revive the power of thinking among human beings. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) says in a sermon in Nahjul Balaghah, "Then Allah sent His Messengers and series of His prophets towards them to get them to fulfill the pledges of His creation, to recall to them His bounties, to exhort them by preaching, to unveil before them the hidden treasure of wisdom." Prophets were sent to uncover the treasure of wisdom which is hidden in human beings. Human beings have a great capacity for thinking. When we do not think, when we do not study, when we do not reflect on the divine signs, when we do not reflect on our history, on the different events that have happened to humanity, on the past afflictions and on the causes of great victories that nations have achieved, we deprive ourselves of the spiritual treasure that Allah the Exalted has bestowed on us. "Then Allah sent His Messengers and series of His prophets towards them to get them to fulfill the pledges of His creation, to recall to them His bounties, to exhort them by preaching, to unveil before them the hidden treasure of wisdom." Today humanity needs these two things.

Leader: Enemies Should Learn from Their Past Failures

Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this morning with a group of government officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries on the occasion of Mab'ath. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence said that the enemies of the Islamic Republic should learn a lesson from their past failures against the Iranian nation. "Our enemies do not want to learn from their past experiences. They should know that obstinacy, arrogance, self-importance and unreasonable expectations will not get them anywhere against the Iranian nation."

Leader’s Speech to Government Officials and Ambassadors of Islamic Countries

Leader Meets with MPs of 9th Majlis

Leader’s Speech to MPs of 9th Majlis

Islamic democracy challenges the pharaohs of the time

Some people directly or indirectly complain that we should not provoke the hostility of the world, but I believe this is a thoughtless comment. You naturally start a fight when you promote spiritual and religious rule, when you promote religious or Islamic democracy. The problem of the world is that it is faced with a call to religion. When I say "the world", I mean the organizations that are in charge of managing the world. Their survival and identity depend on plundering, harming humanity and working against human values to achieve material gains. You have heard about pharaohs and you have seen some of them. Pharaohs are against human values and the world has fallen into their hands. You will naturally face certain challenges when you establish a government that supports a tendency towards spirituality, a government that defends human values, a government that defends divine values - and divine values are the soul and essence of human values.

Islam does not have a gender-oriented outlook, everyone is equal

Islam regards women as dignified humans. Men and women share the same characteristic of being human. A human is a human before being a man or a woman. People are equal as far as human nature is concerned: this is the Islamic view. Allah, the Exalted, has bestowed certain physical traits on men and women. Both men and women play a role in creation, in the growth and transcendence of humanity, and in the course of history, but the role of women is more important than that of men. The most important duty of humanity is to aid in human survival through reproduction; in this regard, the role of women is incomparable to the role of men: this is why the home environment is so important. --This is why the family is important. This is why imposing restrictions on human sexual instinct is important. --This is the view that should be adopted on Islamic issues and shari'a. The West, which has strayed from the righteous path, calls these things "limitations” while they label its misleading bondage of women as "freedom." --These are among plots that the west was carried out.

Leader Warns Enemies Against Military Action

Speaking at Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) shrine, Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the Zionist regime's military threats against Iran are due to its fear and frustration, further stressing: "The leaders of the Zionist regime are well aware that they are more vulnerable today than any other time and that every misstep and every inappropriate move will strike them like a thunderbolt."

Leader’s Speech at Imam Khomeini’s (r.a.) Shrine

Imam Khomeini’s great achievement was reviving the spirit of dignity in the Iranian nation

Throughout his studying and teaching years, throughout the time he was engaged in political activities and throughout the time he was managing the country, Imam Khomeini (r.a.) remained a manifestation of "rely on the Mighty, the Merciful." [The Holy Quran 26: 217] It was for this reason that he managed to do what was considered impossible. All the obstacles which were considered insurmountable became surmountable after he stepped into the arena. Not only was Imam Khomeini (r.a.) the embodiment of honor and spiritual power, but he also revived the spirit of honor among our people. This was the great achievement that our magnanimous Imam accomplished.

America busy with waging conflicts in different regions to cover up her crisis

America is in a crisis. Of course, they want to shift this crisis to Asia, Africa and the Middle East. They want to cover up their weakness by causing problems in other countries. Among the things that they want to do is to turn the great popular uprisings in the region against the people. They want to keep the people busy with ethnic, religious and tribal conflicts. We need to be vigilant. Today the Americans are using the experience of the English in creating sectarian conflicts between Shia and Sunni. The English are very skillful at creating enmity among different groups, especially between Shia and Sunni in the world of Islam. They have been doing this since several hundred years ago. The Americans are making use of their experience. When the issue of Palestine comes up, when the issue of Egypt comes up, as soon as they are faced with the people, they use some trickery and immediately bring up the sectarian issue in one way or another. Everybody must stay vigilant. Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims must stay vigilant. Religious scholars and Outstanding academic figures must stay vigilant. The people must stay vigilant. They should know what they are doing. They should be aware of the enemy's plots and machinations. They must not contribute to the enemy's plot. This is what they are doing today. Of course, westerners - especially the Americans - make senseless moves. They magnify the nuclear issue in order to cover up their own problems. They dishonestly put the nuclear issue of Iran at the top of global issues. They deceitfully mention "nuclear weapons". They deceitfully magnify certain issues in their propaganda. Their goal is to divert minds and public opinion from the events that are happening in America and in Europe. Of course, they will not succeed.

Outcomes of Iran's Resistance on Nuclear Issue

The following is an infographic about the achievements, outcomes and benefits of the Islamic Republic of Iran's resistance on the nuclear issue. The information has been extracted from 44 speeches delivered over the past 9 years (2004-2012) by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

Leader’s Message on Inauguration of 9th Majlis

The following is the full text of the message issued on May 27, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of the inauguration of the 9th Majlis. The message was read out to members of the 9th Majlis during the inauguration ceremony by Hojjatoleslam wal-Muslemin Mohammadi Golpayegani, the head of the Leader's office.

Leader Attends Graduation Ceremony at Imam Hussein (a.s.) Military Academy

Ayatollah Khamenei the Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces attended the graduation ceremony of a group of cadets at Imam Hussein (a.s.) Military Academy on Wednesday.
Speaking during the ceremony, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the increasing power and dignity of the Iranian people is the result of adhering to their divine allegiance. He stressed: "In ‘The Decade of Progress and Justice' the pioneering Iranian nation will continue its accelerated movement towards more progress and administration of justice. And in spite of its propaganda, the camp of oppression, arrogance and bullying is in decline."

Leader’s Speech to Hajj Officials

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on May 23, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with officials in charge of hajj affairs.

Leader's Speech at Imam Hussein (a.s.) University

Leader Meets with War Veterans

Leader: Hijab Brings About Dignity for Women

Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met today with a group of panegyrists. Speaking at the meeting, which was held on the occasion of Mother's Day, His Eminence said that hijab brings about honor and dignity for women and stressed: "Modesty brings about respect and dignity for women in society. For this reason, Islam should be appreciated for paying attention to the issue of hijab."