In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to welcome all the dear brothers and sisters. Thankfully, today’s meeting in this Hussayniyyah is imbued with the scent of martyrdom, the auspicious memory of our honorable martyrs and the presence of our disabled war veterans and their families. I myself truly appreciate such meetings. Wherever our martyrs are commemorated and praised, every individual and every heart feels a sense of greatness, a feeling that they need nobody and nothing other than God. I hope Allah the Exalted will bestow His blessings, mercy and grace on you dear people and I hope He associates the immaculate souls of our dear martyrs and the immaculate soul of the Imam of martyrs with His saints in the hereafter.
These days belong to Imam Hassan al-Askari (a.s.), who can be the role model for all believers, especially for young people. Everybody “ including his supporters, Shia Muslims, his opponents, those who do not believe in him and everybody else “ has acknowledged his virtues, his knowledge, his piety, his purity, his infallibility, his courage against his enemies, and his patience and steadfastness in the face of hardships. When this great man was martyred, he was only 28 years old. In the glorious history of Shia Islam, there is no shortage of such people. With all those virtues and spiritual characteristics, the father of our dear Imam of the Age was only 28 years old when he was poisoned by his enemies. He is a role model: the youth feel that they have a perfect role model in front of their eyes. Imam Muhammad al-Jawad (a.s.) was martyred when he was 25 and Imam Hassan al-Askari (a.s.) was martyred when he was 28 years old. We are not the only ones who believe in their virtues and greatness, rather their virtues have been acknowledged even by their enemies and those did not believe in their imamate.
The era of the Islamic Republic has been an extraordinary era in our history, a golden page. And in this era, the martyrs that you know and your dear ones and youth who were martyred in the war “ all of them are role models. Every youth who was motivated by his religious faith to leave the comfort of his home, every youth who left the arms of his parents, every youth who left the cool of his home in the heat of summer, every youth who tore himself away from the warm and cozy comfort of his home in the cold of winter and went to the middle of those bloody, agitating and terrifying events, every youth who laid down his life for the sake of fulfilling his obligations and responsibilities “ every such youth is a role model. Such youth are the personifications of greatness in front of our eyes.
People like me who have grown old take spiritual pleasure in seeing these things, but besides this spiritual pleasure, the youth learn a lesson as well. Just as Allah the Exalted says, our martyrs are alive: “Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord.” [The Holy Quran, 3: 169] They are with Allah the Exalted. They are alive. They can see what is happening in this world. They can see what we do. Whenever we come up against a problem, whenever we fail to find our way and manage our affairs, whenever we fail, they become worried. Whenever we see the light, whenever we move forward in a firm way, whenever we move forward on a straight path, whenever we get closer to our goals, they become happy. Whenever the Iranian nation achieves a victory in a particular area, those immaculate souls are delighted. Whenever our nation falls behind and faces a serious problem as a result of our negligence and lack of vigilance, they get worried. In our times, the enemy has deployed a vast front against us and he has been repeatedly defeated, so one would guess that our dear martyrs are happy and delighted. When our people firmly move towards the goals with such harmony and greatness in spite of all these difficulties and spiteful enmities, our martyrs become happy. The pure soul of our Imam (r.a.) becomes happy. The immaculate souls of our martyrs become happy. This is the truth, not an effort to distort the truth.
Today all wealthy and powerful people of the world, all the arrogant powers, all global bullies, all evil people, all those who have the blood of the people on their hands, all those who lie to the people of nations, all those who are prepared to plunder other countries in order to fill their pockets “ all of these people have currently deployed their forces against the Islamic Republic. They have formed a camp against the Islamic Republic. What are they planning to do? Their purpose is to defeat our nation. Their purpose is to discourage the Iranian nation from following this path and continuing the movement that has resulted in a general awakening in the world of Islam. And this is only the beginning and by Allah’s favor, there are brighter future prospects for us. If America, the west, Zionism and the Jewish capitalists and parasites affiliated with the Zionist network manage to bring the Iranian nation to its knees, if they manage to force the Iranian nation to retreat, they can tell the world, “Notice how we put this pioneering nation back in its place!” This is the goal. All their efforts are focused on this goal. There was a day when they would not announce this goal: they would deny it. Today they openly and explicitly announce this goal. They say that they want to impose sanctions “ sanctions on Iran’s oil and sanctions on our Central Bank and other such sanctions “and that they want to issue resolutions through the United Nations Security Council and back them up with other sets of Security Council resolutions. What is the purpose? The purpose is to make the Iranian nation tired. But surprisingly, the Iranian nation has become more vibrant, more dynamic, more steadfast and more determined with the passage of time.
This year your rallies on the 22nd of Bahman “ that great popular movement in support of the government “ were a slap across the face of the arrogant powers. Their wish is to be able to encourage certain grouplets to take to the streets against the Islamic system. They wanted the people of Iran to rise up against the Islamic Republic, but it is their own people who have risen up against their governments. Take a look at the European countries: those take to the streets, those who clench their fists, those who break shop windows “ they are their own people. The plot that they had designed for you has been utilized against themselves. The bullet that they had fired at the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been deflected towards themselves. This is a victory for the Iranian nation.
Today we are moving forward in all areas with a strategic outlook. There might be a case of negligence in a certain area, but in general our great movement is progressive and our nation has not allowed the enemy to take pleasure in the success of his plots. They did everything in their power. They martyred our youth on the streets. They martyred our scientists through their mercenaries and terrorists. They constantly make political, propaganda, economic and security efforts against us and they keep sending spies. They spend huge amounts of money in order to make the Iranian nation tired. Notice that today the Iranian nation is more vibrant, livelier and more determined than ever before. Today’s youth are as lively, dynamic and motivated as the youth of 10, 20 years ago “ if not more so. This is indicative of the progressive movement of the Iranian nation and the retreat of the enemies.
Allah the Exalted has prepared the conditions for our people. These elections, this voter turnout “ all these things are a manifestation of the presence and power of the people. It is around six months that they have been broadcasting different kinds of negative propaganda against the election that will be held on Friday in order to discourage the people from going to the ballot boxes.
Throughout the world, vibrant elections show that the people are vigilant and that they are present on all fronts with firm determination. Whenever there is a large voter turnout in a country, it is a sign that the people are vigilant and awake and that they support their government. The enemies want to take this away from the Iranian nation. They used hundreds and thousands of media outlets in order to make the people disappointed “ and if we take account of the newly established internet media, the number of their media outlets would be in the millions. Sometimes they said the people will not take part in the elections. Other times they said they will impose sanctions on us. Yet other times they said the elections will be rigged. The purpose was to discourage the people from going to the ballot boxes. The purpose was to make the people disappointed. By God’s grace, I feel there is a strong chance that this time the people of Iran will give the arrogant power a stronger slap across the face on Friday.
God is with you. Our hearts and souls are guided by God. “All affairs are in Your hands.” [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 227] Everything is in God’s hands. When the hearts of the people and government officials of a country and the hearts of those who care about the country are with Allah the Exalted, He prepares the path and facilitates things. He removes the obstacles and bestows success on the people of that country. And by Allah’s favor, the Iranian nation will be blessed with this success.
Elections are indeed a slap across the face of the enemies of this nation. What is important is that the people should be present in the election. Of course, it is also important to vote for the candidates who are righteous. Both of these points are important, but being present in the election is of primary importance. The larger the voter turnout and the stronger the support for the Majlis, the more powerful, competent and courageous the Majlis will be and this Majlis will be able to make the voice of the people clearly heard in the world. This is why the presence of the people is so important. I believe that this election is even more sensitive than the previous elections. This is because the arrogant powers have used up all of their bullets against the Iranian nation. They have tried their best to harm us as much as possible. They have done everything that has come to their minds. These are their last bullets. You must stand firm. By Allah’s favor and grace, you should show your determination and willpower to the enemy so that he understands that he cannot stand up against our nation. [People shout “Allahu Akbar” and “liberated Leader, we are ready.”]
God bless you. May God bestow His blessings on the honorable people of Iran and you dear youth. Again, I would like to welcome the dear audience, especially the honorable families of our martyrs, the esteemed disabled war veterans and their families. I hope all of you benefit from the blessings of Allah the Exalted.
Greetings be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings