The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 18, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with government officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries. The meeting was held on the occasion of Mab'ath.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to congratulate the esteemed people who have attended this splendid meeting - especially the guests who come from other countries and the honorable ambassadors of Muslim countries - on this great Eid. I would also like to congratulate the people of Iran who founded their movement on Mab'ath and made efforts to reach the great goals of the Last Prophet's (s.w.a.) be'that. They took the trouble and thankfully they were given what Allah the Exalted has promised. Allah the Exalted has promised victory, progress and happiness for nations that follow this path and His promises are unbreakable. I also congratulate the Islamic Ummah on this great Eid. After decades of experimenting with different schools of thought, today the Islamic Ummah has developed a tendency towards Prophet Muhammad's (s.w.a.) religion. After Muslim intellectuals, opinion-makers and pioneers experienced different western and eastern schools of thought, claims and -isms for many years and realized their futility and failure, today the Islamic Ummah has turned to the essence and goals of be'that. Today is an auspicious day for them and we hope all human beings benefit from the blessings of be'that.
What I am trying to say is that 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.
Human communities need to think. They need to find out the causes of human afflictions. There is no doubt about the fact that there is oppression and about the fact that double standards are prevalent in the policies of the domineering powers of the world. It is obvious to everybody that human communities are exposed to clear oppression. Everybody can clearly see that the domineering powers are oppressing defenseless nations. A superpower travels thousands of kilometers and imposes its hegemony on a poor and defenseless country in our region. They turn wedding ceremonies into funerals. Their helicopters shower the people with death. They demolish houses. And nobody is allowed to protest. They do not even apologize. This is the situation of the world. This is the case with advanced countries as well. Take a look at the economic issues of the world and you will see that the situation of the advanced countries is not different. Solving the problems of the people is not an issue for Europe. They are only trying to solve the problems of capitalists, owners of banks and those who have enormous wealth: today this is what they are concerned about. The domineering powers are not concerned about humanity. These are some of the realities that exist in the world. Human beings should think and try to find out the causes of these problems. The cause of these problems is the system of hegemony, the existence of two poles: those who dominate and those who are dominated. If the domineering powers did not exist, the system of hegemony would be annihilated. Similarly, if those who are dominated refused to give in to domination, the system of hegemony would fall apart. And in this regard, the responsibility lies on the shoulders of nations, especially on the shoulders of outstanding political and cultural personalities.
When the satans who are affiliated with the arrogant powers notice a truly popular liberation movement in one corner of the world, they focus all their efforts on turning that movement against itself or changing its main characteristics. You see what is happening in our region today. The people carry out revolutions in order to put an end to their dependence on America, in order to deliver themselves from the hegemony of Zionism, in order to express hatred towards the existence of this cancerous tumor in the heart of Islamic countries. In response, all political, security and financial organizations of the arrogant powers and their followers start to counter the popular movement. This is the issue.
Nations should stand on their own feet. They should make use of the divine blessing of thinking. They should have faith in themselves. They should have faith in their power. They should have faith in God. They should show that they trust God. Allah the Exalted has promised to support those who support His cause. "And surely Allah will help him who helps His cause." [The Holy Quran, 22: 40] Allah the Exalted has stressed this. If nations stand up and resist, they will definitely achieve victory. Our nation is a living example in this regard. The enemy uses thousands of tools and propaganda techniques to hide the truth from the people of the world, but the truth is what we can see. Over the past 33 years and since the first day, our Revolution, our nation and our dear country have been the target of their attacks and plots. People with different political tendencies have come to power since then: they have disagreed on hundreds of issues, but all of them have shared the tendency to confront and harm the Islamic Revolution and the tendency to use different methods to push aside this living role model which is in front of Muslims. The same is still true today. They have joined hands to push the Iranian nation out of the scene. I would tell you with absolute certainty that they will completely fail in their efforts.
Of course, victory is impossible without selfless efforts, without taking action, without taking risks. Allah the Exalted has not promised victory to those who fail to take action. And piety alone is not enough. We need to make selfless efforts as well and we need to be patient. "And certainly we would bear with patience your persecution of us." [The Holy Quran, 14: 12] This is what divine prophets would say to their enemies. They would tell their enemies that they would resist, and they did so. In spite of all that suppression, today the logic of divine prophets has spread to all parts of the world. The logic of divine prophets prevailed, but the logic of pharaonic people did not. And this prophetic orientation and movement will spread on a daily basis. It is necessary to be patient. It is necessary to resist. Our people showed that they are resistant. Our enemies do not want to understand this. They 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. Our nation is standing firm. Our nation has identified the path and the goal. Our nation has identified its capacities.
The lesson that we have learnt from the Holy Quran and Islam is resistance, selfless efforts and unity - the joining of hearts and hands. And this is not particular to our nation. The entire world of Islam should be united. Today you see that causing sectarian conflicts between Shia and Sunni is one of the points that our enemies stress strongly. In line with the wishes of the intelligence services of America and Israel, those who believe neither in Shia Islam, nor in Sunni Islam, nor in the essence of Islam announce that they are concerned about the spread of Shia Islam. What do you know about Shia Islam? What do you know about Sunni Islam? You do not even believe in religion. Today the policy of the arrogant powers and their intelligence services is to make us fear each other. They are trying to make Shia and Sunni fear each other. They are trying to cause conflicts. The only way to defeat the enemies is to think and unite, to make hearts get closer to each other, to join hands. "He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He might cause it to prevail over all religions." [The Holy Quran, 9: 33] And by Allah's grace, this will happen. Allah the Exalted in His grace will make the goals, commands and plans of this be'that prevail over all the plots of the enemy.
I hope Allah the Exalted bestows increasing blessings on you, on the Iranian nation and on the Islamic Ummah. I hope He associates the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) - who opened up this path in front of us and guided us towards it - with His saints, divine prophets and the infallible Imams.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings