The following is the full text of the speech delivered on August 19, 2007 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with participants of the fourth international congress on the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to welcome the dear guests and participants in this congress and meeting. I also congratulate all of you on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversaries which exist in the month of Sha'ban, including the birthday anniversaries of Hazrat Abi Abdullah (a.s.), Imam Sajjad (a.s.), Hazrat Abul Fazl (s.a.) and the auspicious birthday anniversary of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
The pivot of this meeting and other meetings, which are held by you brothers and sisters and which are known as the congress on the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household, is a very great pivot. This pivot revolves around the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household (peace and greetings be upon them). This is the issue whose significance the Holy Quran has referred to. "And God only wishes to remove all abomination from you, members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless" [The Holy Quran, 33: 33]. Also, in the hadiths, quoted by the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), there are many clear and undeniable points about the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household such as the famous Hadith al-Thaqalayn in which the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household are ranked alongside the Holy Quran: "Truly, I leave among you two weighty things: the book of Allah and my household" [Oyun al-Akhbar, volume2, page 62]. This is a reliable hadith among Muslims. There is another well-known and fairly reliable hadith: "The members of my household are like the ship of Noah. Whoever boards this ship will be saved and whoever leaves it will drown" [Bihar al-Anwar, volume 23, page 124]. And there are many other narrations in this regard.
This glorious, lofty and great title [which the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household enjoy] is the pivot around which this meeting revolves. Of course, all Muslims love the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household, except for a few Nasibis and other such people. All Muslim denominations love the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household and they accept - in theory and practice - the position that they enjoy. But Shia Muslims are people who are known for their following and believing in the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household (a.s.). As described in the Ziarat Jamia, "We are known for believing in you" [Bihar al-Anwar, volume 99, page 127]. Shia Muslims know the spiritual role of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household and they have accepted their position as successors of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) in the Islamic Ummah. The fact that such a great issue is the pivot of such meetings promotes the level, the greatness and the value of our work. It attaches significance to the responsibility that this meeting has. Why have we gathered in this meeting? We should clearly identify the goal of this meeting. We should know what we are looking for.
Today, the world of Islam needs the message of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. Unlike what some narrow-minded people and those who have ulterior motives imagine and contrary to what they constantly say, the issue of being followers of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household, organizing a congress on the Imams (a.s.) in Shia Communities and paying attention to their message is not one that creates discord. This issue is not about denying. It is about proving. The school of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household has certain true things to say and the world of Islam needs these things today.
If somebody takes a look at Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya - because of the birthday anniversary of Imam Sajjad (a.s.) it is necessary to pay more attention to this very dear book - they can see that there is a summary of the ideas and thoughts of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household in this book. In Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, there are many points about deep faith, pure and unambiguous mysticism, the source of the greatness of God, attention to the affairs of people and Muslims - the affairs of the people with whom we are involved - and the significance of Islamic glories which were achieved during the early Islamic era. It is a book about living in a mystical, loving and wise way. It is a combination of these things. On the other hand, there is a sea of narrations, quoted by the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household, in it. These are things which the world of Islam needs today.
If our meeting pivots around the auspicious names of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household, this is not because we want to build a wall around ourselves so that it separates us from the rest of Muslims. On the contrary, it is because we want to open up new horizons for Islamic intellectuals. We want to open new windows so that they can see new truths. This is our mission and responsibility.
Primarily, the followers of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a) household should acknowledge the significance of this lofty identity. First, they themselves should know the precious jewel which they hold in their hands so that they can present it to the world. They should find the courage to present this precious jewel in a market in which there are different things. They should have the courage to show it to other people.
This is the mission of the congress on the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household: promoting a sense of pride in following the Holy Prophet's (s.w..a) household. We are proud that we managed to know these great Imams (a.s.). We thank God that we did not ignore the position of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household (may God bestow His blessings on them). God guided us and we managed to understand and know them and we felt that we should present these truths to people throughout the world, as the Imams (a.s.) did this. We should not do this with narrow-mindedness and belligerence. We should not do this by mixing superstitious issues with these precious truths. Today, one of the issues that we are involved with is this. We should remove superstitious ideas from religious concepts. Generally speaking, this is one of the important issues which exist in the teachings of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. And this is the responsibility of ulama and outstanding personalities. Not any kind of person can do this and this makes the responsibility of ulama and experts heavier. According to different narrations, we should introduce the people to characteristics of the statements of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. "If people know the beauties of our words, they will definitely follow us" [Bihar al-Anwar, volume 2, page 30]. If people see the allure and the beauties of the statements of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household, their hearts will be drawn to them and they will be attracted to them. This is our responsibility today.
There is a deep-rooted and dangerous plot - which existed since a long time ago - for creating discord among Islamic denominations. Now, they raise the issue of Shia and Sunni, but this discord is not particular to Shia and Sunni. They want the rest of Islamic denominations, Shia denominations and Sunni denominations - including usuli, fiqhi and kalami denominations - to confront members of their own group. They want them to fight with and shout at one another. This is what the enemy wants. In particular, the English are very skilled and experienced in doing this.
For many years - for decades or perhaps one can say for hundreds of years - they have been working on this. They perfectly know how to do this. They know our weak points and they focus on them in order to create discord. Now too, they are busy working in a very serious way. Of course, in the present time, this issue is not particular to the English. There are also the intelligence services of America, Israel and all other countries. They want to deepen this discord. In order to do this, they spread rumors and they speak to such and such an official in a Sunni country in a way that he feels Shia Islam is threatening him as a danger. They speak to Shia Muslims - the officials in a Shia country and other countries in which Shia Muslims live - in a way that they feel Sunni Muslims are threatening them and they will destroy their lives and identities. This is what the enemies do. In the histories of Muslim nations, there are instances of the same issue. There are specific instances of the same thing. In our own times too, we can also see instances of this issue. They say to such and such a Sunni official, "Why have you sat idle? A number of people have come from Iran and they have made certain villages become Shias". And they come to our country and they say to a number of us, "Why have you sat idle? A number of people have come and they have made certain villages in your country become Sunnis". This is what the enemy does. We should know this.
One issue is creating discord and a sense of worry among Muslims so that they do not become united. They do not want this unity to bring about a great whole. Even thinking about this shakes the hearts of the greedy and arrogant powers. This great whole is the Islamic Ummah. If the Islamic Ummah is formed in the real sense of the word, this will really frighten colonialists, greedy powers and those who have wanted to loot this region and use it for their own benefit.
There is another motivation behind their efforts to create discord. This motivation was combined with the previous motivation after the uprising of the Iranian nation and after the flag of the Islamic Revolution was raised in this country. This is the fact that they are trying to create discord between Islamic Iran and other countries in the world. This is because they fear that Iran may inject the ideas and thoughts of the real Islam - the kind of Islam which promotes jihad, independence, dignity and identity and the kind of Islam which regards the domination of foreigners and enemies over the Islamic Ummah as a sin and which does not at all accept it - into other Islamic societies and this may multiply their problems. They know that those thoughts and ideas that awaken a nation - a nation like our nation which was colonized during the time of taghut - bring it into the arena, make it try hard, take away its fears, bring it into the arena of great international battle and help it emerge victorious out of this arena at all stages are very dangerous for those who loot the world and for those who have made many plans for the Middle East region, its oil and other such things. They do not want to let this happen. Of course, they have made many efforts, but they have failed to this day.
Despite these things and despite all these destructive measures and propaganda efforts, the thoughts and ideas of the Islamic Revolution have penetrated the entire world of Islam to this day. Of course, if their propaganda did not exist, the situation would be different. Today, there are many propaganda efforts against the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution. As a result of this, many propaganda efforts are made against Shia Islam too. Those people who want to be in the middle of the arena and work as followers of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household should pay attention to such things and they should choose their priorities by paying attention to such facts.
Dear brothers and sisters, you have undertaken a great responsibility. The congress on the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household has defined great responsibilities for itself. These formal tasks - such as a few seminars in such and such a place and other such tasks - are small tasks. Your main responsibility is one that should be carried out while you are doing these tasks. And this responsibility is introducing the school of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) to the world of Islam and the entire world because, today, the entire world is thirsty for spirituality. Such spirituality exists in Islam. There is a comprehensive and complete version of such spirituality in the kind of Islam which is represented by the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. There is no isolation and separation from life in this spirituality. Such spirituality is accompanied by politics and mysticism, social activities, supplication and tears before Allah the Exalted and jihad. These are things which exist in the school of Islam and they are manifested in the teachings and concepts of Shia Islam. We have witnessed the real instances of such things. Many instances of such things were witnessed in the contemporary history of Islamic Iran. This is the main responsibility.
Of course, we are sure that today in the battle between right and wrong - the battle between Islam, Islamic teachings and the Islamic Awakening on the one hand and the greedy and arrogant policies of global devils, headed by America which is the great Satan, on the other hand - we are sure that victory is ours. The victory belongs to the side that is right. There is no doubt in this. All evidence shows and proves this. This is the nature of the divine tradition. This is the only meaning of the divine tradition. If the group of people who support the right cause stand firm and take action, there will be no doubt that they will defeat the wrong cause. Divine traditions tend to strengthen the right cause and this is the natural expectation that one has from all divine traditions throughout history.
We are witnessing this in practice. If the Islamic movement which exists today is compared, in terms of dynamism, with the Islamic movement which existed 20 years ago, one can see that this movement enjoys much more dynamism and it has made much more progress. In particular, if you take a look at the Islamic Republic, if you compare its current situation with the situation that it had 20 years ago, you will see that it has made astonishing achievements in all areas. The Islamic Republic has become stronger and more competent in scientific, technological, political and managerial areas. In the entire world of Islam - in Africa, Asia and even in countries in which Muslims are minorities - one can see that this identity has gathered strength among groups of Muslims.
On the one hand Muslims have become stronger and on the other hand, today's America has become much weaker than the America of 20 years ago. Today's America does not have the grandeur and power that it enjoyed at that time. It has suffered certain defeats and this has increased its weaknesses on a daily basis. They have fallen into a deep morass and they sink deeper in it as time passes. This morass represents a dangerous future for America and all those who went deep into dangerous political wells with the piece of rope that America provided them with. This is our experience. This is our outlook. This is a fact which we are aware of. However, we should not be proud of such facts.
We should know that divine mercy and assistance depend on the diligence that a religious person shows and the good deed that he does. We should be present in the arena. We should not forget our sense of responsibility. We should not forget the issue of diligence. Jihad in different arenas is our responsibility and it will guarantee our progress and victory. Jihad includes political, cultural, communication and social arenas. Jihad is not restricted to military jihad. All the arenas of human life are jihad-like arenas.
Wherever in the world we live, the relationship between Muslim brothers should be strengthened. Their efforts should be more serious and their priorities should be clearer. They should devote more energy to priorities. In the future, Muslims - in general - and the followers of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household - in particular - will enjoy brighter prospects than today and, by Allah's favor, they will be closer to achieving their lofty goals and ideals.
I hope that Allah the Exalted will bestow His blessings on all the brothers and sisters. I hope that He will make us familiar with our responsibilities and will help us become successful in fulfilling them. I hope that He will make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) satisfied and pleased with us. And I hope that He will make the immaculate soul of our Imam (r.a.) - who opened this path for us - and the pure souls of our martyrs satisfied and pleased with us.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings