Statements of His Eminence on the Birth Anniversary of Imam Ali (peace be upon him)

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

To all dear brothers and sisters who have made the effort to come from distant and nearby cities, especially to the esteemed families of the great martyrs and the dear disabled veterans, I extend my warm welcome and hope that the Almighty God blesses this joyous occasion and this great day for all members of the Islamic community and the lovers of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), particularly the Iranian nation, and grants all members of the Islamic community the blessings of this noble day.

Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) belongs to all of humanity; he is not only for the Shi'a nor even for the Muslims. All of humanity is humbled and submissive before the greatness and beauty of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), except for those who do not recognize or have not seen him. Thus, you see that the eulogists of Amir al-Mu'minin are not only Muslims; Christians also praise Amir al-Mu'minin. They are not only Shi'a; the Sunni community in all corners of the Islamic world speaks of Amir al-Mu'minin in different languages and with greater affection than for other great figures of early Islam. Why? What is the reason? The reason is the greatness of this personality; a greatness that for the duration of his life and for several centuries after his martyrdom, some have tried to conceal it; yet they have failed. The brilliance of the sun cannot be hidden; it is the sun, it shines, it gives warmth and light. Can it be denied?!

What are the characteristics recognized in Amir al-Mu'minin? What is this greatness seen in Ali ibn Abi Talib? Where is this greatness? What are its dimensions? This is a discussion that no non-infallible human can claim to fully understand; it has deep and unknown dimensions and is like an ocean. In the ocean, one sees storms, waves, water, and astonishing creatures; however, only one who has been able to reach its depths can comprehend the depths of the ocean-like personality of Amir al-Mu'minin. Only those who are connected to the source of the unseen and are recipients of divine grace can understand it. What we see are the outward appearances; they are signs. Not all of us can see this; these profound wisdoms found in Nahj al-Balagha and in the concise words of Amir al-Mu'minin cannot all be comprehended by us; it is the great sages and those with deep intellect and knowledge who understand them. What we see from Amir al-Mu'minin are these: his courage, his worship, his nobility, his adherence to divine commands, his jihad, his selflessness, his awareness of time, his understanding of humanity, his compassion and kindness towards the weak, his fearlessness in the face of tyrants and oppressors, his insistence on justice among people, and his enmity towards oppression and injustice. These are the outward manifestations of this deep and profound ocean. Now, consider how complex, astonishing, and beautiful these outward manifestations are! What person can be found who possesses so many distinguished qualities?! Amir al-Mu'minin is like this. This is not merely a claim made by the Shi'a.

These are matters that are part of the certainties of history, and even the enemies of Amir al-Mu'minin have acknowledged them. In the assembly of Muawiya, someone made a flattering remark about Amir al-Mu'minin, and Muawiya became angry and expressed a sentence in praise of Amir al-Mu'minin! Among the companions of Amir al-Mu'minin, those who dealt with Muawiya after the martyrdom of that great man, Muawiya would say to them, "Tell me about Ali." They would do so. It is narrated that sometimes Muawiya would shed tears! Such wonders exist! While Muawiya's enmity towards Ali is not a hidden matter; everyone knows this.

One of the descendants of Abdullah ibn Zubair or one of his grandchildren - the Zubair family had a bad relationship with Amir al-Mu'minin - asked his father what the reason for the increasing greatness of the family of Amir al-Mu'minin was. He replied: "Yes, it is so. Whatever the enemies did to conceal his virtues, he, like pure gold, ultimately revealed himself from amidst this debris. And whatever the enemies did to create virtues for themselves, like a corpse whose stench increases more and more with each moment, it repulses the noses. This is how the enemies of Amir al-Mu'minin have spoken about him. Even now, the books of Muslims - both Shi'a and Sunni - are filled with the virtues of Amir al-Mu'minin.

Throughout all periods of his life, he is a role model. Ten, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen-year-old youths can emulate Ali; they can take him as their model. Why? Because at the age of ten or eleven, he was the first person to recognize and accept Islam and followed the Prophet. This is very important. A ten or eleven-year-old child recognizes the truth amidst all that enmity and denial and stands firm for it. Young people aged twenty, twenty-two, and twenty-five can take Amir al-Mu'minin as their model; why? Because he was the one who, at the age of twenty-three - when the Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina - bore the most important burden of this great migration and was entrusted with the Prophet's dearest family members, namely the "Fatimahs," to bring with him from Mecca to Medina; he was given the Prophet's trust in Mecca to return the people's trusts, pay off the Prophet's debts, and gather his claims and join the Prophet in Medina. And on the night when they intended to storm that house and dismember the Prophet with their swords, it was he who volunteered to sleep in the Prophet's place; he put himself in harm's way. Consider this personality! See the greatness! This is how a model is made.

When the Prophet established a government in Medina, Amir al-Mu'minin became the first-class soldier of the Prophet for all those ten years; from the age of twenty-three to thirty-three. Wherever the Prophet faced an issue or problem, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) was the first person present beside the Prophet to defend the truth of the Prophet. In battles, he was at the forefront; in the knots of difficult and unsolvable battles, his sword was the key to victory. Wherever everyone else retreated, he took his life in his hands and moved forward. He asked for nothing for himself; he was entirely in the way of God and for God and in the service of the Prophet.

When the Prophet passed away, Amir al-Mu'minin considered the right to the caliphate to belong to himself; he took action for this, spoke about it, and called for it; then when he saw it was not possible, when he saw that if he entered the field and continued his call, the unity of the Muslims would disintegrate, he withdrew. "I endured while there was a thorn in my eye and a splinter in my throat." For twenty-five years, Amir al-Mu'minin, for the sake of the unity of the Islamic community and the cohesion of the Islamic society and the establishment of the Islamic government, remained silent about his right - which he considered to be his due. Is this a joke?! Is this easy?! These are the things that place a person at the pinnacle of human creation. These are the things that transform a person into a radiant sun throughout human history, which never sets.

After twenty-five years had passed and Amir al-Mu'minin was a fifty-seven or fifty-eight-year-old man - in his old age - the people came and insisted, pleaded, saying, "You must come, you must accept; we will not back down;" Amir al-Mu'minin initially did not accept, but when he saw that people from all over the Islamic world had come and were insisting - from Egypt, from Iraq, from Medina itself; the elders, the emigrants, the helpers - and they said, "O Ali! There is no one but you who can manage this community and solve these problems," he said, "Very well, I accept;" and he accepted. From the moment he accepted this responsibility until the moment his blessed head was split open in the place of worship, he never once wavered from demanding that right and truth for which Islam was established because of him; no embarrassment, no flattery, no consideration, no fear, no weakness deterred him.

"So that people may establish justice." The prophets have come to implement justice; to bring people closer to God; to enforce divine regulations among the people. And Amir al-Mu'minin's mission in the succession of the Prophet and the Islamic caliphate is this. He never retreated from this path for a moment. In his movement, he did not falter. Old friends turned away from him; the opportunists confronted him; they separated from him; wars of overthrow were waged against him. Those who had praised him until yesterday became his blood enemies when they saw his justice; however, the reproach of the reproachers - "Let not the reproach of the reproacher deter them in the cause of God" - did not affect Amir al-Mu'minin in the slightest; he continued steadfastly on his path; and ultimately, he was martyred on this path; "he was killed in the place of worship due to his intense justice." The personality of Amir al-Mu'minin and the outward manifestations we see are these. Consider how astonishing this is! How full of delicacy, beauty, and wonder this tableau is!

Now we bear the name Alawi; we are the Shi'a of Ali. Merely saying Ali and not following his path is of no benefit. There were those in his time who expressed their devotion to him, yet deviated from what he wanted. Amir al-Mu'minin dealt ruthlessly with them. They committed sins and transgressions, and he enforced divine punishments upon them; they spoke disbelief, and he executed them. Some, when they saw such greatness - we are small after all - and when we see a human being of such greatness, we say he is God! We cannot believe that the Almighty God can create such a magnificent personality; thus, we make mistakes. In the time of Amir al-Mu'minin, some made the same mistake and said he was God. Amir al-Mu'minin ordered all of them to be killed; he showed them no mercy; he did not get caught up in embarrassment that they were supporters of ours and were exaggerating about us; no, these people abandoned the path of monotheism, the path of fighting against polytheism, they became apostates and did not repent; Amir al-Mu'minin ordered them all to be punished by divine law and executed. This is Amir al-Mu'minin. If we think that merely praising and extolling Amir al-Mu'minin with our tongues or having love for him in our hearts will exempt us from our deviations, our misdeeds, and our wrongdoings in the eyes of God and Amir al-Mu'minin, we should know that this is not the logic of Amir al-Mu'minin. The logic of Amir al-Mu'minin is the conduct of the path of God. A Shi'a is one who follows Amir al-Mu'minin on this path. Now, if someone makes a mistake, commits a sin, that is another matter; they must seek forgiveness; however, being content with merely being associated with Amir al-Mu'minin and belittling deviations from the path of God is by no means accepted in the logic of Amir al-Mu'minin. The significance of Amir al-Mu'minin's work is that he did not overlook the truth, justice, and the establishment of the divine path due to considerations.

Today, if we want to find a practical example of this movement of Amir al-Mu'minin - which is of course an imperfect example - it is the establishment of the Islamic community and the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic. This means standing up against oppression, deviation, disbelief, and the oppressive and corrupt movements of the global tyrants. We must move forward on this path. The very existence and identity of the Islamic Republic is in opposition to oppression and tyranny; it is against discrimination. You see who holds the power in the world today; see what atrocities are being committed by the powerful; see what these powers of wealth and might are doing to humanity; all under the guise of colorful propaganda, along with wealth and might and deception in the name of human rights! In the name of democracy! In the name of freedom! What are they doing to humanity!

Today, America - by which I mean the American government - is the epitome of oppression against humanity, and even the people of America are being oppressed today. The tyrannical regime and the corrupt Zionist network in the world today are the epitome of moral corruption and the destruction of human generations; they are misleading and leading astray. The powers that dominate the world today are oppressive and tyrannical powers, and for this reason, they are at odds with the Islamic Republic. The steadfastness of the Islamic Republic is the manifestation of the justice-seeking of Amir al-Mu'minin. What we, the Iranian nation, and especially our officials have on our shoulders is to bring this model closer and more similar to its original example. Within the country, the slogan of "justice" must be taken seriously; the slogan of "piety" must be taken seriously; the path of Amir al-Mu'minin must be taken seriously, and this is what can help us achieve the lofty aspirations and goals of the Iranian nation; just as the characteristics of our great Imam were similar to those qualities of Amir al-Mu'minin that are necessary for the progress and life of the Islamic community; of course, with a clear distance between that great peak and ordinary humans. Our great Imam did not consider embarrassment, flattery, or fear and weakness in the path of truth and justice; he, just as Amir al-Mu'minin advised, "Do not be afraid in the path of guidance due to its few followers," was not afraid of loneliness; he was not afraid of being left alone; he had no apprehension; the truth was with him, so God was with him. He moved forward with effort, and the Almighty God accompanied the Iranian nation and the Muslim nations with him in heart and in limbs, and you saw what a great movement was created. This is how the Imam was.

Today, if the officials of the country and all our people want the Iranian nation to reach that lofty peak of greatness, honor, and dignity that it aspires to, they must follow this same path; they must continue this path with complete courage, with full awareness and insight, with risk-taking against the powerful and tyrants of the world. Success lies in "steadfastness."

The main enemies of the Iranian nation - the Zionist network and the Zionist regime and the American regime, especially this group that is currently in power in America, are the main enemies of the Iranian nation and the path of the Iranian nation - are becoming increasingly infamous in the world and more isolated from the sentiments of the Muslim nations; indeed, they are even more isolated among non-Muslim nations. Today, America is one of the most hated countries in the world; wherever polls are conducted, the result is the same. And the Islamic Republic, thanks to the steadfastness of the Iranian nation, thanks to the slogan of justice and people-friendliness - which, thanks be to God, is constantly on the lips of the statesmen in this country - is dear to the Muslim nations. The Muslim nations have approved this path and have, to some extent, moved forward in this direction; of course, the conditions of the nations vary. When you look at the Muslim nations in our region and the Islamic countries, you see that all these nations have, in one way or another, supported and endorsed the path of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation; they have praised it and taken steps or strides in this direction and have progressed; this is what angers global arrogance. The path to success is steadfastness on this path. All members of the Iranian nation should know that the path to salvation, the path to success, the path to achieving the great aspirations of a nation - which is dignity, prosperity, and the pinnacle of national and cultural honors - is solely dependent on this: that this nation does not fear its enemies, recognizes its path, and moves forward on this path with complete perseverance and steadfastness.

We hope that the Almighty God grants the Iranian nation and all Muslim nations His grace and favor, and that the pure spirit of Amir al-Mu'minin and the Imam of the God-conscious (may his soul be sanctified) is pleased with the activities of the Iranian nation and the faithful youth who are striving in this country; and God willing, may you all be included in the prayers of that great man and the prayers of the Awaited Savior (may our souls be sacrificed for him); and God willing, may the pure spirit of our great Imam and the martyrs be pleased with you.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.