Statements of the Supreme Leader in Meeting with Various Segments of People on the Occasion of the Birth of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance)

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

I extend my congratulations on the very great and blessed birth of the Seal of the Successors, His Holiness the Master of the Age and the Owner of Time (may our souls be sacrificed for him and may God hasten his reappearance) to you, dear brothers and sisters present here, especially those who have come from afar, and particularly to the esteemed families of martyrs, the disabled, and the devoted, as well as to the entire nation of Iran, to all Shia around the world, and to all those who, in any corner of the world, suffer from the oppression and darkness of tyrannical governments and seek hope.

One of the most important days of the year is the mid-Sha'ban day, which coincides with the blessed and auspicious birth of His Holiness Baqiyatullah (may our souls be sacrificed for him), and both the night and day of mid-Sha'ban, regardless of the birth of this great personage on this night and day, are among the blessed nights and days. The night of mid-Sha'ban is a very blessed night, second only to the Nights of Power, a time for attention, remembrance, and supplication to the divine grace of God Almighty, and for seeking and requesting. It also has acts and supplications which, if you have been successful in performing them, God willing, they will be accepted by the Lord. If some have been negligent and inattentive, they should remember to cherish the night of mid-Sha'ban every year.

The issue of the birth of Imam Mahdi (peace and blessings be upon him and may God hasten his noble reappearance) is significant in that it reminds us of the concept of expectation and the promised era, which is depicted in our religion, indeed in the sacred religion of Islam—the promised era of the end times; the era of Mahdism. We should remember it, emphasize it, and engage in useful studies and discussions about it.

All constructive beliefs have been attacked by the enemy. Dear brothers and sisters! This is a very important point. Pay attention to how vigilant we must be today! The enemies have targeted the entire set of Islamic laws and regulations—every belief, every recommendation of the sacred law that has had a positive and prominent impact on the life and future destiny of the individual, the community, and the Islamic nation—and have struggled with it in some way, to eliminate it if they can; if not, to work on its content!

Well, you might say, 'What can the enemy do? How can the enemy affect Islamic beliefs to the extent that they are no longer useful to people?' No, this is a mistake. The enemy can; however, not in the short term, but over many years. Sometimes they work for decades to blind or dim a bright spot, or to create a dark spot! They sit for many years and spend money! One struggles and strives but does not succeed; others come after him. Much work has been done on the beliefs of the Islamic world. They have worked on the belief in monotheism, the belief in Imamate, and Islamic ethics—the meaning of patience, the meaning of trust, the meaning of contentment!

All these are prominent points that, if we Muslims pay proper attention to their truth, they become a driving force for the Islamic society; but when they work on it and ruin it and change its meaning and implant it in minds in another form, this very driving force turns into a narcotic and sedative drug. This is how it is!

Regarding the belief in the promised Mahdi—that in the end times, a person from the family of the Prophet will appear who will fill the world with justice, equity, and goodness and eliminate discrimination, oppression, exploitation, and class differences—much work has been done.

This belief, which all Muslims believe in, is not exclusive to Shia. Of course, in its specifics and details, some sects have different views; but the principle that such an era will come and that a person from the family of the Prophet will undertake such a great divine movement and 'God will fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny' is widely accepted among Muslims. Everyone accepts this. Well, this belief is one of those very effective beliefs about which I will say a little. Because it is effective, enemies from one side and, of course, ignorant friends from the other side attack it. Sometimes ignorant friends, out of ignorance and inattention, do things that no wise enemy can do as effectively!

Now our discussion is about the wise enemies who have targeted this belief. I saw a document from decades ago, from the early days of colonialism's entry into North Africa. The countries of North Africa have a strong inclination towards the Ahl al-Bayt. Whatever their Islamic sect may be, they are lovers of the Ahl al-Bayt. In countries like Sudan and Morocco, the belief in Mahdism is very strong. At the time when colonialism entered those regions—which was in the last century—one of the issues that troubled colonialism was the belief in Mahdism!

In the document I saw, the colonial leaders and commanders recommended that we must work to gradually eliminate the belief in Mahdism from among the people! At that time, the French and British colonialists were in some of those African countries—it doesn't matter where the colonialism is from—foreign colonialists judged that as long as the belief in Mahdism is prevalent among these people, we cannot fully control their countries!

See how important the belief in Mahdism is! How mistaken are those who, in the name of intellectualism and modernism, come and question and doubt Islamic beliefs without study, without knowledge, and without knowing what they are doing! They easily do what the enemy wants! Islamic beliefs are like this. Well, why do they do this?

There are several characteristics in the belief in Mahdism that are like blood in the body and like the soul in the body for any nation. One is hope. Sometimes powerful and oppressive hands bring weak nations to a point where they lose hope. When they lose hope, they no longer take any action; they say, 'What is the use? We are beyond help; who should we confront? What should we do? Why should we strive? We can no longer do anything!'

This is the spirit of hopelessness. Colonialism wants this. Today, global arrogance wants Muslim nations, including the dear nation of Iran, to fall into a spirit of hopelessness and say, 'Nothing can be done anymore; it is no longer useful!' They want to forcibly inject this into the people. We, who are in the flow of the enemy's poisonous propaganda news, clearly see that most of the news they organize is to discourage the people. They want to discourage people from the economy and culture, to discourage the devout from the spread of religion, to discourage freedom seekers and those interested in cultural and political issues from the possibility of political or cultural work, and to portray the future as dark and bleak in the eyes of those who look to the future! Why? To take away the enthusiasm and hope from this human group that works with hope and turn it into a dead or semi-dead entity so that they can do whatever they want! They cannot do whatever they want with a living nation. With an unconscious, senseless, unconscious body lying in a corner, anyone can inject whatever they want; they can do anything with it; but with a lively, intelligent, active, and dynamic entity, they cannot do whatever they want!

A nation is the same way. With the Muslim and revolutionary nation of Iran—these people who live under the shadow of the Islamic Republic—they cannot do whatever they want. It is an awake, alive, aware nation that knows its own worth, knows its power and dignity, and behaves with the world as befits itself; you see the results.

If a nation had no movement for itself and did not consider value and future for itself, enemies could come and plan for it, recommend to it, decide for it, and act! They can do these things without any obstacles. This is due to lack of movement. Lack of movement is due to lack of hope. Therefore, they try to make people hopeless! You should know.

Today, any breath and any voice that blows and sounds to discourage people, know that it is in the hands of the enemy; whether it knows it or not! Any pen that writes a word to discourage and dishearten people belongs to the enemy. Whether the owner of this pen knows it or not, the enemy uses it.

At that time, the belief in Mahdism and the existence of the noble Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him) keeps hope alive in hearts. A person who believes in this principle never becomes hopeless. Why? Because he knows there is a definite bright end; there is no turning back. He tries to reach it.

So, this is the belief. Of course, when they could not take this belief from the people, they try to ruin it in people's minds. How is this belief ruined? By saying that Imam Mahdi will come and fix everything! This is ruining the belief. This is turning a driving engine into a stick in the wheel; turning a tonic medicine into a narcotic and sedative.

What does it mean that Imam Mahdi will come and do it? What is your duty today? What should you do today? You must prepare the ground so that the great one can come and act in that prepared ground. It cannot start from scratch! A society can be receptive to the promised Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him) if there is readiness and capability in it; otherwise, it will be like the prophets and saints throughout history. What was the reason that many great prophets of determination came and could not cleanse the world of evils? Why? Because the grounds were not prepared. Why could not the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace and blessings be upon him) in his time, during that short period of government with that divine power, with that knowledge connected to the divine source, with that willpower, with those beauties and brilliance in his personality, and with those recommendations of the Holy Prophet about him—could not eradicate the root of evil?

They removed the great one from the path! 'He was killed in the niche of his worship due to the intensity of his justice.' The price of the justice of the Commander of the Faithful was the life of the Commander of the Faithful that was lost! Why? Because the ground was unfavorable. They had made the ground a ground of worldliness! Those who lined up against the Commander of the Faithful in the late or mid-government of Ali were those whose religious grounds were not strong and whose religious material was not thick and suitable! Lack of readiness causes such a disaster!

If Imam Mahdi (peace and blessings be upon him) comes in a world without readiness, the same will happen! There must be readiness. How is this readiness? This is what you see examples of in your society. Today in Islamic Iran, there are things of spiritual brilliance that are nowhere else in the world. As far as we have news and reports and information; we are not unaware of the world's affairs.

Today, where in the world are there young people who step over the desires of the soul and materialism and turn to spirituality? Of course, sometimes there is a young person, two young people, or an exceptional person somewhere—they are found everywhere in the world—but where is there a large number of a generation like this? Nowhere; it is here! Some thought it was specific to the war period. Of course, during the war, there were more suitable grounds, and its prominence was greater; but it is not as some thought. Today, too, there are good young people, faithful young people, Hezbollahis, who pass over the desires of the soul and people who pass over money and wealth and income; they are many; while, of course, some are also running after these facilities and spoiling the atmosphere! Some move with high-mindedness, piety, and indifference to these trappings. These are specific to this country. So, it is possible to move step by step towards righteousness.

Women are the same way. Perhaps it can be said that the women of our country are better than anywhere else in the world. When it comes to work—political work, cultural work, and organizational work—they are ahead; when it comes to jihad, they send their children to the front with their own hands, and when it comes to housekeeping and raising children, they are the housewives!

All these are rare in the world. These are very valuable; these are the training of Islam; these are all hopeful. These have caused, thanks be to God, today you see positive results. Of course, we have always said this, we have repeated it many times; now the Iranian nation itself gradually sees its political dignity in the world. We always said that, thanks be to God, the Iranian nation—and following the Iranian nation, the Iranian government and the country's officials—are honored in the world.

Sometimes, in corners, they would smirk and say, 'Yes; keep praising your people, your country, and yourselves!' Well, today everyone sees this. You saw this conference! Before the conference, there were other events that the Iranian nation observed. Thanks be to God, this country is a dear and powerful country; it is a country that even its enemies admit is prominent and has a great nation, and its officials are sincere, faithful, interested, and followers of Islam. All these are blessings.

So, it is possible to prepare the grounds. When such grounds, God willing, expand, the ground for the appearance of His Holiness Baqiyatullah (may our souls be sacrificed for him) will also be created, and the issue of Mahdism—this long-standing wish of humanity and Muslims—will be realized.

We hope that the Iranian nation will be subject to the attentions of that great one. God willing, all of you and all of us will have the success to one day be in the service of that great one, strive and struggle for God, lose our lives in the path of God in front of that great one, and achieve the blessing of martyrdom—which is the greatest honor and pride—and also, before his appearance, during the time of occultation, may God Almighty grant us the success to be soldiers of that great one, to be devoted and reminded of that great one, and to establish a heartfelt and spiritual connection with that great one. If you have intimacy from this side, attention, remembrance, and kindness and love will be attracted from that side. We hope, God willing, that all problems, all obstacles, and all hardships and sufferings will be removed by the grace of this mutual connection, with God's favor and with the hand of God's power.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings