Statements at the Celebration of the Girls' Coming of Age

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

Dear children! First of all, your anthem was excellent; both the lyrics and the melody were good, and you performed well. I congratulate you on your coming of age celebration and also extend my congratulations to all of you dear girls on the occasion of the birth of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). God willing, may you be successful. You dear girls, my precious flowers, tonight you performed your obligatory prayer in congregation in this Hosseiniye; may God accept it, God willing.

Dear children! The coming of age celebration is a true celebration, it is indeed a festival. Why? Because from the moment you reach this age of responsibility, you converse with God Almighty, and God speaks to you; that is, you have gained the ability to converse with God Almighty, to receive commandments from Him, and to fulfill those commandments; this is a valuable rank in the realm of humanity, to be addressed by God, to have God speak to you. The meaning of the coming of age celebration is that you are no longer children, you are not kids anymore; you are adolescents, you are responsible, and you can make an impact in your family, in your school environment, and in your play areas with friends; you can guide others to the right path; this is a responsibility that falls upon all of us. A newly obligated girl like you, in the eyes of God Almighty regarding responsibility, is no different from an adult woman or an elderly man.

The advice I want to give you adolescents, to you dear girls, is to become friends with God; strive to become friends with the kind God from the very beginning of your adolescence. How is friendship with God? One of the ways to befriend God is that you speak with God in your prayers; be mindful that you are talking to God, you are conversing with God; learn the meanings of the words of prayer; learn the translation of Al-Hamd, the Surah, and what you recite in bowing or prostration from your elders and teachers. When you pray, do so in a way that you are conversing with God; this is how you befriend God; this is one of the ways of friendship. Another way of friendship [with God] is to be careful not to do the things that God has forbidden; do the things that God Almighty has commanded. The path to friendship with God is this; and you have bright hearts today, you have luminous hearts, you have pure hearts, you can become friends with God Almighty starting today.

Now in your anthem, you beautifully repeated this; you said here is Iran. Your country, your dear Iran, has had great women in the past, and I must tell you that today our distinguished women are far more than in the past. We have prominent women in all fields of science, practice, jihad, responsibility, management, and so on; these are a source of pride. Prominent women in any country are a source of pride, and we have many in our country, and you should strive to be among these women. How? Study; you must study well, you must do your homework well, work hard, think, read books so that, God willing, you become among the great women in the future.

I hope that God Almighty grants you all success. You can play a role in this great struggle that the Iranian nation has begun against oppression, misery, and discrimination during the revolution, just as many women have played roles and accomplished great things that today are documented, published, and the efforts and endeavors of the distinguished women who have been in the country throughout these years of revolution are read by the people; God willing, you will also be among them.

Now, in order to start our evening prayer, send a loud Salawat (blessing).