Statements of the Supreme Leader in the Eid al-Fitr Prayer Sermons

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

All praise is due to God, the Lord of all the worlds. We praise Him, seek His help, ask for His forgiveness, and rely on Him. We send blessings and peace upon His beloved, His chosen one, and the best of His creation; our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen family, the guides and the rightly guided, especially the remaining proof of God on earth. Blessings be upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers. I advise you, servants of God, to be God-conscious.

I extend my congratulations on the blessed Eid al-Fitr to all Muslims around the world, especially to the dear, noble, faithful, and striving people of Islamic Iran, to you worshippers, and particularly to the self-sacrificing individuals, the esteemed families of the martyrs, the dear veterans, the freed captives, the missing, and their families.

As can be understood from the totality of what pertains to Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, this noble day is a day of purification and cleansing. In one of the two surahs recited in the Eid prayer, it is stated: 'He who purifies himself has succeeded.' (Al-A'la: 14) This means that whoever cleanses himself and saves his soul and heart from impurities will attain success. Success means achieving success in the field of life and reaching the goal of creation. In the second rak'ah surah, it is stated: 'He who purifies it has succeeded.' (Ash-Shams: 9); it is the same meaning. That is, whoever can purify and cleanse his soul has achieved success and salvation. In both surahs, the discussion is about purification and cleanliness.

In addition to these, on this day, there is a financial obligation, which is the payment of Zakat al-Fitr. Zakat is also that financial provision that leads to the purification of a person: 'Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase.' (At-Tawbah: 103). Taking this obligation and this financial charity from the people leads to the purification of their souls and cleanses them from baseness, meanness, greed, and other impurities.

Dear ones, my brothers and sisters; dear worshippers! Thus, Eid al-Fitr is a day of purification and cleanliness. This cleanliness may be because you have fasted for a month, endured hardships, and cleansed yourself from impurities. It may also be because on such a day, by attending this field of worship, you have turned to collective worship. In any case, the issue is that the Muslim person, after the month of Ramadan, on the day of Eid al-Fitr, is in the field of purification and cleansing.

You have purified and cleansed yourself. If you have performed the fast correctly and the Eid prayer correctly - which you certainly have - appreciate this purity and this cleanliness of the soul. What saves a person is this cleanliness. What entraps people is impurity; moral impurities, impurities arising from lust and anger, impurities arising from greed and miserliness, and other moral vices. People and individuals of humanity, with these vile morals, have darkened the world, polluted the earth, and denied God's blessings.

In the Islamic Republic system - which is a divine system and a Quranic government - people can better ensure their purity than in other systems. Appreciate this. Today, the world of humanity needs your message of purification and cleansing. This oppression, tyranny, and discrimination that exist globally, this misery of people in many countries, this confusion of youth in the advanced countries of the world, these inappropriate relations between men and women, these lustful impurities, these political impurities, and these financial impurities are because people have not sought to purify and cleanse themselves. The Quran calls for purification. The holy Prophet of Islam purifies people; with his prayer, with his zakat, with his fasting, and with his Eid al-Fitr.

In the Islamic system, this opportunity is available to everyone. My dear youth! Boys and girls who are passing through the period of purity and illumination of hearts and souls! You, more than others, should appreciate this purity and preserve it. Your country, by the grace of God and the blessing of this purity, will be prosperous and free, will develop, its ruins will be eliminated, and poverty, discrimination, and various hardships of life will be eradicated.

Everyone must move towards God, extend their hand to God, seek help from Him, strive to keep their skirts clean, and avoid impurities. Those who are engaged in financial matters are at risk of financial impurities. Those who are involved in political and social affairs are at risk of such impurities. Those who are exposed to lusts are at risk of sexual and lustful impurities. Those who have subordinates are at risk of impurity from oppression and injustice. Those who have a task in their hands are at risk of impurity from betrayal in their work.

Everyone must be vigilant. Everyone must be mindful of their actions, and this vigilance is the same piety that we are commanded to enjoin upon ourselves and our listeners in the Eid al-Fitr prayer.

O Lord! Grant us the success of piety, purity, cleansing, fulfilling obligations, and following the straight path.

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

By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss, except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience. (Al-Asr: 1-4)

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

All praise is due to God, the Lord of all the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen family; the rightly guided, the infallible. Especially upon Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, and the truthful, the pure lady, the mistress of the women of the worlds, and Hasan and Husayn, the two grandsons of mercy and the two leaders of guidance, and Ali ibn Husayn, the adornment of the worshippers, and Muhammad ibn Ali, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad, and Musa ibn Ja'far, and Ali ibn Musa, and Muhammad ibn Ali, and Ali ibn Muhammad, and Hasan ibn Ali, and the remaining proof, the Mahdi, Your proofs over Your servants and Your trustees in Your lands. Blessings be upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers.

I advise you, servants of God, to be God-conscious.

What is striking in the realm of Islam, first and foremost, is that eighteen years have passed since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and while the enemies of this revolution and the planners against it expected that over time, the memory of this revolution would fade globally and be forgotten; contrary to their wishes and against their expectations, attention to this revolution and its unparalleled historical impact - namely, the Islamic awakening in Islamic countries - is deepening day by day, and this is one of the miracles of Islam and the revolution.

Of course, the primary role in this global attention is played by you, the great nation of Iran. I must express this as gratitude to God and to you, the people. All the enemy's efforts were to remove the people from the great arena of the revolution. Your response, the people's response, has been such that in all the years that have passed since this revolution, in the fields where the presence of the people must be evident, your response to global arrogance has been more crushing, more explicit, and more decisive. One example was your massive gathering on the last Friday of this blessed Ramadan - Quds Day. It is astonishing that in the eighteenth year since the declaration of Quds Day, more people participated than in the seventeenth year. In the seventeenth year, more participated than in the sixteenth year. What a movement, what an effort, and what a blessing from the Lord of the worlds to this great nation!

Your gatherings, your gathering today in this field of worship on Eid al-Fitr, are unparalleled. I can confidently say that such an Eid al-Fitr prayer is not held anywhere else in the Islamic world. I can say that nowhere else in the world do so many young people participate in religious and Islamic ceremonies with such density and enthusiasm. My dear ones! Of course, you should also know that today, thanks to the revolution and the youth and thanks to your presence, almost everywhere in the Islamic world, the inclination of young people towards religion and religious ceremonies is greater than fifteen or twenty years ago.

Tomorrow is also the twenty-second of Bahman; once again, this great display of the power of the revolution and the power of the Iranian nation will be in front of the eyes of global observers, analysts, and commentators. Of course, they do not say this in their propaganda. They speak differently on the radios; but they themselves know what is happening. If the eyes filled with hostility and enmity towards this revolution and this nation did not see the massive gathering on Quds Day and those hearts filled with hatred did not become angry, they would not go to the news agencies and international teletypes to announce that the Islamic Republic brought people to the Quds Day ceremonies by bus! Now that the Iranian nation hears these things, the weight and value of global propaganda against the revolution become clear to them.

Was this massive million-strong gathering on Quds Day a busload of people that the government gathered there?! See how full of spite and hatred their hearts are! If they did not see, if they were not angry, they would not show this reaction. These false news reports are a reaction to their anger and hatred from your presence. By the grace of the Lord, with divine help and by the hand of God's power, tomorrow, once again, the eyes filled with spite and the hearts filled with hatred towards this revolution will be troubled and will tremble.

However, alongside this awakening and the general love of nations for the revolution and the revolutionary Iranian nation, the enemy's conspiracy has also increased day by day; of course, to no avail. If the enemy's conspiracy were to have an effect, it should have had an effect. You see that by the grace of the Lord, the enemy's conspiracy has not been able to achieve their goals; but in any case, they conspire. One of their conspiracies is to create discord among Islamic countries. One of their conspiracies is to occupy many governments with trivial and small things and distract them from great and important matters. Creating excuses for disputes among Islamic countries so that they can divert the enmities of the Islamic world from the Zionists - who are the true enemies of the Islamic world. They do these things everywhere in the Islamic world; it is not limited to our region. Of course, in our region, this is more intense.

From the first day of the revolution, the effort of the propagandists and political players of global arrogance has been to frighten the countries on the shores of the Persian Gulf from the Islamic Republic; so that they can sell them weapons; so that they can secure a military presence there for themselves. I do not know if the time has not come for hearts and minds in these countries to awaken and understand that America does not wish them well; to understand that America and the Zionist propagandists everywhere in the world - who are addressing them - intend to come to the Persian Gulf and establish a military presence and secure illegitimate economic interests for themselves and, of course, if they can, be a pressure on the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation?

The government, the nation, and all officials have repeatedly announced that the Islamic Republic has no aggressive intentions towards neighboring countries. This has been proven since the beginning of the revolution. Eighteen years have passed since the revolution, to whom have we attacked so far? Which arrow have we shot towards the borders of our neighbors? Arrows were shot towards us, but during this time, we have done nothing but defend ourselves.

Despite the fact that Iran is a large country and the Iranian nation is a powerful nation - everyone knows this and has realized that none of Iran's neighboring countries, even with the help of others, can put pressure on this great nation and this powerful and vast country, and whoever comes forward and aggresses will be slapped in the face - despite this, the nation, government, army, and armed forces of the Islamic Republic have never had expansionist and aggressive intentions, they do not have them now, and they will not have them in the future. Expansionism is not in line with our worldview. Our Islamic policy has absolutely nothing to do with expansionism, aggression, and these things that belong to the tyrants. Of course, we give great importance to our security and the security of the region.

Everyone should pay attention that the Persian Gulf region is a sensitive area. Be careful, the enemies who come to this region from outside as friends of these countries should not make this region insecure. Everyone should be aware and attentive to this point. If, God forbid, this region becomes insecure, the greatest harm will befall those who have caused this insecurity and have provided the grounds for this insecurity. The greatest loss will befall those countries that have placed their wealth, their country, and their land at the disposal of foreign aggressors.

Of course, we hope that such a situation will not arise, and by the grace of the Lord, God willing, it will not happen; but if, God forbid, one of the foreigners who has come to the Persian Gulf acts foolishly and makes this region insecure with an unwise move, the first countries that this fire will engulf are the same countries that have provided the grounds for such an illegitimate presence.

We thank God that the Iranian nation is diligently engaged in the field of construction and movement. By the grace of the Lord, the government, the nation, the country's officials, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judiciary, with long-term and medium-term planning, are carrying out their tasks with precision. This nation is a living nation. This country is a living country. All the living nations of the world are like this, gradually organizing their affairs over several years, and this country is also moving towards organizing its affairs.

I say to you, dear nation, to maintain this presence on the scene so that your dignity, power, and material and spiritual strength are preserved. Maintain this unity of word that, thanks be to God, exists among you and the enemy has not been able to disrupt it, so that your dignity, power, reputation, and influence on other nations remain as strong, powerful, and great as they are.

God willing, the pure soul of our dear Imam is pleased with you, and the pure spirits of the honorable martyrs are also pleased with you. By the grace of the Lord, you will be included in the prayers of the remaining proof of God, may our souls be sacrificed for him.

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

Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off. (Al-Kawthar: 1-3)

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings