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

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds. Thanks be to God who created the heavens and the earth, and made the darkness and the light. Yet those who disbelieve equate others with their Lord. Thanks be to God, the Creator of creation, the Provider of sustenance, the Splitter of the dawn, the Judge of religion, the Lord of the worlds. Thanks be to God for His forbearance after His knowledge. And thanks be to God for His forgiveness after His power. And thanks be to God for His patience in His anger, while He is capable of what He wills. Peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet and the beloved of our hearts, Abul Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen family, the guides and the rightly guided. Peace and 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 pious and seek forgiveness from God for me and for you.

I extend my congratulations on the blessed Eid al-Fitr to the presence of the honorable Hujjatullah al-Azam (may our souls be sacrificed for him) and also to all Muslims around the world, to the great and noble nation of Iran, and to you dear worshippers. Every Eid al-Fitr can be a true day of celebration for the aware and vigilant Muslim. A day of renewed spiritual and soulful life; like spring for plants and trees. A person who may have been afflicted by various impurities and sins throughout the year, and a person who has gradually distanced themselves from the realm of divine mercy due to carnal desires and vile traits, is granted an exceptional opportunity by the Lord of the worlds every year, and that opportunity is the blessed month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, hearts soften, spirits gain brilliance and radiance, and people become ready to step into the realm of divine special mercy, and each person benefits from the great divine feast according to their capacity, effort, and endeavor. After this blessed month ends, the day of the new year begins, the day of Eid al-Fitr. That is, the day when a person can, by utilizing the achievements of Ramadan, take the straight path of God and avoid the crooked paths.

The entire effort of the prophets, saints, successors, and the righteous has been for a person to discover and avoid their inner enemy, which is their commanding self. This is the great secret of attaining spiritual and divine ranks and positions. It is through this path that a person can rise above even the angels. Today is that day, my dear ones! All of us who have passed this blessed month of Ramadan, God willing, have benefited from that divine feast and spread table according to our effort and capacity, and each person has taken provisions and achievements from Ramadan. Relying on this achievement, let us all try from today to remove some of the inner and carnal defects from ourselves. This is in our hands and within our control. "And whoever strives, he strives only for himself." Whatever is gained from this striving belongs primarily to ourselves. Let us discover the incorrect and vile morals within ourselves, which is a difficult part of that striving. Let us not fall into self-admiration. Let us see our defects and place them like a list before us. Using the provisions we have gained from Ramadan—which are the tenderness of heart, will, purity, and sincerity, and God willing, accepted acts of worship—let us try to remove some items from this list. If we are envious, let us remove envy. If we are stubborn, let us remove stubbornness. If we are lazy and lack enthusiasm in life's paths, let us remove laziness and lethargy. If we are ill-willed and ill-intentioned towards others, let us remove ill-will and ill-intention. If we are unfaithful, let us remove unfaithfulness. If we are covenant-breakers, let us remove disloyalty. Let us cleanse every moral defect that exists within us, by the blessing of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, as much as we can from the list and record of our bad deeds, and stand firm and move forward. Know that the Almighty God will help those who strive in this path. The Almighty God will not leave you alone in the field of striving for perfection, and the first benefit will reach each person themselves. Moreover, the benefits of fighting the self, self-reformation, and inner striving in the path of God—which is the greater jihad—do not remain exclusive to you; rather, society, the country, the nation, the country's situation, international dignity, economic conditions, and the state of life, in short, the world and the hereafter of the people, will gain prosperity, brilliance, and radiance from this path. Then this nation, which has proven its capabilities over many years, will shine like a bright torch before the eyes of other nations; they will benefit from it and take its morals as a model.

Let us seek God's help to take steps in this path and abandon sins one by one. Let us remove corrupt morals from ourselves one by one. Let us build and develop ourselves as a person according to the Quran and Islam. Then the Almighty God will fulfill all His promises to this nation, and His blessings will descend upon you one after another.

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

By the 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.

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet Abul Qasim Muhammad and upon his pure and infallible family, especially upon the Commander of the Faithful and the pure and chaste Lady of the Women of the Worlds, and Hasan and Husayn, the two grandsons of mercy and the two Imams of guidance, and Ali ibn Husayn, the adornment of the worshippers, and Muhammad ibn Ali, the splitter of the knowledge of the prophets, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad the truthful, and Musa ibn Ja'far the patient, and Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad, and Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, and Hasan ibn Ali al-Zaki al-Askari, and the proof, the son of Hasan, the standing Mahdi, may God's blessings and greetings and blessings be upon them. And peace 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 pious.

What emerges from the totality of the effects related to Eid al-Fitr is that such a day has a special relationship with the sacred existence of the Noble Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. In the prayers of the night of Eid al-Fitr, it is said in several places: "O chooser of Muhammad and his helper," "O chosen Muhammad and his helper." In today's qunut prayer, we repeatedly said: "The one who made it a festival for the Muslims and a treasure and honor and dignity and increase for Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family." Therefore, the special connection of this day with the sacred existence of the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, is known and clear. I say that if on every Eid al-Fitr, the nation of this great figure takes a worthy action towards their great leader and divine leader, then Eid al-Fitr will be as God has wanted and decreed, a true prophetic and chosen Eid.

What I see before my eyes today and what is appropriate for the chosen nation to present as a gift to their great leader and the chosen prophet of God is the unified presence of a crowd of the Muslim nation that has come for the Eid prayer. It is fitting that today, the nation strives to preserve unity, cohesion, harmony, and empathy among themselves—as the name of a nation indicates all this—for themselves.

Today, the duty of this great nation, in front of the Prophet, the savior, the leader, the teacher, the divine trust among themselves, and the most beloved figure among the nation, that is, the sacred existence of the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, is to preserve the dignity and grandeur of the Islamic nation by maintaining unity. This is the duty of the nation today. The nation asks for a gift from their Prophet; however, the nation is also obliged to fulfill their gift duty towards the Prophet. The gift of the nation is to maintain unity and preserve the dignity of the Prophet. Today, all the efforts of the enemies of Islam and the Islamic nation are to set this nation against each other and make them enemies of one another. This effort is not exclusive to today and has been the same in the past. But today, this malicious and vile mission from the enemies is carried out with organization, planning, and comprehensively. The reason is that they feel the Islamic spirit and enthusiasm are increasing among Muslims, and Islam has revived hearts.

Global arrogance has been struck by Islam in our great Islamic revolution. Therefore, the arrogant powers want to make the nation enemies of each other. I say to my dear nation and to other Muslim nations everywhere in the world and in all regions where Muslims live, and generally to all Muslims: Come and listen to this divine recommendation that the Quran cries out: "And hold firmly to the rope of God all together and do not become divided." America wants the Islamic nation to be enemies with each other. You come and create unity, rub the nose of the divisive arrogant power in the dirt, and do not let the enemy be pleased. The enemies of the Islamic world want to achieve their goals in this period through Muslims. They want to make it so that the claimant of the Palestinians and the Palestinian nation is not the American Zionist mercenaries in the region and the fake false state of Israel, but the Islamic states! Do not let it happen. Do not let the Palestinian nation and the Muslim nations and truth-seeking people and any awakened and conscientious government stand on one side and say, "We must take Palestine from the occupier," while another group, to please America, breaks the heart of the Islamic nation and the Palestinian nation and the truth-seekers of the world and speaks in favor of the usurping Israel.

Why? Why should such a thing happen? Today, the nation and the Islamic nation must bring their hearts closer and familiarize them with each other. The Iranian nation, as a nation that has proven its power, dignity, greatness, and various capabilities in these fifteen to sixteen years and owns this country, and we as the officials of this country, have extended a hand of friendship to all Islamic nations. This hand of friendship is extended to them after this as well. Of course, not because of a need for someone and not because of weakness; but for the unity and cohesion of the Islamic world; for the benefit of Muslims and the Islamic nation.

The great nation of Iran has proven that it has received greatness, independence, power, and dignity as a gift from the Almighty God due to its inclination towards Islam, and thanks be to God, today it is a proud nation. All Muslims who today are somehow experiencing the whip of global arrogance on their bodies and souls and each suffering from the enemies—the Bosnian nation, the Palestinian nation, the Chechen nation, various nations in the region, the people of Lebanon, the people of Kashmir, the people of Islamic countries in Africa and Asia—suffer this pain from the lack of unity of the Islamic nation. Otherwise, if the Islamic nation were united, none of these issues would arise, and if they did, they would be easily resolved. I also say to the Iranian nation: Thank God that by the grace of the Lord and the attentions of the honorable Hujjatullah al-Azam, may our souls be sacrificed for him, you, the brave, vigilant, and aware nation, have preserved your unity and cohesion, and after this, you must overcome the conspiracies with all your precision, ability, and high capacity and maintain this cohesion.

This year, thanks be to God, your great gathering on the twenty-second of Bahman and on the last Friday of Ramadan—Quds Day—disarmed the enemy and disappointed the ill-wishers. It made your friends around the world happy from the depths of their hearts and, in fact, insured the revolution once again—after dozens of times—against the enemy's conspiracy. God willing, this same spirit, this same unity, this same enthusiasm, this same cohesion, this same presence on the scene, this same kindness between the nation and the government, this same cooperation and harmony of the Iranian nation in all scenes, will remove all obstacles from your nation's path; will overcome the enemy's conspiracies at all stages and will bring you a prosperous and free world—as befits your great nation.

I will also say a few sentences of prayer. It is Eid al-Fitr, and we hope that after the Eid al-Fitr prayer, the Almighty God will accept these prayers at His threshold.

We ask You, O God, and we call upon You, by Your great, greatest, most honored, most glorious, most generous name, and by the blood of the martyrs, O God.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, peace be upon them, include Your satisfaction, mercy, and forgiveness upon this great nation, this congregation of worshippers, and all of us.

O Lord! Include our deceased and those with rights over us in Your mercy and forgiveness.

O Lord! Include our dear Imam in Your mercy, kindness, and abundant grace.

O Lord! Include our precious martyrs in Your kindness, care, and mercy.

O Lord! Include all those who have sacrificed in any way for this country, for this revolution, and for the Quran and Islam in Your kindness, mercy, and grace.

O Lord! Grant peace, tranquility, and patience to the hearts of the families of our dear martyrs.

O Lord! Include our dear disabled veterans in Your kindness, healing, and mercy. Accept their efforts and make their hearts happy!

O Lord! Grant us the success to continue serving them.

O Lord! Crush and suppress all the enemies of the Iranian nation and the enemies of the great Islamic nation.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, peace be upon them, turn the conspiracy of anyone who conspires against the Iranian nation, against Iran and Iranians, and against the Muslims of the world, against themselves.

O Lord! Uproot the malignant cancerous tumor of Israel. Include the Palestinian nation, the Chechen nation, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian nation, the Kashmiri nation, and the Muslim nations in all parts of the world in Your victory, kindness, and help.

O Lord! Remove the difficulties of the Iranian nation. Accept their acts of worship. Bring their efforts to their desired results and fulfill the needs of this congregation of worshippers and all the Iranian nation with Your generosity and kindness.

O Lord! By the right of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, peace be upon them, make our world and hereafter prosperous and bestow Your successes upon us. Make our parents and our deceased benefit and have a share from this ceremony, this prayer, and these supplications. Make the sacred heart of the Guardian of the Age, may our souls be sacrificed for him, pleased with us. Make us among the helpers of that great figure and hasten the reappearance of that great figure.

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.

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