Meeting of the System Officials with the Leader of the Revolution on the Occasion of Eid al-Fitr

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

I congratulate this great Islamic holiday to the entire great Islamic community, all Muslims around the world, to the dear and faithful nation of Iran, and to you esteemed attendees and dear guests. I ask the Almighty God to truly make Eid al-Fitr a holiday for the Islamic community and bring the Islamic community closer to the bright future that it rightfully awaits, which is a divine promise.

Many of you and the people of our country and Muslims around the world made the most of the divine banquet during the month of Ramadan. The door of repentance, the door of forgiveness, the door of remembrance and attention, and the door of supplication and closeness to the Almighty God were open during this month. The fasting mouth and the self-restraint of the soul were a great help for God's servants to benefit from the divine spiritual blessings in this month. This divine banquet is where the hearts of the Muslim people taste the pleasure of remembrance and supplication, draw closer to their divine nature, strengthen their will, and prepare the reserve of piety, which is the true provision for humanity.

And I say that today, more than ever, the Islamic community is in need of this reserve. There was a time when the Islamic community had no hope for the future; thinkers of the Islamic world would sit and lament for the dark days of Muslims. Look at the literary works of prominent and progressive Muslims like Seyyed Jamal al-Din and others over the past hundred years; the elites of the Islamic world whose hearts had awakened saw the condition of Muslims and truly lamented for them. Truly, a bright horizon was not seen in the Islamic world; the arrogant powers had newly entered Islamic lands, held the reins of Islamic governments, and took maximum advantage of the negligence and slumber of us Muslim nations, darkening the horizons before the eyes of the Islamic community day by day. This is how the Islamic community lived for a time.

Today is a different time. Those dark horizons before the eyes of the Islamic community have turned into bright horizons. In every corner of the world where Muslims live—whether as a nation or as minorities among other nations—they look to the future with hope; they feel they can move forward. The enemies of the Islamic world, namely the arrogant powers, the materialists, the colonizers, those who entered Islamic countries with shiny and deceptive slogans and created the darkest days for Islamic countries, despite being far ahead in terms of material advancements, technical progress, destructive weapons, mass communication means, and propaganda capabilities compared to those days, feel weak in the face of the roaring movement of the Islamic community; they feel defeated; this is the reality of the Islamic world today. If someone thinks otherwise and imagines differently, they should know that they are thinking contrary to the obvious.

Today, the Islamic world sees a bright horizon before it. The great enemies and arrogant powers of the world, who have the entire world at their disposal, feel powerless in the face of the awakening of Muslim nations; the path is closed to them, and this indicates the divine promise that says: "And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might." (1) And He said: "And We want to confer favor upon those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them inheritors." (2) These are divine promises. And He said: "And Allah is predominant over His affair." (3) These divine promises are gradually manifesting due to the awakening and movement of Muslims.

A great jihad is before the Muslim nation. This jihad is not necessarily a military jihad; it is a political jihad, an intellectual jihad, a scientific jihad, a social jihad, a moral jihad. And the great Islamic community is gradually becoming familiar with the various dimensions of this jihad. Today, look at the very sensitive scene of the Middle East, and you will see this progress of the Islamic community.

The issue of Palestine, which was a heartbreaking issue for the Islamic world, today, despite the increased brutality of the Zionists against the Palestinians, you can still see hope in the forehead of the Palestinian nation.

Today, the occupiers of Palestine themselves feel and express despair about continuing their path; they admit that they have reached a dead end. The regime of the United States, which after the end of the Soviet Union felt it was the master of the global village and the undisputed lord of the world, you can see in various regions that it is facing dead ends, fundamental problems, and unsolvable knots. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, they entered this sensitive region; in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Palestine. In all the areas you observe, America's plans have turned out to be invalid one after another, and there is no hope for the advancement of these plans; they themselves have no hope and even express this verbally.

Last year, on this very day of Eid al-Fitr, I told the Muslim nation in the Eid al-Fitr prayer that this conference they wanted to hold, which they called the autumn conference—having plans and schemes for greater domination over the region—would fail, and today you see no trace of that conference and what they discussed and then left, in the scene of Palestine, Lebanon, and the sensitive Middle East. This indicates that the apparatus confronting Islam and opposing the Islamic community, which aimed for greater domination over this sensitive region, feels that it has no power to advance. Of course, we do not want to comfort ourselves with extreme optimism. Hard, difficult, and bitter realities are before everyone's eyes; they all see them; but the issue is that the arrogant power has not been able to achieve anything in the face of the will of nations, and it will not be able to do so in the future; in Iraq, it is stuck in the mud, in Afghanistan, it faces numerous problems, and now today they are also meddling in Pakistan. You hear and see their oppressive interventions in this eastern region of our country; however, they will fail here as they have failed elsewhere; because the nations are awake, they are familiar with their Islamic rights, the will to resist exists among the nations, and God willing, this will must be strengthened day by day.

In such circumstances, what the Islamic community needs more than ever is this attention to the Lord, seeking help from the Almighty, connecting the heart to that infinite source of power. A heart that becomes acquainted with the infinite power of God does not tremble in the face of threats and the thunderbolts of enemies; it is not intimidated, does not feel weak, and does not despair of the future. And this path is a well-tested one. The Islamic Republic has stood powerfully against the enmities, sabotage, and wickedness of the arrogant system for thirty years, and the Muslim nation of Iran, with all its determination and will, has stood firm in various arenas, and thanks be to God, it has progressed day by day, and this progress, by God's permission, with divine support, will increase day by day, and all the Islamic world, God willing, will witness the day of Islamic dignity and glory.

Let us appreciate the divine guidance, let us appreciate the divine favors, let us appreciate the day of Eid al-Fitr, let us appreciate this great gathering of people who raise their hands in prayer, turn towards the Qibla, connect their hearts to God on a specific day, and find closeness. Let us maintain our unity, preserve our determination and will, and increase our hope for the future day by day.

We hope, God willing, that the prayers of the Awaited Savior (may our souls be sacrificed for him) will encompass you, the Muslim people in our dear country and in other countries, and God willing, the tomorrow of the Islamic world will be much better than today and yesterday.

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