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, Creator of all beings. We praise Him, seek His help, ask for His forgiveness, rely on Him, and send blessings and peace upon His beloved, chosen one, the best of His creation, the guardian of His secrets, and the deliverer of His messages, the bearer of His mercy and the herald of His wrath, our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen, and infallible progeny, especially the Awaited One of God among the people of the earth.

I recommend and invite all of you, dear brothers and sisters, worshippers and believers present in this magnificent gathering, to maintain piety and God-consciousness, which is the source of happiness and victory in this world and the Hereafter. I congratulate you all on the blessed Eid al-Fitr and extend my greetings to the entire Iranian nation and all Muslims around the world.

The month of Ramadan, filled with divine blessings, has passed for our nation and other Muslims, and many fortunate individuals have benefited from the blessings of this month. In this warm weather, during these long days, with fasting tongues and feelings of hunger and thirst, and abstaining from pleasures and carnal desires, they spent the day in obedience to the Lord, and many spent the night in prayer, remembrance, supplication, and standing for God. Those who worship God and fulfill their divine duties during this month feel satisfaction and joy. The spiritual work and struggle against the self during this month brings joy and spiritual delight to those of determination and will, who are you, dear people, who endured fasting. This is one of the characteristics of working for God and striving for His sake, that the one who possesses it, despite enduring difficulties and hardships, feels joy, and God has connected this joy to the joy of Eid al-Fitr; the greatness of this day is evident in that you invoke God in the nine supplications of this blessed prayer, asking Him by this day - "I ask You by the right of this day" - which indicates the high rank of this day.

We hope that the Almighty God accepts your worship and pours His mercy and grace upon the Iranian nation and grants you abundant rewards for the efforts you made during this month. One of the significant efforts of this month was the Quds Day march, which truly cannot be described in any language; in the warm weather, with fasting tongues, you marched in these streets across the country to demonstrate the Iranian nation's steadfastness regarding this important issue of the Islamic world and Islamic history. A living nation means this. It is necessary to sincerely thank the Iranian nation for this determination.

A good tradition was also observed this year more than in previous years, which is worthy of attention, and that is the simple and unadorned iftars held in mosques and streets in most cities of the country - which is a very commendable act - in contrast to the extravagant iftars that have been heard of, where some, under the pretext of iftar, engage in extravagant actions and instead of becoming a means of spiritual closeness to the poor and needy during Ramadan, they drown themselves in bodily pleasures. We do not want to say that if someone consumes a delicious meal at iftar, this act is forbidden; no, in religious law, these are not forbidden; extravagance is forbidden, excess is forbidden, and excessive wastefulness that sometimes occurs in such gatherings is forbidden. It is better that those who wish to provide iftar do so with this tradition that has emerged, offering iftar to people, passersby, and those who wish to benefit from iftar at these free tables with generosity and open-handedness in alleys, streets, and husseiniyahs.

We hope that the Almighty God blesses all of you, accepts your deeds, and grants you the success to preserve the achievements of the blessed month of Ramadan until next year.

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

By the time. Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have faith and do righteous deeds and encourage one another to truth and encourage one another to patience.

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen, and infallible progeny, especially Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, and the Lady of the Women of the Worlds, and Hasan and Husayn, the two grandsons of mercy and the Imams of guidance, and Ali ibn Husayn, Zain al-Abidin, and Muhammad ibn Ali, al-Baqir, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad, al-Sadiq, and Musa ibn Ja'far, al-Kazim, and Ali ibn Musa, al-Ridha, and Muhammad ibn Ali, al-Jawad, and Ali ibn Muhammad, al-Hadi, and Hasan ibn Ali, al-Askari, and the Awaited Mahdi, may God's blessings be upon them all, and peace be upon the Imams of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers, and we seek forgiveness from God and turn to Him.

I invite and recommend all brothers and sisters to observe piety in speech, action, positioning, and various social, economic, and political movements.

In these days, many events are occurring in the region of West Asia and North Africa and throughout the Islamic world; I will briefly mention a few of these events. In our own country, an important event is the formation of a new government, which, thanks be to God, has been achieved with the efforts of the people and comprehensive endeavors, fulfilling this legal demand and national tradition in the best possible manner, and God willing, soon with the duties that the Islamic Consultative Assembly will undertake regarding the selection of competent ministers, the government will be formed and will begin the significant and important tasks that lie ahead; although many tasks have already begun. We hope that divine success will be granted to the esteemed President and the executive officials of the country, and that the people's support will assist them, and the people's prayers will help them to accomplish the significant tasks that lie ahead - which are great tasks that also have great benefits; they also have great difficulties - in the best possible manner.

However, in other countries surrounding us - in the region of West Asia and North Africa - the events are not as joyful; they are concerning. One event is the plight of the oppressed Palestinians, who, after sixty-five years of the official occupation of Palestine, still face daily oppression and injustice; the destruction of homes, the arrest of innocents, the separation of children from their parents, and the jailing of those who are innocent or have served their sentences; and it is painful that the dominant Western powers fully support those criminals. This is one of the calamities of today's world, where those who claim to support human rights, democracy, and such beautiful and colorful slogans, in practice support the criminals!

Currently, negotiations have once again begun between the Palestinian Authority and the Zionists, which will certainly yield no results other than what occurred in previous negotiations; which is the retreat of the Palestinians from their rights and encouraging the aggressor to further aggression, and suppressing the rightful struggles of the Palestinian people. They destroy homes, build usurped structures for the occupying and usurping people, and claim they are negotiating! Now they have also announced that the negotiations are secret. The handiwork of global arrogance in these negotiations will certainly be detrimental to the Palestinians.

We believe that the Islamic world must not waver in its motivation regarding the Palestinian issue for a moment and must condemn the aggressive actions of the predatory wolves of Zionism and their international supporters. These so-called negotiations mediated by the United States - which in reality, the United States is not a mediator; it is itself a party to the issue; it stands with the usurpers of Palestine and the Zionists - must not lead to further oppression of the Palestinian people and the isolation of the fighting Muslims of Palestine.

Another issue is that of Egypt. We are concerned about what is happening in Egypt. The likelihood of a civil war in Egypt, with the actions that are taking place, is increasing day by day; and this is a catastrophe. It is necessary for the great Egyptian nation, the political elites, the scientific elites, and the religious elites in that great country to look at the current situation and see what dire consequences may arise from this situation; they should observe the situation in Syria; they should see the effects of the presence of Western mercenaries, Israeli mercenaries, and terrorists in every place where terrorists are active; they should recognize these dangers. Democracy and popular governance must be taken into account; the killing of people is severely condemned; the harsh and violent language of the popular groups against one another is utterly futile and carries great harms. The interference of foreign powers - as is currently observed - will bring nothing but harm to the people of Egypt. The knot of Egypt must be untied by the Egyptian people themselves; their elites must untie it; they must think and assess the dire and dangerous consequences that may arise from this situation. If, God forbid, chaos arises, if, God forbid, a civil war breaks out, what else can prevent it? It will provide an excuse for the intervention of superpowers - who themselves are the greatest calamity for a country and a nation - to intervene. We are concerned. We brotherly recommend to the Egyptian elites, to the people of Egypt, to political groups, to religious groups, and to religious scholars, to take initiative themselves, to act themselves; do not allow foreigners and powerful entities - who are likely involved in creating this situation - to intervene again.

The next issue is that of Iraq. In Iraq, a government has come to power based on the principles of popular governance and the votes of the people. Since the superpowers and reactionary forces in the region are dissatisfied with this situation, they want to prevent the people of Iraq from enjoying a peaceful life. These explosions, these killings, this criminal terrorism, undoubtedly stem from the financial, political, and military support of some regional and extra-regional powers, who do not want the Iraqi nation to live its life. Here too, it is necessary for Iraqi politicians, Iraqi officials, and Iraqi groups, both Shia and Sunni, Arab and Kurdish, to observe the situation in some other countries; and to see the consequences of internal conflicts and civil wars that destroy the infrastructure of a country and ruin the future of a nation. In all these matters, the Zionist regime and the usurpers of Israel are sitting back, watching this situation with satisfaction and feeling comfortable. Is this acceptable?

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, awaken us from the slumber of negligence. O Lord! Cut off the hands of the wicked, the hands of the aggressors from the Islamic nations and Islamic countries. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, grant victory to Islam and Muslims everywhere.

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

Indeed, We have granted you al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off.

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