Statements at the Meeting of Participants in the "International Congress on Extremist and Takfiri Movements from the Perspective of Islamic Scholars"

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and may peace be upon our master and prophet, the trustworthy Muhammad, and his pure and infallible family, and upon his chosen companions and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

First, I extend my warm welcome to the esteemed guests, the honorable attendees, and the scholars of various Islamic sects who have participated in this session. I thank you for your active and beneficial presence in this important two-day conference. I must express my gratitude to the great scholars and the distinguished figures of Qom, especially Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Subhani, who conceived and implemented this idea, and thanks be to God, they took the initial steps for this work; this movement must continue. In general, I have been informed of the statements made by the honorable speakers over the past two days; I would like to present a few points:

First, this conference is dedicated to addressing the Takfiri movement, which is a harmful and dangerous current in the Islamic world. Although this Takfiri movement is not new and has historical roots, it has recently been revived and strengthened through the plots of global arrogance, the funding of certain regional governments, and the planning and scheming of the intelligence services of colonial countries—such as the United States, Britain, and the Zionist regime. This session, this conference, and your movement are aimed at a comprehensive confrontation with this current; not just with what is known today as ISIS. The movement that is recognized today as ISIS is merely a branch of the vile tree of Takfir; it is not the entirety of it. The corruption that this group has unleashed, the destruction of crops and progeny, the shedding of innocent blood—these are part of the crimes of the Takfiri movement in the Islamic world; this is how we must view this issue.

I am deeply saddened that we—the Islamic world—who should be dedicating all our efforts to confronting the plots of the Zionist regime and the actions taken against the noble Quds and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, are now forced to engage with the troubles that global arrogance has created within the Islamic world; there is no other choice. In fact, addressing the issue of Takfir is something that has been imposed upon the scholars and the elites of the Islamic world; the enemy has introduced this problem into the Islamic world as a manufactured crisis, and we must address it. However, the main issue remains the Zionist regime; the main issue is Quds; the main issue is the first Qibla of Muslims, the Al-Aqsa Mosque; these are the main issues.

There is an undeniable point, and that is that the Takfiri movement and the governments that support and back it are completely aligned with the intentions of global arrogance and Zionism; their actions serve the goals of the United States, the colonial governments of Europe, and the occupying Zionist regime; evidence confirms this. The Takfiri movement has an Islamic appearance, but in practice, it serves the interests of the colonial and arrogant political currents that are working against the Islamic world; there is clear evidence of this, and we cannot overlook it. I will mention a few pieces of this evidence.

One is that the Takfiri movement has been able to divert the Islamic awakening movement. The Islamic awakening movement was an anti-American, anti-dictatorship, and anti-proxy movement against the United States in the region; it was a movement initiated by the general populace in various North African countries against global arrogance and the United States. The Takfiri movement has redirected this massive anti-arrogance, anti-American, and anti-dictatorship movement into a war between Muslims and fratricide. The frontline of the struggles in this region was the borders of occupied Palestine. The Takfiri movement transformed this frontline into the streets of Baghdad, the Grand Mosque of Syria, Damascus, the streets of Pakistan, and various cities in Syria, and these became the new frontlines of the struggle!

Look at the current situation in Libya, in Syria, in Iraq, in Pakistan, and see against whom the forces and swords of Muslims are being wielded? They should have been directed against the Zionist regime. The Takfiri movement changed the direction of this struggle and brought it into our homes, into our cities, into Islamic lands. They create explosions inside the Grand Mosque of Damascus, they detonate people in ordinary gatherings in Baghdad, they shoot hundreds in Pakistan, and in Libya, they create the situation you observe; all of these are among the unforgettable historical crimes of the Takfiri movement that have led to this situation. Transforming this movement serves the interests of the United States, of Britain, and the intelligence services of the United States, Britain, and Mossad, and the like.

Another piece of evidence is that those who support the Takfiri movement do not frown upon the Zionist regime but rather collaborate with it to fight against Muslims. They do not show any hostility towards the Zionist regime, but they strike and conspire against Islamic countries and nations under various pretexts.

Another piece of evidence is that the tumultuous movement created by the Takfiri current in Islamic countries—in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, and some other countries—has led to the destruction of the valuable infrastructures of these countries. You see how many roads, how many refineries, how many mines, how many airports, how many streets, how many cities, how many homes have been destroyed as a result of these internal wars, as a result of this fratricide; how much time, how much money, how much cost is required to restore them to their original state. These are the damages and blows that the Takfiri movement has inflicted upon the Islamic world until today and in recent years.

Another piece of evidence is that the Takfiri movement has tarnished the image of Islam in the world, making it ugly. The whole world has seen on television someone being beheaded with a sword without any crime being established against him. "God does not forbid you from being good and just to those who do not fight you because of your religion and do not expel you from your homes; God loves those who are just. God only forbids you from being friends with those who fight you because of your religion and expel you from your homes and support others in expelling you..." They acted completely contrary to this; they killed Muslims and placed non-aggressive non-Muslims under the sword, and this image was broadcast to the entire world; the whole world saw this. The whole world saw a person named Islam reaching into the chest of a slain individual, pulling out his heart, and biting into it! The world witnessed this. They ended up representing Islam in this manner; Islam of mercy, Islam of reason, Islam of logic, Islam of "God does not forbid you from being good and just to those who do not fight you because of your religion"—this is how they introduced Islam; is there a greater crime than this? A more malignant sedition than this? This belongs to the Takfiri movement.

Another piece of evidence is that they left the axis of resistance alone. Gaza fought alone for fifty days, resisted alone for fifty days. Islamic governments did not come to Gaza's aid; oil dollars were not directed to support Gaza; although some of them were directed to the Zionist regime!

Another negative aspect, another piece of evidence is that the Takfiri movement has diverted the enthusiasm and fervor of Muslim youth throughout the Islamic world. Today, across the Islamic world, the youth have a fervor and enthusiasm; the Islamic awakening has influenced them, and they are ready to move towards the great goals of Islam, but this Takfiri movement has diverted this enthusiasm and fervor, leading some ignorant and unaware youth towards beheading Muslims and the massacre of women, children, and infants in a village! This is among the evils of the Takfiri movement.

These signs and pieces of evidence cannot be easily overlooked; all of these indicate that the Takfiri movement is in the service of global arrogance, in the service of the enemies of Islam, in the service of the United States, in the service of Britain, in the service of the Zionist regime. Of course, there are other pieces of evidence; we have been informed that American transport planes have dropped munitions needed by the group known as ISIS at locations where ISIS was stationed in Iraq from the sky, providing them assistance. We thought perhaps this was a mistake; then it happened again; as I have been informed, this has occurred five times! They make mistakes five times? Meanwhile, they have ostensibly formed a coalition against ISIS! Which is a complete lie; this coalition has other malicious goals; they want to keep this sedition alive; they want to pit both sides against each other, to continue the civil war among Muslims so that this [war] remains; that is their goal; of course, they will not succeed, know this.

There are several major responsibilities that must be fulfilled. You honorable gentlemen have thought about strategies in the sessions of this two-day conference, pursued them, and specified responsibilities. I will mention two or three necessary tasks that are non-negotiable: one is to establish a comprehensive scientific and logical movement by all Islamic scholars to eradicate the Takfiri movement; this is not specific to one sect over another; all Islamic sects that care for Islam, accept Islam, and are concerned for Islam share this responsibility; a massive scientific movement must be undertaken. They have entered this field with the false slogan of "following the righteous predecessors"; the disavowal of the righteous predecessors from what they are doing and from the movement they are engaged in must be proven with the language of religion, with the language of science, and with correct logic. Save the youth! There are some who fall under the influence of these misleading thoughts and poor souls think they are doing good work, embodying the verse "Say, shall we inform you of the greatest losers in deeds? * Those whose efforts in this world are misguided while they think they are doing good." They think they are engaging in jihad in the way of God. These are the same individuals who will say on the Day of Judgment to God: "Our Lord, we obeyed our leaders and our elders, and they led us astray from the path. * Our Lord, give them double the punishment and curse them with a great curse." These poor souls are among them. The one who kills a great Muslim scholar in the mosque of Damascus is among them; the one who beheads Muslims under the pretext of deviating from the religion is among them; the one who, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Baghdad, and various cities in Iraq and Syria and Lebanon, kills innocents through explosions is among those who will say on the Day of Judgment: "Our Lord, we obeyed our leaders and our elders, and they led us astray from the path. Our Lord, give them double the punishment." In another place in the Quran, God says: "For each, there is a double punishment"; God does not accept that "Our Lord, give them double the punishment"; He says, "For each, there is a double punishment"; both the follower and the leader are in punishment; "The disputing of the people of the fire"; they will fight among themselves. These must be saved, these youth must be saved, and this is the responsibility of the scholars. Scholars have connections with intellectual circles and with the masses; they must strive. God Almighty will question the scholars on the Day of Judgment about what they did; they must take action. This is one task.

The second task that is very necessary is to raise awareness regarding the role of the arrogant policies of the United States and Britain. Awareness must be raised; the Islamic world must know what the role of American policies is in this matter; what the role of the intelligence services of the United States, Britain, and the Zionist regime is in reviving the Takfiri sedition; this must be known by all. Everyone must know that they are working for them; the plan is theirs, the support is theirs, the guidance is theirs, and the money comes from their proxies, namely the regional governments that provide the funds, making these poor souls miserable and causing the Islamic world to face this problem. This is another necessary task that must be undertaken.

The third task that must definitely be undertaken is to pay attention to the issue of Palestine. Do not allow the issue of Palestine, the noble Quds, and the matter of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be forgotten; they want this. They want the Islamic world to forget about the issue of Palestine. Now you see that in these days, the cabinet of the Zionist regime has declared the Jewishness of the Palestinian state; they have declared it as a Jewish state. They have been pursuing this matter for a long time, and now they have openly done it. In the negligence of the Islamic world, in the negligence of the masses and the Muslim nations, the Zionist regime is seeking to seize the noble Quds, to seize the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to weaken the Palestinians even more; this must be taken into account. All nations must demand from their governments to pursue the issue of Palestine; Islamic scholars must ask and demand their governments to follow up on the issue of Palestine; this is one of the major and important responsibilities. We thank God that in the Islamic Republic, the government and the nation are in agreement on this matter. The government of the Islamic Republic and our Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) have declared from the beginning the policy of supporting Palestine and opposing the Zionist regime and have taken the lead; this has continued until today, and for 35 years we have not deviated from this line, and our nation is fully on board. Sometimes some of our youth who come and do not receive a response write to me and plead for permission to go to the front lines to fight against the Zionist regime. The nation loves to fight against the Zionists, and the Islamic Republic has demonstrated this.

By God's grace and divine favor, we have transcended the limitations of sectarian differences. The assistance we provided to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is Shia, is the same assistance we provided to Hamas and Jihad, and we will continue to do so. We have not been imprisoned by sectarian limitations; we did not say this one is Shia, this one is Sunni, this one is Hanafi, this one is Hanbali, this one is Shafi'i, this one is Zaidi; we looked at the main goal and provided assistance, and we were able to strengthen the fists of our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and other areas, and God willing, we will continue. And I have announced, and this will certainly happen, that the West Bank must also be armed like Gaza and be prepared for defense.

Let me also tell you, dear brothers: do not let the might of America intimidate you; the enemy has weakened. The enemy of Islam, which is global arrogance, is weaker today than at any time in the past 100 or 150 years. You see the colonial governments of Europe: they are caught up in economic problems, political problems, and security problems. The colonial governments of Europe are facing all sorts of problems today. America is worse than this; it is suffering from moral problems, political problems, severe financial and monetary problems, and a weakened reputation as a superpower worldwide; not only in the Islamic world but in the entire world. The Zionist regime has become significantly weaker than before. This is the same regime that used to shout "from the Nile to the Euphrates"! They used to shout and explicitly say that from the Nile to the Euphrates belongs to us! They could not conquer the tunnels of the Palestinians in Gaza after fifty days. This is the same regime. They mobilized all their forces for fifty days to destroy, seize, and conquer the underground tunnels of Hamas, Jihad, and the Palestinians; they could not do it; this is the same regime that used to claim that from the Nile to the Euphrates belongs to us; see how much it has changed; how much weaker it has become.

The problems of the enemies of Islam are numerous. The enemies of Islam have failed in Iraq; they have failed in Syria; they have failed in Lebanon; they have failed in various regions, and their goals have not been achieved. In confronting the Islamic Republic, you see that America and the European colonial countries have gathered together and used all their forces to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees in the nuclear issue; they could not bring it to its knees, and they will not be able to. This is the weakness of the opposing side. And you, God willing, will become stronger day by day. The future belongs to you; and God is dominant over His affair.

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