Statements of the Supreme Leader in the Friday Prayers Sermons at Tehran University

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

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds. I praise Him and seek His help, and I ask for His forgiveness and rely on Him. I send blessings and peace upon His beloved and chosen one, the best of His creation, the leader of His messengers and the seal of His prophets, the bearer of glad tidings of His mercy and the warner of His wrath, our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen, infallible, and honored family, especially the remainder of God on earth. God, the Wise, said in His Book: "Fear God as He should be feared." (Al-Imran: 102) And the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, said in a speech: "Indeed, whoever is devoid of piety is lured by desires, indeed, whoever is devoid of piety is lured by pleasures and desires, and falls into the abyss of sins and is burdened with many consequences."

I advise and invite all dear brothers and sisters who are performing the prayer to observe and maintain divine piety. Let us appreciate the month of Ramadan, which is the month of attaining piety and a month in which fasting is a means for a person to step into the realm of piety, and let us bring ourselves as close as possible to the stage of religiosity called piety.

Today, in the first sermon, with reference to a very important Quranic experience, my talk is about piety. Piety has many benefits in human life. Among these benefits is that a pious person can protect themselves in the pitfalls and obstacles of life, but a person without piety cannot. If a person can instill the spirit of piety, which is constant vigilance over oneself and continuous attention to one's actions and even thoughts and deeds attributed to a person, the result will be that they remain safe in divine tests. Because the meaning of piety is self-awareness and vigilance; taking care of oneself and not succumbing to negligence.

My brothers and sisters! Tests are for everyone. When we consider it on the scale of a nation, we see that all nations face tests in the ups and downs of life. On the scale of individuals, too, all individuals face tests. Tests vary, but they exist. When a pleasure appears in a person's path and the human soul desires that pleasure which is against the law, that is a place of test. When money comes in a person's way and they can acquire it, but it is against God's law and divine regulations, that is a place of test. When a word is uttered by a person and that word benefits the person, but it is a false word, that is a place of test. When saying a word is necessary and God wants a person to say it, but saying that word involves danger and trouble, that is a place of divine test. On the scale of nations and peoples, when a nation reaches wealth and power, achieves victory, and attains scientific growth, that is the place of test for that nation. If nations can keep themselves safe at the height of power, they have emerged successful from the test. But if populations and nations, when the hardship is lifted from them, forget God, they have emerged unsuccessful and humiliated from the test. Therefore, the Quran in the short Surah "Nasr" addresses the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying: "In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. When the victory of God and the conquest comes, and you see people entering the religion of God in crowds." This is the peak of a prophet's power when God grants him victory and people enter his religion in groups. This is where a person must be vigilant. Therefore, it adds: "Then glorify the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance." At the moment of victory, remember God. Glorify and praise God, for the achievement of all this success is not your doing, but God's doing. Do not look at yourself; look at the divine power.

A nation, with wise and divine leadership like the Noble Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, is vigilant in such places to ensure that the nation does not lose its way. Piety is what comes to the aid of a nation here. If a nation is pious, it will continue on the path of progress, the path of faith, and the path of servitude to God. If nations lack piety, they will suffer the same calamity that powerful nations throughout history have faced. They became arrogant, oppressive, and deviated. They led people astray; they ruined and corrupted the world, and in the end, they themselves were overthrown. You witnessed an example of this in recent years regarding one of the two great empires existing in the world. This is the result of impiety. All the impious of the world, whether individuals or nations, must expect a downfall; and this is an inevitable fate. Following impiety, there is certainly a downfall. Of course, before complete downfall, there is deviation, corruption, and ruin.

The Quranic experience I mentioned relates to the companions of Prophet Noah and the believers in him. The believers in Prophet Noah were truly chosen people. The story of Prophet Noah and the believers in him is discussed in detail in the noble verses of Surah "Hud." Prophet Noah invited for nine hundred and fifty years. The result and product of his invitation after nine hundred and fifty years was a small group who believed in Noah among those ignorant and rebellious people: "And none believed with him except a few." (Hud: 40) Then the divine test for that disbelieving people approached; that is, the matter of the flood. Prophet Noah began building a ship on dry land, becoming a source of ridicule for all who looked at him. A ship should be built by the sea, not on dry land and in a place perhaps miles away from the sea! How can a large ship intended to carry a group be built far from the sea?! When the disbelieving people passed by Noah and the believers in him, they mocked and said: Look at Noah and his companions, building a huge ship outside the city where they reside!

The believers in Noah were those who endured the mockery. They did not know what the ship was for! They were unaware of the flood and the water that was to gush from the sky and the earth! But their faith was so strong that they endured the mockery and bore the pressure of the public opinion of the powerful in society against them. The believers in Noah were also lowly people: "Except those who are the lowest among us at first thought." (Hud: 27) They might have been considered the third and fourth class of society at that time. Now imagine: a small group, in front of a large group with money, power, language, and propaganda, being mocked and insulted, but enduring. Such endurance requires strong faith. The companions of Noah and the believers in Noah had this strong faith. When the matter of shipbuilding arose, their faith became more evident: they did not pressure their prophet by saying, "What are you doing?! Why are you building a ship on dry land and why have you made us a laughingstock?!" No. They endured all the bitterness.

They had started a strange and unusual task. Imagine someone starting to build a ship in a large square in a city like Tehran, which is miles away from the sea! This task has no justification. The believers in Noah endured the mockery, which was considered justified. Such endurance requires faith; that too, strong faith. When the rain began to fall from the sky and water gushed from the earth, Noah told his believers: "Now board." They boarded and also boarded the animals. The atmospheric conditions indicated that the entire world would be covered with water. God's command to Noah was: "We said, 'Carry in it two of each kind, a pair, and your family.'" (Hud: 40) Board the ship with all pairs of creatures ("two pairs" means two pairs). It was clear that an event was about to unfold that would spare nothing in the world.

They boarded the ship. The ship moved, and then the world was covered with water. Humans drowned, and animals perished. That chosen group of believers remained with Prophet Noah. The test of the disbelievers was over; but the test of the believers was not yet over. One test was to endure and bear the hardships and mockery during the period of faith in the prophet. It was a difficult test. The test of the period of hardship! The believers in Noah easily passed the test.

Sometimes the test of the period of hardship is easier than the test of the period of ease and comfort. The test of the period of oppressed confrontation with the usurping, oppressive, and tyrannical Israelis was a difficult test. Some succeeded in that test. After a few years, thanks to the same struggles, they gained respect among the people. Money poured in, respect poured in, and the period of comfort arrived. There was no longer any struggle. There was no longer any danger of death. There was no longer any need to carry a machine gun on the shoulder. Therefore, in the test of the period of ease, they failed; and what a failure it was! You saw the disgrace of selling Palestine! We have many such examples in contemporary history. I have seen fighters who passed their period of hardship in the purest manner, but in their period of ease, they fell into filth and corruption.

The whirlpool of the test is a very difficult whirlpool. The same people who endured those hardships alongside Noah reached the period of ease and comfort. "It was said, 'O Noah, disembark in peace from Us and blessings upon you.'" (Hud: 48) And the water receded. The period of Noah's ship sailing on the waves of water, which was the storm of divine wrath, came to an end. They were to disembark in a healthy world; a world where there were no longer any arrogant ones, elites, or indulgent ones. They were to start their Islamic and divine life. The Quran says that we told Noah: "Disembark." Disembark from the ship. "In peace from Us upon nations from among those with you." (Hud: 48) Our greetings to you (or "Our safety and security for you") and for some of those who are with you.

How strange! This greeting and attention and divine grace are not universal for the believers who emerged from the test in those conditions. "Some" of them are included in God's peace: "And nations whom We will grant enjoyment, then a painful punishment will touch them from Us." (Hud: 48) But some of those who were with you (the apparent meaning of the verse is: "We will grant them enjoyment") will first be granted enjoyment. "Then a painful punishment will touch them from Us." After enjoying life, after tasting the taste of security and comfort, a painful punishment from Us will reach them! That is, they will act poorly in the divine test. They will fail in the divine test.

This is the test of the period of ease. Who can emerge successful from this test? The pious people. At the beginning of my remarks, I read a narration from the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, who says: Whoever separates from piety, "is lured by pleasures and desires." Pleasures and desires deceive him; they lure him. "And he falls into the bewilderment of sins." And he will fall into the bewilderment and misguidance and deviation of wrongdoing.

When there is no piety, when there is no self-awareness, when we are not attentive to our actions, our words, our transactions, the service we have undertaken in the government apparatus, the duty we have taken on in the field, and in short, when we are not attentive to the behavior that is obligatory upon us by Islamic duty, slips will come to us. Do not think that slipping is exclusive to a specific group and desires are exclusive to a certain group! All humans are subject to desires. Some have expensive desires, and some have cheap desires. Some have luxurious pleasures, and some have trivial and small pleasures. Pleasure is pleasure. Forbidden pleasure is forbidden pleasure. It makes no difference; the big one is forbidden, and the small one is forbidden. It is forbidden from a great person, and it is forbidden from a small person. The test is the test. It is a test for everyone. It is a test for all classes. Of course, the one from whom more is expected or because of their clothing, or because of their position, or because of their appearance, or because of their words, their vigilance is more necessary and obligatory, and their deviation is more disgraceful and painful. But the test is for everyone. The test is the test. A nation is also tested. Just as it was in the case of Prophet Noah and the nations whom We will grant enjoyment.

In a narration, I saw that the Noble Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, describes to the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, the signs of deviation in the Muslim nation, that they will become such and such. But in the end, and ultimately, all emphasis is on piety.

In continuation of these verses related to Noah, God Almighty says: "These are from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you; neither you nor your people knew them before this. So be patient; indeed, the outcome is for the pious." (Hud: 49) The outcome is for the pious. The good end is dependent on piety. That is, in the case of Noah too, the verse seems to indicate that those who fell there did so because of their impiety. For me and you, dear brothers and sisters, who live in the period of Islamic security, the test is today. The test is current. There was a time in this country when no one dared to utter a word of truth. Because falsehood was dominant everywhere. But today, by the grace of the Lord and the blessing of Islam, the word of truth is prevalent. Even those who are people of falsehood today have the opportunity to say their falsehood! Look at the atmosphere of society! Look at the country's press! Look at the people sitting in their homes, and no one bothers them! They make contact. From hundreds of miles away, they establish contact with someone who is an enemy of the Islamic Republic and tell them their words, so that person broadcasts their words to the world over loudspeakers! They say, and their words are false; no one bothers them. Let them say their false words! When the atmosphere is one of truth, the authority belongs to the truth, the nation supports the truth, the heart of the nation is inclined towards the truth, now if a false speaker wants to utter nonsense from a corner, let them! We have no sensitivity. There is security for everyone; even for those who are not compatible with the system of truth and the course of truth. This period is incomparable to the times when even those who were with the government of falsehood had no security! This is the government of Islam. It is the government of truth. It is the atmosphere of the Quran and the atmosphere of prayer. It is the atmosphere of "those who, if We establish them in the land, establish prayer and give zakat." (Hajj: 41) It is the atmosphere of religion. This atmosphere is one where the test of the period of ease is also for our nation. There was a time in Ramadan when even Tehran was being bombarded. Day and night in your own home, you had no security from the aggressive enemy. Today, that enemy, thanks to the sacrifices of the youth of this nation—the warriors, the martyrs, the disabled, and the freedmen—has been condemned to short-handedness and sits in its place. Security has reached you. But it is the moment of the test. Be vigilant. O believers who boarded Noah's ship in the most difficult conditions! Be careful to emerge successful from the test. The way is to store piety within yourselves. Piety means being vigilant about your behavior so that you do not act contrary to God's commands and prohibitions. This is the meaning of piety. Sometimes the reins may slip from a person's hands, and they may commit a sin. The important thing is that you are vigilant and intend not to sin. This is the spirit of piety. This is the spirit of alertness, that when you are alert to yourself, you are also alert to your enemy. When you are vigilant about the inner devil within yourself, you will also be vigilant about the external devil. When the inner devil cannot harm us, the external devil will also not easily be able to condemn us and inflict harm. This is the message of Ramadan. "Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious." (Baqarah: 183) It is the prelude to piety, and piety is the ultimate goal.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, acquaint our hearts with piety. Make us pious and God-fearing. Bestow upon us the blessings of piety. Bestow upon us the blessings of Ramadan.

O Lord! Illuminate our hearts. Illuminate our minds. Illuminate our actions. Illuminate our words.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make our strength in action for Your sake.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make us among Your righteous servants.

O Lord! Preserve this believing nation, this nation striving in the path of God, this nation tested in the field of hardship and calamity, by Your grace and mercy, in the fields of ease as well. Protect this nation from the evil of Satan. Protect it from the evil of its enemies. Return the evil of the enemies of the nation to themselves.

O Lord! Send Your mercy, forgiveness, and pleasure upon our great Imam, who was the opener of this path, more and more with each moment.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, gather our martyrs with the martyrs of the early days of Islam. Include the warriors, the self-sacrificers, the disabled, the forgiving ones, the righteous servants, the knowledgeable servants, the pious servants, in Your grace, favor, and mercy.

O Lord! Make what we said and heard a treasure for our hereafter.

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.

Second Sermon

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

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds. And blessings and peace upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen, infallible family, especially upon Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, and the truthful, pure one, the lady of the women of the worlds, and Hasan and Husayn, the leaders of the youth of paradise, and Ali ibn Husayn, Zain al-Abidin, and Muhammad ibn Ali, the revealer of the knowledge of the prophets, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad, the truthful, and Musa ibn Ja'far, the one who suppresses anger, 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 proof, the awaited Mahdi. Your proofs over Your servants and Your trustees in Your lands, and send blessings upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers. And I ask forgiveness from God for myself and for you, and I advise you to fear God and to organize your affairs.

First of all, I find it necessary to express my heartfelt gratitude to the great nation of Iran, the aware nation, the nation that recognizes the moment, the nation that recognizes the enemy, and the nation that appreciates the great divine blessings, for the display of power they showed on the 22nd of Bahman in front of the eyes of the enemy and friend in the world. We, who know the world's issues a bit more than the general public and are aware of the events and developments, realized what a blow was dealt to the propaganda that the enemies of the Islamic Republic had started with this movement of the Iranian nation. When the enemies start, they all start together; because the opponent is a front. Among them are these Zionist and arrogant news agencies, these four or five famous news agencies from which all the antennas of the world take news, analyses, and reports; and these few radios that have been spending millions of dollars for years to be able to, for example, get their voice to a few people in Iran. They write; they hire translators and speakers; they spend on technical and advertising expenses; they spend on writing content; they make policies and pay money to get this voice to Iran; maybe a few people will finally listen in some corner and be influenced by those words.

They had started a whisper a few months ago, which of course is not new. It is always there; but sometimes they start an attack. This whisper, its meaning, and its product was that people in Iran no longer have anything to do with the revolution and Islam and have become disillusioned with Islam! They want to say: See how badly the officials of the Islamic Republic have acted that people have kissed Islam goodbye and set it aside! Inside, some had previously repeated these words and continue to repeat them. Let me tell you that in our universities, unfortunately, its instances have been seen. I say this to the Muslim Hezbollah students so that they know: such motivations exist in some corners. Of course, the majority of our professors are good, believing, supporters of the growth and elevation of the nation, and supporters of the Islamic revolution and the sacred system of the Islamic Republic. But it is not the case that no malicious individual can be found. In these universities, there are people, albeit very few, who try to give this matter a philosophical form and shape, saying, "Yes; since the Islamic Republic came to power, Islam has weakened"! There is no lie and trick more disgraceful than this! The peak of Islam's greatness in the whole world reached its zenith with the emergence of the Islamic Republic. But they, quite the opposite, want to say that the Islamic Republic, the establishment of an Islamic government, and the emergence of the Quran and Islam's crushing fist against the enemies is to the detriment of Islam! If this is the case, then the Prophet, peace be upon him, should not have formed a government. The Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, should not have formed a government. The caliphs of early Islam should have gone to their homes. Why a government then?!

If an Islamic government is detrimental to the Islamic invitation, why did the Prophet endure so much hardship; why did he fight so many wars and why were so many people killed? See how ignorant these idle talkers are about Islam! Now, when a radio from a notorious, ugly-looking group in the world says something, we say "Well; they don't know" or at least "They are not among this population." But some people inside the Islamic homeland utter these meaningless words!

In any case, our nation, when it was time, did what it had to do. The 22nd of Bahman bewildered both foreign and domestic enemies. They were left wondering what to say. The streets of Tehran, so vast and full of people! That, Azadi Square! That, various cities; small cities and large cities; cities that the enemy wants to pretend that their people have issues with the system! Thanks be to God, one after another, the resolute face of the people of these cities was shown; they themselves saw, and others also saw that the Iranian nation rose up as one and moved. Let me tell you: today in the world, there is not even one government, whether large governments like the United States or small governments, that can show such a massive mobilization of its people in a national and ideological ceremony. The only government that has the ability to do this is the Islamic Republic of Iran and no one else!

Another point I must mention is that an attack against Muslims has taken shape in the world. Dear brothers and sisters and the general Muslims must know that they are under a comprehensive attack. If a Muslim country is sitting comfortably in a corner, thinking it will not be subject to such an attack, it should not think so. The attack is against Islam and all Muslims. The clear example of this at present is the great tragedy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Truly, these are strange and unprecedented events! The Serbs and Croats, and behind them the British and some European governments and the United States, in creating tragedies and heartlessness, have surpassed the usurping Zionists! I said in the Arabic sermon that in those days, the tragedies created by the Zionists were carried out in the absence of world public opinion, and no one knew what was happening in occupied Palestine. But today, in the American and European press and on European and American televisions, all the events are reflected. The cold-hearted West and the oppressive arrogant governments, some of which are spectators of these tragedies, first equipped the Serbs. They did everything necessary for them. Now they are sitting back, waiting for the stronger hand to cut off the head of this weak one! Every now and then, they say that such and such a conference was held! And it's all nonsense! Of course, the Islamic governments are not blameless in this matter. Some of them, yes; they acted well. The nation and government of Iran acted the best. Some others also acted well. But some really acted poorly. Otherwise, if the Islamic governments had said, "We will cut off relations with those who support the Serbs for a month and will not trade with them," the issue would not have become so complicated.

In any case, they fell short, and the incident is a great incident. But let me tell you that you will see, and God willing, in the future, the whole world will see that this incident in Europe will end in favor of Islam and to the detriment of the arrogant European powers. That is, the nature of the incident is such. This incident, by God's grace, will be the beginning of a transformation for Islam and the position of Islam and Muslims in Europe. This is one example of that attack. Another example is occupied Palestine. Today, in front of the eyes of the world's people, the Israelis usurp, imprison, torture, condemn, exile, bomb, and the world says nothing! Even more astonishing is that the world of arrogance scolds those oppressed people, saying, "Why do you defend yourselves?!" The world of arrogance, meaning primarily the United States, which is the most wicked and malicious, and then those who follow the United States.

Another example of that mentioned attack is the crimes being committed in Lebanon. The Lebanese are fighting against the usurping Zionist enemy who has usurped both Palestine and part of Lebanon. The world of arrogance, instead of telling the usurper, "Why did you usurp?!" tells the defenders of their own homes, "Why are you defending?!" See what a truly vile new world order is ruling the world! Is this the new world order they were talking about?! Imagine a burly, bullying individual entering the home of a group of orphaned children; taking the house; taking the furniture; taking the provisions; taking the comfortable rooms; occupying the space of the house and imprisoning the children in the storeroom of the house, or creating restrictions for them. If the children get a chance, they shout and say, "Why?" The usurping bully immediately frowns and says, "You are always talking about fighting! Where did peace go?! Be in pursuit of peace. How bad-tempered you are!"

This is the current state of the world. They attack Muslims, massacre them, encourage the massacrer (like the case of Kashmir, or Tajikistan), collaborate for the destruction of Islam; but as soon as Muslims raise their voices somewhere, they say, "You are always talking about fighting! You are always being bad-tempered!" The issue is like this. They have started a dangerous and harsh struggle against Islam. Of course, the struggle that began with ten or twelve years of planning and intense initiation, as it progresses, thanks be to God, adds to the problems of arrogance; it becomes harder for them; their failures increase, and their supporting governments become more unstable!

Muslims all over the world should know this, and you, the Muslim people of Iran, should also know: where in the world Islam can speak with power, it is Islamic Iran. Appreciate this power. Appreciate this greatness. Appreciate this independence. Appreciate this ability to express what is in the heart that our nation and government have against any of the powers, whatever they may be. Others do not have this ability. We too, thanks be to God, have become more powerful day by day. By God's grace, we have become stronger day by day, and the enemy is truly helpless against Islam and its pinnacle of power, Islamic Iran.

The nation should appreciate it. The government should appreciate it. The officials should appreciate it. Let us not separate from Islam. Let us not forget the enemy. The 22nd of Bahman was a test that the nation passed well. The test of "Quds Day" will also come on the last Friday of Ramadan. Every year, there are one or two of these kinds of public demonstrations and displays of the power of the Islamic system, thanks be to God, in Iran; one better than the other. Remember Quds Day as well. Of course, the way to persevere in this field is to reconcile with God, so that God Almighty does not withhold His grace and mercy from us.

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

Say, He is God, the One. God, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings