Message to the Great Hajj Congress

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful O our people, respond to the call of God and believe in Him; He will forgive you your sins and save you from a painful punishment. Once again, those who respond to the divine call have arrived at the house of the Beloved, answering the call with enthusiasm and eagerness. The season of Hajj has arrived, and the realm of longing and need has been opened for the lovers of purity and spirituality. Now, the house of God and the qibla (direction of prayer) of hearts is before you; Arafat and Mash'ar are adorned for the outpouring of the springs of remembrance and knowledge; Mina and Safa teach striving and effort in drawing closer to God and stoning the devil. Now is the opportunity for self-building and benefiting from this cascading waterfall of unity and monotheism. Strengthen the response you have uttered at the beginning of Ihram (state of consecration) in your hearts, and enrich the divine invitation you have accepted by reflecting on the meaning and purpose of Hajj, gaining more benefit and treasure. The obligation of Hajj, when performed with knowledge and awareness, bestows blessings upon the Muslim pilgrim and the great Islamic community, guiding the pilgrim towards purity, spirituality, and the unity and dignity of the community. The first step for pilgrims is self-building. Ihram, Tawaf (circumambulation), and prayer, Mash'ar and Arafat and Mina, sacrifice and stoning and shaving, all are manifestations of humility and submission of man before God and places of remembrance, supplication, and nearness to Him. These meaningful rituals should not be passed over in negligence. The traveler to the land of Hajj must consider himself in the presence of the Almighty, see himself alone with the Beloved amidst the dense crowd, confide in Him, ask of Him, and attach his heart to Him, driving away the devil and desires from his heart, and cleansing himself of the tarnish of greed, envy, cowardice, and lust. He should thank God for His guidance and blessings, tame his heart for striving in the way of God, nurture kindness towards the believers and enmity towards the enemies and oppressors in his heart, strengthen his resolve for self-reform and the reform of the world around him, and make a covenant with his God for the prosperity of this world and the Hereafter. Hajj, at the same time, is a collective movement. The divine invitation to Hajj is for believers to see themselves alongside one another and to witness a symbol of the unity of the Muslim body. Hajj is for collective nearness to God and collective disavowal of the devils of mankind and jinn. It is a practice of unity and cohesion of the Islamic community. The Islamic community has never needed this brotherhood and public disavowal of polytheists and arrogant powers as much as today. Today, the Islamic world is besieged scientifically, economically, propagandistically, and now militarily. The occupation of Quds (Jerusalem) and Palestine has led to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the octopus of Zionism and the brazen global arrogance of America is now plotting against the entire Middle East, North Africa, and the whole Islamic world, targeting the awakening movement that has breathed new life into the Islamic community. Now, America and the arrogant West have come to the conclusion that the center of awakening and resistance against their plans for domination over the entire world is the Muslim countries and nations, especially in the Middle East. If they cannot suppress the Islamic awakening movement in the coming years through economic, political, and propaganda tools, and ultimately militarily, all their calculations for absolute domination over the world and control over the most important oil and gas resources, which are the only means of driving their industrial machine and material superiority over all humanity, will collapse, and the major Western capitalists and Zionists, who are the behind-the-scenes players of all arrogant governments, will be toppled from their imposed power. Global arrogance has brought all its capacities to the battlefield. In one place with political pressure, in another with economic threats, in some places with propaganda tricks, and in others - like Iraq and Afghanistan and previously in Palestine and Quds - with bombs, missiles, tanks, and military boots, they have entered the arena of decisive battle. The most important tool of these savage cannibals is the mask of hypocrisy and deception they wear. They equip terrorist squads and send them to target the innocent, while claiming to fight terrorism. They openly support the terrorist and tyrannical government that has usurped Palestine and label the defenders of the besieged Palestinians as terrorists. They produce, distribute, and use weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, creating atrocities like Hiroshima and Halabja and the Iranian defensive lines in the imposed war, while simultaneously shouting for the control of weapons of mass destruction. They are behind the dirty drug mafia and claim to fight against drugs. They showcase a facade of scientific advancement and globalizing science, while opposing the progress of knowledge and technology in the Islamic world and deeming the emergence of peaceful nuclear technology in Islamic countries as a great sin. They speak of freedom and the rights of minorities, yet strip Muslim girls of their right to education for adhering to Islamic hijab. They preach freedom of expression and opinion, yet consider expressing opinions about Zionism a crime and prevent the publication of many prominent Islamic intellectual works and even documents obtained from the American spy den in Tehran. They boast about human rights, yet establish dozens of torture camps like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, or remain silently complicit in such unprecedented atrocities. They speak of respect for all religions, yet support the apostate Salman Rushdie and spread blasphemous words against Islamic sanctities on the BBC. Today, due to the audacity and reckless foolishness of the rulers of America and England, the mask of their deception and hypocrisy has been torn, and the hatred towards these arrogant powers has filled the hearts of nations and young Muslims by their own hands. Today, if free elections are held in any Islamic country, the nations will vote against the wishes of America and England. Now, the elections in Iraq are before us. The goal of the Iraqi people and their true leaders from the elections is the opposite of the goal of the occupiers. The people and leaders of Iraq want elections to form a popular government that arises from the will of the people and for an independent, unified, and free Iraq. For them, the elections must mark the end of military occupation and the political domination of America and England. They must put an end to the presence of the instigating Zionists who, under the shadow of American weapons, have reached the banks of the Euphrates and have misinterpreted the nightmare of "from the Nile to the Euphrates." They must transform the divisions of sectarian and ethnic strife, which are often incited by the malice of common enemies, into brotherhood and unity. However, the elections in the delusional imagination of the occupiers have another goal. They want to impose their mercenaries, who are often humiliated and subservient to the occupiers due to their ties to the Ba'ath Party, on the people under the guise of popular elections. They want to relieve themselves of the costs of military presence and have their mercenaries reimburse whatever they have spent from the pockets and oil of Iraq. They want to establish colonialism in its completely new form in Iraq. In this new colonialism, foreign mercenaries will not be directly employed by the colonizers as before, but in elections where the people's votes are disregarded through fraud and deception, those who are called the people's representatives will come to power. The name and appearance of democracy will mask the absolute foreign domination over the oppressed nation. Now, two major dangers threaten the elections in Iraq: first, the fraud and manipulation of the people's votes, in which the Americans are particularly skilled. If the elite Iraqi youth and educated political figures can prevent this fraud through their efforts and round-the-clock endeavors and bring their popular and elected government to power, then the second danger arises, which is a military coup and the imposition of another dictator on the fate of Iraq. This danger can also be averted with the wisdom, timely action, and courage of the valiant and faithful people of Iraq and their true and noble leaders. At this critical historical moment, which will determine the fate of their coming decades, they must make the most of their faith, courage, and national solidarity, hold comprehensive, healthy, and enthusiastic elections, and safeguard the results with all their might. The differences between Shia and Sunni or Arab and Kurd and Turkmen, or other divisive classifications, are only exacerbated by the enemies. Just as the insecurity that always precedes the emergence of dictatorship is designed and encouraged by the enemy's intelligence services. Those who target the lives of Iraqi citizens and political and scientific figures with heinous murders will never be counted among the Mujahideen who fight against the oppressive occupiers for the independence and dignity of Islam. Brothers and sisters who are performing Hajj! Muslim nations and governments! Today, the Islamic world needs unity, solidarity, and adherence to the Quran more than ever. On one hand, the capacities of the Islamic world for development, dignity, and power have become more evident than ever, and the revival of the glory and greatness of the Islamic community has become the motivation and desire of the youth and the wise throughout the Islamic world. The hypocritical slogans of the arrogant powers have faded, and their evil intentions towards the Islamic community have gradually become clear. On the other hand, the world oppressors who harbor ambitions of domination over the entire world are fearful of the awakening and unity of the Islamic community, seeing it as a barrier against the destructive flood of their plans, and are striving to preempt and prevent it. Today is the day of practical brotherhood in all arenas and against all seditions. It is the day to prepare the ground for the government of His Holiness Mahdi (may God hasten his appearance). It is the day to respond to the divine invitation in all areas. It is a day when we must once again recite the verse "Indeed, the believers are brothers" and the verse "Do not say to one who greets you, 'You are not a believer'" and the verse "They are severe against the disbelievers, and merciful among themselves" in our hearts. Whether during the bombardment of Najaf and Fallujah and Mosul, during the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that left tens of thousands of families grieving, during the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, or during the bloody daily events in Palestine, we must feel the divine duty upon ourselves. We invite Muslims to unity; this unity is not against Christians or other religions and nations, but to confront the aggressors, occupiers, and warmongers, to implement ethics and spirituality, to revive rationality and Islamic justice, and to achieve scientific and economic progress and restore Islamic dignity. We remind the world that when Quds was in the hands of Muslims during the era of the righteous caliphs, Christians and Jews lived in complete peace and security, but now that Quds and other centers are under the control of the Zionists or the Zionist Crusaders, how do they consider the blood of Muslims permissible?! I call upon the dear pilgrims to humility, remembrance, and supplication, to recite the Quran with contemplation, to participate in congregational prayers, to show kindness to pilgrims from other countries, and to avoid pointless pastimes. I ask the Almighty God for your success, health, and acceptance of your worship, and I invite everyone to pray for the presence of the Awaited Savior, may our souls be sacrificed for him, and for the arrival of his global just government. Peace be upon him and you, and God's mercy and blessings.