Statements at the Meeting with Hajj Officials and Servants

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen family, especially the Remaining One of God on the earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters; especially to you, the esteemed families of the martyrs and also to the esteemed servants of the great obligation of Hajj and the dear pilgrims. On the occasion of the martyrdom of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), I extend my condolences to all the honorable attendees.

In the matter of Hajj, a fundamental principle for everyone, both for the pilgrim and for the servant, is understanding the importance of Hajj; that is, what significance Hajj holds within the Islamic system and in the collection of acts of worship that a person performs; this is important. The importance of Hajj must be understood. There is a time when a person undertakes a journey; well, this journey may involve pilgrimage, tourism, or trade; but there is a time when the matter goes beyond a journey; it is a global issue, an international issue, a civilizational issue in Islamic teachings. Hajj must be viewed through this lens.

Now, there are numerous verses about Hajj in the Quran, and each has a specific point, but I have noted two verses here that refer to the benefits of Hajj. One is the noble verse from Surah Al-Ma'idah, which states: "God has made the Kaaba, the Sacred House, a standing place for the people;" (2) God has considered the Kaaba as the foundation of society; this is very important; "a standing place for the people." This means that if Hajj does not exist and is not realized, the Islamic nation and the Islamic community will collapse; hence, the jurists say that Hajj is obligatory in certain cases; that is, if you see a day — may God not bring such a day — when there is no pilgrim from anywhere in the world, it becomes personally obligatory for you to perform Hajj, even if you have gone before ten times. This house, this main station, this fundamental center, must never be left empty. "A standing place for the people"; this is a very important expression.

Another verse is the blessed verse from Surah Al-Hajj: "And proclaim to the people the Hajj; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every distant pathway, to witness benefits for themselves;" (3) The people, the nation, the Islamic community, should come from the corners of the world to perform Hajj, to see their benefits with their own eyes: "to witness"; to observe, to see, to be present in the collection of benefits that exist. They asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) whether the benefits referred to here are the benefits of the Hereafter, meaning rewards and such? He said no, both. Of course, there are also benefits of the Hereafter, but there are also worldly benefits. The Islamic community derives benefits from Hajj that cannot be obtained through any other means; only through Hajj, only through this international meeting can it be achieved. Well, among the worldly benefits is the elevation of the level of civilization in the Islamic world, due to the understanding and coordination that exists. There are things that are very apparent, but remain hidden from human eyes; one of them is this issue. The sacred law addresses all members of the Islamic community: "And proclaim to the people the Hajj." In this word "people," there are points; I do not want to delve into it now. In several noble verses of the Quran, the discussion is about "people," not about "believers"; one of these verses is: "And proclaim to the people the Hajj"; it belongs to all people and all of humanity. The call of Prophet Abraham was addressed to all of humanity. It is narrated that when God Almighty revealed to Abraham (peace be upon him) to invite the people, he went to Mount Abu Qubays and said, "O people"; (4) it is not about those who believe in me, who accept me; he invited all of humanity to Hajj. Throughout history, as long as the world exists, this invitation of Abraham remains. Well, at a specific time, within a defined period — which is mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah as "a few days" (5) and in Surah Al-Hajj as "known days" (6) — and at a specific location, God Almighty has invited all of humanity. Of course, it is clear that those who believe in this invitation accept it, come, and act, thus they are believers; others who do not accept it will inevitably not respond to this invitation and will remain deprived. The fact that all people from around the world gather for a specific day and date in a specific location is not a coincidence; it is a calculated matter, and it is evident that they are invited for a purpose.

Consider, if a call were made for example that a certain group of people or a certain city from the country or all the people of the country should gather at a certain place on a certain day, what does it mean? It means that this presence is for a purpose and an objective; it does not mean that you come and go; no, it means come so that something can be accomplished, come so that a goal can be achieved; this is Hajj. They have invited for a purpose; what is that purpose? The elevation of the Islamic nation; that purpose is the closeness of the hearts of all members of the Islamic nation to one another; that purpose is the unity of the Islamic nation; against what? Against disbelief, against oppression, against global arrogance, against human and non-human idols, against all those things that Islam came to eliminate; to gather together to confront these. For example, consider that today the issue of Israel, the Zionist regime, is at hand; all of the Islamic world must gather, and this gathering must send a message against the Zionist regime. Today, the issue of the world is the influence of arrogant powers; everyone must gather to announce their presence, to assert their power, to stand firm against the arrogant powers; this is the essence of the matter. These are the worldly benefits. Of course, if we were to enumerate the worldly benefits, we would need to write and say dozens of pages; now we have mentioned two sentences.

The benefits of the Hereafter; the benefits of the Hereafter are intertwined with these worldly benefits; the impact of Hajj on hearts is profound; it creates a bond with God Almighty; it strengthens the relationship with God Almighty; it fosters sincerity in action; it purifies the heart from everything that opposes and contradicts the remembrance of God; these are the things that must happen. The acts performed during Hajj — this Ihram, this Tawaf, this prayer, this Sa'i, this Arafat, this Muzdalifah, and these acts in Mina and similar ones — each is a chapter, a bright and enlightening window towards the world of meaning and the unseen world that your heart utilizes from this window. This is how Hajj should be performed, this is how Hajj should be approached.

An important issue regarding Hajj is the global and transnational perspective of all Muslims; this should not be neglected. Islam has asked all Muslims to have a transnational perspective. Naturally, a person faces long-term, short-term, and daily life issues; there is no doubt about this, there is no escape from it, but one should not be confined to this. While you think about your personal life, your family life, your children, your future, your job, the future of your country, the advancement and elevation of your country, you must also think about the world; this is the teaching of Islam. I have noted a narration here that is actually related to this Hajj, which is also from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him); of course, the narration is longer than this; this narration is in the sources, in the chapters of "the obligation of Hajj." Pay attention, the point is that these words are spoken by the Imam (peace be upon him) regarding the obligation of Hajj.

Among the expressions in this narration is: "And if every group only relies on their own country and what is in it; if every community, every nation only focuses on themselves, on the issues of their own country, and only rely on them, they will perish;" they will be destroyed. If you do not know what is happening in the world, you will become weak; "they will perish," this is the expression of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him). "And the lands will be ruined;" your own country, your region of interest will also be destroyed, ruined. "And the revenues will decrease" — "Jalab" means income — your national revenues will also decline. You must know what is happening in the world. "And you will remain ignorant of the news;" (7) you will remain unaware of the world. You must look at the world, see what is happening in the world.

The fact that we repeatedly emphasize the issue of enemy recognition, that we say recognize the enemy, understand the methods of the enemy, understand the workings of the enemy, understand the enemy's progress, understand the enemy's weaknesses, understand the enemy's strengths, this is not only addressed to the officials, but also to all people. A country whose youth, old, scholars, students, merchants, all pay attention to global issues, this country will never be deceived. We have been deceived in many places in global transactions; because we did not pay attention to global issues. What intentions does this side have when entering the field, what intentions does it have when it speaks to us, what insistence does it have on a certain issue, what is its problem, how much do we need, how much does it need; these must be known. If we know these, we will not be deceived. Wherever we understood these and acted according to this knowledge, we progressed. We now have good advancements on a global, international, and regional level; the fact that the Americans are very angry about our advancements is a testament to this. These advancements have occurred because those who were responsible were attentive; they understood what was happening in the world. Hajj is that essential point where you can find this.

During Hajj, people come from Europe, from Africa, from all over Asia, from countries inclined towards a certain policy, from countries inclined towards another policy; all kinds of people come. You have the opportunity, the chance, to become familiar with global issues up close, not through some lying newspaper or a deceitful news agency that spreads false news, distorts realities. You can understand directly; this is Hajj; Hajj must be viewed through this lens.

An important fundamental point in Hajj is that Islam practically shows that the distinctions that exist in the world, in different countries, do not accept these distinctions; racial distinctions, geographical distinctions, class distinctions; it does not accept these; this point is very important. Today, countries that claim to be civilized — which in my opinion have not smelled civilization at all — these countries that consider themselves civilized and the rest of the world as savage, get caught up in the issue of black and white, get caught up in the issue of European race and non-European race, get caught up in the issue of immigrants. Thousands of immigrant people, if they drown in the sea, it does not bother them; they do not care about them, as if they do not consider them human, do not regard them as worthy of attention. They give far more importance to their pet animals than to a stranger living next door to them. These are the daily events that humans observe in the world; they get caught up, they have not been able to solve this problem. Islam has solved it, and not just in words; now in words, the Holy Quran states: "Indeed, the believers are brothers" (8) and verses like this, in narrations and in the words of the greats of Islam, these words are abundant; but in practice, Islam's language of eliminating distinctions is a practical language; where? In Hajj; there are blacks, there are whites, there are people from this part of the world, there are people from that civilization, there are people from that history, all are together without any distinction; they walk together, they perform Tawaf together, they strive together, they stand together. These are very important. These are the secrets of Hajj; these must be performed with knowledge.

Now, in this matter that I am presenting — well, we have said these issues many times — I insist that the esteemed officials of Hajj should create a culture in these areas. Make it so that as soon as the name of Hajj is mentioned, as soon as the name of the revered Kaaba is mentioned, the concepts of civilization-building, the concept of global unity, the concept of a transnational and international perspective, the concept of eliminating distinctions, and similar concepts come to the minds of our youth. Cultural development must take place in these areas; this is the responsibility of the clergy who are in the caravans, it is also the responsibility of the Hajj officials, it is also the responsibility of the officials of the mission; everyone; anyone who has the ability should create culture in these areas regarding Hajj. Make it so that people perform Hajj with this intention. Then, if we can instill this culture in the minds of the people, we will no longer be worried that now our brother or sister is busy shopping during Hajj to buy a cheap item as a souvenir. This is a concern, after all; this is one of the worries; if it happens this way, we will no longer have these concerns.

The fact that Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) insisted, and I also emphasized following him, that you must participate in the prayers of the Masjid al-Haram — the prayers of the Sunnis — this is for this reason; otherwise, there in Masjid al-Haram, a million-strong crowd gathers to pray, and you pray in your hotel with fifty people, that does not work. Participate in gatherings, speak, communicate. Yes, there is opposition to these; we know that; there is obstruction, but the one who obstructs is a human being, and you are also a human being; you can speak. These benefits must be obtained. The spiritual benefits, this is the same prayer and supplication. Pray as much as you can, supplicate as much as you can. As much as you can in Masjid al-Haram, in the illuminated Medina, perform that action which God Almighty loves, which is the sincere action and sincere attention and supplication to God Almighty; repeat this, increase it, amplify it. "O God, grant me Your love and the love of those who love You and the love of every action that brings me closer to You;" (9) the action that brings us closer to God; [such as] this supplication and this attention and the supplications that have been transmitted. Or supplications that are not specific to that place, [such as] this Du'a-e-Kumayl; this collective recitation of Du'a-e-Kumayl is very good; the esteemed officials should speak with the responsible parties in that country, reach an understanding, agree that this [action] takes place. This is the positive aspect of the matter, [that is] the aspect of drawing closer to God; on the other side is the aspect of disavowal from polytheists, and this great movement that exists and continues and must continue.

One of the honors of the Islamic Republic is that it has introduced these capacities; we do not say that we have completely revived them — we have not completely revived them, we must do so — but it has introduced these capacities to the people. Before the revolution, these matters were not discussed; neither the people were aware of these matters, nor were we who wore turbans and preached to the people; we were also unaware of these matters. The revolution taught us these; the revolutionary movement showed us these great capacities of Hajj. Very well, let us introduce these capacities to the people, and then strive to act upon them.

May God, God willing, grant you success, accept your Hajj; God willing, may God accept the Hajj of all pilgrims from around the world and grant them success and provide dignity and respect for them and may the pure soul of the Imam and the dear martyrs be pleased, God willing.

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