Full Text of the Supreme Leader's Statements in Meeting with Scholars, Clergy, and Preachers on the Eve of the Month of Muharram

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

Dear brothers; esteemed scholars and respected clerics, and the sincere preachers of the faith! Welcome. The opportunity for preaching in the month of Muharram is a very great and exceptional opportunity, and this is due to the blood of the Master of Martyrs and the Leader of the Free, Hazrat Aba Abdillah al-Husayn (peace be upon him) and the pure-hearted companions of that great man. The effect of that blood, shed unjustly, is a lasting impact in history; because a martyr - someone who places their life on the altar of sincerity and dedicates it to the lofty goals of the faith - possesses purity and truthfulness.

A deceitful and cunning person, no matter how much they may appear to be a supporter of the truth in speech and expression, when it comes to personal interests, especially their own life and that of their loved ones, they will retreat and are unwilling to sacrifice them. The one who steps into the field of sacrifice and selflessly gives their existence for the sake of God: "It is a duty upon God"; God Almighty has taken it upon Himself to keep them alive. "And do not say of those who are killed in the way of God, 'They are dead'"; "And do not think that those who were killed in the way of God are dead"; those killed in the way of God remain alive. One aspect of their survival is that their signs, their footprints, and their banners will never fade. It may be that for a while, through force and violence and the intervention of arrogant powers, their signs may become faint; but God Almighty has decreed nature this way. The divine tradition is that the path of the pure, the righteous, and the sincere remains.

Sincerity is a remarkable thing; thus, thanks to the blessing of Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon him) and the unjustly shed blood of that great man and his companions, the faith has remained in the world; and after that, this chain continued.

One cannot expect that a generation will only subsist on the legacies of the honors of previous generations. If this happens, that generation will decline. As long as this rapid movement exists, where each generation of believers fulfills their share, the honors will continue from generation to generation. Of course, in every era, the share of the believers and the sincere is in a certain way and according to certain circumstances; all are engaged in jihad in the way of God; for all, there is the danger of sacrificing interests, including the sacrifice of life. Sometimes it is in war, sometimes in the seminary, sometimes it is the first and second martyr, sometimes in the political arena, sometimes in the field of social advancements, sometimes in a great revolution like this divine revolution, sometimes for the sake of clarifying religious truths - like Martyr Motahhari and Martyr Beheshti - each time has its own circumstances. Today, the martyrdom of this honorable and fortunate man, this pure and sincere element who was martyred the day before yesterday at the hands of the most cursed elements and the most accursed hands and faces and hearts, was just like that. He was a sincere, remembering, humble, and devoted person who worked for God and fulfilled his duty during and after the war. Therefore, this chain continues:

This sweet and salty water flows through the people until the blowing of the trumpet.

This path continues. Who keeps this system, this movement, this dynamic caravan alive? The preachers, at the forefront of whom are the divine prophets, saints, and the righteous; like a candle that causes the butterflies to move:

Like a candle, we are the whips of the butterflies; we warm the lovers with the sharp sword of our tongue.

The preacher moves with their tongue, with their heart, with their soul, with their spirit, with their effort, and with their insight.

The framework that Mr. Boushehri just mentioned - which was very well organized - is the framework we accept. Preachers must continue their divine movement with this method, with this spirit, and with these goals. The revolution succeeded in the same way. Most of you young people have not experienced those days. In those days, the religious preachers - these nameless, unassuming, unpretentious, and selfless seminarians - went around the Islamic world, around the country, the villages, the cities, the mosques, the neighborhoods, and inside homes, illuminating them. Wherever they went, they lit a lamp from that radiant sun which was the center of all these rays - meaning our great Imam; and he himself was a flame from the radiant sun of Aba Abdillah al-Husayn (peace be upon him) - and everywhere was illuminated. When hearts were enlightened, souls became aware, bodies and tongues began to move, and wills acted. Today is the same, tomorrow will be the same; however, in every time, the art of the religious preacher is to familiarize the audience with what they need. Therefore, the needs of the time must be recognized.

Among the statements of Hazrat Abi Abdillah al-Husayn (peace be upon him) - each of which has a point, and I tell you dear ones that for the purpose of expressing clear and enlightening words for the people, maximum use should be made of the words of this great man - I find this sentence suitable for our gathering, which according to what has been narrated from him, he said: "O God, You know that what was from us was not for the competition for power nor the seeking of anything from the excess of worldly possessions"; O Lord! This movement we undertook, this uprising we initiated, this decision we made for this action, You know that it was not for the sake of seeking power. Seeking power cannot be a real goal for a human being. We did not want to take the reins of power into our hands. It was not for worldly possessions that we sought to enjoy the sweet and rich life for ourselves and fill our stomachs; to accumulate wealth and amass riches. It was not for these things. So for what was it? He has said several sentences that outline our line and direction. In all eras of Islamic preaching, these are the directions. "But rather to show the signs of Your religion"; to raise the banners of the faith for the people and to bring the indicators to their eyes.

Indicators are important. The devil always uses distortion among the groups of the faithful and shows the path incorrectly. If he can say, "Set religion aside," he will do so, in order to take the religious faith from the people through desires and harmful propaganda. If that is not possible, he will do this: to place the signs of the faith incorrectly; like when you are moving on a road, you see that the signpost indicates a direction; while a treacherous hand has come and changed it, showing the path in the wrong direction.

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) sets his first goal as follows: "To show the signs of Your religion and to manifest reform in Your land"; to eradicate corruption in the Islamic country and to bring about reform. What does reform mean? It means to eradicate corruption. What is corruption? Corruption has various types: theft is corruption, betrayal is corruption, dependency is corruption, oppression is corruption, moral deviations are corruption, financial deviations are corruption, enmities among the faithful are corruption, inclining towards the enemies of the faith is corruption, showing affection towards anti-religious things is corruption. Everything comes into existence under the shadow of religion. In the next sentences, he says: "And let the oppressed among Your servants find security"; the oppressed servants of Yours should find security. The intended meaning is the oppressed of society, not the oppressors, not the oppressors' supporters, not the praise singers of oppression, not the agents of oppression! "Oppressed" refers to people who have no means; they have no way out. The goal is that the oppressed people of society and the weak - at every level and in every place - find security: security of dignity, security of wealth, security of justice; the very thing that is absent in the world today. Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) wanted exactly the opposite of what was present during the tyranny of the tyrants of that day. Today, when you look at the world, you see the same; they invert the banners of the faith, they make the servants of God more oppressed, and the oppressors' claws sink deeper into the blood of the oppressed.

Look at what is happening in the world! Look at how they are treating the Muslims of Kosovo! Five hundred thousand people - or even more - children, adults, women, men, and the sick, in the deserts, at the borders; and not in kind deserts and borders, but among enemies, under the pressure of an enmity that mines the path in front of them and fires bullets behind them. The goal is to annihilate them.

Today, I tell you - I do not want to elaborate too much - the collective will is to annihilate and scatter the Muslims in the Balkans; to prevent the emergence of an Islamic state and an Islamic entity - any kind of Islamic entity, even one that has not conveyed divine teachings correctly for a hundred years - because that is dangerous for them! They know that if today's generation of Muslims in the Balkans, hypothetically, are not familiar with Islam, tomorrow's generation will be acquainted with Islam. Just the revival of Islamic identity in them is a danger; some have even pointed out this in their statements. Those governments are at war with each other; but what is not given real importance amid these conflicts - although they say things verbally - is the plight of the oppressed Muslims; "And let the oppressed among Your servants find security". The goal of every uprising, the goal of every revolution, the goal of every Islamic power, and indeed the goal of the governance of God's religion is to address the situation of the "oppressed" and to act upon the divine commandments, laws, and traditions.

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) concludes by saying: "And to act upon Your commandments, laws, and traditions". The goal of that great man is these things. Now, some gentleman comes out from a corner and, without any acquaintance with Islamic teachings and the words of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and even without a single Arabic word, writes extensively about the goals of the Husayni uprising, claiming that Imam Husayn rose for such and such a goal! From where do you say this?! This is the statement of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): "And to act upon Your commandments, laws, and traditions"; that is, Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) sacrifices his own life and the lives of the purest individuals of his time so that people act upon the laws of the faith. Why? Because happiness lies in acting upon the laws of the faith; because justice lies in acting upon the laws of the faith; because freedom and dignity of man lie in acting upon the laws of the faith. Where do they want to find freedom?! It is under the umbrella of the laws of the faith that all human desires are fulfilled.

The human of today, compared to the human of a thousand years ago, or the human of ten thousand years ago, has not changed in terms of essential needs. The essential needs of humans are: they want security, they want freedom, they want knowledge, they want a comfortable life, they are averse to discrimination, they are averse to oppression. The immediate needs of the time are things that can be fulfilled within the framework of these and under the shadow of these. These essential needs can only be fulfilled by the blessing of God's religion and nothing else. None of these global 'isms', none of these human schools, and none of these flashy names can save humanity. Even if they manage to provide material wealth - that is, money, and that too absolutely - for some people. Is this the need of humanity?! Today, the need of humanity is that in a certain country, the gross national product reaches a certain billion amount; while this gross national product cannot even provide food for many people in that same society?! Is this enough?! Are we seeking this?!

What benefit is there in a country being wealthy; but having many hungry people? To have high production; but discrimination and disparity exist in society? To have some who can use the wealth of that country to oppress a large number of people, to bully them, and to exploit them! For this, does humanity have a place to work?! For this, should humanity sacrifice?! Sacrifice is for justice, freedom, and the joy and happiness of the human spirit, and these are provided by religion. Sacrifice is for humans to develop good morals and virtues; to create a paradise of purity in the environment of humanity. For this, we must work; for this, preach; preach in this direction.

Regarding the command of good and the prohibition of evil, I saw a hadith that mentions among the things for the command of good and the prohibition of evil, "Companionship in what one commands and companionship in what one prohibits". In places where there is a need for gentleness - which is often the case - one must act with "gentleness"; so that one can instill those truths in hearts and minds with love and replace them. Preaching is for this; it is for reviving divine and Islamic laws.

Today, thanks be to God, this opportunity exists in our country and the officials have a "pain for the faith". Yes; foreign propaganda wants to portray that the officials and dignitaries of the country or some of them have no concern for religious matters! No; that is not the case. Some of them do not understand, some intentionally mislead; they want to propagate this way; they want to corrupt people's minds. Today in our country, the first-class officials have a pain for the faith; what they understand from the faith, they want to implement. The grounds are prepared; although the media outlets are indeed lacking. You should value this media outlet of yours. Of course, all of them also have a duty to reform themselves; but you should appreciate this preaching platform and this great preaching base of the mosque and Hosseiniyeh and under the tent of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him). This is a very effective and blessed thing.

Guide the people; enlighten the minds of the people; encourage the people to learn the faith; teach them the correct and purified faith; familiarize them with Islamic virtues and ethics; create moral virtues in them through action and speech; admonish the people; warn them of God's punishment, of God's wrath, of divine hell; give them glad tidings - warning has an important share; do not forget - give glad tidings to the believers, the righteous, the sincere, and the doers; familiarize them with the fundamental issues of the Islamic world and the fundamental issues of the country. This becomes that radiant torch that each of you dear ones lights in any place, hearts will be illuminated; awareness will arise; movement will occur; faith will deepen. The most effective weapon against this cultural onslaught and the cowardly assault of the enemy is this; I am very worried about this. They want to prevent young, believing, brave, aware, and thoughtful clerics from carrying out their work in various environments - in the university environment, in the market environment, in the village environment, in the city environment, in the workshop environment. The exact opposite of their work is this work and jihad in the way of God that is carried out with precision and diligence and above all with sincerity: "There was no competition for power nor the seeking of anything from the excess of worldly possessions".

We hope that God Almighty grants His grace and favor to your luminous hearts, your movement, and your work, and makes it blessed for the people, and God willing, makes its prominent effects enduring in our society.

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