Statements in Meeting with Imams of Mosques in Tehran Province

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 Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Awaited One on earth.

I welcome all of you dear brothers and esteemed colleagues. One of the things that a person should consider as a point of pride in their work, and I myself do so, is serving in the position of leading the mosques; we are also your partners in this regard. You are very welcome, and as Mr. Haj Ali Akbari stated, this meeting is truly important and different; it fundamentally differs from our other meetings here. I thank Mr. Haj Ali Akbari for his profound remarks, which were both useful and comprehensive, as well as beautiful and well-structured. We are pleased when we observe that the eloquent tongues of the clergy, thanks be to God, possess eloquence and intellectual adornments. He mentioned important points and good news that I was not fully aware of. I will also present a few points in this regard.

The first issue is the importance of the mosque itself and this initiative that Islam chose at the beginning of its birth, establishing a place for people to gather around the remembrance and supplication to the Almighty God. Naturally, gatherings of people have effects. Well, a group gathers together, they speak, listen, make decisions, establish intellectual connections, and exchange thoughts; where does this happen? For example, does it happen in elite clubs for various activities, as is common in the West, or does it take place in coffee houses; or like in ancient Rome, where such gatherings occurred in baths, and going to the bath was an excuse to talk and listen; or does it happen in a place where the focus is on establishing prayer? This makes a significant difference. When a gathering is formed around prayer and remembrance, it acquires a different meaning, a different direction, and draws hearts towards another purpose; this was Islam's innovation.

Yes, temples exist in all religions - where people sit and worship - but the mosque is different from Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist temples and some other places we have seen or heard about. In the mosque, the Prophet Muhammad did not just go to pray and come out; what was important for the community was called out: "Prayer is a gathering"; go towards the place of prayer; why? To consult about the issue of war or to inform or to cooperate or to mobilize resources and other matters; and you see in Islamic history that mosques were centers for education; we hear and read in narrations that in the Sacred Mosque or the Prophet's Mosque, there were study circles of Zayd, Amr, and Bakr from various intellectual and religious schools; this meaning is very different from a church or a Jewish synagogue where people just go there, perform a worship, and come out. The mosque is a base, and this base is centered around remembrance and prayer.

From here, the importance of prayer also becomes clear. We ourselves, as individuals, need to look at prayer from a different perspective. Of course, thanks be to God, you all possess thought, logic, and familiarity with divine and religious knowledge; I mention this for my own reminder; we, the general public, do not appreciate prayer as we should. Prayer, in the true sense of the word, is the pillar of religion; the meaning of pillar is that if it were absent, the roof would collapse; the structure loses its form; this is prayer. Therefore, the vast body of religion depends on prayer. Which prayer can preserve this body? The prayer that possesses its desired qualities: "The sacrifice of every pious person," a prayer that forbids indecency and wrongdoing, a prayer that is accompanied by remembrance; "And the remembrance of God is greater"; this remembrance that is within prayer must be practiced and promoted.

In my opinion, one of the important tasks of the esteemed imams of congregational prayers in mosques is to clarify the issue of prayer for the people so that we recognize the value of prayer; if this happens, the quality of prayers will improve. The reality is that many of our prayers are either of low quality or do not possess the necessary quality. We must reach the depth of the words of prayer. Well, our prayers must be protected from these four-legged pests; that is, the pest of negligence during prayer, lack of attention to the meanings of prayer and to the addressee of prayer, which is the Divine Essence; this is one of the pests. As the late Mr. Meshkini used to say here in this very Hosseiniyeh, if a device were invented that could connect to a person's brain and record their mental memories from the beginning to the end of prayer, something extraordinary would emerge. From the moment we enter prayer until the end, where does the mind go, what does it wander through, what issues does it solve, what matters does it show attachment and infatuation towards? This is one of those four-legged pests, as I would describe it. If we can protect ourselves from this pest and also from another pest, which is hypocrisy - "And cleanse my heart from hypocrisy and ostentation and doubt in Your religion" - which is in the supplication - if we can save ourselves from this, then our prayer becomes an ordinary and common prayer; the depth of prayer is still not preserved.

Well, when we say "Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great, and praise be to Him," what do we know of this greatness? What conception of this greatness do we have in our hearts? What is this greatness that we glorify and sanctify in front of? The mine of greatness that is referred to in this supplication, "Grant me the perfection of severance to You" until it reaches "to the mine of greatness," where is it? What is it? "Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great, glory be to my Lord, the Most High, You alone do we worship and You alone do we ask for help"; do we pay any attention to these meanings and these profound concepts, the exclusive servitude to God, the exclusive seeking help from God, familiarizing the heart with these teachings, performing prayer with this quality? Well, we need to practice a bit to reach these levels.

Of course, most of the present gathering, thanks be to God, are young, and these tasks are much easier in youth. In our ages, these tasks are very difficult. If we want to start at our ages, these tasks are hard. In youth, these tasks are much easier. Bestow this quality upon prayer, give it this color and fragrance; then prayer will create vitality within a person. It will overflow and spill over to all those who are attentive to our prayer and pray with us. Some narrations regarding the imam of the congregation state that the good deeds of the congregation and the sins of the congregation are upon the shoulders of the imam of the congregation. What is meant by this is not those things that invalidate prayer, meaning these lofty concepts. If these exist, then they will overflow to the congregation. In any case, this is prayer. The fact that we have individuals in our society - in the Islamic society - who are alienated from prayer is a very significant and important matter. Our society should be such that we pursue prayer like a beloved and desirable matter; not as a duty to be performed reluctantly; as something that is exciting, something attractive.

Well, the mosque is formed around such a gem; it is a community gathered around such a radiant truth. Therefore, the mosque is important; it is a base; as it has become well-known in languages, it is truly a base. Not only a base for a particular social issue, but the mosque can be a base for all good deeds; a base for self-building, human-building, repairing hearts and repairing the world, confronting the enemy, and preparing the ground for the establishment of an Islamic civilization and enhancing the insight of individuals; and so on.

Thus, the leadership of the mosque is not merely the duty of the imam of the congregation; leading is one of the tasks. Establishing prayer, establishing truth and justice, establishing religion, conveying religious rulings, is our duty as the imam and as the leader of the congregation. That is, the mosque is centered around the imam of the congregation. Well, if this happens, the sense of responsibility of a person will become heavy.

My belief is that one of the fundamental tasks is the leadership of the mosque; this is an important task; it should not be viewed as a peripheral task. That we attend to our daily tasks, to our various occupations, and then rush at noon or sunset through traffic and similar situations to reach there - half an hour, three-quarters of an hour late - to stand there for prayer, this is neglecting the mosque. This should be considered an important and fundamental job. I am not saying that when we become the imam of the congregation, we should abandon all other tasks; no, a person can engage in other scientific or non-scientific tasks to the extent of their capacity, but the rights of the mosque must be fulfilled. Before the prayer time begins, a person should go to the mosque calmly, with a tranquil soul, to prepare for prayer, and perform the prayer with good quality. Then, if there is a program for speaking, they should turn to the people and speak to them, clarify for the people; the various programs that you have in mosques, thanks be to God. In my time, when I was, for example, leading prayers in Mashhad and going to the mosque, many tasks were not common, they did not know or we did not know how to do these tasks. Whatever we did was considered new. Today, thanks be to God, these tasks are common. That the imam of the congregation stands between two prayers or after prayer to speak to the people or, for example, they bring a blackboard to the mosque, write a hadith, clarify for the people, or sit with the youth of the mosque to form a knowledge circle, clarify, listen to their questions, these tasks, as one feels from reports and conversations, are now common; at that time, the imams of the congregation mainly limited themselves to going to pray and coming out of the mosque. Now, they would answer one or two religious questions, and whether a question arose or not; it was no more than that, but today, thanks be to God, these things are common. And this must be improved day by day.

So, one issue is the gathering of people around prayer and remembrance from the perspective of Islam. This is important. Therefore, if social work is also done here, for example, they decide to establish a cooperative for the poor or to cooperate in a charitable matter, this is done with attention to establishing prayer, with attention to remembrance, for God, centered around prayer. If they mobilize from the mosque to confront the enemy, this means a movement in the path of jihad for the sake of God, based on God, based on remembrance; if they find a duty to carry out urban affairs, local affairs, for example, in terms of security, or necessary tasks, this is also based on remembrance.

One of the important innovations of our great Imam, one of the great arts of this great man was that from the very beginning of the revolution, he placed mosques at the center. In the early days of the revolution, those who remember know that everything was in disarray: weapons to be brought, collected, taken from here, [so that] untrustworthy hands do not engage in actions; a center of organization was needed, a central nucleus was necessary; this central nucleus was immediately determined by the Imam on the very first day, even before the announcement of victory: mosques. Anyone who obtains a weapon from anywhere should take it [to the mosques]. Then, a massive mosque organization was formed, which were the revolutionary committees, which for a long time carried out all the revolutionary tasks, and in fact, they carried out all the tasks of the country. The mosque has such a characteristic that it is based on remembrance and divine attention and such matters. Well, this is one point that the gathering of people is centered around the remembrance of God and such matters.

The second point is that the mosque is a base for various social activities; that is, when we gather people around this axis, what do we want from them? One of the things we want is for them to engage in social activities. In the Islamic society, all individuals have duties, responsibilities, and must work; work for the advancement of society, work for the nation. Therefore, this is a place for pumping thoughts and spreading various duties and drawing people to various tasks. The mosque is a base for social activities and a base for social activities.

Another issue regarding the mosque is that it is a nucleus of resistance. When resistance is mentioned, the mind immediately goes to military and security resistance and similar matters. Well, yes, that is certainly resistance, but above that, there is cultural resistance. If the cultural barrier, the cultural trench in the country is weak, everything will be lost. Let me tell you: today, after 37 years, 38 years since the victory of the revolution, the motivation of the enemies to infiltrate the cultural barrier is greater than it was from the very beginning; it has not diminished, it has certainly increased; you can see the methods: these methods of cyberspace and various advertisements and satellites and such; that is, the motivations have increased. The target of this movement is precisely the same thing that was the foundation and core of the establishment of the Islamic system; that is, religious faith, this is the target. They oppose the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic and the policies of the Islamic Republic because they oppose religious faith; because they know that if there were no religious faith, this revolution would not have succeeded, this system would not have come into being, this severe earthquake and shock would not have occurred in the pillars of the system of domination. The Islamic movement and the Islamic revolution created a severe shock in the system of domination; yes, there was a bipolarity, they opposed each other, and it is still the same - great powers are like ravenous wolves waiting for the opportunity to devour their rivals, there is no doubt about that - but they all agreed on one principle, and today they agree on it, and that is the attainment of power and bullying over weak people and nations and weak governments and various communities of the world and plundering their financial and economic resources and the ever-increasing accumulation of power for themselves; this is the goal. This goal, which is the goal of the system of domination, was disrupted by the emergence of the Islamic revolution.

Today, you observe in the region of West Asia - which they have named the Middle East - that the first-rate material powers of the world are bogged down; America is bogged down in the region of West Asia today. [These powers] have goals, they have actions, they have objectives in this region; one part of these objectives is to strengthen the arrogant base of the Zionist regime in this region, another part is to seize all the channels and sources of power in the region so that governments and authorities come under their umbrella, utilizing their resources; ruling over the region, but today they have not been able to. What has prevented their objectives from being realized? Revolutionary Islam or the Islamic revolution - both expressions are correct; revolutionary Islam is correct, the Islamic revolution is also correct - which today has manifested in the Islamic Republic. This has prevented it. If it were not for Islam, if there were no faith in God, if there were no faith in Islamic teachings, if there were no commitment and adherence to religious duties, the Islamic Republic would have gone under the umbrella of the same system of domination and the arrogant power of America and others; just as others have gone. Therefore, the target of their attack is precisely that which has established this Islamic foundation; that is, faith. If there were no Islamic faith, the country we have seen and the system we have experienced with our flesh, skin, and bones could not have changed; this was Islamic faith. A religious authority, with divine confirmation, with divine guidance, with knowledge of the method of struggle and work, entered the field and drew the faith of the people towards this lofty goal, and the people came to the field; when the people were in the field, no material power can do anything. The main thing is the presence of the people, which our great Imam was able to achieve by the blessing of the faith of the people and relying on the faith of the people; therefore, the target [of the enemy] is the faith of the people, the faith of the youth.

The fact that I repeatedly emphasize that today's youth, if they are not ahead of the youth of the early revolution and the war, they are not behind either - and I believe they are ahead - is because today, with all these propaganda tools, with all these various techniques to undermine the foundations of faith, the revolutionary youth stand firm. We have a plethora of faithful youth in the fields of culture, politics, social issues, and arts; of course, yes, there are some who do not believe, who are not committed, we know that too, we are not oblivious, but this vast multitude of faithful youth is one of the miracles of the revolution. This is today's youth; a youth who writes letters to me - and these letters are not just one or two or ten, there are many - and pleads, cries that please allow us to go and fight in defense of the shrine of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them); sacrificing comfort, family, and children. They write letters - truly tearful letters - saying that we have convinced our parents, please allow us to go fight; this is the state of today's youth. Well, they want to destroy this [youth's] faith. This cultural barrier is to preserve this faith.

The mosque is a great base for cultural mobilization and cultural movement; the method of work should be learned in the mosque about what to do. First of all, let me tell you that the conversation you have with your congregation and your mosque community is far more effective and impactful than a televised speech and similar things; we have repeatedly stated that the eye-to-eye contact and the close session where the breath of the speaker reaches the listener is something else; this is only manifested in our gatherings; of course, in all of Islam, in Friday prayers and similar gatherings, this exists, but among Shia, it has more prominence and manifestation. These mourning sessions, sessions of admonition and sermons, various gatherings are very important; these should not be underestimated, they are more effective than cyberspace, more effective than the media, but of course, their scope is limited; if this vast series, this great organization works well and works everywhere, its impacts will surpass all of these, and you can truly immunize this youth, this audience against the microbes and viruses that are constantly pouring towards this country and this system. Therefore, [the mosque] is the nucleus of resistance, but resistance in its various forms; cultural resistance, political resistance, and in its place, security and military resistance; as it has been in mosques.

The statistics that Mr. Haj Ali Akbari mentioned are very important; that he said that 97 percent of our martyrs have been mosque-goers - if researched - this is a very significant statement. From every profession: students are mosque-goers, merchants are mosque-goers, high school students are mosque-goers. Moving from the mosque, going to the battlefields, and putting their lives on the line is easy to say; putting one's life on the line is easy to say; "And you had wished for death before you encountered it; now you have seen it while you are looking"; a person says yes, we will give our lives; but when faced with death in practice, it is a different matter, it is very hard. These youths have gone from the mosque and given their lives for the sake of God; the starting point is the mosque; this is a very significant statement, an important statement.

Therefore, the mosque is both a base of resistance and a base for the growth of cultural activities and cultural guidance and cultural insight; within culture, there is also politics. Let us also state that the meaning of politics is not merely that a person supports Zayd and opposes Amr or vice versa; politics means looking at the general movement of society and which direction we are heading; are we moving towards our goals or have we deviated and are moving away from our goals? This is the true meaning of politics. Then, within this perspective, the duties of individuals, groups, parties, and currents become clear: are we moving towards social justice? Are we moving towards true religious independence? Are we moving towards the establishment of an Islamic civilization, or are we moving towards dependency on the West and dependency on America and being influenced by the meaningless fabrications and findings of the Westerners? This is a very important issue that our lifestyle is pulling us towards which direction; this perspective is a political perspective that you see stems from culture; therefore, within culture, there is also politics. This is how we should look at the events of society. Some have a narrow view, they narrow everything down to friendship or enmity with a person. What importance does one person or one current have? We must look at it, analyze the currents; in most cases, those who stumble do so in this way.

During the sedition in 2009, at the beginning, I called one of the leaders of the sedition and told him, "Dear sir, this action you have started and are doing will fall into the hands of foreigners and the enemy will use it; you are now apparently within the system, with the system, and as you say, you are making a civil protest - for example, a protest against the election - but this action you are taking will be used by the enemies of the system itself; he did not listen; that is, he did not understand what we were saying; now, of course, this is my optimistic view that I say he did not understand, some may think differently. They entered; then you saw what came out of it; they said, "The election is an excuse, the essence of the system is the target." Well, now let us excuse ourselves by saying that these were just a bunch of youths, a nonsense, a meaningless statement; no, it is not like that. If someone speaks under my cloak that I disagree with, I must remove him from under my cloak; I must announce that I disagree, otherwise it will be attributed to me; all the weight and authority that the owner of the cloak has will be backed by that statement. This is the matter; see! The perspective on current issues should be like this; the political insight that we speak of means this. We must understand who is leading us where, who is inviting us where, who is pulling us where. Are we moving towards Islamic goals? Are we moving towards the increasing religiosity of society? Or, as the enemy wishes, are we moving towards greater carelessness, towards greater infatuation with the opposing poles of religion? This political insight is this. If we understand this, then it will become clear whether we should be with Zayd or with Amr, or whether we should support this one or that one; under this broad perspective, we must understand. This is also an issue.

One point that I have repeatedly mentioned is that the mosque must be open; that now, well, [considering] the statistics that have been mentioned, thanks be to God, this has somewhat become clear, it has been realized, but it must be completed. At prayer times, the mosque must be open. Congregational prayers must be held in the mosque three times a day; this should be the basis. Now, I may not have the ability to go three times, well, someone else must definitely be there to ensure that prayers are held in this mosque three times a day. And the door of the mosque should be open from before noon when they open it for the noon and afternoon prayers until the evening after the night prayer; it should not be that they close the door of the mosque. I heard some people say, "We entered Tehran in the afternoon, we wanted to pray the noon and afternoon prayers, and every mosque we went to was closed"; of course, this was a few years ago; no, the mosque must be open.

Another point is that some want to completely separate the mosque from political issues - [they say] "Sir, do not enter politics, just do your own work." What does doing your own work mean? It means come, perform your prayer, and leave; just a mere imam. This is secularism. Secularism does not mean irreligion; secularism means that religion has no manifestation in social action. The social system has nothing to do with religion. Yes, everyone within the diverse social system of the West and East and similar places can have a personal relationship with God in their hearts; secularism means this. This is exactly what the enemies want; the enemies want this. The religion they oppose, the faith they fight against, is the faith that leads to the establishment of an Islamic system and empowers Islam; they oppose that. They fear Islam; which Islam? The Islam that is powerful, that has systems, that has politics, that has governance, that has an army, that has scientific capabilities, that has international capabilities. They fear this kind of Islam; otherwise, they have no fear of an Islam that, even if it has a million supporters of a certain current or party in a corner of a country or around the world, has no power; they do nothing against it. The Islam they oppose, they are hostile to, they harbor animosity towards, is the Islam that is powerful. Then, should we divert Islam from its main centers, namely mosques, from social issues, from political issues, from the path of society, from the direction of society altogether? This is a great injustice to the mosque.

One more point is that we must create a special place for the youth in the mosque; that is, we must truly plan to attract the youth. It is not that we oppose the presence of middle-aged and elderly people in the mosque; no, all believers should come to the mosque and benefit, but we must attract the youth to the mosque. That the youth recognizes the mosque as their home and place and becomes familiar with it and develops a relationship with it has many blessings. The work in society is done by the youth; they are the driving force behind social movements; they are the ones who work, who strive. The attraction for the youth, contrary to what some may think, is not setting up a ping-pong table. Some think that to attract the youth to the mosque, we should provide entertainment facilities; like the same current that a church in America was doing, where that Egyptian writer says, I went and saw that they had set up a program at this church that, for example, tonight from a certain hour in the hall next to the church, on the other side of the altar, there is a program: it is a dance program and singing and music and a light dinner and socializing and such. He said I became sensitive, I went to see, yes, this is the church hall, and there is a hall next to it like a cabaret; girls, boys, middle-aged men come to watch; girls and boys are also in charge. There is music, there is dancing, there is singing, and at the end, the priest came and dimmed the lights a bit to create a special atmosphere; he said I went outside; the next day I returned to find that priest in the church; I said I was at your session last night, what does this mean? He said: Oh sir, we want to attract the youth! We want to attract the youth! If it is to attract the youth with dancing and singing and music and such, well, they can go to the cabaret, why should they come here?

The way to attract the youth is to capture the heart of the youth. The heart of the youth is a resurrection, a situation. The youth's inclination towards spirituality is one of the great divine secrets. If a spiritual word is said to someone like me, well, I listen, I may be somewhat affected, but if the same word is said to a youth, they become transformed, they change completely. The heart of the youth is truth-accepting, the heart of the youth is close to the divine nature; "The nature of God upon which He has created the people." The heart of the youth becomes familiar with spiritual and moral teachings and practices quickly; they become attached and enamored quickly; the attraction of the youth lies in these matters. You should mix the speech, the word, the action with spirituality, with true mysticism, not imaginary and illusory and superficial mysticism, and you will see how the youth becomes captivated and comes. The attraction of the youth in the mosque lies in these matters. Otherwise, if we have provided a means of play there, well, if they are to come for play, they can go play at the club.

Another point to mention is that our mosques, meaning the mosques that today, fortunately, exist in the Islamic Republic and are mostly thirty to forty years old, have a heartrending and beautiful history; they are mostly like this. In these mosques, scholars have come, imams of congregational prayers have come, they have had behaviors, interactions, believers have come here, youths have been trained here, mobilizations have taken place from here, martyrs have been given, the bodies of martyrs have returned to these mosques; this is history, these are the captivating stories of a mosque; these stories must be preserved. Each of these mosques can have a captivating, real, and instructive history for those who are currently in the mosque and those who will come to this mosque in the future; this can be presented in various formats - book format, magazine articles, photo format, video clips - these can be clarified. How many mosques have raised renowned martyrs who then went out and were martyred for the sake of God; we must preserve this history.

And let us not forget that "Mosque Day" is fundamentally a revolutionary day; that is, the establishment of this day and the designation of this day, which was at the request and demand of the Islamic Republic and was approved at the Islamic Conference Organization as "Mosque Day," is in commemoration of the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque; in commemoration of confronting the Zionist enemy; the foundation of this day is such a foundation; look at the day of the mosque with this perspective and set the movement in this direction.

I tell you, despite all the enmities that are taking place today - that we naturally have very extensive awareness of what is happening today; whether in hard fields, semi-hard fields, or soft fields; whether in open fields or hidden fields; a lot of work is being done against the Islamic Republic in various forms - this good word that truly "is like a good tree whose root is firm and its branches are in the sky," the Islamic Republic is becoming more and more solid day by day. Thanks be to God, the Almighty has bestowed His favors upon us; we must be grateful, recognize the divine blessing, and, God willing, move forward on this path. When I look at the gathering of you dear brothers who are here, I feel that, God willing, the future of our mosques will be much better than its past. We hope that God will include you in His grace, guidance, and mercy.

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