Speech on the Occasion of the Birth of Lady Zainab and Nurses' Day

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

I extend my congratulations to all dear brothers and sisters on the birth of Zainab Kubra, the great lady of Islam, and I welcome all of you.

On the occasion of Nurses' Day, I would like to briefly speak about the value of the service provided by nurses. We are all obliged to appreciate these selfless, compassionate, and caring individuals who, through their humane nursing actions, care for and support patients during difficult stages of illness, as a mark of respect for a high human value. Nursing is a humane and Islamic profession; and a society and country like ours, which is full of various emotions, where emotions have always played a prominent role, must regard this great emotional movement—which also has a firm rational and intellectual basis—with respect.

Nurses, both men and women, should recognize their own worth and consider this profession sacred. Every humane action by a nurse for a patient is a good deed and assistance to a person in need of help, especially in sensitive conditions. Nursing stands alongside medicine and is equal to it.

The birth of Lady Zainab Kubra (peace be upon her) necessitates that we broaden the scope of our discussion, especially in the current conditions of humanity. Zainab Kubra is a great woman. What is the greatness that this great woman holds in the eyes of Islamic nations? It cannot be said that it is because she is the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) or the sister of Hussein ibn Ali and Hassan ibn Ali (peace be upon them). Relationships can never create such greatness. All our Imams had daughters, mothers, and sisters; but where is one like Zainab Kubra?

The value and greatness of Zainab Kubra are due to her great human and Islamic stance and movement based on divine duty. Her work, her decision, her type of movement gave her such greatness. Anyone who does such work, even if she is not the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), will achieve greatness. A major part of this greatness comes from the fact that she first recognized the situation; both the situation before Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) went to Karbala, the critical moments of the day of Ashura, and the deadly events after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein; and secondly, she made a choice according to each situation. These choices made Zainab.

Before the movement to Karbala, great figures like Ibn Abbas and Ibn Jafar and the renowned figures of early Islam, who claimed jurisprudence, bravery, leadership, and nobility, were confused and did not understand what to do; but Zainab Kubra was not confused and understood that she must go this way and not leave her Imam alone; and she went. It was not that she did not understand the difficulty of the path; she felt it better than others. She was a woman; a woman who separated from her husband and family for a mission; and for this reason, she also took her young children and infants with her; she felt how the event would unfold.

In those critical hours when the strongest people cannot understand what to do, she understood and supported her Imam and prepared him for martyrdom. After the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali, when the world became dark and hearts and souls and the horizons of the world became dark, this great woman became a light and shone. Zainab reached a place that only the highest human beings in the history of humanity—the prophets—can reach.

Her mother, Fatimah Zahra (peace be upon her), was another woman whose status was even higher than Zainab Kubra. These are the exemplary women of Islam. Today's women in the world need role models. If their role models are Zainab and Fatimah Zahra, their work consists of correct understanding, alertness in understanding situations, and choosing the best actions; even if it involves sacrifice and standing firm for the great duty that God has placed on humans. A Muslim woman whose role model is Fatimah Zahra or Zainab Kubra (peace be upon them) is like this.

If a woman is concerned with adornments, pleasures, fleeting desires, and succumbing to unfounded and rootless emotions, she cannot follow that path; she must remove these dependencies, which are like cobwebs on the feet of a traveler, from herself to be able to follow that path; just as Iranian women did during the revolution and during the war, and the expectation is that they will continue to do so throughout the revolution.

But the role model for Iranian women on this path is as stated; Zainab is the role model. Zainab was not a woman deprived of knowledge and understanding; she possessed the highest knowledge and the most refined and purest understanding. The same 'Sakinah Kubra' whose name you have heard in Karbala, and who is the daughter of the Imam and the niece and student of Zainab—those who are researchers and book readers, look—she is one of the torches of Arab knowledge throughout the history of Islam to this day. Those who even did not and do not accept Zainab and the father of Zainab and the father of Sakinah, admit that Sakinah (peace be upon her) is a torch of knowledge and wisdom.

Following this path does not mean distancing oneself from knowledge and understanding and global insight and enlightenment and information and manners; these are beyond them. An Islamic woman is one who walks the path correctly; identifies the goal correctly and is willing to sacrifice on this path. And such a woman creates greatness; just as Iranian women created greatness; these are not mere compliments.

If women had not joined the revolution, the revolution would not have succeeded; young people would not have come out of their homes to join the ranks of the revolution; their mothers would not have allowed them, or at least they would not have encouraged them. If women had not been devoted to the revolution, men would not have sacrificed so freely in the ranks of the revolution. The role of women in the revolution, both directly and indirectly, is a prominent role and overall the primary role; it was the same in the war.

I have had many meetings and interactions with the esteemed families of martyrs. In very few martyr families is the spirit of the mother not higher than the spirit of the father. In most families, the spirit of the martyr's mother is higher than the spirit of the martyr's father. This is extraordinary. This shows the role of faithful women in this revolution; women who stood for the victory of the revolution and for the advancement of the revolution's goals and sacrificed everything for their divine and Islamic ideals and goals.

For women, this role is correct; but what is the Western and European model, is the opposite of this. These two cannot be combined. In the European model of women, the issue is not that they want women to be knowledgeable, but Islam does not want women to be knowledgeable; they want women to be in social positions and on the social scene, but Islam does not want; this is not the issue. Islam has nurtured great knowledgeable women. If you observe today in our society, you will see that there are many female specialists, female scientists, female doctors, female researchers, and great female artists; there are value-creating and thoughtful and school-owning individuals among them. In the political scene and in the executive and legislative branches, it is the same. In all parts of the country, the presence of women is an active presence. Between us and them, between Islamic and Western thought and value assessment, the discussion is not about these; the discussion is about something else.

The Western European model today is derived and born from their ancient Roman and Greek model. In those days, too, the woman was a means for the pleasure and enjoyment of men, and everything was overshadowed by this; today they want this too; the main point of the Westerners is this.

What are they most hostile to about Muslim women? Their hijab. They are most hostile to your proper and firm hijab and chador. Why? Because their culture does not accept this. Europeans are like this; they say that whatever we have understood, the world must imitate us! They want to dominate the world's knowledge with their ignorance. They want to promote the European-style woman in society; which consists of the style of fashion and consumption and adornment in public and making sexual issues between the two genders a plaything; they want to promote these things through women. Wherever there is opposition to this Western targeting, their cries are loud! They are also very intolerant! These Western claimants cannot tolerate the slightest opposition to their accepted principles.

They have been able to influence everywhere in the world; except for real Islamic environments. If you refer to the poor world of Africa and Latin America and East Asia and wherever there are communities, you will see that there too they have been able to promote their own models—the same way of dressing, the same way of consuming, and the same way of making women a plaything. The only place where their arrow did not hit the target is real Islamic environments, and their manifestation is the great society of the Islamic Republic; therefore, they are fiercely fighting against this.

Today, you women are the guardians of Islamic values against the ignorant state of the Western world. You are the ones who are protecting this stronghold of Islamic culture. In science, in culture, in politics, and in everything, women must be nurtured Islamically; they must go to social, economic, and political fields and be pioneers; but in lustful and sexual matters, they should not become a plaything for this and that; this is our point.

In the school of Islam, there is a barrier and hijab between men and women. This does not mean that women have a separate world from men; no, women and men live together in society and in the work environment; they deal with each other everywhere; they solve social problems together; they manage the war together and did; they manage the family together and raise children; but that barrier and hijab are certainly maintained outside the home and family environment. This is the main point in Islamic modeling. If this point is not observed, the same decadence that the West is experiencing today will occur. If this point is not observed, women will be prevented from leading the movement towards values—which was seen in Islamic Iran. Westerners want to infiltrate this point in some way against everyone.

In my opinion, the tendency towards fashion and luxury and novelty and excess in makeup and display in front of men is one of the biggest factors of deviation in society and the deviation of our women. In the face of these, women must resist.

To create the kind of woman they want, they need to constantly create fashion and occupy eyes and hearts and minds with these superficial and short-sighted things. Who, when occupied with these things, will reach real values? They do not have the opportunity to reach them. A woman who is concerned with making herself a means to attract men's attention, when will she have the opportunity to think about moral purity and ponder? Is such a thing possible? They want this. They do not want women in third world societies to have clear thoughts and aspirations; to move themselves towards great goals and move their husbands and children as well. Young women in our society must be very careful to recognize this very dangerous invisible snare of Western culture and thought; to avoid it and separate and warn the women's community from it.

Today, this path that the Islamic nation, especially the great and courageous nation of Iran, has taken—the path of realizing Islamic ideals—is the path of saving humanity, the path of repelling oppression, the path of breaking the idols of wealth and power in the world; this path must be correctly understood and guarded and protected. Strong wills, firm hearts, and high capacities are needed; and this is only possible with the divine and Islamic upbringing of our men and women. The righteousness of women in society brings about the righteousness of men as well. The role of women in this regard is among the prominent roles and perhaps the primary role.

We ask Almighty God to include all of you sisters and brothers in His grace, mercy, and guidance, and to consider the women and men of our society among His best servants and to place them under the satisfaction of the Guardian of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him).

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings