Sermons of Friday Prayer in Tehran

First Sermon

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds. We praise Him, seek His help, believe in Him, and ask for His forgiveness. We rely on Him and send blessings and peace upon His beloved and chosen one, the master of His creation, the herald of His mercy and the warning of His wrath, our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One of God among the worlds.

O God, send blessings upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers.

Dear brothers and sisters attending the prayer, I advise you to observe God-consciousness (taqwa). This month is the month of piety. And today, which is the twenty-first day of the blessed month of Ramadan, is the day of embodied piety; Amir al-Mu'minin (the Commander of the Faithful) was the embodiment of piety. Let us learn from this; let us make piety the provision for our worldly and otherworldly affairs.

In this first sermon, I will speak about Amir al-Mu'minin. Today is the day of Amir al-Mu'minin. On a night like last night - which was also a Friday; thus it has more resemblance to this year - on the twenty-first night, humanity lost Ali. The body of Amir al-Mu'minin, the voice of Amir al-Mu'minin, the warm breath of Amir al-Mu'minin, the penetrating gaze of Amir al-Mu'minin was taken from the world of that day. However, one can carry Ali (peace be upon him) with oneself; one can have him ahead of oneself, provided that we regard the conduct and behavior of Amir al-Mu'minin as a model. Today, I will present to you, dear brothers and sisters, a part of this life full of honor and this short but brilliant and shining governance.

The discussion I will present revolves around the political conduct of Amir al-Mu'minin. It must be noted that the political conduct of Amir al-Mu'minin is not separate from his spiritual and ethical conduct; the politics of Amir al-Mu'minin is intertwined with spirituality, intertwined with ethics, and is fundamentally derived from the spirituality and ethics of Ali. If politics is rooted in ethics and nourished by spirituality, it becomes a means of perfection for the people who encounter that politics, a path to paradise; but if politics is separated from ethics, separated from spirituality, then it becomes a means for acquiring power at any cost; for acquiring wealth, for advancing one's own affairs in this world. This politics becomes a calamity; it is a calamity for the politician himself and for the people whose lives are affected by this politics.

Amir al-Mu'minin introduces this government, in which three extensive military wars occurred with thousands killed - you can refer to Nahj al-Balagha - with expressions that indicate his disdain for this government. At one point, he introduces it - addressing Ibn Abbas - as being less valuable than the strap of his worn-out shoe. At another point, regarding this very government, he says: "You would find this world of yours less valuable to me than the moisture from the sneeze of a goat." What value does that moisture have? None. He says: this government, this power, sitting on this throne is of less importance to Ali. At one point in that sermon, to explain why he accepted this government, he argues: "If it were not for the presence of the present and the establishment of the proof by the existence of the supporter"; I saw the people coming, insisting, offering their support, so I accepted. Again, in the argument: "And God has made it obligatory upon the scholars not to tolerate the fullness of the oppressor and the hunger of the oppressed"; God Almighty has imposed a duty on the scholars, on the knowledgeable of the world, that they should not tolerate the fullness of the oppressor and the hunger of the oppressed. These are the things that draw Amir al-Mu'minin towards governance, or against those who rebel against him, to resistance, to standing firm, and even to military war; otherwise, governance has no value for Amir al-Mu'minin.

In this political conduct, one of Amir al-Mu'minin's characteristics is that he is far from deceit and trickery. In one saying attributed to him, he said: "If it were not for piety, I would be the most cunning of the Arabs"; if piety did not restrain me, I would know better than all the cunning and deceitful Arabs. In another instance, comparing himself to Muawiya - as Muawiya was known for his cunning and deceit in governance - he said: "By God, Muawiya is not more cunning than me"; Muawiya is not smarter than me. But what can Ali do? When he is committed to observing piety and ethics, his hands and tongue are tied. This is the method of Amir al-Mu'minin. When there is no piety, a person can say anything, can say falsehoods, can slander, can lie to the people, can violate commitments, can develop attachments to the enemies of the straight path. When there is no piety, this is how it is. Amir al-Mu'minin says: I chose politics with piety; this is why in the method of Amir al-Mu'minin, there is no deceit or trickery or dirty deeds; it is pure.

One of the dangers of separating religion from politics, which some have always promoted in the Islamic world - there have been some in our country as well, and unfortunately today some voices are raised calling for the separation of religion from politics - is that when politics is separated from religion, it will be separated from ethics, it will be separated from spirituality. In secular systems, which have no relation to religion, ethics has largely disappeared in almost all cases. Now, there may be an exception where an ethical act is seen, that may be possible; it is an exception. When religion is separated from politics, politics becomes unethical, based on all material calculations and self-interest. The political conduct of Amir al-Mu'minin is based on spirituality and is not separate from his spiritual conduct.

The political behaviors of Amir al-Mu'minin. First of all, as much as possible, he dealt with his opponents, even with his enemies, with tolerance. The fact that you see Amir al-Mu'minin enduring three wars during his approximately five years of governance was after all necessary tolerances had been exercised. Amir al-Mu'minin was not someone who would draw his sword without observing the necessary tolerances with his opponents. Now, let us hear a few of Amir al-Mu'minin's statements:

At the beginning of his caliphate, a group came around Amir al-Mu'minin - pointing to some - saying: O master! Resolve the matter of these people. They insisted. Amir al-Mu'minin advised them to be patient, and among the things he said was: this opinion you have is one opinion. "A group sees what you see"; a number accept your opinion. "And a group sees what you do not see"; a group accepts a statement that you do not believe in, they do not accept it. "And a group does not see this or that"; a group neither belongs to one side nor the other, they have a third opinion. "So be patient"; wait until Amir al-Mu'minin carries out his work with wisdom. "Until... the rights of the rightful are taken with kindness"; let us return the right to the rightful with kindness, let us establish the right. "And if I find no alternative, then I will resort to the cauterizing remedy"; as much as we can, we act with leniency, with kindness, with good behavior to establish the right for the rightful. If we see that there is no alternative, they do not yield to the right, then we will resort to the cauterizing remedy. This is a well-known Arabic proverb; "the cauterizing remedy"; meaning we will decisively act as a last resort. As far as possible, we act with medicine and ointment to heal and cure this wound; we apply ointment; when it does not work, we have no choice but to cauterize; there is no alternative.

In the battle of Siffin, before the war began, a group was stamping their feet, insisting that Amir al-Mu'minin should attack. They insisted that he should attack. Amir al-Mu'minin said: "By God, I have never pushed for war except that I hoped a group would join me and be guided by me"; I am not seeking war, I am seeking guidance; even if I postpone the confrontation for a day, it is because I hope that some people will turn to the truth, will come to the straight path. When we became hopeless and saw that no one was coming, then we drew the sword and began the war.

Regarding the people of Jamal, in the case of the battle of Jamal - which was one of the very difficult tests for Amir al-Mu'minin - he said: "Indeed, these people have conspired against the anger of my governance"; they have gathered together to express their anger towards this governance that has reached Amir al-Mu'minin. "And I will be patient"; he said: I will be patient. But until when? "As long as I do not fear for your community"; when I see that their movement is creating a rift among you Muslims, creating discord, putting brothers against each other, then I will take action and remedy the sedition; until then, as long as possible, I will be patient and act with advice.

One of Amir al-Mu'minin's characteristics in his political conduct was that he spoke with his enemies and opponents with reasoning and argument. In letters he wrote even to Muawiya - despite the intense enmity between Muawiya and Amir al-Mu'minin, he still wrote letters, insulted, said contrary things - he argued that your method is wrong. With Talha and Zubair, who came to pledge allegiance to Amir al-Mu'minin - they left Medina under the pretext of going for Umrah, heading towards Mecca. Amir al-Mu'minin was vigilant; he had said from the beginning that their intention was not Umrah. They went and did things; now the details are extensive - the Imam says: "You have taken a small grievance and made it a cause for division, ignoring all the positive points"; you have made a small thing a cause for discord, ignoring all the positive points; you speak of enmity, you speak of opposition. Amir al-Mu'minin speaks humbly with them, explains; he says: I am not seeking enmity. This tolerance exists. But when this tolerance does not have an effect, then it is time for decisive action; that is when Amir al-Mu'minin shows that he behaves with those like the Khawarij in such a way that he himself said: "I have gouged out the eye of sedition"; no one other than Ali could - according to that great man's own words in Nahj al-Balagha - do this.

One of the characteristics of Amir al-Mu'minin's political conduct was that to achieve victory, he did not resort to oppression, lies, or unjust actions. A group came at the beginning of Amir al-Mu'minin's governance, saying: O master, you should consider these influential people in society - give them a larger share of the public treasury, do not provoke their opposition, win their hearts! He said: "Do you command me to seek victory through injustice?"; do you want me to achieve victory through oppression for myself? "By God, I will not do so as long as the night is dark and the stars shine in the sky"; it is impossible for Amir al-Mu'minin to create friends for himself through oppression, through wrong and erroneous ways, through un-Islamic methods.

One of Amir al-Mu'minin's characteristics in his political conduct was that he earnestly requested people - not in a flattering manner - not to speak to him with flattery, not to be sycophantic, not to pretend in their interactions with him. In the middle of one of Amir al-Mu'minin's sermons - which is one of the eloquent and remarkable sermons of Amir al-Mu'minin - someone stood up and began to praise and commend Amir al-Mu'minin; he began to extol the words and matters of that Imam. When he finished speaking, the Imam turned to him, almost to the same extent that he had spoken - what one sees in Nahj al-Balagha and in the selection made by Sayyid Razi - and advised this man not to speak to him in that manner. Among the famous phrases is: "Do not speak to me as you speak to tyrants"; do not speak to me in the way that you speak to kings and tyrants. "And do not be cautious with me as one is cautious with a tyrant"; do not make considerations that perhaps it would displease me, perhaps it would cause displeasure or unhappiness to such and such tyrant - do not make such considerations in front of me. "And do not mix with me in pretense and do not think that I will be displeased by the truth that is said to me"; do not think that if you tell me a truth, Ali will be upset by your truth. This is not the case. This is also one of the characteristics of Amir al-Mu'minin's politics.

Another characteristic of this great man is that his behavior with opponents and adversaries is not the same; he does not treat everyone the same. Amir al-Mu'minin distinguishes between individuals and currents, with some individuals and currents differing from others. Regarding the Khawarij - of course in the face of deviation and decline and resorting to religious appearances - without belief, Ali stood firm; he stood against Muawiya - when they raised the Qurans on their spears, Amir al-Mu'minin said: By God, this is deceit, this is trickery, this is deception; they have no belief in the Quran - and when the Khawarij, with their religious appearances, with their mournful recitation of the Quran, stood against the Imam, he stood firm. This means that when some want to use religious appearances to advance, Amir al-Mu'minin stands firm; whether it was Muawiya or the Khawarij; it made no difference. However, he did not treat them all the same. There was firmness, but the advice of Amir al-Mu'minin and his own behavior was always this. Thus he said: "Do not fight the Khawarij after me"; do not fight the Khawarij after me; "For he who seeks the truth but errs is not like one who seeks falsehood and attains it"; the one who seeks the truth, but makes a mistake - he is seeking the truth; out of ignorance, out of superficiality, he makes a mistake - he is not like one who seeks falsehood and reaches it; they are not the same.

This is the political conduct of Amir al-Mu'minin. When we look, we see that this political conduct is exactly in line with the spiritual behavior of that great man, and Amir al-Mu'minin is in all places the same distinguished Ali ibn Abi Talib that the world has never seen a counterpart to.

Well, today is the day of mourning for Amir al-Mu'minin. I would like to say a few words about the tragedy of that great man. Like last night, Amir al-Mu'minin passed away. In the interval between these two days or two nights - from the dawn of the nineteenth when Amir al-Mu'minin was struck by that accursed one until the night of the twenty-first - several instructive incidents occurred:

One was at that very first moment. When that enemy of God struck Amir al-Mu'minin, it is narrated that the Imam did not utter a single groan; he did not express any pain. The only thing the Imam said was: "In the Name of God, and with God, and in the path of God, I have succeeded, by the Lord of the Kaaba"; by the God of the Kaaba, I swear that I have succeeded. Then Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (peace be upon him) came and held the head of that great man in his lap. It is narrated that blood was flowing from his blessed head and his blessed beard was stained with blood. Imam Hasan looked at his father's face, and tears filled his eyes; a drop of tears fell from Imam Hasan's eye onto the face of Amir al-Mu'minin. The Imam opened his eyes and said: Hasan! Are you crying? Do not cry; at this moment, I am in the presence of a group who are greeting me; there are those here - at that very first moment; this is what has been narrated from the Imam - he said: the Prophet is here, Fatimah al-Zahra is here. Then they took the Imam - after Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) prayed in the mosque, the Imam also sat and prayed. The narrator says that the Imam would sometimes lean to one side to fall, sometimes he would hold himself up - and finally they moved him towards the house. The companions heard that voice: "By God, the pillars of guidance have collapsed... Ali al-Murtadha has been killed." This voice was heard by all the people of Kufa, and they rushed towards the mosque; a commotion arose. The narrator says: like the day of the Prophet's death in Kufa, wailing and crying rose; that great city of Kufa was filled with grief and sorrow. They brought the Imam; Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) came close. In this narration, it is said that the Imam had cried so much in this short time that his eyelids were injured. Amir al-Mu'minin's eyes fell on Imam Husayn, and he said: Husayn, do not cry, be patient; these are nothing, these events will pass. He also comforted Imam Husayn.

They brought the Imam inside the house, took him to the place where the Imam prayed in the house. He said: take me there. They spread a bed for the Imam there. They laid him there. At this point, the daughters of Amir al-Mu'minin came; Zaynab and Umm Kulthum came, sat beside the Imam, and began to weep. Amir al-Mu'minin, where Imam Hasan cried, advised Imam Hasan and comforted him; where Imam Husayn was crying, the Imam comforted him, saying: be patient; but here he could not bear the tears of his daughters; it is said that the Imam also began to cry loudly. O Amir al-Mu'minin! You could not bear the tears of Zaynab here; if you had seen how Zaynab weeps and laments on the day of Ashura, what would you have done?

Abu Hamzah al-Thumali narrates from Habib ibn Amr who says: in those last hours, on the night of the twenty-first, I went to see Amir al-Mu'minin, and I saw one of his daughters there; that daughter was crying, and I also began to cry; the people were outside the room, and when they heard the sound of this daughter's crying, they also began to cry. Amir al-Mu'minin opened his eyes and said: if you saw what I see, you would not cry either. I asked: O Amir al-Mu'minin, what do you see? He said: I see the angels of God, I see the angels of the heavens, all the prophets and messengers lined up, greeting me and welcoming me. And I see the Prophet sitting beside me, saying: come, O Ali, come quickly. He says: I cried, then I stood up, and as I had not yet left the house, I felt from the cries of the family that Ali had passed away.

Peace be upon you, O Amir al-Mu'minin, peace be upon you, O Amir al-Mu'minin, peace be upon you, O Amir al-Mu'minin. We ask You, O God, and we call upon You by Your great, exalted, glorious, and honorable name, O God...

O Lord! By the right of Amir al-Mu'minin, make us true followers of Amir al-Mu'minin. O Lord! Make our worldly and otherworldly conduct the conduct of Amir al-Mu'minin. O Lord! Make us, in the true sense of the word, followers of that great man. O Lord! Remove the afflictions of the Islamic world; remove the afflictions of the Muslim nations of Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other Islamic regions. O Lord! By Your grace and generosity, remove the afflictions of the Iranian nation. O Lord! Day by day, increase the dignity of this nation, increase the power of this nation. O Lord! Preserve the unity, which is the great asset of the Iranian nation. O Lord! Cut off the hands of those who sow discord. O Lord! In every position, at every rank we are in, grant us success in adhering to the truth; protect us from oppression, transgression, and violation of the rights of others.

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

By the time. Indeed, man is in loss. Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds and advise one another to truth and advise one another to patience.

Second Sermon

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially Ali, Amir al-Mu'minin, and Fatimah al-Zahra, the Lady of the Women of the Worlds, and Hasan and Husayn, the masters of the youth of paradise, and Ali ibn Husayn, Zain al-Abidin, and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, and Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kadhim, and Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad, and Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, and Hasan ibn Ali al-Zaki al-Askari, and the Awaited Proof, the Mahdi.

O God, send blessings upon them and send blessings upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers.

I advise you, O servants of God, to observe God-consciousness.

Once again in this sermon, I advise and invite myself and all of you dear brothers and sisters to observe God-consciousness. In our behavior, in our speech, in our actions, let us observe piety and righteousness.

In the second sermon, it is necessary to commemorate the late Ayatollah Taleghani and also the martyr Ayatollah Modarresi (may God be pleased with them). These days are associated with both of these great men, and these two are among those whose memories are inseparable from the history of Friday prayers in our country. Truly and fairly, each of these two great men has an unforgettable right, and their unforgettable memory will remain in our minds and in our history.

One of the matters I will present today in this sermon - in fact, the audience of these words, which are being presented in the presence of you dear worshippers and our dear people - are the political currents, political figures, and political officials, past and present - is that we should take advantage of the opportunity of the blessed month of Ramadan. As a statement of truths and advice, I will present some remarks; God willing, they will be beneficial for the audience of this speech, for ourselves, and especially for our dear youth and our dear and faithful people.

These people who are the audience, of course, are those who have so far been defined within the Islamic system; they are figures within the system, part of the system, who God willing will continue to be within the system and work and strive for this system. This concept of being within the system and outside the system is not a mere propaganda notion or empty slogans; it has specific characteristics, it has ideological foundations, it has scientific bases. It has been this way until now, and God willing, it will continue to be so.

One point is that from the beginning of the revolution until today, there have been divisions and conflicts within the revolutionary movement and the authentic movement of these people. Some of these conflicts and divisions have been damaging; some have not, thanks to the vigilance of the people, the awareness and responsibility of the active elements in these currents, they have been resolved; they have not caused any burden for the revolution and the country. These differences of opinion and divisions that arise are not all the same. Some divisions arise from differences in foundations and beliefs; some of these are not about beliefs and convictions; they are about interests, disputes over interests; some of these differences are none of these; they are matters of tastes, differences in viewpoints and differences in tastes in the implementation of principles; within the framework of principles and foundations, differences arise in methods; thus, they are not all the same.

Well, since the beginning of the revolution, among these groups that were together during the pre-revolution and in the events of the years of struggle, differences have arisen. Imam (may God be pleased with him) did not deal with all these differences in the same way. Just as we described the method of Amir al-Mu'minin, Imam (may God be pleased with him) had the same approach; that is, first with tolerance, with advice; but when it was necessary, he took action. One group was related to the provisional government and had their problems, one group was those who opposed the retribution bill, one group even led to terrorism and street clashes; Imam dealt with each of these in a certain way. At the higher levels of governance, there was the Prime Minister, the President, and even later in the last years of Imam's life, there were those above the President. Imam dealt with those who felt that they could not tolerate them any longer. All of them had revolutionary backgrounds, religious backgrounds, many of them were in high positions; but this is how it turned out; these divisions occurred. Some truly clashed with Imam; some had differences of opinion, but it did not lead to clashes and disputes and divisions. Some clashed with Imam and disregarded Imam's tolerance. Imam sent a message to the hypocritical group that wanted to meet with him, saying that if you act according to the truth, I will come to you; if you stop these wrongful actions, I will come to you myself. This means that Imam tolerated and spoke with them to this extent. Well, when the feeling of danger arose; especially when the issue was about the infiltration of erroneous foundations into the body of the system and the revolution, this is like a lethal poison. At that time, Imam did not observe tolerance; he took action. This is regarding those matters that are fundamental disagreements.

Now, those who have differences over interests sometimes give it a color of ideological and foundational differences. Whether any of these is the case - whether those who have differences in foundations and beliefs, or those who have differences over interests - when it comes to clashing with the system and clashing with the revolution and turning their backs on the foundations of the revolution, then they take on the state of enemies.

Of course, if someone has a differing opinion, does not interfere with the system, the system has no issue with him. Some have popularized the term: "dissidents". How does the system treat dissidents? The system does not have an issue with dissidents. There are many dissidents. A political dissident is not higher than a religious dissident. Well, we have religious minorities that are dissidents, they have members in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, they are present in various positions. Therefore, it is not a matter of dissidence; it is a matter of opposition, it is a matter of confrontation, it is a matter of striking against the system and drawing swords against the revolution. The one with whom the system confronts is this. But if the difference is in tastes, in methods, no, these differences are not harmful; they are beneficial.

It is not a problem for the officials of the country, the custodians of the affairs of the country to have critics who point out their weaknesses to them. When a person is in a position of competition, facing a critic, he works better. It is not the case that the existence of critics and those who accept this method and those who accept that method is harmful to the system; however, it must be within the framework of the system; this is not a problem, this opposition is not harmful; the system does not confront such opposition at all. Of course, criticism must be within the framework of principles. The principles of the revolution are clearly defined. The principles of the revolution are not matters of taste that anyone from any corner can come and beat the drum of principles; then when we refer to these principles, we see that they are strangers to the revolution. The principles of the revolution are Islam; the constitution; the guidelines of the Imam; the will of the Imam; the general policies of the system that are defined in the constitution that these general policies must be formulated. Within this framework, differences of opinion, differences of approach, differences of taste are not a defect, but a virtue; they are not harmful, but beneficial. This is one point that in the face of such oppositions, the system does not confront anyone. Where individuals act within the framework of principles, do not seek violence, do not seek to disrupt the security of society, do not seek to disturb the comfort of society - from these wrongful actions that take place; spreading lies and rumors - the system has no issue. There are opponents, they have opinions, they express their opinions; the system does not confront them. The system's principle here is maximum attraction and minimum repulsion. This is the method of the system; everyone should pay attention to this. Those who have opposing views, opinions that differ from official views, can compare themselves within this framework. If someone opposes the foundations of the system, opposes the security of the people, the system is compelled to stand against him.

We say about individuals who are insulted, slandered, that they have the right to defend themselves; well, the system is the same; the system also has the right to defend itself. It is a mistake for someone to think that because the system is in power and has political power, it should not defend itself; it should remain defenseless; against any opposition, confrontation, law-breaking, border-breaking, it should not react; this is not correct; nowhere in the world is such a thing. In the various disputes that exist among the parties in the world - in those countries that consider themselves to be at the forefront of democracy - none of these conflicting and opposing parties oppose the principles and foundations of that system; otherwise, they are rejected by the people. They have mechanisms; they have constitutional courts and constitutional watchdogs - similar to our Guardian Council - that reject them. It is not the case that they accept someone to come and fight against the foundations of a system, oppose it, and then the system sits quietly and calmly in front of him. Even less than that is sometimes seen in these European systems where harsh and severe actions are taken; things that are considered part of the principles. Therefore, confronting the system, confronting the foundations of the system, standing firm and drawing swords against the system has a harsh response; but having a differing opinion, having a different view, when it is not accompanied by these problems, slander and rumor-mongering and lies and such things, no, the system will not confront at all. The method of the system has not been this, is not today, and God willing, will not be in the future. This is one point.

Another point that political activists, officials, those in power, those with various responsibilities and influential people must be very vigilant about is the issue of personal deviation and susceptibility to corruption; we all must be vigilant. Humans are susceptible to corruption, susceptible to deviation. Sometimes small slips lead a person to larger and larger slips and sometimes to being thrown into the depths of valleys; one must be very careful. The Quran has warned about this. In multiple instances, this warning exists in the Quran. At one point, it says: "Then the end of those who did evil was that they denied the signs of God"; the end of some actions is that a person reaches the worst abode, which is the denial of the divine signs. At another point, it says: "So He caused hypocrisy to enter their hearts until the Day they meet Him because they broke their promise to God"; breaking a promise to God caused hypocrisy to arise in their hearts. This means that a person commits a sin, this sin leads him to the valley of hypocrisy; hypocrisy is inner disbelief. Right here in the Quran, the disbelievers and hypocrites are placed side by side. In another verse, it says: "Indeed, those who turned their backs on you on the day the two armies met, it was only Satan who caused them to slip because of some of what they earned". This is what you see, that some people become defeated in front of the enemy, cannot endure, cannot stand firm, because of what has previously transpired from them; they have ruined their inner selves with sin and error. Slips corrupt a person. This corruption leads to deviation in action and sometimes to deviation in belief. This also occurs gradually; it does not happen suddenly that we think a person goes to sleep a believer and wakes up a hypocrite; no, it occurs gradually and bit by bit. The remedy for this is vigilance over oneself. Vigilance over oneself means the same piety. Therefore, the remedy is piety. Let us be vigilant over ourselves. The close ones of individuals should be vigilant; women over their husbands, husbands over their wives, close friends over each other; "and advise one another to truth and advise one another to patience". Let us watch over each other so that we do not fall into error. The dangers of the slips of officials are greater for the system, for the country, and for the people. Sometimes in some of the words, in some of the actions and movements, one feels this; the signs of such deviation are observed. One must seek refuge in God, one must ask for help from God.

The next point is that the same thing that may happen to an individual - that is, corruption and deviation - may also happen to a system. In a governmental system, a healthy system, an Islamic system, the same disease that individuals may fall into may come to the Islamic Republic, may come to the Islamic Republic system. The name may be Islamic Republic, the appearance may be Islamic, but the essence and behavior and performance and programs may be un-Islamic; the same issue of the appearance and essence of the revolution that I discussed last year for the dear students in a certain place.

The movement of society and the system is of two kinds: positive movement, negative movement; movement towards ascendance and elevation, movement towards descent and decline. Movement towards ascendance is that society approaches justice; approaches religious behavior and religious ethics; grows in a free atmosphere; achieves practical growth, scientific growth, and industrial growth; in society, there is advising one another to truth and advising one another to patience; society feels more and more empowered against the enemies of God, the enemies of religion, the enemies of the independence of the country, and shows more powerful resistance; day by day, it stands firmer against the international front of oppression and corruption; these are signs of growth, these are signs of positive movement in society; these will build the world and the hereafter of a society. We must seek such positive movement. But the opposite of these also exists: instead of moving towards justice, moving towards enormous economic and social gaps with various justifications; instead of using freedom for scientific growth and practical growth and moral growth, using freedom for corruption and immorality and spreading sin and spreading wrongdoing; instead of standing firm against the arrogant, the aggressors, and the international plunderers, instead of showing strength against them, becoming passive in front of them, feeling weak, retreating; where one should frown at them, smiling at them; where one should stand firm for their rights, giving up rights - now whether it is nuclear rights or non-nuclear rights - these are signs of decline. The movement of society must be towards that elevation and those values, must be a positive movement. These downward movements are the same diseases that may come to the Islamic system; and this is a danger for the Islamic system; the people must be vigilant. The Islamic Republic is truly an Islamic Republic when it moves forward with the same solid foundations of the Imam, the same things that were raised during the blessed life of the Imam, that were slogans, that were earnestly pursued; wherever we advanced with those slogans - I say this with insight, I have closely observed the situation over these thirty years - progress has been with us, victory has been with us, dignity has been with us, worldly benefit has also been with us; wherever we retreated from those slogans and yielded, we gave the enemy a chance, we became weak, we regressed, dignity was not achieved, the enemy became bolder, advanced further; we also suffered material losses. It is a mistake for some to think that the remedy for the problems of the country - whether economic problems, social problems, political problems - is to throw down arms in front of the arrogant enemy; this is exactly what the arrogant enemy wants.

All the troubles that you observed after the elections arose and were brought about, and they supported them, were for the same reason that they might be able to strike at the popular backing of the revolution and take it away from the revolution. I said that the sign of the people's trust in this system was the presence of forty million in the elections. Now in foreign radios and unfortunately some inside are echoing them, they insist and repeat that yes, the people's trust has been lost! This is the answer to that claim. There we said that the eighty-five percent of the people who come to vote, forty million who go to the ballot boxes, whoever they vote for, their very presence at the ballot box is a sign of the people's trust in the system - which is the reality of the matter - these people, in order to disprove this claim, repeatedly propagated that the people's trust has been lost; what should we do? Now some, in the guise of concern, said what should we do to restore trust! The people trust the system, and the system trusts the people. God willing, you will see in the next elections - which is now two or three years away - that these people, despite the same games played by the opponents and enemies and the oblivious and uninformed inside, will have a strong and solid presence in the elections.

So the point is that we must all be careful that the Islamic Republic - which is an Islamic system, a religious system, proud of the fact that it wants to move within the framework of the laws of religion and Islam and the Quran - does not turn into a system that is unfaithful to religion; as some say, a secular system; with a secular essence, a religious appearance; with an essence attracted to Western culture and the powers dominating that culture, and a superficial religious appearance and religious matters at hand; it should not become this way. The Islamic system must be, in the true sense of the word, Islamic and day by day come closer to the foundations of Islam; this is what opens the tightly closed knots, this is what solves problems, this is what gives dignity and power to society, this is what will increase the supporters of the Islamic Republic in all parts of the world.

Some look at the enmities, lose heart; their courage diminishes when they see mouths opened in anger, speaking ill of the Islamic Republic, making remarks. Well, all systems of the world, all governments of the world have enemies and friends; today is the same, throughout history it has been the same. You will not find any government where all the people inside that government and outside that government are good to it or all are bad to it; no, there are some who agree with it, there are some who oppose it; the issue is to see who the supporters of a government are and who its opponents are; this is the criterion.

There is a government that opposes every international plunderer; every international bully opposes it; every government with a dark history of colonialism opposes it; every wicked Zionist capitalist opposes it. Well, these oppositions are a source of pride; these should not frighten anyone. Who are its supporters? The believing nations all over the world are in favor of it; the Muslim nations, non-Iranian; in Africa, in the North African countries, in the Muslim regions of Africa, in Asia, up to Indonesia, up to Malaysia, in Arab countries, non-Arab countries, groups of Muslims, believing nations, are its supporters, are its friends.

In a football match a few years ago, the Iranian team won against its opponent. In the coffee houses of one of the North African countries, young people were sitting, and when the Iranian scorer scored, they applauded. One of them said to them: you are not from your own country, what do you care if an Iranian player scores a goal against his opponent, who is not your enemy either? They said: Iran's victory is our victory; even in the football field! These have value.

During the turmoil after the elections, Muslims from various Islamic countries were worried; they sent messages to their acquaintances here, asking what is happening in Iran? They said: do not worry, do not be afraid, the Islamic Republic is stronger than this. This is such a government; its enemies are those, its friends are these. All the evildoers and the Shimmers of the world are against it; all the oppressed are in favor of it; the Palestinian nation supports it, the resistant Arab nations support it. Yes, the government of the United States is against it, the government of England, which has a two-hundred-year history of malice in Iran - the history of the malice of the English in Iran is two hundred years old - is against it. These oppositions should not frighten anyone. But there is a government that, conversely, its supporters are thieves and plunderers and arrogant and bullies of the world, and its opponents are its own people or the believing nations and the oppressed nations; this is a source of shame. The Islamic Republic has had such opponents until today; the world’s thieves, the world’s plunderers, the arrogant of the world; these are the ones who oppose the Islamic Republic; these are the ones who try to confront and oppose the Islamic Republic in international forums; but the masses of the people, the masses of the people, the independent governments, the politicians detached from those powers, the oppressed nations, these are the ones who are in favor of the Islamic Republic. Out of fear of such oppositions, one should not show a face of submission to the enemy. In any case, our youth must be vigilant.

Dear youth! This country belongs to you, tomorrow belongs to you. A powerful system - whether scientific power, political power, economic power, information power, or power of movement in various regions of the world and international power - is a source of dignity for you, a source of pride for you, and you must strive to complete and perfect such a system and feel a sense of duty. The youth have a duty.

The Islamic Republic in the true sense - that is, the same Islamic Republic that Imam (may God be pleased with him) established for us and gifted to our country - can provide these characteristics; international power, political power, dignity, worldly prosperity, and the spiritual prosperity of the hereafter. But be careful that they do not create a counterfeit Islamic Republic for us; the kind of work that has been done in the past ten years, but God Almighty restrained it; the people were awake, vigilant, and did not allow it. They wanted to do things, to put the slogans of the Imam in the museum; they explicitly said that these have become outdated! No, the slogans of the revolution cannot become outdated; they are always fresh, always attractive to all people. A slogan that is in favor of the oppressed, a slogan that is in favor of national dignity, a slogan that embodies resistance and steadfastness, these slogans never become outdated; they do not become outdated for any nation, nor will they become outdated for our system.

Next week - Friday - is Quds Day; this is one of the most prominent legacies of our dear Imam; a sign of the revolution's attachment and the attachment of our nation to the issue of the holy Quds and the issue of Palestine. Thanks to Quds Day, we have been able to keep this name alive every year in the world. Many governments and many policies wanted, wished, and tried, spending money to make the issue of Palestine forgotten. If it were not for the efforts of the Islamic Republic, if it were not for the steadfastness of the Islamic Republic with all its might against this wicked policy, it is unlikely that they could gradually push the issue of Palestine into the margins; they would forget it altogether. Even now, the arrogant system and the wicked Zionists admit, they believe, and are upset that the Islamic Republic has raised the flag of Palestine and does not allow them to carry out the compromises they want to make, to remove the issue of Palestine from the agenda. Quds Day is the day of reviving this memory and this name. This year, with God's grace, with divine guidance, our great nation will commemorate Quds Day in Tehran and all cities; they will march. In other countries as well, many Muslims will follow the Iranian nation on Quds Day. Quds Day is the day belonging to the issue of Quds and, at the same time, a manifestation of the unity of the Iranian nation. Be careful that on Quds Day, some will not use these gatherings to create discord. One must be afraid of discord. One must confront and oppose discord. Discord must not arise. Only when the Iranian nation can raise the flag of Quds with pride is when it is united. Over the years, they have tried to disrupt this as well, but thanks be to God, they have not been able to; God willing, they will not be able to in the future.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make our nation more alive, more awake, stronger, more powerful, and more vibrant day by day.

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

By the chargers that pant. By those that strike sparks. By those that attack at dawn. And raise dust with it. And gather together in a troop. Indeed, man is ungrateful to his Lord. And indeed, he is a witness to that. And indeed, he is very fond of good. Does he not know when what is in the graves is turned upside down? And what is in the chests is obtained? Indeed, their Lord is fully aware of them on that Day.

And peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.