Statements on the Meeting with System Officials and Ambassadors of Islamic Countries on the Anniversary of the Prophet's Mission

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

Thanks be to God, and blessings be upon Muhammad and his pure family and his chosen companions and those who follow them until the Day of Judgment.

I congratulate you all, dear attendees; dear brothers, dear sisters, esteemed guests, ambassadors of Islamic countries present in this gathering, and all the people of Iran who have shown their commitment to the message of the Prophet's mission and have demonstrated a great and difficult test in this path.

I also congratulate this great day to all Muslim nations, to the Islamic world, and to every Muslim in every corner of the world, as well as to all the free people of the world; those who feel excitement from the message of freedom, justice, humanity, and the dignity of man, and who enjoy it.

Dear brothers and sisters! There are various discussions to be had regarding the mission of the Prophet; what is necessary for us today and for the Islamic world to pay attention to are two or three main points: one point is that which Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) referred to in the sermon of Nahj al-Balagha, where he introduced the reason for the mission of the Prophet and the great divine prophets in this way: "To remind them of the covenant of their nature and to remind them of the forgotten blessings... and to awaken the buried intellects." (1) It is to bring humans back to their human nature and essence, which is accompanied by honor and dignity; to remind them of the divine blessings they have forgotten and to awaken their buried intellects.

It is by the blessing of intellect that humans can understand the message of the prophets; they should not fear the problems and difficulties of the radiant path of the prophets and should be able to overcome them. It is by the blessing of reason and thought that humanity can rightly utilize the concepts of the Quran. If the Islamic community acts upon this one command, that is, to make the force of thought, the application of thought and intellect a common and prevalent matter among themselves, most of humanity's problems will be solved; most of the problems of the Islamic community will be resolved.

Today, look, in the name of Islam, in one place, they behave tyrannically towards innocent people; in another place, Muslims are massacred because of Islam. In Africa, in one center, in one country, someone is killed, assaulted, and oppressed for being a Muslim. In another place, some people kidnap the daughters of others in the name of Islam and flee; this is because the message of Islam has not taken root among Muslims. We Muslims must understand the Quran and Islam correctly and, with the measure of our intellect and with the guidance of human and Islamic thought, reach the depths of the teachings of the Prophet of Islam and these messages.

When we neglect the message of Islam, as the Holy Quran states: "And the Messenger said, 'O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Quran as [a thing] abandoned.'" (2) When we abandon the Quran, when we do not look at the concepts of the Quran correctly, when we do not see the collection of Quranic concepts, which is a complete system for human life, correctly, then we slip, and our intellect cannot gain a proper understanding of the Quranic concepts.

Today, there are enemies in the world who openly confront Islam; their confrontation primarily begins with creating discord. The deepest and most dangerous divisions are ideological and faith-based differences. Today, in the world, there are faith and ideological provocations to pit Muslims against each other, carried out by the hands of global arrogance. Some declare others as infidels; some draw swords against others; brothers, instead of cooperating with one another and extending their hands to each other, join hands with the enemies against their brothers! They incite a war between Shia and Sunni and continuously escalate ethnic and sectarian provocations; [of course] the hands that carry out these actions are well-known. If the force of intellect, the light of thought and awareness - which the Quran has commanded us to employ - is activated, we will see the enemy's hand and understand the enemy's motives.

Today, in the Islamic world, for the arrogant powers to achieve their goals, to keep their problems hidden and concealed, they create discord among Muslims; they generate Shia-phobia, they generate Iran-phobia, to keep the usurping Zionist regime safe, to somehow resolve the contradictions that have led the policies of global arrogance to failure in this region; they see the way to do this as creating discord among Muslims. Well, this must be seen, this must be understood; the expectation from the elites is this, the expectation from the intellectuals is this.

What the political apparatuses of the West promote today is the same ignorance that the mission of the Prophet was established to eliminate from the human living environment. The signs of that ignorance are observed today in the prevailing corrupt Western civilization; the same injustice, the same discrimination, the same disregard for human dignity, the same emphasis on sexual issues and sexual needs.

The Holy Quran addresses the honorable wives of the Prophet: "And abide in your houses and do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance." (3) One of the signs of the first ignorance is women's display. Today, one of the most prominent manifestations of Western civilization is this display; this is the same ignorance, but an ignorance that has managed to equip itself with the weapon of modern propaganda, concealing the truths from the eyes of the people; these are things that we Muslims must understand, these are things we must know.

The Islamic world today needs to turn to thought, to engage in thinking, to become accustomed to thinking, to understand issues correctly, to analyze correctly. The Islamic world today needs to truly recognize the front of the enemies of the Islamic Ummah; we must know our enemies, we must know our friends. It has been seen at times that a group of us Muslims have allied with our enemies to strike our friends, to strike our brothers! Well, this harms us, this causes confusion in the Islamic Ummah, it weakens it; this stems from a lack of insight. Today, the Islamic world needs this insight, needs this contemplation and thought, needs to awaken the buried intellects: "And to awaken the buried intellects." (4) Another important need of the Islamic world is unity; we must transcend minor disagreements, differences of opinion, and ideological differences and form a united Ummah: "Indeed, this, your religion, is one religion, and I am your Lord, so worship Me." (5) Does belief in the Quran, belief in the Prophet, belief in the one God, belief in the one Kaaba and the one Qibla, facing a united front against the one enemy, is this not enough for the unity of the Islamic world? Why do some not understand? Why do some not grasp these clear truths? What is the goal of America and the Western front in creating Iran-phobia and Shia-phobia? Why do they not think about this? The usurping Zionist regime - which today is the greatest calamity for the Islamic world - must be able to live comfortably, overcome its problems, and overcome the destructive factors that, thanks be to God, exist within the foundations of that usurping regime; this cannot happen unless they distract the heads of Muslims, create discord among them, and magnify small issues for them.

In our view, Islamic awakening has emerged; efforts have been made by the enemies of Islam to suppress this awakening - and in some places, they have suppressed it - but Islamic awakening cannot be suppressed. The flag of pride in Islam has been raised; the feeling of Islamic identity today among Muslims, in every corner of the world, has become stronger and will continue to strengthen. The people of Iran have had great responsibilities in this regard, which they have fulfilled, and they will continue to do so. The people of Iran, with their belief in the Quran, with their belief in the message of the mission, with internal unity among themselves, with a sense of courage against the enemy and fearlessness of the enemy, with a sense of hope in the divine promise of victory, which is a clear divine promise that states: "If you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet." (6) And with these valuable reserves, they move forward.

Thanks be to God, one after another, we will capture the strongholds necessary for continuing the struggle against oppression, ignorance, and injustice, God willing. Thanks be to God, the people of Iran have been endowed with divine success and assistance; step by step we have progressed, overcoming problems one after another, and we will continue to do so by the grace and power of God.

Officials, feeling responsible, are engaged in various fields; today, thanks be to God, our government is fresh, ready to work, with a sense of pride in Islam and being Muslim; they feel that due to their faith in God, they possess dignity - and indeed they do - they are engaged in work and striving. Challenges exist, problems exist; these problems are present in life. If life is to be dignified, wise and prudent individuals endure problems for the sake of achieving dignity, human honor, and closeness to God; those who lack wisdom endure these problems in their lives with humiliation, instead of accepting divine authority, they accept the authority of devils: "And they have taken besides Allah deities that they would be for them a source of honor; no! They will disbelieve in their worship and will be against them." (7) The formula that foolish individuals, foolish systems, and heedless individuals in the world choose and adopt has been exposed in the Holy Quran. Instead of seeking refuge in God, instead of accepting divine authority, instead of clinging to divine guidance, they cling to the authority of devils, to the authority of the enemies of Islam and humanity to create dignity for themselves, and this dignity will not come to them. Those wicked worshipped ones will not thank them: "No! They will disbelieve in their worship and will be against them." (8) This statement of the Quran is a clear statement; we must learn from this statement, we must recognize the path correctly, the line of Quranic guidance leads humans to happiness, we must seek help from the Almighty God.

Thanks be to God, the Islamic Republic system has been supported by this divine promise from the beginning until today in confronting the enemies; it has relied on it; we have trusted in the divine word and promise; we have shown good opinion; unlike the faithless and disbelievers, we did not show suspicion towards the divine promise; therefore, we have been victorious. We were victorious in the revolution, we were victorious in the sacred defense, we have been victorious in various economic, political, social, and international struggles, thanks be to God, until today, and this will continue; this is the path of the people of Iran.

May God's mercy be upon Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) who opened this path for us; may God's mercy be upon the great martyrs who sacrificed their lives on this path; and may God's mercy and grace be upon our officials, our statesmen who are ready for work, effort, and sacrifice in this field.

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