Statements in Meeting with Officials of the System, Ambassadors of Islamic Countries, and Various Segments of the People

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 and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

I congratulate you, esteemed attendees, on the blessed occasion of the Prophet's Ascension, to all the people of Iran, to the great Islamic Ummah, and to all freedom-seekers and the free of the world. The Ascension of the Noble Prophet is truly a celebration for the free of the world. This year, the celebration of the Ascension coincides with the victorious Bahman. We hope that the Bahman movement, the Islamic Revolution, the movement we are engaged in, and the intention of the founder of this movement, which has been to follow the Prophet and the Ascension, will continue along this path and advance.

I thank our esteemed President for his very good and useful remarks. We hope, God willing, to be able to act upon the points he mentioned, with divine assistance. I will say a word about the Ascension, and then a sentence about our surrounding issues.

The Ascension is one of the most blessed and greatest events in the existence of the world and the history of humanity; it is not an ordinary incident, but rather one of the most significant events in human history. Great events have many functions in various individual and social domains, but one of the most important, and perhaps the most important function of great events is: to create a cognitive and perceptual transformation in the audience. A great transformation and a significant event will only be able to impact the reality of people's lives and become lasting if it can create a cognitive transformation in its audience. When thought is corrected, action will also be corrected; this is the main point. The system of life is based on the thoughts and ideas that exist among those who manage life. If a cognitive and perceptual transformation and understanding of existence occurs in individuals and societies, then political systems, economic systems, ethical systems, and social systems will be established based on that.

The Ascension of the Noble Prophet is prominent in this regard. Of course, the aspects of the prominence of the Ascension compared to other various events are numerous, which is not the subject of our discussion, but in this particularity, the Ascension of the Noble Prophet is extraordinary: the transformation it created; with whom, what thoughts, what behaviors, and what society it faced, and how it transformed them into what kind of humans, what kind of society, what kind of people; both in its own time and throughout time.

So, what is the factor of this transformation? That is, all prophets, including the great Prophet of Islam, when they want to bring about this transformation, what is their tool? What is the factor that creates this transformation? There are two things: "reason" and "faith." Reason is a special power that God Almighty has entrusted to all humans; some activate it and use it, while many do not. Faith is also like reason; it exists in the nature of all humans, faith in the truth, faith in God, but humans forget it. Prophets come to awaken reason, to remind humans of their faith. You can observe in the Quran how often the term "remembrance" — to remember — is repeated. This faith exists in you and me; it must be reminded to us, we must be made aware of it. When reason and faith are revived, life grows; each has its own function. At that point, a person endowed with reason and faith can find the path of life, the straight path, and move along it.

In the Quran, for example, regarding reason, there are numerous Quranic evidences that we can mention: "Do they not reason?" (Quran 36:68), "Perhaps you will reason" (Quran 2:242), "Perhaps they will reflect" (Quran 7:176), "Do they not ponder?" (Quran 4:82), and "They say: If we had heard or understood..." (Quran 67:10). The issue of reason, attention to reason, and the application of reason in the Quran is a prominent aspect of Quranic teaching. Every Muslim should know that their dealings must be with reason, they must work with reason, utilize reason, and cultivate their reason.

Regarding faith, the first thing mentioned in the invitation of all prophets is monotheism. Monotheism is not just a simple belief that there is one God; it is the foundation of Islamic worldview. From every angle we look at the Islamic worldview, we arrive at monotheism, and this monotheism also forms the foundation of the Islamic community. Therefore, you can observe, for example, in Surah Al-A'raf, where it discusses the prophets and their invitations — Noah, Hud, Salih, and others — their first words are: "O my people! Worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him"; monotheism. Of course, alongside monotheism, the discussion of resurrection is also raised; in this noble verse: "O my people! Worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him; I fear for you the punishment of a great day" (Quran 7:59), that great day is the Day of Resurrection. Or in Surah Ash-Shu'ara, it is the same; the names of the prophets are mentioned one by one, and their first words are: "Fear Allah and obey me" (Quran 26:108); God-consciousness. Obedience to the prophet is also because when God Almighty appointed the prophet, he helps reason so that it does not err, does not make mistakes, does not misinterpret, does not mistake mirage for water; this is the work of the prophets. Therefore, "obey me" follows this so that a person has guidance to assist them.

Then, Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) says: "And He sent His prophets to remind them of the covenant of their nature, to remind them of the forgotten blessings, to argue with them through conveying the message, and to awaken the buried treasures of reason"; God Almighty has sent the prophets for these purposes: the covenant of nature, the forgotten blessing, and then to awaken the buried treasures of reason; to extract these treasures; now what does this treasure mean? Either it means a treasure — when we say treasure, we usually mean wealth, and that is what we intend — or it means the buried intellects under superstitions, misconceptions, false imaginations, and various words and schools, etc. The true word and the correct statement of "There is no god but Allah" is sometimes buried. That correct rational understanding is sometimes buried under these false words, forgotten; one of these two meanings is intended by that great one. Prophets come to extract reason from beneath these. Now, this is regarding the Ascension.

What should we do? I say that in my opinion, the Ascension is not an instantaneous event. Sometimes a spark strikes and goes out; the Ascension is not like that; of course, for the hypocrite, it is like that: "God has taken away their light and left them in darkness, unable to see" (Quran 2:17); a person who does not have faith in their heart, a spark strikes, a light appears for them, then under desires, whims, forgetfulness, negligence, and other flaws, it goes out. However, for the non-hypocrite, in the natural course of the world, the entire Ascension is a movement, a continuous matter; it is not limited to a specific time or day; it is always relevant; not only the Ascension of the Noble Messenger, but all prophets; the fundamental message of the prophets is always relevant. In the Holy Quran, it says to the disbelievers: "Bring a book from God that is more guiding than these two books" (Quran 28:49); "two books" means one is the Quran and the other is the Torah. We believe in the prophets; we believe in all the prophets; however, when a subsequent prophet comes, he completes the message of the previous prophet, thus the message of the previous one is abrogated. Abrogation means: it completes the message, changes some aspects, and adjusts some according to the time. Therefore, this movement — the movement of religion, the movement of the Ascension — is a continuous and everlasting movement.

What does "everlasting" mean? It means that in all eras, one can benefit from the blessings of the Ascension; that is, the same transformation that occurred at the beginning of the Ascension, and the Noble Prophet of Islam stood firm and came to the forefront and accomplished the tasks with indescribable effort, this transformation can occur in all times proportionately — proportionate to humans, with the differences between us and that great peak — but what is the condition? The condition is that we must utilize the two factors that that great one employed: reason and faith. If we activate reason and faith, the Ascension will come into being, movement will occur, transformation will occur. Transformation in thought brings about transformation in the reality of life; problems will be resolved, and reforms will take place. This is the lesson we must learn from the Ascension.

Today, the audience of this message is ourselves, the Muslim governments and Muslim nations; we are all the audience. We must know that if we demand something in the world or place our hope in God's grace in the Hereafter, we must adhere to the concept of the Ascension and the implications of the Ascension and the movement of the Ascension. "Whoever seeks honor, for Allah belongs all honor" (Quran 35:10); honor is there. Honor means that a person possesses a state such that no foreign factor can have a negative effect on them; this is honor. Indeed, all honor belongs to Allah (Quran 10:65). Neither the enemy nor various foreign, mental, spiritual, physical, or moral factors can have an effect when honor exists. Or in another noble verse, it says: "Do not weaken and do not grieve, for you are the highest if you are believers" (Quran 3:139); if there is faith, you are the best, you are the highest.

Well, let us observe the function of reason today in the world and activate reason; if we activate reason, we can understand many of the concepts of the world. In a prayer, it is stated: "O Allah, grant me victory in Your religion, strength in Your worship, and understanding in Your creation"; let us understand the realities of human society. As the Islamic Republic, as Islamic Iran, as political officials of a great and important country — our dear country is truly exceptional in various respects — we must pay attention and understand these truths that exist in the world.

The colonialism of oppressive powers began, first and foremost, with the plundering of resources. If you read the history of colonialism, the first thing they targeted and pursued was natural resources; they started from here; this is one stage. The next stage was the destruction of the authentic cultures of nations. This is a bitter story; the explanation of this matter is truly tear-jerking, what they did to nations and civilizations! In the same Africa that you observe, there were civilizations, there were authentic cultures; they came in and disrupted everything, destroyed everything, plundered, and in fact, they also committed cultural plunder. And in the next stage, they set their sights on the national and religious identity of nations to take it under their control.

Today, we are suffering from all three stages of colonialism. Today, the powerful, oppressive forces of the world have their eyes on the natural resources of countries and nations, as well as their authentic cultures, and they are intent on destroying and seizing them. Of course, they are not all the same; at the head of them is America. Today, the description we give for colonialism and global arrogance is epitomized by the U.S. government, which is under the influence of the world's financial powers; that is, today, the top financial powers of the world dominate a number of Western governments — among which, perhaps the most is the U.S. government — as they say, cartels and trusts dominate, and they are plotting the three stages of colonialism. The reason you see a new operational gift every day in human affairs, in sexual matters, in financial matters, is due to this; that is, this change in the identity of nations, this change in the interests of nations, and dragging them towards themselves.

The Quran has a clear description: it says: "They wish for you to suffer"; everything that causes you trouble, your enemies, the disbelievers, and those who follow Satan and act in a satanic manner, they love it. "Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, and what their hearts conceal is greater" (Quran 3:118); their enmity is evident in their speech; when they speak, they show their enmity; when they act, they show their enmity, but what is in their hearts is greater; that which creates their enmity. Sometimes, in certain cases, this enmity becomes apparent; that is, in some places, the wicked hostile intentions manifest themselves. For example, consider that in the U.S. Congress, representatives stand up and applaud for the killer of thousands of children! This is the manifestation of "what their hearts conceal is greater" that appears here. To tear apart thousands of children, and then come here to be applauded! Or the captain of the USS Vincennes shoots down a passenger plane with about three hundred passengers and kills all on board, and then he is awarded a medal of honor. This is where "what they conceal in their hearts" becomes apparent, it shows itself here. These things are always hidden behind diplomatic smiles; behind diplomatic smiles, such enmities, such hatreds, this wicked essence is concealed. Let us open our eyes: "and understanding in Your creation." Let us open our eyes; let us not be among those who "secretly establish friendship with them" (Quran 60:1). We must be aware of who we are facing, with whom we are negotiating, with whom we are speaking; we must know this. When a person recognizes their counterpart, they may still negotiate, but they understand what they must do. We must recognize and understand.

In my opinion, in our current era, this movement of resistance, this movement of resistance, is a reflection of that Ascension. The resistance that began from Islamic Iran awakened the Muslim nations; it brought some Muslim nations to the scene; it generally awakened the Muslim nations and also awakened the consciences of many non-Muslims. The system of domination was recognized and introduced. Many nations did not recognize the system of domination.

Look at Gaza! The small, limited region of Gaza brought the heavily armed Zionist regime, fully supported by America, to its knees; Gaza brought the Zionist regime to its knees! Is this a joke? This is the same reflection of the Ascension; this is the same faith and reason; this is the same recitation of Quranic verses; this is the same reliance on God; this is the same belief in "Indeed, all honor belongs to Allah". The proud Hezbollah suffers a loss equivalent to the loss of a personality like Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah; this is no joke! How many great individuals do we have in the world who are of the stature of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah (may Allah's peace be upon him) — this great martyr? Such a personality has left Hezbollah; both friend and foe thought Hezbollah was finished; Hezbollah showed that not only has it not finished, but in some cases, its motivation has increased, and it was able to stand against the Zionist regime; this is the same [reflection of the Ascension]. This belonged to the Muslims.

In non-Muslims, consciences were stirred. The statistics given to me indicate that around 30,000 anti-Zionist demonstrations occurred in 619 cities around the world during this period! People awakened; consciences awakened; this is resistance; this resistance is a reflection of the Ascension. In America, a number of people gathered — who were Americans — and said: "Death to America"; in America itself! This is the same cognitive transformation; this is the same thing that the great prophets endeavored for, and the greatest, most important, and astonishing type of it was brought into existence by the Noble Messenger of Islam (peace be upon him) in his time and until the end of the world, and today resistance is also demonstrating it. Therefore, let us be mindful of these truths and not forget this Quranic verse: "Do not weaken and do not grieve, for you are the highest if you are believers."

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