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

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 people of the earth.

I congratulate you, esteemed attendees, dear brothers and sisters, respected officials of the country, and the ambassadors of Islamic countries present in this session, as well as the entire Iranian nation, the entire Islamic Ummah, and all of humanity; for today, humanity is more in need than ever to understand the meaning of the birth and the truth of the birth.

The Holy Quran has addressed all of humanity with this noble verse: "Indeed, there has come to you a messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; he is concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful." However, the suffering of humanity, the problems of human life and societies weigh heavily on the blessed soul of the Prophet of Islam; he is eager for their guidance and their happiness. The birth is for all human beings. Following this verse, the Quran's comforting words to the Prophet are interesting: "But if they turn away, say, 'Sufficient for me is Allah; there is no deity except Him. On Him I have relied, and He is the Lord of the Great Throne.'" This is addressed to humanity: step forward in the path of righteousness and reform for humanity and rely on the One God; everything is in His hands, and divine traditions are in service of this movement. Today, we need the meaning of the birth; humanity needs it, especially the Islamic Ummah.

The birth of the Prophet is a day of awakening to remove the sufferings of humanity; therefore, it is truly a celebration. The major sufferings of humanity that have continued throughout history and still persist today in various forms include servitude to others than God, the establishment of oppression and injustice, the gap between social classes, the suffering of the downtrodden, and the tyranny of the tyrants; these are the perennial sufferings of humanity. These things have always been imposed on humanity by the corrupt and oppressive motivations of the arrogant powers; the birth is to remove these sufferings. In fact, the day of birth is a day of returning to the divine nature; because all these sufferings, pains, and disorders have been declared invalid in the divine nature that has been entrusted to humanity. The divine nature advocates for truth, justice, and striving in the path of the oppressed; this is human nature.

The Commander of the Faithful has a saying in Nahj al-Balagha regarding the reason for the birth of the prophets, which deserves deep contemplation; he says: "To remind them of the covenant of their nature." The prophets compel people to act upon the innate covenant that has been placed within humanity, to acknowledge that covenant; the Almighty God has asked humanity to be free, to live with justice, to live with righteousness, and not to serve others than God. "To remind them of the covenant of their nature and to remind them of the forgotten blessings." These divine blessings include the blessing of existence, the blessing of health, the blessing of intellect, and the blessing of good moral qualities that God has entrusted to humanity; we forget these blessings; the prophets remind humanity of them. "And to remind them of the forgotten blessings and to establish proof against them through conveying the message;" clarifying the truth for them is the most important duty of the prophets. The enemies of the prophets exploit ignorance and concealment, using the cover of hypocrisy; the prophets tear down the veil of ignorance and hypocrisy. "And to uncover for them the treasures of intellect;" the prophets came to compel humanity to think, to reflect, to ponder; see what great goals this is; this is the purpose of the birth. Today, how much does humanity need this! After the treasures of intellect have been uncovered in humanity, "And to show them the signs of power;" guide human intellect towards monotheism, towards divine signs, and place the signs of the power of the Lord before their eyes. Unguided intellect, without the guidance of the prophets, cannot grasp the truth as it is; the prophets take the hand of human intellect, guide it, and with the power that God has placed within it, it traverses this difficult path of life; the prophets reveal the truths of the world to humanity. The power of intellect, rational thinking in humanity is important, but with divine guidance, with God's assistance. Well, this is the birth.

The opposing front to the birth is the front of ignorance. Ignorance should not be seen as a matter related to a specific historical period, as if to say that the Prophet faced ignorance on that day and that day has passed; ignorance is not limited to that day; ignorance continues, just as the birth continues.

This duality exists among humanity; this ignorance that stands against the birth of the prophets is not a lack of knowledge; this ignorance is not ignorance in opposition to knowledge; sometimes knowledge serves ignorance, as is the case today. Today, in the world, human knowledge has advanced, but it is in service of the same ignorance that the birth of the prophets was meant to eradicate. This ignorance is the opposite of the guided intellect through the prophets and the Lord. When human life is governed by intellect, that intellect which is under the support and in the shadow of the guidance of the prophets, life will be prosperous; this is what we must pursue. The day when this is not the case, when human intellect is not in control, lust and anger will prevail; base desires will dominate. At that time, humanity will burn in a furnace of miseries; just as we have seen throughout history and continue to observe today.

When lust and anger dominate human behavior, you will notice that in the two world wars, millions of humans are thrown into blood and soil, human life becomes worthless, and the sanctity of humanity is lost. This dominance of lust and anger, or conversely, the dominance of the guided intellect through the prophets, exists at all levels; it exists at the individual level, at the societal level, and at the international level. If at the international level, what governs the behavior of the powerful is God-given intellect and is guided, the world will be one way; when base desires dominate them, when power-seeking and instigation prevail, the situation is different. Humanity's plight is these matters. The birth stands against this current of ignorance that may exist at all times, and all human beings are obliged to confront it.

Colonialism and the humiliation of nations, the plundering of nations' financial resources, and the corruption of nations' human resources stem from the dominance of ignorance. When ignorance prevails, you see many nations around the world crushed under the boot of colonialism, their resources plundered, and they themselves humiliated, falling behind for years. Colonized nations have fallen behind for decades, some for centuries.

Nehru, in his memoirs, states that before the British gained control over India, India had a relatively advanced civilization for its time; it even had advanced industries and products; the British entered, took control of that vast country, and rolled it back so that they could grow themselves. The small and remote British government rose to power by plundering the resources of a great country like India; they brought that country to its knees. This is colonialism; this is the dominance of lust and anger.

Since the end of the First and Second World Wars, as it is said and written, dozens of local wars have been ignited; all by the powerful. Today, look at what is happening in this region of West Asia, what is happening in North Africa! Who started these wars? Who supplied weapons to wicked and corrupt individuals, provided them with resources, and encouraged them to create chaos in countries, to destroy their infrastructures? This is what Satan is. "And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy, devils among men and jinn, inspiring some of them to others with adorned speech as a delusion." This is how it is; the devils collaborate, create systems; when they dominate the prevailing currents of the world, the state of humanity becomes what you observe today.

The enmity of true believers, the enmity of the Islamic Republic with Zionism, stems from these truths; we have no vendetta against anyone. When the Zionist regime and the vast network of Zionist capitalists dominate governments, such as the government of the United States of America - where the advancement of anyone, the rise of any party or individual depends on their support - the world becomes what you observe today. The roots of the great movement of the Islamic nation and the Iranian nation and the Islamic awakening in the world are these. Then they see the remedy in defaming Islam, defaming Iran, defaming Shia.

Today, part of the definitive policies of the U.S. government and the governments allied with it is Islamophobia, Iranophobia, and Shia-phobia; this is how they are moving. This is their definitive policy. When nations are oblivious, they advance; when nations are awake, they create obstacles in front of them; then they become angry and shout, why are you present in the region of West Asia, why do you not allow us to do our work? Just yesterday, American spokespeople announced that Iran's opposition to U.S. policies in the region of West Asia - which they call the Middle East - will lead us to sanction Iran or confront Iran. What does this mean? It means the Iranian nation! You who are aware, you who are insightful, you who understand what is happening in the region, step back and allow us to do our work, whatever we want to do; this means continuing the mischief. This situation is ignorance, and this ignorance exists today.

When ignorance prevails, when the dominance of satanic powers occurs, then there is rebellion; this is what tyranny means. "Those who have believed fight in the cause of Allah, and those who have disbelieved fight in the cause of false gods." This is the criterion. Any step taken to strengthen tyranny places one in the camp of tyranny. The work of tyranny is to corrupt and to cause corruption. "And when he goes away, he strives throughout the earth to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and progeny; and Allah does not like corruption." God desires the righteousness of humanity, while tyranny desires the corruption of humanity. With one bomb, they kill hundreds of thousands in one or two cities and do not even apologize after many years; they say you should apologize for the Hiroshima incident, and they say no, I will not apologize; they either destroy the infrastructures of countries like Afghanistan and Iraq or their agents do, and they do not even acknowledge it and continue on their way; this is it: "And when he goes away, he strives throughout the earth to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and progeny." This current and this front is the front of ignorance. Today's ignorance, in spirit and meaning, is the same ignorance of the time of the Prophet; of course, with new tools, with a new structure, with new strategies. This situation imposes a duty on all Muslims and on the entire Islamic Ummah; the duty is the duty of confrontation.

The Islamic Republic has not started any war from the beginning and has not carried out any military action against any country, but it has loudly declared its words and its slogans. Our great Imam placed American Islam and stagnant Islam side by side; both of these stand against pure Islam. They fear pure Islam.

These corrupt groups that are causing corruption in Islamic countries, defaming Islam, are ripping the hearts of humans from their chests in the name of Islam and tearing them apart in front of cameras; in the name of Islam, they burn humans alive in front of cameras and billions of people; then these are supported and acknowledged by the mysterious powers of the West. On the surface, an anti-Daesh coalition is formed, but accurate news and information show that this coalition is not a real coalition and this struggle is not a real struggle; rather, it is a superficial act. Then, when they want to speak against these corrupt groups in the media, they refer to them as an Islamic state; meaning those who behave in such a way with people, who destroy children in such a manner, who deceive children and send them into the field for suicide missions, are an Islamic state! This is Islamophobia.

Today, our duty as Muslims is to become aware and to make the world aware of the truth of the birth. The birth means awakening for the salvation of humanity; the birth means establishing a system of righteousness and justice among human society; this is the meaning of the birth. The birth means goodwill for all of humanity; we wish well for all of humanity, even for the corrupt and wicked leaders of tyrannical regimes, praying that the Almighty God guides them; either guide them and turn them away from the wrong path, or shorten their lives so they do not cause more corruption, do not provoke God's wrath further; this is truly a prayer for goodness. Islam desires the good of all humanity, the Prophet desires it.

And this movement of the Islamic Ummah, this movement that began with the establishment of the Islamic Republic in the world and has not been able to be eradicated despite all efforts and has become stronger day by day, deeper day by day, will certainly be victorious; the enmity of the enemies cannot eliminate this great movement.

Here, we must act according to the recommendation and command of the noble verse of the Quran that I recited: "Say, 'Sufficient for me is Allah; there is no deity except Him. On Him I have relied, and He is the Lord of the Great Throne.'" This was the reliance of our great Imam that showed us the way and brought us to this point, and the Iranian nation will continue this path with this reliance, God willing, and the Islamic Ummah will increasingly embody these truths with Islamic awakening.

And the support of Islam and the support of Muslims is ultimately certain, but we have a duty; both individuals have duties, and groups have duties, and political elites of countries have duties, and leaders of Islamic governments have duties; each one who fulfills their duty will be rewarded before the Almighty God; if they do not act, "Then Allah will bring forth a people He loves and they love Him." The burden of God will not remain on the ground; this path will continue. We hope, God willing, that we may be among those who never leave this burden on the ground.

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