Statements at the Meeting with Participants of the 32nd International Quran Competition

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 Muhammad and his pure family.

I extend my warm welcome to all dear brothers and sisters. Truly, the fragrance of the Quran fills the atmosphere of life when reciters, memorizers, and those familiar with the Quran spread the recitation of its verses. I thank all those involved in organizing this wonderful event; I thank the esteemed reciters, and I thank those who performed today.

We hope that God makes us among the people of the Quran. We must become people of the Quran; reciting the Quran is a prerequisite, not the goal; the goal is to embody the morals of the Quran. It has been narrated from the honorable wives of the Prophet that they said about the Prophet's morals: "His character was the Quran"; meaning the Prophet was the Quran incarnate. Our behavior, our ethics, our personal development must be in accordance with the Quran; this is necessary. Recitation is the beginning of this; it is not only this; in addition to personal development according to the Quran, our society and our living environment must also become Quranic.

Let us not allow ignorance to impose itself on our communities and our lives; it has already done so. Today, the Islamic world suffers and is in pain under the pressure of ignorant systems. Today, the Islamic world is weak, impoverished, divided, afflicted by internal wars, and consuming its vast internal resources and forces against itself. This has been imposed on the Islamic world; the Quran wants to free us from the pressure of these impositions; we must reach this point. We should learn the Quran, become familiar with it, submit to it, and make a firm resolve to move towards Quranic goals; then we can succeed. If we take one step forward, the Almighty God will grant us additional strength. This is what the Muslim nations must understand today; they must comprehend this; let us take one step and experience it.

We have experienced it; we, the Iranian nation, have experienced it. We did not submit to the enemies of Islam and the enemies of the Quran; we resisted; God granted us strength. The more we resisted, the stronger we became; our capabilities increased; our hope for the future grew. This is the remedy for the Islamic world. One of the things that the enemies of Islam have always pursued within the Islamic community, and continue to pursue with intensity today, is the creation of discord; we must prevent this. Any voice that speaks in the direction of discord is the loudspeaker of the enemy; whether they know it or not. We must be careful that our voices do not become the loudspeakers of the enemies of Islam and the Quran; do not raise the cry of discord. Religious discord, the discord between Shia and Sunni, the discord between Arabs and non-Arabs, the discord among various countries, ethnicities, and nationalistic prejudices are things that are being ignited among Muslim communities. We must stand against these.

Of course, saying these words is easy; acting on them is difficult; however, the path to action exists, the way is open. The main factor is our determination and will; we must decide; insight and determination are the two main factors. First, we must have insight, recognize the enemy, and recognize the friend. Today, in Islamic countries, there are countries whose officials suffer from a lack of insight; they cannot distinguish the friend from the enemy. They mistake the enemy for a friend and the friend for an enemy; well, a person gets hurt. Such a country, with such a perspective, with such insight, will suffer a blow; insight is necessary. "Say, this is my path; I invite to God with insight, I and whoever follows me". If there is insight, a person will correctly recognize the path, then determination and will can be exerted and demonstrated, the path will be traversed easily; divine assistance is exactly this; "If you help God, He will help you"; what could be clearer and more explicit than this? "If you help God, He will help you and make your steps firm"; divine assistance is exactly this; recognizing and finding the path of God, following it, and not yielding to the enemy's plots, to the enemy's deception, to the enemy's impositions. The Quran provides this for us.

This annual Quranic gathering of ours is, thanks be to God, a successful gathering. Gradually, the Quran has found its renewed vitality in our society. Those who love the Quran, those who adhere to the Quran, those who become familiar with the Quran are, thanks be to God, expanding day by day in our society. The insistence we place on preserving the Quran, on reciting the Quran, should not be criticized as if these are not fundamental; we know they are not the essence, but these are means; without these means, one cannot approach the Quran. How can someone who is not familiar with the teachings of the Quran, who does not contemplate the Quran, who is not familiar with the Quran, guide in a society that wants to move based on the Quran? Our intellectuals must become familiar with the Quran, our youth must become familiar with the Quran, and increase their familiarity with the Quran. When this mind becomes a vessel for the teachings of the Quran, then "from the pitcher, only that which is in it will flow out." When the mind is enriched with Quranic teachings, it will show its effect in speech, in action, in decision-making, in major decisions, in behavior; this is the goal we must pursue. The officials of the country must seriously address the issue of the Quran; do not take this matter lightly. You dear youth who are on the path of learning the Quran and reciting the Quran and becoming familiar with the Quran, pursue this path seriously and follow it. The Quran clarifies the future for us; the Quran reveals the straight path and the direct way for us, making us prosperous.

Yes, we said that the Islamic world today suffers from many weaknesses, but fortunately, the movement towards Islam and the Quran has begun in Islamic communities. This Islamic awakening that has manifested itself in the countries of the region is not something that will disappear; this awakening will exist, will remain, and will, God willing, show its effects. Islamic awakening is a reality; this reality, God willing, will increasingly manifest itself. Of course, scholars have a double duty; intellectuals have a double duty; writers, students, and researchers, including you reciters who are in the public eye, have a double duty; you must be able to instill hope in the people for the path that the Quran promises you.

God willing, the Almighty God will grant you success and include you in His blessings. God willing, Muslim countries and Muslim nations will benefit from the Quran. God willing, Muslim governments and Muslim rulers will come closer to the Quran in practice - not just in claims - and God willing, the Islamic world will experience its prosperous future under the shadow of the Quran.

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