Statements at the Gathering of Affection with the Holy Quran on the First Day of the Blessed Month of Ramadan 1445

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, chosen, and infallible progeny, especially the remainder of God among the people of the earth.

Welcome. Today, our session, thanks be to God, was at a satisfactory level; a very good, complete, and comprehensive session. I sincerely thank both the organizers of this session and the participants of this magnificent, meaningful, and beautiful gathering; I express my gratitude to each of those who recited and those who performed the program.

Fortunately, the recitation of the Quran, correct recitation, recitation according to the rules and regulations of recitation, is developing day by day in the country. There may not be a day that I do not thank the Almighty God for this great blessing. Whenever I turn on the television, I see one of the esteemed reciters—some of whom are present here—or a number of reciters engaged in recitation; I sit and listen with pleasure and thank God. These have been granted to us as a blessing of the revolution, and when we compare our country with other Islamic countries, I cannot say definitively and do not have precise statistics, but my impression is that the number of well-read and correct reciters in our country may be more than in all other Islamic countries; perhaps there is one exception to this general rule, but otherwise, in the rest of the world, as we hear and sometimes see, they do not reach our youth, to you dear reciters and the light of our eyes.

The value and greatness of reciting the Quran must be derived from the greatness of the Quran itself. You see how the Quran is introduced with various titles and epithets; I have noted a few examples: "the Great Quran," "the Noble Quran," "the Clear Quran," "the Glorious Quran," "the Wise Quran," "the Healing Quran," "the Merciful Quran," "the Light of the Quran," and titles of this kind. When the Almighty God, who is the source of greatness and the creator of greatness, gives something the title of "Great"—"and the Great Quran"—its meaning is very high, very elevated, and very valuable. You are reciting this! The Quran is higher and greater than all that God has created under the heavens; the Quran is "the Greater Weight"; think about it! "Indeed, I am leaving among you the two weighty things"; the Greater Weight—"Weight" means a precious thing—is the Quran; that is, the Imams of Guidance (peace be upon them), those pure lights by which the world of existence is illuminated, are in the next rank after the Quran. The Quran is the Greater Weight; this is a very important statement. How do we interact with the Quran? You who recite the Quran, each of you reciters of the Quran, are the messengers of the divine throne to us, the earthly beings; this is the meaning of reciting the Quran. You are conveying the content of the divine word to us; each of you, if you are of the people of the heart, brings the Quran down upon our hearts; if you are of the people of the ear, our ears benefit from it. Know your worth.

Well, a few points; one is the importance of reciting the Quran. Now, the greatness of the Quran is preserved in its place, the inclusion of the Quran with the luminous first-class teachings of the world of creation is preserved in its place, but the act of reciting the Quran itself is valuable. The Almighty God commands the greatest being He has created, namely the sacred existence of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), to recite! "So recite what is easy from the Quran"; "So recite what is easy from it"; you must recite the Quran, you must recite. "Recite to them the news of Noah"; "Recite to them the news of Abraham"; [God] commands the Prophet to recite. One of our duties is to recite the Quran. In my humble opinion, no one in the Islamic world should pass a day without reciting verses from the Quran; we all must recite. I have often said in various gatherings, whatever you can [read]: "So recite what is easy from it"; some read five parts a day, some read one part a day, some read one section a day; if you cannot, read one page a day, read half a page a day, but read. The Quran must be recited.

In this statement I have made, recitation and reading are for the heart of the reciter, but it is not limited to this; it is not limited to this. Both the heart of the reciter must be illuminated by the recitation [of the Quran], and the heart of society must be enlightened and illuminated by the recitation of the Quran. The Almighty God tells His Prophet: "And a Quran which We have divided so that you may recite it to the people gradually"—[and in] many other verses, the same verses I have mentioned—meaning you must read to the people; this is your task. We read the Quran at home for ourselves; you perform a higher task, you read the Quran for the people, you recite to the people; this is very valuable. Know your worth. Know the value of your work.

Another important point is the issue of contemplation. The Quran must be read with contemplation. Of course, contemplation has levels. Contemplation means reaching the deep essence of the Quran from its beautiful surface: "Its surface is beautiful and its essence is deep"; this surface is the beauty of your work and the beauty of the words of the Quran. The deep essence is what is obtained through contemplation. When you think, reflect, and understand the issues surrounding a verse or a word, you gain more knowledge and concepts; this is contemplation. "A blessed book which We have sent down to you so that they may contemplate its verses"; this is how it is, meaning the book has been sent down for contemplation, for understanding. All these other things are a prelude to understanding.

There is a point here; when we are told to contemplate, it means that the God who created us knows that we have the capacity to reach that depth, otherwise He would not have said to contemplate. The fact that the Almighty God says to delve into the Quran means that you can; this capacity exists within you to delve into the Quran. Of course, everyone must be careful that delving into the Quran is different from interpreting based on personal opinion, from imposing one's views on the Quran, from relying on incomplete and narrow-minded knowledge; it has conditions that, if possible, I will also briefly mention.

Well, one issue is the art of recitation. I must say that today, fortunately, the recitations were very good; that is, generally, in this session, the recitations are good. Today, one could observe new embellishments and arrangements from these young people who have, thank God, entered the Quran and have stepped into the realm of Quran reading; the work of our dear youth was also good, and our esteemed reciters have truly performed very well in their recitation.

Recitation is an art, but its difference from other arts is that it is sacred; "sacred art." This is a very good thing; it is both an art—the highest beauties resulting from the human mind are called art—and it has sanctity; but the essential point is that this art and all the embellishments and adornments of this art—all of which you who are engaged in this art pay attention to—are all tools, all means. Tools for what? Tools for conveying meaning.

Last year in this very session, I said that when you recite, what do you want to do? Do you want to showcase the Quran or do you want to showcase yourself? This is important. Well, we who are weak; that we completely set ourselves aside, eliminate ourselves, step back, is not something that weak individuals like me can do; but at least we must pay attention to the fact that the main goal is to present the Quran; now if the "self" is also presented alongside it, so be it. The Quran must be presented; this makes a significant difference in the nature of your recitation. In some places, one sees that these famous reciters do not sometimes observe this point. Well, suppose repeating [verses] in some places is good, in some places it is necessary; but how much repetition? I listen to a recitation, a verse that does not need to be repeated at all, the reciter repeats this verse ten times! What does this mean? It means that this reciter is a good musician, has a pleasant voice, and wants to read it in various forms. For example, "When Joseph said to his father"; well, "When Joseph said to his father" does not need repetition; now suppose it is repeated twice, but repeating it ten times is unnecessary. When I say ten times, perhaps it was nine times! I counted, just repeating, repeating, repeating! This is not what one expects from a reciter; we must not forget this.

The Quran itself is an art; the Quran itself is a divine and heavenly artistic work; it is an artistic work. Now, individuals who are insightful, meticulous, and contemplative have gradually understood various aspects of this artistic work throughout history; among them is that the Quran has artistic imagery, meaning it depicts events; [like] this book that has been written: artistic imagery in the Quran. When the Quran wants to express many things, a scene, for example, the scene of the Day of Judgment, you see how in the Quran the Day of Judgment and its scenes and arenas are depicted before the eyes of man with various and diverse expressions; or the arena of jihad is depicted: "By the racers panting, * and the producers of sparks"; this is imagery, it shows. One could say that well, horsemen rode, the horseman went towards the battlefield, but the fact that in this verse it swears by the horse that is panting, swears by the horse whose hoof strikes the stone and sparks fly, this [is] depicting the scene.

In Surah Al-Baqarah, in describing the hypocrites, this noble verse "Their example is like that of one who kindled a fire; when it illuminated what was around him, God took away their light and left them in darkness"; this imagery depicts one dimension of the hypocrite; this is a hypocrite who initially, out of excitement, brought forth a faith, "kindled a fire; when it illuminated what was around him, God took away their light"; but the disease in his heart caused God to take away this light from him: "and left them in darkness"; it depicts; this is an image of one dimension of the hypocrite. Immediately after, another dimension: "Or like a rainstorm from the sky in which there is darkness, thunder, and lightning; they put their fingers in their ears from the thunderclaps for fear of death"; this is another dimension of the hypocrites. "Rainstorm" is heavy rain. Well, rain is a mercy, but alongside this rain, there is thunder, there is lightning, this [individual] is afraid; there is darkness, he is afraid of it; he does not benefit from its rain but fears its thunder and lightning; the same as in Surah Al-Munafiqun "They think every cry is against them"; this expresses the dimensions of the hypocrite; see how the Quran depicts. Well, you want to express this, you want to convey this imagery that exists in the speech and is miraculous to the mind and heart of your audience; this is a great art, a tremendous art.

Well, now in the field of recitation, of course, there is much to say. I truly have deep affection and love and respect for our dear reciters; from the masters and veterans to the young ones and those who have just entered this field, I truly love each of them deeply, but there are reminders that must be observed.

You must know that you should be the embodiment of "those who convey the messages of God"; you are conveying the divine message, after all. What other message is more certain, more authentic, more real than what you perform in the Quran recitation session? You must be like this; you must align yourself with this verse: "those who convey the messages of God"; see how those who convey the messages of God are and how they should be. This is one matter.

"Attention to meaning"; have attention to the meaning of the verse you are reading and try to develop humility in your heart regarding that meaning. This humility of yours affects the listener. When you read the Quran with humility, with attention, your listener is influenced by your humility, and he too becomes humble. Attention to the themes of the verses creates this humility.

Avoid "forbidden singing" seriously; keep this in mind. Of course, there is much to say about singing, but some melodies are singing. I must say explicitly; I listen to recitations, especially more of what is broadcast from the radio. Sometimes some of these famous Egyptian reciters, when they read, I turn it off; I mean I have doubts. For example, suppose Muhammad Imran sometimes when he reads, I truly have doubts. Now apparently he has also passed away; may God have mercy on him. Or after him, for example, Abdul Munim; they are good reciters, they have good voices, and they are truly excellent in music, but sometimes what they recite is in the style of Arabic songs; that is, it is not Quran recitation. Of course, some prominent and great Quran masters whom I deeply admire sometimes exhibit such things in their work; it is not that we want to say they [have no issues]; some do not; some of these old ones like Abdul Fattah Shashai and others, truly do not exceed the boundaries of Quranic recitation; but these young people today who sometimes appear here and there from Egypt and read some things, yes, they often violate those standards and criteria. This is another point.

Some of our dear reciters who have good voices, this pleasant voice causes them to develop a tendency towards unnecessary and excessive embellishments. [He said:] "The beautiful-faced one does not have a veil; when in bondage, he raises his head from the window!" Here you must hold yourself back. Where you see you desire to add an embellishment without it being appropriate and necessary, here, truly, strong willpower is needed for a person to restrain and hold himself back.

Do not imitate the mannerisms of some reciters. You are Iranian and have your own beautiful and eloquent norms; there is no need to move in the same way they do or dress in that manner. Sometimes they show our reciters who are outside, I see their clothes are similar to theirs; no, you should wear your own clothes with pride, sit down, and read better than them, which you read much better than them. This is another issue.

Another issue I want to emphasize is that the growth of Quran recitation and Quranic sessions and circles in the country is truly beyond description. I have often said, before the revolution, the state of Quranic gatherings compared to today [in terms of] quantity and quality is like the difference between heaven and earth. Today, thanks be to God, there are thousands of Quranic gatherings; various organizations address Quranic issues from different angles; the Endowments in one way, the Organization of Propagation in another way, the relevant Quranic sections in another way; it is truly good; there is no doubt about it; but I believe we still lack; we lack. Regarding the issue of memorization, regarding the issue of recitation, regarding the issue of intimacy with the Quran, there is still much work to be done. I wish, I wish every mosque had a Quran recitation gathering! A Quran reciter should be present in the mosque, now not every night, for example, suppose once a week, once a week, two times the youth of the area gather, read the Quran, recite. The multiplication of Quranic circles throughout the country, whether in mosques or in homes; in homes, those who are prepared.

One issue is the interpretation of the Quran. The interpretation of the Quran is very important. That is, from the surface of the Quran, one can derive many matters, but sometimes in the interpretations written by our great scholars, there are points that are new to a person. Well, I myself have been familiar with interpretation for years, but at the same time, even now, there are instances that arise where I have ambiguities, I refer to the interpretation, and I gain new insights, in addition to what one derives from the recitation itself. And this helps contemplation—that I said regarding contemplation [I will mention something]—this helps you to be among the people of contemplation. For example, a knowledgeable cleric connected to the Quran, a Quranic cleric, should be invited and, innovatively, in an attractive manner—not in a boring way—should explain the interpretation. For example, suppose you are reciting, at one point, the reader should pause, a verse, or a point that exists within this verse, should be explained to the listeners; then, with the beautiful voice of that same reader, [the verse] should be repeated again; some of these have been experienced—of course, very few—some of them you can create and develop with your own innovations. The aim is to advance the recitation of the Quran towards the translation of the Quran and at a higher level, the interpretation of the Quran, which leads to contemplation. First is the translation of the Quran; that is, it should truly be such that in the country, in various gatherings—youth, teenagers—when a verse of the Quran is read, everyone understands the meaning of the verse; even if they cannot grasp the details and specifics, everyone understands the meaning of the verse and has memorized verses and utilizes them; this helps elevate the level of religious knowledge in the country and society.

Here, the image of Gaza was shown. What was now appropriate for our session was the recitation of the Quran. You saw the children who were reciting the Quran, all were reciting from memory; they were all memorizers, reciting these pieces [from memory]. The way to memorize is the same; I have said before that memorization should start from adolescence; these are the memorizers of the Quran. They are both memorizers of the Quran and, thanks to the fact that they are Arabic speakers, they understand the meanings of the Quran. It is the Quran that has been able to show this peak of steadfastness in Gaza and in Palestine, especially in Gaza, to the world; this is the effect of the Quran. This is the patience that the Quran wants; this is the steadfastness that the Quran recommends; this is the reward that the Quran promises to the patient; this is what has kept them.

Today, what is happening in Gaza is at its peak from both sides: in terms of crime, wickedness, savagery, and bloodthirstiness, it is at its peak. I do not know of any place where an enemy equipped with all kinds of weapons attacks a people who have no weapons; not that their weapons are behind; they have no weapons at all. The defenseless people of Gaza, ordinary people in hospitals, in mosques, and in streets and markets who have no weapons; attacking these people with all kinds of weapons, and not content with this, starving and thirsting these defenseless people, and having small children and infants die of hunger! I do not know; this is the peak of bloodthirstiness, the peak of savagery; this is disgraceful for that civilization whose roots are these; this is the Western civilization; this is no longer behind the scenes; this is clear, evident, and before everyone's eyes; the whole world is witnessing it. This is one side of the issue. The other side is also at its peak; this unparalleled patience, this steadfastness of the people. The fighting capability of Hamas and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza is one side, and the steadfastness of the people and their not becoming weary is another side.

Of course, the enemy has not been able to do anything, has not been able to strike a blow to the resistance. The fighters of the resistance have sent messages outward—which have now reached our ears too—that you need not worry from our side; more than most, that is, nearly ninety percent of our resources and capabilities are preserved. This is very important. For months, [the Zionists] have been fighting the Palestinian resistance with all kinds of weapons, with all kinds of treacherous and oppressive assistance from America and others, and the resistance remains powerful, still standing, present there, and with God's grace, the resistance will rub the noses of the Zionists in the dust.

The Islamic world is obligated, has a religious duty that everyone should help in whatever way they can, and it is a definite sin and a real crime to assist the enemies of these oppressed people by anyone. Unfortunately, in the Islamic world, there are those, powers, governments that assist the enemies of these people; God willing, one day, both they will regret and will see the consequences of this betrayal, and they will see that what they have done has been futile.

We hope that the Lord of the worlds grants Islam and Muslims more honor and victory day by day.

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