Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Clergy and Preachers on the Eve of the Blessed Month of Ramadan

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

I welcome all of you esteemed gentlemen, respected scholars, dear students, and diligent and sincere preachers who have prepared yourselves to enter the field of defending the rights and divine truth of the oppressed throughout history. I also thank the esteemed scholars and students present here who have settled in the villages of the country and have positively responded to our call regarding the migration of the elite from the seminaries to all parts of the country. May God protect you all. I also express my gratitude to those who have taken the issue of preaching seriously across the country, through the scholars of religion and esteemed students of the seminaries, and have not regarded it as a secondary and recommended matter, but have paid attention to the dignity of preaching, the goal of preaching, the audience of preaching, and the importance of the specific impact that preaching has on guiding souls, and have planned accordingly. I also thank each one of you dear, faithful, and enthusiastic youth who have dedicated the best years of your lives to the service of God's religion, to the service of the oppressed divine truth, and to preparing society for the emergence of the Almighty Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him). I hope that the Almighty God accepts these efforts and endeavors.

My dear ones! Gratitude to God and acceptance by God is above all else: "For indeed, Allah is Appreciative and Knowing." Not a tiny bit of your efforts will be hidden from the penetrating vision of the divine environment, and for each one, a gracious response will be determined by the Almighty God. These days, we are approaching the month of Ramadan and the month of divine hospitality, which is an extraordinary and precious opportunity for self-building and for saving vulnerable souls and our souls that are inclined towards evil and darkness, and drawing them towards the light. In Ramadan, let us first save ourselves. Let us struggle a bit with ourselves; let us advise ourselves; let us educate ourselves according to divine standards, according to what leads humanity towards divine satisfaction and ultimately towards divine meeting; then we can consider our audiences.

Ramadan is a fragrant month; it is a blessed month; it is a dear month; it is the month of God. Thanks be to God, with this good tradition that has been established in the country for one, two, or three years - the tradition of reviving mosques, perfuming and cleaning mosques as preparation for Ramadan - the presence of this blessed month is felt even before the start of Ramadan. Whatever you can do - especially you youth - strengthen this presence first in your pure and luminous hearts; then the radiance of this luminosity within you will certainly influence your audiences and the environment around you.

There is an important point regarding your preaching that I would like to mention. Of course, regarding the importance of preaching, what needed to be said has been expressed over these many years, primarily by our esteemed Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) and then by other caring individuals, enthusiasts, and great scholars and esteemed religious authorities, and it has become clear to all that "preaching" is the primary duty of clergy and religious scholars. Our studying, our thinking, our researching, our discovering the gems and pure pearls of Islamic knowledge from the treasure of divine texts, all these valuable tasks that are the duty of each one of us, are a prelude to preaching God's religion and preaching the truth.

Preaching means conveying. If we can reflect God's message into hearts and shine that radiant light into pure souls, we have fulfilled our great duty. This is the same duty of the prophets. Even the establishment of an Islamic government, jihad in the way of God, the great struggles that religious scholars, saints, and divine prophets have undertaken, are in a way a prelude to this goal that divine truths reach pure hearts. See how important and significant the truths of religion and divine truths are! We must not underestimate this. The repeated calls to provide the pure truths to the people, or before that, to discover the pure truths ourselves, are for this reason.

The pure truth and pure Islam that Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) emphasized so much is for us to deliver this commodity - which is the commodity of people's minds and hearts - pure, without any deceit or distortion, without any alterations or additions that treacherous, sinful, or ignorant hands have introduced, to the audiences. This is the greatest divine trust; "Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due." The greatest, most precious, most effective, and most valuable trust that the Almighty God has given us is divine knowledge and divine truths. We must obtain these in their purest form, as close to reality as possible, and convey them to the audience.

One of the obstacles in this path is negligence; that is, any statement that comes to someone's mind and is presented as religion; any non-specialist and unqualified person attributing what they find good according to their own taste to religion and reflecting it. This is a plague that leads to errors, deviations, intellectual and scientific distortions, and subsequently to social catastrophes. The second plague is rigidity, misunderstandings, failing to recognize important matters, and exaggerating trivial matters. Between these two, the divine straight path must be found, and this task is yours, the youth; it is the task of you esteemed scholars; it is the task of you great scholars who must carry it out under the supervision of the great religious authorities and scholars, which, thanks be to God, has begun due to the blessings of the revolution. Now, whether slowly or quickly, or appropriately, these tasks have begun; you must pursue them.

However, what I want to add to these points that I have repeatedly mentioned today is this: the dignity of a cleric - this dignity is also one of the manifestations of this preaching - is among those that create a state of assurance and tranquility in the hearts of the believers: "He it is Who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers." Tranquility means a state of stability, a state of peace; mental peace, emotional peace. The opposite of this assurance is a state of mental tension and turmoil and disorder in the thoughts and feelings of an individual, which leads them to various personal misfortunes and social disturbances. If you are familiar with the issues of the modern world, a world filled with technology and superior science and industry that claims to lead the world - namely Europe and America - you will see that today their greatest predicament is the lack of this state of peace and assurance and tranquility.

The peace and assurance and tranquility that the Quran teaches us is different from a state of lethargy and drowsiness; it is different from a state of sedation. The importance of correct religion is that it does not induce a state of sedation; rather, it completely removes the state of mental and spiritual sedation from those who, under the influence of various factors, have fallen into that state; it makes them alert and sensitive and brings them back to themselves; but at the same time, it saves them from confusion and anxiety and mental distress. Correct religion grants a state of tranquility and assurance and peace and self-confidence and trust in God and trust in the future to a person. What is today among the mandatory duties of our preachers is to instill this state in the believers, in the audiences, and in the general public. The exact opposite of this is what the enemy desires. Many people, when it is said that the enemy, when it is said that global arrogance, say you attribute everything to arrogance! This is enmity; what can we do?! Today, in global issues, there are two very sensitive points for America. One of those points is the confrontation with pure Islam, focusing on Islamic Iran and the Islamic Republic. Another point is the issue of Palestine, which you see today.

The American apparatus and the President of America have focused their efforts on eliminating the issue of Palestine from the realm of the issues of the Islamic world and the Middle East altogether, so that there is no longer an issue called Palestine and the aspiration of Palestine and the movement of Palestine. This is one of their very important goals. For this reason, they travel, they move, they strive. Weak-minded, treacherous, and despicable individuals among the Palestinians - like all other nations that have such people and unfortunately human societies throughout most of history have been afflicted by despicable and intimidated individuals - have surrendered and have placed the "National Charter of Palestine" before them; wherever there is a struggle against the Zionists and the occupiers and the murderers of the Palestinian people and the criminals against Palestine, they want to eliminate it and they have eliminated it! Now, even if they eliminate it from the paper, can the motivation to defend the land of Palestine and the Palestinian people and Palestinian identity be removed from the hearts of the Palestinians?! Can four people sit in closed rooms and change a piece of paper! Have the young Muslims, in the Intifada of Palestine, within the territories of Palestine, or in Lebanon, risked their lives for God, for the divine responsibility - that defending Islamic land is obligatory for every single Muslim - because of the "Charter of Palestine" that they have done these things, so that now if you manipulate the so-called national charter of Palestine, they will back down?! The struggles of the Palestinians against the Zionists and against the supporters of the Zionists - namely America - will undoubtedly not weaken from today; perhaps they will even intensify.

The first very sensitive point for America - as I mentioned - is the struggle against pure Islam and the Islamic movement and Islamic awakening, which today manifests itself in various ways throughout the Islamic world, and they themselves are very worried about this issue. They are fighting with a focus on Islamic Iran and know that the main furnace of this movement and the main center of this human and divine uproar is here. In every way they can, they want to paralyze and disrupt the Islamic Republic system and our Islamic country and Muslim nation.

Let me first discuss the conditions of the country. You see that these conditions are such that the enemy should be afraid. Our conditions are, on one hand, that our nation is a great, intelligent, talented, and young nation - the majority of this nation consists of youth - on one hand, the existence of rich underground resources that are rare in various countries that possess resources, and on the other hand, the existence of a system that allows the people to participate, to express their talents, to be active, to strive, and to achieve scientific and intellectual growth and development. There was a time when governments were ruling over this country - over this land and these resources - that stifled talents. The evidence that they stifled talents is that for a hundred years from the arrival of Europeans in this country until the start of the revolution - for example, from around the years 1257 to 1357 in the solar calendar - that is, first in the second half of the Qajar era, then in the Pahlavi era, in this country, science, scientific advancement, intellectual brilliance, and various scientific phenomena were not seen; that is, they did not allow it. If a prominent person emerged, they attracted them, stole them, took them elsewhere, and used them. In that era, while the whole world was galloping towards victory and progress and material civilization and modernization, they kept our country in a state of misery and occupied it with things that are poison for a nation. Of course, at one point, we had universities, press, and a parliament; however, they were under the control of a tyrannical apparatus that primarily considered the interests of foreigners and the interests of the officials of that day, and the interests of the people and the future were not considered at all.

Today, thanks be to God, one of the very great characteristics of this country and this nation is that a system is in power that allows growth for the nation. A young person can grow, can study, can advance, can invent, can build, can trust themselves. The existence of this system has made it so that the officials of the country are from the people; they understand the pains of the people and comprehend the problems of the people. The government is popular. The President is popular. The Islamic Consultative Assembly is popular. All the officials of the country, the judiciary, and others are not from the aristocrats and the elite; they are not individuals who do not understand the pains of the people, do not understand inflation, do not understand hunger, and do not recognize them. Above all, in this country, there is a clear line, and that is the line of following Islam - which following Islam is a source of dignity for a nation and a country in this world and the hereafter - the line of not accepting the servitude of foreigners and not accepting submission to foreigners. Our country is a country with a vigilant and alive nation, sensitive to various issues, with good officials and a popular government. Those who are at the helm are religious and committed individuals. The President is a cleric. Many of the officials, even those who are not in clerical attire, are deeply committed to religion. This is a source of growth and progress for a country and concerning for the enemies of religion.

What has happened in these twenty years - even during the war and during the sacred defense with all its difficulties - in terms of construction, development, and material progress, scientific advancement, the expansion of universities, and the development of research centers, etc. - that is, all these indicators that are important for a nation and its future - is far greater, more voluminous, and of higher quality than all the hundred years. Is this not dangerous for that arrogant apparatus that is fighting against the global Islamic movement and the awakening of Muslims? Of course, it is dangerous; of course, they must take a stand against it; of course, they must allocate a budget in their parliament for fighting it! America has allocated a budget for fighting the Islamic Republic! This is what is apparent and obvious; however, what is in their hearts, what is behind the scenes of their security operations and the CIA's activities, is far greater! What is this for? It is because they fear this system and this people and this country, and they know that if this country continues to progress at this pace - which, God willing, by the grace of the Lord, the pace of progress will accelerate - the Muslim nations will obtain a living model.

Not long ago, Zionist and non-Zionist experts in America gathered in a session and conference and said we must not allow a living model to emerge in the Islamic world that serves as a model for other Muslims! This model, which is the Islamic Republic and the blessed and sacred country of the Mahdi and the country of faith and the country of jihad and sacrifice, is a significant danger for them; therefore, they try from all sides to disrupt the work of this country, including the propaganda pressures they exert; among the things they do is the economic blockade; among the things they do is the insecurity that they have recently instigated in this country.

These murders that are taking place in the country - which of course is not the first time; this time they have intensified it - are actions that contradict the sense of national security. A nation must feel secure within its own home. The Islamic system is a powerful system. The enemy wants to break this power; it wants to instill the idea of the incapacity of this system and the incapacity of the government and the incapacity of the security and judicial officials. What does it do? On one hand, it commits crimes directly or indirectly; on the other hand, it points the finger of accusation at the system itself! That is, in its own imagination, it wants to hit two targets with one shot! Look at the propaganda of the foreign radios these days; they have filled the world with uproar! Of course, when the Mojahedin - who were their obvious tools - committed crimes and took responsibility for the crimes, there was no talk; but today, when these are also of the same nature of crimes, the foreign radios have raised a ruckus! Killing citizens, committing crimes against individuals - whoever that person may be - through means that the apparatus must carry out according to the law and with the authority it has, is an act contrary to security. I have asked the government agencies, and I still want to - both the government agencies, such as the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Information, and the judiciary - to seriously pursue these multiple murders that have occurred over the past month. Surely, if they investigate and follow up, they will find leads. Without a doubt, directly or indirectly, the enemy's hand is at work. It is the enemy that wants there to be no security in the country. It is the enemy that wants to create an unsafe atmosphere under this pretext. On one side, crimes are organized, and on the other side, the propaganda horns amplify it far beyond what it is, and the mercenary pens follow them! The crime of mercenary pens is no less than that of foreign radios; because they conclude that there is no security in the country. This is also a supplement to the enemy's actions. The enemy works from the sides, attacks from the sides; the goal is one thing: the goal is for the Iranian nation to abandon its movement towards lofty divine and Islamic goals and aspirations.

The enemy of the Iranian nation should know that a nation that has bravely and courageously carried out eight years of sacred defense, a nation that has been able to stand alone for twenty years against the most brutal enmities and resist, a nation that has been able to destroy the bastion and fortress of American dominance in the Middle East - namely the Pahlavi regime - with the slogan of Islam and in the name of Islam, will not retreat one step from its Islamic slogans. The segments of this nation are Muslim and faithful. The faith is deep. The youth are faithful. The clergy are faithful. The students are faithful. Various classes and segments are faithful. Based on pure faith, this lofty and proud system stands tall, and the officials of the country can stand powerfully against the pressures of the enemy. If there were no faith, and if they could shake the faith of the people with these things, they would have destroyed the Islamic system many times over by now. The proud Islamic system is supported by the pure faith of this nation. Thanks be to God, this faith is so solid that the enemy feels it even from afar. The closer they come, the more they feel the solidity of this faith.

I tell you dear preachers and you dear youth to deepen the feeling of this system's power, the feeling of assurance in God's promise, the feeling of tranquility of this safe and secure ship in the hearts and souls of the people. Whatever you can do, instill that tranquility that the Almighty God sent down in the time of the Prophet, in the Battle of Badr and in the Battle of Hunayn and in various events, into the hearts of the believers with divine verses. The enemy wants to agitate the people. One of the ways to achieve tranquility and assurance is unity and affection of hearts. The unity of the nation, the unity of different segments, the acquaintance of hearts with one another, and the love of humans for each other is the exact opposite of what the enemy wants to instill. The enemy wants to say that the people, the officials, the segments, and the different factions are thirsty for each other's blood. This is not true. Anyone who acts today in a way, speaks in a manner, and behaves in a way that implies there is discord among the segments of the nation and deep and hateful divisions among the different factions is certainly aiding the enemy and is undoubtedly serving the enemy. Some people naively act, speak, and express themselves in this way! Of course, differences of opinion, differences of taste - as Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) repeatedly said - are like the differences between two debating partners who have disagreements over a matter. It is a debate; they speak to each other, discuss, argue; but they are friends and their hearts are close to each other. It should be the same in various political and social matters, and it must be so.

All the officials of the country have a responsibility. Preserving the divine system and managing this country, managing these people, and addressing the problems of the people is their primary duty. They must cooperate with each other, and they do cooperate. That some people insult the President, some insult the Parliament, some insult the judiciary, this is exactly what the enemy wants; this is exactly the state that the enemy seeks to create.

Honor and respect the officials of the country; they are the servants of the people. The responsibility today in our country is service and servitude; it is not about water and bread. Today, in this country, the responsibility is a divine responsibility. No one should presume to insult the legal institutions and high-ranking officials of the country, God forbid. Of course, it is clear that the faithful, the sincere, and the devoted to the revolution do not do this. The officials themselves are filled with a sense of responsibility and duty. We see up close that they are busy working and striving and dedicated to service. The enemy wants to prove the opposite of this; it wants to create tension, worry, and confusion. You, as the preachers of religion, must act in opposition to the enemy's desires; just as, by the grace of God, you faithful youth, you young preachers, you young clerics and scholars, spread the message of the revolution throughout this country during the revolution. During the imposed war, you dedicated your entire being to the public mobilization of this nation, to defend the country and its borders and the revolution. In the period after the war, wherever you were needed, and the country and the government and the officials felt the need, you were present there. Today, spread like divine angels in various lands and among the people and convey and reflect this feeling of trust, this feeling of tranquility, this feeling of unity, this feeling of consensus, and this feeling of the dominance of love and affection everywhere. Thanks be to God, the country is stable, the government is stable, the officials are trustworthy and reliable, they are caring and working. By the grace of God, the blessings of the Almighty Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him) have included this country, and will continue to do so, and the enemy's hand - with all its efforts - has been severed and cut off from the realm of this nation and this country, and God willing, it will continue to be so.

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