Statements in Meeting with Families of Seventh of Tir Martyrs and Families of Defenders of the Shrine

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 Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Remaining One of God on earth.

Welcome, dear sisters and brothers, esteemed families of the martyrs, whose patience and steadfastness, without exaggeration, are the foundation of the revolution's survival, the country's security, and its progress in every aspect. These days are very significant; they coincide with the martyrdom of the Commander of the Pious, who is the greatest martyr in the history of Islam and indeed in the history of mankind. Just as the term "Blood of God" has been used regarding Imam Husayn (peace be upon him), meaning that God Himself is the price of his blood — the greatness of his blood price is such that nothing but God the Almighty can be its equivalent — the same expression applies to Amir al-Mu'minin; for you say: O Blood of God and Son of His Blood; "Son of His Blood" means that Amir al-Mu'minin holds the same rank of greatness in terms of blood price. The greatness of this noble martyr, martyr in the prayer niche, martyr in the path of truth, martyr of decisiveness, martyr of steadfastness, is clearly evident from these expressions.

Well, these days are also days of prayer, supplication, and seeking intercession. One of the means of seeking intercession and drawing closer to the Lord is attention to the pure souls of the martyrs. In these nights — whether the nights of Qadr or all the nights of Ramadan, each of which has its own story — if we wish to seek intercession, to supplicate, to have our prayers answered, we must seek the intercession of the exalted souls, making them our intercessors, and one of these exalted groups is our dear martyrs. The families of the martyrs have this opportunity — whether fathers, mothers, children, spouses, or other relatives — to seek assistance from the souls of their dear martyrs, whose hearts are bound to them, for drawing closer to God.

The families of the martyrs are very dear. I have always said that in the forefront of defending values, defending the revolution, defending Islam, and defending the Quran, our martyrs are there, and immediately behind them are their families; fathers, mothers, spouses, children; this must be appreciated. The impacts of these martyrdoms for Islam and Muslims are not insignificant. Today, after 35 years since the incident of the Seventh of Tir and the martyrdom of those dear ones, this incident remains inspirational. A ruthless, wicked terrorist group within the country attacks the prominent figures and pillars of the country, assassinating them and depriving the country of their presence, then they flee and go into the embrace of those countries that claim to oppose global terrorism, and they embrace them. The European governments — now these Asian governments and other reactionaries in the region are not worth mentioning — who loudly proclaim their opposition to terrorism and their support for human rights, this question [from them] remains unanswered: Why did they open their arms and embrace the murderers of this nation? Why did they shelter them? Why did they not surrender them to the Islamic Republic so that the divine law could be enacted upon them? Why? This is a great disgrace for the Western governments and the European states in this matter; it is a very important issue, and it cannot be easily overlooked, and history will not forget this incident; this is one side of the matter. The other side of the matter is these terrorists; they are those who, under the guise of defending the people, some even claiming to defend Islam, entered the struggle and recorded this disgrace, this catastrophe in their records, and then sought refuge with someone like Saddam. Those who claimed to be anti-American sought refuge with Saddam, and today they live under the umbrella of American support; whether in Iraq or in parts of Europe where they have been transferred. The incident of the Seventh of Tir in 1980 was remarkable. This great incident has lessons and serves as a warning.

Of course, we have been somewhat negligent. Mr. Shahidi mentioned that we are working in the Martyrs Foundation, but the work is not just about showing respect to the families of these martyrs, honoring them, and commemorating them; no, the incident must be revived, kept alive. It is the people and the revolutionary spirit of the people that have kept these events alive; otherwise, we do not have a film about this great incident; we do not have an artistic work about the Seventh of Tir incident that clarifies the truths, that shows who these people were? What were they? Who were the martyrs? Who was Martyr Beheshti? Those pure-hearted, faithful ministers who entered the field with all their being, whom we lived with, whom we worked with, whom we knew closely, who were they? What were they? We still do not have an artistic work, a cinematic film, a visual display, or a good novel; these are tasks we have not done and must do. This now pertains to that group.

As for the martyrs of the Sacred Defense; well, some work has been done in this area, but whatever is done is insufficient. Thousands of martyrs from various cities, of different ages, from fourteen or fifteen-year-old teenagers to sixty or seventy-year-old elders, went into this field, made the war popular, and removed the war from the monopoly of official forces. Any work that the people do alongside the official forces and with motivation progresses; today, our recommendation to government officials in all areas — in the economy and other matters — is the same. This happened in the war; the people went and placed themselves in this extraordinary test; it is no joke; we hear something about the war; read those books that detail these operations; from the high levels, the main command posts of the battlefield, which belonged to the army and the IRGC, down to the lower ranks, to the battalion, company, and squad levels; the biographies of these young men, each of them is a lesson for us. Each of these young men who were martyred, their behavior, their speech, their movements, open a window to a world of knowledge; they awaken and enlighten us.

Today, the issue of the martyrs defending the sanctity of the Ahl al-Bayt is raised; this is one of the strange events in history. During the war, we encouraged the youth to go to the battlefield, they responded and went; the Imam would give a speech, and a multitude of youth would set out; however, today we do not encourage such actions, yet this motivation is so strong, this faith so clear that this young man from Iran, from Afghanistan, from other countries rises, leaves his young wife, his small child, his comfortable life, and goes to a foreign country, in a foreign land, struggles in the way of God, and reaches martyrdom. Is this a small matter? Step by step, the history of the Islamic Revolution has witnessed these wonders; these are wonders.

And I must say this has three aspects: one aspect is the patience of the martyr himself and the motivation and faith of the martyr; one aspect is the patience of the families and their endurance; [because] this young woman could have done something to prevent her husband from going; this father and mother could have prevented their young man from going; they endured; both for his departure and upon the return of his pure body, and [also] after him. The third aspect is the incident itself, which is the historian of the Islamic Revolution; this is the revolution, this is the Islamic system. These motivations, these faiths, these spiritual powers, these resolves and wills have brought about the Islamic Republic; can the Islamic Republic be underestimated? What do the enemies think about the Islamic Republic? A great body, all power, all capability; the Islamic Republic is formed by these elements.

Well, yes, there is a weakness in some corner, there is a weak-willed and weak-minded person who becomes addicted, becomes corrupt, suffers from various problems; this exists in every society; the important thing is that a society has those sustaining pillars that can advance it and protect it against events and hold it like a rock; these rock-like pillars are our martyrs, these families, these self-sacrificers, these devotees; they are the ones. That is why the Islamic Republic has often overcome various challenges.

Dear brothers and sisters! I have perhaps said this with more or less emphasis dozens of times, and I repeat it again: wherever we relied on the revolution, relied on the revolutionary spirit, we progressed; wherever we compromised on values, overlooked the revolution, retreated from this corner or that corner, interpreted and justified for the pleasure of the elements of global arrogance, who are the main enemies of Islam and the main enemies of this system, we chewed the words, we fell behind; this is how it is. The path to the progress of Islamic Iran is the revival of the revolutionary spirit and the revival of the spirit of struggle.

Struggle has many fields; of course, all fields of struggle also carry risks. Look at the nuclear martyrs! They worked in the field of science but were targeted by the enemy; [this is] jihad. God has preferred the fighters over the homebodies with a great reward; well, [the fact that] God the Almighty has granted virtue to the fighters, has ranked them for their struggle, is for this reason. How much do we live in this world? Billions of years before and after us, this world has a lifespan; out of these billions [of years], fifty, sixty, seventy years are allotted to you and me; during this time, we must take advantage of the opportunity, prepare ourselves for the real life that "the abode of the Hereafter is indeed the true life." In this interval, some struggle, and this struggle elevates them to high ranks; they not only correct their own Hereafter but also build and strengthen the world of others. This is the essence of struggle; it belongs to the martyrs: "And do not think of those who were killed in the way of God as dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. They are rejoicing in what God has given them of His bounty and are happy for those who have not yet joined them, that there is no fear upon them, nor do they grieve." This is how it is; this is the word of God, the good news of God that says they are alive, they are with God, they are under divine grace, they are pleased, they are happy; they send a message to you and me and say that know that if you come this way, in this destination, there is no sorrow, no worry; there is no fear, nor grief; "there is no fear upon them"; this is the way. They walked the path correctly, they moved rightly.

Of course, you families have suffered, you have grieved; you have the right; losing your young one — whether it be your husband, your child, your son-in-law, or your brother — is very hard. For the survivors, it is very difficult, very challenging, but know that they are very happy; they live under the shadow of divine grace.

In confronting the arrogant enemies, this is how we must act. The arrogant enemies are unaware of this truth; they cannot comprehend it in their calculations. [Regarding] asymmetric warfare, you have heard; the meaning of asymmetric warfare is that [one of] the forces on both sides has resources that the other side lacks; their type, their method, their resources, even sometimes the sources of power on each side are unknown to the opposing side; this is asymmetric warfare. They do not know what power exists in faith in God and in the belief in jihad; they see its effects but cannot analyze it correctly; hence, they resort to insane actions. This issue of ISIS and the issue of the Takfiri terrorists and such are all of this kind. They have actually created these to defeat the Islamic Republic; Iraq was a precursor, Syria was a precursor; the aim was to be able to influence here; the power here caused them to be bogged down there as well; otherwise, their goal was this. This person who rises from here, goes to Iraq or Syria to defend the sanctity of the Ahl al-Bayt against these Takfiris is actually defending his own cities. Of course, their intention is God, [but] the reality is this; this is defense of Iran, defense of the Islamic community. It is not specific to Shiites; those Takfiris do not recognize Shiite or Sunni; they strike Sunnis as well. How many Sunni scholars do we have in our own country — the late Sheikh al-Islam in Sanandaj, the late Hossein Bor in Sistan and Baluchestan, and other scholars — that these Takfiris have assassinated and their blood has been unjustly shed. They do not recognize Shiite and Sunni; they strike anyone who is with the revolution, anyone who stands against global arrogance, anyone who is an enemy of America; they label it a Shiite-Sunni war.

Today, observe Bahrain! The issue of Bahrain is not a Shiite-Sunni war; it is the issue of the foolish, tyrannical rule of a selfish minority over a vast majority. A small minority rules over seventy to eighty percent of the people of Bahrain; now they have targeted this fighting scholar, Sheikh Isa Qasim; this is their folly, this shows their stupidity. Sheikh Isa Qasim was someone who, until today and as long as he could speak with the people, prevented the people from engaging in extreme and armed actions. They do not understand who they have confronted; they do not understand that targeting Sheikh Isa Qasim means removing the obstacle in front of the passionate and heroic youth of Bahrain who [if] they rise against the ruling system, cannot be silenced by any other means. When we say their calculations are wrong, one example of this is: a wrong calculation due to misunderstanding the situation of society and the situation of the people and the faith of the people and not recognizing the people.

The path is the path of Islam, the path is the path of reliance on God, the path is the path of seeking intercession at the divine threshold, the path is the path of faith; the correct path is this. The nation, with faith, with struggle, with resolute determination can remove all these obstacles from its path. Thanks be to God, today we do not lack active, believing, and struggling individuals; both in our own country and in other countries, you see today from various countries standing against the onslaught of the mercenaries of America and Israel and resisting, even though they are not in their own country and are far from their homeland.

Dear brothers and sisters! Value these nights, value these hours; both pray and with attention and supplication ask God, also pray and ask God to answer the prayers of other people. In these nights — like last night, like tomorrow night, and like the twenty-third night — where around the world of Islam, wherever belief in this meaning exists, voices are raised in supplication: "To You, the voices have cried out in various languages;" voices are raised, cries, pleas; they pray for themselves, for others, one of your prayers should be that God the Almighty answers the prayers of the believers who pray in these nights; ask this from God.

Prayer must be recited with presence of heart. Here I must also mention: some of these gatherings where prayers are recited are truly very pleasant gatherings; that is, the reciter of the prayer does not recite it only for the audience but also for his own heart. Some are like this; he himself is also affected by the prayer. When the reciter of the prayer recites it in such a way that he is speaking with God, he sees himself present before the Lord of the worlds — when it is like this — and the state of prayer exists for him, the listener also finds the state of prayer. In some cases, of course, one rarely observes that the reciter of the prayer is not in the realm of prayer at all. Sometimes one sees some of these on television where the reciter of the prayer is just reciting something in a tune; he himself has no attention and no state of prayer, when he himself does not have the state of prayer, his listener does not find the state of prayer; neither does his own tears flow, nor can he make the listener's tears flow; he cannot move their hearts because his own heart is not moved. Prayer should not be recited this way.

Prayer is speaking with God the Almighty; as our great Imam said, "Prayer is the ascending Quran;" it is the same as talking to God. Sometimes you read the Quran, God is speaking to you, sometimes you pray, you are speaking to God. When you read the Quran, this Quran is revealed, meaning that God the Almighty is speaking to you and communicating with you, clarifying the truths for you; it descends from above; and when you pray, you are speaking to God; this is your voice that ascends. Of course, if the prayer is recited well, then it is a prayer that is heard: "And hear my prayer when I call upon You, and hear my call when I call upon You" — which we recite in the Sha'ban supplication — O Lord! Hear my prayer. There is a way of reciting prayer that God does not hear it. In prayer, we recite: "I seek refuge in You from a soul that is never satisfied and from a heart that does not humble and from a prayer that is not heard;" I seek refuge in You from a prayer that is not heard, meaning that God the Almighty pays no attention to that prayer; "and from a prayer that is not beneficial;" I seek refuge in You from a prayer that does not benefit me and is not useful. Well, "Prayer is the sacrifice of every pious person;" our prayer should bring us closer to God; it is a closer, and if it does not bring us closer, it is a useless prayer. Of course, its being useless does not mean that we should not pray and say that since it is useless, we will not pray; no, you must pray and fulfill your duty, but make it so that this prayer is beneficial and brings benefit; with attention and presence of heart.

This opportunity of fasting is a very valuable opportunity for you; it can soften your hearts, bring you closer to humility so that you can speak with God; this is how prayer should be recited. The prayers that are in the dawns, in the nights, especially the nights of Qadr, are very valuable. Besides the knowledge contained in these prayers, the very feeling of supplication and humility that one finds in these prayers is very valuable.

We hope, God willing, that God the Almighty will unite our dear martyrs, whether the martyrs of the Seventh of Tir, the nuclear martyrs, the martyrs of the Sacred Defense, the martyrs defending the shrine, the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution from the beginning to the end, and all those martyrs who were martyred in the line of duty, with the Prophet, and God willing, grant you families and the great family of martyrdom across the country, both a sufficient reward and also, God willing, grant patience, tranquility, and peace to your hearts.

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