Statements of the Supreme Leader in Meeting with Scholars and Clergy on the Eve of the Blessed Month of Ramadan

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

I extend a warm welcome to the esteemed and dear gentlemen, the eminent scholars, the learned, the preachers, and the young and revolutionary students. I hope that, God willing, this gathering of ours, as servants in the field of religious propagation, will be under the attention of His Holiness Baqiyatullah al-Azam (may our souls be sacrificed for him) and that with the pure prayers of that great figure and by the blessing of entering the threshold of the blessed month of Ramadan, our hearts and souls will be encompassed by the enlightening and illuminating rays of divine grace.

It is a great honor for me to meet with a group of dear ones like you on the eve of the blessed month of Ramadan. The characteristic of this group is that their lives, their youth, and their energies are spent not on personal interests and worldly gains, but on the lofty goals of religion, the propagation of religion, and the strengthening of the foundations of religious faith in hearts. This is a great honor for the Iranian nation that the Islamic clergy in this country comprises a collection that is truly and justly unparalleled among all religious gatherings and organizations in the world.

The month of Ramadan is a blessed month. The blessings of Ramadan begin with the individual Muslims who wish to enter the divine feast in this month; it begins with the hearts. The first truth affected by the blessings of this month is the hearts and souls of the believers, the fasting ones, and those who enter the sacred and blessed threshold of this month. On one hand, fasting in this month, on the other hand, reciting the Quran in this month, and on the other hand, familiarity with the supplications that have been introduced in this month, place a person in the position of inner purification and refinement, and we all need this purification.

In addition to the fact that every Muslim needs to prepare a store of piety, abstinence, refinement, and purification for themselves in this month, we, who are part of the clergy, need this more than others. As the famous mystic says: "Water, which is one of the divine blessings, removes all impurities and filth; any body that comes into contact with water becomes clean; but the water itself, due to contact with impurities and filth, needs purification, and God Almighty, in a natural cycle, turns water into vapor, takes it to the sky, and then returns it to the earth as raindrops, separates impurities from it, purifies it, and again provides it as pure water for humans and other creatures."

The speaker of this wise saying says: "Your soul, your knowledge, your advice, and even your heart and spirit are like that pure water that removes impurities from humans; but this pure water itself gradually needs purification and refinement, and its purification and refinement are only possible through a spiritual ascent, through a spiritual cycle towards the higher realms - which will be achieved through remembrance and supplication." With remembrance, attention, supplication, invocation, supererogatory prayers, supplication before God, reflection on the signs of the horizons and the soul, this pure water regains its purity; it becomes ready to face impurities again and remove them from the body and soul of humans and the world. Therefore, the month of Ramadan is an opportunity for this spiritual ascent.

There is always an opportunity. The month of Sha'ban and the month of Rajab are the same. Other days of the year are the same for those who are people of remembrance and attention; "You can only warn those who follow the reminder." Following the reminder - that is, remembering and paying attention - is the salvation of the human soul. Throughout the year, every night, in the middle of the night, with the recitation of the Quran, with reflection on the Quran, with reading these profound and deep supplications and the passionate tone in these supplications - especially the supplications of the blessed Sahifa Sajjadiya - this inner purification can be achieved; but the month of Ramadan is an exceptional opportunity. The nights and days of this month, every hour and every minute, are an opportunity for humans - especially for the youth.

You young scholars, who, thanks be to God, have dedicated your youth to the service of religion and Sharia and propagation, must benefit greatly and prepare yourselves in the few remaining days before entering the month of Ramadan. You are more prepared than someone like this humble servant. You are more prepared spiritually, you have fewer distractions, and you are more illuminated. Appreciate this, consider it valuable, and prepare yourselves even more for carrying heavier burdens and accomplishing greater tasks. This society, this country, this great world, and this history still need your efforts - those sacred and pure efforts - greatly. You must make maximum use of these opportunities.

In your dear lives, there is another factor for the blessedness of this month, and that is propagation, which is also the reason for our gathering today. Propagation, in the form that is common among us, is a very novel matter. Truly, none of the methods of propagation, art, mass communication, and media can replace this propagation. I do not mean to say that this propagation is sufficient without them; but they are not sufficient without this propagation and this style and method.

The fact that a person sits face to face with believers in daily or nightly gatherings and explains divine knowledge to them with methods that should be considered, advises them, elaborates on virtuous ethics for them, places the straight path before them and explains it to them, and the breaths, gazes, and hearts of the speaker and the audience become intertwined, is a very important matter. The community of clergy and the blessed seminaries should not lose this at any cost. Of course, it is the same; both the students and scholars and the propagators in this path value this propagation, and the elders up to the level of the esteemed Maraji' give importance to this style of propagation and should give importance to it; because it is of great real importance.

This propagation has three main pillars that I will briefly mention: one pillar is the source of this propagation; one pillar is the goal of this propagation; one pillar is the tools and methods of this propagation.

What is and should be the source of this propagation? The source of this propagation should be thought, intellect, wisdom, sincerity, and spirituality; that is, propagation should originate from a luminous source. If this propagation is based on personal desires, unhealthy motives, indifference to the essence of the work, and lacks that source, its effect will not be the effect of that abundant source that originates from a dear and truly fruitful source; it will be disconnected, unhealthy, and polluted. The source must be both thought, intellect, study, reflection, and contemplation, and sincerity, advice, and love for the audience for whom we are propagating.

In the propagations that are done in the world for some sects - which I do not want to name - and they say that the propagators of such and such sect went to Africa or such and such place, said these things, did these things, with the goal of showing that their propagation originates from this blessed source - that is, from love and advice towards the audience - but the truth of the matter is different. It became clear that missionary groups, as a prelude to colonialism, did what they did in other countries - both in Asian countries and more so in African countries - from one hundred and fifty years ago, two hundred years ago. In Europe itself, the situation is worse than this, which is not worth mentioning; but in you, this is possible, and our past propagation also shows this, that propagation originates from thought, intellect, study, reflection, and attention.

Look at the propagational works of some of the greats! Most of the books of the late Ayatollah Martyr Motahhari (may God's mercy be upon him) are his speeches; that is, his propagations that have been conveyed, propagated, and delivered with the same method and style that you are doing today, and see how rich and profound they are. There are countless examples of this, both before the revolution and after it. Also, the source must have the same sincerity, purity, and love for the audience; "It grieves him that you should perish, he is ardently anxious over you, to the believers he is most kind and merciful." This is the characteristic of that first propagator and first caller whom you follow. You must be like this with the people. With this source, you must speak to the people. When the propagator enters the field with this feeling and that intellectual foundation, it attracts hearts like a magnet, it affects even the hardest stones like drops of pure water, and it bears fruit in suitable soil; "The good land brings forth its vegetation by the permission of its Lord."

What you pour from this spiritual purity into the land of people's hearts and minds immediately grows and develops, which we have observed in our own lives, and one example of it is this revolution. The most important pillar and factor of this great revolution was these propagations; now material analysts can propagate however they want. What we saw and felt is this, and any great goal will also be achieved with this.

The goal must be "the path of God"; "the path of God, the Mighty, the Praised," "Indeed, you are on a straight path," "Call to the way of your Lord." The goal of all prophets is to lead people to the straight path, and the straight path means servitude; "And that you worship Me, this is a straight path." You must lead people to divine servitude, which is the straight path. Of course, this servitude has applications in the field of ethics, in the field of individual action, and in the field of social action, which when the discussion of social action arises, then political discussions, political analyses - political explanations - also fall within your domain.

The mistake of those who in the past set aside political issues from propagation was that they confined servitude to the individual domain. They misunderstood and acted wrongly here. Yes; the goal is to lead people to servitude; however, servitude has a vast area in human life and is not confined to personal action. When the action of society, the action of a great human community and the people of a country, economic action, political action, and political stances fall under the discussion of servitude, then your invitation can also include these issues and must include them; you have no choice.

You must teach ethics, teach political ethics, teach ethics and spirituality, provide political analysis, introduce the inner enemy - which is the commanding self or the accursed Satan - introduce the social enemy - which is the Great Satan or various satans - introduce the agents and followers of Satan. When the meaning of divine servitude is that a person avoids and disavows "the equals of God," they must disavow all forms of it. "The equals of God" are sometimes the vile human self within; "your self which is between your sides." Sometimes it is Satan, which in the supplication of Sahifa Sajjadiya you say that "you have established him in me and empowered him with something you did not empower me with." Sometimes it is the powerful satans of the political arena who are waiting to deceive, rob, dominate, strike, and drag nations and peoples to hell. "The equals of God" are these. The invitation to divine servitude requires the negation of these; you have no choice.

We do not recommend that you confine sermons and speeches to individual and personal aspects; no. A speech, a sermon, a series of sermons may be confined to these meanings - there is no problem - but alongside it, the social-political life of humans must also be a field of divine servitude. There, too, the tyrants must be removed and eliminated and exposed.

The third factor is the method. Methods are very important. In the blessed verse "Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom," the method is stated. A wise word means a firm word, a non-ambiguous word, a non-weak and non-feeble word. Wisdom encompasses all these. A wise word is both wise and firm, and it is not ambiguous; "with wisdom and good advice and argue with them in the best manner." Dialogue, negotiation, confronting minds, addressing hearts and minds, speaking with a clear tongue and in a brotherly manner is very, very important.

My dear ones! Among the things that are very important in propagation is that you answer the questions of your audience. If a young person is sitting in front of us and has ten or twenty questions in their mind, and we give a one-hour speech for them, while none of their questions are answered, do you think this speech is successful? Of course not. We must answer the questions in their mind that they may not express, or cannot express, or are not aware that they should express, or the situation is not appropriate. How can we answer? When their questions are discovered and we know what is in their mind.

The reason I emphasize to young scholars and clergy to connect with the younger generation is for this reason. Connect with the younger generation, ask for their questions, understand their inquiries, see what they seek when they sit down to listen to a cleric; not what they expect you to say, but what they expect to be explained to them. Recognizing these needs is very important.

Beyond this, there are the needs of the community. Sometimes there is a propagational need in society that individuals are not aware of; but you know that this need exists. For example, you listened to the enemy's propaganda, saw what the enemy is focused on, and understood that you should pay attention to this and remove the impurity and bury the enemy's false propaganda; while the audience themselves may not be aware of it. This becomes fulfilling a need.

My dear ones! One of the services that our enemies provide us is that they show us where we should focus in propagation. Today, if you look, you will see that all the enemy's propaganda apparatuses have joined hands and focused their propaganda on a few points. At the head of them is the propaganda of the Zionists. When we say Zionists, we do not only mean the usurping Zionist state; it is part of the Zionist conglomerate; the conglomerate of Zionists who are the major capitalists of countries, including America, and dominate the politics of that country. Today, unfortunately, America, the American government, the American Congress, in various fields - financial, propaganda, cultural, and others - are captive to the Zionist spell. The world's media propaganda is also mostly in their hands. These well-known news agencies that you see, most of them are in the hands of this conglomerate. Some that do not belong to them are aligned with them. If you look at their propaganda, you will see that regarding our dear country and our great, heroic, and at the same time oppressed nation, they are focused on a few points: first, division and duality and discord; the same old story of "divide and rule"; the same major pain and affliction that has plagued nations from ancient times. They are trying to create division, or if they try everything and see they cannot create division, they spread rumors of division.

You observe, this Islamic conference, thanks be to God and by divine honor, brought honor to the Islamic Ummah and the dear Iranian nation; "Whoever desires honor, then to God belongs all honor." In this conference, this noble verse manifested itself, and the hand of divine power and divine honor made the Iranian nation and the Iranian government and the country's officials and those involved shine like a bright sun in the world. Despite America's desire, through this magnificent meeting held here, all of America's policies regarding Iran failed. They saw that this meeting demonstrated unity, cohesion, strong management, sincere cooperation between the country's officials and the officials and the people, and they saw the power and ability to accomplish great, complex, and composite tasks. Now what should they do? They started creating rumors and creating division. From the first day of the conference until now, they have been promoting the rumor of division. Of course, no one pays attention, no one cares; because the evidence and texts and everything are contrary to their rumors; but they do their work.

It is clear that they give great importance to the issue of division. You must move exactly in the opposite direction of this trend. First, try to ensure there is no division, and second, try to ensure that the rumor of division, which the enemy nurtures and promotes, does not exist. Those who strengthen the rumor of division inside are like those who fan the flames of division. Weak, vile, and filthy hands try to create division. If they see they cannot create division, they try to spread rumors that yes, there is division. It is like the enemy trying to inflict defeat on the front of truth. When they see they cannot, they spread rumors that yes, they are about to be defeated; they are about to retreat! This is the enemy's work; you must move in the opposite direction. This is a service that the enemy provides us. The enemy shows us that they are sensitive to this point, and in reality, it becomes clear that we must focus on this point. Of course, we do not move reactively and passively in response to the enemy's behavior; it is a logical and wise analysis.

The second point is to portray the future as dark and ambiguous. The enemy's effort is to show that the future is dark and ambiguous and it is not clear what will happen and where it will lead. The duty of the propagator of religion and the propagator of spirituality and the messenger of truth is to instill hope in the people and remove despair from them. Despair is the greatest enemy of a nation. Efforts must be made to remove despair from the people. Look and see what language your audience needs in the area you are discussing. In any case, you must prevent despair from entering hearts.

The enemy's goal is to make despair prevail in hearts and for everyone to be despondent in some way: the student in one way, the school student in another, the worker in another, the cleric in another, the merchant in another, the administrative worker in another, the government official in another, the high-ranking official in another. Each has their methods; we see them up close. They have methods to even make some high-ranking officials in a country despondent. We see officials from other countries who sometimes talk to us, their hearts full of despair. What can a truly despondent person do? We tried to remove despair from their hearts and inject hope in its place. Thanks be to God, our nation is a hopeful and lively nation. Instill hope in the people.

Another center that the enemy works on is the values and foundations and basis of the revolution. The enemy wants to destroy the people's faith in the factor that was able to create this great and miraculous movement almost nineteen years ago and maintain it until today and bring the war to victory in favor of Islam and Muslims. You must be very careful. They want to make people lose faith in the foundations and principles of the revolution and this great movement and the foundations of the Islamic Republic and make them unstable. Their enmity is not with individuals. Their enmity is not with a specific title. The enmity is with the essence of this great movement; the enmity is with the revolution. Whoever does not understand this is very heedless!

The opposite of this movement is your movement in propagation. If that propagational source, that propagational goal, and these methods and tools and propagational styles are considered, the most successful, lasting, and profound propagational methods are the ones you traditionally carry out. Let me tell you that, by God's grace, we have seen with our own eyes and witnessed that the hand of divine power supports and backs this nation. Neither the power of America, nor the great financial and economic powers, nor the espionage and security powers, nor the destructive military powers, none of them can turn this faithful, revolutionary, lively, young, and hopeful nation away from the path of the honor and greatness of Islam that it is advancing and the flag of Islam that it is raising and waving, and stop it halfway.

We hope that God Almighty grants you success and grace. May He smooth your path, illuminate your hearts, and include all of you and us in the pure prayers of His Holiness Baqiyatullah (may our souls be sacrificed for him). Appreciate the nights of Qadr. I also request prayers from all of you.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings