Statements at the Meeting with a Group of People, Officials of the Country, and Guests of the Islamic Unity Conference

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 and his chosen companions and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

I extend my welcome to the esteemed attendees, the respected officials of the country, the dear guests of the Unity Week, and I congratulate you on the noble and exalted birth of the Greatest Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) to all of you who are present here, to the entire Iranian nation, and to the entire Islamic Ummah in the East and West of the world; and we hope, God willing, that the blessings of the attention of that great figure and divine attention, due to the blessing of that great figure, will lead to progress for the great Islamic nation and the Islamic Ummah, God willing.

Of course, in the unique personality of the Prophet of Islam and the Greatest Messenger, there is a peak point, which is the point of his prophethood; the point of prophethood. The personality of the Greatest Messenger is a unique personality in all of existence; the peak of this personality is that point of connection of the pure heart of that great figure with the source of divine greatness, dignity, and wisdom; the point of prophethood; this is true, but all moments of the Prophet's life, even after prophethood, are influenced and correspond to the issue of prophethood; that is, it is not the case that we assume that the noble Prophet of Islam had an ordinary human life before prophethood; no, the movements of that great figure, the divine blessings upon that great figure, the attentions that have occurred in the natural world due to the existence of that great figure, all of these are exceptional, all correspond to the peak of this great personality, which is the issue of prophethood. The signs of the greatness of the Almighty can be seen throughout the life of that great figure, even at the time of his birth. Well, we celebrate today as the birth of the Prophet and hold a festival; even on the day of the birth of that great figure, the signs and effects of divine blessings — whose main source is that peak point, meaning prophethood — can be observed. The effects of monotheism and the practical signs of monotheism can also be seen on the day of birth. From inside the Kaaba, where the idols are toppled, to the confrontation with the tyrannical idols, the great tyrants of that day; or that a certain sacred lake dries up, or that a certain so-called sacred fire temple is extinguished, or that the arch of Khosrow is broken, or that the pillars of the arch of Khosrow collapse; these events occur. Therefore, the day of birth is not an ordinary day; it is a very important day, a very great day. We celebrate this day for this reason.

The essential point is that celebrating is not just about festivities, permanence, and remembrance, and such things; celebrating is for learning lessons, for taking the Prophet of Islam as a model. We need this; today humanity needs this, the Islamic Ummah today needs this; we must learn lessons. Thus, keeping the memory of the blessed birth of the Greatest Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) alive is for us to act upon the meaning of this noble verse that says: "Indeed, you have in the Messenger of God a good example for whoever hopes in God and the Last Day and remembers God much." The Prophet of Islam is a good example; the Quran states this explicitly. What does it mean to be an example? It means a model that we must follow; it means that we must move from this low point towards that peak; humanity must strive as much as it can towards that peak; this is what it means to be an example.

Now, when we want to emulate that model and that example, the lessons that exist are not just one or two; there are hundreds of lessons; in the personal life of the Prophet, in the family life of the Prophet, in the governance of the Prophet, in the social personality of the Prophet with his friends, with his enemies, with the believers, with the disbelievers, there are hundreds of fundamental and important lessons. One of these lessons I want to present today is the meaning of this noble verse that says: "Indeed, a Messenger has come to you from among yourselves, it is grievous to him what you suffer, he is eager for you, and for the believers, he is kind and merciful." I want to emphasize this issue of "it is grievous to him what you suffer." It states: Your sufferings are painful for him; when you suffer, the Prophet suffers from your suffering. Undoubtedly, this is not specific to the contemporary Muslims of the Prophet; it addresses all believers throughout history; that is, today if you are suffering in Palestine, in Myanmar, in various other places, Muslims are suffering, they should know that this suffering causes the pure spirit of the Prophet to suffer and toil; this is very important. Our Prophet is like this. This state of the Prophet of Islam, which is expressed in this noble verse, is the opposite of the situation of the enemies, which is also in this noble verse: "O you who have believed, do not take as intimates those other than yourselves; they will not spare you any harm; they wish you to suffer." There, for the Prophet, it is "it is grievous to him what you suffer"; here, for the enemies, it is "they wish you to suffer"; your suffering makes them happy. We are currently in this situation; pay attention to recognize our position in the current world.

On one side is that sacred existence that "it is grievous to him what you suffer"; on the other side is a front that "they wish you to suffer"; they are pleased with your suffering, they are happy; they feel fortunate from your misfortunes. Naturally, when that front has such a state, it tries to lead you towards hardship, towards misfortune. We must understand this situation, know it, and pay attention.

Now, what are the sufferings of the Islamic Ummah in the current time due to? Why are Muslim nations suffering so much economically, under political pressures, due to wars and internal conflicts, and colonialism and neo-colonialism and such things? The reasons for this suffering and being in a state of suffering for Muslims are numerous; there are multiple causes. Scientific backwardness is one of the causes; submitting to the domination of colonizers is one of the causes. There are multiple causes that those who are political analysts and social analysts have worked on in this area, thousands of articles have been written, but one of the factors that may be the most important or one of the most important factors is the division among Muslims. We do not recognize our value, we do not recognize each other's value; this is the major flaw in our work; we are separated, we are divided.

When we are divided, when we are not well-wishers of each other, when sometimes we are even ill-wishers of each other, well, the result is this. Here too, the Quran is explicit. Truly, in these matters of human life, we do not have any point that the Quran is not explicitly vocal about; here too, the Quran says: "And obey God and His Messenger and do not dispute, lest you lose heart and your strength depart." When you dispute, weakness arises; weakness means fragility. "And your strength will depart" means your dignity will be lost. When you create division, you will inevitably become subjugated, you will inevitably become humiliated, you will inevitably prepare the ground for others to dominate you. The result of division is this.

Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) emphasized this issue in the Qasiah sermon, which is one of the most important sermons in Nahj al-Balagha. Amir al-Mu'minin refers his listeners to history; he says: Look at the past, when they were united, what dignity they achieved, what state they reached, but when they exited that state of unity, "Look at what they became at the end of their affairs when division occurred and unity was shattered." After a few sentences later, he speaks about these themes, then he says: When this happens, when division and enmity prevail, "God has stripped them of the garment of dignity and has taken away the beauty of His blessings from them." God Almighty has removed the garment of dignity from them; that honor they had, that dignity they had, that blessing God had given them, was taken away from them due to division and discord.

Well, we must truly think about this; think about this issue of "unity among Muslims"; today the enemy wants exactly the opposite of this. They have planted a corrupt cancerous cell in this region called the Zionist regime, which serves as the base of the Western enemy of Islam; because that day they divided the vast Ottoman Empire, destroyed it, divided it into several countries, they needed a base here to constantly dominate, to prevent the high objectives from being achieved in this region; this base was the oppressed Palestine, where they brought these wicked, corrupt, murderous, and merciless Zionists and established them here, forming a fake government, creating a fake nation for this purpose. Well, Muslims were aware; now the enemies are doing something that this harmful existence, this developed cancerous cell, is being removed from the title of "enemy" and is causing more discord among the countries of the region. They are dominating everywhere; this normalization is one of the greatest betrayals that is being committed against Islam and Muslims; creating division, creating discord. This is how the enemy operates; the enemy is always busy.

We must use this day of birth in this way: "Indeed, you have in the Messenger of God a good example"; and we have stated that the situation of the Messenger is like this. And that is why we in the Islamic Republic have designated this day as a day of celebration, a day of unity; that is, from the twelfth of Rabi al-Awwal, which is the narration of the Sunnis for the birth of the Prophet, until the seventeenth of Rabi al-Awwal, which is the narration of the Shia, we have designated a week of celebration between these two, and we have named it "Unity Week." Well, it was a good thing, but this slogan must be realized; we must move towards its practical realization.

Well, you may say, "We are not the leaders of these countries"; yes, the leaders have other motivations, political motivations, other objectives, but intellectuals, scholars, writers, poets, the wise of a country, the elites of a country, and the distinguished can change the atmosphere to be different from what the enemy wants; when the atmosphere changes, reaching this result will be easier.

Now, what does unity mean? The meaning of unity is certainly not religious unity; it does not mean that this one should convert to that religion, and that one should convert to this religion, to have one religion; no, this is certainly not the meaning. Geographic unity is also not meant; like what happened in the 1960s and 1970s, when some Arab countries united and declared they were one, which did not happen and will not happen and is impossible; this is not meant either. The meaning of unity is unity in preserving the interests of the Islamic Ummah. First, we must identify where the interests of the Islamic Ummah lie, what they are, and then the nations must agree on this. If the governments, God willing, are guided towards this path, may God turn their hearts towards this, they should agree on the interests of the Islamic Ummah; they should see what the Islamic Ummah needs today, with whom they should be enemies, how they should deal with enemies, with whom they should be friends, and how they should be friends; these orientations should be agreed upon in discussions and negotiations, and they should move in this direction. This is the meaning: shared action against the plans of global arrogance.

Undoubtedly, the world of global arrogance has clear plans regarding our region and our countries. This Islamic region is a tremendous opportunity; our region, if we do not say it is the most sensitive, is one of the most sensitive regions in the world; if we do not say it is the richest, it is one of the richest regions in the world; the region of Central Asia, West Asia, and North Africa, which is the Islamic region; it is a very important region. Global arrogance and the powers behind the scenes of arrogant policies, that is, international companies, cartels, and trusts, have plans for this region. Let us have shared action in confronting their plans; this is the meaning of unity. We have proposed this to the Islamic world, and we have asked for this from the Islamic world.

There is a fundamental point here that should not be neglected, and that is that today, it is becoming increasingly clear that the political geometry of the world and the global level is changing; today it is becoming clearer day by day that the political map of the world is changing. The issue of unipolarity and the bullying of one power — or two powers; it does not matter — over countries and nations has lost its legitimacy; that is, nations have awakened. The unipolar system has been rejected and is gradually becoming more rejected. Today, you hear this statement frequently from the mouths of first-rate politicians in the world that we do not accept the unipolar system. What does the unipolar system mean? It means, for example, that the United States sits down to plan for Iraq or Syria or Iran or Lebanon or a certain country, saying, "You must do this, this must happen, this must not happen"; sometimes it says it, sometimes it does not, but it acts. Today it is like this; they plan for countries and mobilize their forces.

Well, they have plans; global arrogance has plans. [But] this is changing; gradually, this state of dominance that global arrogance has had over countries and nations and various regions is changing; just like the change that occurred during the anti-colonial movements in the mid-20th century, when countries repeatedly rose against direct colonialism — in Asia in one way, in Africa in another way, in Latin America in another way — that the political map of the world underwent a major change, today it is also undergoing a major change. This under-the-surface and quiet aggressive movement of global arrogance against nations is gradually losing its legitimacy in the eyes of nations; it has never been legitimate from the beginning, but nations are becoming increasingly aware of this. Well, a new situation will arise, a new world will come into being. We may not be able to precisely predict what this new world will look like, but we are certain that gradually, over the years, a new world is being formed. Well, where is the place of the Islamic Ummah in this new world? This is an important question.

The Islamic Ummah [means] more than one and a half billion human beings with this great and brilliant scientific history — well, yes, we have fallen scientifically in recent centuries, but before that, the peak of knowledge belonged to us Muslims; this is our heritage; this is in our hands — with natural wealth, with human wealth, with new motivations for renewal; where is the place of this Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah with these characteristics? In this new world that is gradually being formed, where will we stand? What is our stopping point and our point of presence? This is very important; this is a matter that the Islamic Ummah must think about. These events that are happening in the West, in Europe, are not ordinary; they indicate major changes.

Well, we can have an important role. We, the Islamic Ummah, we, the Islamic countries and nations, can have a lofty position in the new world that is gradually taking shape; we can be presented as a model, we can be presented as pioneers, but on one condition; what is the condition? Unity, not having division, freeing ourselves from the temptations of the enemy, the temptations of America, the temptations of the Zionists, the temptations of the companies; freeing ourselves from the temptations of these, which sometimes these temptations are heard from our own people. We see in the Islamic world that some from within the Islamic world repeat their words, they say the same things; we must free ourselves from these with unity, with the negation of division, with internal cohesion; this is the condition. If we can implement this condition, undoubtedly we will be able to place the Islamic Ummah in a lofty position in the future world and in the future shape of the political geography of the world.

Is this possible? Some people, in all important matters, their initial reaction and response is denial and despair: "Oh, it cannot be done, it is useless." We do not accept this; we say this is possible; unity and agreement among the Islamic nations is possible, but it requires work, it requires action. I said, we are not hopeless about the politicians and rulers of the Islamic countries, but our greatest hope is in the elites of the Islamic world; that is, as we said, in the religious scholars, in the intellectuals, in university professors, in enlightened youth, in the wise, in the literati, in the poets, in the writers, in the media operators; our hope is in these; they must feel independent, feel responsible, feel duty-bound. When the elites enter a path, they direct public opinion towards that direction; when public opinion is formed in a country, the policies of governing the country will inevitably move in that direction, they have no choice, they are compelled. Therefore, this is a possible task; this is possible, but without action, nothing can be achieved in the world, neither worldly achievements nor spiritual and divine achievements: "Man has nothing but what he strives for"; we must strive, we must act; if we act, it is possible.

Now I will mention a small example. Our small example is us; the Islamic Republic. We stood against the great powers. One day, this world was in the hands of two great powers: the power of America and the power of the former Soviet Union. Both powers, despite their many disagreements, were united in one issue, and that was their opposition to the Islamic Republic. America and the former Soviet Union, with all their differences, were united in their opposition to the Islamic Republic. Imam (may God’s peace be upon him) stood against them, did not submit, and clearly said, "Neither East nor West"; neither this nor that. It happened. They thought it could not be done, they thought they could uproot this sapling, today this sapling has turned into a towering tree; anyone who thinks of uprooting it is mistaken! We stood firm and advanced. Of course, it is difficult; everything has difficulties; nothing can be achieved without difficulties. Those who submit also face difficulties. Hardship is not only in standing firm; submission also has its hardships, with the difference that when a person stands firm, their hardship propels them forward — we endure hardships, but we advance — while those who submit endure hardships, they regress, and do not progress. Therefore, in our view, it is possible; it is possible to work, it is possible to move towards the desired unity of Islam and the Quran in the Islamic Ummah, despite all the differences that exist.

Well, the distances are sometimes ethnic, sometimes racial, sometimes linguistic; these are not important; in my opinion, what we should emphasize today more than anything is the religious issue; the discussion of Shia and Sunni. We must not allow differences in opinion and religious differences to lead to conflict; we must not allow this. There are certain things that create conflict; we must prevent them, we must seriously prevent them. You observe that now American and British politicians have also entered into the discussion of Shia and Sunni in their circles; this is very dangerous, very dangerous. Those who are against Islam are not good with either Shia or Sunni; they have entered into the discussion [of Shia and Sunni].

I once said "English Shia" and "American Sunni"; some thought that I meant Shia who reside in England; no, English Shia can be within the Islamic country; it is inspired by England; it means a Shia that creates discord, a Sunni that creates discord; like ISIS and like Wahhabis and others who create discord; or Takfiris who say this one is a disbeliever, that one is a disbeliever. These may be called Muslims, they may even adhere to individual Islamic rulings, but they act in the service of the enemy.

Those who create discord are in the service of the enemy; it does not matter where they are, in whatever position they are, in whatever country they are. We believe this deeply. We have dealt seriously with those who, under the pretext of supporting Shia, stirred the feelings of our Sunni brothers; this must become widespread; there must be consensus. Of course, there are extremists on both sides; there are extremists among Shia who, either due to their beliefs or whatever, act with extremism, and there are those among Sunnis who act with extremism; extremism exists. We should not allow the extremism of extremists to lead us to accuse the essence of the sect; our actions have been like this.

We have seen that Wahhabis, for two hundred years, have destroyed the graves of the Imams; they went to Karbala and destroyed the pure grave of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), the wooden shrine was burned, they made a fire inside the shrine, they made coffee; this incident occurred. They went to Najaf, they could not enter due to the late Sheikh Ja'far Kashif al-Ghita who had forces and mobilized students and others, and Najaf had a wall; they could not go to Najaf, they went to Kufa and in the mosque of Kufa, they massacred and killed many Shia; this did not lead the Shia scholars, the great Shia figures, the Shia authorities to accuse the Sunnis; no, these were extremists who did that. In our time, ISIS in Iraq in one way, in Syria in another way, recently in Afghanistan in another way, they do not even spare the schools of children; they blow up girls' schools, boys' schools, they make families mourn their children; they do these things, but we do not accuse the Sunnis at all; these are extremists. The same should apply to the other side; there may be those who act with extremism, but we should not accuse the Shia community due to extremism. We must work in this area; the scholars of Islam must work.

We are being beaten because of this division; we are being beaten in Palestine, we are being beaten in various countries. In Palestine, they are killing people daily; they kill small children, young people, teenagers, adults, they imprison them, thousands are tortured in prison; this is happening, and it is before our eyes. In Myanmar, it is like that, in other places, it is like that. Well, these are hard; these are hard for the Islamic Ummah; "it is grievous to him what you suffer"; these cause the Prophet pain; we must think and strive for these. The Quran tells the Prophet: "Say, O People of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you"; the People of the Book are not Muslims, but we have a common ground with them, and that is monotheism; because monotheism exists in all religions; monotheism is the foundation of all religions: "that we worship none but God." The Prophet uses this common ground between Islam and other religions, meaning the Quran instructs him to say: "Come to a word that is equitable between us and you, that we worship none but God and do not associate anything with Him and do not take one another as lords besides God." Well, we Muslims have so much in common: one Kaaba, one Qibla, one prayer, one Hajj, one worship, one Prophet, love for the Ahl al-Bayt in all of the Islamic world; these are our common grounds; we must not overlook these common grounds.

Well, we have tried until now; we have used all that we could, and we will continue to do so. We have supported our Palestinian brothers, who are all Sunnis, in every way; politically and practically, we have supported them, and we will continue to support them. It does not matter to us; what is important to us here is the Islamic movement and the Islamic system. This resistance front that today, thanks be to God, has formed in the Islamic world is supported by us, we will support it, as much as we can; whatever power we have, we will support them, we will continue to do so, we have done so before.

We hope, God willing, that the Almighty God guides us all, and we can, God willing, move forward on this path and realize this great aspiration, which has been the great aspiration of the elite of the Islamic world and is certainly the aspiration of the pure spirit of the noble Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his family), God willing; that is, Islamic unity.

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