President Ahmadinejad Speech - 63rd UN Assembly - English
The following is a copy of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2008, as translated by the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran News...
The following is a copy of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2008, as translated by the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Service
Mr. President, Excellencies,
I am grateful to the Almighty for granting me another opportunity to be present in this world Assembly.
In the last three years, I have talked to you about great hopes in the bright future of human society, and some solutions for achieving sustainable peace and expanding love, compassion, and cooperation.
I have also talked about unjust systems governing the world; pressures exerted by some powers seeking to trample the rights of other nations, oppression imposed on the majority of the global community, especially on the people of Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Africa, Latin America, and Asia; about challenges we are faced with, such as efforts to shatter the sanctity of families, destroy cultures, humiliate lofty values, neglect commitments, expand the shadow of threats, as well as about the arms race and the unfairness and inability of the systems governing world affairs in reforming the status quo.
With the occurrence of various new developments, the debility of existing mechanisms has been revealed even more. However, at the same time, an encouraging trend, which has originated in the thoughts and beliefs of peoples, has blossomed and become stronger. Posed against the despairs caused by the new developments, this trend has ignited the ray of hope for a brilliant, desirable and beautiful future in the hearts of men.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,
Today I would like to talk to you about the main reasons behind the conditions ruling the world and the means to tackle them. Of course, you are already aware of what I am talking about, but I think it is necessary to remind ourselves.
It seems that the roots of problems lie in the way one views and perceives the world and humankind, as well as in the important issues of freedom, obeisance to God, and justice. The world, humankind, freedom and obeisance to God, and justice, have been of utmost importance to humans throughout history.
1. The World:
God Almighty purposefully created the world. This world is the bedrock for the evolution and growth of a creature called man, and the laws governing the world and all other creatures are at the service of man's quest for loftiness. The world should provide the needed opportunities for the fulfillment of the purpose behind man's creation. No phenomenon, creature, or indeed anything has been created in vain. Together they all pave the ground for the flourishing of mankind in a complex and purposeful system, and they are, each, one of the signs of God Almighty. All are His creations and He is the sole creator and ruler of the world. All existence including power, knowledge and wealth come from Him.
2. Humankind:
God created the world for humans and humans for Himself. He created humans from mud and in the soil, but He did not want them to remain in the soil and with animal instincts. He kindled the light of guidance in their souls and asked them to rise from the soil to the heavens and to Him with the help of wisdom, prophets and perfect men.
The world will ultimately disappear, but God has created man for eternity and has made them a manifestation of Himself. Creativity, mercifulness, kindness, knowledge, wisdom, zeal, concealment of sins, splendor, justice, bounteousness, generosity, greatness, love, glory, dignity, forgiveness, insight, kingship and all other goodness and beauty are attributes of God.
God has not created humans for aggression, bloodshed, rancor, selfishness and destruction. He made humans His vicegerents on earth and has asked them to, on the one hand, make earth prosper by using their God-given potentials and to prepare the ground for the growth of divine attributes in all humans, and to provide all with a life full of beauty, amity, freedom, justice and goodness; and on the other hand in pursuance of this path, to prepare for a prosperous, everlasting life endowed by God's mercy.
God has obligated humans to live divinely and socially, for it is only through social life and interactions with others that divine attributes may emerge.
3. Obeisance to God:
God Almighty has tied their perfection and true freedom of humans to their devotion and obedience to Himself. True freedom and obedience to God are in balance and in fact are two sides of the same coin.
Obeisance to God means confessing to monotheism and obeying His commands, and to be free from ungodly worship.
Obeisance to God means the acceptance of the absolute truth, the absolute light, and the absolute beauty.
Obeisance to God means abandoning selfishness and animal instincts, power-seeking and aggression, surrendering to righteousness, justice, love, and perfection.
And in this way, humans can achieve their true freedom and flourish, they can grow and manifest divine attributes, have affection for others, stand up for justice, and fear no power or threat, and defend the oppressed. In such an environment, one's freedom will not impinge on any others.
Contention and conflict are characteristic of materialistic freedom and animal instinct. The essence of all divine religions and obeisance to God and true freedom is disassociating from oppressors and instead obeying and worshiping God, for:
- God is omniscient and knows all that is revealed or kept secret, and He is kind and merciful.
- All creatures are humble before Him and resign to His will.
- God is alive and is the Creator of the universe and all life.
- God loves His creatures and desires nothing but goodness, blessings, and perfection for them, and is against bullying, injustice, selfishness and domination.
4. Justice:
Justice is the foundation of the creation of humankind and the whole universe. Justice is tantamount to placing every phenomenon in its own place, and providing humans with opportunities to actualize all their divine capabilities. Without it, the order of the universe will collapse and the opportunity for perfection will fade away. Without justice, it would be impossible for human society to taste real peace, beauty, joy and happiness. Justice is the main pillar of social life and without it, social life cannot continue or grow.
Humans need to know God in order to realize a prosperous society in this world as well as to strive for a beautiful eternal life, and to this end they first have to know themselves and strive for loftiness in themselves and their societies. However:
- as long as the world is construed as closed, limited and aimless,
- as long as eternal life is considered imaginary and illusory and afterlife and the Judgment Day as well as reward and punishment are thought of as fictional and unreal,
- as long as morals and commitment to them are called backwardness, and immorality, lies, deceit and selfishness are considered desirable, and humans are limited to a materialistic life in this world,
- as long as attempts are made to replace obedience to God and following His prophets and true freedom with servitude to materialistic tendencies and animal instincts and servitude to oppressing human beings, and contention reaches its pinnacle,
- as long as the aggressors, because of their financial, political and propaganda powers, not only escape punishment but even claim righteousness,
- and as long wars are started and nations are enslaved in order to win votes in elections,
- not only will the problems of the global community remain unsolved, but they will be increasingly exacerbated.
Friends and Colleagues,
Let's look at the situation of the world today:
Iraq was attacked under the false pretext of uncovering weapons of mass destruction and overthrowing a dictator. The dictator is toppled and WMDs are not uncovered. A democratic government is established by the votes of the people but, after 6 years, the occupiers are still there. They insist on imposing colonial agreements on the people of Iraq by keeping them under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
Millions of people have been killed or displaced, and the occupiers, without a sense of shame, are still seeking to solidify their position in the political geography of the region and to dominate oil resources.
They have no respect for the people of Iraq and disregard any dignity, rights or status for them. The UN is not capable enough to solve the problems and to remove aggression, occupation and imposition.
In Palestine, 60 years of carnage and invasion is still ongoing at the hands of some criminal and occupying Zionists. They have forged a regime through collecting people from various parts of the world and bringing them to other people's land by displacing, detaining, and killing the true owners of that land.
With advance notice, they invade, assassinate, and maintain food and medicine blockades, while some hegemonic and bullying powers support them. The Security Council cannot do anything and sometimes, under pressure from a few bullying powers, even paves the way for supporting these Zionist murderers. It is natural that some UN resolutions that have addressed the plight of the Palestinian people have been relegated to the archives unnoticed.
In Afghanistan, production of narcotics has multiplied since the presence of NATO forces. Domestic conflicts continue. Terrorism is spreading. And innocent people are bombarded on a daily basis in streets, markets, schools and wedding ceremonies. The people of Afghanistan are the victims of the willingness of NATO member states to dominate the regions surrounding India, China, and South Asia. The Security Council cannot do anything about it because some of these NATO members also happen to be the major decision makers in the Security Council.
In Africa, efforts are made to re-establish the relationships of the colonial era. By starting civil wars in large countries including Sudan, disintegration of those countries is planned in order to serve the interests of some corrupt powers. In case there is a national resistance, the leaders of the resistance are put under pressure by legal mechanisms created by the very same powers.
In Latin America, people find their security, national interests and cultures to be seriously endangered by the menacing shadow of alien domineering governments, and even by the embassies of some empires.
The lives, properties and rights of the people of Georgia and Ossetia and Abkhazia are victims of the tendencies and provocations of NATO and certain western powers, and the underhanded actions of the Zionists.
The never-ending arms race and the proliferation and stockpiling of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and the threats to use them, and the establishment of missile defense systems, have made the situation unstable.
With regard to Iran's peaceful nuclear program, despite the inalienable right of all nations including the Iranian nation, in producing nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, and despite such facts as the transparency of all Iranian activities and our country's full cooperation with the inspectors of the IAEA and the Agency's repeated confirmation of the fact that Iran's activities are peaceful, a few bullying powers have sought to put hurdles in the way of the peaceful nuclear activities of the Iranian nation by exerting political and economic pressures against Iran, and also through threatening and pressuring the IAEA.
These are the same powers that produce new generations of lethal nuclear arms and possess stockpiles of nuclear weapons that no international organization is monitoring; and, the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were perpetrated by one of them.
Indeed, they are not against weapons, but they oppose other nations' progress, and tend to monopolize technologies and to use those monopolies in order to impose their will on other nations. But it is very natural that the great Iranian people, with their trust in God, and with determination and steadfastness and with the support of its friends, will resist the bullying and has defended and will continue to defend its rights.
The Iranian nation is for dialogue. But it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands. The time has come for the IAEA to present a clear report to the international community on its monitoring of the disarmament of these nuclear powers and their nuclear activities, and for a disarmament committee to be established by independent states to monitor the disarmament of these nuclear powers.
The theories of development that are in line with the hegemonic system and not in accordance with the true needs of humankind and human societies, have turned into repetitive and bland tools for assimilation of economies, expanding hegemonic domination, destroying the environment and destroying the social solidarity of nations.
There is no end in sight to this. Poverty, hunger and deprivation are hurting more than one billion of the world's population and have dashed their hopes for a decent life.
The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support.
This means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people. These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes and occupations and the threats of the Zionist network against their will.
Friends and Colleagues,
All these are due to the manner in which the immoral and the powerful view the world, humankind, freedom, obeisance to God, and justice.
The thoughts and deeds of those who think they are superior to others and consider others as second-class and inferior; who intend to remain out of the divine circle, to be the absolute slaves of their materialistic and selfish desires, who intend to expand their aggressive and domineering natures, constitute the roots of today's problems in human societies.
They are the great hindrances to the actualization of material and spiritual prosperity and to security, peace and brotherhood among nations. I explicitly state that the Iranian people and the overwhelming majority of peoples and governments are against those deeds and perspectives of the world- domineering powers. Establishment of justice requires people who have achieved moderation and justice inside themselves, and have restrained their domineering attitudes and actualized their attributes of self-sacrifice and are at the service of humanity. The complete and full-scale manifestation of such characteristics can happen only under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being who is obedient to God and who is promised by the divine Prophets.
Dear Colleagues,
Of course with the grace of God Almighty a hopeful trend is flourishing in the heart and soul of human societies. The universal eagerness for justice, purity, and love for others, monotheism and the quest for perfection is clearly and increasingly on the rise. A universal resistance against the acquisitiveness, aggression and selfishness of the bullying powers is being formed.
Today, the bullying powers' thoughts, practices and strategies are rejected by nations and governments, and all are seeking to establish new human relations based on justice with a view to attain prosperity, perfection, security, and sustainable welfare. This is the very auspicious phenomenon that all the traditions of creation and the ruling laws of the universe emphasize and support.
Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters. The Islamic Republic of Iran, while fully respecting the resistance of the oppressed people of Palestine and expressing its all-out support for it, submits its humane solution based on a free referendum in Palestine for determining and establishing the type of state in the entire Palestinian lands to the distinguished Secretary General of the UN.
American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit.
And now a few words with the expansionist governments ruling global relations:
Be aware that living with obedience to God and carrying out His orders, compassion for people and striving for the fulfillment of justice is to your advantage too. I invite you to return to the path of God, the Prophets and to the path of the people of the world and to the truth and justice.
The only route to salvation is a divine straight path. Otherwise, God's hand of power will emerge from the sleeve of oppressed nations and will make your life difficult, and will put an end to your hegemony.
Let's love the people of the world and respect their rights. Rectify past behavior. This will benefit you and the human community. The Iranian people are prepared, along with other nations, to help you be rescued from your current situation and to establish peace and prosperity.
My Friends,
Fortuitously, opportunities are accessible. With the grace of God Almighty, the existing pillars of the oppressive system are crumbling. Great developments in favor of humankind as well as its true and real rights are on the way. A golden and brilliant future is awaiting mankind.
A global community filled with justice, friendship, brotherhood and welfare is at hand, as I have elaborated.
A community which will tread the path of beauty and love under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being, the One promised by all divine prophets and the One who is the true lover of humanity. A community that will be devoid of any fear, despair and privation. Such a community will soon be ours. The community promised by the great divine Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and Mohammad (PBUH) is about to materialize.
Let us, hand in hand, expand the thought of resistance against evil and the minority of those who are ill-wishers. Let's support goodness and the majority of people who are good and the embodiment of absolute good that is the Imam of Time, The Promised One who will come accompanied by Jesus Christ, and accordingly design and implement the just and humanistic mechanisms for regulating the constructive relationships between nations and governments.
Oh great Almighty, deliver the savior of nations and put an end to the sufferings of mankind and bring forth justice, beauty, and love.
Friends;
Let's have a proper share in the establishment of that illuminated and promised divine age.
More...
Description:
The following is a copy of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2008, as translated by the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Service
Mr. President, Excellencies,
I am grateful to the Almighty for granting me another opportunity to be present in this world Assembly.
In the last three years, I have talked to you about great hopes in the bright future of human society, and some solutions for achieving sustainable peace and expanding love, compassion, and cooperation.
I have also talked about unjust systems governing the world; pressures exerted by some powers seeking to trample the rights of other nations, oppression imposed on the majority of the global community, especially on the people of Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Africa, Latin America, and Asia; about challenges we are faced with, such as efforts to shatter the sanctity of families, destroy cultures, humiliate lofty values, neglect commitments, expand the shadow of threats, as well as about the arms race and the unfairness and inability of the systems governing world affairs in reforming the status quo.
With the occurrence of various new developments, the debility of existing mechanisms has been revealed even more. However, at the same time, an encouraging trend, which has originated in the thoughts and beliefs of peoples, has blossomed and become stronger. Posed against the despairs caused by the new developments, this trend has ignited the ray of hope for a brilliant, desirable and beautiful future in the hearts of men.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,
Today I would like to talk to you about the main reasons behind the conditions ruling the world and the means to tackle them. Of course, you are already aware of what I am talking about, but I think it is necessary to remind ourselves.
It seems that the roots of problems lie in the way one views and perceives the world and humankind, as well as in the important issues of freedom, obeisance to God, and justice. The world, humankind, freedom and obeisance to God, and justice, have been of utmost importance to humans throughout history.
1. The World:
God Almighty purposefully created the world. This world is the bedrock for the evolution and growth of a creature called man, and the laws governing the world and all other creatures are at the service of man's quest for loftiness. The world should provide the needed opportunities for the fulfillment of the purpose behind man's creation. No phenomenon, creature, or indeed anything has been created in vain. Together they all pave the ground for the flourishing of mankind in a complex and purposeful system, and they are, each, one of the signs of God Almighty. All are His creations and He is the sole creator and ruler of the world. All existence including power, knowledge and wealth come from Him.
2. Humankind:
God created the world for humans and humans for Himself. He created humans from mud and in the soil, but He did not want them to remain in the soil and with animal instincts. He kindled the light of guidance in their souls and asked them to rise from the soil to the heavens and to Him with the help of wisdom, prophets and perfect men.
The world will ultimately disappear, but God has created man for eternity and has made them a manifestation of Himself. Creativity, mercifulness, kindness, knowledge, wisdom, zeal, concealment of sins, splendor, justice, bounteousness, generosity, greatness, love, glory, dignity, forgiveness, insight, kingship and all other goodness and beauty are attributes of God.
God has not created humans for aggression, bloodshed, rancor, selfishness and destruction. He made humans His vicegerents on earth and has asked them to, on the one hand, make earth prosper by using their God-given potentials and to prepare the ground for the growth of divine attributes in all humans, and to provide all with a life full of beauty, amity, freedom, justice and goodness; and on the other hand in pursuance of this path, to prepare for a prosperous, everlasting life endowed by God's mercy.
God has obligated humans to live divinely and socially, for it is only through social life and interactions with others that divine attributes may emerge.
3. Obeisance to God:
God Almighty has tied their perfection and true freedom of humans to their devotion and obedience to Himself. True freedom and obedience to God are in balance and in fact are two sides of the same coin.
Obeisance to God means confessing to monotheism and obeying His commands, and to be free from ungodly worship.
Obeisance to God means the acceptance of the absolute truth, the absolute light, and the absolute beauty.
Obeisance to God means abandoning selfishness and animal instincts, power-seeking and aggression, surrendering to righteousness, justice, love, and perfection.
And in this way, humans can achieve their true freedom and flourish, they can grow and manifest divine attributes, have affection for others, stand up for justice, and fear no power or threat, and defend the oppressed. In such an environment, one's freedom will not impinge on any others.
Contention and conflict are characteristic of materialistic freedom and animal instinct. The essence of all divine religions and obeisance to God and true freedom is disassociating from oppressors and instead obeying and worshiping God, for:
- God is omniscient and knows all that is revealed or kept secret, and He is kind and merciful.
- All creatures are humble before Him and resign to His will.
- God is alive and is the Creator of the universe and all life.
- God loves His creatures and desires nothing but goodness, blessings, and perfection for them, and is against bullying, injustice, selfishness and domination.
4. Justice:
Justice is the foundation of the creation of humankind and the whole universe. Justice is tantamount to placing every phenomenon in its own place, and providing humans with opportunities to actualize all their divine capabilities. Without it, the order of the universe will collapse and the opportunity for perfection will fade away. Without justice, it would be impossible for human society to taste real peace, beauty, joy and happiness. Justice is the main pillar of social life and without it, social life cannot continue or grow.
Humans need to know God in order to realize a prosperous society in this world as well as to strive for a beautiful eternal life, and to this end they first have to know themselves and strive for loftiness in themselves and their societies. However:
- as long as the world is construed as closed, limited and aimless,
- as long as eternal life is considered imaginary and illusory and afterlife and the Judgment Day as well as reward and punishment are thought of as fictional and unreal,
- as long as morals and commitment to them are called backwardness, and immorality, lies, deceit and selfishness are considered desirable, and humans are limited to a materialistic life in this world,
- as long as attempts are made to replace obedience to God and following His prophets and true freedom with servitude to materialistic tendencies and animal instincts and servitude to oppressing human beings, and contention reaches its pinnacle,
- as long as the aggressors, because of their financial, political and propaganda powers, not only escape punishment but even claim righteousness,
- and as long wars are started and nations are enslaved in order to win votes in elections,
- not only will the problems of the global community remain unsolved, but they will be increasingly exacerbated.
Friends and Colleagues,
Let's look at the situation of the world today:
Iraq was attacked under the false pretext of uncovering weapons of mass destruction and overthrowing a dictator. The dictator is toppled and WMDs are not uncovered. A democratic government is established by the votes of the people but, after 6 years, the occupiers are still there. They insist on imposing colonial agreements on the people of Iraq by keeping them under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
Millions of people have been killed or displaced, and the occupiers, without a sense of shame, are still seeking to solidify their position in the political geography of the region and to dominate oil resources.
They have no respect for the people of Iraq and disregard any dignity, rights or status for them. The UN is not capable enough to solve the problems and to remove aggression, occupation and imposition.
In Palestine, 60 years of carnage and invasion is still ongoing at the hands of some criminal and occupying Zionists. They have forged a regime through collecting people from various parts of the world and bringing them to other people's land by displacing, detaining, and killing the true owners of that land.
With advance notice, they invade, assassinate, and maintain food and medicine blockades, while some hegemonic and bullying powers support them. The Security Council cannot do anything and sometimes, under pressure from a few bullying powers, even paves the way for supporting these Zionist murderers. It is natural that some UN resolutions that have addressed the plight of the Palestinian people have been relegated to the archives unnoticed.
In Afghanistan, production of narcotics has multiplied since the presence of NATO forces. Domestic conflicts continue. Terrorism is spreading. And innocent people are bombarded on a daily basis in streets, markets, schools and wedding ceremonies. The people of Afghanistan are the victims of the willingness of NATO member states to dominate the regions surrounding India, China, and South Asia. The Security Council cannot do anything about it because some of these NATO members also happen to be the major decision makers in the Security Council.
In Africa, efforts are made to re-establish the relationships of the colonial era. By starting civil wars in large countries including Sudan, disintegration of those countries is planned in order to serve the interests of some corrupt powers. In case there is a national resistance, the leaders of the resistance are put under pressure by legal mechanisms created by the very same powers.
In Latin America, people find their security, national interests and cultures to be seriously endangered by the menacing shadow of alien domineering governments, and even by the embassies of some empires.
The lives, properties and rights of the people of Georgia and Ossetia and Abkhazia are victims of the tendencies and provocations of NATO and certain western powers, and the underhanded actions of the Zionists.
The never-ending arms race and the proliferation and stockpiling of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and the threats to use them, and the establishment of missile defense systems, have made the situation unstable.
With regard to Iran's peaceful nuclear program, despite the inalienable right of all nations including the Iranian nation, in producing nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, and despite such facts as the transparency of all Iranian activities and our country's full cooperation with the inspectors of the IAEA and the Agency's repeated confirmation of the fact that Iran's activities are peaceful, a few bullying powers have sought to put hurdles in the way of the peaceful nuclear activities of the Iranian nation by exerting political and economic pressures against Iran, and also through threatening and pressuring the IAEA.
These are the same powers that produce new generations of lethal nuclear arms and possess stockpiles of nuclear weapons that no international organization is monitoring; and, the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were perpetrated by one of them.
Indeed, they are not against weapons, but they oppose other nations' progress, and tend to monopolize technologies and to use those monopolies in order to impose their will on other nations. But it is very natural that the great Iranian people, with their trust in God, and with determination and steadfastness and with the support of its friends, will resist the bullying and has defended and will continue to defend its rights.
The Iranian nation is for dialogue. But it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands. The time has come for the IAEA to present a clear report to the international community on its monitoring of the disarmament of these nuclear powers and their nuclear activities, and for a disarmament committee to be established by independent states to monitor the disarmament of these nuclear powers.
The theories of development that are in line with the hegemonic system and not in accordance with the true needs of humankind and human societies, have turned into repetitive and bland tools for assimilation of economies, expanding hegemonic domination, destroying the environment and destroying the social solidarity of nations.
There is no end in sight to this. Poverty, hunger and deprivation are hurting more than one billion of the world's population and have dashed their hopes for a decent life.
The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support.
This means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people. These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes and occupations and the threats of the Zionist network against their will.
Friends and Colleagues,
All these are due to the manner in which the immoral and the powerful view the world, humankind, freedom, obeisance to God, and justice.
The thoughts and deeds of those who think they are superior to others and consider others as second-class and inferior; who intend to remain out of the divine circle, to be the absolute slaves of their materialistic and selfish desires, who intend to expand their aggressive and domineering natures, constitute the roots of today's problems in human societies.
They are the great hindrances to the actualization of material and spiritual prosperity and to security, peace and brotherhood among nations. I explicitly state that the Iranian people and the overwhelming majority of peoples and governments are against those deeds and perspectives of the world- domineering powers. Establishment of justice requires people who have achieved moderation and justice inside themselves, and have restrained their domineering attitudes and actualized their attributes of self-sacrifice and are at the service of humanity. The complete and full-scale manifestation of such characteristics can happen only under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being who is obedient to God and who is promised by the divine Prophets.
Dear Colleagues,
Of course with the grace of God Almighty a hopeful trend is flourishing in the heart and soul of human societies. The universal eagerness for justice, purity, and love for others, monotheism and the quest for perfection is clearly and increasingly on the rise. A universal resistance against the acquisitiveness, aggression and selfishness of the bullying powers is being formed.
Today, the bullying powers' thoughts, practices and strategies are rejected by nations and governments, and all are seeking to establish new human relations based on justice with a view to attain prosperity, perfection, security, and sustainable welfare. This is the very auspicious phenomenon that all the traditions of creation and the ruling laws of the universe emphasize and support.
Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters. The Islamic Republic of Iran, while fully respecting the resistance of the oppressed people of Palestine and expressing its all-out support for it, submits its humane solution based on a free referendum in Palestine for determining and establishing the type of state in the entire Palestinian lands to the distinguished Secretary General of the UN.
American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit.
And now a few words with the expansionist governments ruling global relations:
Be aware that living with obedience to God and carrying out His orders, compassion for people and striving for the fulfillment of justice is to your advantage too. I invite you to return to the path of God, the Prophets and to the path of the people of the world and to the truth and justice.
The only route to salvation is a divine straight path. Otherwise, God's hand of power will emerge from the sleeve of oppressed nations and will make your life difficult, and will put an end to your hegemony.
Let's love the people of the world and respect their rights. Rectify past behavior. This will benefit you and the human community. The Iranian people are prepared, along with other nations, to help you be rescued from your current situation and to establish peace and prosperity.
My Friends,
Fortuitously, opportunities are accessible. With the grace of God Almighty, the existing pillars of the oppressive system are crumbling. Great developments in favor of humankind as well as its true and real rights are on the way. A golden and brilliant future is awaiting mankind.
A global community filled with justice, friendship, brotherhood and welfare is at hand, as I have elaborated.
A community which will tread the path of beauty and love under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being, the One promised by all divine prophets and the One who is the true lover of humanity. A community that will be devoid of any fear, despair and privation. Such a community will soon be ours. The community promised by the great divine Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and Mohammad (PBUH) is about to materialize.
Let us, hand in hand, expand the thought of resistance against evil and the minority of those who are ill-wishers. Let's support goodness and the majority of people who are good and the embodiment of absolute good that is the Imam of Time, The Promised One who will come accompanied by Jesus Christ, and accordingly design and implement the just and humanistic mechanisms for regulating the constructive relationships between nations and governments.
Oh great Almighty, deliver the savior of nations and put an end to the sufferings of mankind and bring forth justice, beauty, and love.
Friends;
Let's have a proper share in the establishment of that illuminated and promised divine age.
دیدار جمعی از مداحان اهل بیت علیهمالسلام - Aytaullah Khamenei | 20 Apr 2014 - Farsi
Translated speech Link
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1897&Itemid=4
April 20 2014,
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I...
Translated speech Link
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1897&Itemid=4
April 20 2014,
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I congratulate all of you dear brothers - who are lyrical nightingales in the garden of love for the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Sayyidah Taherah Masoumeh (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the birthday anniversary of the great and glorious leader of the Revolution.
We thank God because this is one of His great blessings for us and it is a source of inspiration for our Islamic and Shia society. He repeatedly and constantly inspires our society with birthday anniversaries, biographies, and martyrdom eras. This should really be appreciated.
During the birthday anniversaries of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), Imam Hassan (a.s.), Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the memory of these shining stars and these guiding flags are revived in hearts. This is very valuable. And thank God it is many years that we have been holding this meeting in the shade of Fatemi enlightenment (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s purest greetings be upon her). It is many years that this meeting has been bestowing its blessings on us, on our working and living environments and on the environment of the country.
Man\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s limited mind cannot definitely evaluate and measure the characteristics of heavenly personalities like Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her). People\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s minds do not have the capability to evaluate and measure these spiritual dimensions. However, we can make their behavior a model for ourselves. This was also pointed out in the poems that the friends in this meeting recited.
The spiritual positions of these personalities are one thing and the patterns of behavior which are in front of our eyes are quite another. This does not mean that we can emulate these personalities by displaying a second version of their patterns of behavior. This is not what it means. However, we can follow them at least.
The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I know that to adopt such a hard way of life is beyond you, but at least try to be pious. Help me and be my companion in virtue, diligence and simple living\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. After he describes his lifestyle - although he had a lofty position and had access to many resources, he lived a life of piety and abstinence - he says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You cannot behave like me, but you can help me\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". With what? We can help him with piety, avoidance of sins, effort and diligence. These are our responsibilities.
They have illustrated the goals for us, both individual and personal goals, and social, political and general goals. In personal goals, our lofty ideal is reaching the peak of human dignity. Everyone has been promised that they can take this lofty and limitless flight. You youth are more capable than us. These are the personal goals.
And our great social goals are creating a pure Islamic life and Islamic society, one that allows individuals to move towards this goal. Such a society is well-developed, free, independent, highly moral, united, unanimous, pious and religious. These are the goals of Islamic society. The main social and political goal of Islam is creating a world which is an introduction to the afterlife and which helps individuals to achieve paradise easily. They have illustrated these goals for us.
What is the way to achieve these goals? How can we reach these goals? As Imam Ali (a.s.) said, we should help him to reach this goal - this is the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) command. This goal is what the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) did in his entire life and during his efforts and jihad, which is creating such a world for all the people throughout history. How can we help him? We can help him with virtue, diligence and effort. Laziness is forbidden. Idleness is forbidden. Feeling tired is forbidden. Becoming desperate is forbidden. When this great movement is launched, you have gladdened the blessed heart of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) because they made all these efforts in order to reach this goal.
My dear ones, dear youth, this opportunity is available to the people of Iran today. In the past, it was not available and it was difficult. Today in the Islamic Republic, the opportunity to move forward in the right way and to lead a good, pious and pure life is available to all the people in society. This does not mean that the path of committing sins is closed. This is not the case because the path of sins is always open, but the path of living a good, pious and pure life in the shade of Islam is open as well.
Of course, living such a life has its own pleasures and difficulties. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive them\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 112]. There have always been certain enemies against the camp of prophets. Who are these enemies? These enemies are the shaitans from among men and jinn. Against this seemingly long line of shaitans, there is the steel and strong line of believers. The people of Iran experienced this and it became clear that people can achieve victory over their enemies, as the people of Iran have thankfully moved forward until today.
We should make efforts. The lesson of the life of Siddiqat al-Taherah - Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is to make efforts, show diligence and lead a pure life, as that great personality was the manifestation of enlightenment and purity: she was \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"pure, clean, immaculate, virtuous, pious and moral\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Kamel al-Ziarat, page 310]. The purity, cleanliness, piety and enlightenment of that great person are what have influenced our Islamic teachings throughout the history of Shiaism.
What is appropriate to be discussed in this meeting is related to the heavy responsibility that falls on the shoulders of today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s society of panegyrists. This issue has priority over other issues. Dear brothers, the tradition of praising and eulogizing the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - which is a great honor - has fortunately become common and deep-rooted in our society. This tradition existed in the past as well, but it was limited in scope. However today, this banquet has spread and this arena has opened to everyone.
Today, thousands of people throughout the country are active in this arena by utilizing their artistic taste and benefitting from different methods of eloquence. Well, this is an opportunity and any opportunity is accompanied by a responsibility. When you cannot communicate with someone, your responsibility remains at a limited level, but when you can, your responsibility will naturally increase to the extent that your capability for communication allows.
When you can speak to the people and when you have the capability to address them with the art of poetry, singing and melody, this makes you responsible. All these opportunities and capacities are accompanied by a responsibility. You should be able to carry out this responsibility in an efficient way. If the society of panegyrists in the country can carry out its responsibility as befits its position, then a significant development will take place throughout the country.
I have repeatedly said that if you recite a poem in an artistic way and if the poem itself is meaningful and instructive, then this will exert more influence than the speech that we deliver for two, three hours. Sometimes, this is the case. Well, this is a very good opportunity. Notice what will happen if the thousands of panegyrists, eulogists and religious singers who address the people and who sing to them on different occasions observe the principles and requirements of this great task.
Our enemies are after destroying our beliefs, actions and paths with hundreds of weapons and discourses and with various kinds of measures. Primarily, they are doing this in the Islamic Republic and secondly, they are doing it in the world of Islam. Many of the people understand, see and know about the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s measures. There are different TV and radio channels and different electronic means of communication.
However, there are certain propaganda measures about which we have more information than the people. The masses of the people do not know what complex measures are being adopted in our country to make the minds of the people deviate from the right path, to divert their movement, to bring the world of Islam to its knees and to prevent Shia community and Shia teachings from becoming a model in the world of Islam. Such measures are being adopted.
We have unique and exclusive resources against this effort of the enemy. We can respond through the internet and through the methods that they themselves employ - of course, their work is much broader in scope - but we have certain means which are exclusive to us.
One of these means is you society of panegyrists. Your face-to-face communication and your utilization of art for conveying concepts to the audience in a comprehensive and wide-ranging way - that is to say, the issue is not about two, three, ten panegyrists, rather thousands of panegyrists are doing this throughout the country - is an exclusive means that we enjoy. It is a means that they do not have.
Minbars are one of these unique means. The same is true of mourning ceremonies. The same is true of religious heyats. If the content of our minbars, eulogies, heyats and nohas are appropriate, then no means can confront and oppose them. That is to say, this means is completely unique and exclusive. Notice that this is an opportunity. Therefore, it should not be wasted and missed.
What is worse than missing this opportunity is using it in a bad way. If our religious ceremonies and eulogies make the people lose their belief in the future, we have wasted this opportunity and we have not appreciated the value of this blessing. If the people leave our minbars and our eulogies while they have not gained any understanding about their conditions and their responsibilities, we have wasted this opportunity. If, God forbid, our meetings shatter unity, we have missed this opportunity. If the way we speak or the content of our speech helps the enemies succeed in their goals, we have turned this divine blessing into blasphemy and ungratefulness: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They have changed Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 28].
We should be careful about this. We have said many times that today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s denominational discord among Muslims is a weapon and a trump card in the hands of our enemies. This is completely clear to those people who are well-informed about global developments. Such denominational discord is a sword in the hands of our enemies. Publicizing differences, expressing them in an outspoken way and speaking about issues which fuel fitna is one of the means which our enemy makes maximum use of.
Now if we act in a way that the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s goal is achieved, this is changing Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness. In religious ceremonies, denominational discourse should not be highlighted. How many times should this be repeated? We have said this many times, but some people do not want to listen.
What do you do if you want to guide those people who do not believe in your denomination and your true beliefs? Do you begin to curse and speak ill of their sacred beliefs? This will make them completely drift away from you and it will destroy all hopes of guiding them. The way to guide them is not this. As you can see today, the world of Shia Islam is under attack. Those who had not heard the name of Shia and Sunni Islam - the leaders of arrogance - are constantly highlighting the name of Shia Islam in their propaganda. They constantly speak about Shia Iran, Shia groups in Iraq and other Shia countries. They constantly highlight the issue of Shia and Sunni.
Why do they do this? It is because they have found a good tool for provoking grudge among Muslims. Well, we are proud that we are Alavi Shias. We are proud that we have gained understanding about the position of Wilayat. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) carried the flag of the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) Wilayat and this became a means for the world of Islam - whether Shia or non-Shia Islam - to feel proud of Islam.
Now, should we do something to turn this feeling of pride and the interest of the world of Islam in Shia community and Shia honor into enmity, hostility and grudge? This is exactly what the enemy wants. We should not allow him to achieve his goal. This is a very important point. You should be careful about this. You should be careful more than other people. We should not do something to help the enemy succeed in his goal and sharpen his sword. Our great personalities, our ulama, our marja taqlids and the great personalities of the world of Islam have always advised us to be careful about this issue. So, this is a very fundamental point.
The second point is that you should take care not to do anything in religious environments and ceremonies which is beyond the principles of sharia. You should be careful about this. The environment of panegyric and religious singing is a pure and clean environment. We should not allow the impurities which have unfortunately been promoted in the world of art among decadent and immoral people to penetrate into the environment of Islamic and religious art. You should be careful about this. Such environments should be clean, pure, untainted and moral. The environment in which we want to convey Islamic teachings with the language of poetry should be such an environment.
Every word that we use in our poems as content and meaning should be instructive. We should try to do this and it does not matter what occasion it is. Sometimes, it is a mourning ceremony and sometimes, it is a eulogy. All of the words that we select can be instructive. In the last Muharram during the time of taghut - it was during the time of revolutionary enthusiasm and excitement and the Revolution became victorious immediately after this Muharram - religious heyats in different cities used to perform certain nohas, each of which enlightened and informed the people as strongly as a long and eloquent speech. Nohas should always be like this.
The task that noha performers carry out is a very remarkable and interesting task. The tradition of performing nohas and the kind of behavior which is witnessed in nohas are very important. These are exclusive to Shia community. That is to say, they are particular to us. Such religious ceremonies do not exist in other countries. This is one of our privileges and therefore, such ceremonies should have strong content.
If, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, these things receive attention, the society of panegyrists will be one of the most influential pioneers of change in the intellectual and practical system of Iranian society. This can be achieved as in the present time, one can see that whenever a responsible and committed panegyrist recites a good poem in a proper way, this will exert influence over the audience and it will awaken and inform them.
It is not clear whether any charitable act can be as valuable as this task in improving society. There are few tasks on which one can place such a high value before Allah the Exalted. This is a very important task. Thankfully, you benefit from this blessing. You have a good voice and you have the capability to perform in a good and melodious way. If you accompany this with the characteristics that were referred to, it seems that a great task for furthering the goals of the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic will be carried out.
Fortunately today, we do not have a shortage of good poems. We have very good religious and ayini poets. These poets compose poems about different issues and their poems are good. Thankfully today, we benefited from some of these good poems. It was very good.
In the past, panegyrists had to memorize poems. Today, you broke this tradition. You made it easier by using a piece of paper. Well, good poems can be written and recited. Thankfully, this opportunity exists today. This is one of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greatest blessings which is available to us today.
In my opinion, the society of panegyrists with its enormous capabilities is a divine blessing for our country and our people and the poets who compose poems and who prepare panegyrists for carrying out this responsibility are really accomplishing a great feat. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on all you dear ones - particularly you youth who have a wide arena of work ahead of you. I hope that all of you will be rewarded by the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and that you will receive his attention.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings
More...
Description:
Translated speech Link
http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1897&Itemid=4
April 20 2014,
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I congratulate all of you dear brothers - who are lyrical nightingales in the garden of love for the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Sayyidah Taherah Masoumeh (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the birthday anniversary of the great and glorious leader of the Revolution.
We thank God because this is one of His great blessings for us and it is a source of inspiration for our Islamic and Shia society. He repeatedly and constantly inspires our society with birthday anniversaries, biographies, and martyrdom eras. This should really be appreciated.
During the birthday anniversaries of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), Imam Hassan (a.s.), Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the memory of these shining stars and these guiding flags are revived in hearts. This is very valuable. And thank God it is many years that we have been holding this meeting in the shade of Fatemi enlightenment (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s purest greetings be upon her). It is many years that this meeting has been bestowing its blessings on us, on our working and living environments and on the environment of the country.
Man\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s limited mind cannot definitely evaluate and measure the characteristics of heavenly personalities like Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her). People\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s minds do not have the capability to evaluate and measure these spiritual dimensions. However, we can make their behavior a model for ourselves. This was also pointed out in the poems that the friends in this meeting recited.
The spiritual positions of these personalities are one thing and the patterns of behavior which are in front of our eyes are quite another. This does not mean that we can emulate these personalities by displaying a second version of their patterns of behavior. This is not what it means. However, we can follow them at least.
The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I know that to adopt such a hard way of life is beyond you, but at least try to be pious. Help me and be my companion in virtue, diligence and simple living\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. After he describes his lifestyle - although he had a lofty position and had access to many resources, he lived a life of piety and abstinence - he says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You cannot behave like me, but you can help me\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". With what? We can help him with piety, avoidance of sins, effort and diligence. These are our responsibilities.
They have illustrated the goals for us, both individual and personal goals, and social, political and general goals. In personal goals, our lofty ideal is reaching the peak of human dignity. Everyone has been promised that they can take this lofty and limitless flight. You youth are more capable than us. These are the personal goals.
And our great social goals are creating a pure Islamic life and Islamic society, one that allows individuals to move towards this goal. Such a society is well-developed, free, independent, highly moral, united, unanimous, pious and religious. These are the goals of Islamic society. The main social and political goal of Islam is creating a world which is an introduction to the afterlife and which helps individuals to achieve paradise easily. They have illustrated these goals for us.
What is the way to achieve these goals? How can we reach these goals? As Imam Ali (a.s.) said, we should help him to reach this goal - this is the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) command. This goal is what the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) did in his entire life and during his efforts and jihad, which is creating such a world for all the people throughout history. How can we help him? We can help him with virtue, diligence and effort. Laziness is forbidden. Idleness is forbidden. Feeling tired is forbidden. Becoming desperate is forbidden. When this great movement is launched, you have gladdened the blessed heart of Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) because they made all these efforts in order to reach this goal.
My dear ones, dear youth, this opportunity is available to the people of Iran today. In the past, it was not available and it was difficult. Today in the Islamic Republic, the opportunity to move forward in the right way and to lead a good, pious and pure life is available to all the people in society. This does not mean that the path of committing sins is closed. This is not the case because the path of sins is always open, but the path of living a good, pious and pure life in the shade of Islam is open as well.
Of course, living such a life has its own pleasures and difficulties. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive them\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 112]. There have always been certain enemies against the camp of prophets. Who are these enemies? These enemies are the shaitans from among men and jinn. Against this seemingly long line of shaitans, there is the steel and strong line of believers. The people of Iran experienced this and it became clear that people can achieve victory over their enemies, as the people of Iran have thankfully moved forward until today.
We should make efforts. The lesson of the life of Siddiqat al-Taherah - Fatima Zahra (God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is to make efforts, show diligence and lead a pure life, as that great personality was the manifestation of enlightenment and purity: she was \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"pure, clean, immaculate, virtuous, pious and moral\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Kamel al-Ziarat, page 310]. The purity, cleanliness, piety and enlightenment of that great person are what have influenced our Islamic teachings throughout the history of Shiaism.
What is appropriate to be discussed in this meeting is related to the heavy responsibility that falls on the shoulders of today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s society of panegyrists. This issue has priority over other issues. Dear brothers, the tradition of praising and eulogizing the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - which is a great honor - has fortunately become common and deep-rooted in our society. This tradition existed in the past as well, but it was limited in scope. However today, this banquet has spread and this arena has opened to everyone.
Today, thousands of people throughout the country are active in this arena by utilizing their artistic taste and benefitting from different methods of eloquence. Well, this is an opportunity and any opportunity is accompanied by a responsibility. When you cannot communicate with someone, your responsibility remains at a limited level, but when you can, your responsibility will naturally increase to the extent that your capability for communication allows.
When you can speak to the people and when you have the capability to address them with the art of poetry, singing and melody, this makes you responsible. All these opportunities and capacities are accompanied by a responsibility. You should be able to carry out this responsibility in an efficient way. If the society of panegyrists in the country can carry out its responsibility as befits its position, then a significant development will take place throughout the country.
I have repeatedly said that if you recite a poem in an artistic way and if the poem itself is meaningful and instructive, then this will exert more influence than the speech that we deliver for two, three hours. Sometimes, this is the case. Well, this is a very good opportunity. Notice what will happen if the thousands of panegyrists, eulogists and religious singers who address the people and who sing to them on different occasions observe the principles and requirements of this great task.
Our enemies are after destroying our beliefs, actions and paths with hundreds of weapons and discourses and with various kinds of measures. Primarily, they are doing this in the Islamic Republic and secondly, they are doing it in the world of Islam. Many of the people understand, see and know about the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s measures. There are different TV and radio channels and different electronic means of communication.
However, there are certain propaganda measures about which we have more information than the people. The masses of the people do not know what complex measures are being adopted in our country to make the minds of the people deviate from the right path, to divert their movement, to bring the world of Islam to its knees and to prevent Shia community and Shia teachings from becoming a model in the world of Islam. Such measures are being adopted.
We have unique and exclusive resources against this effort of the enemy. We can respond through the internet and through the methods that they themselves employ - of course, their work is much broader in scope - but we have certain means which are exclusive to us.
One of these means is you society of panegyrists. Your face-to-face communication and your utilization of art for conveying concepts to the audience in a comprehensive and wide-ranging way - that is to say, the issue is not about two, three, ten panegyrists, rather thousands of panegyrists are doing this throughout the country - is an exclusive means that we enjoy. It is a means that they do not have.
Minbars are one of these unique means. The same is true of mourning ceremonies. The same is true of religious heyats. If the content of our minbars, eulogies, heyats and nohas are appropriate, then no means can confront and oppose them. That is to say, this means is completely unique and exclusive. Notice that this is an opportunity. Therefore, it should not be wasted and missed.
What is worse than missing this opportunity is using it in a bad way. If our religious ceremonies and eulogies make the people lose their belief in the future, we have wasted this opportunity and we have not appreciated the value of this blessing. If the people leave our minbars and our eulogies while they have not gained any understanding about their conditions and their responsibilities, we have wasted this opportunity. If, God forbid, our meetings shatter unity, we have missed this opportunity. If the way we speak or the content of our speech helps the enemies succeed in their goals, we have turned this divine blessing into blasphemy and ungratefulness: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They have changed Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 28].
We should be careful about this. We have said many times that today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s denominational discord among Muslims is a weapon and a trump card in the hands of our enemies. This is completely clear to those people who are well-informed about global developments. Such denominational discord is a sword in the hands of our enemies. Publicizing differences, expressing them in an outspoken way and speaking about issues which fuel fitna is one of the means which our enemy makes maximum use of.
Now if we act in a way that the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s goal is achieved, this is changing Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness. In religious ceremonies, denominational discourse should not be highlighted. How many times should this be repeated? We have said this many times, but some people do not want to listen.
What do you do if you want to guide those people who do not believe in your denomination and your true beliefs? Do you begin to curse and speak ill of their sacred beliefs? This will make them completely drift away from you and it will destroy all hopes of guiding them. The way to guide them is not this. As you can see today, the world of Shia Islam is under attack. Those who had not heard the name of Shia and Sunni Islam - the leaders of arrogance - are constantly highlighting the name of Shia Islam in their propaganda. They constantly speak about Shia Iran, Shia groups in Iraq and other Shia countries. They constantly highlight the issue of Shia and Sunni.
Why do they do this? It is because they have found a good tool for provoking grudge among Muslims. Well, we are proud that we are Alavi Shias. We are proud that we have gained understanding about the position of Wilayat. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) carried the flag of the Commander of the Faithful\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) Wilayat and this became a means for the world of Islam - whether Shia or non-Shia Islam - to feel proud of Islam.
Now, should we do something to turn this feeling of pride and the interest of the world of Islam in Shia community and Shia honor into enmity, hostility and grudge? This is exactly what the enemy wants. We should not allow him to achieve his goal. This is a very important point. You should be careful about this. You should be careful more than other people. We should not do something to help the enemy succeed in his goal and sharpen his sword. Our great personalities, our ulama, our marja taqlids and the great personalities of the world of Islam have always advised us to be careful about this issue. So, this is a very fundamental point.
The second point is that you should take care not to do anything in religious environments and ceremonies which is beyond the principles of sharia. You should be careful about this. The environment of panegyric and religious singing is a pure and clean environment. We should not allow the impurities which have unfortunately been promoted in the world of art among decadent and immoral people to penetrate into the environment of Islamic and religious art. You should be careful about this. Such environments should be clean, pure, untainted and moral. The environment in which we want to convey Islamic teachings with the language of poetry should be such an environment.
Every word that we use in our poems as content and meaning should be instructive. We should try to do this and it does not matter what occasion it is. Sometimes, it is a mourning ceremony and sometimes, it is a eulogy. All of the words that we select can be instructive. In the last Muharram during the time of taghut - it was during the time of revolutionary enthusiasm and excitement and the Revolution became victorious immediately after this Muharram - religious heyats in different cities used to perform certain nohas, each of which enlightened and informed the people as strongly as a long and eloquent speech. Nohas should always be like this.
The task that noha performers carry out is a very remarkable and interesting task. The tradition of performing nohas and the kind of behavior which is witnessed in nohas are very important. These are exclusive to Shia community. That is to say, they are particular to us. Such religious ceremonies do not exist in other countries. This is one of our privileges and therefore, such ceremonies should have strong content.
If, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, these things receive attention, the society of panegyrists will be one of the most influential pioneers of change in the intellectual and practical system of Iranian society. This can be achieved as in the present time, one can see that whenever a responsible and committed panegyrist recites a good poem in a proper way, this will exert influence over the audience and it will awaken and inform them.
It is not clear whether any charitable act can be as valuable as this task in improving society. There are few tasks on which one can place such a high value before Allah the Exalted. This is a very important task. Thankfully, you benefit from this blessing. You have a good voice and you have the capability to perform in a good and melodious way. If you accompany this with the characteristics that were referred to, it seems that a great task for furthering the goals of the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic will be carried out.
Fortunately today, we do not have a shortage of good poems. We have very good religious and ayini poets. These poets compose poems about different issues and their poems are good. Thankfully today, we benefited from some of these good poems. It was very good.
In the past, panegyrists had to memorize poems. Today, you broke this tradition. You made it easier by using a piece of paper. Well, good poems can be written and recited. Thankfully, this opportunity exists today. This is one of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greatest blessings which is available to us today.
In my opinion, the society of panegyrists with its enormous capabilities is a divine blessing for our country and our people and the poets who compose poems and who prepare panegyrists for carrying out this responsibility are really accomplishing a great feat. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on all you dear ones - particularly you youth who have a wide arena of work ahead of you. I hope that all of you will be rewarded by the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and that you will receive his attention.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings
Ayatollah Khamenei speech on the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.) April 20,2014 - Farsi
Ayatollah Khamenei\\\'s speech on the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.) April 20,2014
Translation
Source : English.Khamenei.ir
Supreme Leader\\\'s Speech in Meeting...
Ayatollah Khamenei\\\'s speech on the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.) April 20,2014
Translation
Source : English.Khamenei.ir
Supreme Leader\\\'s Speech in Meeting with Panegyrists Print
20/04/2014
The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 20, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with a group of panegyrists on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.).
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I congratulate all of you dear brothers - who are lyrical nightingales in the garden of love for the Holy Prophet\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Sayyidah Taherah Masoumeh (God\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the birthday anniversary of the great and glorious leader of the Revolution.
We thank God because this is one of His great blessings for us and it is a source of inspiration for our Islamic and Shia society. He repeatedly and constantly inspires our society with birthday anniversaries, biographies, and martyrdom eras. This should really be appreciated.
During the birthday anniversaries of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), Imam Hassan (a.s.), Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the memory of these shining stars and these guiding flags are revived in hearts. This is very valuable. And thank God it is many years that we have been holding this meeting in the shade of Fatemi enlightenment (God\\\'s purest greetings be upon her). It is many years that this meeting has been bestowing its blessings on us, on our working and living environments and on the environment of the country.
Man\\\'s limited mind cannot definitely evaluate and measure the characteristics of heavenly personalities like Fatima Zahra (God\\\'s greetings be upon her). People\\\'s minds do not have the capability to evaluate and measure these spiritual dimensions. However, we can make their behavior a model for ourselves. This was also pointed out in the poems that the friends in this meeting recited.
The spiritual positions of these personalities are one thing and the patterns of behavior which are in front of our eyes are quite another. This does not mean that we can emulate these personalities by displaying a second version of their patterns of behavior. This is not what it means. However, we can follow them at least.
The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, \\\"I know that to adopt such a hard way of life is beyond you, but at least try to be pious. Help me and be my companion in virtue, diligence and simple living\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. After he describes his lifestyle - although he had a lofty position and had access to many resources, he lived a life of piety and abstinence - he says, \\\"You cannot behave like me, but you can help me\\\". With what? We can help him with piety, avoidance of sins, effort and diligence. These are our responsibilities.
They have illustrated the goals for us, both individual and personal goals, and social, political and general goals. In personal goals, our lofty ideal is reaching the peak of human dignity. Everyone has been promised that they can take this lofty and limitless flight. You youth are more capable than us. These are the personal goals.
And our great social goals are creating a pure Islamic life and Islamic society, one that allows individuals to move towards this goal. Such a society is well-developed, free, independent, highly moral, united, unanimous, pious and religious. These are the goals of Islamic society. The main social and political goal of Islam is creating a world which is an introduction to the afterlife and which helps individuals to achieve paradise easily. They have illustrated these goals for us.
What is the way to achieve these goals? How can we reach these goals? As Imam Ali (a.s.) said, we should help him to reach this goal - this is the Commander of the Faithful\\\'s (a.s.) command. This goal is what the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) did in his entire life and during his efforts and jihad, which is creating such a world for all the people throughout history. How can we help him? We can help him with virtue, diligence and effort. Laziness is forbidden. Idleness is forbidden. Feeling tired is forbidden. Becoming desperate is forbidden. When this great movement is launched, you have gladdened the blessed heart of Fatima Zahra (God\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) because they made all these efforts in order to reach this goal.
My dear ones, dear youth, this opportunity is available to the people of Iran today. In the past, it was not available and it was difficult. Today in the Islamic Republic, the opportunity to move forward in the right way and to lead a good, pious and pure life is available to all the people in society. This does not mean that the path of committing sins is closed. This is not the case because the path of sins is always open, but the path of living a good, pious and pure life in the shade of Islam is open as well.
Of course, living such a life has its own pleasures and difficulties. \\\"And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive them\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 112]. There have always been certain enemies against the camp of prophets. Who are these enemies? These enemies are the shaitans from among men and jinn. Against this seemingly long line of shaitans, there is the steel and strong line of believers. The people of Iran experienced this and it became clear that people can achieve victory over their enemies, as the people of Iran have thankfully moved forward until today.
We should make efforts. The lesson of the life of Siddiqat al-Taherah - Fatima Zahra (God\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is to make efforts, show diligence and lead a pure life, as that great personality was the manifestation of enlightenment and purity: she was \\\"pure, clean, immaculate, virtuous, pious and moral\\\" [Kamel al-Ziarat, page 310]. The purity, cleanliness, piety and enlightenment of that great person are what have influenced our Islamic teachings throughout the history of Shiaism.
What is appropriate to be discussed in this meeting is related to the heavy responsibility that falls on the shoulders of today\\\'s society of panegyrists. This issue has priority over other issues. Dear brothers, the tradition of praising and eulogizing the Holy Prophet\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - which is a great honor - has fortunately become common and deep-rooted in our society. This tradition existed in the past as well, but it was limited in scope. However today, this banquet has spread and this arena has opened to everyone.
Today, thousands of people throughout the country are active in this arena by utilizing their artistic taste and benefitting from different methods of eloquence. Well, this is an opportunity and any opportunity is accompanied by a responsibility. When you cannot communicate with someone, your responsibility remains at a limited level, but when you can, your responsibility will naturally increase to the extent that your capability for communication allows.
When you can speak to the people and when you have the capability to address them with the art of poetry, singing and melody, this makes you responsible. All these opportunities and capacities are accompanied by a responsibility. You should be able to carry out this responsibility in an efficient way. If the society of panegyrists in the country can carry out its responsibility as befits its position, then a significant development will take place throughout the country.
I have repeatedly said that if you recite a poem in an artistic way and if the poem itself is meaningful and instructive, then this will exert more influence than the speech that we deliver for two, three hours. Sometimes, this is the case. Well, this is a very good opportunity. Notice what will happen if the thousands of panegyrists, eulogists and religious singers who address the people and who sing to them on different occasions observe the principles and requirements of this great task.
Our enemies are after destroying our beliefs, actions and paths with hundreds of weapons and discourses and with various kinds of measures. Primarily, they are doing this in the Islamic Republic and secondly, they are doing it in the world of Islam. Many of the people understand, see and know about the enemy\\\'s measures. There are different TV and radio channels and different electronic means of communication.
However, there are certain propaganda measures about which we have more information than the people. The masses of the people do not know what complex measures are being adopted in our country to make the minds of the people deviate from the right path, to divert their movement, to bring the world of Islam to its knees and to prevent Shia community and Shia teachings from becoming a model in the world of Islam. Such measures are being adopted.
We have unique and exclusive resources against this effort of the enemy. We can respond through the internet and through the methods that they themselves employ - of course, their work is much broader in scope - but we have certain means which are exclusive to us.
One of these means is you society of panegyrists. Your face-to-face communication and your utilization of art for conveying concepts to the audience in a comprehensive and wide-ranging way - that is to say, the issue is not about two, three, ten panegyrists, rather thousands of panegyrists are doing this throughout the country - is an exclusive means that we enjoy. It is a means that they do not have.
Minbars are one of these unique means. The same is true of mourning ceremonies. The same is true of religious heyats. If the content of our minbars, eulogies, heyats and nohas are appropriate, then no means can confront and oppose them. That is to say, this means is completely unique and exclusive. Notice that this is an opportunity. Therefore, it should not be wasted and missed.
What is worse than missing this opportunity is using it in a bad way. If our religious ceremonies and eulogies make the people lose their belief in the future, we have wasted this opportunity and we have not appreciated the value of this blessing. If the people leave our minbars and our eulogies while they have not gained any understanding about their conditions and their responsibilities, we have wasted this opportunity. If, God forbid, our meetings shatter unity, we have missed this opportunity. If the way we speak or the content of our speech helps the enemies succeed in their goals, we have turned this divine blessing into blasphemy and ungratefulness: \\\"They have changed Allah\\\'s favor for ungratefulness\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 28].
We should be careful about this. We have said many times that today\\\'s denominational discord among Muslims is a weapon and a trump card in the hands of our enemies. This is completely clear to those people who are well-informed about global developments. Such denominational discord is a sword in the hands of our enemies. Publicizing differences, expressing them in an outspoken way and speaking about issues which fuel fitna is one of the means which our enemy makes maximum use of.
Now if we act in a way that the enemy\\\'s goal is achieved, this is changing Allah\\\'s favor for ungratefulness. In religious ceremonies, denominational discourse should not be highlighted. How many times should this be repeated? We have said this many times, but some people do not want to listen.
What do you do if you want to guide those people who do not believe in your denomination and your true beliefs? Do you begin to curse and speak ill of their sacred beliefs? This will make them completely drift away from you and it will destroy all hopes of guiding them. The way to guide them is not this. As you can see today, the world of Shia Islam is under attack. Those who had not heard the name of Shia and Sunni Islam - the leaders of arrogance - are constantly highlighting the name of Shia Islam in their propaganda. They constantly speak about Shia Iran, Shia groups in Iraq and other Shia countries. They constantly highlight the issue of Shia and Sunni.
Why do they do this? It is because they have found a good tool for provoking grudge among Muslims. Well, we are proud that we are Alavi Shias. We are proud that we have gained understanding about the position of Wilayat. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) carried the flag of the Commander of the Faithful\\\'s (a.s.) Wilayat and this became a means for the world of Islam - whether Shia or non-Shia Islam - to feel proud of Islam.
Now, should we do something to turn this feeling of pride and the interest of the world of Islam in Shia community and Shia honor into enmity, hostility and grudge? This is exactly what the enemy wants. We should not allow him to achieve his goal. This is a very important point. You should be careful about this. You should be careful more than other people. We should not do something to help the enemy succeed in his goal and sharpen his sword. Our great personalities, our ulama, our marja taqlids and the great personalities of the world of Islam have always advised us to be careful about this issue. So, this is a very fundamental point.
The second point is that you should take care not to do anything in religious environments and ceremonies which is beyond the principles of sharia. You should be careful about this. The environment of panegyric and religious singing is a pure and clean environment. We should not allow the impurities which have unfortunately been promoted in the world of art among decadent and immoral people to penetrate into the environment of Islamic and religious art. You should be careful about this. Such environments should be clean, pure, untainted and moral. The environment in which we want to convey Islamic teachings with the language of poetry should be such an environment.
Every word that we use in our poems as content and meaning should be instructive. We should try to do this and it does not matter what occasion it is. Sometimes, it is a mourning ceremony and sometimes, it is a eulogy. All of the words that we select can be instructive. In the last Muharram during the time of taghut - it was during the time of revolutionary enthusiasm and excitement and the Revolution became victorious immediately after this Muharram - religious heyats in different cities used to perform certain nohas, each of which enlightened and informed the people as strongly as a long and eloquent speech. Nohas should always be like this.
The task that noha performers carry out is a very remarkable and interesting task. The tradition of performing nohas and the kind of behavior which is witnessed in nohas are very important. These are exclusive to Shia community. That is to say, they are particular to us. Such religious ceremonies do not exist in other countries. This is one of our privileges and therefore, such ceremonies should have strong content.
If, by Allah\\\'s favor, these things receive attention, the society of panegyrists will be one of the most influential pioneers of change in the intellectual and practical system of Iranian society. This can be achieved as in the present time, one can see that whenever a responsible and committed panegyrist recites a good poem in a proper way, this will exert influence over the audience and it will awaken and inform them.
It is not clear whether any charitable act can be as valuable as this task in improving society. There are few tasks on which one can place such a high value before Allah the Exalted. This is a very important task. Thankfully, you benefit from this blessing. You have a good voice and you have the capability to perform in a good and melodious way. If you accompany this with the characteristics that were referred to, it seems that a great task for furthering the goals of the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic will be carried out.
Fortunately today, we do not have a shortage of good poems. We have very good religious and ayini poets. These poets compose poems about different issues and their poems are good. Thankfully today, we benefited from some of these good poems. It was very good.
In the past, panegyrists had to memorize poems. Today, you broke this tradition. You made it easier by using a piece of paper. Well, good poems can be written and recited. Thankfully, this opportunity exists today. This is one of God\\\'s greatest blessings which is available to us today.
In my opinion, the society of panegyrists with its enormous capabilities is a divine blessing for our country and our people and the poets who compose poems and who prepare panegyrists for carrying out this responsibility are really accomplishing a great feat. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on all you dear ones - particularly you youth who have a wide arena of work ahead of you. I hope that all of you will be rewarded by the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and that you will receive his attention.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\'s mercy and blessings
More...
Description:
Ayatollah Khamenei\\\'s speech on the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.) April 20,2014
Translation
Source : English.Khamenei.ir
Supreme Leader\\\'s Speech in Meeting with Panegyrists Print
20/04/2014
The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 20, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with a group of panegyrists on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.).
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I congratulate all of you dear brothers - who are lyrical nightingales in the garden of love for the Holy Prophet\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - on the occasion of the auspicious birthday anniversary of Sayyidah Taherah Masoumeh (God\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the birthday anniversary of the great and glorious leader of the Revolution.
We thank God because this is one of His great blessings for us and it is a source of inspiration for our Islamic and Shia society. He repeatedly and constantly inspires our society with birthday anniversaries, biographies, and martyrdom eras. This should really be appreciated.
During the birthday anniversaries of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), Imam Hassan (a.s.), Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the memory of these shining stars and these guiding flags are revived in hearts. This is very valuable. And thank God it is many years that we have been holding this meeting in the shade of Fatemi enlightenment (God\\\'s purest greetings be upon her). It is many years that this meeting has been bestowing its blessings on us, on our working and living environments and on the environment of the country.
Man\\\'s limited mind cannot definitely evaluate and measure the characteristics of heavenly personalities like Fatima Zahra (God\\\'s greetings be upon her). People\\\'s minds do not have the capability to evaluate and measure these spiritual dimensions. However, we can make their behavior a model for ourselves. This was also pointed out in the poems that the friends in this meeting recited.
The spiritual positions of these personalities are one thing and the patterns of behavior which are in front of our eyes are quite another. This does not mean that we can emulate these personalities by displaying a second version of their patterns of behavior. This is not what it means. However, we can follow them at least.
The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, \\\"I know that to adopt such a hard way of life is beyond you, but at least try to be pious. Help me and be my companion in virtue, diligence and simple living\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45]. After he describes his lifestyle - although he had a lofty position and had access to many resources, he lived a life of piety and abstinence - he says, \\\"You cannot behave like me, but you can help me\\\". With what? We can help him with piety, avoidance of sins, effort and diligence. These are our responsibilities.
They have illustrated the goals for us, both individual and personal goals, and social, political and general goals. In personal goals, our lofty ideal is reaching the peak of human dignity. Everyone has been promised that they can take this lofty and limitless flight. You youth are more capable than us. These are the personal goals.
And our great social goals are creating a pure Islamic life and Islamic society, one that allows individuals to move towards this goal. Such a society is well-developed, free, independent, highly moral, united, unanimous, pious and religious. These are the goals of Islamic society. The main social and political goal of Islam is creating a world which is an introduction to the afterlife and which helps individuals to achieve paradise easily. They have illustrated these goals for us.
What is the way to achieve these goals? How can we reach these goals? As Imam Ali (a.s.) said, we should help him to reach this goal - this is the Commander of the Faithful\\\'s (a.s.) command. This goal is what the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) did in his entire life and during his efforts and jihad, which is creating such a world for all the people throughout history. How can we help him? We can help him with virtue, diligence and effort. Laziness is forbidden. Idleness is forbidden. Feeling tired is forbidden. Becoming desperate is forbidden. When this great movement is launched, you have gladdened the blessed heart of Fatima Zahra (God\\\'s greetings be upon her) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) because they made all these efforts in order to reach this goal.
My dear ones, dear youth, this opportunity is available to the people of Iran today. In the past, it was not available and it was difficult. Today in the Islamic Republic, the opportunity to move forward in the right way and to lead a good, pious and pure life is available to all the people in society. This does not mean that the path of committing sins is closed. This is not the case because the path of sins is always open, but the path of living a good, pious and pure life in the shade of Islam is open as well.
Of course, living such a life has its own pleasures and difficulties. \\\"And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive them\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 112]. There have always been certain enemies against the camp of prophets. Who are these enemies? These enemies are the shaitans from among men and jinn. Against this seemingly long line of shaitans, there is the steel and strong line of believers. The people of Iran experienced this and it became clear that people can achieve victory over their enemies, as the people of Iran have thankfully moved forward until today.
We should make efforts. The lesson of the life of Siddiqat al-Taherah - Fatima Zahra (God\\\'s greetings be upon her) - is to make efforts, show diligence and lead a pure life, as that great personality was the manifestation of enlightenment and purity: she was \\\"pure, clean, immaculate, virtuous, pious and moral\\\" [Kamel al-Ziarat, page 310]. The purity, cleanliness, piety and enlightenment of that great person are what have influenced our Islamic teachings throughout the history of Shiaism.
What is appropriate to be discussed in this meeting is related to the heavy responsibility that falls on the shoulders of today\\\'s society of panegyrists. This issue has priority over other issues. Dear brothers, the tradition of praising and eulogizing the Holy Prophet\\\'s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.) - which is a great honor - has fortunately become common and deep-rooted in our society. This tradition existed in the past as well, but it was limited in scope. However today, this banquet has spread and this arena has opened to everyone.
Today, thousands of people throughout the country are active in this arena by utilizing their artistic taste and benefitting from different methods of eloquence. Well, this is an opportunity and any opportunity is accompanied by a responsibility. When you cannot communicate with someone, your responsibility remains at a limited level, but when you can, your responsibility will naturally increase to the extent that your capability for communication allows.
When you can speak to the people and when you have the capability to address them with the art of poetry, singing and melody, this makes you responsible. All these opportunities and capacities are accompanied by a responsibility. You should be able to carry out this responsibility in an efficient way. If the society of panegyrists in the country can carry out its responsibility as befits its position, then a significant development will take place throughout the country.
I have repeatedly said that if you recite a poem in an artistic way and if the poem itself is meaningful and instructive, then this will exert more influence than the speech that we deliver for two, three hours. Sometimes, this is the case. Well, this is a very good opportunity. Notice what will happen if the thousands of panegyrists, eulogists and religious singers who address the people and who sing to them on different occasions observe the principles and requirements of this great task.
Our enemies are after destroying our beliefs, actions and paths with hundreds of weapons and discourses and with various kinds of measures. Primarily, they are doing this in the Islamic Republic and secondly, they are doing it in the world of Islam. Many of the people understand, see and know about the enemy\\\'s measures. There are different TV and radio channels and different electronic means of communication.
However, there are certain propaganda measures about which we have more information than the people. The masses of the people do not know what complex measures are being adopted in our country to make the minds of the people deviate from the right path, to divert their movement, to bring the world of Islam to its knees and to prevent Shia community and Shia teachings from becoming a model in the world of Islam. Such measures are being adopted.
We have unique and exclusive resources against this effort of the enemy. We can respond through the internet and through the methods that they themselves employ - of course, their work is much broader in scope - but we have certain means which are exclusive to us.
One of these means is you society of panegyrists. Your face-to-face communication and your utilization of art for conveying concepts to the audience in a comprehensive and wide-ranging way - that is to say, the issue is not about two, three, ten panegyrists, rather thousands of panegyrists are doing this throughout the country - is an exclusive means that we enjoy. It is a means that they do not have.
Minbars are one of these unique means. The same is true of mourning ceremonies. The same is true of religious heyats. If the content of our minbars, eulogies, heyats and nohas are appropriate, then no means can confront and oppose them. That is to say, this means is completely unique and exclusive. Notice that this is an opportunity. Therefore, it should not be wasted and missed.
What is worse than missing this opportunity is using it in a bad way. If our religious ceremonies and eulogies make the people lose their belief in the future, we have wasted this opportunity and we have not appreciated the value of this blessing. If the people leave our minbars and our eulogies while they have not gained any understanding about their conditions and their responsibilities, we have wasted this opportunity. If, God forbid, our meetings shatter unity, we have missed this opportunity. If the way we speak or the content of our speech helps the enemies succeed in their goals, we have turned this divine blessing into blasphemy and ungratefulness: \\\"They have changed Allah\\\'s favor for ungratefulness\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 28].
We should be careful about this. We have said many times that today\\\'s denominational discord among Muslims is a weapon and a trump card in the hands of our enemies. This is completely clear to those people who are well-informed about global developments. Such denominational discord is a sword in the hands of our enemies. Publicizing differences, expressing them in an outspoken way and speaking about issues which fuel fitna is one of the means which our enemy makes maximum use of.
Now if we act in a way that the enemy\\\'s goal is achieved, this is changing Allah\\\'s favor for ungratefulness. In religious ceremonies, denominational discourse should not be highlighted. How many times should this be repeated? We have said this many times, but some people do not want to listen.
What do you do if you want to guide those people who do not believe in your denomination and your true beliefs? Do you begin to curse and speak ill of their sacred beliefs? This will make them completely drift away from you and it will destroy all hopes of guiding them. The way to guide them is not this. As you can see today, the world of Shia Islam is under attack. Those who had not heard the name of Shia and Sunni Islam - the leaders of arrogance - are constantly highlighting the name of Shia Islam in their propaganda. They constantly speak about Shia Iran, Shia groups in Iraq and other Shia countries. They constantly highlight the issue of Shia and Sunni.
Why do they do this? It is because they have found a good tool for provoking grudge among Muslims. Well, we are proud that we are Alavi Shias. We are proud that we have gained understanding about the position of Wilayat. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) carried the flag of the Commander of the Faithful\\\'s (a.s.) Wilayat and this became a means for the world of Islam - whether Shia or non-Shia Islam - to feel proud of Islam.
Now, should we do something to turn this feeling of pride and the interest of the world of Islam in Shia community and Shia honor into enmity, hostility and grudge? This is exactly what the enemy wants. We should not allow him to achieve his goal. This is a very important point. You should be careful about this. You should be careful more than other people. We should not do something to help the enemy succeed in his goal and sharpen his sword. Our great personalities, our ulama, our marja taqlids and the great personalities of the world of Islam have always advised us to be careful about this issue. So, this is a very fundamental point.
The second point is that you should take care not to do anything in religious environments and ceremonies which is beyond the principles of sharia. You should be careful about this. The environment of panegyric and religious singing is a pure and clean environment. We should not allow the impurities which have unfortunately been promoted in the world of art among decadent and immoral people to penetrate into the environment of Islamic and religious art. You should be careful about this. Such environments should be clean, pure, untainted and moral. The environment in which we want to convey Islamic teachings with the language of poetry should be such an environment.
Every word that we use in our poems as content and meaning should be instructive. We should try to do this and it does not matter what occasion it is. Sometimes, it is a mourning ceremony and sometimes, it is a eulogy. All of the words that we select can be instructive. In the last Muharram during the time of taghut - it was during the time of revolutionary enthusiasm and excitement and the Revolution became victorious immediately after this Muharram - religious heyats in different cities used to perform certain nohas, each of which enlightened and informed the people as strongly as a long and eloquent speech. Nohas should always be like this.
The task that noha performers carry out is a very remarkable and interesting task. The tradition of performing nohas and the kind of behavior which is witnessed in nohas are very important. These are exclusive to Shia community. That is to say, they are particular to us. Such religious ceremonies do not exist in other countries. This is one of our privileges and therefore, such ceremonies should have strong content.
If, by Allah\\\'s favor, these things receive attention, the society of panegyrists will be one of the most influential pioneers of change in the intellectual and practical system of Iranian society. This can be achieved as in the present time, one can see that whenever a responsible and committed panegyrist recites a good poem in a proper way, this will exert influence over the audience and it will awaken and inform them.
It is not clear whether any charitable act can be as valuable as this task in improving society. There are few tasks on which one can place such a high value before Allah the Exalted. This is a very important task. Thankfully, you benefit from this blessing. You have a good voice and you have the capability to perform in a good and melodious way. If you accompany this with the characteristics that were referred to, it seems that a great task for furthering the goals of the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic will be carried out.
Fortunately today, we do not have a shortage of good poems. We have very good religious and ayini poets. These poets compose poems about different issues and their poems are good. Thankfully today, we benefited from some of these good poems. It was very good.
In the past, panegyrists had to memorize poems. Today, you broke this tradition. You made it easier by using a piece of paper. Well, good poems can be written and recited. Thankfully, this opportunity exists today. This is one of God\\\'s greatest blessings which is available to us today.
In my opinion, the society of panegyrists with its enormous capabilities is a divine blessing for our country and our people and the poets who compose poems and who prepare panegyrists for carrying out this responsibility are really accomplishing a great feat. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on all you dear ones - particularly you youth who have a wide arena of work ahead of you. I hope that all of you will be rewarded by the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and that you will receive his attention.
Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\'s mercy and blessings