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Ayatollah Khamenei’s message to Hajj pilgrims - 2011
2011/10/27 khamenei.ir
In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful
All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and greetings be the Master of the creatures, Muhammad al-Mustafa and his immaculate Family and his companions.
The spiritual spring of Hajj has arrived with its freshness, purity and God-given grandeur and majesty, gathering again the faithful and eager hearts like butterflies encircling the Ka’bah of divine unity and Islamic solidarity. Camped at Makkah and Mina, Arafat and Mash’ar are the fortunate human beings who, having responded to the call of “proclaim the Hajj to all the people”, are being honored with the hospitality of the clement and munificent Lord. Here is the blessed House and the source of guidance from which the manifest divine signs radiated and the canopy of safety was set up to cast its universal shade.
Cleanse your hearts in the Zamzam of piety, humility and God’s remembrance. Open the inner eye to the lights of the divine signs. Embrace the spirit of submission and dedication, which are the hallmarks of true servanthood. Continuously, refresh within your hearts the memory of that father who, in willing compliance, led his Ishmael to the scene of sacrifice, thus showing us the clear path of attaining the friendship of the Glorious Lord and the manner of traversing it with a resolve infused with faith and an intent imbued with sincerity.
The station of Abraham is one among these manifest signs. The footprint by the side of Holy Ka’bah of Abraham, may peace be upon him, is only a symbol of the station of Abraham. The Station of Abraham is his station of dedication and self-sacrifice, his fortitude and resistance to personal desires and fatherly feelings as well as against the domination of unfaith, polytheism and Nimrod, the tyrant of the time.
Today these two paths of deliverance lie open before each of us, individuals belonging to the Muslim Ummah. Determination, courage and firmness of resolve on the part of each one of us can advance us towards the same goals to which mankind has been invited by the divine envoys from Adam to the Seal of the Prophets, with the promise of dignity and felicity, in the world and the Hereafter, for those who tread this path.
It would be appropriate for Hajj pilgrims at this great assembly of the Islamic Ummah to address the most important issues of the Islamic world. The uprisings and revolutions in some important Islamic countries are at the head of these issues. The events that have taken place in the Islamic world in the interval between the previous and present Hajj pilgrimages can transform the destiny of the Islamic Ummah, and forebode a bright future rich with dignity as well as material and spiritual progress. Dictators and corrupt ‘taghoot’, allied with foreign powers, have been overthrown in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, and the stormy waves of popular uprising in some other countries threaten to bring down and destroy the palaces of wealth and power.
This new chapter in the history of our Ummah reveals certain truths which are all manifest divine signs and give us vital lessons. These truths should be taken into account by Muslim nations in all their calculations.
First, a young generation has emerged from the heart of these nations, after decades of political subjugation to foreign powers, which with its admirable self-confidence, welcomes danger, stands up to confront the dominant powers, and is determined to transform the status-quo.
Second, despite the authority and efforts of secular rulers and their overt and covert measures to curtail the influence of religion in these countries, Islam with its conspicuous and impressive presence, has become the guiding principle of popular expression and sentiment. Like a fountainhead effusing through popular discourse and deeds it has given vitality and freshness to the gatherings and activities of the millions. The mosques and minarets, Islamic slogans and calls of Allahu Akbar, all are clear indications of this fact and the recent Tunisian elections provide decisive evidence for this claim. Without doubt, free elections in any Islamic country will not result in anything but what happened in Tunisia.
Moreover, as this year’s events hav revealed to all, God Almighty has placed such a force in the resolve and determination of nations that no power whatsoever can withstand it. With this God-given power nations can change their destiny and receive divine victory.
Furthermore, during recent decades arrogant powers, led by the United States, had reduced regional states to subjugation through their political and security tactics. They imagined that they had opened an obstacle-free highway for their rising economic, cultural and political domination over this sensitive part of the world. Now they are the primary target of the disgust and hatred of the region’s nations. There should be no doubt, the political orders to emerge from these revolutions will never submit to the disgraceful inequalities of the past, and the political geography of the region will be drawn by nations in pursuance of their dignity and complete independence.
In addition, the cunning nature of the hypocritical Western powers has become all too apparent for the people of these countries. The United States and Europe made their utmost efforts to retain their pawns in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, each in their own way. However, when the resolve of the nations surmounted their will, they gave an insincere smile of friendship to the triumphant people.
There are further precious facts and manifest Divine signs embedded in the regional events of the past year, which are not hard to discern for reflective minds.
Nevertheless, the entire Islamic Ummah and especially the revolutionary nations stand in need of two basic elements:
First is the continuity of their stand and an avoidance of slackness in resolve. In the Qur’an, the divine summons to the greatest messenger, may Allah grant peace and honour to him and his family, is: “Be steadfast, just as you have been commanded—[you] and whoever has turned [to God] with you—and do not overstep the bounds (11:112)” and “Be steadfast, just as you have been commanded (42:15).” Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, is quoted as telling his people: ‘Turn to God for help and be patient. The earth indeed belongs to God, and He gives its inheritance to whomever He wishes of His servants, and the outcome will be in favor of the God-fearing.’ (7:128)
At the present, the most significant example of the fear of God for the risen nations is to refrain from halting their auspicious movement and avoid being diverted by the achievements of this phase. This is an important part of piety and fear of God whose possessors are rewarded with a “favorable outcome.
Second is vigilance with regard to the plots and traps of global arrogance and powers that have suffered damage from these uprisings and revolutions. They will not sit idle and they will re-enter the arena with all their political, financial and security capabilities in order to re-establish their influence and control over these countries. Their tools are bribery, threats, and deception. Experience has shown there are some among the elite who are susceptible to these tools. Fear, greed or negligence prompts them to serve the enemy knowingly or otherwise. The vigilant eyes of the youth, intellectuals and religious scholars should be very watchful.
The most important danger posed by the camp of unfaith and Arrogance lies in its intervention and influence in the building of the new political orders in these countries. They will do their utmost to see that the new systems do not take on an Islamic or popular identity. All the concerned people in these countries and all those who cherish their homeland’s honor, dignity and progress should strive to ensure that the Islamic and popular character of the new order is completely secured. In this regard, the role of the constitutions will be prominent. National unity and official recognition of sectarian, tribal and ethnic differences are a precondition for future success.
The valiant revolutionary nations of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, as well as other awakened and combatant nations, should know that the sole means of deliverance from the oppression and guile of the United States and other Western hubristic powers is to establish a global balance of power conducive to their interests. Muslims must bring themselves at par with major world powers in order to be able to seriously resolve their problems with the world-devourers. This cannot be achieved except with the cooperation, understanding, and solidarity of Islamic countries. This was the unforgettable testament of the great Imam Khomeini.
For months, the United States and NATO dropped bombs upon the heads of the Libyan people using Gaddafi, a vicious dictator, as an excuse. Gaddafi was the same person who was considered as their close friend before the valiant uprising of the Libyan people. They used to coddle him, steal the wealth of Libya through his hands and press or kiss his hand in order to deceive him. Following the people’s uprising, they made him an excuse to destroy the entire infrastructure of Libya. What government could stop the tragic massacre of the Libyan people and destruction of the country at the hands of NATO? Until the claws and fangs of the bloodthirsty and barbaric Western powers are broken, such dangers will remain conceivable for Islamic countries. Safety from such danger is not possible except by turning the Islamic world into a powerful pole.
Today the West, United States and Zionism are weaker than ever before. Economic troubles, successive failures in Afghanistan and Iraq, deep-running and widening public protests in America and other Western countries, the struggles and sacrifices of the people of Palestine and Lebanon, the daring popular uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain and some other countries under American influence are all great omens for the Islamic Ummah, especially for the emergent revolutionary nations. Faithful men and women throughout the Islamic world, particularly in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya should make the most of this opportunity in order to create an international Islamic power bloc. The vanguard and the elite of the uprisings should place their trust in the Almighty Allah and, with reliance on His promise of help, adorn the new chapter in the history of the Islamic Ummah with their lasting achievements, thus earning God’s approval and fulfilling the prerequisites of His hel.
May Peace be upon God’s righteous servants.
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei
29 Dhul Qa’dah, 1432 AHL
5 Aban, 1390 AHS
27 October, 2011 CE
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