International Affairs | Message of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of the arrival of the Hajj

In the name of God, Clement and Merciful

Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, and go the blessings to Muhammad the Chosen One, his pure family and his select companions.

We thank the Mighty and Wise God, who has once again made the blessed period of the Hajj a moment of encounter for the Muslim nations, opening to them that path of grace and mercy. The Ummah can now again contemplate its own unity and unanimity in that very clear eternal mirror and turn its back on the reasons for fractionation and disunity.

The unity of Muslims is one of the fundamental pillars of the Hajj, and when accompanied by the invocation of the name of God and spirituality, which is the other fundamental pillar of that duty shrouded in mystery, it can lead the Ummah to the peak of power and happiness, making the verse be verified in it «and the power belongs to God, to His Messenger and to believers» (1). The Hajj is a combination of those two political and spiritual elements, and the sacred religion of Islam a majestic and grandiose mixture of politics and spirituality.

In recent history, the enemies of muslim nations have undertaken a colossal effort to weaken in our peoples those two life-giving elixirs that are unity and spirituality. By promoting the Western way of life, devoid of religious spirit and arising from materialistic myopia, they dilute and detract from spirituality, and amplify and intensify illusory reasons for division such as language, color, race or geography put unity in the face of a challenge.

The Ummah, of which a small sample is now visible in the Hajj, must stand up and stand up with all its strength: on the one hand, reinforcing in the mentalities of all the memory of God, the works for God, the reflection on the word of God and the trust in the promises of God; and on the other, overcoming the reasons for disunity and disagreement.

What can be said today emphatically is that the current global circumstances and the Islamic world are more favorable than ever for that valuable effort.

In the first place, because today the elites and a large part of the popular masses of the Islamic countries have noticed their formidable sapiential and spiritual wealth of their own, realizing its value. Liberalism and communism, the main contributions of Western civilization, no longer possess the luster of a hundred or fifty years ago. The reputation of Western money democracy has been seriously challenged and Western thinkers admit its disorientation in theory and practice. In the Islamic world, young people, thinkers, men of science and religion, upon noticing this situation, reach a new perspective on their own cultural wealth and on the current political lines in their countries. That is the Islamic awakening to which I constantly allude.

Second, that Islamic self-awareness has given birth to an extraordinary and miraculous phenomenon at the heart of the Islamic world, in the face of which the powers of Arrogance are in grave trouble. This phenomenon is called Resistance and its reality is the manifestation of the strength of faith, of struggle and of full trust in God. It is this same phenomenon about one of whose examples in the early days of Islam revealed the noble verse: «Those to whom the people said: ‘Truly, the people have gathered against you. Fear them!» And that increased their faith and they said, «God is enough for us! He is the best protector!» And they have returned, by a Grace and a Favor of God, without suffering evil. They sought God’s satisfaction, and God is the Owner of immense Favor» (2). The scenario of Palestine is one of the places where this admirable phenomenon manifests itself, which has managed to drag the contumaz Zionist regime from an offensive and quarrelsome position to another defensive and passivity, burdening it with the obvious political, security and economic problems of today. Other shining examples of resistance can be clearly seen in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and a few other places.

Third, along with all this, today the world is witnessing in Islamic Iran a successful model, glorious example of Islam’s political power and sovereignty. The stability, independence, progress and dignity of the Islamic Republic are a fascinating and significant event of remarkable grandeur capable of attracting to itself the intelligence and feeling of every awakened Muslim.

Those ineptitude and sometimes erroneous actions of ours, as administrators of this system, that have delayed the full enjoyment of all the blessings of Islamic rule have never been able to shake the solid foundations or falter the firm step that springs from the fundamental principles of this system or stop material and spiritual progress. At the head of its fundamental principles are islam’s sovereignty over legislation and management, rest over popular suffrage on the most important issues of the country’s leadership, full political independence and the absence of confidence in wicked powers; and it is those same principles that can serve as a consensus position for Muslim peoples and governments and unite the Ummah in terms of guidance and collaboration.

These are the foundations and factors that have led to the current circumstances of the Islamic world, favorable to the united movement. Muslim governments, great religious and scientific talents, independent intellectuals and young truth-seekers must more than ever think about using these foundations.

It is natural that the arrogant powers and, above all, the United States, should be concerned about such a tendency in the Islamic world and should use all their means to confront it; and that’s what happens now. From the media empire and the modalities of soft warfare to the provocation of wars and the launching of wars by procuration, through the creation of temptations and the collection of information of a political nature or by threats and bribes; all this is carried out by the United States and the other arrogant to take the Islamic world off the path to its awakening and its bliss. The criminal and ignominious Zionist regime in this region is for its part one of the instruments of that effort on all fronts.

By God’s grace and will, those efforts failed in most cases and the arrogant West has been increasingly weakened in our delicate region, and recently in the entire world. The anguish and frustration in the REGION of the United States and its criminal accomplice, the usurper regime, can be clearly seen on the ground of events in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan.

At the opposite extreme, the Islamic world is brimming with motivated and jovial young people. The greatest capital to build the future lies in the hope and self-confidence that are currently buzzing in the Islamic world and especially in the countries of this region. We all have a duty to conserve that capital and make it grow.

Even so, the enemy’s schemes should not be lost sight of for a moment. Let us avoid pride and carelessness and increase our effort and vigilance; and in every situation let us ask for help, attentive and pleading, from the Mighty and Wise God.

Attending the rites and ceremonies of the Hajj is a great opportunity to entrust oneself and plead with God, as well as to reflect and decide. Let us pray for our Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world and ask God to bring them success and victory; and include divine guidance and help to this your brother in your good prayers.

With you the peace and mercy of God

Seyed Ali Jameneí

5 of dulhiya of 1443

July 5, 2022