Supreme Leader’s Speech to Executive Officials of Qom

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Executive Officials of Qom
27/10/2010

The following is the full text of the speech delivered by Ayatollah Khamenei on October 27, 2010 to executive officials of the city of Qom.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all sentient beings, and peace and greetings upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth. Greetings be upon you Fatima Masoumeh, the daughter of Musa ibn Ja'far, and your immaculate, select and infallible ancestors.

I am very happy to have attended this highly enjoyable meeting with the sincere servants of the Iranian nation and the city of Qom. I would like to express my gratitude to the honorable cabinet members who have travelled to Qom in order to take actions for the development of Qom and improve the welfare of the dear people of Qom. I express my appreciation to the esteemed cabinet members who are present at the shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (s.a.). I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all you dear audience who are rendering services in different sectors, and I hope Allah the Exalted will bestow His grace on you and be satisfied with you. I hope you will manage to make these honorable, faithful and enthusiastic people feel truly satisfied with you.

The opportunity to render services is a great opportunity for anybody. From a divine perspective, serving human beings is in itself a value and a virtuous deed. If the people you serve enjoy such merits as faith, jihad and high motives for social movements, then serving those people becomes doubly valuable. And this is true of serving the people of Qom, the faithful people who emerged victorious out of the tests during the past decades whenever they were faced with heavy responsibilities. Serving these people is indeed a great blessing. You dear brothers and sisters should appreciate this blessing.

During the rule of taghut, the people of Qom were very unhappy. Being unhappy was because of the spiritual and genuine merits that the people of this city enjoyed - it was because of their piety, their close relationships with the clergy and the existence of a seminary in this city. The first yells to oppose the oppression of Reza Shah were voiced in the city of Qom. In order to counter the tyranny of Reza Shah at the beginning of his rule, the late Hajj Noorallah Isfahani selected Qom as his base. He travelled to Qom, and different ulama from different parts of the country gathered in Qom. Of course they were faced with suppression by the tyrannical Pahlavi regime, and the late Hajj Noorallah Isfahani was poisoned and martyred. After that, a pious religious scholar voiced his opposition to banning hijab from this holy shrine and attracted everybody's attention. Reza Shah travelled from Tehran to Qom and beat up that knowledgeable, pious, mujahid and spiritual man. The efforts to confront the Pahlavi regime enjoy such a record in Qom. Therefore, the fight against taghut did not start after the clerical movement in the year 1341. All these things caused the taghuti regime to treat Qom as an enemy. Therefore, Qom was deprived of development and construction. They did not allocate enough funds to Qom, and different facilities were lacking in this city. That is to say, the regime paid less attention to Qom than other parts of the country. Many of the needs of the people were ignored during the rule of the taghuti regime, and they did not consider the needs of the people. They had other things to do. But Qom was even more underprivileged than other cities. That was the situation of Qom.

After the Revolution, Qom received special attention. But as was reported - and I approve the accuracy of the report - the movement to construct and develop Qom has truly speeded up since five years ago. There has been a significant increase in this regard, and this is something valuable, but it should be continued. If the determination and enthusiasm of the esteemed government officials regarding the issues of Qom are continued, there is a hope that by Allah's favor the different kinds of historical backwardness will be gradually remedied, and this is important for the country. Serving Qom is not like serving any other city. Serving Qom is like serving the country and national honor. This is because Qom is the stronghold of the Revolution. It is the stronghold of the clergy. The biggest Islamic seminary is located in this city. Prominent scientific and religious figures are living in this city. Qom has the attention of the people of the world. For example, all propaganda machines of the world have focused their attention on Qom and the people and clergy of Qom during the past few days. This shows the importance of this city and its centrality. Therefore, serving this city is like serving the honor of the Islamic Republic.

The plan to undermine the symbol of the Revolution and Islam has been one of the plans pursued in the enemies' propaganda during the years after the Revolution. The plan is to undermine anything that is known on a national level as the symbol of Islam and the Revolution. Undermining the clergy and making fun of them belong in this category. Undermining many of the Islamic teachings, insulting them and efforts by different individuals to create doubts about them also belong in this category. Similarly, undermining Qom falls into this category as well.

They had plans for Qom. As I said yesterday in a meeting, the enemy had decided to create an anti-Revolution force in Qom, the city which was the stronghold for the greatness of Islam and for raising the flag of the Revolution. They were planning to turn Qom into a stronghold for fighting the Revolution. They made efforts and prepared plans to do this. They made use of different kinds of methods - including efforts to manipulate the minds of the people of Qom and their emotions in the hope that they would be able to eliminate or undermine these emotions. Therefore, a lot of efforts have been made during the past years.

If you see that these people's response to all these hostile efforts is so enthusiastic and impressive - the epic that the people of Qom created during the past few days - it is because of the vigilance of the people of Qom. And this is indicative of the depth of faith in their hearts, otherwise the enemy has not spared anything. A lot of attention is paid to Qom. It is necessary to neutralize these propaganda efforts, and it is possible to do so through rendering services to the people, helping the people and identifying the real problems of this city and its people. Therefore, my most important recommendation in today's meeting with you esteemed government officials is that you should make as many efforts as you can in order to serve these people and resolve the problems of their daily lives.

Of course our governmental organizations have limited resources. The facilities are not boundless. Therefore, things should be prioritized. This is always the case. It is necessary to see what the priorities are, and this itself is one of the priorities. I believe it is necessary to carefully list the important issues of the city of Qom - which are fortunately in the process of being addressed. The legislation that was passed today by the esteemed cabinet members as well as the legislation that was passed during the honorable President's trip to this city should all be carefully implemented. The esteemed government officials should try to pursue all this legislation to the end in a determined and careful manner. Thankfully preliminary efforts have been made during the past few years to address the issue of Qom's water - which is an essential and vital issue - and relatively good results have been achieved so far. But these determined efforts should be continued so that high-quality drinking water is supplied to the city of Qom.

The issue of underprivileged areas of Qom which was mentioned by the gentlemen who spoke here - both the governor and the esteemed deputy governor - is also very important: Both the areas that they named and the areas that they did not name. There are certain densely populated underprivileged areas in Qom whose people love the Revolution. A solution should be presented to address the root of the problem.

One of the issues of Qom is the issue of health care. During the few days I have spent in this city, different people have expressed their opinion through different channels regarding the city's need for more health care facilities. Of course decisions have been made to take certain measures, and hopefully they will be implemented, but determined efforts have to be made. I heard that one of the issues is health care for women, which I hope will be addressed.

The issue of Qom's handicrafts - which I mentioned on the first day of my trip - is important. When I was living in Qom and even before that, Qom was famous for the exquisite and valuable carpets produced in this city. This is a privilege of this city, and it is a very important privilege. I had heard about their carpets everywhere, and the women and men of Qom felt proud of the carpets they were producing. I am not sure if carpets that are produced in Qom are still as famous as they used to be at that time. Determined efforts should be made to address the issue of carpet weaving and other handicrafts. This can help the people of Qom benefit from within their own lives and prosper.

They mentioned the issue of industry. It was a very good point. Regarding the issue of Qom's agriculture, I heard that they are planning to channel water from Tehran and Varamin to the agricultural areas of Mesileh. This plan has been proposed by the government, and they have already made this decision. It is a very good measure, and it is very important. By Allah's favor, these things will be done. Thankfully, great achievements have been made by the current administration. As was mentioned, valuable things have been done by the ninth and tenth administrations - several times more than what had been done before. However, there are still other needs to be addressed. Some of the needs have already been addressed, but more efforts have to be made in order to completely address these needs. This is up to you.

One of the things that is very important is the way government officials - working at different levels - treat their clients and the people. Be polite and smile. Do not be part of the problem.

Sometimes certain government officials may not be able to do what they are expected to do. A governmental organization may lack funds and facilities. It may come up against an obstacle. But if the people are treated in a reasonably polite and friendly manner, they will feel satisfied. Sometimes people go to my office in Tehran. Some people make requests that cannot be granted by my office. People who work at my office say that they have received the request, but that they will not be able to do anything because it is against the law or because there are other problems. But the clients say that they are satisfied simply because their request has been considered although nothing has been done in practice. The people feel satisfied when government officials understand their problems and sympathize with them. Of course they must try to fulfill their needs as much as possible. As I said, the government has limited resources. It is not right to think that the government can freely do everything that is necessary. No, there are many limitations on different levels. But we should engage in as much action as we can, and we should do so politely and smilingly. We should treat the people in a friendly manner. This is one of the most important duties that lies on the shoulders of we government officials.

You honorable officials serving in different sectors - including educational sectors, service sectors, industrial sectors, agricultural sectors, cultural sectors, health sectors, security sectors and other sectors - should know that the financial compensation for the services you render are not the only reward that you will receive. Your services will be rewarded by God. The rewards that are offered by Allah the Exalted are far superior, far more valuable and far more enjoyable than the rewards and compensation that one receives in the material world - be it material rewards or appreciation. Sometimes we may do something and get appreciation from other people. This appreciation is a kind of compensation. But divine rewards are far superior to these things. Sometimes you render a service, do something out of compassion or stay longer than your normal hours of work to render services. Nobody may even notice what you have done, but God knows. This happens a lot, and I have met many individuals during the past 32 years who have done something out of compassion without anybody knowing - without even their bosses, subordinates or colleagues knowing. They have read a file or pursued something outside their normal hours of work. They have decided to stay a half hour or an hour longer and finish what they were doing. Nobody has ever found out about what they did, and nobody has ever thanked them. You should know that these things will be recorded by God. Even if nobody notices, the angels that are responsible for recording our actions will notice whatever we do. They will record our actions. The day on which every eye and heart will be in need of God's mercy, favor and grace, these things will be a source of hope. On the hard and dreadful Day of Judgment, these things will provide you with a shade. Therefore, divine rewards are far superior. Pay attention to these divine rewards. You should know that everything you do and every service you render will be recorded by Allah the Exalted. When you work like this, you do not get tired of work and your work does not wear you down. This is especially true because our country is genuinely in need of labor. We need to move forward swiftly in all areas.

In scientific areas, they kept us backward for a period of 100-150 years. The same is true of industrial areas as well as different social areas. Similarly, corrupt, tyrannical, immoral, greedy and dependant governments wreaked havoc on this country during the few decades before the Revolution. One day it was only tyranny and dictatorship - such as the tyranny of Nasser al-Din Shah and the tyranny of Fath Ali Shah - but there was no dependence. However, there was also a day when the situation of this country got so bad that tyranny was accompanied by serving foreigners and bullying and pressuring the people. The bullying Reza Shah - who used to attack the people like a ferocious wolf - provided as many privileges for his English masters as they wanted. He grabbed the petroleum contract and threw it into the fireplace, but a few days later he signed a worse and more disgraceful contract for a longer period of time. In the new contract he added 30 years to the period of the previous contract and handed it to them. His government officials were his yes-men. After Reza Shah was dethroned, Taqizadeh - who was the minister of finance during Reza Shah's rule - was asked why he signed that contract, and he replied that he was only a tool in Reza Shah's hand. The man who used to treat his own people so violently, insolently, inconsiderately and cruelly was humble to the English. It was the English who had brought him to power. For some time he tried to detach himself from the English and connect to another source of power. He developed a tendency towards the Germans. But he was removed from power soon after that. They expelled him out of Iran like a worthless slave. They removed him from power and installed his son in his place.

Our country was in this situation for many years. Our people were living under the pressure of corrupt, tyrannical and greedy governments for many years. Reza Shah grabbed the ownership of any developed piece of land in all parts of the country - in Mazandaran, in Khorasan and in many other parts of the country. They accumulated wealth. They accumulated property. They accumulated jewelry for themselves. At the end, they fled from the country and took some of our national wealth with them. Billions of dollars that belong to this nation are currently in the US. At the beginning of the Revolution, we demanded America to return the money that the Pahlavi family had taken to the US. They did not listen, and it was clear that they would not listen. They are all cut from the same cloth.

Thanks to the Revolution, this nation started to think of changing the course of its life, and it started treading this path and accomplished great achievements. But there are greater things to be done. There are many things to be done in the country in scientific, technical, service and organizational areas. No amount of work you do is too much for this nation - this is my advice to you.

Once again I would like to express my gratitude to all you dear officials of this city - the esteemed governor and different other government officials. Now I wish to repeat the point that I made on the first day of my trip to this city. Governmental organizations should be vigilant. If there is disagreement among them over a certain issue, they should not let this disagreement harm the people in the end. They should take care not to let their disagreement touch the people.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1386