Supreme Leader’s Speech to Members of Assembly of Experts

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Members of Assembly of Experts
16/09/2010

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings upon our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, and upon his immaculate household, and Allah's curse be upon all their enemies.

Allah the Exalted says in His Book: "He it is Who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers that they might have more of faith added to their faith - and Allah's are the armies of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Knowing, Wise - that He may cause the believing men and the believing women to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow to abide therein and remove from them their evil. And that is a grand achievement with Allah and (that) He may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women, and the polytheistic men and the polytheistic women, the entertainers of evil thoughts about Allah. On them is the evil turn, and Allah is wroth with them and has cursed them and prepared hell for them, and evil is the resort. And Allah's are the armies of the heavens and the earth. And Allah is Mighty, Wise." [The Holy Quran, 48: 4-7]

First of all, I would like to thank the esteemed gentlemen, the honorable brothers and the members of this great organization within the Islamic Republic, who arranged this meeting and mentioned these notable points. I would also like to express my gratitude to the honorable Chairman and the honorable Vice-Chairman for their statements and for presenting a brief report of the issues involved in this meeting.

A particular characteristic of today's meeting is that it is close to the month of Ramadan - the month of worship, the month of sincerity, the month of connecting to the Source of glory and power, the month of spiritual peace resulting from remembrance of God. "Surely by Allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest." [The Holy Quran, 13: 28] One of the important benefits of this holy month for us is that the unrest, anxiety and agitation which exist in our hearts and drag us in different directions are alleviated and divine peace settles on our hearts. And if Allah the Exalted bestows this blessing on somebody's heart, their faith and love of God will increase. "That they might have more of faith added to their faith." [The Holy Quran, 48: 4]

Fortunately one can see that our people made the best of this month of Ramadan and this Eid ul-Fitr. I received many well-documented reports with photos attached to them, reports from across the country about people's spiritual state, attention to spiritual matters, Ehya [vigil] ceremonies and Quds Day. Thankfully our people, especially our youth, made the best of Ramadan this year. The spiritual qualities of this month enlightened hearts like a brilliant beam of light and showered the souls of our people like a blessed cloud. It was good. I hope God will help us not to fall behind in this regard and to benefit from this holy month just like our people.

Of course this public attention to spiritual matters and these divine blessings - which are observed in different forms and can also be observed in daily conversations of the people - should not make us lose our vigilance. These things are pleasing. Thankfully the spiritual state of the people is satisfactory. But we should not ignore divine "plans" [the Holy Quran, 3: 54]. We should not let down our guard. Lack of attention to what may happen, mistakes that may occur, punishment that Allah the Exalted may send down on a nation because of its ingratitude - these are a great danger.

Fortunately there have been some eye-openers. These events and attacks and the disgraceful insult to the Holy Quran in America - these are eye-openers. These are the warning bells that ring to stop people from slipping into lack of vigilance, from falling into deep sleep and letting down their guard. This is a great blessing. We have had such events in our history and in the history of the Revolution, and faithful, insightful and vigilant people have benefited from them: they have benefited from the enmity of the enemies.

I do not remember if I read this somewhere or not, but it was common knowledge that the book "Fajr al-Islam" written by the Egyptian author, Ahmad Amin, contained many insults and allegations against Shia Islam. Later on he wrote "Zuhr al-Islam" and "Asr al-Islam" and continued his insults. After "Fajr al-Islam" was published, it caused a number of luminaries and intellectuals from Najaf Seminary to think of preparing a response. As a result, Sheikh Agha Bozorg Tehrani wrote the book "Az-Zorriyyah". Similarly, the late Sayyid Mohsen Jabal Ameli wrote his famous book "Rijal" as well as "A'yan ash-Shia", and the late Sayyid Hassan Sadr wrote the book "Ta'sis ash-Shia li Funun al-Islam". They defended Shia Islam in a practical way. That is to say, the book "Fajr al-Islam", which was no more than 200-400 pages, caused Shia scholars to prepare several great encyclopedias. This was a warning bell. It started ringing and awakened Shia Muslims to do what they were supposed to do.

It has always been like this. In the beginning of the book "Mabsut" by Sheikh Tusi, which he wrote at the end of his auspicious life, Sheikh Tusi says, "We hear our opponents humiliate our fiqh a lot, and they say that your fiqh does not have secondary principles or other such things. This was why I wrote this book." This impressive book contains all those secondary principles, and Sheikh Tusi himself wrote in the beginning of the book that he had not seen a book in any branch of fiqh which contained so many secondary principles. That is to say, a single insult and sarcastic comment led to such a pleasant event.

Similarly, at the beginning of a book titled "Rijal", which has been one of the best and the most basic documents in Ilm ar-Rijal since a thousand years, Sheikh Najashi writes that he had heard "the honorable Sayyid" - apparently, he means Sayyid Morteza - saying, "Our opponents say that we do not have a (scholarly) background." He says that his purpose in writing the book was to show the opposite.

Notice how luminaries used these events. I believe this is the way one should look at bitter events. This does not mean that desecration of the Holy Quran is something insignificant. On the contrary, it is extremely grave. It is really hideous. It is really disgraceful. But such events should sound some warning bells for us and keep us vigilant. We should stay vigilant and understand that "the enemy will not fall asleep whenever one falls asleep." [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 62] If we fall asleep here, it is not clear whether the enemy has also fallen asleep in his trench. The enemy is awake, and he will design plots against us.

I believe this is true of the fitna of the year 1388. It sounded a few warning bells for us. It was an alarm. Forty million people take part in the presidential election. All of us are happy that people have gone to the ballot boxes and voted until late at night - of course the turnout rate had not been announced yet, but everybody was enjoying this. Suddenly a fitna starts from a corner. The fitna awakens us and says, "Do not fall asleep. Do not let your guard down. There are dangers in front of you." The fitna shows us the dangers. I believe all events should be viewed in this way.

Let us take a look at the global and domestic issues in this meeting and see what lessons we can learn from these issues. Let us see what lessons we can learn from what is currently happening in the world and in our country.

Regarding global issues, what is clearer and more prominent than everything else is that the opposing camp has become hyperactive. Hyperactivity is an illness that affects children and adolescents. Hyperactivity means that there is too much activity. Those who suffer from hyperactivity do various things, but they are not focused and organized, and they do not have a goal. Too much activity without a goal, which often leads to failure: this condition is called hyperactivity. One can see this condition in the opposing camp today. They are engaged in different activities: sanctions, resolutions, slander, negative propaganda against the Islamic Republic, strengthening domestic enemies. To use an athletic term, they are doping our domestic enemies: they constantly inject them with performance-enhancing drugs which do not have any real effect on strengthening them.

Last year in the thick of the fitna, you heard that one of the social networking websites - which was in contact with the enemies - was planning to temporarily shut down for technical changes. The website was engaged in spreading the news of the events happening inside the country, conveying the orders issued outside the country, creating uproar and manipulating the atmosphere. They wanted to shut down the website temporarily, but the US government did not let them. The US government told them that if they shut down the website temporarily even for technical repairs, it will hurt Iran's domestic enemies. They prevented the website from shutting down. That is to say, they did not let the social networking website shut down temporarily. They supported them like this, and they still offer various other kinds of support to our domestic enemies.

Today they are using all means of communication, all political means, all cultural means and all economic means in order to prevent the effect of the sanctions from wearing off and becoming ineffective. The US government has assigned one of its high-ranking economic and monetary officials to this task. The duty of this agent is to guide certain committees, travel to different parts of the world, contact heads and leaders of different countries and constantly encourage other countries to act against Iran. I believe this hyperactivity on the part of the order of arrogance and the Islamic Republic's opposing camp is among the most prominent events.

Well, there are several lessons to be learnt from this event. The first lesson is that the event was caused by the increasing power of Islamic Awakening. When you see that the opposing camp is nervous, is struggling hopelessly, is hasty, engages in various activities and meets this and that person, it is obvious that we have gained enough power to alarm it. If we were weak, if we were vulnerable, if they could bring us to our knees with one blow, they would not make all these efforts. These efforts are indicative of the power of their enemy. And this is the truth of the situation, and I will speak about it later on.

Our side has grown more powerful than it was three decades ago. We have become more experienced. We have gained further awareness. We have more freedom of action. On the other hand, the enemy has grown weaker. One day the entire world of arrogance was against Iran. That is to say, there was no respite. The situation was like this during the first decade of the Revolution. The U.S.S.R was not just a country. It was a power that consisted of an impressive number of countries, and the center was in today's Russia. East Europe belonged to them. The majority of African and Latin American countries were with them, and many countries held them in high regard in Asia. They were against the Islamic Republic. At that time we had nobody to turn to for ordinary weapons. That is to say, there was no country in the world that would sell us conventional military facilities like tanks. During my presidency, I made a trip to Yugoslavia. Judging by appearances, they received me warmly and were respectful to me. They also praised me. But in spite of all my insistence, they did not agree to provide us with conventional weapons. Yugoslavia was an independent country - it was neither part of the west nor part of the Eastern Bloc. But even Yugoslavia refused to provide weapons for us, let alone other countries.

The other side was the west. There was America. There was Europe. Even modern France - which broadcasts negative propaganda against us and speaks against us - used to provide the enemy with "Mirage" [fighter jets] and "Super Etendard" to use against us. At that time the attacks that these countries used to launch against us were far more serious than they are today. For example, today the Germans - their Chancellor or other people - only make a few negative comments in their propaganda. But at that time they used to provide Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons. They used to build chemical facilities for Saddam Hussein. Those days their enmity was more operational and active.

Today there are no such things. They cannot do these things. This does not mean that they have grown nobler and better today. It is just that the ground is not prepared for them to do what they used to do. They see that they cannot do anything. The Islamic Republic has grown more significant and more powerful today. And the important point is that today the west feels that its old hegemony over the world of Islam is undermined. That is to say, the same people who were free to do whatever they wanted in Islamic and Arab countries have realized that it is not possible for them to do what they used to do. This wave of Islamic Awakening has forced them into this position. They even find it difficult to revise their old ways. In some countries - which are clearly dependent on the west and their people are aware of this and are discounted because of this - they want to revise some of their ways in the hope that they may be able to set things right. But they cannot do so. This is a dead end for them. Today the west is stuck in such a situation. This is the natural result of their weakness: they resort to such things and issuing resolutions - resolutions that have not won over the hearts of peoples or even governments. The governments some of which are members of the Security Council and put their signatures to these resolutions - we know for a fact that even some of these governments are reluctant to put their signatures to these resolutions. They are just forced to do what they do. They are stuck in a situation in which they have to stand on political ceremony.

Therefore, the events that have happened to us during this time - events like Resolution 1929, desecration of the Holy Quran, explicitly hostile comments against the Islamic Republic and events of the year 1388 in which the arrogant enemies were clearly and undoubtedly involved - are all because the opposing camp feels that our side has grown more powerful. The power and strength that our side has gained frightens the opposing camp. This is evidenced by their statements, and they say that if they fail to take action, Iran will become the most powerful country in the Middle East. They say that if they fail to take action, Iran's influence in the Middle East will increase. These are what they say. This is the first point.

The second point is that these events should keep us vigilant. We should not let down our guard. We should not fall asleep. If these events and the increasing power and strength of the Islamic camp and the camp of the Islamic Republic eliminate all our concerns, lull us into a false sense of security and make us arrogant, then they will become a danger. We should consider them as warning bells. What should we do? We should reform our inner self. Constant reforming of our inner self is one of our responsibilities. How should we reform our inner self? We should start with ourselves. For example, I should start from myself, and others should do the same. First, we should reform our relationship with Allah the Exalted. We should think about what Allah the Exalted will ask us. "And make me do what You will ask about tomorrow." [Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, dua 20] This is one of the things that we should always keep in mind. I am not saying that we should start improving other people only when we have finished improving our inner self. Improving our inner self may not be so easy. When we start reforming our inner self, then it will be easy to reform our society. Reforming society is easier than reforming one's inner self. In our great Iranian community we can see that there are hearts which are prepared for logical reasoning. Our youth and our faithful men and women living in different parts of the country - from highly educated people to the lower classes of our society - are clearly prepared for logical reasons. If we talk to them, they will listen. And if they listen, our reasoning will have an effect on them and this effect will be manifested in their behavior. Reforming our inner self is one issue.

One of the important issues is to boost the morale of our people. If my speech does not take too long, I will discuss this issue later on. This is one of our responsibilities. Raising the morale of our people is one of our main responsibilities, both as government officials and as clerics. This is among the responsibilities that we should never forget.

Genuine unity is the next issue. The gentlemen are all speaking about unity. We all do. We all speak about unity, but we should show unity in action. Unity means that we should strengthen and highlight our similarities more than our differences. Just because we are annoyed at somebody should not make us do or say something that goes against the interests of our country. This is what we see happening sometimes. We get annoyed at somebody because of a certain thing he has done or said, and then this feeling overshadows all our behavior. This is not the right thing to do. It is necessary to consider what we have in common. It is necessary to identify the primary issues. Some of the issues that we raise and emphasize are not really the main issues. There are more important issues that should be emphasized. You see what the enemy has targeted. I will discuss this point later on.

Identifying the enemy, its methods and its actions are the third point. What is the enemy doing? I would say two of the most important things that the enemy is doing is to separate the people from the government and to separate the people from obvious religious principles, Islamic teachings and Islamic sharia. These are two of the things that they are doing, and they have identified the right course of action. This is because the people are the source of support for the Islamic system. They know that if they separate the people from the Islamic system, the government will have no source of support. Therefore, they try to separate the people from the Islamic system. How? By undermining the trust of the people. They do what is obvious: they simply undermine public trust. They make the people lose trust in their government officials. No matter how hard our government officials work, no matter how active they are, no matter how many good measures they take, foreign radio stations and propaganda machines will always present a negative interpretation. And if one listens to those radio stations, one will clearly see that this is the case. Of course this has always been the case. Separating the people from their government officials and undermining their trust in the officials and managers of the country has always been one of the things that the enemy has done. This has always been one of their techniques, both during the time when the Imam (r.a.) was alive and after he passed away. This was why our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) would always support government officials at that time in spite of the fact that he was opposed to some of their actions. This support did not mean that the Imam was in favor of everything they did. But he used to support them. On the other hand, when a government official created problems and undermined public trust in government officials, the Imam would firmly voice his objection.

I act in the same way. I have always defended all administrations so far, and I will do so in the future as well. It is not right to undermine public trust in our government officials - including the officials of the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judiciary branch - because of a certain action taken in a corner of the country. This is because if the people feel that they cannot trust their government, they will lose their hope. They should think about this point. Such a thing would not be fair. That is to say, some of the comments that are made go against the truth. I see the situation, and I am thoroughly familiar with it. Many efforts are being made - pious and sincere efforts. One can see these things. The advances that are made in our country could not have been achieved if our officials had sat around idly and rested in their homes. Such advances could have been achieved only through the efforts of the government officials. Efforts are being made. Genuine efforts are being made. The enemy wants to put an end to this state of affairs. The enemy wants to undermine public trust in government officials so that they feel their government cannot be trusted, so that they feel their judiciary and parliament cannot be trusted. They want to tarnish the public image of our governmental organizations. This is one of the things that the enemy does, and it is necessary to understand this point. It is not right to play into the hands of the enemy. It is not right to solve the enemy's puzzle. It is not right to reflect the enemy's voice inside the country. It is necessary to be vigilant in this regard.

Another issue is the issue of religion and obvious Islamic and revolutionary facts. Doubts are being created all the time about a range of things - from monotheism, prophethood, Imamate and Vilayat, to ahkam [Islamic rules extracted from religious texts through Islamic jurisprudence], hijab, rules of sharia and other things. We have to pay attention to the fact that these are the methods utilized by the enemy. It is necessary to be wise and active. Of course regarding the doubts that are raised in different ways, everybody has a duty to stand up against these anti-religion efforts that can be noticed on the websites and in certain statements. Everybody has a duty to stand up against the efforts that are made to create sects and to break ethical and moral norms. This does not mean that the enemy is doing all these things from outside our borders. No, there are some people with the right motives inside the country, but the enemy strengthens these motives. It channels these motives. The enemy is happy about these things. We have to be careful in this regard. We should be vigilant. Who should shoulder this responsibility? Is it the government that should shoulder the responsibility? No, not the government alone. Of course there are always certain responsibilities that the government should shoulder. I have repeatedly told the High Council of Cultural Revolution during different terms that they cannot afford to ignore their responsibility to promote piety among the people. The immoral movements were opposed to this. They said, "No, this would be government-imposed religion." I believe that the government has certain responsibilities in this regard. But what are these responsibilities? Is the government responsible for rectifying the beliefs of the people? No, the government should only prepare the ground. It is the clergy and the elites of universities and seminaries who are responsible for carrying out this responsibility. Today I see many places which are in need of the presence of this religious and scientific community.

When I raise an objection to the organizations in charge of promoting religion in the country, I sometimes see that they are spurred to make a move to promote religion. But their move proves ineffective. This is because of the lack of scholarly knowledge that only the clergy enjoy.

The role of our Islamic seminaries in the IRIB is not limited to having an eloquent cleric preach for the people on TV or on the radio. No, our Islamic seminaries should establish committees and religious think tanks to write about, discuss, analyze and research different issues. And our Islamic seminaries should publish the outcome of their work. When the general atmosphere is rectified, it will naturally have its effects. It will even affect the way actors play their roles.

About 200-300 prominent artists of the country arranged a meeting with me. I think it was last year. They made some comments. I spoke too. I made a point in that meeting. I said that film makers, artists, actors or directors may tell me that they are going to produce a religious film and ask me what the subject should be. For example, they may tell me that they are going to produce a film on hijab and ask me what the content should be, where they should start and what they should tell the people. They may tell me that they are going to strengthen public faith in monotheism, prophethood, Vilayat, Vilayat-e Faqih or the Imam of the Age (a.s.) and ask me what the subject and the content should be. There may be people among the artists who have been raised in non-religious environments and have never studied religion - many of them may not have good knowledge of the Holy Quran, Nahjul Balaghah and hadith. How would such people know what the content of religious films should be? But we know these things, and we should prepare the way and help them. An artist from a religious background may produce a good film, but such cases are rare. If we manage to organize these ideas, make them understandable and plausible and present them as well-organized sets of materials, then they will affect the artist who reads them. Therefore, this is our responsibility. It is the duty of the clergy to make up for the shortcomings in this regard.

I would like to make a few comments about our situation. I would like to briefly discuss the situation of the Islamic Republic inside and outside the country. I believe we have been attacked many times during the three glorious decades since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. We have been the target of transformative attacks - spiteful attacks against our Islamic identity and our Islamic and revolutionary spirit. We have been the target of many attacks during the past 30 years. They distorted our slogans. They changed our slogans. They frequently presented wrong interpretations of our slogans. They made many efforts - organized efforts, not isolated efforts - in order to make the people doubt the essence of the Revolution. In the past - not so distant past - they broke the law repeatedly. Time after time, they presented pretexts for their illegal actions. Different things were done. But the people and the Revolution stood firm. The Revolution stood firm. The people stood firm. The faithful government officials, who had an active presence in this great system, stood firm. They clarified issues. Thankfully the Revolution moved forward, and they could not do anything. You saw in our recent election that the people did not pay attention to the comments that had non-Islamic and non-religious content. These are very important points. The people chose those who adopted revolutionary and Islamic slogans - those who adopted slogans against extravagant lifestyles and slogans in support of social justice. This is indicative of the vigilance of the people. These are what the people like. The people respect us because they love Islam. They respect us because we represent and explain Islam to them.

This is the characteristic of our people. This is very important. They have been working against our Revolution for 32 years, yet the people are standing firm and the revolutionary slogans are still alive. The words of our Imam have gained a lot of ground today. Those who want to attract the attention of the people repeat what the Imam used to say. They support their claims with the words of the Imam. One day the situation was completely different. There was a day in the near past when some people used to pretend they were opposed to the Imam. They went to him and said that the Revolution had been buried. They said this explicitly. Some people said that the people should be separated from God. They used to say these things explicitly at that time. Today they do not dare say such things. Today those who publicly address the people claim to support the Imam, the Revolution and the Imam's slogans. This is very important. This shows that the path of the Imam and the Revolution is the acceptable path in the country.

As I said, the people have stood firm, and the fitna of the year 1388 was the latest example. The people stood firm. Even those who had voted for someone other than the President stood up against them. As a result, you saw that everybody attended the demonstrations on the 9th of Dey and the 22nd of Bahman. Everybody came. This shows that the seditionists are limited in number. But they lied and tried to encourage the people to follow them. They were successful in the beginning, but when their masks were removed as a result of certain statements and actions, the people turned their back on them. Therefore, the people stood firm. Well, this is an important point regarding the situation of the country.

Another point is the progress of the country. Our scientific advances have been discussed repeatedly, and you know what they are. To be fair, amazing advances have been made in scientific and technological areas. Some of the things that are mentioned in passing on TV would look very important if one considered the efforts that went into them. It takes a lot of effort and knowledge to produce or invent certain things in different industrial, technological and scientific areas. This is an indisputable fact, but I believe what is more important is the spirit of self-confidence which has been revived among our people. This spirit has been revived among those who should engage in production and innovation.

For me, this was one blessing of the meetings that I arranged in the month of Ramadan. There were students in those meetings. There were university professors. There were scholars and elites. There were government officials. There were industrialists. There were people from different sectors. And nobody told them what to say in the meetings. They were just invited to say what they wanted to say. The comments that they made were indicative of their spirit of self-confidence. They were confident that they could work several times harder than they did. This is a very important point. This is the same spirit that the Imam (r.a.) wanted to revive among us. This spirit has been revived among the people today. The youth come and speak to me. A youth said that he had prepared a comprehensive scientific plan and that he will give the plan to me. He said that the plan which has been prepared by the High Council of Cultural Revolution is problematic. This spirit of self-confidence is great. I was really delighted. What he has prepared may not be as acceptable as he thinks, but what is important is that a young student decides to prepare a comprehensive scientific plan for the country with the help of a few other students and announces in public that he will give the plan to me. Such spirits exist both among our students and youth and among our good and faithful professors. These are important points.

We should not just see the bitter realities. We should not just see the failures. We should not just see the weaknesses. We should see the positive things too. They are very important, and they determine the direction of our movement. Was there a time when we had no bad people among us? Was there a time when we had no lawbreakers among us? Was there a time when we did not have any weak individuals among us? Was there a time when we did not have any nagging people among us? Was there a time when we did not have any opponents among us? The situation has always been like this, but what pushes the country forward is the engine I spoke about, the driving force. A few people may fight on this train or may litter up the train. But the train keeps moving forward. Such disagreements do not matter. Some people may be doing bad things on the train. Others may be performing the Ja'far-e Tayyar prayer. There may be many different people on the train, but the important point is that the train is moving forward in a certain direction. Efforts are being made. There is development. There is innovation. There is the spirit of self-sufficiency. One can see these things today. Important achievements have already been made, which I believe are valuable achievements. As far as I know, very good things are being done in the country.

I discussed what I know about the situation of the country with the esteemed brothers and gentlemen. I am aware of the situation of the country. I know about all the different issues which are commonly discussed. I have detailed information about many of the issues. The image that I have of the situation of the country leads to a few conclusions.

One conclusion is that the enemy's pressure and the harsh conditions have not made us weak. The hardships of the past 30 years have not made us weak. On the contrary, they have made us strong. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, "But you must remember that hardy trees which grow on the border of deserts have very strong timber, and trees which are found in marshy lands have thin bark and soft wood. Similarly when the former are lit up they burn longer and with a very strong glow and give out more heat than the latter." [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 45] This is the characteristic of harsh conditions. Harsh and challenging conditions make nations firm. They make the heads, managers, officials and leaders of countries strong. They have the same effect as physical exercise. They make them strong. They strengthen their determination. They encourage them to go after greater achievements. Thankfully this has already happened. This is the first conclusion.

The second conclusion is that the pressures which are being exerted throughout the world are doomed to failure. Apart from the divine promise of assistance - "Surely Allah will help him who helps His cause" [The Holy Quran, 22: 40] - this is what experience has shown us. There many Quranic verses in this regard. Pressure is often doomed to failure. They exert pressure for a while, but when they see that their pressure is faced with resistance, they end it. It is a war of wills, a war in which those with stronger wills win out. Therefore, they will be defeated. If the Islamic system was supposed to give in to these pressures, it should have been defeated in the first decade of the Revolution. As I said, the enemy used to be stronger at that time. We used to be weaker. We used to enjoy fewer capabilities and facilities. Our knowledge of the world and our experience used to be less than today. Thankfully the shortcomings that we used to suffer from are eliminated today. Many of the problems that existed at that time do not exist any longer. The morale of the people is high. Today the people are highly motivated. If, God forbid, a war takes place and necessitates the presence of the people at the war fronts, you will see that our youth - who are the third generation of the Revolution - are not less selfless and less determined than the youth of that time. They may even be more selfless and more determined. The situation is like this. Therefore, these pressures are doomed to failure. But the important point is that we should remain vigilant. These pressures are doomed to failure, providing that we do not fall asleep, providing that we do not let down our guard, providing that the warning bells keep us awake. These are the prerequisites.

The third conclusion is that giving the people hope and confidence is a key factor, and this is a duty that lies on the shoulders of you and I - the clergy, the government officials and the esteemed Friday prayer leaders. You should consider it your duty to give the people hope and confidence. If the people lose their hope and confidence, failure is inevitable. Hope is what keeps a soldier on the battlefield. In order to fight, a soldier must have hope and know that he can achieve victory. It is necessary to keep this hope alive. The presence of the people on the scene is the main cause of victory, and the presence of the people on the scene depends on their hope and confidence. It is necessary to boost this hope among the people. The people must not be alarmed. They must not be made suspicious. "Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, so fear them." [The Holy Quran, 3: 173] This is what the enemy says: "Surely men have gathered against you, so fear them." Spreading fear has been attributed to the enemy in the Holy Quran. Another Quranic verse says, "It is only Satan that causes you to fear from his friends." [The Holy Quran, 3: 175] "If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist, We shall most certainly urge you on against them." [The Holy Quran, 33: 60] That is to say, spreading fear among the people has been criticized in the Holy Quran. Undermining the hope and confidence of the people has been criticized in the Holy Quran. On the other hand, God says, "I swear by time. Most surely man is in loss, except those who believe and do good deeds, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance." [The Holy Quran, 103: 1-3] We should urge each other to exercise patience and to follow the truth. We should support each other. "And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other." [The Holy Quran, 9: 71] It is our duty to protect each other. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of hope and confidence.

It is necessary to identify primary issues and not confuse secondary issues with primary issues. This does not mean that secondary issues should not be put forward. No, secondary issues should be discussed as well. They should be discussed in detail, but they should not be passed off as primary issues and should not be the criterion for support and opposition. The criterion for support and opposition is the righteous path. The criterion is Islam, sharia, piety, adherence to revolutionary principles and commitment to the Imam's wishes and goals. The criterion is confronting and suspecting the arrogant powers. That is to say, we should know who the enemy is. For example, we should not oppose a brother who is sitting in this room and at the same time sympathize with the shameless arrogant power, ask it for help and trust it. This should not be the case.

The issue of culture is something has always been on my mind. As was pointed out in this meeting, the issue of culture is a serious concern for other people as well. It is an important issue. It is even more important than economic and political issues. What is culture? Culture is the understanding, interpretation and beliefs of people and their mentality and characteristics in life. Culture is what spurs people into action. For example, if the dominant culture in a country values sense of responsibility, it guides actions of the people of that country. On the other hand, being indifferent to events, issues, the future and one's friends and enemies shows [culture-based] lack of responsibility. Sense of responsibility and instilling this sense in the minds, hearts and souls of the people strengthen culture. Self-sacrifice, conscientiousness, discipline, social cooperation, civil coexistence, avoidance of extravagance, reforming the norms of consumption, the spirit of self-restraint - these are some elements of our culture. It is necessary to strengthen these elements among the people. Other elements of our culture include good deeds, keeping alive the ideas of the Imam and the Revolution, the spirit of Islamic solidarity with our Muslim brothers and fellow countrymen and mutual support for each other, which is the case throughout the vast world of Islam. Of course the culture of morality and simple lifestyle are other cultural norms of our society.

Who is responsible for these things? The media have an important role in this regard. But the media only provide the form: we are responsible for the content. This requires a detailed discussion, which is not appropriate in this meeting. By Allah's favor, I will speak about this issue at an appropriate time. We and our Islamic seminaries are responsible for important things. And by Allah's favor, we will do those things.

I hope Allah the Exalted will keep us all on the path of the Revolution and the path of Islam. I hope God will help us devote our lives to Islam and will make our death serve His cause and the cause of Islam. I hope He will make our words and actions serve His cause.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

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