Supreme Leader’s Speech to Hajj Officials

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Hajj Officials
03/10/2011

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on October 3, 2011 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with the officials in charge of hajj affairs.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I would like to welcome the dear brothers and sisters and the officials in charge of hajj affairs. I pray to God to help and guide you so that you can arrange a great and heavenly hajj ceremony for our dear pilgrims this year - relying on your firm determination and strong motivation.

This great event - namely, hajj ceremonies - which is repeated by the Islamic Ummah every year, is one of the essential secrets behind the success of Islam. According to Islamic narrations, hajj means attending a divine celebration. It is obvious how important and valuable it is to attend a divine celebration at the center of glory, power, beauty and generosity. All Muslims from different countries try to make it to this celebration every year, but only some people get this opportunity. We are part of the Islamic Ummah and we are shouldering part of the responsibility. Part of the great movement by the Islamic Ummah belongs to we Iranians. We should think about making plans and arranging an impressive and significant ceremony on an international level. We should also think about our personal interests. All honorable pilgrims should think about their personal interests. Therefore, both of these goals should be pursued at the same time.

Regarding the first goal - namely, holding an international ceremony that belongs to the world of Islam and the Islamic Ummah - Iranian pilgrims have certain responsibilities. They should behave well. They should behave in a brotherly way. They should show solidarity. They should use their Islamic bond with other Muslim nations in order to make hearts get closer to each other. These are among our responsibilities, just the opposite of what the enemies of Islam and Muslims currently want. The enemies of Islam and Muslims want the Islamic Ummah to be disunited because if the Islamic Ummah unites, it will become powerful and it will seek its identity in different areas. Then everything will become difficult for the arrogant powers of the world. Therefore, they want to create discord. They create religious discord. They create ethnic discord. They promote radical nationalism in different countries. They divide Muslims into different groups and label them as Persians, Arabs, Turks, Pakistanis, Shia and Sunni. They constantly try to highlight and magnify these differences in order to build a wall among Muslims. They highlight these differences in order to make us suspect each other and prevent us from joining hands and giving rise to a great movement.

This conspiracy will increase this year. You should know this. This year Islamic Awakening has started. Egypt has awakened. Tunisia has awakened. Libya has awakened. Yemen has awakened. Bahrain has awakened. The cutting edge of Muslim nations' revolutions and great movements has been aimed at the arrogant powers and the Zionists. Therefore, they are trying to prevent nations from establishing relations with one another. They are trying to prevent hearts from getting closer to one another. "If a hundred hearts become familiar with each other, they will be one and the same." When hearts get close to each other, there will be one unified demand and one unanimous decision. They do not want this. Therefore, they will try to encourage Shia, Sunni and followers other denominations to highlight their distinctive characteristics and unfortunately they have their own tools to arouse sentiments. They have tools for different purposes and they might have even more tools to arouse sentiments. Try to overcome them. "And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited." [The Holy Quran, 3: 103] Hajj is a manifestation of the divine covenant, so hold fast by this firm covenant of Allah all together. Stay together. Not only Iranians but also the entire Islamic Ummah should stay together. Muslims - whether they are African or Asian or European, whether their skin color is black or white and no matter in which part of the world they live - are a unified body. This is the global and general outlook that should be adopted.

Establish a relationship with other Muslims. Speak to them. Keep each other informed of the latest developments. Raise each other's morale. Explain the truths about the arrogant powers and the enemies to the brothers who have entered this arena recently. You have thirty years of experience in this regard. And those who are not able to explain and clarify should attract people to Islam with their behavior. "Invite people [to Islam] with something other than your tongues." It is possible to attract people towards Islam by speaking to them, but a better and more effective way is to attract them through one's behavior. Your manners and showing respect and commitment to the truths of hajj - these are communal behaviors that can contribute to holding this international Islamic event in a better way.

There are a number of things that are done for the sake of one's heart. You should have provisions [for your journey to the hereafter]. In this world, we are sullied by material possessions, motives and temptations. Woe betide anybody who crosses the border to the next world like this. We need to purify ourselves. This purification can be achieved through daily prayers, reciting the Holy Quran, fasting, charitable actions and different kinds of religious obligations that bring about purification for human beings. Hajj is a collection of these obligations. There is divine remembrance in hajj. There is tawaf in hajj. There is daily prayers in hajj. There is wuquf in hajj. There is attention to God in hajj. There is charitable actions in hajj. There is sacrifice in hajj. There is everything in Hajj: it is a complete collection of religious rituals.

Make the best of these few weeks. Purify your hearts. Hajj ceremonies, Masjid al-Haram, tawaf, Masjid al-Nabawi and those great rituals provide the best opportunity to do so. While pilgrims are together, each of them establishes a separate relationship with God. And not everybody might know this. Preserve and strengthen this relationship. Start from now. Maybe you should have started earlier.

It is necessary to become prepared for hajj, just as great religious scholars and mystics used to prepare themselves for several months before the holy month of Ramadan. The same is true of hajj. It is necessary to prepare oneself before the pilgrimage. Avoiding sins, backbiting, injustice and impure looks and actions are the most important things to do. Avoiding these things prepares the heart to enter this divine celebration.

After you obtain provisions for your journey to the next world and come back from hajj pilgrimage, you should try to safeguard your provisions. Reciting the Holy Quran repeatedly over the course of hajj pilgrimage has become an established tradition - and what a good tradition it is. Some people recite the Holy Quran once in Medina and once or twice in Mecca. Continue this tradition. Those who do not regularly engage in midnight prayers try it during hajj. They go to Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabawi to engage in midnight prayers. Continue this tradition.

If we observe these things, hajj is a great means of bringing about transformation. Every hajj season gives rise to a movement in society and the movement is a mass movement: it is not limited to a few individuals. During the hajj season, people develop more love for God. A heart which is filled with love for God is very valuable and precious. A heart which is filled with the love of God is less inclined towards sins or it is not inclined towards sins at all. Such a heart is inclined towards good deeds. It is necessary to create this love. Creating this love is possible through divine remembrance, attention to God, sincerity and solemn praying. What I am trying to say is that you should appreciate hajj - both as a group and as an individual.

Try to be a source of pride for your country - your dear and glorious homeland, Iran. With their behavior during hajj, Iranian pilgrims can raise the position of their country, their history, their Revolution and the Islamic Republic in the eyes of the people of the world - because during hajj people come together from all parts of the world. It is also possible to do the opposite. We can go there and humiliate our country and our nation through our bad and frivolous actions.

I am not opposed to buying souvenirs, but I am opposed to spending too much time in marketplaces, which is a very bad thing to do. There are some people who cannot stop themselves from shopping. Such actions would dishonor your nation and your people. It is a pity to do so. They go shopping and buy certain things that are often low-quality products imported from far-away profit-minded countries which have colluded with the companies of the host country. They produce fake and substandard products for hajj pilgrims and they flood the market with these products. And you go and lose your money and dignity in order to buy these substandard products. Today we have a lot of domestically-produced products which are beautiful and high-quality and they enjoy variety. And they have been produced by the hands of Iranian laborers: your own brothers. Some pilgrims buy souvenirs inside the country before going on hajj - which is a good thing to do. They keep what they have bought until they return from hajj and they give those things to their relatives after their pilgrimage. After all, they are just gifts. This is a very good thing to do.

Some people bring certain things which are supposed to be blessed, but they are not. The prayer mats that are produced in Sanandaj and Kurdistan province are far better than the prayer mats which are brought from there. Help your brothers. Buy the products - which are produced by the hands of your brothers and are better and more beautiful - and give them to your relatives as souvenirs. The same is true of all our products. I just mentioned prayers mats, which are considered as the most sacred souvenirs, as an example. Try to observe these things.

We have everything in Islam. The Islamic Republic has everything within itself. We have material products as well as spiritual gifts. Our knowledge, our teachings, the Holy Quran, the Sunnah, the narrations from our infallible Imams (a.s.) - these things are assets for us. If we pay attention to these assets, if we make use of them and if we do not deprive ourselves of them, we will move forward. "If you do good, you will do good for your own souls, and if you do evil, it shall be for them." [The Holy Quran, 17: 7] If we observe our covenant with God, we will be rewarded: "Whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with Allah, He will grant him a mighty reward." [The Holy Quran, 48: 10] And if we fail to do so and break our covenant with Allah the Exalted, we will work against ourselves: "Whoever breaks (his faith), he breaks it only to the injury of his own soul." [The Holy Quran, 48: 10]

A few years ago - I think it was around ten years ago - I gave emphatic recommendations to our government officials regarding the need to combat economic corruption. And they welcomed my recommendations, but if they had acted on the recommendations, the recent banking embezzlement - which has preoccupied all newspapers, all governmental organizations and all minds - would not have happened. When we fail to take action, we are forced to suffer from such things. If corruption was combated, such a huge embezzlement - whatever the exact figure is - would not happen. When we fail to take action, these things happen and they preoccupy the hearts and minds of the people. They break the heart of the people. How many hearts would be broken in the country by such corruption? How many people would lose their hope? Is this what our people deserve? This happened because we failed to take action. It was warned that corruption was taking root and that the passage of time would make it difficult to uproot it. These things were pointed out and highlighted. These things were all pointed out. Such events disappoint sincere and pure-hearted investors. If these recommendations had been implemented, we would not have suffered from such things.

Of course I would tell our dear people that our government officials who are working for the three branches of government will combat and follow up this issue as well as other possible issues. And they must do these things: combating corruption is their duty. All three branches of government are making efforts in this regard. There are certain people who want to take advantage of these events in order to humiliate our government officials. Our government officials are working hard. The Majlis, the administration and the judiciary are all working hard.

Of course the news was spread. Our printed press and other media did certain things and spread the news. Nothing is wrong with this, but they should not dwell on the issue. Let our government officials do their duty. Let them follow up the issue in a wise, prudent, determined and careful way. A certain amount of hype might be necessary to raise public awareness. But dwelling on the subject is not at all advisable - especially if there are some people who are planning to take advantage of the issue in other ways. They must be careful. Of course our government officials are following up the issue. The people should know that these things are being followed up and that the efforts will not stop. By Allah's favor, the treacherous hands will be cut off.

Our judiciary officials - who are thankfully following up the issue seriously - should tell the people what they have done so that the people know that things are being followed up. Our judiciary officials must not have mercy on wrong-doers, vandals and corrupt individuals.

I hope Allah the Exalted will bestow His grace and blessings on our nation. I hope He will make this year's hajj ceremonies auspicious for us. By Allah's favor, all of you and all Iranian people will benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). God willing, you will complete this pilgrimage with dignity and you will return in good health.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

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