Statements at the Meeting of Participants in the Conference of 'Lovers of Ahlulbayt (Peace Be Upon Them) and the Takfiri Issue'

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family and his chosen companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

Dear brothers and sisters! Welcome; we sincerely welcome all of you. You are here, in your own home and among your brothers; we view our Muslim brothers in every corner of the world in this light; we are brothers, we consider you our brothers, and we have demonstrated brotherly feelings in action as well - with God's grace and assistance.

The topic of this conference, which is the love of the Ahlulbayt (Peace Be Upon Them), is a very important subject. The love of the Ahlulbayt is not specific to a particular group in Islam; all Muslims love the Ahlulbayt of the Prophet; all Muslims have affection for the Ahlulbayt of the Prophet. A very small number of individuals, known as the Nawasib, have existed in history, and their motivations were likely political rather than genuinely religious; however, the vast majority of Muslims, from the very beginning until today, are considered lovers of the Ahlulbayt. Well, this one sentence serves as a lesson for us; that lesson is that through the love of the Ahlulbayt, consensus can be created among Muslims; this can be established as a central point for the unity and agreement of Muslims. Just as the blessed existence of the Prophet of Islam is a means and a center of unity among Muslims, and just as the Quran and the noble Kaaba are centers of Muslim unity, the love of the Ahlulbayt can also serve as a center for the unity of Muslims and bring hearts closer together.

And I tell you, dear brothers, that today the Islamic world is in dire need of this unity and solidarity. Today, the body of the Islamic world is wounded; today, the enemies of Islam have managed to create war and discord among Muslims, causing them to fail and keeping them preoccupied with themselves while their enemies remain in a safe haven. In the region of West Asia, the usurping Zionist regime lives in security, while Muslims turn against one another! This is a truth and reality that exists today; and this work is the work of the enemies of Islam; it is the work of America, the work of international Zionism, and the work of their affiliates and collaborators in this region. Regrettably, we must accept that within the Islamic Ummah and Islamic governments, there are those who do exactly what America and the Zionists want; they bear the costs, prepare the groundwork, and become their tools; for what? To inflict wounds on the body of the Islamic Ummah. In such circumstances, the unity of the Islamic Ummah is one of the most important obligations; we must gather together.

The love of the Ahlulbayt has a Quranic root, it has a hadith root; it is not a new matter. The hadith that is agreed upon among Islamic sects, which is the Hadith of Thaqalayn - "Indeed, I am leaving among you the two weighty things: the Book of God and my Ahlulbayt, and they will not separate until they come to me at the pond" - teaches us that following the Ahlulbayt is essential, but following without love has no meaning; love is also understood from this hadith. The Quran states: "Indeed, God only wishes to remove the impurity from you, O Ahlulbayt, and to purify you with a thorough purification." This purity and cleanliness that the Almighty God intends to exist in the Ahlulbayt necessitates the love and affection that Muslims have for the Ahlulbayt; thus, this becomes a means of unity among Muslims.

The enemies of Islam find it beneficial to bring war into the Islamic world, and unfortunately, they have succeeded. We stand against this conspiracy of the enemy and will continue to stand. And I tell you, we believe that with God's grace and divine will and by God's permission, we will be victorious against our enemy in this confrontation.

Today, Palestine is the foremost issue of the Islamic world. Anyone who understands and perceives the issue of Palestine acknowledges that it is the foremost issue of the Islamic world. The key to overcoming the enemies of Islam is the issue of Palestine. And the most important issue of the Islamic world today is the issue of Palestine; why? Because Palestine is an Islamic country that has been usurped, taken from its people. The discussion of usurping a village or a city is not the case; the enemy has usurped a country and has made it a base for disrupting the security of the countries in this region; one must fight against this cancerous tumor. Now observe; someone in the guise of a religious mufti issues a fatwa that fighting against Zionism is forbidden and helping a certain group that fights against Zionism is not permissible! This is truly a tragedy that some act in such a way against the interests of Islam, maintaining friendly relations with the enemies; directly contrary to the explicit text of the Quran, which describes the believers as "harsh against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves"; these individuals are harsh against Muslims and merciful with disbelievers; they are good with them, but see what they do to Muslims! This sowing of discord, this creation of the vile tree of ISIS and similar groups in Iraq, Syria, and other places.

Of course, this tree has fallen in Iraq and Syria, but one cannot be certain, and it may be that they spread this chaos elsewhere; America does not cease its enmity towards Islam. We must be vigilant; we must be alert; we must maintain our preparedness; we must not be caught off guard. Amir al-Mu'minin (Peace Be Upon Him) states in Nahj al-Balagha: "By God, I will not be like the hyena that sleeps in its den"; we must be like this; we cannot fall asleep, we cannot be negligent; we cannot ignore the enemy's plots. We must be awake.

This vigilance has its requirements; one of its requirements is the brotherhood and love that we must have. This love necessitates fighting and confronting the factors that are openly hostile to the Islamic world or assist those enemies; you must be the bearers of this spirit in various countries; maintain the readiness of Muslims for confrontation and resistance. The intention is not always military warfare; rather, you must familiarize the minds of your audiences - the people who hear your words - with the realities that exist today in the Islamic world. We will certainly not neglect this duty; we will not abandon this duty, and we are confident that the Almighty God will assist us in advancing this work. Those who, contrary to the verse of the Quran that states, "O you who have believed, do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies, extending to them affection" - those who take as friends those who are enemies of Muslims, enemies of Islam, and enemies of God, and establish their affection with them, these are the true enemies of Islam within the Islamic community.

Thanks be to God, today the Islamic world has awakened. We Muslims in various countries are a great reality; we are a reality imposed upon global arrogance and disbelief. In the face of disbelief and arrogance, today the Islamic world can stand and assert its voice. Thanks be to God, in the geography of Iran, there exists a government named Islam that takes pride in being an Islamic government. Of course, we have not yet achieved all our aspirations in realizing the sovereignty of Islam in the country; we are halfway, we are in the middle of the path, but our goal is to realize all Islamic objectives and to fully strengthen Islamic law. This is our goal, and we will pursue this goal with God's grace and by God's permission, and this itself will be a means of victory over the enemies of Islam; today this reality exists here.

Dear brothers and sisters! Nearly forty years have passed since the establishment of the Islamic Republic; from the very first day until today, America has been hostile towards us, the front of disbelief, arrogance, and Zionism has been hostile towards us, plotting and doing everything they could against us: they imposed sanctions, conducted military attacks, and carried out various actions; despite them, over these nearly forty years, we have continuously progressed. Today, by God's grace, the advancements of the Islamic Republic compared to 30 years ago and 35 years ago are incomparable; they wanted to eliminate us, but the Almighty God has strengthened us despite them, has empowered us, and has made us stronger than what we even wished for; today the Islamic Republic, thanks be to God, is at the peak of power and strength and stands firm. And we state our position clearly and stand by our words, and wherever our presence is needed, wherever assistance is required in confronting and resisting disbelief and arrogance, we will provide our help there; we state this clearly, we do not hesitate to express this matter in confronting and resisting the world of disbelief and arrogance; we do not consider anyone's opinion and we state our words and the voice of our hearts clearly. Today, such a reality exists in the Islamic world, and we hope that with God's grace, the day will come when Palestine returns to the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people become the owners of their land and the Palestinian refugees return to Palestine; that day will be a day of celebration and joy for the Islamic world, and that day will deliver a real and crushing blow to the arrogance, and we strive and work for that, and God willing, that day will come. I once again welcome all of you dear brothers and sisters and entrust you all to God, and I hope that this conference of yours will be a blessed one.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.