Statements on the Birth Anniversary of Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) and the Martyrdom Anniversary of General Soleimani

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 chosen progeny, especially the remainder of God on earth.

Today marks the anniversary of an unparalleled birth; both in terms of the unique birthplace and the unique child born there; both the birthplace and the born. The birthplace is the Kaaba; in history, who else do we know that was born in the house of God, in the Kaaba? The born is Ali al-Murtada (peace be upon him), about whom I will say a few words later. Therefore, in terms of the birth of this great figure, the thirteenth of Rajab is an exceptional and unparalleled day.

Similarly, today is the anniversary of our dear and esteemed martyr, Martyr Soleimani. Thanks be to God, much has been said and written about Martyr Soleimani. If I were to say a word about this dear martyr, whom I have closely observed in his life and work, I must say that Soleimani was a man of faith, sincerity, and action; these three qualities. He was a man of faith; he had faith in the work he did; he had deep faith in the goal for which he strived; he had faith in God and divine support; he was a man of faith. He was a man of sincerity; he did not work for fame or to gain a reputation among people; he worked sincerely for God Almighty, sincerely for the goal. And he was a man of action; some are very good, very knowledgeable, but what is seen from them is not action; that is, the path they outline in their minds and on their tongues is not reflected in their actions. Martyr Soleimani was a man of action; wherever he felt his presence was necessary, he was there; whether in preserving and guiding the revolutionary movement in Kerman, in confronting the oppressive and tyrannical invaders in that region, in the Quds Force, in defending the shrine, or in confronting ISIS. He was a man of action; both in the military field and in the political field, as well as in the educational field. His work was not solely military. He is known as a military figure, but in the most sensitive and important political issues of the region, Martyr Soleimani was an effective and beneficial factor, and in some cases, unparalleled. He was also a man of action in the field of education; those under his command, the young people who joined him, those who fought alongside him, learned from him; he educated them. He was a comprehensive and complete human being in our time.

A few days ago, those who are still indebted to his blood spoke nonsense about him, uttered nonsensical words regarding Martyr Soleimani, but Martyr Soleimani, in action, in his blessed lifetime, refuted their words. And thanks be to God, to the enemy's dismay, his grave becomes more sacred and respected each year than the previous year. This year, you can see — as I saw on television — the massive gathering of people marching from far away, sometimes from other countries, going to visit the grave of this man. A man of faith, a man of sincerity, and a man of action.

Today, in addition to Martyr Soleimani, other dear martyrs are also present in this gathering; the families of some of these martyrs are here; whether the martyrs of the military field, the martyrs of the scientific field, or our dear people who joined the ranks of martyrs in this twelve-day war. Those whom we knew closely, we can testify that their lives were entirely dedicated to jihad; they thought of jihad. They had no hesitation or pause in the path of God and worked; martyrdom was their aspiration; their aspiration was martyrdom. Both the military martyrs and the scientific martyrs — now those whom I knew closely among these scholars — were in love with martyrdom, waiting for martyrdom. This gathering is a session of honoring and respecting these dear martyrs whose names will remain in history, and we must use their blessed names to move forward in history.

However, the topics I wish to discuss today are a few brief points. One is a short word about Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him); another is a word about an effective factor in the confrontation of truth and falsehood that you must be aware of, whether in the time of Amir al-Mu'minin or today; and one more is a look at the recent events of last week and our people's gatherings, about which I will say a word.

Regarding Amir al-Mu'minin, well, the sayings and writings in history, in literature, and in hadith are so abundant and great that I do not think there has been so much said about any other person; so much praise has been given; even among non-Muslims, even from non-Shiites, great scholars have written books; the commentary on Nahj al-Balagha by Ibn Abi al-Hadid is a large, thick book with many volumes, and the commentaries on Nahj al-Balagha and the explanations of the words of that great figure and the letter to Malik al-Ashtar and his biographies in history and literature are so numerous that I said, one cannot find a parallel for him. Well, among all these qualities that have been said about Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), I have chosen two qualities — in which Amir al-Mu'minin is at the pinnacle, and we need these today — to briefly speak about: one is that Amir al-Mu'minin is at the pinnacle of "justice"; the other is that Amir al-Mu'minin is at the pinnacle of "piety"; justice and piety.

Today, the Islamic Republic needs justice, and it needs piety; today, the Islamic Republic has made progress in justice compared to the past, and it has also made progress in piety; but we are still far from the expected level. Amir al-Mu'minin should be our role model, and we must move towards that pinnacle.

The pinnacle of "justice" that we said Amir al-Mu'minin occupies, how did Amir al-Mu'minin implement justice? He implemented it in various ways; sometimes with gentle hands, by serving the weak, the orphaned children, and the families without guardians; sometimes he implemented justice in this way; sometimes he implemented justice with Zulfiqar; [meaning] in the opposite way, with the two-edged sword that throughout history, no weapon has been praised as much as Zulfiqar; sometimes with eloquent speech and wisdom; phrases that surpass the level of Arabic literature, like Nahj al-Balagha. He expresses justice in this way; he writes letters to those who are his governors, his governors, teaching them justice. That is, when one looks, truly the writing of Amir al-Mu'minin to Malik al-Ashtar (the 53rd letter of Nahj al-Balagha) — which is wrongly called a treaty; it is not a treaty, it is a command, a command of governance — is full of concepts that mostly return to justice, establishing a just society; he sometimes advanced justice in this way. That is, both with kindness, and with divine severity and religious zeal, and with eloquent speech and wisdom and explanation. The source of this jihad of explanation is Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him).

But piety; how did he implement piety? He sometimes implemented piety in the prayer niche; the worships that the angels envied; that is, the worship of Amir al-Mu'minin, his prayer, his supplication, his speech with God, astonished the angels. Sometimes he implemented piety with patience and silence to preserve the unity of Muslims; this is also one of the important manifestations of the piety of Amir al-Mu'minin. A right belonging to him is taken away from him, Amir al-Mu'minin could take this right with the sword, but to avoid division among Muslims, he remains patient, he remains silent, he cooperates. Sometimes it is said that Amir al-Mu'minin sat at home for 25 years; no, Amir al-Mu'minin did not sit at home; he was in the scene, he was in the arena, he was giving orders, guiding, advising the caliphs of the time, and the people. That is, with patience and silence, he demonstrated his piety; this is piety. This is piety that one sees a right being taken away from him but remains silent for the sake of a greater interest. We cannot endure to remain silent; if a right is taken from us, we think the world has fallen apart, we do not consider; that great man considered. In some places, the piety of that great man was manifested by standing firm against severe events, like the Night of the Covenant; it was piety; he went to sleep in the place of the Prophet, while he was naturally assured that he would lose his life that night. In Uhud, he showed piety, he stood firm; in Hunayn, he showed piety, he stood firm; in Khaybar, he showed piety, he defeated the enemy; in most of the battles of the Prophet, he was at the forefront; [these too] were piety. Piety is not only in the prayer niche; in the battlefield, piety is what preserves, protects, and advances; [therefore, Amir al-Mu'minin] stood firm against the enemy.

These are the two qualities; the justice of Amir al-Mu'minin and the piety of Amir al-Mu'minin. Today, in our country, in our society, we need both justice and piety. We need the piety of the people and especially the piety of the officials of the country; we need this, and it must be fully realized. Well, thanks be to God, to a large extent, one observes that they act with piety, but it must become widespread. This Imam, whose name we long for, whose memory we cherish, whose name we mention and praise, is such a human being; that is, his behavior in justice and that is his behavior in piety.

The Shiites, throughout these thousand and some years, have not had the opportunity to implement the justice of Amir al-Mu'minin in society because they did not have governance; today, this excuse no longer exists; today, there is no excuse. Today, the government is an Islamic government, an Alawi government, a Wilayat government. Today, we must pursue justice. Justice is the most obligatory and primary quality for managing a society that we must pursue. Well, there are factors that hinder our piety; sometimes we are afraid, sometimes we doubt our principles, sometimes we consider friendships, sometimes we consider the enemy; these must be set aside, these must not exist. We must move towards a justice-bringing program and a program that promotes piety without unnecessary considerations. Well, this is about Amir al-Mu'minin.

I mentioned that there is a point regarding Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) that this point must be considered today in our society and in our Islamic government; that point is that Amir al-Mu'minin was never defeated in any military confrontation; never. He was victorious everywhere; even in Uhud. [In the battle of] Uhud, others fled, Amir al-Mu'minin prevailed; his bravery, his steadfastness, and one or two others around the Prophet compensated for those who fled; that is, Amir al-Mu'minin was victorious in all the battles — a similar incident occurred in Hunayn, and there were others — he was victorious. During his caliphate, three wars occurred, and in all three, Amir al-Mu'minin was victorious; he was victorious in Siffin as well. In Siffin, it was only one step away from changing the course of history; if Malik al-Ashtar could reach that point, which he was close to, history would have changed, but at the command of Amir al-Mu'minin, he returned. The problem that existed at that time, and still exists today, is that this Amir al-Mu'minin, who was never defeated in any military confrontation, was able to be prevented from reaching his goals in many cases; that is, they found a way that today we call "soft war." Some think that these events, these accusations, these deceptions, these wickedness, these infiltrations are unique to today; no, in the time of Amir al-Mu'minin, these were also factors. The work is in the hands of the people; but God’s representative cannot do anything without the help of the people: He is the one who supported you with His victory and with the believers.

The enemy had no choice but to resort to the deception of the environment surrounding Amir al-Mu'minin in the battle of Siffin, which was achieved by raising the Qurans on the tips of spears; this also happened later, during the time of Imam Hasan; this is soft war. What is soft war? It is to create doubt in the minds of the people through deception, lies, accusations, temptations, and fallacious reasoning, to make them hesitant about the path they are on, to create doubt in the people. This is soft war. This war is still ongoing today; this work is being carried out today. The goal of soft war is to demotivate the people; to make those who are in the field and ready to strive and work lose their motivation, to make them hopeless, to create doubt in them, they enter the field with the tools of soft war. At that time, during the time of Amir al-Mu'minin, they did this, and the details of it exist in history. Individuals would go to cities, to villages, attack the people, oppress them, then someone would spread a rumor that these were sent by Ali. They would make the people hesitant. Today, the same thing is happening. Today, the Iranian nation has shown that in hard fields, where they are needed, they stand firm. This work belongs to the Iranian nation; it is not specific to a particular group or a specific gathering; where they need to stand, they stand; where they need to help, they help; where they need to shout, they shout; where they need to confront the enemy, they demoralize the enemy. This motivation worries the enemy; they try to weaken this motivation in people with various excuses, to make them weak.

Today, one of the tools of soft war among the enemy and among some unworthy or oblivious individuals is to keep silent about the achievements and capabilities of this nation; to deny the capabilities of this nation. The nation is a great nation, it can work and is working; today it is working. If a nation becomes oblivious to its own possessions, does not see its capabilities, does not believe in its progress, it will be humiliated; when it is humiliated, it sees itself as insignificant, it will be ready to submit to the enemy; this is a trick that the enemies are pursuing and implementing.

The talented youth of today, the efficient talented youth, sends three satellites into space in one day; this is not a small thing, it is a very big thing. The talented youth of today, in a few months, adds four thousand megawatts to the country's electricity and strengthens the country's network. The talented youth of today has astonished the world in various sciences, in aerospace, in biotechnology, in medicine, in nanotechnology, in missile construction, in military industries, even during sanctions. These are invaluable treasures; these treasures must be seen, we have them. I may have mentioned once or twice in my speeches; a few years ago, a missile scientist belonging to the Zionists announced and said that when they were practicing the launch of a certain Iranian missile and I saw the image that was broadcast, I took off my hat in respect for the one who made it, acknowledging that during sanctions, he was able to accomplish such a great feat. In defense industries, in treatment methods, great works are being done today; these are hidden by the enemy, and unfortunately, some within also hide these advancements, these great works, and do not inform the people. Great works are being done in the country, the country is progressing.

What causes the enemy to first request a ceasefire in the military confrontation against the Iranian nation, and then send a message that they do not want to fight with you — the wicked enemy, of course, is deceitful and a liar; we do not trust his words — what causes him to do this? That is the power of the Iranian nation, that is the capability of Iranian youth. I heard and was informed that those who launched these satellites into space last week, these young people who sent three satellites into space in one day and established them in space, have an average age of 26! A twenty-six-year-old; these are tremendous treasures, the wealth of human resources is not a small wealth. Then that American liar sits and talks about the Iranian nation, makes some slander, makes some false promises; false promises, deception. Of course, today, fortunately, the Iranian nation has recognized America; there was a time when they did not recognize it; today, the disgrace of America has fallen in the world, and people recognize it; it is not specific to Iran. People have recognized the enemy; this is a great success.

We insisted on reasoning with the people, but the people saw and observed in their twelve-day war; those who said the solution to the country's problems was negotiation with America saw what happened; while negotiating with America, the Iranian government was busy negotiating with America, the American government was secretly preparing a war plan! The people are awake, they are alert.

Well, therefore, we must be vigilant against soft war, we must be vigilant against the enemy's fabrication of doubts, we must be vigilant against the enemy's rumor-mongering. The money that is spent — billions are spent — for this or that television, this or that radio, this or that information center, and they constantly spread lies and falsehoods against Iran, this is not without reason; this is based on a very important reasoning; they want to weaken the internal situation. They saw that in the twelve-day war, the unity of the nation was miraculous, they want to disrupt this unity. The people of Iran must be vigilant. The most important issue is to pay attention to the enmity of the enemy and to pay attention to internal unity and solidarity; they are fierce against the disbelievers, but merciful among themselves.

Well, I will also say a few words about the gatherings that took place last week. First of all, the market class and the merchants are among the most loyal classes of the country to the Islamic system and the Islamic revolution. We know the market well. One cannot confront the Islamic Republic and the Islamic system in the name of the market and merchants. Yes, these gatherings were mainly from the merchants, but their words were correct. I heard this both on television and saw it in calculations and actions. When a merchant looks at the monetary situation of the country, the depreciation of the national currency, the instability of the foreign currency prices that prevents a stable business environment, he says I cannot do business; he is right; the country's officials acknowledge this, and I know that the respected president and other high-ranking officials are seeking to remedy this problem. This is a problem in which the enemy is also involved; let me tell you this. The rise in the price of foreign currency, the unreasonable rise in the price of foreign currency, and its instability, which keeps going up and down, so that the merchant does not know what his situation is, is not natural; this is the work of the enemy. Of course, with various measures, it must be stopped; and they are trying; both the president and the heads of other branches and some other officials are trying to correct this situation. Therefore, the merchants' protest was about this matter; and this matter is a correct matter. What is important is that a number of provoked mercenaries of the enemy stand behind the merchants and shout anti-Islam, anti-Iran, and anti-Islamic Republic slogans; this is what is important. Protest is legitimate, but protest is different from chaos. We talk to the protestors; officials must talk to the protestors, but talking to the rioters is useless; the rioter must be put in his place.

That a number of individuals, under various titles, with various names, come with the intention of destruction, with the intention of making the country insecure, stand behind the faithful, healthy, and revolutionary merchants and exploit their protests to create chaos is absolutely unacceptable; absolutely. The work of the enemy must be recognized; the enemy does not rest, he uses every opportunity. Here they saw an opportunity, they wanted to exploit it; of course, our officials were in the field and will be. What is important is the unity of the nation; what is important are the same things that made Soleimani, Soleimani: faith, sincerity, action; what is important is not to be indifferent to the enemy's soft war; not to be indifferent to the enemy's rumor-mongering; these are important. What is important is that when one feels that the enemy wants to impose something on the country, on the officials, on the government, on the nation, he stands firmly against the enemy and shields himself. We will not yield to the enemy; with reliance on God Almighty, with trust in God Almighty, and with confidence in the support of the people, God willing, with divine success, we will bring the enemy to its knees.

We hope that God Almighty will unite our dear martyrs with their saints; keep our youth safe; may He, God willing, grant you the blessings of the birth of Amir al-Mu'minin and bestow patience, solace, and tranquility upon the hearts of the families of the martyrs.

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