Statements in Meeting with Families of Martyrs of the Defenders of the Shrine and Resistance

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 the earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters. We are on the verge of the month of Rajab; the month of prayer, the month of worship, the month of seeking God. Let us take advantage of this month, connecting our hearts, our souls, and our intentions to the boundless sea of divine mercy. All affairs are in God's hands; let us ask God for determination, for strength, and for the success of servitude. The supplications of the month of Rajab are filled with lofty themes and high divine and Islamic teachings. Seek health from God, seek success, seek assistance.

Our meeting today is on the occasion of the anniversary of the martyrdom of our dear martyr, Martyr Soleimani, and the anniversary of the martyrdom of a group of pilgrims at the shrine of Martyr Soleimani last year, some of whose families are present here; a group of Lebanese brothers and sisters are also here — both from the victims of the events in Lebanon and others. This is a gathering of martyrdom, a gathering of sincerity. The atmosphere of the Hussainiyah is illuminated by your presence, by the presence of these radiant gatherings.

The Almighty God has shown that dignity is in His hands. This is dignity; that people from faraway places, sometimes from other countries, set out on the anniversary of Martyr Soleimani's martyrdom to reach his grave, to visit his shrine, to recite prayers for him — is this not dignity? This is dignity. When you work for God, God responds in this way. [Of course] this is in this world; now, his ranks in the realm of divine mercy and blessings are beyond our imagination, but the worldly reward is that you see: this is his shrine, to which thousands set out to visit. This dignity is given by God; when we work sincerely, God responds in this way. Some seek dignity through wrong means and tools.

The Quran says: "Do they seek dignity from the disbelievers?" Do they go to the infidels, to the hypocrites, to gain dignity? "Indeed, dignity belongs to God entirely;" (2) dignity is in God's hands, it belongs to God, it is under God's control. This verse is from Surah An-Nisa. Another verse in Surah Fatir: "Whoever desires dignity, then to God belongs all dignity;" (3) dignity is in God's hands. These must be understood; they must influence our lifestyle and direction in life. Let us know that if we seek dignity, where it is, and where the mine of dignity is.

I will mention a few points; one point is about Martyr Soleimani. Well, much has been said about Martyr Soleimani; books have been written about his characteristics, his states, and artistic works have been produced; many speakers have spoken. I have also previously mentioned some points repeatedly. (4) Today, I will present a few brief points about Martyr Soleimani so that we can learn; let us remember so that we too can move in this direction.

The first point is that from the early 80s, when the military mischief of America in our region — in Afghanistan, in Iraq — began, and America officially entered the field and truly committed mischief, from the very beginning, Martyr Soleimani entered the field; he did not think of danger, nor did he consider the arrogance of the enemy. Of course, their main target was Iran; the attack on Afghanistan in the east of Iran, the attack on Iraq in the west of Iran, each with a pretext. The surface of the matter was [but] the essence of the matter was that Islamic Iran and the Iranian nation were to be besieged from both sides; that was the goal. When those two attacks were neutralized, naturally, the enemy did not achieve their goal. Martyr Soleimani entered the field from the very beginning. The role of this noble and honest man in this jihad is unparalleled. He neither spoke of it, nor wrote about it; I do not think anyone else could have written down these characteristics and details to remain, which is one of the regrettable things. Of course, there is a lot of information; in this regard, the information we have and others have is abundant, but these must remain in the political knowledge of our country; they must become documents so that future generations understand.

From the very beginning, when foreign forces attacked the cities of Iraq — Najaf, Karbala, Kadhimayn, Baghdad, and other places — a small group of young people, a number of young people took refuge in Najaf, in the holy courtyard of Amir al-Mu'minin, without shelter, having neither proper weapons nor even proper food. Soleimani felt a duty from here, began to establish contact with them, and helped them; he saved them. Of course, at that time, a very good and effective movement was also led by the religious authority, which was also extremely important and effective [but] Soleimani was the first to enter the field. The Americans did not come to Iraq to remove Saddam and leave; they came to remove Saddam and sit in his place. First, they imposed a military ruler, a military general (5) on Iraq; then they saw that this [action] was very ugly, so they removed him and placed a political figure named Bremer (6). The one who caused this second person to be removed and, in a difficult, complex, and lengthy process, Iraq to fall into the hands of the Iraqis themselves, who would choose their own rulers, at that critical point was Martyr Soleimani, with the actions he took. He launched a hybrid war; cultural war, military war, propaganda war, political war. These were carried out by Haj Qasem; this was from that time.

After a while, it was the turn of ISIS; after the Americans saw that it was not in their interest to intervene directly in Iraq and other places in that region, they created ISIS. The Americans themselves have admitted that they created ISIS. The one who entered the field and stood against ISIS was again Martyr Soleimani, and I will mention a point regarding this later. The Iraqi youth shone; the Iraqi youth truly shone in this matter, but the role of Martyr Soleimani was vital; if he had not been there, it would not have been possible. That is, a person who, in a significant regional event, where the life and death of the region depended on him, entered the field with initiative, courage, and power, putting his life on the line. In these few years, strange events occurred in these confrontations that were mentioned. This is one point.

The second point is that Martyr Soleimani's constant strategy in his jihad activities was to revive the resistance front; what does this mean? It means utilizing the capacities and ready-to-work youth of those countries, which he did in the best way. Wherever he entered — Iraq in one way, Syria in another way, Lebanon in another way — he mobilized the patriotic forces of each country, the forces of that place that were ready to work. Well, in Iraq, for example, the religious authority issued a fatwa or decree that people and youth should come and stand against ISIS; very well, thousands of youth set out, but thousands of youth without organization, without weapons, without training, what can they do? Who organized them? Who provided them with weapons? Who gave them short-term training? Martyr Soleimani, in cooperation with Iraqi friends, [including] Martyr Abu Mahdi — do not underestimate Martyr Abu Mahdi; he was a very great man, a very valuable person alongside Martyr Soleimani — and others, some of whom are thankfully alive, some have also been martyred. These forces were brought into the field by Martyr Soleimani; this was another characteristic of this martyr. These are lessons; that is, making the best use of the existing capacities for a great task, knowing how to do this work and dedicating oneself to it; this was the work of Martyr Soleimani.

Another point I want to mention about the martyr is that in all stages of this great struggle that our dear brother and dear companion had, defending the sacred sanctuaries was a principle for him; he had to defend the holy shrines, he had to defend Zainabiyya, he had to defend the graves of the companions of Amir al-Mu'minin — some of whom are buried in Syria and some in Iraq — he had to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the great sanctuary of the Islamic world; that is why that Palestinian leader here, in a speech before the prayer, referred to Martyr Soleimani as "the martyr of Al-Quds"; (7) he defended that sanctuary. He also referred to Iran as a sanctuary, defending Iran as a sanctuary. See! This logic of defending sacred sanctuaries is a very important logic. This is another characteristic of this great man.

Another characteristic is that Martyr Soleimani's view of the issues of the country was not narrow and limited; this is very important. He viewed and assessed the issues of the country with a global and international perspective; what does this mean? It means he believed that any significant event that occurs in the region, indeed in the world, has a reflection within the country and affects the issues of the country. In the issues of the country, to the extent that it concerned him — some things did not concern him; economic issues did not concern Martyr Soleimani — he recognized and calculated the impact of global events and went after them. He identified the danger from outside the borders and thought of remedies. This is the teaching of Islam, that a person should recognize danger in advance. Amir al-Mu'minin said that I do not become careless with the lullaby of the enemy, and I cannot sleep. (8) He was like this; this is also one of his characteristics. These are some of the characteristics of this dear martyr.

Well, these characteristics were in Martyr Soleimani, but not as an individual. Martyr Soleimani, as a person, as a human being, is of secondary importance; what is important is as a member of a school, as a follower of a path towards a goal, is what is important. These characteristics were possessed by Martyr Soleimani as a school, he pursued them and felt a duty to follow them, which we now call "the Soleimani school" [which is] the school of Islam, the school of the Quran, and he adhered to this school and acted upon it. He became a standard, a pivot, a center. If we also have that same faith, that same action, that same righteous deed, we become Soleimani. If each of us has this same commitment to this path, we too will be included in that divine grace. Well, this was the first point regarding Martyr Soleimani.

The next point is about the issue of "defending the shrine." "Defending the shrine" is a title that has become so established among our people and society in Iran that the best of our souls were ready to go and sacrifice themselves for it; pure blood was shed, precious lives were given in this path to defend the shrine. Some — now I do not want to use a bad expression — due to a lack of proper analysis, a lack of proper understanding, a lack of necessary knowledge of the issues, think and express and perhaps promote that with the recent events in the region, the blood shed in the defense of the shrine was wasted! These people make a great mistake and a big error. The blood was not wasted.

If these lives had not been sacrificed, this struggle would not have taken place; this Haj Qasem Soleimani would not have moved with that courage in the mountains and deserts of this region and would not have led the defenders; today, there would be no news of these sacred shrines; be assured of this. Not only would there be no news of Zainabiyya, there would be no news of Karbala, there would be no news of Najaf. The reason? Samarra; regarding Samarra, there was some negligence, you saw that they destroyed the dome of the two Imams (peace be upon them), they broke their shrine; who did this? The same Takfiris, with the help of the Americans. It would have been the same everywhere; if this defense had not taken place, the fate of these sacred shrines, these qiblas of the hearts of Muslim people, would have been the same as the destroyed dome of the two Imams (peace be upon them). They went, they struggled, they worked, they stopped the enemy, they struck the enemy in the mouth, they were able to defend a great truth. This great truth is not only the sacred place; it is the owner of the place, the school of that great Imam.

Let us also know that fundamentally, in the Quranic culture, every blood shed in the way of God is shed in a rightful manner, it does not go to waste; no blood goes to waste; even if victory is not achieved, the blood that was shed does not go to waste. The blood of the noble Hamza was shed in Uhud; did it go to waste? No. Above all, the blood of Sayyid al-Shuhada (peace be upon him) was shed in Karbala; did it go to waste? No. The blood shed in the way of truth does not go to waste. The Quran also speaks to this meaning; the Quran says: "And whoever fights in the way of God and is killed or overcomes, We will surely give him a great reward." (9) It does not matter; whether you achieve victory, whether you are killed, whether you are defeated, whether you do not achieve victory, the essence of this movement has value before God; this jihad has value before the Almighty God, it is significant. And of course, victory is certain. Now do not look at this false front; know that those who are making noise today will one day be trampled underfoot by the believers.

The next point is a point related to the revolution, related to the Islamic Republic. The events of these past few years in which Martyr Soleimani and his companions and friends were active and visible, including the events of defending the shrine, showed that the Islamic revolution and the Islamic Republic are alive, are flourishing, are a fruitful tree; "it gives its fruit at all times by the permission of its Lord;" (10) this has been demonstrated. The youth of the 80s and 90s, like the youth of the 60s, entered the field, fought, and sacrificed their lives. Just as in the 60s, some youths would fall at the feet of their parents asking for permission to go to the front, in the 80s and 90s, some youths would fall at the feet of their parents. Martyr Haj Ghodsi kissed his mother's feet to allow him to go to the front, to fight, to defend the shrine. This shows that the revolution is alive. Many social movements occur in the world; they start with a vitality and liveliness, then turn into depression and end. The Islamic Republic, after more than forty years, is alive today. Today, this dear youth rose here, and certainly millions of youths are like this who say that if necessary, if needed to defend Islam against the enemy, we are ready to sacrifice our lives.

The defenders of the shrine have shown that the flag of resistance is still waving, and the enemy, throughout these years, with all the investments they have made and the costs they have incurred, has not been able to lower the flag of resistance; whether in Lebanon, in Palestine, in Syria, in Iraq, or in Iran; they have not been able to and will not be able to.

An important point that I noted here is that these resistances, this national power in any country has its factors; these factors must be preserved. One of the great mistakes in some countries is that they remove the factors of stability and power from the arena and scene. The group of faithful youths who are ready to sacrifice their lives are the most important factors of a nation's power; these must not be removed from the scene. This is also a lesson for us. Well, thanks be to God, this is largely secured here; some other countries should also pay attention to this point; they must know what their factors of stability are; when they remove them, the same events occur that happened in some countries in the region. They remove the factors of stability, the factors of power, and it becomes Syria, it becomes chaos, it becomes the occupation of Syrian soil by foreigners; the Americans from one side, the Zionist regime from another side, and some other aggressive countries from another side enter.

Of course, they cannot remain. Syria belongs to the people of Syria. Those who have attacked the land of the people of Syria will one day be forced to retreat in the face of the power of the valiant Syrian youth; without a doubt, this will happen. The aggressor must leave the land belonging to a nation, otherwise, they will be expelled. Today, the Americans are continuously building bases in Syria; certainly and without a doubt, these bases will be trampled under the feet of the Syrian youth.

Lebanon is a symbol of resistance. Lebanon has been hit, but it has not bent, it has not fallen to its knees. The enemy strikes, but "they feel pain just as you feel pain;" (11) they too are struck. And the one who ultimately prevails is the power of faith and the possessors of faith. Lebanon is a symbol of resistance and will prevail; Yemen is also a symbol of resistance and will prevail. And God willing, the enemy and the aggressors, at the head of whom is the greedy and criminal America, will be forced to take their hands off the people of the region and the nations of the region and will leave this region in disgrace, God willing.

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