Statements at the Meeting with the Organizers of the Ilam Province Martyrs Congress

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 Muhammad and his pure family.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters. I sincerely thank you for holding this commemoration and for undertaking this very beneficial initiative. Before entering the Hosseiniyeh, I saw the exhibition; the services that have been rendered are very good. Of course, many side activities and peripheral works must be carried out in these congresses, and God willing, may you succeed in doing so.

Ilam Province was a stronghold during the Sacred Defense. It is true that some cities and areas of this province were caught between the two sides of the war, and at one point fell into the hands of the wicked hypocrites, but this province stood like a mountain, like the peak of Mimik - which I visited and saw the work of our dear warriors up close - against the wicked Saddam enemy. Firstly, it was exposed to war earlier than any other part of the country; as the gentlemen mentioned. The enemy attacked Ilam before officially attacking Tehran and other places. The first martyr, who is the martyr “Shanbeh-i” that they mentioned, was martyred in Ilam before the war began, meaning the entire Ilam Province is among the al-sabiqun (the foremost) in the Sacred Defense.

Then, unique events occurred in Ilam Province that unfortunately our own people are unaware of, let alone others and other nations who are eager to know about our country's events; even our own people are unaware of many of these matters. One of these incidents is the bombing of the children's football match in 1986 - on the 23rd of Bahman 1986 - where these Ilami youths, two Ilami teams, organized a match in commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the victory of the Revolution, and a number of people gathered to watch; an Iraqi plane came overhead, knowing exactly what [event] was taking place here - not that they just randomly dropped bombs and it happened to hit the football field; no, they were aware - and struck here, resulting in ten players being martyred, the referee being martyred, several children being martyred, and some spectators being martyred; this is not a small incident, this is a significant event; it deserves to be recognized globally, to be spoken of, to be repeated. This is the message of the victimization of our athlete martyrs; their crime was that they organized a match for the [anniversary of the victory of] the Islamic Republic and for the Revolution.

By what power did the wicked Saddam carry out such blatant crimes without fear? Who supported him? Those who supported this bloodthirsty wolf then, today speak of human rights, today they consider themselves the custodians of human rights all over the world! Such shamelessness and audacity exists among these powers! Who should expose them? Who should articulate these truths? Our artists, our writers bear a heavy burden, a heavy responsibility. These must be presented to the world in artistic forms; films must be made. For this incident at the stadium, stories, films, books, and memories must be produced; these works must be done.

One of the unique characteristics of Ilam Province is that families of two martyrs, three martyrs, four martyrs, and five martyrs, as well as families with ten martyrs, as they mentioned, are present in this province; a family with ten martyrs, a family with nine martyrs, one with eight martyrs, several families with five martyrs, with six martyrs; is it easy to speak of these? Just imagining it leaves one astonished. Ilam is like this; there are families present who, as they said, some of these families are also present in this gathering, may God, God willing, encompass all of you with His mercy and grace.

Another characteristic of Ilam is the comprehensive presence of all classes; from the prominent scholar, the late Sheikh Abdul-Rahman Haidari (may God have mercy on him) - who was with us at the top of Mimik; whenever we came, the late Sheikh Abdul-Rahman was with us; I visited Ilam several times; both before and after the presidency, he was there - who, as long as he lived, was in the battlefield, armed and truly ready for combat, to the various tribes of Ilam, and the ordinary people of Ilam; those who were warriors were present in the field; the general populace also resisted. This was mentioned by one of the gentlemen that [the people] did not migrate from the city; I saw with my own eyes in the city of Ilam; enemy planes would come in a specific time, bombing the city repeatedly, at that time Ilam was deserted, there was no one, people would go to the surrounding deserts and forests and stay there, and after it was over, they would return to the city. This going out of the city and returning became a normal daily routine for the people; however, they did not leave the city, the province, or their homes; they stood firm.

It is under these bombings and in these difficult conditions that a genius like martyr Rezai-Najad is nurtured. Martyr Rezai-Najad, the martyr of science, the nuclear martyr, has such a scientific rank that the enemy feels that this person is a source of progress and elevation for the Islamic Republic and must be eliminated; they come and martyr him in front of his wife and young daughter. This young scholar spent his childhood in these bombings and in these difficult conditions in Ilam; meaning the pressure of the enemy and the pressure of war could not diminish the emergence of the talents of these people; this is very important. The likes of this dear martyr Rezai-Najad, who are martyrs of science and have scientific ranks, also possess spiritual ranks; the reason is that martyrdom itself is not given cheaply.

This [person] who was martyred, who was given this rank of martyrdom, requires certain prerequisites in a person's existence, in the inner self of a person, in a person's actions that without these, this rank is not given to a person; and this young scholar had this spiritual rank that he was martyred; without that, he could not have been martyred.

An important point is that it is said that Ilam Province has presented over three thousand martyrs, and other provinces have also presented many martyrs according to their population and circumstances. We must correctly understand the concept of martyrdom. Regarding the concept of martyrdom, it must be understood that martyrdom is not merely being a victim of war; there are many people in the world who participate in the wars of their countries and are killed; many of them, for example, defend their country's geographical borders, as patriotic and nationalistic individuals - of course, some are mercenaries, but some are killed in this capacity - our martyr is not like this; the issue of our warrior who enters the battlefield and either ends up in martyrdom or disability or does not, is not merely defending geographical borders; he enters the defense of the borders of belief, the borders of ethics, the borders of religion, the borders of culture, the borders of identity, in defense of these important spiritual borders; of course, defending the geographical borders of the country is also valuable and is considered valuable; but where is that and where is the combination of that meaning with these other important and lofty meanings! [The issue of] our martyrs is this.

If we want to look at the issue of martyrdom from a higher perspective, our martyr is indeed the embodiment and manifestation of "Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for Paradise for them"; meaning he is trading his life with God; this is martyrdom. Or that noble verse, "Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with God; some of them have fulfilled their vow, and some of them are still waiting"; these have acted sincerely with their covenant, their promise, with the Almighty God; this is martyrdom; meaning [this] is making a covenant with God, trading with God; hence you see that a warrior in the battlefield of jihad fi-sabilillah (struggle in the way of God) differs from conventional warriors in the world. In the battlefield, those of you who were there and saw it, some of you have read in books that the believing warrior during the Sacred Defense, as well as in some other defensive lines like the defense of the shrine or similar situations, when engaged in jihad in the battlefield, his sincerity is greater than usual, his reliance is greater, his humility is greater, and his observance of divine limits is greater.

It is common in the world that when an army conquers a city, looting and pillaging and oppression are considered normal; here, no; here, the warrior striving in the way of God, even if victorious, does not diminish his sincerity and observance of divine limits; rather, in the moment of victory, due to gratitude for the victory, these observances increase. Our warriors, when they captured the enemy, the same enemy that tortured our captives from the moment they captured them until they reached the camp where they were held, several times as if they killed them and brought them back to life, due to the extent of their torture - it was clear what they did to them in the camp - those same people, when they became our captives, if they were wounded, our warrior would treat them; if they were thirsty, he would give them water; he treated them like his own; these are truly significant matters.

The Islamic lifestyle in the behavior of our warriors and martyrs is a remarkable aspect that cannot be overlooked. There are so many inspiring points in the lives of these martyrs that it truly deserves an artistic portrayal of this situation to be shown to the world, and to introduce the Iranian warrior to the world and present them through great artistic works in front of the eyes of the world.

This memorial that you have prepared should open our ears to the message of the martyrs. The martyrs tell us: "And they rejoice in what has come to them of grace from God and in the favor of those who have not yet joined them from behind them; there is no fear upon them, nor do they grieve"; this path is a path that has no fear and no sorrow; it is the path of God; in this path, one must be steadfast, one must move with strength, and one must not be shaken by the temptations of the enemies. The Iranian nation, by hearing the message of the martyrs, must increase its unity, its solidarity, its motivation, and its efforts; the message of the martyrs to us is this. The officials of the Islamic Republic, by hearing the message of the martyrs in these commemorations, must feel a greater sense of responsibility towards the security that these martyrs have provided for us and placed at our disposal; everyone must feel a sense of responsibility, and we must all pay attention that without effort, without striving in the way of God, without enduring many hardships, no nation reaches anywhere; now, if there are hardships for us, God willing, enduring these hardships will elevate the Iranian nation to the peak.

We hope that God Almighty will grant all of you success and support, and may the dear martyrs of Ilam and all the martyrs of the country be encompassed by His mercy and forgiveness, and may the great Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), who opened this path for us and created this general guidance in the country, God willing, be resurrected with His saints, with the great guides of historical periods, the prophets and the infallible Imams (peace be upon them), and may God grant you all success, God willing.

The matters that the gentlemen have expressed - these suggestions and requests - are primarily the work of the executive bodies, and they must be advised; you yourselves, God willing, should follow up, and we will also advise.

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