Statements at the Meeting with the Organizers of the Second National Congress of Martyr Athletes

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, especially the Awaited One on earth.

Welcome, dear ones. In the reports that have been presented, you have brought good news with you. We are very grateful that you have established this great and meaningful congress, and we hope that your efforts and the sincere intentions that are evident in this gathering will be acknowledged by the Lord and approved by the Awaited One, God willing. I also thank the dear brothers who have graciously presented their medals to us. I intended to thank the creators of the film "The Red Rectangle" in this talk — although I have not seen the film, I have heard about it — and thankfully, they are present here now. This work must be done; that is, this artistic production and artistic expression of the truths you mentioned is very important and must be pursued. These two gentlemen have done this work, and I have heard that some works have been made about a number of martyr champions on television. In any case, this is an important task and must be followed up.

Today, I will discuss two topics: one word regarding the martyrs and martyrdom and this glorious caravan of dear martyr athletes, and one word regarding the essence of sports. The issue of sports is one that should not be sidelined; it must be emphasized as a central matter, which I will now elaborate on.

Regarding the martyrs, the Quran explicitly states in two places that the martyrs are not dead; they are alive. This is stated clearly. One is in Surah Al-Baqarah: "And do not say of those who are killed in the way of God, 'They are dead.' Rather, they are alive"; another is in Surah Al-Imran: "And do not think that those who have been killed in the way of God are dead; rather, they are alive". Now, how the life of the martyrs is, is another discussion; it is certainly different from our material life and different from the intermediary life that many other individuals also experience in the Barzakh, where their spirits are active and alive in a sense; it is something third, and in any case, it is an important truth that the Quran emphasizes.

Well, this being alive has its implications; one of the implications of being alive is influence; thus, the martyrs are influential. Because they are alive, they have an impact on the living environment; they affect us, they work on us. This is also mentioned in the noble verse; the continuation of this noble verse in Surah Al-Imran is that "And they rejoice in what has come to them of the grace of God and in the good tidings for those who have not yet joined them, that there is no fear upon them, nor do they grieve". Now, in "there is no fear upon them", if we relate this pronoun "upon them" to themselves or to us who are in this world, it makes no difference; the result is that they are telling us that the path of striving in the way of God may have difficulties — well, it does have difficulties — but it has a very good outcome; at the end of this path, there is neither fear nor sorrow; this is very important. Now, a problem is endured, but at the end of this path you are taking, "there is no fear upon them, nor do they grieve"; there is no fear, nor sorrow; these two factors are the two factors that torment a person. This is the explicit word of the Quran with us. In fact, this great multitude of martyrs is encouraging us; that believing community that wants to take steps in the way of God and work according to God's pleasure is encouraged by this message of the martyrs — which is also the message of God — and understands that it is possible to move forward with hope on this path. Well, this encouragement also motivates us, gives us effort, and now you have mentioned some examples; I may, God willing, refer to one in the middle of my talk.

In the era of the Islamic system, the overall direction of the country was such that jihad in the way of God and martyrdom in the way of God gained attraction; it was not like this before. We fully experienced the period before the victory of the revolution; half of my life has passed in those times, and at that time, God had helped us to move in this path, but this attraction of jihad in the way of God and the attraction of martyrdom in the way of God that exists in the era of the Islamic system did not exist then. This attraction causes all social strata, all social layers to yearn for jihad, and those who have the talent, who have the spiritual readiness, go towards the fields of jihad, including martyr athletes and athlete Mojahedin.

The athlete class is an influential class; an athlete is influential; their personality, their movement, their actions in society differ from an ordinary person; especially an athlete who stands out, who gains prominence, has an impact on a number of people. Now, if this athlete develops a desire for jihad and moves in the path of jihad, you see what important influences they can have in society, what movement they can create! Fortunately, this movement has been created, thanks to these five thousand and some martyrs of yours. Among these five thousand and some, there were also elite and professional athletes and champions; perhaps more than a thousand of these martyrs were among the professional champion athletes and held high sports ranks in all disciplines. Now, I saw in this exhibition that was here, it is written "in 33 disciplines"; in any case, as far as we know and I am familiar with, people from various sports disciplines have gone. They have now gone to the podium of champions in the realm of the unseen — which is much higher than the podium of champions in the world — they have achieved this great advancement, but they have also drawn others along with them.

Today, our sports environment is fortunately influenced by the spirituality that our dear martyr athletes have created in society; this spirituality exists today in our sports environment. Of course, in all environments, there are all kinds of people; in the environment of spirituality, there are all kinds of people, and in the sports environment, there are too, but the sports atmosphere of the country today is very different from the past; manifestations of piety, manifestations of commitment, manifestations of spirituality, these are abundant, which I have repeatedly mentioned in my talks on various occasions, and now some of them have been mentioned by the gentlemen: that brave and faithful lady who on the podium of champions, when a foreign man extends his hand, does not shake hands, or stands there with a chador and Islamic hijab in front of millions of people, many of whom have been trained to act against hijab and against the chastity of women; or that young champion who donates his championship medal to the families of martyrs; or that faithful athlete who, after achieving victory in his sport — whether wrestling, weightlifting, or any other sport — falls to the ground and prostrates to God or mentions the names of the Imams. These are important things; sometimes we get a bit accustomed to something, and the significance and greatness of the work go out of our sight. These phenomena in this today's world, a materialistic world, a world of corruption, are strange phenomena.

I say that those who want to truly understand the Iranian nation should pay attention to this phenomenon; it is meaningful that our young athlete, in front of the eyes of millions and sometimes hundreds of millions, goes to the podium and expresses devotion to spirituality, to God, and to the friends of God. They should see these; these are very meaningful for understanding the Iranian nation and the spiritual, moral depths of the Iranian nation. Well, this is a significant indicator, and ultimately it is an important indicator. Now, in this Arbaeen march, which this year, sports delegations went, I received good news from them, including their expression of devotion to Amir al-Mu'minin in Najaf; well, these are very valuable, this spiritual environment is very important. Ultimately, one of the blessings of striving in the way of God is that it injects spirituality into various social layers; that is, when you, as an athlete or a sports manager, are committed to certain spiritual and religious obligations, you do not only benefit yourself; many people benefit from you — primarily in the sports environment and then in the general public — and these actions bring those who are capable into the field of spirituality and open the path. In any case, the jihad field that the Iranian nation faces every day is in different forms: one day it was in the form of sacred defense, one day it was in the form of defending the shrine, today the fields of jihad are open to us in various forms; in my opinion, in all of these, the jihad presence of prominent individuals and figures in society has significant effects and is very valuable. This was regarding the issue of martyrs and martyrdom.

However, regarding sports, the reason I specifically talk about sports is its importance; both public and general sports — which we recommend to everyone — and professional and championship sports; these are important, these are not marginal and optional aspects of social life, they are part of the main sections and lines of social life.

I have always emphasized the importance of public sports, and I repeat it again; everyone should exercise. In this mechanical and sedentary life today, now we older people aside, truly young people also lack movement! They get in cars, go from here to there, get off, take the elevator up; there is no movement at all. In such an environment, sports is no longer a recommended matter; it is a necessary and obligatory matter for everyone. Of course, the type of sports for people like me and those who are of ages like ours is one way, and for young people, for middle-aged people, it is another way, but everyone must exercise; public sports should not be neglected. This is good for physical health — sports promotes physical health; these ailments that sometimes occur for young people, and one is astonished that a young person has a stroke, many of these ailments stem from this lack of movement — and it is also good for mental and spiritual vitality. Sports is invigorating; whatever work you are engaged in, manual work, intellectual work, administrative work, scientific work, if you exercise, you will perform that work better; that is, your mental vitality increases, and you can perform it better. Of course, there are other benefits that we are not in a position to discuss now.

However, professional sports and sports competitions and championships; this is also very important. One of the reasons for the importance of championship sports is that when championship sports emerge, they promote public sports; this is one of the reasons. When a sports champion is recognized and appears in front of the eyes of the people, it encourages the youth to engage in sports; this is one of the benefits of professional and championship sports; of course, this is not the only benefit, there are many other benefits. Another benefit is that championship sports are a source of national pride. In championship sports, when you participate in a global sports competition and achieve victory there and become prominent, this nation feels joy, it feels pride; this is very important. Those who bring joy to the people in various sports — whether in individual sports or team sports that are common in the world — should truly be congratulated, should be thanked; they make the people happy, they bring joy to the people, they give them pride.

This victory in sports fields has a difference from other victories. Well, our nation and every nation ultimately has victories in various fields of life; we have victories in security fields, we have victories in scientific fields, we have victories in political fields, we have victories in research fields, we have victories in various types of fields, but these victories are not in front of the eyes of the world. Some are deliberately hidden; if someone has a security victory in a country, they do not reveal it, they hide the security victory. Some victories are not hidden, but the enemy undermines them, like scientific victories. These important scientific works that have been done, for a long time, the agents of our enemies in their words and writings denied that no, such an event has not occurred; that is, it is subject to undermining, it can be undermined. Or it is understood late or does not have much attraction for the people. Victory in the field of sports is not like this; it is instantaneous victory with instantaneous information; at the very moment of your victory, millions of people, sometimes hundreds of millions of people, see the victory with their own eyes; this is a very important victory; this is very important and unlike other victories, it cannot be concealed. Now, sometimes there are injustices, biases, sometimes enemies do things in this field too, but generally they cannot; generally, victory is a clear and obvious victory that you see its effects are very great and it also makes your friends happy in the world.

In one of these sports competitions, I found out — that is, I was given precise news — that in several Islamic countries from Arab countries, which I do not want to name, people gathered in front of the television to watch this competition, and as soon as they saw that Iran won, they started celebrating and rejoicing in the streets in public that Iran, for example, defeated such a powerful political country! This is how it is; this victory is in front of everyone's eyes. So here, the Iranian athlete can, with their behavior, combine this technical victory with a value victory. The essential point is this; that is, when you achieve victory in a certain competition, you have achieved a technical victory, but you can also combine this technical victory with a value and moral victory, like sportsmanship, like the actions that our female athletes perform; that is, maintaining Islamic hijab and adhering to Islamic limits and the self-confidence they show. This is a very great victory; this is not less important than that technical victory.

Therefore, I strongly recommend that our dear athletes be advised not to forget this aspect of victory in sports fields, and to be careful that values do not get trampled for the sake of medals. Sometimes a person remains deprived of medals; our athlete does not compete with the representative of the usurping regime and is deprived of medals, but is victorious. If someone tramples this principle, it means that for the sake of achieving a technical and apparent victory, they have trampled that moral victory. If you compete with them, face them, you have recognized that usurping regime, that child-killing and tyrannical regime. Therefore, no matter what benefits there may be, it is not worth it to compete with them. The leaders of global arrogance and their followers and indeed the servants of the great global powers immediately raise their voices here, saying, "Sir, do not politicize sports"; in the Name of God, you saw what they did with sports after the Ukraine war! They sanctioned the sports of some countries for political reasons; that is, where their interests dictate, they easily cross their red lines, while when our athlete does not compete with the Zionist, they criticize.

Well, I would like to mention one more point and conclude my remarks. Our champions and dear athletes who participate in competitions — whether domestic or international — should be aware that they are not only under the gaze of cameras inside the field, but they are also under the gaze of cameras outside the field; public opinion, various eyes, sometimes ill-intentioned hearts, monitor them to find a moral weakness, a practical weakness in them to undermine that victory they achieved in the field. They may win in the field but suffer a setback outside the field. Therefore, they should be careful about their behavior outside the competition field and know that they must preserve their dignity, honor, and reputation; both their own reputation and the reputation of their nation and country. Many traps and snares are laid before our champions.

Of course, the sports environment in our past, before these Western sports entered the country, was always a religious environment; the ancient sports and these traditional gyms and the old clubs we had seen were all adorned with the name of God and the names of the Imams and had religious and moral aspects. The Westerners tried to introduce their culture with these new and advanced sports they brought into the country. Well, what is our duty? Our duty is to learn that innovative sports that they have created — like football, volleyball, and other collective sports — to advance in these, to become professional, but not to accept their culture, not to let this become a bridge for Western culture; we must impose our own culture on it. This is the fundamental sentence that we must pay attention to regarding sports.

In any case, I pray for all of you. This dear young man said, "Pray for us"; yes, I will certainly pray for you and ask God for your success, happiness, and good end. I sincerely thank those who have worked in these areas — from female athletes, from young athletes — and have shown spirituality in sports fields, have shown Iranian and Islamic identity, and I wish all of them success from God. God willing, may the pure souls of martyr athletes and all martyrs be pleased with us, and may God also unite us with them.

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