Statements on the Meeting with Various Segments of the People on the Anniversary of the Prophet's Ascension

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, the guided and infallible, especially the Remaining One of God on earth.

I congratulate all the dear brothers and sisters present here, and all the people of Iran, and all the Muslims of the world, and all the freedom-seekers of the world, on the noble and great occasion of the Prophet's Ascension. God willing, may the memory of that day illuminate our hearts, show us the way, and enable us to benefit from the truth of the Ascension.

The day of the Prophet's Ascension is a very important day; indeed, there is no day in the history of mankind more significant than it. The day of the Ascension is, in fact, the day of the birth of the Quran; the Quran that is full of wisdom and light; as Amir al-Mu'minin (the Commander of the Faithful) describes it, it is the day of "the radiant light"; he says, "the radiant light". It is the day of the upbringing of the complete human being; that is, from this day forward, the planning for the upbringing of complete human beings, the most perfect examples of whom are the Imams of Guidance (peace be upon them), was established. It is the day of the blueprint for Islamic civilization; that is, it was on this day that Islamic civilization truly began, and its great, historical, and lasting blueprint, which is still accessible to you and me today, came into existence. It is the day of raising the banner of justice, equality, and brotherhood, and so forth. We cannot express the virtues of the day of the Ascension; our understanding, our language, and our hearts are too small and inadequate to convey the significance of the Prophet's Ascension. Yes, Amir al-Mu'minin can express it, and he has done so. You can refer to Nahj al-Balagha; the second sermon of Nahj al-Balagha is about the Prophet's Ascension, detailing how God appointed him and under what conditions and circumstances; this meaning is also mentioned in some other sermons of Nahj al-Balagha.

I would like to mention just one point regarding the Ascension that is more relevant to our current situation than other discussions, and that is that the Prophet's Ascension is the manifestation of true human civilization; that is, if humanity wants to live in the best way, it must live according to the program presented in the Ascension; it is with that program that it can live well.

However, where did this event occur? Where and under what conditions did the Ascension take place? The Ascension occurred in the worst imaginable conditions; among people who were, in terms of morality, practice, thought, and heart, the worst, most miserable, most obstinate, most agitated, most oppressive, and most tyrannical individuals in the societies of that day; Arabia was like this. Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) describes the conditions of that day by saying, "Guidance was completely absent, and blindness was all-encompassing"; the torch of guidance was entirely extinguished, meaning there was no guidance to the pure truths of the world of existence; and blindness was all-encompassing; that is, Amir al-Mu'minin paints such a picture of the people of Mecca and Medina and the surrounding areas where the Prophet was appointed. They were ignorant, illiterate, obstinate, fanatical, corrupt, arrogant—with all these vile traits they possessed, there was also arrogance—they were oppressive, and there was class conflict among them. Their elders were bad, and their youth were bad; the oppressors among them, the oppressed among them, the slaves among them, and their masters. In such an atmosphere, the Ascension occurred, Islam was born, and the Quran was revealed; in such an atmosphere.

Well, Islam is based on reason and faith. All Islamic programs must be measured, understood, and acted upon with reason and faith. They had neither reason nor faith. The Prophet entered this society; that is, he recited these divine statements, the divine revelation, the word of God, to such people and was able, over the course of thirteen years—which is not a long time—to create Ammar, to create Abu Dharr, to create Miqdad; from among these very people! Imagine a teacher entering a classroom where all the students are inattentive, unconscious, unmotivated, and uninterested in learning, and then being able to cultivate well-prepared, educated, and understanding students within a certain period; consider this and multiply it thousands of times, and you will have the situation of the Prophet's Ascension and Mecca; that is, the strength of Islam, the strength of divine religion, the strength of divine laws and teachings is such that it can bring forth such noble human beings and such unparalleled dignities. Abu Dharr is not an insignificant person. Abu Dharr was like this in the days of ignorance, and Ammar was another kind, and so on.

This message is important for us today. I want to make this claim: I say that today Islam has the same strength. Today, human societies are afflicted with the same traits, albeit with different rhetoric and methods; the same oppression that existed then exists today; the same arrogance exists today; the same corruption exists today.

You hear in the news from around the world in the past few months: creating an island of corruption, is that a joke? Moral corruption, practical corruption, oppression, tyranny, bullying, interference, attacking anyone they can reach, seizing anyone they can reach, wherever they can; humanity is the same humanity, but its rhetoric has changed, its appearance has changed. Today, they come into the arena with cologne, ties, suits, and beautiful clothes; they are the same people, they have not changed. Today, humanity—of course, what I say does not apply to all of humanity—in many societies, especially in the West, is afflicted with this plague; rights are being violated, the weak are being oppressed.

The same Abu Jahl exists today, the same Ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi exists today. "Indeed, he thought and calculated" is about Ibn al-Mughira; indeed, he thought and calculated * so he was killed, how he calculated; "he was killed" means death upon him. "So he was killed, how he calculated * then he looked * then he frowned and scowled" until the end of the blessed verses. Today, they are the same; they are the same who govern millions of people, leading their subordinates toward hell. The Quran speaks about Pharaoh: "He leads his people on the Day of Resurrection, and he brings them to the Fire"; Pharaoh, on the Day of Resurrection, just as he was the leader of his people in this world, will also be the leader there; he will be driven toward hell, and his followers will be thrown into hell. They are moving toward hell themselves, and in the true and metaphysical sense, they are in hell, and they are leading their people toward hell. Well, this is the world today.

Islam is the same Islam; this Islam can turn the world today upside down; it can. We can—by we, I do not necessarily mean you and me—those who support Islam, those who believe in Islam, the believers in Islam can pull the world from the slope of corruption toward the heights of righteousness, salvation, and dignity; they can pull it from the direction of hell toward paradise; it is possible today as well. It is possible today, but there is one condition: "And do not weaken, and do not grieve, for you are the uppermost"; "you are the uppermost" means this: you can lead the world behind you; but when? "If you are believers"; faith is necessary. Well, you and I have a faith, thanks be to God, but this faith is not the faith of Abu Dharr; we must correct our actions, we must correct our work, we must correct our hearts. If we can do these things, heed the advice of the Quran, heed the advice of Islam, heed the advice of the Prophet, pay attention to the importance of Nahj al-Balagha and act upon it, we too will have what the Prophet had that day; we will be able to do what the Prophet did that day; we can turn the world toward righteousness; the societies under the domination of these corrupt individuals can be transformed into a human-building progressive society, if, God willing, "if you are believers" is realized. We must be vigilant, act upon what we know, and avoid sin. Our faith today is not the faith that produces Abu Dharr. Of course, fortunately, in the Islamic Republic, we have had individuals like Abu Dharr; [such as] these great martyrs, renowned and some even unknown; they are there, but society must change, righteousness must permeate the entire society.

Well, the day of the Ascension is such a day, such a faith was presented, and those who accepted it were individuals like Amir al-Mu'minin; Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) accepted this faith, and Khadijah accepted this faith; initially, there were no others. Well, this was regarding the Ascension that I mentioned.

I want to say a few sentences regarding the recent sedition. A sedition occurred, which troubled and harmed some people, and harmed the country—this is a sedition after all—then, by God's grace, through the hands of the people and the timely and skilled officials, thanks be to God, this sedition was extinguished. You must recognize the sedition. I want to mention a few points here: first, understand the nature of the sedition; what was this sedition, and why did it arise? Second, what were the tools and agents of this sedition, who were they; when you look at its appearance, it is a young person, but what is the matter? Another point regarding how we position ourselves against what our enemy has done to us and what we do. I will briefly mention a few points.

First, the nature of the sedition. This was an American sedition. It was clear; the Americans planned and acted. The goal of the Americans is—to state this decisively, clearly, based on my forty-plus years of experience in the Islamic Republic—the swallowing of Iran. This dominance that they had over this country was eliminated by the people, by the youth, by the masses of people across the country, and under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified); and from the beginning of the revolution until today, they have been thinking of restoring that dominance; that is, to place Iran again under their military, political, and economic dominance; that is the goal. This does not pertain to the current President of the United States; it does not pertain to the person who is currently the President; it pertains to American policy. American policy is that they cannot tolerate a country with these characteristics in such a sensitive geographical center, with these resources, with this vastness, with this population; such a country, with the advancements it is making in various scientific and technological fields, is intolerable for the Americans. The same "Indeed, he thought and calculated * so he was killed, how he calculated": they cannot tolerate it. This pertains to them.

Of course, in the past, when a sedition of this kind occurred—of which we have had multiple seditions—often American media, second-tier politicians in America, or European countries intervened; in this sedition, the characteristic was that the President of the United States himself intervened in this sedition, spoke, made comments, threatened, and encouraged the seditionists; he sent messages from America to those who I will later mention, saying, go ahead, do not be afraid; he said, we support you, we will provide military support; that is, the President of the United States himself entered the sedition and is part of the sedition. A number of these individuals, this group that caused destruction, set fires, and committed unlawful acts, were introduced as the people of Iran; that is, a great accusation against the people of Iran; he said these are the people of Iran, and I want to defend the people of Iran. This is a crime. The reasons I have mentioned are substantiated; there is nothing hidden; he spoke openly, he spoke openly, he encouraged openly. We have continuous evidence that they helped; both they and the Zionist regime helped, which I will briefly mention as well. We consider the President of the United States guilty; both for the casualties, for the damages, and for the accusation he made against the people of Iran.

The second point is about the agents of the sedition and those who were on the scene; who were they? They were of two categories: one group, a collection that the intelligence agencies of America and Israel had carefully selected, found, most of whom had been taken abroad, and some had been trained here on how to act, how to set fires, how to create fear, how to escape from the police; they had been given substantial money; this was one group, and they called themselves the leaders; "we are the leaders of this group"; they were the leaders; a number of them were like this. Thanks be to God, many of them were arrested; the military, law enforcement, and security forces worked well in this regard. A large number of these wicked and guilty agents—who are indeed guilty—were arrested.

The second group had no connection with the Zionist regime or any intelligence agency; they are naive youths who are influenced, excited, and led to enter the field, doing things they should not do, engaging in mischief they should not engage in. They are the foot soldiers; their mission is to attack a place: a police station, a house, an office, a bank, an industrial center, a power plant; that is their mission. The leader gathers them, each of them gathers ten, twenty, fifty, and guides them to say, "You must go here, do this, and commit crimes"; and unfortunately, they do. Many crimes occurred. In this sedition, these ignorant and unaware agents, under the leadership of those wicked and trained elements, committed terrible acts. They destroyed 250 mosques; they destroyed more than 250 educational and scientific centers; they harmed the electricity industry; they harmed banks; they harmed medical facilities; they harmed stores that provided food for the people; they harmed the people. They killed thousands; some were killed in an inhuman manner, that is, completely savagely. They attacked a mosque, and a few young people went inside that mosque to defend it; they locked the door of the mosque, set the mosque on fire, and the mosque and those few young people burned in the fire! I will now mention that this itself is a plot; these details of the operation are part of a pre-prepared, planned general scheme to act and move in this way. They killed a number of innocent people in the streets, innocent girls, innocent men, innocent women. They had weapons; they had both firearms and cold weapons; they had been given them. These weapons came from abroad; they were brought specifically to be distributed among the seditionist elements to commit these crimes. Well, these are the agents of the sedition; these are the agents of the sedition.

Of course, the people of Iran broke the back of the sedition. With the million-strong movement of the people of Iran on the twenty-second of Dey, the twenty-second of Dey was a historical day like the twenty-second of Bahman; that is, the people of Iran made the twenty-second of Dey and added another honor to their honors. On the twenty-second of Dey, the people of Iran in Tehran with several million people and in various cities with large crowds were able to deliver a strong blow to the loudmouths of the claimants. Thanks be to God, they did this, they silenced the sedition. [This] is the work of the people of Iran.

Of course, in the media affiliated with the Zionists around the world—which most of these news agencies belong to the Zionists—they magnified that small number of seditionists and said these are the people of Iran; [but] they did not even mention the large crowd of people in Tehran and the provinces, some even said a few thousand! This is their habit; they must do so; it does not matter. The reality is different; the reality is what you see with your own eyes, in your own city or in Tehran.

But regarding our behavior. Well, the people of Iran defeated America. The Americans had initiated this sedition with many preparations for larger purposes that I previously mentioned; this sedition was a prelude to larger actions. The people of Iran [defeated America]. After that brief war a few months ago, the people of Iran defeated America and the Zionists by God's grace; this is true, but it is not enough. Yes, we extinguished the sedition, but that is not enough; America must be held accountable. Various agencies, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies, must pursue this matter. We do not intend to lead the country toward war; we do not intend to lead the country toward war, but we will not let the internal criminals go. Worse than the internal criminals are the international criminals; we will not let them go either. This must be pursued in the right way, and by God's grace, just as the people of Iran broke the back of the sedition, they must also break the back of the seditionists.

My last point. In this incident, in the struggle against this American and Zionist sedition, the law enforcement, security forces, the IRGC, and the Basij truly sacrificed themselves; they truly sacrificed themselves; they had no day or night, until they were able to completely cleanse and eliminate the sedition that had arisen with many preparations and great costs from the enemy. The officials of the country also cooperated. The people of Iran also had the final word and decisively concluded the matter, but with unity. I want to express my constant recommendation: first, unity among the people must be maintained; factional, political, and ideological disputes must not spread among the people. Be one with each other; in defense of the Islamic system, in defense of the dear country of Iran, everyone must be together, side by side.

The officials too—the relevant officials in various sectors—truly worked. The respected President, and other heads of the country, were active; they were in the field and worked. It should not be that because I am unaware of what another has done, I keep criticizing, saying why is this and why is that; no, everyone worked. I strongly avoid and do not allow insults to be directed at the heads of the country, the President, and others in such important international and domestic conditions; it may happen in the parliament, it may happen outside the parliament, it may happen anywhere. We must appreciate these individuals; we must appreciate the officials who, when such an incident occurs for the country, do not distance themselves from the people. We have sometimes seen in the past that the people were in the field, and the officials were watching, and sometimes they spoke against the people. This time, no, the officials were alongside the people, among the people, moving with the people, working with the same goal; this must be appreciated; this is very important. My strong recommendation to the President and the officials of the branches, the other heads of the branches, and the active heads of the country is to let them do their work, let them strive, and carry out the great service that they have undertaken.

Of course, the economic situation is not good; the livelihood of the people truly has problems; I know this. They must work twice as hard in these areas. For essential goods, for animal feed, for necessary food supplies, for the public needs of the people, government officials must work twice as hard as usual; they must work with greater seriousness; there is no doubt about this. Both they have duties, and we the people have duties; we must fulfill our duties. If we fulfill our duties, God Almighty will bless our work. O Lord! Grant this blessing to our work.

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