Supreme Leader s Annual Hajj Messages 2000
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Meciful "And (remember) when Ibrahim and Isma'il were raising the foundations of the House, (saying), "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower."
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Meciful "And (remember) when Ibrahim and Isma'il were raising the foundations of the House, (saying), "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower." (al-Baqarah:127) Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, Hajj Pilgrims of the Muslim Ummah Salamun Alaykum va Rahmatullah! When the great propagators of Tawhid (Monotheism), Ibrahim (A.S.) and Isma'il (A.S.) were laying the foundations of the Ka'bah in the remote and arid valley and foothills, even the most farsighted eyes could not anticipate that such a place would turn into the center of faith, hope and focus of hearts and souls. Today, the Ka'bah is the spiritual center of the Muslim World and the House for the greatest annual congregation of the Muslim Ummah. The Ka'bah is the spring of love and hope, an ocean of greatness and trust, and, at the same time, the meeting point of great nations and communities. The sincerity of its founders and approval of the Almighty Allah have turned that seed into such a fruitful and great tree.
But is the Muslim Ummah taking advantage of this bountiful source, as it should? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is appalling and deplorable. Today, the Muslim World is being deeply afflicted by chronic illnesses, the most significant of them could be summarized into the following ten points: political and religious strife; weakening of bonds of morality and faith; scientific and technological backwardness; political and economic dependence; indulgence and lavish life-styles and arrogance along with poverty, hunger and degradation; weakening of self-confidence and hope for future among leaders; isolating religion and separating it from politics and daily life; lack of creativity for new understandings based on the infinite source of the Holy Qur'an; surrendering before the imposed western cultural onslaught; and the Muslim dignity being trampled due to degradation and greed of some political leaders.
These chronic illnesses - some of which are caused by others and all of them have been created in the course of time through treason, lack of will, ignorance and dictatorship of internal elements or out of enmity, cruelty and satanic acts of foreigners - have inflicted the greatest blows upon the Muslim Ummah. Failures in the Muslim World result from those problems and the only way to achieve happiness and success is to overcome these obstacles.
Today, the natural wealth of the Muslim World is being plundered. The precious intellectual and cultural resources are intentionally covered under false cultural propaganda attacks, and young talents and minds are taken out, or their energy is wasted in political and military conflicts. Carelessness and moral degradation are being injected into the life, education and sport activities of the youth, using the most advanced means of communication. The oil of the Muslim World is increasing the wealth of oil companies and treasuries of alien countries; hence the enemies of Islamic countries, rather than the countries themselves, are getting wealthier each and every day. All this is happening while in the heart of the Muslim World and in various parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, millions of Muslims are facing the lashes of cruelty of infidels, and Palestine and Lebanon are being burnt in the fire of the Zionists' brutality. And none of these sufferings and hardships induces statesmen and intellectuals of the Muslim Ummah to work out a solution.
All this happens while valuable resources are available everywhere to help us establish a new situation, and while the necessary means and motivation for changing this situation exist in all Islamic countries. Today, we can hardly find an Islamic country whose youth are not feeling strong Islamic zeal and motivation, and whose people are not inclined to keep their faith seriously while at the same time feeling concerned about their present situation and looking forward for a better Islamic World.
The most important obstacle for the activation of the existing potentials is that the political power inside these countries is not oriented towards these desires and expectations. In some cases, the weak, dependent, dictatorial or suppressive governments cannot catch up with the great Islamic aspirations of their people. Also, such governments are blind to the glory of the Muslim World and its great impacts upon world events; therefore, each Muslim nation finds itself alone in front of pressures exerted by anti-Islamic arrogant powers and therefore is unable to confront their political propaganda onslaught and possible military threats. Finally, the practical and objective experience of Islamic sovereignty in the present era, i.e. the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been blurred by thick clouds of hostile propaganda; hundreds of audio-visual and printed mass media and thousands of surrogate minds and pens are working each and every day to distort realities, magnify weaknesses or failures and deny any success and progress.
A lot of these obstacles burdening the Muslim nations will be removed if Muslims understand the great power of Hajj and take the best advantage of this important annual meeting and the center of congregation. The Hajj occasion can clearly demonstrate the glory and spiritual strength of the Muslim World to pilgrims from different countries and can provide a unique opportunity for the meaningful cooperation among various Muslim nations. During the Hajj season, Muslims can obtain accurate news from their brothers and put away the hostile propaganda cover created by enemies of the Muslim World. They can also make use of the spirituality of the Sanctified House of Allah to produce concerted and sincere efforts to return to Islamic sovereignty and achieve dignity and independence and make efforts to bring about major developments in their countries. Establishing Islamic sovereignty in Islamic countries is an auspicious but difficult task. The next stage is to take care of this newly established Islamic State and to safeguard and nurture it materially and spiritually - a task which is difficult and requires a more persistent effort.
In Islamic Iran, this newly established Islamic State has faced various overt and covert hostilities; nevertheless, praise to Allah, it has reached the stage of independence, stability and growth. Of course, hurricanes of hostility, launched by the malicious centers of arrogance and anti-Islamic powers, are still surrounding it from all sides. The long-awaited phenomenon faced hostile and hastened enmity from all arrogant world powers because it was the first example in the contemporary world and could turn into an ideal model for other countries, thus jeopardizing the interests of the United States, the Zionists and other world devouring powers. Instigating ethnic and communal conflicts inside the country was the first step which was followed by activating mercenaries of the ex-regime, preparing military coups, and finally persuading a neighboring country to launch a devastating massive attack along the 1300-km-long border. Each of these acts was sufficient to overthrow a national government; yet, the Islamic Republic of Iran was not merely a national government but in fact a foundation laid upon the basis of the peoples; faith and deep beliefs. The war imposed by the treacherous neighbor lasted 8 years and even though America's efforts succeeded in creating distrust and suspicion against us among some of our neighboring countries, who provided unlimited assistance to the enemy, at last the aggressor retreated while it was exhausted, poor, and defeated.
During the 21-year-long existence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the mass media empire of arrogant world powers waged a continuous propaganda war against us, with a view to mobilize the world public opinion against the Islamic government. Using vast resources of Zionist capitalists, the foreign policy apparatus of the United States and its security system did their utmost in imposing economic sanctions and confronting the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in each and every field. All over the world, scores of terrorist grouplets and clusters of political mercenaries, composed of traitors and aided by large amounts of funds and promises of enemies, tried to overthrow the Islamic system. Hundreds of our noble people, who fell victim of mean criminal acts of the mercenaries and became martyrs, have marked the history of our revolution, which has endured all the hardships and is moving towards glory and perfection.
These chronic illnesses - some of which are caused by others and all of them have been created in the course of time through treason, lack of will, ignorance and dictatorship of internal elements or out of enmity, cruelty and satanic acts of foreigners - have inflicted the greatest blows upon the Muslim Ummah. Failures in the Muslim World result from those problems and the only way to achieve happiness and success is to overcome these obstacles.
Today, the natural wealth of the Muslim World is being plundered. The precious intellectual and cultural resources are intentionally covered under false cultural propaganda attacks, and young talents and minds are taken out, or their energy is wasted in political and military conflicts. Carelessness and moral degradation are being injected into the life, education and sport activities of the youth, using the most advanced means of communication. The oil of the Muslim World is increasing the wealth of oil companies and treasuries of alien countries; hence the enemies of Islamic countries, rather than the countries themselves, are getting wealthier each and every day. All this is happening while in the heart of the Muslim World and in various parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, millions of Muslims are facing the lashes of cruelty of infidels, and Palestine and Lebanon are being burnt in the fire of the Zionists' brutality. And none of these sufferings and hardships induces statesmen and intellectuals of the Muslim Ummah to work out a solution.
All this happens while valuable resources are available everywhere to help us establish a new situation, and while the necessary means and motivation for changing this situation exist in all Islamic countries. Today, we can hardly find an Islamic country whose youth are not feeling strong Islamic zeal and motivation, and whose people are not inclined to keep their faith seriously while at the same time feeling concerned about their present situation and looking forward for a better Islamic World.
The most important obstacle for the activation of the existing potentials is that the political power inside these countries is not oriented towards these desires and expectations. In some cases, the weak, dependent, dictatorial or suppressive governments cannot catch up with the great Islamic aspirations of their people. Also, such governments are blind to the glory of the Muslim World and its great impacts upon world events; therefore, each Muslim nation finds itself alone in front of pressures exerted by anti-Islamic arrogant powers and therefore is unable to confront their political propaganda onslaught and possible military threats. Finally, the practical and objective experience of Islamic sovereignty in the present era, i.e. the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been blurred by thick clouds of hostile propaganda; hundreds of audio-visual and printed mass media and thousands of surrogate minds and pens are working each and every day to distort realities, magnify weaknesses or failures and deny any success and progress.
A lot of these obstacles burdening the Muslim nations will be removed if Muslims understand the great power of Hajj and take the best advantage of this important annual meeting and the center of congregation. The Hajj occasion can clearly demonstrate the glory and spiritual strength of the Muslim World to pilgrims from different countries and can provide a unique opportunity for the meaningful cooperation among various Muslim nations. During the Hajj season, Muslims can obtain accurate news from their brothers and put away the hostile propaganda cover created by enemies of the Muslim World. They can also make use of the spirituality of the Sanctified House of Allah to produce concerted and sincere efforts to return to Islamic sovereignty and achieve dignity and independence and make efforts to bring about major developments in their countries. Establishing Islamic sovereignty in Islamic countries is an auspicious but difficult task. The next stage is to take care of this newly established Islamic State and to safeguard and nurture it materially and spiritually - a task which is difficult and requires a more persistent effort.
In Islamic Iran, this newly established Islamic State has faced various overt and covert hostilities; nevertheless, praise to Allah, it has reached the stage of independence, stability and growth. Of course, hurricanes of hostility, launched by the malicious centers of arrogance and anti-Islamic powers, are still surrounding it from all sides. The long-awaited phenomenon faced hostile and hastened enmity from all arrogant world powers because it was the first example in the contemporary world and could turn into an ideal model for other countries, thus jeopardizing the interests of the United States, the Zionists and other world devouring powers. Instigating ethnic and communal conflicts inside the country was the first step which was followed by activating mercenaries of the ex-regime, preparing military coups, and finally persuading a neighboring country to launch a devastating massive attack along the 1300-km-long border. Each of these acts was sufficient to overthrow a national government; yet, the Islamic Republic of Iran was not merely a national government but in fact a foundation laid upon the basis of the peoples; faith and deep beliefs. The war imposed by the treacherous neighbor lasted 8 years and even though America's efforts succeeded in creating distrust and suspicion against us among some of our neighboring countries, who provided unlimited assistance to the enemy, at last the aggressor retreated while it was exhausted, poor, and defeated.
During the 21-year-long existence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the mass media empire of arrogant world powers waged a continuous propaganda war against us, with a view to mobilize the world public opinion against the Islamic government. Using vast resources of Zionist capitalists, the foreign policy apparatus of the United States and its security system did their utmost in imposing economic sanctions and confronting the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in each and every field. All over the world, scores of terrorist grouplets and clusters of political mercenaries, composed of traitors and aided by large amounts of funds and promises of enemies, tried to overthrow the Islamic system. Hundreds of our noble people, who fell victim of mean criminal acts of the mercenaries and became martyrs, have marked the history of our revolution, which has endured all the hardships and is moving towards glory and perfection.
In a summary, it is more than 20 years that our enemies, led by the U.S. and Zionism, have not left a single stone unturned to confront this newly established Islamic Republic; in spite of that, all along this period the Islamic Republic has fully utilized every chance and opportunity to grow and move towards stability and perfection. Today, stronger than ever, the Islamic Republic of Iran is proclaiming Islam, Islamic unity and dignity, making our enemies completely disappointed, divided and confused.
Today, even years after the demise of the great architect and founder of this lofty institution, Imam Khomeini (R.A.), the Islamic Republic of Iran is still following the goals and objectives laid down and cherished by its great founder. The honor of this stability and power belongs, first and foremost, to Islam and its life-inspiring guidelines, and secondly to the Iranian nation who stepped forward in the path of Islam with firm beliefs, offered great sacrifices with sincerity, and defended its achievements with forbearance.
It is obvious that if we, the responsible officials of the Islamic Republic, had not shown weaknesses and if we had not committed justified or unjustified omissions, today the Islamic Republic would have been much closer in attaining its goals and objectives under the guidance of lofty, divine Islamic principles and teachings.
As always, today the main propaganda tricks of the arrogant world power are to show that the Iranian nation and the Islamic government have given up their desired goals. This is a malicious lie to disappoint all those who cherish Islamic sovereignty all over the world, as well as to weaken the determination of our young generation in Iran. It is in this background that they are celebrating the outcome of the 21st general elections of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament). While admitting democracy in Iran, they are not yet ready to acknowledge the popular participation of Iranian masses throughout the existence of the Islamic Republic in Iran. They are having reservations in admitting that the same kind of popular elections were held four years ago to elect the members of parliament as well as the last presidential elections held three years ago.
They are hoping, in vain, that opponents of the Islamic sovereignty and supporters of restoring domination of Iran to arrogant powers would take control of power. This is the same misinterpretation and wishful thinking that led the U.S. and its mercenaries to fail many times in their challenges with the great power of Islam and the strong will of Iranian people. Relying and trusting in the Almighty Allah, with deep and unbreakable faith in the divine, life-inspiring guidelines of Islam, with complete recognition of the great nation to whom I belong and have spent all my life and spending the remaining years of my life, I hereby assure all friends and enemies that our great nation is determined to follow the path of Islam until it achieves its goals, and that this nation is committed to demonstrate to the world that dignity, growth, material & spiritual progress, and lofty human ideals will be obtained only through practicing Islam and the Holy Qur'an in all aspects of life.
The United States of America should better stop thinking that Iran would return to its fold of domination, that desire of Muslim people for lofty causes and sovereignty of Islam could be subdued in Islamic countries, that Palestine would be left to the racist and blood-shedding Zionists, who could easily get away with it, and that they could decrease the wave of hatred spreading against them fast throughout the Islamic World. If this point could be recognized by all the Islamic states, then the dignity of Islam would become manifested throughout the Islamic World, and the Hajj congregation will become a genuine, permanent source of power for Islam, and natural resources of the Muslim World would serve the Muslim nations and the rich, life-inspiring Islamic culture would have the opportunity to bless the mankind.
I implore the Almighty Allah to bring that day closer to us; I call on all respectable Hajj pilgrims to pray for the salvation of Muslims in this world and for the divine help to the combatant nation of Iran; I also ask all dear Iranian Hajj pilgrims to make endeavors for attaining spiritual bounties, to show self-restraint and unity, to participate in congregations, and to strive for spiritual and moral achievements.
Vassalamu Alaykum va Rahmatullah
Seyyed Ali Khamenei
Dhul Hajjah 3, 1420
Today, even years after the demise of the great architect and founder of this lofty institution, Imam Khomeini (R.A.), the Islamic Republic of Iran is still following the goals and objectives laid down and cherished by its great founder. The honor of this stability and power belongs, first and foremost, to Islam and its life-inspiring guidelines, and secondly to the Iranian nation who stepped forward in the path of Islam with firm beliefs, offered great sacrifices with sincerity, and defended its achievements with forbearance.
It is obvious that if we, the responsible officials of the Islamic Republic, had not shown weaknesses and if we had not committed justified or unjustified omissions, today the Islamic Republic would have been much closer in attaining its goals and objectives under the guidance of lofty, divine Islamic principles and teachings.
As always, today the main propaganda tricks of the arrogant world power are to show that the Iranian nation and the Islamic government have given up their desired goals. This is a malicious lie to disappoint all those who cherish Islamic sovereignty all over the world, as well as to weaken the determination of our young generation in Iran. It is in this background that they are celebrating the outcome of the 21st general elections of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament). While admitting democracy in Iran, they are not yet ready to acknowledge the popular participation of Iranian masses throughout the existence of the Islamic Republic in Iran. They are having reservations in admitting that the same kind of popular elections were held four years ago to elect the members of parliament as well as the last presidential elections held three years ago.
They are hoping, in vain, that opponents of the Islamic sovereignty and supporters of restoring domination of Iran to arrogant powers would take control of power. This is the same misinterpretation and wishful thinking that led the U.S. and its mercenaries to fail many times in their challenges with the great power of Islam and the strong will of Iranian people. Relying and trusting in the Almighty Allah, with deep and unbreakable faith in the divine, life-inspiring guidelines of Islam, with complete recognition of the great nation to whom I belong and have spent all my life and spending the remaining years of my life, I hereby assure all friends and enemies that our great nation is determined to follow the path of Islam until it achieves its goals, and that this nation is committed to demonstrate to the world that dignity, growth, material & spiritual progress, and lofty human ideals will be obtained only through practicing Islam and the Holy Qur'an in all aspects of life.
The United States of America should better stop thinking that Iran would return to its fold of domination, that desire of Muslim people for lofty causes and sovereignty of Islam could be subdued in Islamic countries, that Palestine would be left to the racist and blood-shedding Zionists, who could easily get away with it, and that they could decrease the wave of hatred spreading against them fast throughout the Islamic World. If this point could be recognized by all the Islamic states, then the dignity of Islam would become manifested throughout the Islamic World, and the Hajj congregation will become a genuine, permanent source of power for Islam, and natural resources of the Muslim World would serve the Muslim nations and the rich, life-inspiring Islamic culture would have the opportunity to bless the mankind.
I implore the Almighty Allah to bring that day closer to us; I call on all respectable Hajj pilgrims to pray for the salvation of Muslims in this world and for the divine help to the combatant nation of Iran; I also ask all dear Iranian Hajj pilgrims to make endeavors for attaining spiritual bounties, to show self-restraint and unity, to participate in congregations, and to strive for spiritual and moral achievements.
Vassalamu Alaykum va Rahmatullah
Seyyed Ali Khamenei
Dhul Hajjah 3, 1420