Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Meets the Participants of the ٣٦th International Islamic Unity Conference | ||||
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* The personality of the Holy Prophet is second to none in the entire world. The majestic signs of Almighty God can be seen in all periods of the Prophet’s life, even during the time of his birth. We are celebrating the Prophet’s birth today. The signs and effects of these diving blessings, which culminate in the Bi’tha, can be observed by humanity even on the day of the Holy Prophet’s birth. One can also witness some practical signs of tawhid on his birthday. The events that took place include: the idols inside the Kaaba fell down, the confrontation with the tyrant idols and the great tyrants of humanity during that time, the drying up of that holy lake, the extinguishment of the so-called holy fire in the fire temple and the collapse of Taq-e Kasra (The Arch of Ctesiphon). Therefore, this birthday is no ordinary day. It is a very important day. It is a very big day. We celebrate this day because of this occasion. An important point to note is that celebrating this day as a day of Eid, is not just about celebrations and commemorations and things like that. We celebrate in order to learn something. We celebrate it to establish the Holy Prophet as a role model. * One of the lessons of the life and birth of the Prophet (PBUH) is that the Holy Qur’an says: “There has certainly come to you a Prophet from among yourselves. Grievous to him is your distress; he has deep concern for you, and is most kind and merciful to the faithful.” I want to stress on the term “Grievous to him is your distress”. Undoubtedly, this is not specific to the Muslims of the time of the Prophet; it is addressed to all believers throughout history, that is, if today the Muslims are suffering in Palestine, Myanmar, etc., let them know that their suffering causes pain in the pure soul of the Prophet. On the opposite side, it is the situation of the enemies who are happy with your suffering. Naturally, when this is the case, that front tries to lead you towards hardship and misery. Well, what is the cause of these sufferings of the Islamic Ummah at the present time? * One of the most important factors in the division of Muslims is that we are divided and when there is division among us, when we are not benevolent towards each other, when sometimes we are even malicious towards each other; well, this is the result. Here again, the Qur’an is clear: “when you dispute, you will lose heart and become weak. When there is a dispute, you will be grounded and humiliated, and you will naturally provide others the means to dominate you. This is the outcome of division. * We need to ensure the implementation of the objectives of Unity Week. Now, what does unity mean? What is meant by unity is certainly not the unity of schools of thought. It does not mean Muslims should shift from one Islamic denomination to another. No, that is definitely not the intention. It does not also mean geographical unity, like what happened in the 60s and 70s when some Arab countries joined together and declared that they are one, which was not and is not possible. Unity means unity in protecting the interests of the Islamic Ummah. We should first identify where and what are the interests of the Islamic Ummah and then and within this context, the nations should reach an agreement with each other. The needs of the Islamic Ummah today should be identified; with whom to be enemies, with whom to be friends, and how to be friends. These stances should be agreed upon and moved towards during the course of discussions. The purpose is to take a common stand against the plans of the arrogant powers. * It becoming increasingly evident that the political map of the world is changing. The issue of being unipolar and imposing one or two powers on other countries and nations has lost its legitimacy, which means the nations have awakened. The unipolar system has been rejected, it is gradually becoming more rejected. * What does a unipolar system mean? It means that, for example, let’s assume that the United States sits down and plans for Iraq or for Syria or for Iran or for Lebanon, etc. that “You must do this, this must happen, this must not happen, sometimes say something and sometimes do not say it but do it”. This is how it is today. They design for countries and mobilize their forces. Well, they have a plan. Arrogant powers have a plan. This state of domination that global arrogance has had on countries, nations, and various regions is, however, gradually changing; just like the change that happened during the anti-colonial movements in the second half of the 20th century when countries rose up one after the other against direct colonization. * Well, where does the Islamic Ummah stand in this new world? We, the Islamic Ummah; we, the Islamic countries and the Islamic nations, can have a high position in the new world that is gradually taking shape. We can be a role model, and we can be a pioneer, but under one condition. And what is that condition? Unity, absence of division, avoiding the temptations of the enemy, the temptations by the US, the temptations by the Zionists, the temptations by the companies, the temptations caused by all of them. (Surprisingly) at times these temptations are heard from insiders. If we can implement this condition, we will certainly be able to place the Islamic Ummah in a high position in the future world and the future shape of the political geography of the world. * Solidarity and unity among Islamic nations is very much possible. But it needs effort. We are not disappointed with the politicians and rulers of Islamic countries, but our greatest hope is in the elites of the Islamic world; religious scholars, intellectuals, university professors, young enlightened people, writers, poets, and press managers. They should have a sense of independence, responsibility, and duty. When elites enter a particular path, they move public opinion in that direction. When public opinion is formed in a country, the policies regarding the administration of the country would naturally move in that direction. We are a small example of it, the Islamic Republic. We stood against great powers. One day, this world was controlled by two great powers; the United States and the former Soviet Union. Both powers, which differed on dozens of issues, agreed on one issue and that was opposition to the Islamic Republic. They thought they could uproot this sapling. Today, this sapling has become a strong and well-rooted tree. How dare anyone even think of such a thing now. We resisted firmly and progressed. * What we need to stress on today more than anything else is the Shia and Sunni (unity). We should not let differences of opinion and views on certain religious issues lead to conflict. There are things that create conflict, we must seriously prevent them. Now the American and British politicians, too, engage in Shia and Sunni discussions in their own circles and this is a very dangerous thing. Those who are against Islam and neither favor Shias nor Sunnis have entered the scene. I once said “British form Shia and American form of Sunni”. Some people thought and falsely propagated that when we say English Shia we mean the Shias live in England. No; British Shia may be living in an Islamic country. What it meant was to be inspired by the British (politicians). That is, a Shia that causes fights; a Sunni that causes fights; just like the ISIS and the Wahhabis, like the takfirists. They are Muslims by name and they may even be abiding by personal rituals, but they are actually serving the enemy. One who creates rifts and division serves the interests of the enemy and it does not matter what is his position and where he lives. We strongly believe in this. We dealt seriously with those who incited the feelings of Sunni brothers in the name of supporters of Shiism. This should become a general trend. There must be a consensus. Of course, there are some extremists on both sides, there are people in the Shia who are extremists either because of their beliefs or whatever and there are also some people among the Sunnis who have extremist views | ||||
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