In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household and upon those who guide the guided, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth

This is a very great and glorious gathering that has been formed in this place in memory of our dear and magnanimous Imam (r.a). In many other areas of the country too, such a gathering has been formed in memory of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) and due to the love that the people have for him.

It is the last days of the blessed month of Sha’ban. There are indications that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) used to reap many spiritual benefits from this month. Evidence shows that that enlightened heart used to increase his enlightenment in this month. This well-known verse from Dua Sha’baniyyah – “Oh God, bestow on me the perfection to separate from everything and to join You and enlighten the eyes of our heart with the reflection of Your eyes in them” – was one of the statements that used to be repeated frequently in his speeches. He used to frequently recite this verse from that dua on different occasions. This shows that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) had established a close relationship with this dua, with such concepts and with such blessed days.

Once I asked him about prayers and in response, one of the prayers on which he placed great emphasis and which he preferred to others was Dua Sha’baniyyah. There are important verses in this dua one of which is: “Oh God, bestow upon me a heart whose enthusiasm helps it get close to You. And bestow upon me a tongue whose sincerity reaches You. And bestow upon me truth-seeking eyes that seek You.” In this holy dua and prayer, such characteristics have been demanded of Allah the Exalted. This is a lesson for us. And our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) was a person who was close to these lessons throughout his life. Thanks to this close relationship, this familiarity with the truth and this closeness to God, Allah the Exalted gave him the power to launch this great and eternal movement.

I want to speak about our magnanimous Imam (r.a.). One of the descriptions and terms that has been used less than others in reference to our great late Imam (r.a.) – we have used it less than others – is a comprehensive term which is: a pious and revolutionary believer. We always describe Imam (r.a.) with different terms and descriptions, but this description – which we have used less frequently – is a comprehensive description: he was a believer, a pious individual and a revolutionary. 

 “Believer” means that he believed in God, in the goal, in the path that helped them reach that goal and in the people: “He believes in Allah and has faith in the believers” [The Holy Quran, 9: 61]. This description has been presented in the Holy Quran about the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.): he was a believer in God, in the goal, in the path and in the people.

He was a servant of God and he worshipped him. He considered himself as a servant of God. This is a very important description as well. Notice that Allah the Exalted praises the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) with many descriptions in the Holy Quran: “And you stand on an exalted standard of character” [The Holy Quran, 68: 4] and “It is part of the mercy of Allah that you do deal gently with them” [The Holy Quran, 3: 159]. And there are many other descriptions, each of which says a great deal about the characteristics of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). However, a description about the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) that we Muslims have been ordered to repeat every day in daily prayers is that “I testify that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger.”

This shows the significance of worshipping God. Being a worshiper and servant of God is so outstanding that Allah the Exalted teaches Muslims to repeat it several times during their daily prayers. Imam (r.a.) enjoyed this characteristic: the characteristic of being a worshipper. He was a man of humility and supplication. He was a man that used to pray ardently, a worshipping believer.

As for the third description – that is to say, being a revolutionary: a pious and revolutionary believer – I would like to stress this description and speak about it. Imam (r.a.) was the Imam of the Revolution.

 “Revolution” is a word that contains countless realities. “The Imam of the Revolution” means being a leader of all the qualities and characteristics that the word “revolution” contains. The reason why materialistic powers were angry and irritated at and – of course – afraid of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) was that he enjoyed this characteristic: being a revolutionary. They were enemies of this characteristic of his. Today too, the enemies of the people of Iran show hostility to this revolutionary characteristic of Imam (r.a.). Basically, materialistic powers are intimidated by the word “Revolution”. They are afraid of, intimidated by and panic at the word “Islamic Revolution”. The pressures that they exert originate from him being a revolutionary. Later on, I will explain about the concepts, meanings and guidelines behind being a revolutionary.

So, they have a point in being afraid. Of course, pressures are exerted with various excuses. Sometimes, they exert pressures with the excuse of the nuclear matter, sometimes with the excuse of human rights and the like. But the truth of the matter is that the enemies of the people of Iran and of Islamic Iran are intimidated by and worried about the characteristic of being a revolutionary. Lately – in recent months – an American politician said, “Sanctions are imposed on Iran because of the Islamic Revolution. The essence of sanctions originates from the Revolution that was launched in 1979”- the Revolution of the year 1357. This is a reality.

What is the reason? Why are they opposed to the Revolution? The reason is that this great, vast, blessed and rich country – that enjoys both natural and human sources of wealth – was completely stuck in the claws of their power once. It used to be in the hands of America, but the Revolution came and threw them out. Their enmity towards the Revolution is because of this. The Revolution drove them away. Besides, it inspired others as well. The Islamic Revolution – which was launched and pursued by the people of Iran – turned into an inspiration for other nations. This issue requires a detailed discussion and there are countless reasons for that.

Our revolutionary Imam (r.a.) pulled the country out of various morasses, pulled the country out of various morasses with the help of the Revolution. Our dear youth, who did not see and feel the revolutionary era, should pay careful attention to this. They should notice that the issue is this. The main issue is this. If a people do not know what their main issue is, they will be misled. The issue is that the Revolution came and saved the country from morasses of different kinds – from the morass of dependence, backwardness, political and moral corruption and global humiliation. We were suffering from these things. We had become dependent, humiliated and backward. We had been kept backward. They had kept us backward in science, in economy, in technology, in international presence and in everything. And in return for these things, we had American and English misters as our overseers.

In those days, we used to export oil four times more than the present time. Moreover, the population was half the size of today’s population. However, most areas of the country were deprived of public and governmental services – it is the duty of governments to provide such services. The country was wallowing in poverty, backwardness and moral corruption. The country was in a terrible state in all the infrastructures of the country – in the area of roads, water, electricity, gas, schools, universities and civil services. It was suffering from backwardness and poverty in all these areas. They used to offer the country’s natural sources of wealth to foreigners. It was only the ruling government that benefited from this situation. And they used to silence the people either by deceiving or by bullying and intimidating them. However, the people were angry and they could see the realities. And the result was that they followed our magnanimous Imam’s (r.a.) spiritual and divine cry which led to the Revolution.

Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) changed the path, thus bringing about a profound transformation. He changed the path of the people of Iran. He changed the tracks we were on. He moved us towards lofty goals. These goals- that led us with the help of the Revolution and the Imam of the Revolution (r.a.) and that guided the Iranian society towards this direction- are extraordinarily important. The summary of all these goals is the authority of God’s religion. The authority of God’s religion means social justice in the real sense of the word. It means uprooting poverty, ignorance and oppression. It means preparing a collection of Islamic values. It means uprooting social detriments. It means providing physical, moral and spiritual health, and scientific progress for the country. It means providing national dignity, national and Iranian identity and international power. It means activating the capacities that God has given this land. All these definitions are included in the authority of God’s religion. It was Imam (r.a.) who moved us towards this path. This is the exact opposite of the path towards which we were being dragged during the time of taghut.

Well, these goals towards which the train of the Islamic community moved - thanks to the Revolution - are goals that are difficult to attain. They take time, they require the passage of time and they require endeavor. However, attaining all these goals is possible with one condition. This condition is that the train should keep moving on this track, the track of the Revolution. Imam (r.a.) showed us the path. He showed us the standards and the criteria. He identified the goals for us and he himself began the movement. We have made many achievements until today thanks to moving in the direction of the Revolution. However, there is a long way towards those goals. Of course, we can attain them provided that the train continues to move on this track – on the track that Imam (r.a.) moved the train of the Islamic community.

After Imam’s (r.a.) demise, whenever we acted in a revolutionary manner, we managed to move forward and whenever we ignored revolutionary behavior and jihadi movement, we fell behind and we were frustrated. This is a reality. I myself was an official during those years. If there have been some flaws, this humble person is partly to blame as well. Whenever we preserved our revolutionary outlook, whenever we moved in a jihadi manner and whenever we moved on that track, we managed to move forward. And whenever we showed negligence, we fell behind. We can catch up if we move forward in a revolutionary manner.