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Ayatullah ul-Uzma Khamenei

Khutbah Of Eid al-Fitr Prayer 26/11/2003

First Khutbah

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. . . . 

The Islamic revolution brought the hearts of the people close to the Almighty, and it put people's life and spirit in the service of the struggle for a better life. As the result of the revolution the Iranian nation began to walk on the path of liberation. With God's grace, it has achieved many great things on this path. The Iranian nation should continue with this path. This is the path of closeness to God, and material and spiritual presence in the struggle for building a future. Unity of word is the secret of success for the Iranian nation. This secret of success has to be kept. The secret of success in the larger circle of Islamic nation is also the unity of word. If the Islamic nation wants to move forward on the path of the sciences, progress, material growth, control over fate, liberation from the rule of foreigners, as well as spiritual and material happiness, it has to resort to the unity of word and the word of unity. The very people who have used every available means to consolidate their power around the world, i.e. the centers of the arrogant power, have also tried to use every available means to create division and disagreement in the Islamic world. Unfortunately they have been successful to some extent.

Division among Muslims

If the Palestinians are plagued with such a grim fate, drenched in blood and their pains have pierced deep into the soul of conscientious people, it is because of the divisions among the Muslims. Their fate would have been different if there was unity among the Muslims. If the Islamic Iraq has been trampled under the boots of the occupiers, it is because of the division among the Muslims. If the Middle Eastern countries have been blatantly threatened by the arrogant rhetoric of America, it is because of the division among the Muslims. Only through unity the Muslims would be able to rescue themselves from the yoke of such humiliation; liberate Palestine; defeat the enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq and stop the enemy from exerting pressure on the Muslims. What I mean is unity among countries and nations. The Eid al-Fitr symbolizes unity and solidarity. Unfortunately there are people in the world of Islam who are prepared to commit any wrong act in order to please the arrogant powers and America. They try to create division among Shi'i and Suunis. I can see those hands who calculatingly and deliberately are trying to create a rift among Shi'i and Sunnis in some of our neighboring countries. They try to create a rift between various tribes, religious groups and political movements - trying to fish in muddy waters. Their efforts aimed at securing their illegitimate interests in the Islamic countries. We must remain vigilant. Iraqis must write their own constitution Nations, governments, political tendencies, intellectuals and the elite should be vigilant. You should not allow the enemy to create divisions for any reason. In Iraq too, they want to promote ethnic and religious discord. It is the same with certain other countries. Muslims have a duty to act vigilantly in the face of the enemy plots. The situation in Iraq today is a very bitter for the Islamic world. Iraq is a single and united country. The arrogant powers are planning to dismember the country. They know that this is not possible in a single stroke. They want to do it gradually. The people of Iraq, Muslim governments and Muslim nations should be vigilant. The dismemberment of Iraq is a danger for both that country and for the region. Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq. The fate of the country must be determined by its own people. The constitution of Iraq must be written by the Iraqis themselves. A constitution which has its plan and structure written in Washington is not good for Iraq. They, the occupiers, should realize that if it is otherwise, if they don't leave the work to the Iraqi people, then the people of Iraq won't let them off. The people of Iraq will not surrender to them.

Palestinians are resisting

They want to behave in the Middle East region as they do in Palestine. In Palestine today the Zionists and the Americans have reached a dead-end. There is no way out but to accept the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian nation. The Palestinian nation is an innocent nation but it is a very brave nation at the same time. It is only right that we call them the brave Palestinian people. This nation is resisting the occupation innocently, with empty hands and on its own. It has crippled the materialist powers of the world who have so many instruments of suppression and death under their control. They should know that if they behave arrogantly and with a Zionist frame of mind in any region of the Islamic world and the Middle East, such as Palestine, they will only bring out the people on to the scene. The Islamic nation has woken up and the Islamic world is now aware. In the past 25 years, our dear nation has proven that it is attached to its revolution, its Islam, its system, its officials. The nation is loyal to its hard-won independence. We have not achieved our independence easily. We have not achieved this religious democracy easily. Our nation has struggled on this path. Many pure lives have been sacrificed on this path. Our nation has experienced many difficulties. Is our nation going to lose these things easily? Faith in the Almighty and trust in the divine promise makes us steadfast against enemy plots. The divine promise is this: Those who help God's religion, those who use their strength for the sake of liberation and well being, as decreed by God, they will not be abandoned by the Almighty; they will be victorious. Our experience has proved this. I pray that on this auspicious festivity and because of this blessed Ramadhan, the Almighty will bless our dear nation and the great Islamic ummah. 

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Second Khutbah

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. . . . 

What I have to say in the first instance in the second khutbah is that, on Quds Day, our nation once again displayed to the world the splendor of faith. Quds Day is not confined to Iran. It is the day of the Muslim world displayed their presence in defense of their Palestinian brothers. They put on display the general will of Muslims to confront America and Israel's ploys in wronged and bloodied Palestine. But our nation has been in the vanguard in this respect and, this year, it showed clearly this vanguard nature, this grandeur of the national will in Iran. This year, on Quds Day, our nation turned all its cries into a single cry in defense of the oppressed and combatant nation of Palestine; a single cry in condemning and expressing revulsion of America and Israel and the Zionists who, despite all their false claims about human rights and democracy, commit the most evil injustices against a wronged nation.

On Palestinian resistance

As a humble servant I wish to thank all of our dear nation. They have made Iran and the Islamic Republic proud in the world. The nation has shown its presence, awareness and will power wherever there is a need for the nation to be present. The problem of Palestine is still on top of the problems of the world of Islam. Lets look at the people of Palestine and the brutal occupiers who have occupied Palestine. The nation of Palestine is living in hardship. Their houses are being demolished. Their farmlands and orchards are being ruined. Their youths are being deprived of the opportunity to work. Their efficient men are being imprisoned. Their people are being massacred. Even their small children are being oppressed. What they are doing to the nation of Palestine is unprecedented in the history of nations. At the same time, this besieged, helpless and oppressed nation is powerfully defending itself against the occupiers. The nation of Palestine defends itself powerfully and resists against the oppressors thanks to the name and flag of Islam in Palestine.

US, Israel condemned to defeat

We salute the Palestinian nation. From this splendid prayer in Tehran, from the heart of Tehran and from the entire Iranian nation, we greet the Palestinian nation, their youngsters, their adolescents, their women, their mothers, their brave and pious hearts, we greet them and salute them. They are standing - with their lives, their bodies, their loved ones, their entire existence - in the front-line of the world of Islam in this region against enemies, against aggressors. As for the occupiers, the usurping Zionists and their backers - that is to say, the aggressor American administration - if a person reviews the problems of Palestine it becomes clearer to them that the Americans and the Zionists have been placed in a total impasse in Palestine. They can neither move forward nor move backward. They are condemned to defeat. The adolescent Palestinian generation has awakened. It has realized that the way to salvation from the clutches of the occupier enemy is nothing but struggle. It has realized that attending international conferences, in accordance with the wishes of the occupiers and their backers, talking, is not the way to rescue Palestine. It has realized that it must stand firm, it must work hard and it must make sacrifices in order to attain the goal. The Palestinian nation has realized and understood this to the very depths of its being. And, therefore, it is resisting. When this sentiment arises from a religious origin and from belief in monotheism - and, Alhamdulillah - this is the case in Palestine today, this spring will never dry up. And we hope that Exalted God will bring ever nearer the day of the victory of the Palestinians. The other issue in the world of Islam is the issue of Iraq. The Americans entered Iraq in the name of democracy and human rights. They entered Iraq in the name of combating nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons. They said: We want to give freedom to the Iraqi nation. But, today, they have put the Iraqi nation under such a tight grip that the Iraqi nation has no choice but to punch their faces and it is doing so. Their presence has been so degrading for the Iraqi nation that the Iraqi nation has not tolerated them. Let the American nation know that their government has dragged them into a swamp in Iraq and the longer they stay, they more they will sink. See what the Americans have come to in Iraq, they have to bomb occupied Baghdad; to subject occupied Baghdad to missile attacks from the sea, from its warships. They have fired missiles from the sea to a Baghdad that is under their own occupation. This is an indication of America's incapacity to run Iraq. The longer they stay, the worse it will become. This region does not tolerate occupation. They say we want to turn the Middle East into a region of democracy. This is a shameless lie. They are opposed to democracy. They know that if they turn to the people's votes in Iraq at this very moment, the decisive majority of the people will take a decision, will take the step, will elect those people who would not allow the Americans to stay in Iraq for a single day. (Crowd chants Allahu Akbar).

On US hegemony

Wherever there may be popular elections in the Islamic world the outcome will be what the Americans fear. The outcome will be the coming to power of those who with all their being consider the Americans to be their enemy. Such will be the outcome today wherever any elections take place in the Islamic world. There is no difference. They want to do something to ensure there are no popular elections in Iraq. They must understand that any imposed conditions, any imposed laws and any imposed establishments in Iraq will result in the resistance of the Iraqi people. Even if the American president earmarks 4,000bn dollars instead of 400bn dollars in his budget he will not be able to subjugate the Middle East nations, the Muslim nations. (Crowd chant Allahu Akbar). No-one accepts the claims of democracy and human rights from the American government, which, under the banner of championing democracy, has perpetrated such atrocities in the world against democracies and popular rules - the American government which masterminded the 28 Mordad (19 August 1953) coup d'etat in Iran; the American government which masterminded the coup d'etat in Chile against that country's legal government, the American government which masterminded dozens of coups d'etat in Latin America, Africa and other regions against national governments; the American government which for many consecutive years supported dictators such as Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Iran and the American government, which even today, accepts any dictator - which may even be more evil - as long as he surrenders to it. . . Peace and blessings be upon you.