14.5.1995

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

And praise to God, the Lord of the worlds, and solution and greeting upon the best of his creation, Muhammad al- Mustafa and upon his pure household.

"And proclaim the pilgrimage among men; They will come to thee on foot and on the backs of swift beasts from every distant quarter." (22:27)

In the manner of spring season of nature, that arrives always, full of cheer of life, at its proper, permanent time, so the season of the pilgrimage, the ever refreshing spring of hearts and souls, the season of reappearance and growth of the spirit of monotheistic life in the heart of every Muslim who has reached Mighat, does return each year for its permanent, divine appointment, in order to, like a pure blessed fountain, shower the lands of Islam, to cleanse those who have succeeded to reach this fountain, from the dust and filth of sins, of polytheistic tendencies, of mammonism and materialism and of any inclination towards ill and evil, and to store up in them, if they are of those who do heed, a treasure of righteousness and salvation for an entire life.

For more than fourteen centuries now the call of Abraham, the Friend, echoed by Muhammad, the Chosen (s), has annually summoned 'the guests of the house' to come, at this season, to the great center of spirituality and unity, in order that they could circumambulate this monotheistic house, which is blessed by an eternal cycle of ascension, to pray at the back of Abraham's Maqaam, in the direction of Muhammedan Ka'ba, to demonstrate the unending endeavour of the faithful toward the origin of purity, in their movement between 'Safa' and 'Marwa' to recognize their own insig- nificance and the glory, the greatness and the might of the Most High at Arafaat, to learn the whispering of prayings, rememberings and love to the Holiest One, who has no equal, inside one's dark desert of being at Mash'ar, and to stone at Mina, the Satan and all other satans, to sacrifice sacrificial beasts a sign of sacrificing all misguiding desires and canal inclinations - and all this when the pilgrim is in ehraam, that is, when the heart and the soul of the pilgrim are faced with the forbidden fruits of paradise, and with other Muslims, shoulder to shoulder, from every place, from every race and of any material of spiritual status, belonging to any language of culture; and then as indication of removing every dust and dirt settled on their hearts and souls in the course of their polluted, worldly every-day lives, perform halq and taqsir; and to return, with a freshness resulting from having removed sins, and delighted by the manifestation of the knowledge and love of God, to the House of God again; and to perform their 'Tawaaf’, salaat, and 'Say' once again, but now in a superior horizon; and finally to prepare to go back, fortified by an abundant treasure of monotheism and unity, spirituality and purity, and determined to struggle against satans with a strengthened resolution to dominate one's self, in order to spread the perfumed scent of pilgrimage throughout the world.

In the noble wisdom of Islam, this amazing, meaningful and significant experience is so arranged as to enable, even by this one of the Islamic obligations, to ensure the unity, union and the inseparability of the great body of the Umma, despite the great spreading of Islam in the world, and disregarding the passage of centuries ... all in one place and always at a fixed period ... whether it was yesterday when it took the lovers of pilgrimage, from certain parts of the world almost a year to reach Ka'ba, or today when the enemies of the Islamic Umma do not require more than an hour to give coverage to their venomous propagations, always, then and now, the members of the great, wide spread body, have felt the need for this center of unity and strength, which fortifies their purity, brotherhood, spirituality and monotheism and also serves as a center for exchanging knowledge and information ... were Islam devoid of pilgrimage, it would surely lack a principal fundament and a substantial component.

Pilgrimage in its essence, contains two basic elements: Proximity to God in thought and action, and distancing from taquts and satans, with all one's heart soul ... all the performances and inhibition of hajj, are meant to ensure the provision and the realization of these two elements; in fact it is also a summation of Islam and all other divine calls:

"For We assuredly sent amongst every people a messenger (with the command), to serve Allah, and eschew evil." (16:36)

And certain other Quranic verses about pilgrimage also relate to these two important elements:

"Being true in faith to Allah, and never assigning partners to Him... But your God is one God; Submit then your wills to Him (in Islam). (22:34)

"So when ye have accomplished your rites, celebrate the praises of Allah as ye used to celebrate the praises of your father, yea, with far more heart and soul." (2:200)

Nearness to God, does require remembrance of God, prayers, submission, ehraam, contemplation on self on God, and performing Sa 'y between Safa' and Marwa', which leads to final virtuosity of the pilgrim:

"And take a provision with you for the journey, but the best of provisions is right conduct, so fear Me, o ye that are wise." (2:200)

And distancing oneself from, and avoidance of Satan and taaqut requires the abandoning of debasing passions and canal desires, exploiting one's patience and will, and the great powers of the Islamic Umma, and that is realized through the congregational movement of the pilgrims, their oneness of hearts, tongues and steps in Tawaaf and Sa 'y, in Woquf at Arafaat, and at Mash'ar and Mina, the en-mass aiming of Jamaraat at Satan, and the stoning from every where, and the collective absolution from it; and all this is finalized in the joining of the hands, hearts and wills of the Muslims from different parts of the Umma, the common feeling of strengthened security in the light of unity:

"Remember We made the house a place of assembly for men and a place of safety." (2:125)

If Hajj as enjoined by the Holy Quran and as recommended and practiced by the Prophet (pbuh), is performed, and as he said: "Take from me your practices," that is, the rituals to be performed according to his practice, it will undoubtedly ensure the individual perfection and the Umma 's glory. Anyone opposing such pilgrimage and wishing a pilgrimage divorced from its fundamental lines and signs, he is, in fact, opposing the movement of Muslims toward perfection and the greatness of the Islamic Umma. Today world arrogance, headed by the United States of America, and assisted by designs of Zionism, is engaged in an open confrontation with Islam and Muslims; this is certainly a continuation of old animosities towards Islam but through new methods, new motives and new means and devices. But then, the Islamic Umma possesses this unique center of resistance, power and unity; is it fair and proper for Muslims not to tale advantage of the pilgrimage vis-a-vis the conspiring, belligerent and divisive enemies? Should they face their enemies defenselessly?

A true, perfect pilgrimage, shall, by bringing the hearts of Muslims closer to one another, by exchanging information and by revealing conspiracies, neutralize the most dangerous plots against Islam and Muslims. Today the leaders of world arrogance and Zionism have set it as their most important task to fight, by sowing differences among Muslims and by deafening publicity and propagation, any country, government or people who does speak of Islamic Awakening, the sovereignty of the Holy Quran or call for the dignity and power of the Islamic Umma. They are certain that once they succeed in separating the lively, active, struggling parts from the rest of the Islamic Umma, then they shall be in a trouble-free position, not being faced with a great united Umma, to carry out their evil schemes against the Umma of Islam. The people of the world today witness how extensively and vehemently the trumpets of world arrogance have been sounding against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the very policy that has, by the grace of God, been so far left unfulfilled, yet it is still being vigorously pursued by world arrogance.

The most significant reason for enmity with the Islamic Republic since the days of the late Imam, is the fact that in this country all policies whether they are approved or rejected, are measured by Islamic criteria, and all political stands and positions are formed on the basis of Islamic injunctions. Governmental compromise with Zionism is rejected because it involves the permanent wandering of the Palestinian nation and the permanent occupation of Palestine by the enemy.

The people of Palestine, Bosnia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Chechnya, Azarbaijan, Algeria and other oppressed nations are supported because the Holy Quran categorically enjoins us to support the oppressed Mostaazafeen'.

"And why should ye not in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak are ill-fated and oppressed, men, women and children, whose cry is: 'Out lord, rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors, and raise for us from Thee one who will protect, and raise for us from Thee one who will help!" (4:75)

And the domination and the influence of the United States in the Islamic and other oppressed countries are opposed, because the Holy Quran says:

"Take not My enemies and yours as friends (protectors), offering them your love." (60:1)

And in the Islamic Republic all laws emanate from Islamic injunctions, as it is believed that the strength and dignity, independence and welfare, and the material and spiritual perfection of a nation is only to be realized through the implementation of the laws of Islam.

These are the causes that make the leaders of world arrogance, helped by the brokerage and evil insinuations of the Zionist conspirators, consider Islamic Iran as their leading enemy and show hostility to it as much as they can.

Yet it is remarkable that today, throughout the Umma, enthusiasm for these aims and policies is daily increasing everywhere, in many an Islamic country, the youth and the elite and of the purest and most outstanding elements from amongst the clergy, university professor and learned men of science, artists, poets, writers, and even many civil servants and others belonging to the middle classes, are already devoting their hearts, their tongues and their pens to these goals: They oppose the Israeli-Arab compromise, and they oppose the indifference of their government regarding Islamic issues in Europe, Asia and Africa ... and world arrogance believes that these developments are consequences of the victory of Islam in Iran and the increasing strength of the Islamic Republic and therefore, they bear a sort of rabid grudge and insane enmity towards the Islamic Republic. This is also one of the important motivations for those who oppose the meaningful, purposeful, Abrahamite pilgrimage, because contemplation on "Hajj is a miraculous factor the dissemination and deepening of the idea among all Muslims, apart from being a great assembly for exchanging of information among people that come from the four comers of the world. l do humbly recommend, to all Muslim brothers and sisters who have got together in the great congregation of "Hajj that they ought to deeply ponder over the question of the " 'pilgrimage', and try to ensure for themselves the principal points already mentioned: Giving your heart and soul to God only, trying to approach the presence of the Holiest, in thought and action by true, pure worship on one hand, and distancing yourselves from Satan and the enemies of the path of God on the other, thereby enabling yourselves to return your home with spirits armed with virtue, hearts full of trust in God, souls delighted with renewed hope for the future of the Islamic Umma, and an iron will to pursue the goals of Islam for the sovereignty of Islamic teachings, laws and culture over Islamic communities.

The empty, vainglorious power of the enemies should not dazzle the eyes. They are only exploiting differences among Muslims and weaknesses in their determination to make a false demonstration of their power in the eyes simple-minded people. But the arrogant powers have, whenever Muslims truly resisted their oppression, repeatedly been defeated, or failed to achieve their ends. A glimpse at Islamic Iran shall verify our claim: Iran has, by the grave and power of the Almighty, overcome the greatest volume of animosity by the United States and its co.-conspirators for some 16 years, yet it has now emerged as a more powerful, more successful and more high-spiritedly hopeful country. And today the United States of America, the flag-bearer of world arrogance against the reawakened Islamic movement, has not only been frustrated and disgraced in its unequal fight, but is itself, facing many unsurmountable, economic, political and security problems.

The United State, in the course of its attempt as a superpower (which according to the false supposition of its inept but boastful leaders, must have some super-rights over others!) has often experienced the bitter taste of defeat and, God willing, shall suffer more defeats in the future, Glimpses at: the situation in Palestine and the unrealized sweet dreams of 'solving the Palestinian problem', which has only become a more difficult knot to open; East Africa and disgraceful withdrawal of American forces from Somalia: Europe and the neutral, ineffective role of the United States in the Balkans, the useless begging of the United States all over the world for stopping trade relations with Iran; the disgusting ploys of the United States to involve Iran in the ugly bombing incident In Argentina, which ended in their disgrace when truth come to light; and many other similar attempts are undeniable proofs that the claim of supporting human rights, are absolute lies. If Muslims are going to be determined, ready to resist and equipped with awareness and knowledge, they shall prove to be stronger than world arrogance. The forces of arrogance are suffering from extreme, incurable. social ills and, therefore, no government or community with determination and clear thinking need fear them, let alone a great community as the Islamic Umma.

At the end, I call all Muslims to ponder over performance and ritual in the course of the pilgrimage, and invite them only to seek assistance from the eternal power of God, and to hold to it firmly. I do hope that those whose hearts are bent on seeking divine light at the pilgrimage, shall be blessed by divine grace and succour. I pray for their benefiting from the pious prayers of Hazrat Baghiat-Allah-al-a 'zam (may our souls be given up for his sake, and may God expedite his appearance), and for their return, after an accepted pilgrimage, with their prayers being answered, together with a treasure house of spiritual gains.

Wassalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah

14th Dhu al-Hajjah al-Haram 1415