AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI'S MESSAGE TO HAJJ PILGRIMS

All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and greetings be upon the Master of the creatures, Muhammad al-Mustafa and his immaculate family and his chosen companions.  The spiritual spring of Hajj has arrived with its freshness, purity and God-given grandeur and majesty, gathering again the faithful and eager hearts like butterflies encircling the Ka'bah of divine unity and Islamic solidarity. Camped at Makkah and Mina, Arafat and Mash'ar are the fortunate human beings who, having responded to the call of "proclaim the Hajj to all the people", are being honored with the hospitality of the clement and munificent Lord. Here is the blessed House and the source of guidance from which the manifest divine signs radiated and the canopy of safety was set up to cast its universal shade. Cleanse your hearts in the Zamzam of piety, humility and God's remembrance. Open the inner eye to the lights of the divine signs. Embrace the spirit of submission and dedication, which are the hallmarks of true servitude. Keep refreshing in your hearts the memory of that father who, in willing compliance, led his Ishmael to the scene of sacrifice, thus showing us the clear path of attaining the friendship of the Glorious Lord and the manner of traversing it with a resolve infused with faith and an intent imbued with sincerity.
The station of Abraham is one among these manifest signs. The footprint of Abraham by the side of Holy Ka'bah, peace be upon him, is only a symbol of the station of Abraham. The station of Abraham is his station of dedication and self-sacrifice, his fortitude and resistance to personal desires and fatherly feelings as well as against the domination of kufr, polytheism and Nimrod, the tyrant of the time.
Today these two paths of deliverance lie open before each of us, individuals belonging to the Muslim Ummah. Determination, courage and firmness of resolve on the part of each one of us, can advance us towards the same goals to which mankind has been invited by the divine messengers from Adam to the Seal of the Prophets, with the promise of dignity and felicity, in the world and the hereafter, for those who take this path.
It will be appropriate for the Hajj pilgrims at this great assembly of the Islamic Ummah to address the most important issues of the Islamic world. The uprisings and revolutions in some of the important Islamic countries are the most important among these issues. The events that have taken place in the Islamic world in the interval between the previous and the current Hajj pilgrimage can change the destiny of the Islamic Ummah, and they forebode a bright future accompanied with dignity and progress, material and spiritual. Dictators and corrupt taghut, allied with foreign powers, have been overthrown in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, and the stormy waves of popular uprising in some other countries threaten to bring down the castles of wealth and power.
This new chapter in the history of our Ummah reveals certain truths which are all manifest divine signs and teach us vital lessons. These truths should be taken into account by Muslim nations in all their calculations.
First, a young generation has emerged from among these nations after decades of political subjugation to foreign powers, which with admirable self-confidence, is ready to face dangers, confront the dominant powers and is determined to change the status quo.
Second, despite the authority and efforts of secular rulers and their overt and covert measures to curtail the influence of religion in these countries, Islam - with its evident and impressive presence - has become the guiding principle of popular expression and sentiment. Like a spring effusing through popular discourse and behavior, it has given vitality and freshness to the rallies and activities of the millions. The mosques and minarets, Islamic slogans and calls of "Allahu Akbar", all are clear indications of this fact and the recent Tunisian elections provide decisive evidence for this claim. Without doubt, free elections in any Islamic country will rarely result in anything except what happened in Tunisia.
As revealed for all by this year's events, God Almighty has placed such a force in the resolve and determination of nations that no power whatsoever can withstand it. With this God-given power nations can change their destiny and partake of divine help.
Furthermore, during the last decades arrogant powers, led by the United States, had reduced the regional states to a condition of subjugation through their political and security tactics. They imagined that they had opened up an obstacle-free highway for their rising economic, cultural and political domination over this sensitive part of the world. But now they are the primary target of the disgust and hatred of the region's nations. Certainly, the regimes emerging from these revolutions will never submit to the disgraceful inequalities of the past, and the political geography of the region will be determined by the nations in pursuance of their dignity and complete independence.
In addition, the crafty nature of the hypocritical Western powers has become all too apparent for the people of these countries. The U.S. and Europe made their utmost efforts to retain their pawns in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, each one in a particular way. But when their wishes had to bow to the resolve of the nations, they cast a friendly yet wily smile at the triumphant public.
There are other valuable facts and manifest divine signs embedded in the regional events of the past year, which are not hard to discern for reflective minds.
The entire Islamic Ummah and especially the revolutionary nations nevertheless stand in need of two basic elements:
First, continuation of resistance and avoidance of weakness in resolve. In the Qur'an, the divine summons to the greatest messenger, may God bless him and his family, are addressed in these words: "Be steadfast, just as you have been commanded-[you] and whoever has turned [to God] with you-and do not overstep the bounds (11:112)" and "Be steadfast, just as you have been commanded (42:15)." Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, is quoted as telling his people: ‘Turn to God for help and be patient. The earth indeed belongs to God, and He gives its inheritance to whomever He wishes of His servants, and the outcome will be in favor of the God-fearing.' (7:128)
At the present, the most significant manifestation of fearing God for the nations that have risen up is not to halt in their auspicious movement, and not to let themselves be diverted by the achievements of this phase. This is the important part of piety and fear of God whose possessors are rewarded with the favorable outcome.
Second, vigilance with regard to the plots and tricks of the arrogant international powers who have suffered a setback from these uprisings and revolutions. They will not sit by idly. They will re-enter the arena with all their political, financial and security power to re-establish their influence and control in these countries. Their tools are the carrot and stick and deceit. Experience has shown there are some among the elite who are susceptible to these tricks. Fear, greed or negligence prompt them to serve the enemy. The vigilant eyes of the youth, intellectuals and religious scholars should be closely watching.
The biggest danger posed by the camp of kufr and the arrogant powers lies in its intervention and influence over the structures of the new political systems in these countries. They will do their utmost to see that the new systems do not take on an Islamic and democratic identity. All the concerned people in these countries and all those who cherish their homeland's honor, dignity and progress should work to ensure the complete and perfect Islamic and democratic character of the emergent polity. In this regard, the role of the constitutions will be prominent. National unity and official recognition of sectarian, tribal and ethnic differences are a precondition of future success.
The valiant revolutionary nations of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, as well as other awakened and combatant nations, should know that the sole means of deliverance from the oppression and guile of the United States and other Western hubristic powers is to establish a global balance of power conducive to their interests. The Muslims should put themselves on equal footing with the great world powers in order to be able to reach a serious solution for their problems with the world devourers. This cannot be achieved except with the cooperation, understanding and solidarity of Islamic countries. This was the unforgettable testament of the great Imam Khomeini.
For months, the United States and NATO dropped bombs on the heads of the Libyan people making Gaddafi, a vicious dictator, an excuse. Gaddafi was someone who was considered their close friend before the brave uprising of the Libyan people. They used to coddle him, steal the wealth of Libya through his hands and shake or kiss his hand in order to dupe him. Following the people's uprising, they made him an excuse to destroy the entire infrastructure of Libya. Which state could stop the tragic massacre of the Libyan people and destruction of the country at the hands of NATO? Until the claws and fangs of the bloodthirsty and barbaric Western powers are not broken, such dangers will remain conceivable for Islamic countries. Safety from such dangers is not possible except by turning the Islamic world into a powerful pole.
Today the West, the United States and Zionism are weaker than ever before. Economic troubles, successive failures in Afghanistan and Iraq, deep-running public protests in America and other Western countries whose scope is widening daily, the struggles and sacrifices of the people of Palestine and Lebanon, the daring popular uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain and some other countries under American influence-all these are significant portents for the Islamic Ummah, especially for the emergent revolutionary nations. Faithful men and women throughout the Islamic world, particularly in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya should make the most of this opportunity for the formation of an international Islamic power bloc. The vanguard and the elite of the uprisings should place their trust in Almighty God and with reliance on His promise of help, adorn the new chapter in the history of the Islamic Ummah with their lasting achievements, thus earning God's approval and fulfilling the prerequisites of His help.
May Peace be upon God's righteous servants!
Seyyed Ali Hossaini Khamenei
29 Dhul Qa'dah, 1432
5 Aban, 1390
27 October, 2011