Leader: “Fire at will” means spontaneous cultural work, not lawlessness

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in his sermons after leading the Eid al-Fitr Prayer at Tehran’s sprawling Imam Khomeini Mosalla last Monday, described this year’s Ramadhan as “auspicious” in the true sense of the word.

The Leader said, fasting on hot days and holding the Qods Day rallies in hot weather in support of the oppressed Palestinian people and the cherished goal of liberation of Islam’s former qibla, the al-Aqsa Mosque in the Zionist occupied Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas, were indeed honours for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to estimates some two million worshippers assembled at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla in the Iranian capital on June 26 in the early morning hours to offer the Eid al-Fitr Prayer led by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

Ayatollah Khamenei in his sermons, praised the observance of the blessed month of Ramadhan and said: The conspicuous presence of the youth in nationwide Qur’anic and Islamic teaching gatherings, the modest popular iftar ceremonies in mosques and local districts, the public contributions for release of inmates detained for unpremeditated offences, the providing of expenses for treatment of needy patients, and the fervent supplications to God during the Laylat al-Qadr or Nights of Destiny, are signs of the spiritual exuberance of the Iranian nation.

He called for perseverance of this spirit to enable the Islamic Republic to overcome the difficult paths, saying: “What you earned during this month, are your assets. To keep alive the spiritual atmosphere during the rest of the year, recite the holy Qur’an on a regular basis and be attentive while observing the daily ritual prayers.”

He added: This month was a practice in abstinence, a practice of making Almighty God your focus of attention; so make the most of this practice and maintain this discipline.

The Leader of the Revolution praised the Iranian people for their enthusiastic participation in the massive rallies staged in Tehran and other cities on the Last Friday of blessed Ramadhan, which is observed as World Qods Day since it was designated as such in 1979 by the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him).

He said: “Make the hearts of others happy, develop hope within your own heart, and perform great actions. Just before the end of the blessed month of Ramadhan, you demonstrated to the world a great, enthusiastic election and then the staging of the Qods Day rallies were another magnificent display.”

He also praised the lightning missile strikes of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps on the terrorist centres in Deir oz-Zor in Syria of the Takfiris who earlier in June had martyred innocent people in Tehran by attacking the parliamentary building and the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini. He called this decisive retaliation against the enemies as “valuable social assets and a source of pride and hope for the nation”.

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the need to safeguard the revolutionary assets of the Islamic Republic, saying: “The requisite for preserving these valuable assets are safeguarding the unity and integrity of the nation, safeguarding revolutionary motivations and moving in line with the objectives and aspiration of the Islamic Revolution.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution expressed hope for the new administration to be formed as soon as possible, saying, “Given the designation of this year as Economy of Resistance – Production and Employment, the new government will have to carry out major tasks for the prosperity of production and the resolution of the youth’s employment problem with the help of the people and these issues must be followed up with seriousness.” 

He described cultural work as one of the other important issues of the country and pointed to the enemy’s efforts to infiltrate the cultural sector, stressing, “In addition to the responsible administrative organizations, massive popular bodies and intellectual, innovative and diligent youths should block the cultural infiltration points and take necessary measures and push forward in this area in a ‘fire at will’ [manner].”     

Elaborating on the concept of ‘fire at will,’ Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “Fire at will means ‘spontaneous and clean cultural work’ and does not mean lawlessness, thoughtless actions, and baseless accusations that undermine the country’s revolutionary current.”   

He reiterated, “Revolutionary and caring forces keen on the advancement of the country toward lofty goals must be more watchful than anyone else about preserving law, order and peace in the country and prevent exploitation by the enemies.”

In the concluding part of the sermons after the Eid al-Fitr Prayer, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to the issues of the Muslim world, particularly the situation in Yemen as one of the great scars on the body of the Islamic Ummah. He also deplored the worsening human rights situation in Bahrain and the firing of the security forces on the people after the holding of the Eid al-Fitr Prayers in Kashmir.

He said: “Like the Islamic Republic, the world of Islam, particularly the enlightened and Islamic scholars must openly state their stances against the enemies and adversaries and clearly announce their position about disavowing the oppressors and tyrants who subjected the people of Yemen to aggression in the month of Ramadhan and [and state their position] in support of these oppressed people and other issues of the Muslim world even if tyrants grow displeased with this stance.”

AS/ME