Ayatollah Khamenei: Hajj can foil all plots of arrogant powers, Zionists against humanity

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the annual Hajj rituals can foil all the plots of the arrogant powers and the Zionists against humanity.In a Tuesday message to the 2023 Hajj pilgrimage, the Leader said the rituals can render ineffective all the plans of the arrogant powers and Zionism aimed at the moral downfall of humanity at the current time and future. Ayatollah Khamenei added that the arrogant powers and Zionism are targeting unity and spirituality with their acts of enmity and sabotage at this juncture in time and more than in the past.The Leader emphasized that the US and other arrogant centers are strongly opposed to unity among Muslims, understanding among Muslim nations and countries, and commitment to the religion of the younger generation in these nations.

The following is the full text of Ayatollah Khamenei's 2023 Hajj message:

In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds and peace and blessings be upon the Great Messenger of God, Muhammad al-Mustafa and upon his Pure Progeny and upon his chosen Companions.The Abrahamic call to Hajj and his universal invitation have once again addressed the entire world from the heart of history, making eager and excited the hearts that are ready and which remember.

The invitation is addressed to all human beings: “And proclaim the Hajj to all the people” (Holy Quran 22:27). The Kaaba is the blessed host and a guide for all people: “Indeed, the first house to be set up for humankind is the one at Bakkah [Kaaba], blessed and guidance for all nations” (Holy Quran 3:96).The Kaaba, as the focal point and the main focus of attention of all Muslims, and also the Hajj ritual as a small example of the extensive diversity of the Islamic world, can serve to elevate human society and improve the health and security of all people. Hajj can bless all humanity with spiritual and moral elevation, and this is the vital need of humankind today.

Hajj can annul and render ineffectual all the plans of the Arrogant Powers and Zionism for the moral downfall of humanity – today and in the future.That which is a necessary condition for the occurrence of this universal impact is that as a first measure Muslims themselves should properly hear the life-giving message of Hajj and do their utmost to implement it.

The two main foundations of this message are "unity" and "spirituality." Unity and spirituality are what guarantee the material and spiritual advancement of the Islamic world and its enlightening the entire world. Unity means being connected both intellectually and in practice. It means that hearts, thoughts, and orientations come closer together. It means a synergy in science and experience. It means having an economic connection between Islamic countries. It means the existence of trust and cooperation between Muslim governments. It means working together against common, definite enemies. Unity means that the plots designed by the enemy cannot set Islamic denominations, nations, races, languages, and the diverse cultures of the Islamic world against each other.

Unity means that Muslim nations should know each other, not through the enemy's seditious descriptions, but through communication, dialogue, and interaction. They should be aware of each other’s potential and capacities and make plans to benefit from them.

Unity means that the scientists and universities of the Islamic world work hand in hand together, the scholars of Islamic schools view each other in good faith and with tolerance and fairness, and they listen to each other's words. The intellectual elites in all countries and of all denominations acquaint the people with each other's commonalities, and encourage coexistence and brotherhood.

Unity also means that political and cultural leaders in Islamic countries should prepare themselves in a coordinated manner for the situation that will exist in the upcoming world order. They need to determine with their own hands and by their own will the proper place for the Islamic Ummah in the new global experience, which is filled with opportunities and threats. They should not allow the bitter experience of the political and territorial engineering of West Asia at the hands of Western governments after WWI to be repeated.

Spirituality means advancing religious ethics. The enchantment of "ethics minus religion," which has long been promoted by Western intellectual sources, has resulted in this unrestrained collapse of ethics in the West that everyone in the world is witnessing. Spirituality and ethics should be learned from the Hajj rituals, from the simplicity that exists in Ihram, from the negation of illusory privileges, from “feeding the destitute and the needy,” from “there is to be no sexual contact, vicious talk, or disputing,” from the circumambulation of the entire Ummah around the axis of monotheism, from the Stoning of the Devil [shaytān], and from the Disavowal of the Polytheists [mushrikīn].

My brothers and sisters who are performing the Hajj! Take advantage of the opportunity that Hajj provides to contemplate and ponder on the secrets and mysteries of this unparalleled obligatory action and make it a provision for the rest of your life. At this juncture in time and more than in the past, unity and spirituality are subject to the enmity and sabotage of the Arrogant Powers and Zionism. The US and other centers of Arrogance are strongly opposed to the unity of Muslims, to the understanding between nations, countries, and Islamic governments, and to the religiosity and commitment to religion of the younger generation in these nations. They are intensely opposed to these and they will fight these with any means they can. It is the duty of all of us, the duty of all nations, and the duty of our governments to stand against this evil scheme of the US and Zionist regime.

Ask the All-knowing, All-powerful God for help. Strengthen the spirit of “Disavowal of the Polytheists” in yourselves, and oblige yourself to spread and strengthen this spirit in the environment where you are living.I ask Almighty God to grant all of you Iranian and non-Iranian pilgrims, success and an accepted and blessed Hajj, and I wish for all of you the accepted prayers of the great Vestige of Allah remaining on earth [Imam Mahdi (aj)] – may our souls be sacrificed for him.