UNITY WEEK
Leader: Know Your Real Enemy, Unite Against It
TEHRAN -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday called on Muslims and the governments of Islamic countries—particularly those in West Asia and around the Persian Gulf—to unite against common enemies.
In a message marking Unity Week and the birthdays of Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, the Leader warned that the U.S. and Israel seek to exploit religious, ethnic, cultural, social, economic, political and geographic differences to divide the Muslim world.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Muslim unity is an essential condition for confronting global disbelief and achieving the Islamic world’s political, material and spiritual advancement.
“The first condition for this important goal is the unity of Muslims,” he said, describing Muslim unity as “a Quranic strategy and an authentic teaching of pure Muhammadan Islam,” rather than a temporary or superficial issue.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the purpose of unity is to make common ground the basis of relations among Muslim communities while allowing differences to be addressed through argument, brotherhood, cooperation and peaceful dialogue.
He cited the Quranic principle, “[They are] severe against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves,” saying Muslims must make this principle the basis of their thinking, speech and actions when confronting what he called global disbelief.
“Whenever either part of this heavenly message moves away from the practical conduct of Muslims, they will also move away from the position of dignity that they rightfully attained in the Islamic world,” he said, adding that this is an unchanging rule.
The Leader said Muslim unity faces persistent threats from those seeking to weaken the Islamic world. “What gives them hope is highlighting differences,” he said.
While describing ideological and sectarian differences as an important target of the enemies of Islam, Ayatollah Khamenei said those differences are only one component of a broader strategy.
“The enemy will not be satisfied with that,” he said, warning that efforts will also seek to turn “all kinds of racial, cultural, social, economic, political and geographical differences” into pretexts for
conflict among Muslims in Iran and other Islamic countries.
The ultimate objective, the Leader said, is to fragment the Muslim community, weaken its collective capabilities and eventually impose outside domination.
He invoked another Quranic injunction: “Do not dispute, lest you lose courage and your strength depart,” stating that anyone whose actions contribute to division among Muslims—knowingly or unknowingly—is serving the objectives of Islam’s enemies.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that, given current international developments, ignorance or lack of awareness could no longer reasonably be offered as an explanation for such conduct.
He said the United States and other powers have removed deceptive coverings from their policies and openly displaying their “bloody claws.”
The Leader urged Muslims to examine recent events more carefully and questioned whether greater unity could have altered the situation facing Palestinians and the countries of the Persian Gulf.
“If Muslims had been a single hand, firmly clenching their fist, would the Palestinian people have been left so defenseless and subjected to the oppression and crimes of the occupiers?” he asked.
The Leader also questioned whether states bordering the Persian Gulf would have faced external threats if they had maintained greater unity under Islam.
“If the nations and governments residing on the shores of the Persian Gulf had established their unity under the banner of Islam, would those faceless and corrupt thugs have dared, from thousands of kilometers away, to covet their lands and possessions?” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei directed a particular appeal to the rulers of Islamic countries, especially governments in West Asia and around the Persian Gulf.
“My emphatic and repeated recommendation to the rulers of Islamic countries, particularly the countries of the West Asia region and the Persian Gulf, is this: Know your real enemy, understand his plan and confront it,” he said.
The Leader identified the United States and Israel as enemies not only of Iran but of the broader Muslim world.
“The criminal rulers of America and the fake Zionist regime are sworn enemies of this unity and friendship,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
He said that their opposition extends beyond the Islamic Republic, the Iranian people and the wider resistance movement.
“They are not only enemies of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian nation and the great front of Islamic resistance; they are enemies of the entire Muslim Ummah, including the peoples of West Asia and North Africa,” he said.
He added that governments in those regions are not necessarily exempt from U.S. and Israeli hostility, even when some rulers cooperate with them.
Ayatollah Khamenei also referred to recent public disrespect and insulting language directed by Western leaders toward some Muslim heads of state, saying such incidents remain fresh in the collective memory.
Ayatollah Khamenei presented three lessons from Islam concerning relations between Muslims and their adversaries.
The first, he said, is unity and avoidance of conflict. The second is defending one another against disbelief. The third is cooperation and mutual strengthening across the different dimensions of Muslim life.
He specifically referred to cooperation in wealth, security, science and progress, saying the ultimate destination of such cooperation will be the creation of a new Islamic civilization.
“Therefore, unity among Muslims is the main foundation for achieving a strong and dominant Islamic civilization,” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the principle of Muslim unity has been implemented to an acceptable degree in Iran and urged Iranians to preserve it.
He traced the origins of Iran’s official Unity Week to the period before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, saying the idea was first raised during the struggle against the Pahlavi monarchy in March 1978, when Imam Khomeini was in exile in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan city of Iranshahr and both Sunni and Shia Muslims welcomed the concept.
After the revolution, he said, Iman Khomeini formally established Unity Week.
“By the grace of the Almighty, the issue of unity among the members of the Muslim nation has been a successful example among the Iranian people, and the enemies’ conspiracies have not had a major impact on damaging it,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
He nevertheless warned that opponents remain determined to undermine this unity and urged Iranians to prevent disagreements from emerging among themselves.
“I once again recommend to all members of the nation that they must under no circumstances allow any disagreement to emerge among themselves,” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei congratulated the Iranian people and the wider Muslim community on the birth anniversaries of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) and Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (AS).
Reflecting on the Prophet’s life and mission, he described Prophet Muhammad as the supreme creation of God and said his arrival marked a new stage in humanity’s pursuit of salvation through worship and obedience to God.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the life of the Prophet and the infallible Imams represent lessons in guidance and servitude, knowledge and love, faith and struggle, individual and social ethics, trust and honesty, dignity and honor, knowledge and action, mercy and firmness, justice and equality, as well as unity and brotherhood.
“The better these lessons are learned and acted upon, the easier it becomes for humanity to reach the peaks of happiness and prosperity,” he said.
He also expressed the belief that the spirit of the Prophet and the revered members of his family continue to watch over, guide and show compassion toward Muslim communities, saying their spiritual state is harmed when Muslims violate their teachings and gladdened when Muslims follow them.
The Leader portrayed the current period as a potentially historic turning point for Islam.
He said that after centuries of difficult and turbulent periods and numerous rises and falls since the early Islamic era, Muslims have reached “a decisive and determining stage.”
“Today, Muslims can play a highly influential and history-making role,” he said.
He said that the prospect of the ultimate triumph of truth over falsehood and Islam over disbelief is closer to becoming reality than at any previous period. Achieving that outcome depends first and foremost on Muslim unity.
Ayatollah Khamenei said cooperation among Islamic societies should encompass material and spiritual life and include economic resources, security, scientific advancement and technological progress.
He described the culmination of this process as “the new Islamic civilization.”
He expressed hope that, through the intercession of Prophet Muhammad and his family, divine mercy and blessing would encompass Muslim societies and that Muslims would continue advancing toward greater progress and dignity by following divine commands.
“May they, day by day, under the guidance of acting upon the divine commandments, ascend ever more of the steps of progress and dignity,” he said.