The eternal message of the martyrs is that the youth should enter all arenas without fear
Tehran (Basirat) :The following is the full text of the speech by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, to officials of the Martyrs of Kerman Commemoration Congress. The speech was published on February 28, 2019 by the Congress at Imam Ali Musallah in Kerman.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his pure household, and may God curse all their enemies
First of all, I am really grateful to you honorable gentlemen and dear brothers for adopting this appropriate and- by Allah’s favor- effective measure: paying one’s respect to martyrs and commemorating their great and pure names. When we commemorate and attach significance to an initiator and pioneer of a movement, not only does this mean paying one’s respect to him and his endeavors, but it also means continuity of his movement. This is important. Actually, this is the most important point.
When someone engages in jihad and you praise him, you have done three things: one is that you have respected a mujahid in the way of God, another is that you have respected jihad and the third one is that you have encouraged others to continue this path. This is what happened during the imposed war and our eight-year Sacred Defense. Certain youth went to the front lines and were martyred and their parents and other people felt proud of them. This caused many individuals to move towards the arena of jihad and thus, the movement continued. During the Sacred Defense Era, people spoke highly of our soldiers. This helped many individuals to become interested in this movement and this arena. Well, this is what happened during the Sacred Defense Era and this process has continued until today.
Notice that for the third task and the third issue, your opponents and your enemies want to do something to prevent martyrs from being commemorated and respected in order to block the road to martyrdom and in order to discourage others from making a jihadi move. They and we have experienced and witnessed that when we speak highly of martyrs’ names and memory, today’s youth – who have not seen the war, who have not lived in the era of Imam and who have no memory from that time – fall in love with the arena of jihad once they understand they some people are fighting against the enemies somewhere on the other side of the region, which is thousands of kilometers away. When they see this, they decide to go to Halab, Bukamal and Zainabiyyah in order to fight and be martyred. Notice that this is because you have respected martyrs and because martyrdom has been lauded.
And the secret to the power of a nation is that its youth and its activists enter different arenas in a bold and courageous manner without showing any fear. This does not mean that our men should definitely be martyred. No, we are not after this, rather we are after gaining the power to stand up against others and to resist in different and difficult arenas. This is important. If this happens, this nation will be victorious and powerful and it will never be humiliated and subjugated by others. Notice how important it is to commemorate martyrs.
Well, the statements that the gentlemen in the meeting made and the tasks that have been accomplished are good and diverse. You have made a good choice. You have mentioned different tasks in which you have paid attention to artistic, scholarly, promotional and service areas. Good tasks have been carried out and I hope that you can finish them in the best way possible, God willing. The important point is that we should pay attention to what the message of martyrs to us is. This is what is important: "And with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them in their bliss, the martyrs glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor do they grieve” [The Holy Quran, 3: 170]. This is the message of martyrs.
Today, what is the focus of all the enemy’s efforts in the soft war? Their focus is on making the Iranian nation unhappy, hopeless and intimidated. They want to make the Iranian nation afraid of entering the arena and [they want to make it] disappointed. The martyrs’ message is the opposite of this: "On them is no fear, nor do they grieve.” There is no fear and worry in the arena of martyrdom.
This message is not only issued the first day after their martyrdom so much so that we say to ourselves, "Well, it is 30, 35 years now that they have been martyred.” No, this is martyrs’ eternal message. In other words, even when they are in the divine dominion benefiting from divine blessings, they are constantly conveying their messages to us: "And with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them in their bliss, the martyrs glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor do they grieve.” This is the message of martyrs.
If we enter the arena of fighting – that is what our enemies are terribly afraid of – we should know that Allah the Exalted will take away fear, concern and worry from us, as this was the case in the Sacred Defense Era. Those who joined the front lines and would stay there for some time would find it extremely difficult when they would return to their families and their cities. They would feel pressure. However, the arena of war was like paradise to them because there was some sense of spirituality and otherworldliness there. As a result, they were enjoying their time there in the sense that they benefitted from a spiritual and psychological quality and they were preoccupied with divine dhikr. They were like this.
The youth were really enjoying their time there while they were exposed to the barrage of guns, shrapnel and the like. This is the nature of self-sacrifice and presence in the arena of fighting in the way of God. When they would return to the city and would witness city life and other such things, most of them would feel sad and they would convey their thoughts to us. This was the truth of the matter and the reason was the existence of purity and spirituality in the arena of jihad. That place is paradise. It is the complete embodiment of "On them is no fear, nor do they grieve.”
Thankfully, the people of Kerman have passed their tests with distinction throughout all these years. I have very good memories of Kerman and of its people, ulama and youth. This has been the same since the pre-revolutionary era – since the year 1342, 1343 during which time we used to be in contact with Kerman. The people of Kerman are enthusiastic, pious, respectable and really honorable. They took the correct path. The majority of the people did so. Thankfully, there were outstanding personalities among them.
The same is true of their ulama. The ulama whom we saw in Kerman were really good, pious, enthusiastic and honorable. The people of Kerman are well-known for being honorable. Today too, the people of Kerman are thankfully at the service of Islam and the Revolution. They should intensify their efforts and work harder – in particular, their youth – so that they can play their part in the progress of the country, God willing, as they did so in the past.
I pray that Allah the Exalted will bestow success on all of you so that you can accomplish these great responsibilities – including this commemoration congress – in the best way possible, God willing. I hope that God will protect you.
Greetings be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings
Source:english.khamenei.ir
