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, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.

I would like to welcome all you dear brothers and sisters who took the trouble to participate in this meeting from different cities and who enlightened our Hussainiyah with your presence and your feelings. I welcome all you particularly the dear brothers and sisters who have travelled from distant cities and I hope that each and every one of you brothers and sisters will benefit from divine mercy and blessings.

These days have coincided with the auspicious days of the month of Dhul-Qada and the memorable days of the month of Shahrivar. The blessings of the month of Dhul-Qada are many and the memories of the month of Shahrivar are meaningful and significant. The auspicious month of Dhul-Qada is the first haraam month. The 11th day of this month is the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Thamen ul-Hujjaj (thousands of greetings and praise be upon him) and the beginning of the ten-day Veneration Celebration. The 23rd day of this month is the day to visit the shrine of Hazrat Thamen al-Hujjaj (peace and greetings be upon him). The 25th day of this month is Dahwa al-Arz which is a blessed day. The 15th of Dhul-Qada eve is one of the blessed nights of the year when certain religious acts are practiced. Dhul-Qada Sundays are repentance days.

On these days, there is a religious act that the late Hajj Mirza Jawad Aqa Maleki quotes in al-Muraqibat. In this book, he quotes the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) as saying to his companions, "‘Which one of you is willing to repent?' Everyone said that they are willing. Apparently, it was the month of Dhul-Qada." According to this narration, Hazrat says, "You should say this daily prayer on Sundays of this month." What I mean is that the month of Dhul-Qada - which is the first haraam month - is full of blessings. There are very blessed and auspicious days and nights in the next three months. Therefore, we should benefit from them.

The month of Shahrivar is also a memorable month. On the 17th of Shahrivar of the year 1357 - a few months before the victory of the Islamic Revolution - the agents of the taghuti regime fired a volley of bullets on innocent people who had no refuge. This happened in Tehran's Shohadaye Square. In this event, a large number of people were murdered in that square. We do not still know how many were exactly murdered, but there were many. In the month of Shahrivar, the president and prime minister of the country - Shahid Rajai and Shahid Bahonar - were cruelly assassinated. In Shahrivar, Shahid Ayatollah Qodusi - the prosecutor general of the country - was assassinated. In Shahrivar, the Friday prayer leader of Tabriz [Shahid Sayyid Asadullah Madani] was assassinated. Again in Shahrivar - on the last day of this month - the ba'athist regime of Saddam attacked our country. These are astonishing, meaningful and significant memories. The American regime was behind all these events. American agents either directly helped, or supported these acts or at least closed their eyes to them.