In a message marking the arrival of the Abrahamic Hajj season, Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, described the symbolic rites and invocations of Hajj as enduring signs for all humanity. He said that they comprise migration toward God Most High, liberation from the bonds of Satan and his followers, striving tirelessly to fulfil divine duties, liberating oneself from the passions of the soul, and the attainment of felicity in this world and the next.
In speaking of these signs, he made special reference to the nation’s reliance on them. He said that this was especially potent in the use of the cry “Allahu Akbar” as a weapon. He said that this is how it was from the period of the Islamic movement, through the victory of the Revolution, how it was during the Sacred Defence, to the Second Imposed War and then to the Third Imposed War; the cry continued to rise while foiling the enemies’ efforts to force Iran into submission, and now, it rises again as it coincides with the astonishing divine awakening of the people.
He called for this year to be one in which the issue of disavowal of the polytheists (Tabarra) is doubly important. Because the depth and scope of disavowing America and the Zionist regime extend beyond the ritual of Tabarra during Hajj. From now on, "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" will be the common slogan of the Islamic ummah and the oppressed of the world, especially the youth.
The future belongs to the Islamic ummah and the new Islamic civilisation, and each of us can play a role in realising that future and draw nearer to it, to the extent of our efforts, capacities, and responsibilities allow. Iranian pilgrims and Hajj visitors this year can play an effective and prominent role in narrating the victory of the Third Imposed War to their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters and giving them hope for a bright future.
The text of the Supreme Leader's message to the Islamic Ummah, read this morning by Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslīmīn Nawwab, the representative of the Supreme Leader and head of Iranian pilgrims, at the plain of Arafat, is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
"Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik, Labbaik la sharika laka Labbaik, innal hamda wan-ni'mata laka wal-mulk"
"O God, I respond to Your call, I respond. There is no partner for You, I respond. Indeed, all praise, all grace, and all dominion are Yours and belong to You."
This year’s Hajj season has arrived once again, and the pilgrims of the Islamic ummah have donned the ihram of servitude and proclaimed the talbiyah to migrate from a material and ordinary life to a divine and felicitous one; to a monotheistic life centred on the worship of the Almighty Truth, and the rejection, negation, and disavowal of all false rivals to God. However, the opportunity for this migration belongs not only to this year's pilgrims and visitors to the House of God, but also to all Muslim brothers and sisters in Iran and around the world, from those who have performed the Hajj in past years to those who have not yet been blessed to do so.
The condition of this migration is to bind oneself permanently in the ihram of remembrance of God; to make a perpetual circumambulation around the axis of Truth; to strive ceaselessly (Sa'i) between the lofty peaks of divine obligations; a continuous stoning (Ramy) of the evil Satan, along with his seductive manifestations and all his followers; to stand unceasingly in vigil (Wuquf) mixed with attention and supplication; to feed the impoverished, the disabled, and the traveller; to sacrifice deviant desires and tendencies; to purge one’s inner impurities; and in every state, to be ready to serve and to raise the banner of defending the Truth.
And this was how the Iranian nation, at the appointed place (Miqāt) of the Islamic Revolution, stepped onto the path of this very migration. It answered the Abrahamic call of the great Khomeini, cast off the garment of accepting domination, clothed itself in the ihram of felicity in this world and the next, and, proclaiming “Labbayk” and hurrying onward, strove to circumambulate the axis of the pure Muhammadan Islam and bring itself nearer to the radiant light of universal justice and supreme guardianship (Wilayat Uzma).
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, la ilaha illa Allah wa Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar wa lillah al-hamd, Allahu Akbar ‘ala ma hadana.
(God is the Greatest, God is the Greatest, there is no god but God, and God is the Greatest, God is the Greatest, and all praise belongs to God, God is the Greatest for guiding us.)
Yes, Allahu Akbar! And it was with this very weapon of Allahu Akbar that the Muslim nation of Iran rose up forty-seven years ago, overthrew the tyrannical (tāghūti), dictatorial, and dependent Pahlavi regime, cut off the hands and feet of greedy and arrogant America from the country, and severed Zionist influence completely
It was with this same weapon of Allahu Akbar that, after the aggression of Saddam’s Ba'athist regime upon Iranian territory, the brave warriors and selfless youth created the epic of the eight-year Sacred Defence. Despite the support of all of the Eastern and Western powers for the Ba'athist regime, they put him in his place and continued this resistance steadfastly for years afterwards against its enemies’ economic blockades, attempted coups, oppressive sanctions, and countless political, propaganda, and economic assaults against the Islamic Republic.
Allahu Akbar! It was this very weapon of Allahu Akbar that strengthened the bonds of the Islamic ummah and the young mujahids of the Resistance Front from Iran to Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Syria, from Africa and Yemen to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and all the free nations of the world, so that this firm rope (habl al-matin) would rise to defend the integrity of the Islamic ummah against the usurping Zionist aggressors, crush the plot of ISIS, unleash the Al-Aqsa Flood, and bring the wavering Zionist regime to the edge of its last breaths.
Allahu Akbar! Yes, God, Blessed and Exalted, is greater than can be described. It was this weapon of Allahu Akbar that enabled the Islamic Republic of Iran, and relying upon it, to batter the Zionist regime into helplessness in the Second Imposed War in June 2025 (Khordad 1404 AH), and deliver a harsh slap to the aggressor America, and frustrate the enemy’s objective to force Iran into submission.
And the weapon of “Allahu Akbar” gave such strength and power to the Iranian nation that, after the heartbreaking event of the martyrdom of the great leader, the worthy descendant of the Noble Prophet, Ayatollah al-Uzma Seyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (may his noble station be exalted), at the hands of the most wretched of the world today, the nation experienced a divine awakening and, with its comprehensive presence in every arena that was needed, left the world's eyes astonished by its glorious achievements.
Indeed, God, Blessed and Exalted, is greater than can be described. It was with this very weapon of Allahu Akbar that the valiant fighters and selfless armed forces of Islamic Iran, along with the mujahideen of the Resistance Front, especially beloved Lebanon, achieved remarkable victories against two US-Zionist terrorist armies, armed to the teeth, in the Third Imposed War. By placing their trust in the Lord and using their own missiles and drones on land, air, and sea, they stoned the Great Satan, i.e., America, and its trained animal, the Zionist regime, and witnessed with their own eyes God’s true promise to grant victory to those who struggle in His path. And again, Allahu Akbar. Without doubt, God, Blessed and Exalted, is greater than can be described, and His hosts prevail over any power. With this same weapon of “Allahu Akbar,” following the awakening of the Iranian nation and the Resistance Front, the awakening of the entire Islamic ummah will take shape, and the disavowal of the polytheists will spread from the stoning of the pillars (Ramy al-Jamarāt) during Hajj to the individual, social, and political lives of Muslims across the globe. The Islamic ummah and the peoples of the region possess many shared capacities and common interests that will shape the new order and future geometry of the region and the world.
With sincerity and transparency, I invite all Islamic countries and governments to friendship and cooperation in goodness and piety, so that by working together, we may take steps towards the progress of the Islamic ummah and solve the problems of the Islamic world.
What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn back, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases. Besides no longer having a safe haven to carry out their mischief and establishing military bases in the region, America is moving further and further away from its former condition with each passing day. The shaky Zionist regime, that cancerous tumour, is also approaching the final stages of its cursed life, and by God’s grace, and in accordance with the decisive and farsighted statements made ten years ago by our great martyred Leader (may his pure soul be sanctified), it will not see twenty-five years beyond that date, God willing.
For this reason, the issue of disavowing the polytheists is doubly important this year, and the depth and scope of disavowing America and the Zionist regime go beyond the ritual of tabarra during the season and miqāt of Hajj. In different parts of Iran and the world, after these blessed days, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” will be the common slogans of the Islamic ummah and the oppressed of the world, especially the youth.
The future belongs to the Islamic ummah and to the new Islamic civilisation, and each of us can play a role according to our determination, capacity, and responsibility in bringing about that future and drawing it nearer. In this year’s Hajj, Iranian pilgrims have an effective and distinguished role in narrating the victory of the Third Imposed War to their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters and in giving them hope for a bright future.
I ask all dear pilgrims to pray earnestly for the hastening of the advent (faraj) of the Saviour of humanity (may God hasten his reappearance), and to pray for the unity of the Islamic ummah, the liberation of Palestine and the al-Aqsa Mosque, the removal of the grave afflictions of the Muslims, and the attainment of final victory against global arrogance. I also ask that you include me in your good prayers.
O Lord, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and extend Your gaze of kindness and compassion to the pilgrims and the whole Islamic ummah. Grant them the success of a Hajj accepted (Hajj-e maqbūl), illuminate their hearts with the lights of knowledge and insight, and make their resolve and will more resolute in moving towards reforming the condition of the ummah and achieving final victory over the enemies of Islam.
O Lord, bestow Your abundant grace and mercy upon the purified souls of the martyrs in the path of God, especially the martyrs of the Resistance Front, and foremost among them, the great martyred Leader (may his noble station be exalted). Grant abundant reward to the Hajj pilgrims, for the worship of the worshipers, and for the efforts of those who have been striving, those who have been guided and led by the Leader of the ummah to his celestial soul, and aid the Iranian nation and the Islamic ummah in continuing his path and his goal.
O Lord, send down Your best blessings and salutations upon our Master and Patron, Imam Mahdi the Awaited (peace be upon him and his pure forefathers). Include all of us and the Islamic ummah among those embraced by his pure and answered supplications, and illuminate and adorn the world with his blessed advent, just as You have promised which has filled our hearts with certainty of its inevitability: "Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession to authority on earth just as He granted it to those before them, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and that He will surely change their state of fear into security..." (Quran, Surah An-Nur, 24:55)
Peace be upon all our Muslim brothers, and the mercy and blessings of God.
Dhu al-Hijjah 1447
Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei