Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, issued a message for Unity Week. In it, he extended his greetings on the anniversary of the blessed births of the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad al-Mustafa (S), and Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (as). He noted that the plan of the antagonists and enemies of Islam is to highlight differences in order to weaken the Islamic ummah and dominate it.

Referring to the falling away of the deceptive masks from America's criminal face, he stressed that it was essential for the Islamic ummah to be united, to defend one another against disbelief, and to cooperate on various material and spiritual matters. Addressing the rulers of Islamic countries, he said that the criminal rulers of America and the illegitimate Zionist regime are sworn enemies of Islamic unity and of the entire Islamic ummah, including the peoples of West Asia and North Africa. Therefore, they should recognise their true enemy and confront its schemes.  He also referred to Iran's notable success in applying the unifying lessons of Islam’s teachings on unity, and once again urged every member of the nation not to allow any discord to arise among them.

The text of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s message is as follows:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

“Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and those who are with him are firm against the disbelievers and compassionate among themselves.” (Qur'an 48:29)

I would like to offer my congratulations to the noble people of Iran and the great Islamic ummah on the anniversaries of the birth of the Greatest Luminary, the Noblest of Creation, the Shining Lamp, God's Chosen One, the City of Knowledge, His Holiness the Mercy to All the Worlds, the Noble Messenger of Islam (S), and of his pure and rightly-guided descendant, the Manifest Divine Proof, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as).

From the moment the sun of the Seal of the Prophets' being rose over blessed Mecca, the prospect of human felicity, contingent upon perfection in servitude and obedience to the Exalted Truth, gained new brilliance. The spirits of the prophets, the divine angels and the holy ones were immersed in joy, while the devils among humankind and the jinn bit their fingers in rage, regret and sorrow. This was because the greatest of God’s creation throughout the countless realms of existence had set foot in this earthly realm. Soon, clothed in the mantle of prophecy and finality, bearing the Great Qur’an and charged with the mission of guiding humanity in every respect, he set in motion the great caravan of humankind towards servitude and perfection unto God. His life and the lives of his infallible successors are, in their entirety, lessons in guidance and servitude, lessons in spiritual knowledge and love, lessons in belief and struggle, lessons in life and good individual and social conduct; lessons in trustworthiness and honesty; lessons in honour and dignity; lessons in knowledge and action; lessons in mercy and firmness; lessons in equity and justice; and lessons in unity and brotherhood. The better these lessons are learned and put into practice, the more attainable the summits of felicity and good fortune become for humankind. We believe that the pure spirit of the Prophet of Mercy, and likewise the pure spirits of his successors and the Immaculate Proofs, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him and upon them all, are constantly watchful, guiding, and compassionate towards the condition of Muslims and the Islamic community. Whenever the children of this noble and compassionate Father commit an error, his blessed heart is grieved; and whenever Muslims act upon his teachings and instructions, his blessed heart rejoices. Islam and its believers, having now passed through difficult and turbulent periods and experiencing numerous ups and downs from the earliest days of Islam until today, have now reached a fateful and decisive stage. Today, Muslims can play an exceptionally influential and history-making role. Today is a day when the prospect of the final triumph of truth over falsehood, and of Islam over unbelief, has drawn far closer to tangible reality than at any previous period.

The first condition for achieving this important objective is unity of word among Muslims. Muslim unity in the face of global unbelief is a Qur’anic strategy and an authentic teaching of pure Muhammadan Islam (S). It is not a superficial or transient matter. By unity, we mean that, at the general level of Islamic communities, the common grounds we all share should be made the central principle and focus. Of course, efforts should be made, on the basis of reasoned argument, observing the proprieties of brotherhood and companionship, and in the manner taught by the Qur’an, to transform points of difference into points of commonality in an atmosphere of complete peace and amity.

What is certain is that every Muslim in Islamic societies must, in confronting global disbelief, make the Qur’anic principle of “firm against the disbelievers and compassionate among themselves” the axis of their thought, speech and action. In this way, we can achieve Islamic unity and solidarity. Whenever either part of this heavenly message drifts from Muslim practice, Muslims too will drift from the station of dignity they had rightfully attained in the City of Islam (Medinatu’l Islam). This rule admits no exception.

This principle is one of the fundamental messages of the Islamic Revolution. The first observance of Unity Week dates back to Esfand 1356 [i.e., early 1978] during the struggle against the oppressive Pahlavi regime. At that time, the late revered Founder of the Revolution, may God exalt his noble station, put forward this idea while in exile in Iranshahr, and both Shi‘a and Sunni Muslims welcomed it. Soon after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Unity Week was formally established through the wise initiative of the Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini (qs). By the grace of Almighty God, unity among the members of the Muslim nation has proven a successful model, exemplified by the people of Iran, and the machinations of enemies have had little effect in undermining it.

Yet adversaries are always lying in wait to strike at this great blessing. What gives them hope is the magnification of differences. Although doctrinal and religious differences constitute an important aspect of what the enemy of Islam seeks to exploit, and one in which it places great hope, it will not stop there. The enemy strives to turn all manner of ethnic, cultural, social, economic, political, and geographic differences into opportunities for sowing discord among Muslim peoples in Iran and in every other Islamic country, so that, from this vantage point, it can watch the Islamic ummah fragment, its strength eroded, and then, at an opportune moment, impose its domination upon them. The instruction of the Holy Qur’an on such matters is set out in the noble verse, “Do not dispute with one another, lest you lose heart and your strength depart.” (Qur’an: 8:46) Therefore, whoever a person may be and whatever position they may occupy, if they do anything that causes division among Muslims and creates conflict within Muslim society, then, knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, they have served the aims of the enemies of Islam. And how, in this day and age, can anyone ascribe such an act to their own ignorance or negligence? The tyrannical powers of the world, led by criminal America, have now cast aside the deceptive and flimsy masks that had concealed the ugly face of their colonialist objectives and their arrogant, hegemonic schemes. They have removed their velvet gloves and revealed their blood-stained claws to the entire world.

Now is the time for Muslims to reflect and examine events more carefully. If Muslims had been united as a single hand, firmly clenching its fist, would the Palestinian people have been left so defenceless in the face of the occupiers' oppression and crimes? And if the nations and governments along the shores of the Persian Gulf had united under the banner of Islam, would corrupt and rootless nobodies have dared to covet their lands and assets from thousands of kilometres away?

My repeated and emphatic advice to the rulers of Islamic countries, particularly those of West Asia and along the Persian Gulf littoral, is this: Know your real enemy. Understand his plan and confront it. The remedy for the problems of the Islamic Ummah is to speak with one voice and to foster friendship and cooperation on the path of goodness and righteousness. The criminal rulers of America and the illegitimate Zionist regime are the sworn enemies of this unity and friendship. They are not merely enemies of the Islamic Republic, Iran, or the great Resistance Front; they harbour enmity towards the entire Islamic Ummah, including the peoples of West Asia and North Africa. In this respect, not even the rulers of these countries, many of whom are regarded as their collaborators, are exempt from such hostility. The open displays of disrespect and the offensive language used by the leaders of the arrogant powers towards certain heads of Islamic countries remain fresh in both your memory and ours.

The first lesson of the Islamic school is unity and avoiding discord in how one should deal with friends and foes. Its second lesson is mutual defence against disbelief. Its third lesson is broad cooperation and advancement in all material and spiritual spheres: prosperity, security, knowledge, and progress. This path will ultimately culminate in the attainment of a new Islamic civilisation. Therefore, unity among Muslims is the principal cornerstone for realising a dignified and triumphant Islamic civilisation. This body of concepts and ideas, within which our aspiration for the Islamic world is embodied, has itself been realised to an acceptable degree in our beloved Iran. Once again, this servant advises every member of the nation never to allow any division to take root among you.

In conclusion, I hope that, through the intercession of the Noble Messenger and his purified Household (as), the merciful and blessed shade of divine grace will fall upon Islamic societies, and that, through obedience to God’s commands, they will, day by day, rise to ever higher degrees of progress and dignity.

May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Sayyid Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei

8^th Shahrivar 1405

17^th Rabi‘ al-Awwal 1448

30^th August 2026