October 10-14
The Supreme Leader’s annual hajj message last week barely mentioned the threat to mainstream Islam from the Islamic State and instead focused on Israel and the United States as the dangers Muslims must keep at the front of their minds.
The ignoring of the Islamic State might seem a surprise given all the attention it receives in the Iranian media and the concern Iranians have about the group and its strong message of hatred for Shiites.
But that may be the very reason Khamenehi gave short shrift to the Islamic State. To talk about it is to draw attention to Sunni-Shia frictions, which is the last thing the regime wants to do.
The regime’s message has consistently been to raise the banner of Islamic unity and to brush aside anything that reminds Muslims of the Sunni-Shia rift. And the main way the regime promotes unity has always been to focus on imagined threats emanating from outside the world of Islam—from the West in general and the United States and Israel in particular.
In his hajj message, dated last Friday, Khamenehi said:
“Today in particular, the priority is unity among Muslims and untying the knots of separation among some parts of the Islamic ummah [the global community of Muslims]….
“The filthy hands of imperialist politics have, for some time now, placed division on their agenda in order to fulfill their sinister interests, and today, with the blessing of the Islamic Awakening, Muslim peoples have correctly recognized the enmity of the imperialist and Zionist front and they have taken a stance against them….
“The scheming enemy is aiming to stoke the fire of war among Muslims, to misdirect the motivation for resistance and jihad and to secure the Zionist regime and the servants of arrogance—who are the real enemies.
“Instigating terrorist takfiri groups and similar groups in the countries of the region of West Asia is among these abhorrent policies. This is a warning to all of us to count the issue of unity among Muslims as the priority of our national and international duties,” Khamenehi said.
He then turned to Israel.
“The other important issue is Palestine. With the passing of 65 years since the establishment of this murderous Zionist regime and the various ups and downs in this important and sensitive issue, and particularly with the bloody events of the past year, two realities have become clear for all.
“The first reality is that the Zionist regime and its criminal supporters recognize no limit regarding viciousness, cruelty and trampling underfoot all human and ethical standards. Crimes, genocide, mass destruction, the killing of children, women and the shelterless and any violation and oppression that they can commit, they not only make permissible for themselves, but also take pride in. The tear-inducing scenes of the recent 50-day war in Gaza are the latest example of the historical crimes that have been repeated numerous times in the last half-century.
“The second reality is that this disaster and calamity has not led to the results that the leaders and supporters of that murderous regime wanted. Contrary to the idiotic dreams of power and stability for this regime that the filthy officials of the Zionist regime dream, day-by-day this regime has moved closer to implosion and annihilation.
The 50-day resistance of the besieged and shelterless people of Gaza … is a clear example of that [Zionist] regime’s weakness, incapacity and hollowness.”
Khamenehi next turned his fire on what he likes to call “American Islam,” which is all forms of Islam that de-emphasize politics and emphasize piety and worship.
“American Islam is putting the clothes of Islam on servitude to foreigners and enmity for the Islamic ummah. It is the Islam that stokes the fire of division among Muslims, instead of trust in divine promises. It trusts in the enemies of God, instead of fighting the Zionists and arrogance. It fights with its Muslim brothers. It unites with arrogant America against its own people or other peoples. It is not Islam, it is a dangerous and deadly hypocrisy that every sincere Muslim has to fight against,” Khamenehi said.