Highlights of the Remarks of Professor Sayyid Mujtaba Nur Mufidi Regarding Trump’s Insolent Action: The Slogan and Biography of Imam Husayn (PBUH) Is Refusing to Submit to Bullying

Highlights of the Remarks of Professor Sayyid Mujtaba Nur Mufidi Regarding Trump’s Insolent Action, Delivered During His Advanced (Kharij) Class on Wednesday, April 10, 2019

The slogan and biography of Imam Husayn (PBUH) is refusing to submit to bullying.

Today, the entire nation supports its zealous and self-sacrificing children against the bullying of the terrorist US government.

Yesterday, the third of Sha’ban, coincided with the auspicious birth of Imam Husayn (PBUH). Today is the fourth of Sha’ban, the anniversary of the birth of the Moon of the Banu Hashim, Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, and tomorrow, the fifth of Sha’ban, is the birthday of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (PBUH).

The birth anniversaries of the three central figures of the event of Karbala have been positioned adjacent to one another in a beautiful convergence. A matter that seems worthy of attention regarding these three great personalities, who serve as role models and exemplars for all Muslims, indeed all human beings throughout history, is that these noble figures—meaning Imam Husayn (PBUH) and Imam Sajjad (PBUH), who were infallible, and Hazrat Moon of the Banu Hashim, who was near-infallible (kal-ma’sum)—stood at the pinnacle of human virtues, and for this reason, they can serve as role models and exemplars for all of humanity.

Today, I intend to refer to a matter that was in fact the slogan of Sayyid al-Shuhada (PBUH), the Moon of the Banu Hashim (PBUH), and Imam Zayn al-Abidin (PBUH), and indeed their practical lifestyle throughout their lives. This slogan and this practice are of such importance that they can be accepted by all human beings from any sect, school of thought, and nation.

Generally, the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt and the Infallible Imams (peace be upon them) possess the capacity to attract vast audiences across the world from different nations and religions; because these teachings are compatible with human nature (fitrah), and for this reason, they are welcomed.

The slogan that Imam Husayn (PBUH) repeated in the battlefield during his final moments contains a concept that seems familiar to every free human being; because it is compatible with his fitrah. The poetry and battle-cry (rajaz) that Hazrat Sayyid al-Shuhada (PBUH) recited in the battlefield, namely:

Al-mawtu khayrun min rukub al-‘ari, wa al-‘aru awla min dukhul al-nari;
“Death is better than submitting to shame, and shame is preferable to entering the Fire,”

is a slogan and a banner that every mind and eye appreciates. That he states: death is more worthy and fitting to me than surrendering and bearing the disgrace of humiliation, and subsequently states: the problems, difficulties, and bearing the hardship resulting from not surrendering are better than a person being afflicted with divine punishment and wrath. This is a slogan that every human being accepts upon encountering, because it is compatible with his fitrah.

Surrendering before enemies is harmful to both a person’s hereafter and their worldly life. If someone harbors a spirit of surrender before their predatory enemy, they will always be suppressed. No nation is willing to trample upon its own honor and submit to humiliation and surrender before its enemy.

I wish to utilize this point to state: in the contemporary world, America is undoubtedly a power that wishes to make everyone surrender, subject them to humiliation, and establish its lordship and supremacy through the application of force, intimidation, economic and psychological warfare. Not only do the Arab countries of the region retreat in some way before this tyrannical, oppressive power, but other countries of the world have also accepted a degree of surrender before America. Whereas if governments collectively acted upon this slogan—that surrendering to these bullyings is not in their interest—if they began to realize that they must not submit to these humiliations, it would be beneficial for both their own future and that of their nations.

This is a reality that currently, the greatest pressures in the world are exerted by America against the Iranian nation.

It is true that there are defects in our society, and shortcomings and deficiencies are observed; yet despite all these defects, the Iranian nation has truly not surrendered to these bullyings and pressures so far, and by divine grace, will not surrender in the future either. All the actions they perform are to eliminate the root of true Islam; to compel Muslims to adhere to an Islam that does not disrupt their interests. They want to transform Muslims and Shiites into passive entities who merely witness their pillage, plunder, and bullying without raising any objection.

Today, these unconventional and medieval behaviors have become clear to all nations, yet they lack the courage to stand up; however, the Iranian nation, the Iranian system, and Iranian officials have stood against these oppressions based on religious teachings and popular support.

Today, the most illogical, obtuse, and foolish individuals have, in a sense, dominated the US government, occasionally making irrational decisions outside the convention of international relations and international rules. Despite the fact that these are occasionally ignored in the world, the US statesmen unfortunately continue these behaviors.

These very recent measures they have taken—the latest of which was the action designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group—indeed testify to foolishness and following the logic of savagery.

The issue is that they seek, step by step, to create pressure and constraints on the Iranian people to make us surrender. Their demand is the surrender of the nation and the Revolution before them—the very thing against which, according to the teachings of Sayyid al-Shuhada (PBUH), we must stand. They demand surrender and humiliation. They want the Iranian nation to be submissive and humiliated. However, the nation has stood united against them, and will continue to stand in the future.

It is indeed strange that a regime which is itself the creator of terrorist groups, the primary patron and supporter of terrorists, and fundamentally considered a terrorist state in all dimensions, designates a popular, revolutionary, and legal institution as terrorist.

The best judges of this obvious oppression are the nations of the region, who have perceived with their entire being who defended them against the bloodthirsty terrorists of Daesh (ISIS) and which government supported these executioners.

If today the entire nation declares in unison, “We are the IRGC,” it means that we support our zealous and self-sacrificing children against the bullyings of the terrorist US government.

Today, the green uniform is the uniform of resistance against hegemony, and the uniform of self-sacrifice and dedication, which demonstrated itself excellently during the confrontation against Daesh, as well as during the recent floods.

In any case, under conditions where we have domestic problems and face external threats that are increasing day by day, the best weapon is unity, integration, and empathy centered around the leadership and relying on domestic capability.

Currently, an opportunity has been prepared that has increased the environment of empathy. In this very flood incident, which entailed heavy damages that have not yet been resolved and the property of many people was destroyed, you observe the peak of solidarity and companionship. This solidarity, empathy, and companionship of the people represent the very values that make a society pure. When a young child donates his New Year gifts, which are highly valuable to him, to the flood victims, this means the purification of society and its growth toward perfection. A society in which the spirit of assistance, self-sacrifice, cooperation, and empathy is strengthened is a divine society—a society that has a divine character.

In any case, despite these problems, the environment of empathy has emerged. With this threat made by the mad US president, the ground for unity and empathy among the people became even more prepared—between the officials and the people. Ultimately, all people with different preferences demonstrated that when the footprint of a foreign enemy is involved, they all line up together against the foreign enemy to act upon this slogan and logic of Imam Husayn (PBUH) that we are not people of surrender before the enemy and accepting humiliation. This is the logic of the Iranian nation.

In this country, so many problems exist that if we all join hands, cast away resentments and bitterness, and strive with empathy to solve these problems, we still have little time, and we still have little energy.

God willing, this opportunity and this environment—namely the environment of empathy, affection, self-sacrifice, cooperation, and the environment of unity and solidarity against enemies and their threats, which is an exceptionally great capacity—will assist us in solving the problems.

The third day of Sha’ban is the Day of the Guard. This day, from the early days of the Revolution, was introduced as the Day of the Guard, because Imam Husayn (PBUH) is the symbol of self-sacrifice, dedication, forgiveness, and refusal to surrender before the enemy. That a day like the third of Sha’ban was named with this name is because the Revolutionary Guard Corps is the symbol of dedication, self-sacrifice, empathy, refusal to surrender, and standing against the enemy. Threatening the IRGC is, in reality, threatening the virtues of the Iranian nation, and threatening the religious and human symbols of the Iranian nation; because being a guard of the Islamic Revolution means that these characteristics are and must be present within him.

In any case, I hope that the entire Iranian nation, officials, and especially the clergy, avoid matters that in some way cause division.

These days, certain hands are at work to make every subject an excuse to create division and to utilize every opportunity to make the people distrustful and pessimistic toward the officials, the grand figures, the IRGC, and the government. Currently, numerous groups of hypocrites (Munafiqin), monarchists, and Persian-language networks abroad collectively monitor this domestic uproar only to find a gap and opening to fuel the fire of conflict and division, and particularly to make the people pessimistic toward the clergy. We must be careful not to fall into their trap, and with the guidance of the Supreme Leader and unity of word, God willing, cross these difficulties. May God, by the right of the owners of these three days, include His grace upon us all.