"I Place Great Emphasis on the Unity of Hearts": Full text of Supreme Leader’s speech on advice for Ahmadinejad

[bold annotations in brackets by IRD]

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, Muhammad and upon his immaculate household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.

I would like to continue the previous hadith which Abi Hamza al-Thumali has quoted from [fourth Shia Imam] Hazrat Sajjad (God’s greetings be upon him). We read parts of this hadith in previous days: “A believer becomes afraid when they praise him.”

Before explaining this part of the hadith, I deem it necessary to raise a certain point. It seems that what we said yesterday in explaining the previous part of the hadith has been misunderstood. Some people misinterpreted it. Of course, misunderstanding is not bad in itself. However, when it leads to dispute particularly in cyberspace, when someone says something and someone else says something else in response and when it becomes a source of irritation among pious brothers, then it will be something bad [reference to Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks about the necessity to keep secrets, and not spread them, which many interpreted as his dissatisfaction with circulation of the news of his meeting with ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad].

This humble person has placed great emphasis on the unity of hearts, on movement on a unanimous path and on the solidarity of the forces of the country, particularly on the solidarity of pious and revolutionary forces. If – God forbid - one says something that becomes a source of discord between our forces, we seek Allah’s protection from this. These things should not be used as a source of discord. 

It is true that someone – a gentleman – [former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] had come to see me. I said to him that he should not participate in such and such an issue [2017 presidential elections] because of his own interests and because of the interests of the country. I did not say to him that he should not participate, rather I said to him that I do not think that it would be a wise course of action for him to participate in that. I said this to him. Well, this is a normal thing. We should say to our pious brothers what we see, what we understand and what we deem good for them. After all, we are more familiar with the conditions of the country than most brothers. I know individuals – particularly the individuals who have had hundreds of meetings with me – more and better than others.

By witnessing the condition of one’s addressee and the condition of the country, one advises a gentleman that if he participates in a certain event, this will create a polarization in the country. The existence of polarization in the country is harmful for the country. I advised him that I do not think it would be wise for him to enter the arena [of election]. This is not a very important thing, rather it is a very natural and simple thing. This is true that I offered this word of advice to one of the gentlemen and brothers. Now, if this becomes a source of discord between pious brothers , if someone says that he [the Supreme Leader] did not say it and someone else says that he actually said it and yet another person says, “Why did he not say it publicly?” this will not be good. Well here it is: this is the public speech [Supreme Leader and audience laugh].

The enemies have sharpened their ears to take advantage of this situation. Notice that you should pay careful attention. Well, how is this issue related to [Voice of America Persian Service] Radio Farda and Radio BBC? They attend to, discuss and analyze this issue. What is the reason? Why did they speak about it? What does this mean? It means that the enemy wants to take advantage of it. What should we do in return? We should move in the opposite direction to the enemy. This is a very simple matter. It is like what I said. Well, you are my pious brother. When I think that something is in your interests, I will say it to you.

This is alright, it is a good thing. And it is religiously necessary as well. A well-intentioned remark is necessary. “Words of advice are for believers” or “Words of advice are for pious brothers” or “Words of advice are for the community of believers.” [hadiths]

This hadith exists in various forms. So, this is something good. We should offer words of advice. A word of advice means a well-intentioned remark. For example, I like you whose name is Sheikh Abdul-Aali. I know that if you enter such and such an event, it will be to your disadvantage and to the disadvantage of the country as well. Therefore, I say to you that you should not enter it. Of course, I will not order you not to enter. This is not a command. Some people said that Agha issued a command. No, I said that I do not deem it wise. I do not deem it wise. This is a good, not a bad, thing.

If they say that such and such a person is under the influence of Zayd, Amr and Bakr [such and such people], this is not the case. What are these comments? I have more information and more motivation than Zayd, Amru, Bakr. What is really to the advantage of the country and what I deem good for the country – between me and God- I will mention it. We should answer to God.

One of the prayers that we should constantly say is this: “And help me when you ask me questions tomorrow.” They will ask us questions in the future. They will say, “Why did you say such and such a thing? Why did you not say such and such a thing?” They will ask us about what we did not say as well, not only about what we said. They will also ask, “Why did you do such and such a thing? Why did you not do such and such a thing?” They will ask about what we did and did not do.

Therefore, when we explained that hadith yesterday, we were not referring to this issue in any way. We were only explaining the meaning of the hadith, as we are doing so today. As for that issue, it is exactly what we said. Discord between pious brothers on such matters is not good at all. It is not good for you to say something and for others to react. When you do so, a third party might appear as soon as you have a fight. He comes, snatches his own advantage from the middle of the arena and then takes off. We should be careful about such things. Today, the country needs unity between the forces, particularly between pious brothers and those forces that are in the middle of the arena. They should try to do something to avoid creating discord from such matters.

Greetings be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.

Source: Khamenei.ir