Speech by Sayyid Al-Hakeem at Iraq’s Day Convention in Mecca Al-Mukaramah 1444H – 2023

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and our Master Mohammed “Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him, his pure family, and chosen companions.”

Your Eminence and Sovereignty,

Brothers and Sisters pilgriming to Allah’s sacred house

May Allah’s peace, blessings, and mercy be upon you

• We praise Allah and thank him for his great blessings, and for making this great opportunity available once again, for us to convene in the sacred house of Allah, in this holy and pure place to do the task of Hajj alongside Muslims who came from every place on earth, to complete this divine duty and great religious duty.
• The great ritual of hajj, with all its exceptional circumstances in terms of the exact timing, financial ability, and divine success to perform it, with all the wishes of faith in the hearts of Muslims to perform it, and to receive its blessings, the breath of its sights, shrines, and works, carries with it many secrets, effects, wise words, and heavenly lessons, to be known and contemplate it and its meaning. This can be summarized in the following achievements:
• Al-Hajj from an individual point of view: it is a message of divine hospitality, choice, and selection for a Muslim person in order to have an exceptionally unique opportunity to perform this ritual and perform the legitimate assignment and fulfill his wish by the direct presence in the honorable scenes in Mecca and Medina where hearts, minds, and souls gather to unite and worship Allah, reverence his sanctity, home, and rituals, visit his beloved and Prophet Al-Mustafa (the Chosen) (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and pledge allegiance, and perform the duty of affection, love, and loyalty to the people of the House of prophecy and mercy, and Honor the signs of Revelation and words of Allah and his angels descending to deliver them. 

All this in a known place and a specific time, unified actions, and doors opened to Heaven, which allow the believing Muslim to be provided with the greatest amount of divine blessings, both to the extent of his spiritual and psychological absorption and presence.

• Al-Hajj is an intense ideological and spiritual cycle, full of constants, principles, secrets, effects, and meanings that require us to absorb them, stop at them, and have them in the best possible way.
• Al-Hajj from a social point of view: it is the Muslim gathering point and the meeting place of the Righteous, a unique opportunity to see millions of people united by the bond of brotherhood, the strong rope of Allah, and the one faith, regardless of their nationalities, languages, homelands, colors, classes, professions, family, sects, cults, and orientations.

Here in the Sacred House of Allah, everyone is the same as the teeth of a comb, black and white, poor and rich, ruled and Ruler, scientists and ignorant, everyone is in the hospitality of Allah with one uniform, one ritual, uniform times and common duties.

This is a clear message of faith that Allah created people from one origin and they should always remember that their Creator is one and their worship is one and their origins stem from the One And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him. 

The messages of solidarity, cooperation, and consolidation among Muslims are manifested in the most beautiful social form in Al-Hajj ritual, which is a message that must remain stuck firmly and continuously in the minds of the people of the Islamic nation at all times and places.

This unity is a message of strength, determination, and steadfastness for Muslims and is proof of their faith, mission, beliefs, and identity all over the world.

- And Hajj from an ethical point of view: it is a message of peace and tranquility and a station for moderation, balance, psychological restraint, and moral discipline for a Muslim.

As Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage is (in) months well-known; so, whoever ordains (upon himself) the Pilgrimage in them, then there shall be no lying with (womenfolk), nor evident immorality, nor disputing in the Pilgrimage. And whatever charity you perform, Allah knows it. And sustain yourselves; so, the most charitable sustenance is piety; and be pious to Me, O (you) endowed with intellects!).

Islam explicitly calls on pilgrims to stay away from the pleasures of life, the desires of the haram, the competition of the world and its futile arguments, and also calls on them to refrain from harming another human being, animal, or part of his natural environment, and it is imperative for him to give up the trappings, luxuries, and habits contrary to worship and harmful to human relations.

All this is in an intensive ethical course that is intended to be a general character and continuous behavior in the life of a Muslim towards himself and others.

• Al-Hajj is also a religious tourist station to re-reflect and scrutinize the history of Islam, its emergence, principles, and constants, and get closer to its roots and first sights, to take lessons and a real sense of the value of the sacrifices of those companions who gave their lives, blood, money, and themselves for the sake of Allah and the Islamic message and the honorable prophet “PBABUH”, and the depth of the responsibility entrusted upon us to deliver the true image of Islam, beliefs, identity, manners, mercy, love, and peace which was adopted by our Holy Prophet, his pure family, and his chosen companions.

Our responsibility today is to show the spiritual, moral, and human treasure of our pure Mohammedan Islam, to our young Muslim generations, to our world, and to all mankind, in order to be the best successor to the best ancestor in our originality and preservation of our roots on the one hand, and in strengthening our movement and communication with our present and the global environment on the other.

• Over the past decades, this annual meeting has been a meeting of the unity of Iraqis and a reflection of this unity in their pilgrimage and rituals, as well as in their homeland and society in our beloved country, and as we declare our adherence to our Islamic message, our human values, and our national goals, we invite this generous gathering, Iraqis and Muslims everywhere to join hands, Love and cooperate for the sake of Allah and for his sake and to seek his satisfaction.

Our Allah, who created us from one origin and honored us with the responsibility of succeeding him on Earth and following his messengers, Angels, and books, has entrusted us with the responsibility of building the Earth, maintaining honesty, and preserving the values of brotherhood and its ties and requirements.

• From here, it is imperative for us to invest in security stability in our country and good employment of the economic abundance for the purpose of launching a major urban renaissance in our beloved Iraq, together with the government and the people, and to turn the pages of the past towards a better future, Allah’s willing.
• I also invite our esteemed Iraqi pilgrims to open up to all pilgrims coming from our regional surroundings or distant places, to emphasize Islamic unity, the values of brotherhood, opportunities for cooperation, and change the stereotype about our beloved Iraq.

The Iraqi pilgrim is the ambassador of his country here in the Holy Land and in front of everyone, and he has a great role in strengthening Iraq's relations with the countries and peoples of the region and the world.

I ask Allah to preserve Iraq, its people, and its supreme religious authority represented by Imam Sayyid Al-Sistani (may he long live) and other great authorities and have mercy on our righteous martyrs and leaders of victory, and for Iraqis and other pilgrims of his holy house, make their pilgrimage and accept them and return them to their country safe and accepted. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

May Allah’s peace, blessings, and mercy be upon you