Political Speech of Eid Al-Adha Prayer 1444H-2023
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and may the blessings of Allah be upon our master Mohammed, his pure family, and chosen companions.
Al-Hajj of a devoted man doesn’t end with the completion of the rituals. Its starts when coming home from Mecca, to his people and community. This is where the real influence that lies upon this ritual begins, this ritual represents an essential pillar of Islam with all of its grand and great lessons.
Here we must all be inspired by this holy month and this gran ritual of the core paths in reform, management, and societal building in what serves our Islamic countries and achieve the desired purpose to become an example of this nation that calls to good and success in this life and the after.
The most prominent of these great paths and lessons are the following:
First: unity and harmony, Patience and compassion
This quartet of behavior is one of the most important and prominent components of community cohesion, and in its absence, it resolves hatred, division and rivalry, disputes between brothers of the Homeland.
We in Iraq are well aware of this. We know the effects of rivalry and differences between the sons of the same nation. We are working hard in all our political movements to emphasize the importance of this quartet and its role in strengthening national unity and social cohesion.
They are the key to reconstruction, building, and stability in a country like Iraq characterized by a plurality of ethnicities, nationalities, sects, and religions.
The government, parliament, and political powers are called upon to adhere to the approach of unity, harmony, patience, and compassion.
Every time a dispute arises between us, the more we retreat from the development of the country and enhance its stability and prosperity.
When we are united in word and action, we will not allow an outsider to control us
And when we are united by our hearts before our minds, disputes cannot come between any of us
And when we embrace challenges and difficulties, we will become stronger and we will triumph
And when we have compassion and cooperate, mercy and blessing will include Us
Only then we will build a good society and a strong people that will not be deterred by passing storms
Here I am sending my message to my family, brothers, and especially the youth among them.
Do not listen to the rhetoric of division and rivalry.
Do not allow the words of discord and intimidation to come between you.
Do not join those who have wronged by their corruption and breaking of covenants and pacts.
Cultivate hope and optimism wherever you are.
Face challenges and difficulties with willpower, determination, and love of your Homeland.
Support your brothers and compatriots with advice and set the perfect example. Do not allow malicious intentions to tamper with the security of your country and your future.
Iraq is yours. Its future is in your hands. Its security, its sovereignty, and unity are faithfully in your necks. Be as loyal to Iraq as it is to you.
Second: economic priority in political work
The country's budget has been approved for the next three years. This is a different sign from all previous budgets. The political powers have agreed on this step to support the stability of the government and enable it to move forward towards the reform path of the country, especially since an important part of the budget has been set for investment projects, most of which seek to complete the stalling projects. This is a great opportunity for the government, which should be invested as best as possible.
It cannot be built and reformed without political and financial stability together. There is no value to any political or government work if it does not secure the interests of the people and achieve a decent life for them.
And today, after making long strides in building and maintaining a political process that fully takes into account the realities of Iraqi society and its priorities.
Our political system has managed to stand firm and continue to build a democratic system dominated by law and resorting to the Constitution, despite the violent tremors it has been subjected to.
It is time to shift towards the economic process and focus political and executive efforts to make this major reform process successful and mainstream it in state institutions.
Our foreign policy should be based on the goals and constants of the economic process.
Our political and electoral programs should be based on the foundations of the economic process, its prospects, and its extent.
The criteria for government and parliamentary evaluation should be based on the achievements of the economic process and its sound plans.
Our priority should be economics.
And our plans should be economical.
Our programs should be economical.
Because the upcoming economic challenges and risks will be large and impactful.
We will not be able to face them without pre-preparing for their consequences and being able to turn risks into real opportunities that are investable and successful.
We may differ in the nature of the plans and in the mechanisms for their implementation. But what is important is to agree to make the economic process the starting point and the priority in our movements and in our government and parliamentary work.
Despite the serious challenges, we have great opportunities in investment and economic building.
We have opportunities for agricultural investment,
We have working hands,
We have accumulated industrial experience,
We have promising opportunities in religious, archaeological, and cultural tourism
And we have great opportunities capable of attracting investors and foreign money for the benefit of our country
We have the ability to raise oil production, and gas investment and increase cash incomes.
Our country isn’t poor when it comes to opportunities. All we need is to move forward without stopping or hesitating to invest in these important and favorable opportunities. Meeting challenges with sound mechanisms and a realistic vision of productive solutions.
More than (600) thousand students take the sixth preparatory stage exams. This means that in a matter of weeks, they will be heading to colleges and universities. In four years, we will have more than half a million young people waiting for a job opportunity to meet their dreams and ambitions. Noting that this number increases every year.
So, should we deal with these numbers with government employment, which flooded the Iraqi government, burdened the state, and set us before a financial time bomb...?
And should we deal with these large energies with social welfare salaries?
If we do not start with this comprehensive economic process, capable of creating job opportunities and absorbing the capabilities of our youth. We will be facing a serious financial and economic tsunami for all Iraqis.
Paying attention to and prioritizing the economic aspect does not negate the crucial importance of the cultural and societal aspects and confronting erroneous thought, deviant behavior, and dangerous negative phenomena such as drugs and their frightening spread and disastrous effects on the social and moral reality of our youth and children who deserve the best.
Third: Islamic cooperation and regional integration
Our Islamic religion always calls for integration and magnifies the values of brotherhood and cooperation. It also calls for respect and recognition of others through dialogue and adherence to covenants and pacts.
Our Islamic and Arab nations and the peoples of our region urgently need to adopt these values and principles in their international policy and relations.
Real interests are those that converge with the interests of other peoples and states and do not intersect with them. The interests of one state cannot be built at the expense of another. Unilateral interests do not last and cannot continue.
We are Arabs and Muslims. And we have to stick to these transcendent roots in our dealings with others.
We were very excited about the return of the Syrian Arab Republic to its normal position at the Arab League.
We are also pleased with the restoration of relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
We should pay tribute to the openness and constructive communication between Iraq and its Arab and Islamic surroundings recently. And what followed by the signing of memorandums of understanding and strategic projects between Iraq and many countries in the region.
This positive climate in the nature of international relations in our region is one of the most important historical opportunities that we should invest in today to establish a long-term regional strategy that is in the interests of all the people of the region.
Let's not forget that Iraq had the biggest role in bringing the points of view closer together. This is its usual and qualitative role, which should remain preserved.
The Iraqi interest requires achieving regional stability, cooperation, and regional integration.
Here we call for a wise and thoughtful foreign policy that seeks to invest national and international energies towards international and regional mobilization that establishes strategic partnerships between Iraq and its brothers in the Gulf Cooperation Council on the one hand and between Iraq and the neighboring countries and the main countries in the region on the other.
These partnerships bring great opportunities for success to all the countries and peoples of the region, and it is time to break the record of the past and look at a certain strategy for the future and face these challenges in the language of unity, the method of cooperation and the spirit of integration.
We have received with pain and regret the news about granting a license to a mentally ill person who intends to burn the Holy Quran on the day of Eid Al-Adha in one of the European countries. it is not strange for someone ill to take such a step, but the strange thing is to grant him a license by a country under the lie of freedom of expression, which is granted to one person while the freedom and feelings of one billion and four hundred Muslim people in the world are ignored, their beliefs are targeted and their feelings are injured under pretext of freedom.
The Western world should review these ambiguous concepts, double standards and distorted understanding of freedom.
We condemn and denounce in the strongest and clearest terms not only the burning of the Quran by this person, but we condemn this erroneous and crooked understanding that provides an opportunity to offend beliefs and shrines and hurt people's feelings in the name of freedom, as if one person has freedom and the Islamic nation in its broad reality does not have freedom of belief.
May Allah protect Iraq, its people, the peoples of the region and the world from all evil..
May Allah preserve our great references, especially the supreme authority Imam Al-Sistani (may he long live), our Armed Forces, Our Popular Mobilization, and may Allah have mercy on our righteous martyrs and victory leaders.
And to make our Arab and Islamic region safe, stable and prosperous.
Allah is the excellent protector and helper, may Allah’s peace, blessings, and mercy be upon you
