Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – December 25, 1997

At 8:30 in the morning, we flew to Qom by helicopter to give a speech at the meeting to send the messengers of the month of Ramadan. We landed at the place of the Corps at half past nine. After the official welcome and military ceremonies, we went to the shrine. There Mr. [Ali Akbar] Masoudi [Khomeini, guardian of the threshold of Hazrat Masoumeh (PBUH)] welcomed him. A large number of male and female pilgrims, all the time I was in the shrine, enthusiastically chanted various slogans; Warmer than during the presidency, they expressed praiseworthy emotions.

After visiting and praying, then visiting his father's grave and reciting the Quran, we went to Faiziyah school to participate in the ceremony. We passed through the crowd with difficulty. Mr. Masoudi's turban fell for the second time. A large crowd of students welcomed them warmly and with slogans in the yard of Fayzia school.

We went to the huge hall in the basement of the school, which was built with the help of Ayatollah Khamenei. It was full of people and the extra crowd used the ceremony through loudspeakers in the school hall and the cells. Mr. [Mahmoud] Mohammadi Iraqi, [head of the Islamic Propaganda Organization], said welcome and because of the audience's eagerness to listen to my speech, Mr. [Reza] Ostadi, the manager of the district where they were supposed to speak, stopped.

I gave a detailed speech. It took about an hour and a half. We approached noon and there was no time for questions and answers. I explained the history of Shia influence and development in Iran and the historical role of the clergy in the context of Shia culture throughout history after Islam, and I explained the importance of the spirit of the revolution, the role of the imam and the hawzas, the necessity of maintaining this path and this influence, the conditions of the preacher and the righteous preacher, the conspiracy to weaken the clergy and the guardianship of the jurist, and the constructive role in strengthening the revolution.

After the speech, the pressure and emotions and influx of students were so great that I could not say goodbye to the present scholars. We all went to the helicopters and flew to Tehran. During the journey back and forth in Qom, [Mr. Seyyed Hashem Bani Hashemi], the governor, explained the situation of the province and the political situation of Qom; He was upset about the decrease in the construction budget and also about the lack of setting his own task which should be changed.

Mr. Vaezi and the governor called the lecture important, enlightening and useful because of the good explanation of today's situation and enlightening the students about current issues. We arrived in Tehran at one o'clock in the afternoon. He spent the evening and night studying.