Tehran Times, Iran
Jan 1 2005

Prominent cleric warns of plot against Islamic world


TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Interim Friday Prayer leader of Tehran Ayatollah
Mohammad Emami Kashani said here in his second sermon, "Global
arrogance has hatched a dangerous plot against the Islamic world,
aimed at uprooting the religious culture." Addressing thousands of
worshipers at the central campus of Tehran University, the prominent
cleric added, "After accomplishing its previous task of uprooting the
Christian culture in the West and elsewhere in the world, the global
arrogance has now focused on the Islamic world and is quite
determined to deprive it of its genuine religious culture." The
interim Friday prayer leader said, "The plot against Islam is being
pursued through various channels. Sometimes the Islamic ideology and
fundamentals of Islam are attacked, while at other times the enemies
try to spread the seeds of disunity and distrust in the Islamic and
Arab World on the one side and in Iran on the other, or try to create
crises between the world's Shi'as and Sunnis." Referring to the
history of conspiring against religious cultures, Ayatollah Emami
Kashani said, "Hatching plots against monotheist religions can be
traced back in world history as far back as the 16th and 17th
centuries, although such plots were not originally aimed at uprooting
the Islamic culture." Considering the Islamic civilization as an
important part of the global religious civilization, he said, "A
civilization is comprised of cultural habits, economic transactions,
political conduct, family and social relations, and various aspects
of a large group of people's lives." Tehran Friday prayer leader
said, "God's messengers set the foundations of civilizations and the
holy books brought by five of them whose prophecy was meant to be for
the whole mankind have signs indicating that the religious
civilizations have always been the foundation of mankind's history."
Ayatollah Emami Kashani said, "Agents of the global arrogance have
been commissioned to detach mankind from God's messengers, not from
God, and now that they have already succeeded to do so within the
Christian world they are heading to do the same in the Islamic
world."

He congratulated the Christian New Year to the world Christians, and
particularly the Iranian Armenians, wishing them all a very happy and
good new year, full of God's special blessings.

The interim Friday prayer leader referred to the situation in
Palestine as a sample of efforts aimed at depriving the Islamic world
of its Islamic civilization. He added, "The United States and the
Zionist regime push forth that plot under the name of the
international campaign against terrorism, the promotion of democracy,
and the enhancement of peace and stability in the world." Addressing
the Iraqi nation, he said, "The Americans are not after providing
security and stability for Iraq. The Iraqi nation should rely on the
guidance of prominent religious sources of jurisprudence and take
part in the national elections, blocking the path of enemies and
their countless plots." The Friday prayer leader stressed the need to
preserve Islamic unity in order to block the path of the enemies'
ill-intentioned plots, and addressing the world Christians said, "Do
not support the oppressor powers and do not remain silent when they
commit crimes against mankind so that you would not feel ashamed and
would not be condemned before Jesus Christ in the Hereafter." Also
addressing the youth in Iran, he said, "Wake up and heed the plots
hatched by the enemies against us."