TEHRAN- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has criticized the heads of Islamic countries for not following the teachings and instructions of the Holy Quran on the issue of Gaza and not cutting ties with the Zionist regime, while praising Palestinian resistance forces for following the Quran rigorously.

“Today, the resistance forces of Gaza and Palestine, by standing against the evil Zionist enemy, are following the instructions of the Quran,” Ayatollah Khamenei said during a meeting with the participants of the 40th International Quran Competition on Thursday morning, according to khamenei.ir. 

Calling the issue of Gaza “the important” issue of the Muslim world today, the Leader asked, however, whether the heads and officials of Islamic countries are truly pursuing the instructions of the Quran when it says “Believers shouldn’t take the unbelievers for friends instead of the believers.”

“Why aren’t the heads of Islamic countries publicly acting to cut off their relationship with the murderous Zionist regime and stop helping this regime?” he asked.

Ayatollah Khamenei further warned that God Almighty will question and reprimand Muslim nations because they did not put pressure on their governments to stop supporting the Zionist regime, and also the Islamic governments because they did not follow Quranic orders.

He stressed that the Muslim world and the freedom-seeking people of the world are today mourning for the people of Gaza.

The people of Gaza have been oppressed by those who have no moral compass, he said, adding, “Hence, the greatest duty lies in supporting the oppressed people of Gaza, the brave perseverance of resistance forces, and those who help the people of Gaza.”

“Our hope for God’s grace and help will not end, and the Islamic world will surely witness the destruction of the cancerous Zionist tumor,” the Leader added.

Elsewhere in his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution regarded the recitation of the Quran and the techniques and arts of recitation as one of the effective ways to encourage Muslims to get acquainted with the Quran and understand its teachings. 

“Unfortunately, today the complaint of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to God about the abandonment of the Quran is one of the bitter realities of many parts of the Islamic world,” he said. 

Referring to the verses of the Holy Quran that depict and introduce the Quran, he added, “The Quran is the ‘Book of Guidance’, the ‘Book of Remembrance and the Dispeller of Negligence’. It is the ‘Book of Wisdom, Light and Logic’. Imam Ali (pbuh) who was a prominent student of the Quran, has described this heavenly book as one that revives hearts and cures the great pains of humanity.”

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out that, “Those who consider the Quran to be a book that should be placed in ‘the corner of temples’ and for the personal relationship of humans with God and do not support the idea of ‘political Islam’ or an ‘Islamic social system’ are in fact contradicting the Quran's own teachings and Imam Ali’s description of the Quran.”

Culled from Tehran Times