In his annual message to Hajj pilgrims on Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei said the enemies that do not countenance the “glory and awakening” of the Islamic community are resorting to whatever military, psychological, economic and propaganda means available to them to suppress Muslims.
The current conflicts in countries stretching from West Asia to North Africa are clear examples of such schemes, Ayatollah Khamenei noted.
Ayatollah Khamenei said civil and sectarian wars, political instability, spread of terrorism and the emergence of extremist groups are the results of sinister plots hatched by the enemies and their regional allies.
Takfiri groups that are committing heinous crimes and shedding the blood of Muslims as well as innocent people are supported by Zionists and their Western allies, said the Leader.
Ayatollah Khamenei said fanning the flames of discord among Muslims as well as the desecration of the sanctities of other Islamic groups or excommunicating any of the Islamic sects is religiously unlawful.
Nearly two million Muslim pilgrims began the annual Hajj pilgrimage by pouring into the Plain of Arafat near the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
The major rituals of the Hajj are performed during a five-day period from the 8th through the 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Muslim lunar calendar.
The Hajj pilgrimage is a religious duty which must be performed by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, at least once in his or her lifetime. The teachings of the Hajj are also very significant. Muslims remember that they are not joined together on the basis of color or race, but on the basis of belief in God and His messenger.