Hawzah News Agency- Here are some excerpts from Ayatollah Khamenei's statements:

This week is really the week of unity. These days are really the days of the unity of Muslims. The responsibility of political officials is difficult. Officials in charge of cultural affairs, authors and scholars should avoid bringing up those issues which lead to discord, whether those who are Shias or those who are Sunnis. Everyone should rely on this point of unity. Scholars, political personalities and experts are expected to understand the dangers of the time, to understand the significance of Muslims' unity and to understand the enemies' plot for destroying this unity and solidarity.

We say that the holy existence of the great Prophet and Messenger of Islam (s.w.a.) is the most important point in creating unity. We have said before that the world of Islam can meet at this point. This is a point where the emotions of all Muslims are connected to one another. This is the center of love and affection in the world of Islam. Of course, you can witness that in the present time; some authors - who are financially supported by the Zionists - pay attention to this center and insult it. They do this so that the importance of insulting the Islamic Ummah and humiliating the world of Islam diminishes. This is the main point.

Our politicians, scientific and cultural personalities, writers, poets and artists should rely on this point and all Muslims should get close to one another with this slogan. Muslims should take no heed of differences, they should not accuse and say Takfiri things against one another and they should not expel one another from religion. Hearts throughout the world of Islam are cheered with the love and remembrance of the Holy Prophet (sawa). All of us love that great personality. Apr 16, 2006

I call all Muslims throughout the world to reflect on these realities. We do not at all insist that in a unified Islamic Ummah certain Islamic denominations should accept the beliefs of other Islamic denominations. No, this is not what we mean by unity. Unity means that different Islamic denominations should highlight what they have in common and do not use their differences to cause fratricide, war, and enmity among Muslims. That is what we mean by unity. Dec 6, 2009

In the Week of Unity the call of the Islamic Republic to unity does not imply that Sunni or Shia must give up their denomination and adopt the beliefs of the other side. The Islamic Republic calls people to focus on the commonalities that different denominations share and to demolish the walls of enmity and spite that have been built by the enemies. The Islamic Republic calls on different denominations to come together and exchange views on various aspects of the teachings of the Prophet's (sawa) household. Today, the enemies are more than ever strengthening the foundation of these walls and elements of enmity and spite and are trying to foment schism among Muslim brethren.

Americans, Zionists and global arrogant powers like neither the Shia nor the Sunni. They are antagonistic towards both of them. They are opposed to all efforts made by Muslims to stand up to their coercion in the name of Allah and by relying on their Islamic faith. As you can see, they are as antagonistic towards the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah as they are to the Sunni Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad. During the reign of the evil Pahlavi regime, they were as cooperative with the corrupt, dependent and mercenary court of the regime - which was a Shia government in name only - as they were with similar governments in countries that were so-called Sunni Muslims.

They are opposed to the kind of Islam that stands up to coercion, arrogance and the plundering of natural resources and the kind of Islam that requires people to claim their rights. Shia and Sunni are meaningless labels to them. However, in order to prevent the Islamic Ummah from gaining power and asserting their opinions, they follow the divide-and-rule policy to foment schism between Muslim brethren and between and within the Shia and the Sunni. They seek to foment discord. We, our elites and our people must understand this.

We are proud of being a follower of the members of the Prophet's (sawa) household, of Shi'ism, and of the leadership of the Commander of the Faithful and his direct rule as the caliph. But this is not something to be proven on streets. Rather, such things have to be proven in a discussion with the elites and those who are experts in the field. What is more, these discussions have to be done in a logical manner. Slandering, fault-finding, using bad language and trying to settle issues by swords is a kind of help to the enemies of Islam, who oppose both the Shia and the Sunni. We proposed this idea to be raised as the flag of Islamic unity in the Islamic Republic. That is what the Iranian nation wants, and it is what our nation is trying to say. Mar 20, 2008

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