Officials must take steps to solve people’s problems

RNA – In his Friday prayer sermon to a large and fervent crowd of believers at Qom’s Qods Prayer Hall, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi offered his congratulations on the birth anniversary of Imam Ali and said, “Imam Ali was present alongside the Prophet Muhammad in various arenas and established the pillars of Islam.”
 

Referring to Iran’s Islamic Republic Day, the head of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran said, “The 39 years of the Islamic Revolution must be celebrated and the dangers facing it must be studied. During these past 39 years, we passed through great crises and nobody believed that this divine establishment would resist all kinds of sedition and conspiracies.”
He added, “Once again, all the spiteful and tyrannical people of the world once again gathered to attack the Islamic establishment, which requires the vigilance of the authorities and the presence of the people on the scene. All of the spiteful people and hypocrites, the reactionaries of the region and arrogant powers gathered to attack Iran. Sometimes, some fall under the under the influence of the negligent and some adhere to these policies due to prejudice.”
Ayatollah Arafi said that the transformation of the Islamic establishment, the disappointment of the people, the magnification of the problems, attacking the axis of wilayah and imamate are all on the agenda of the enemies and said, “Today, the enemies are trying to implement new ways to contain the Islamic Revolution.”
The member of the Supreme Council of the Seminary said, “The enemies are trying to create consensus among the scholars of the world against the Islamic Republic. Weakening values is on the agenda of the enemies. The hijab is the choice of Muslim women and is an Islamic necessity. Unfortunately, sometimes even individuals who have an appearance of goodness attacked clear religious issues which provide a platform for the infiltration of the enemies.” 
“On the eve of the Islamic Republic Day, we must thank God and correct the mistakes made by identifying the dangers. By God’s grace, the enemies will once again experience the bitter taste of defeat from Islamic Iran and the Islamic Resistance,” he added.
Ayatollah Arafi emphasized the efforts of the people and authorities to fulfill the slogan of the year, “Support for Iranian Products,” and added, “In opposition to the enemies’ plots, we must rely on the Resistance Economy. As a theory announced by the Supreme Leader, the Resistance Economy consists of several elements and all must work together to fight corruption, poverty, speculation, discrimination and aristocracy because the existence of these issues does not epitomize the dignity of the Islamic system. Without bluntness and with complete certainty, we must take steps in this path.”
The dean of al-Mustafa International University explained that the people and the authorities must stand firmly against corruption and added, “The arenas of economic, social, judicial and security justice must be developed. The Resistance Economy is both internal and external and we must rely on our people and, at the same time, develop our relations with other countries, especially in the East.”
He added that the country’s economy must be based on knowledge and that principle 44 of the constitution must be enforced. Combating smuggling is also very important as destroys a large part of the country’s resources and eliminates employment opportunities.
Ayatollah Arafi stressed that support for domestic production as essential and noted, “During the past few years, the Supreme Leader has repeatedly declared the slogan of the year, naming this year as ‘Support for Iranian Products.’ If there are domestic equivalents of foreign products, everyone must use them and if the people back down from some of their suppositions, the domestic market will flourish.”  
His Eminence emphasized that fighting against smuggling and the development of the domestic market will save the economy and continue to expand employment and added, “This year, the people, as consumers, are expected to use domestic products as much as possible.”
He said that merchants must pay more attention to domestic products and stated, “Investors also have to move towards strategic products that must be produced inside the country and save the country from dependence. The government and authorities must provide the necessary support to domestic products.” 
Ayatollah Arafi added, “People must do their duty and the authorities must have a precise and practical plan with specific indicators and at the end of the year, they must present a real report. Everyone must try to reduce the difficulties in the lives of people and open up the knots. The responsibility of the government and authorities is very sensitive in this regard.”
The Friday prayer leader of Qom said that the authorities must spend less time focusing on marginal issues and instead work on untying the knots of the people and noted, “There are theoretical issues that the officials do not need to focus on and the officials must open the knots of social life, social harms, poverty and the problems the people.”