Message [Martyrdom of the representative of Imam and Friday prayer leader of Shiraz]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Verily we are from God and to Him we return
For the offspring of Islam the household of our grand prophet (s) the sons of Fatimah (may God's peace be upon them) and the descendants of Husayn (`a) martyrdom for the sake of purpose, the dear Islam and the glorious Qur'an is not something strange.
Throughout its long history and from the altar of Koufa's mosque to the honorable desert of Karbala, the great nation of Islam has offered worthy sacrifices for dear Islam and God. The martyrdom-seeking nation of Iran is not excluded from this happy phenomenon and the Islamic Revolution has numerous instances of these Husayn-like martyrs. On the Resurrection Day our noble nation will be in the presence of God the great, the prophets and the Immaculate Imam together with the long lines of martyrs of the right path, `ulama', devotees and soldiers who fought to preserve Islam. The great prophet of Islam who takes other nations including even the disgraceful ones will take pride in the sacrifices made by these dear ones in the war fronts and behind the battlefields, the martyrs of the altar, pulpits and congregational lines of the mosque and those in hospitals are included. What is better and more pleasant on Judgment Day for this great one than having more martyrs of the chaste offspring of Islam?
Our dear ones and the apple of our eyes in southern and Western theaters are a source of pride and glory for Islam by subduing the evil Americans and the retrogressive and by sending the devil's soldiers to hell, in such a way that the power to endure these victories was taken from the Americans inside and outside and hypocrite and the perverted which has increased their insanity and horror. Supposing that you consider Martyr Beheshti a sinner, what motivated other martyrs like Madani and Dasgahib who did not have any guilt aside from educating and guiding the poor people. If you think that they deserved being killed because of their crime of being loyal to Islam and taking the side of the oppressed, what about those innocent babies who got killed in their cribs? What was their guilt except that they were babies of Muslims who struggle against the domination of America with their money and soul. «1»
On Friday the criminal hands of America took away from the respected people of Iran and Fars a valuable man who was a great trainer and spiritual leader whose only guilt was his commitment to Islam and left the theological seminaries and Iranian people mourning his martyrdom. Hadrat Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimin Martyr Haj Sayyid `Abdul-Husayn Dastaghayb who was a teacher of ethics, refiner of the self and committed to Islam and the Islamic Republic, was martyred along with some of his companions by some criminals who serve the superpowers and the criminals, assuming that they have dealt a blow to the combatant people of Iran and undermined their effort to reach their goal. Those blind-hearted ones do not seem to realize that with every martyrdom and every crime, this nation which is committed to Islam and the country become more determined and better prepared. Following their bombardment of cities in the south and the West and the tragic massacres of defenseless people, they heard the people shout" war, war, till victory." This indicates that this loyal nation embraces martyrdom in the cause of God. Or may be they want to make up for the defeats of the army of the unbelievers and their masters by the blood of these men. It is appropriate for the experts to look into these crimes and to find out the reasons why in every victory and after every defeat of the American Ba'ath Party there is a big crime committed by the hypocrites and the pervert. It cannot be an accident that there was a crime after our victory iin Abadan and Bostan. There was also a crime and today following the great victory in the West and the disgraceful defeat of the enemy, this big crime occurred. Have they all been accidents or calculated and dictated? Do we lose these great spiritual leaders and valuable teachers to make up for the defeat of America and American Saddam in the region? May God's mercy be upon these great holy combatants whose martyrdom ensures the victory for Islam and shame be on the criminal America and its followers.
I express my condolences to Imam Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him), to the Iranian nation, to the honorable people of Fars and to the families of this martyr on their great and tragic loss. I congratulate the Messenger on the sacrifices of the nation of Islam and the Jihad of the different strata of people in Iran. I beseech God to grant patience and health to the families of this dignified martyr.
Salutations to the great warriors of Islam and to the warriors in the West and south, and congratulations to the military forces and the victorious people in the Western theater. I beseech God to grant ultimate victory to the army of Islam over the devilish superpowers.
May God's peace be upon His righteous servants.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini