"Islamic unity which is the basic slogan of the Islamic Republic means that the Islamic Ummah shouldn’t practice hostility towards each other, but should support each other in (dealing with) important global issues," Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Iranian Hajj officials in Tehran on Tuesday.
He described unity and brotherhood among Muslims as one of the pillars of Islam, and emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran would never compromise this issue.
Ayatollah Khamenei cautioned that enemies have attempted to block Iran's policy of strengthening Muslim unity through efforts to "build a wall between Iran and the Muslim world", and said all people are responsible for destroying this wall and Hajj rituals are the best opportunity to this end.
He also referred to the enemies' propaganda and lies about Shiism as another method used for separating Iran from the Muslim world, and said writing books is not enough to remove these ambiguities and the minds of people who have been influenced by such lies and propaganda should be changed by the help of different communication methods.
In relevant remarks in September 2013, Ayatollah Khamenei lashed out at the enemies of Islam for their plots against the Muslim Ummah (community), and stressed that the Shiism promoted by the UK- and US-based media is a forged version of the faith seeking to create a rift among Muslims.
“Enemies of the Muslim Ummah are now quite aware that conflict among Islamic sects will benefit the usurper Zionist regime and on the same basis, they organize Takfiri groups on one hand, and set up so-called Islamic and even Shiite media to provoke differences on the other hand, in a bid to pit Muslims against each other,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing Iranian Hajj officials in Tehran.
The Supreme Leader cautioned the Muslim Ummah against ill-wishers’ divisive plots and their attempts to fan the flames of religious divide.
“The Shiite dignitaries, including the late Imam Khomeini, have always been stressing the need for unity among the Muslim Ummah,” the Supreme Leader said, and added, “The Shiism publicized by the media from the UK and the US aim to widen the differences (with the Sunni faith), and thus it is not moving on the path of true and genuine Shiism.”
Also in 2013, Ayatollah Khamenei asked Muslim nations to grow united against the arrogant powers, warning that gaps in the Muslim community will create an opportunity for the Zionist regime to implement its plots against them.
“Unity and companionship among Muslims is an urgent obligation,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in Tehran in June 2013.
He pointed out that massacre, bloodshed, blind terrorism and its related catastrophes as well as the opportunities created for the occupying Zionist regime are all outcomes of division and difference in the Islamic Ummah.
"Today is the day of test for the Muslims and Islamic states, and Muslim nations should be completely vigilant," the Iranian Supreme Leader cautioned.
Ayatollah Khamenei warned of the West's campaign against Islam and the Muslim world, and said the western enemies are showing their hostility towards Muslims very openly, "thus, the Islamic Ummah should reinvigorate its intrinsic ability and power factors, and one of the most important factors in this regard is unity, integration and focus on commonalities".
