The Jurist-Leader Qassim Mourns the Guardian of the Muslims “Imam Khamenei (May God Sanctify His Soul)”
The jurist-leader Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim issued a statement mourning the Guardian of the Muslims, “Imam Khamenei (may God sanctify his soul)”. The text reads as follows:
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Your martyrdom, O great leader—the noble Sayyid, the jurist, the competent and capable authority, the Guardian of the Muslims, the pious and devout one, the knowledgeable and experienced figure, the example of boldness, courage, and fierce resolve in the path of God and in defending His true and upright religion—has alarmed the hearts of the believers. Their hearts indeed have every right to be shaken, and the calamity is heavy upon them. Yet they also have every right to grow stronger and more steadfast in resisting the enemies of God on earth, and to advance with greater intensity and fervor in combating falsehood, in order to exalt the cause of truth, righteousness, and virtue.
You were a protector of Islam in the fullest sense of protection, an impregnable fortress in the fullest sense of a fortress, and a great and solid front in the face of ignorance and arrogance. You were a great hope for the Muslims, and a source of fear and despair for the disbelievers and the corrupters.
The filthy and impure hand—the hand of America and Israel—assassinated you in order to eradicate truth and increase the tyranny of falsehood, and to mislead the people of the earth with a wide and detestable misguidance. In further escalation of the crime, the sinful machine of aggression also struck down a number of great leaders who had an essential and influential role of distinguished importance.
But God is Living and does not die. His promise to grant victory to His allies and to make His religion prevail will never fail. His power cannot be repelled or resisted, and His decree and judgment cannot be obstructed.
Indeed, jihad will continue, and the fatwa of jihad issued by its rightful authorities—the just jurists among those vested with authority—is binding. The believing masses of the nation stand in complete readiness to devote themselves to this fatwa, always longing and eager for it.
Today, religious duty demands—with the highest degree of seriousness and firmness—that the faithful and honorable Muslim Iranian people, and all the sons of the striving Islamic nation, escalate their determination in jihad, its firmness and its spirit of self-sacrifice, for the sake of the dignity of the nation, its triumph, and its prestige. This is also to affirm and consolidate its guardianship, leadership, and authority in response to the savage crime of assassinating the purest active and visible leadership present in the contemporary era—an assassination that is hateful to the safety of the world, its security, its goodness, and its dignity.
Yes, today the nation bears an exceptionally great responsibility to rise in carrying the trust of jihad. It awaits only the call of the one who is to be designated as the Guardian Jurist (Wali al-Faqih) of the nation. The calls of the great jurists are rising to the nation with cries for jihad, and they are those whom God has made fortresses for it.
May God have mercy upon the Guardian of the Muslims and leader of the believing nation, Sayyid Ali Khamenei (may God be pleased with him), who departed striving sincerely in the path of God, seeking nothing but His pleasure. May God grant him the companionship of His pure saints—Muhammad and his noble family—as he was worthy of their noble company, which is among the greatest honors God grants to His righteous servants, for it is among the means of nearness to Him.
Isa Ahmad Qassim
11 Ramadan 1447 AH
1 March 2026
