"Iraq — the country identified in American minds with chaos and endless warfare — is a democracy. Citizens vote, and leaders must respond to their demands; otherwise, they won’t be reelected. It’s a deeply flawed democracy, to be sure, as Salih is the first to note. Yet its institutions, created after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, have endured. Iraqis routinely take to the streets to demonstrate. The country’s top religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who acts as an unofficial political arbiter, has persistently supported democratic institutions, as well as serving as a locus of Iraqi nationalism... We can let Iraq succumb entirely to Iranian influence — or we can reengage with the country, showing Iraqis that we stand with them and take their democratic aspirations seriously. There is an opportunity here that we shouldn’t miss."

"Sistani's office refuses the replacement of the law [which excludes former Baath Party members from returning to public life] because it is not an Iraqi demand but it is a political demand to please some sides."

"It is not permissible for a Muslim to buy products of the countries that are in a state of war with Islam and Muslims, for example, Israel."

"Mr. Bremer, you are an American and I am an Iranian. I suggest we leave it up to the Iraqis to devise their constitution."

"People are not finding potable water and you're bringing me juice? No."

"The council that will write the constitution should be elected, not hand-picked ... The constitution will be illegal if it is written by a council, whether that is chosen by the Americans or by what is called the Governing Council or by anyone else."

"Occupiers have a role in spreading insecurity and terror in Iraq to justify their illegitimate presence there."

"Unfortunately, some of our officials believe that we cannot manage the country without America’s help. May such wrong thoughts be damned!"

"Al-Qaeda means Bush and Blair. Who established Al-Qaeda? You are the ones who should be put on trial. You were the mother of Al-Qaeda."

"May Allah, by the virtue of the Hidden Imam, God will remove the evil of America and Israel from humanity....I say to those dear people: Oh Iraqi brothers and sisters, America and Israel don't want your heads to remain attached to your bodies."

"(The Americans) advanced to within 500 meters from the Holy Mosque (in Najaf). On this occasion, I must thank and praise those in that complex who resist these bloodthirsty wolves."

"You have made homosexuality official and legal. I spit in your face."

"They must not have security. If Muslims have no security, neither must they. When there is no security for a Muslim's life, land, honor, and property, why should they have security? They are the people of “Dar Al-Harb,” so why should they have security?...Another thing, set aside the disagreements. They do not like the Kurds, nor the Arabs, the Sunnis, nor the Shiites. They have come to fight the people of Iraq. Basically, they have come to fight Islam. There is no need for wars between the Kurds and Arabs and the Sunni and Shiites. All of you gather under one flag."

"Wahabbis think that holy sites are a manifestation of polytheism. They deem anyone who opposes them to be polytheist. They believe Shias, Sunnis, and the Islamic world are polytheist."

"There is a terrorism which threatens security, honour, property and the like; there is a cultural terrorism which tears human identity apart; there is an information terrorism which deprives man of his freedom to breathe in an unpolluted atmosphere."

"The West pays money and piles up pressure to cause a strife between Islamic countries so that Muslims would kill each other and the West can obtain its desirable outcome thereby."

"If you [Americans] behave with disrespect – even just a little bit – [the Iranian people] will punch you in the mouth so hard that all your devouring teeth will fall off."

"The Palestinian issue should be at the heart of our unity. It must motivate us to unite and stand in one row behind the Palestinian Mujahideen and the brave uprising."

"I say to the American people: What is this life you are living? Why do you keep silent? What situation are you in? I say to you the American people, according to the Koran: "They drive their people into the house of perdition." Your lives are lost, you will collapse, America will collapse."

"Towards a definition of terrorism."

"By using power, money, fraud, the enemy is interested in gaining control over the world of Islam."

"This Ayah indicates that the pious person should express his love to Allah by believing in His Prophet and following the Message, and through obeying the Prophet, abiding by his orders, leaving what he prohibits and obeying all what Allah has revealed to him, because that is the vivid expression of the practical love that fills his whole entity."

"Islam emphasized the internal purity of man that is achieved through the purity of the mind in realizing the Right and the purity of feelings through having the pure intention towards man, far away from the meanness of malevolence and hatred and through the purity of the movement that is not lunched except for the sake of justice, Good and life."

"The difference in sex does not hinder the ability of being strong on the levels of thinking, giving, having a strong willpower and the ability to take the right decision and the right position after studying all options, once the circumstances that favor creativity and rational thinking are available."

"In addition, Islam stressed on purifying the body, clothes and everything that is related to man's private life in his land and home, from the unclean impurity."

"What is meant here is that man should not become immersed in loving the world which will make him forget the responsibilities that Allah had ordered him to hold, but he has to look at the world in its reality, in which it represents a place for obeying Allah."

"We believe US threats of an approaching World War III and their use of Iran's nuclear issue as an excuse is another form of American insanity."

"But, those who did good to Allah and the people, Allah will give them reward by bestowing upon them His grace."

"On the other hand, Allah directs man to the spiritual purity through the act of giving that is represented by charity that the pious pays as "Zakat" and "Sadakat" almsgiving, and other financial obligations."

"Saying "Ameen" is permissible after reciting the Surah of al-Hamd in the Salat (but it's still not part of the Salat) especially with the intention of supplication."

"In this way, Allah will love the pious person because He, the Most Exalted, loves those who are pious, truthful, charitable, devout, and are sincere to Him and to His Prophet."

"Allah wanted the people who have made sins to turn from their sins and make up for them in order to be near to Allah through gaining His satisfaction, for He has promised to accept their repentance and forgive the sinner"

"Muslims (companions) misunderstood the speech of the Prophet on the day of Ghadeer."

"Taking the strong believing women as role models for both men and women, clearly indicates that the Quran acknowledges the woman's ability to be a strong person who can overcome any innate weakens in her."

"And just like men are responsible of the society, women also are equally responsible of the society they live in."

"From an Islamic point of view, women are as responsible as men to help people finding their way to God (S.W.T), and to guide society in the right path with all the power they have."

"Female masturbation is permissible unconditionally."

"In the speech on the day of Ghadeer, The Messenger of God (SAW) indicated the preference of Imam Ali's (AS) khilafah and did not make it obligatory."

"All American and Israeli goods and products should be boycotted in a way that undermines American and Israeli interests so as to act as deterrence to their war against Muslims and Islam that is being waged under the pretense of fighting terrorism. This boycott should become an overwhelming trend that makes these two states feel that their economies are in a real and actual danger."

"Absorption in Imam Husayn's affairs (his life and his person, etc.), away from his missionary side is backwardness."

"Shaking hands with the strangers of opposite sex is forbidden"

"The Quran urges people who feel vulnerable before oppressors to rid themselves of the influence of the bluffing and false appearances of these oppressors and to compare themselves realistically to the latter in order to realize that they have no hidden or different power that normal people do not have."

"The Quran encourages us to expose the reality of those who are followed by exhorting the followers to be aware of the faults of the oppressors no matter how strong and influential they would appear to be."

"The Quran endeavors to make the weak and the oppressed feel the necessity of daring to defy their oppressors, to resist them and deprive them of their power."

"America does not seek good for Islam, for the Muslims, and for the repressed."

"The Quran also wants to emphasize that the right of the weak to resist and confront the strong who are oppressing them is part of the natural laws that have been laid down to make humans feel secure in life and in their religious beliefs."

"The American administration is trying to achieve any gain in the shadow of the embarrassment hitting it because of its failures in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine after the failure of Israel's war on Lebanon and the retreat of America's project in the region."

"A hardliner, Meshkini was among the proponents of the theory that the legitimacy of Iran's clerics to rule the country is derived from God."

"Following World War II, the Jews... The Zionists tried to present themselves as oppressed, and to have opportunities in the world. They invented a false claim. They said that Hitler, the Germans, and the Austrians burned six million Jews in crematoria - six million Jews. They tried very hard to convince the world that this issue, this lie, was true, and they succeeded."

"Although he had a top position in the Islamic Republic as the head of the Leadership Assembly of Experts, he always lived a humble life."