Dallas Mosque Scholar Hails Ayatollah Khamenei, Says His Blood ‘Won’t Go To Waste’

An Islamic scholar at a Dallas mosque praised Iran’s slain former leader as a martyr and said that his blood will not go to waste.

Sayed Jawad Wahedi, the resident scholar at the Metroplex Organization of Muslims in North Texas (MOMIN), made the remarks during an August 21 Friday sermon, according to footage and reporting from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Wahedi said “the enemy” made a “huge and grave mistake” by killing him, arguing that martyrdom would ultimately advance the cause for which the former Iranian leader had lived.

Shiite Scholar Jawad Wahedi Praises Khamenei in His Dallas Friday Sermon: Khamenei Yearned for Martyrdom and to Meet Allah; The Enemy Made a “Huge and Grave Mistake,” His Blood Will Not Go to Waste pic.twitter.com/jFoSBqemJh

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) September 3, 2026

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in February during the opening phase of the major U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran. A strike hit his compound, killing Khamenei and several family members and injuring his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has since succeeded him as Iran’s supreme leader.

“The enemy obviously has made a huge and grave mistake,” Wahedi said. “That when you live your life for Allah, purely for him, your death won’t be void, especially if you’re killed, especially if you’re martyred.”

He added that the blood of Khamenei “won’t go to waste.”

Wahedi told worshippers that “one of the best examples” of practicing God-consciousness in the modern era was “martyr Ayatollah Khamenei,” urging them to study his life alongside those of Islamic scholars, martyrs, and the Twelve Imams.

“One of the best individuals that we can remember is martyr Ayatollah Khamenei,” Wahedi said. “The position he had, so much responsibility, so much opportunity to make mistakes, so much opportunity for Satan to infiltrate his life. But when you look at the path he took, it’s filled with sincerity.”

Wahedi has served as MOMIN’s resident Islamic scholar since 2022. According to his biography on the mosque’s website, he studied Islamic jurisprudence, philosophy, and Quranic studies in Qom, Iran, for nine years and has taught for more than 15 years. He also travels to Islamic centers around the United States to deliver lectures and sermons.

Wahedi has also praised Khamenei at an Islamic center in New York. On April 10, he spoke at a 40-day memorial for Khamenei at the Shah-e-Najaf Islamic Center in Brentwood, Long Island, according to footage documented by MEMRI.

Standing beside images of Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Wahedi again described Khamenei as a martyr whose death had advanced the cause of Islam.

“This great martyr Khamenei is indeed without a doubt, one of the greatest martyrs, and without a shred of doubt he is the greatest martyr in our era,” Wahedi said, according to MEMRI.

Wahedi argued that a martyr’s death could accomplish more than his life, saying, “Sometimes martyrs do things that their lives cannot actually do, but their blood can actually achieve something greater than even their lives.”

#ICYMI: Texas Shiite Scholar Jawad Wahedi at Long Island Mosque Memorial for Khamenei: His Martyrdom Served Islam More Than His Life; Mojtaba Khamenei Will Be Even Better Than His Father pic.twitter.com/fHcFX347aD

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) April 18, 2026

He also blamed the U.S. government and Israel for Khamenei’s death, describing it as an “attack,” an “assassination,” and a “terrorist attack” against a marja, a senior Shiite religious authority.

“The Shiites are mourning a leader, someone who lost his life for the children of Palestine,” Wahedi said.

Wahedi then praised Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to be seen in public since becoming the leader of Iran.

“We lost a great martyr, but alhamdulillah we have Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei,” Wahedi said. “You will see his leadership, inshallah. He will be just like his father in some sense, even better, inshallah.”