Speech [The believers: the support of the country and nation]

What power is that which has brought you, the sportsmen and a seminarian together? What power is that which has brought the university students and the other strata of the people together? And what power was this that made all the people of this country- men and women, children and grown-ups, in whatever garb- take to the streets and mobilized them against the taghout? (Was it) anything other than Islam? It was Islam that brought us together, and it was Islam that made you triumphant. And it is Islam that guarantees the welfare of all; not only worldly comfort, but bliss in this world and the hereafter; freedom under the auspices of Islam; independence under the auspices of Islam. It provides welfare for all countries and for ours; it guarantees the welfare (of all). You achieved this victory by means of Islam, and you must follow it up by means of Islam.

You must now realize that the enemy is hatching plots and wants to destroy this unity that has been forged among the various segments of the people. All those who are against you, against the nation, against the Qur'an and Islam, against the Prophet and the Immaculate Imams (`a) have now got together and are busy hatching plots. Of course, they cannot do so; they are not able to do anything. We must be alert; we must neutralize their plots before they are able to consolidate their position. Study the backgrounds of these people who are now sowing sedition; see where they have come from, what their source is, where they have started appearing one by one after the victory of your revolution. Each one of them was somewhere else; if they were in Iran, they had been hiding. If they had been living in foreign countries, if they had once been abroad, now that the Revolution is maturing, they have come from far and near and are together making their presence felt. As you can see, the path of these groups that have recently emerged under various names is against your own path. Their words are different from what you say. You clamor for Islam; they say something else. You must make a study of these people. We have to see where they have come from. They have emerged recently; from where? How is it that they have come now and want to stop this movement of ours from coming to fruition? Neutralize their plots!

Our country needs your power just as it needs the `ulama' and the scientists. When this power is accompanied by faith; when the zourkhaneh (sports club where traditional Iranian exercises are done) abides by the Qur'an, when it has faith (in Islam), it then constitutes the backing of a country. When the sports champions are the champions of Islam, they constitute a nation's backing; the helping hands of a nation. They wanted to be heroes, but" Aryamehric" «2» ones! That could not be the backing for the nation. They wanted everything for themselves, but you and we want everything for God, for Islam. Whatever is supportive of the nations is also supportive of Islam. They are faithful men, faithful champions, faithful university students, faithful merchants, faithful farmers, cultivators and workers. These can be the support of a nation. These are the ones who do not allow the treacherous hands to destroy all that we have, our material power, our spiritual power. Fortify your faith, take refuge in Islam. All of us should seek refuge in Islam. Let us remember God in all situations. I know that God is in the thought of the sportsmen in the zourkhaneh ring. The Commander of the Faithful is in their thoughts. Strengthen this thought of God (within yourselves), of Mawla «3» (master and guardian; that is Hadrat `Ali) and, with power and faith, all of you march to victory, God willing. May God give you success. May you enjoy health and prosperity. I am the servant of all of you.