Message [Evaluation of the condition of the Islamic Revolution on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the victory; reminders to the people, combatants and the three armed forces]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

On the eve of the fifth year of the victory of right over wrong and the Party of God over the satanic parties, I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to the Court of the Exalted God for we are all from Him and unto Him is our return. The successive victories are by His blessing. I express my affection to the sacred status of the Grand Trustee of God and the Custodian of God on earth- may our souls be sacrificed for him- who is in fact the intercessor of the blessings and favors of the Exalted Truth. It is his charitable prayers that is behind the nation of his honorable ancestor- may God's peace be upon him. I express my boundless felicitations and congratulations to the noble and devoted nation of Iran who from the outset of the movement until the culmination of the Great Islamic Revolution, and from the Revolution until the final victory; and from the day of victory until today have courageously and generously been and are present in the arena with their heart and soul. They are defending the territory of the beloved Islam and their own country and have placed obligations on all of us. If it was not for their gallantry, there would be no revolution and no victory of this magnitude would be attainable for Islam and the Islamic country. I thank God for this blessing that with His invisible favor, He brought about such a divine transformation in this oppressed and vulnerable nation and granted them victory by the grace of His Omnipotence over the enemies of Islam and humanity. I implore His sacred court to sustain these blessings and favors to this nation and to grant them to all the Muslims of the world. Thanks and bountiful praises is due to the beloved and courageous combatants of the army, the Guards Corps, the volunteer Basij forces, the police, the Komitehs, the gendarmerie and the respected tribal forces and the rest of the armed forces. With their potent hands- that was being assisted by invisible forces- they gave such a slap to the faces of the men of Saddam and dealt such a blow to their patrons that the Ba`ath party cannot recover even by resorting to taking any opiate. The miserable commander of Qadisiyyah extends his begging arm in every direction and has pinned his hopes on the bankrupt criminals to continue with his crimes against the innocent people of Iraq and the `Arab Muslims and non-`Arab Iran and the region. He has become so hopeless and wretched that he has audaciously cancelled out his hollow claims and has become close friends with Israel without whom until yesterday he claimed to be enemies. With America that he claimed to have no relations, he aspires to cooperate. With the governments aligned with America, whom he had with intimidation and repression and brawls emptied their pockets, he now hypocritically and shamelessly has set his sights on them and hopes to be saved by the other criminals of history namely Husni «1» and Hasan «2» and Husayn «3» and Numayri «4» who themselves are bankrupt. In order to save this drowning and helpless man, «5» the horn and trumpet of the worldwide mass media- whose blatant lies are now known to everyone- are struggling to cover up the radiant sun of Islam for a few more days. However, they themselves are aware that this surging flood of divine blessing, which is for the salvation of Muslims and all the oppressed and deprived people of the world, cannot be prevented by satanic tricks. This sun of the heaven of spirituality cannot be put off by means of false propaganda. It is hoped that the divine promise to the oppressed shall be realized soon and the powerful hands of the Exalted Truth reveals itself as soon as possible from under the sleeves of the oppressed nations. The divine transformation that has occurred in Iran shall become a reality by the will of God in all nations and lands so that the hands of the tyrants are cutoff from committing crimes against the oppressed of the world and the innocent regain their lost rights.

Here it is necessary to remind the respected sisters and brothers although thank God; they are acquainted with the current problems of Islam.

1. This important subject that I have repeatedly mentioned I repeat again that the beloved and holy warrior nation and especially the gallant holy warriors for the cause of God, must take note that being swollen with pride of the victories is a great blight. This is brought about by the inner devil in the creatures of God in order to deviate them from the path of the truth and by means of which he intends to weaken the creatures of God in attaining the divine objectives. If God forbid, this devilish attitude occurs in the frontlines, it may delay the victories; rather with the devilish ruses, it is possible it may lead to defeat. This dangerous blight occurs at a time when a person becomes negligent of himself and his God, and regards the victories to be his own effort, and forgets the main source in whose hands are the reins of affairs and whatever power and perfection and beauty is from Him. The beloved nation and the armed forces in the course of this Revolution and this war have sensed that was it not for the divine assistance and the special favor of God, we would never have been able to face the satanic regime that was armed to the teeth and was supported by the global powers. But considering that the nation with a divine transformation based on spirituality started an Islamic Revolution, it was able to defeat that regional power and in an unequal war from the viewpoint of weaponry and generous assistances from the East, the West and the region, all these miraculous victories was earned by Iran and Islam. We must not forget the great victories such as the at of Khorramshahr in which the enemy was lying in ambush with all equipment, in fortified trenches and in great numbers, while opposite them were a bunch of devoted combatants of Islam who attacked them from open terrain. However, it was God who caused such a fear and panic, to overcome our enemies, which they took to their heels in disgrace, leaving behind thousands of prisoners of war and huge booties and the cities. Our beloved combatants must not regard this victory other than it being a result of Divine assistances. If they think thus then it will result in their pride giving way to a feeling that we are recipient of favors of the Blessed and Almighty and have nothing of our own and whatever we have is from Him and we must sacrifice in His path. It is here that God will continue granting His favors and you will continue the combat and the honorable war for the defense of Islam and the Islamic homeland and by the will of the Blessed and Almighty attain the final victory.

2. Now that by the grace and favor of God, the environment in Iran has been cleared of the dust of mischief of the mischievous elements- these false claimants to being supporters of the masses and the people- who with their own hands revealed their dirty faces. They joined hands with the enemies of Islam who were either their colleagues or their masters, consequently, peace and tranquility has been established by the grace of God. It is necessary that the great, faithful and Islamic nation undertake the reconstruction of the shortcomings that are the essentials of all revolutions. In the Iran Revolution that relied on the infinite power of the Exalted Truth and the lofty motivation of the great strata of the nation, the losses in comparison with other great revolutions was lesser while its achievements were greater. Without delay, we must make use of the opportunity and motivate the country towards becoming more Islamic in all its dimensions. In all the bodies of the Islamic republic system, from the three administrative powers, which are the basis of the system to the seminaries and universities that are the basis of the culture; and from the defense and security forces and other armed forces that are the basis of the security and to the strata of businessmen and agriculturists and laborers- each of whom is a pillar of the economy of the country- this motivation towards Islam must take place. It is obvious that in this great task with its extensive aspects on which depends the destiny of the nation of Islam, unless the whole nation endeavors and participates actively, the lofty Islamic ideals will not be realized. It is only with unity of expression and the efforts of all behind whom are the potent hands of the Exalted Truth, God willing, and the task will get results. But with regard to the quality of assistance:

A. The Judiciary that today is in urgent need of pious, knowledgeable, and virtuous individuals for dispensing religious justices. The seminaries wherever they are located especially the big seminaries must regard this matter as a critical religious obligation. For this important Islamic objective, they must invite the existing religious scholars of the seminaries and from the provincial cities. All the respected theologians are aware that justice is an important subject that in the former" Taghouti" regime was in the hands of persons that were mostly not qualified. In the former regime, we were excused because qualified individuals were not admitted in any field leave alone justice. However, today there is no excuse when Islamic justice is to be implemented. It is mandatory for the qualified individuals to act on this obligation to the extent of their ability and to guide and mobilize others. It is also necessary for the respected teachers of the seminaries and theologians and the reverend jurisprudents to restart teaching subjects that were formerly consigned to oblivion. Today, there is an urgent need for them, such as books dealing with justice and testimony, retribution, religious limits, blood money and others. They must discuss, teach, and do researches on them so that in future we are not faced with shortage of individuals such as we are facing today. It is hoped that for the sake of the Exalted God and performance of duty, this issue is given greater importance so that the subject of justice that is among the problems of the Islamic Republic is resolved by the blessing of the great jurisprudents and theologians. In addition, the Judiciary Council must earnestly prepare the laws related to justice and the respected legislative assembly must give priority to ratification of the religious laws over other tasks so that Islamic justice is implemented in the country.

B. The Islamic Consultative Assembly that is at the head of all bodies, at the same time that it has knowledgeable, intellectual and educated individuals, it would be good if wherever necessary, it invites devoted experts in the commissions so that with meeting of the minds, the tasks are performed quickly and assuredly. The opinion of devoted and pious experts is to be taken for identifying the subjects for the secondary tenets of Islam so that the tasks are performed in a befitting manner. It is necessary to remind of this point that the rejection of the secondary tenets after recognition of the subject by the panel of experts is not contrary to the rejection of the primary tenets because both are divine verdicts of God. In addition, the secondary tenets are not related to the actions of the religious jurisprudent and after the balloting by the Assembly and ratification by the Guardian Council, no authority has the right to reject it and the government must without any consideration take action for its implementation. With the judgment of two-thirds of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, which is a composition of theologians, jurisprudents, intellectuals and the pious followers of Islam, on issues that are norms and their judgment are on basis of norms, with the consultation of experts, it is a religious decree so that opposition to it without a more powerful argument is against logical reasoning. Similarly, changing the primary verdicts, with doubt in the subject is contrary to logical reasoning.

C. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran which is responsible for the administration of the country and is responsible for taking action in every occurrence, does not have the capability to resolve all the problems in the present situation without the help of the nation. It requires help for administration of the republic system and defending against the invading enemy and solving the problems of the war, which is of a massive scale. Because defense of territory, lives and wealth of the country and safeguarding Islam is involved, it is mandatory for every person to help to the extent he can to ward off the great danger and invasion by aliens of Islam and Muslims. The duty applies more to the affluent and wealthy class and next to the middle class based on their circumstances and not on the poor and weaker strata whose income is to the extent of their sustenance although this class does greater service than all the sections. I thank and am grateful to all my beloved fellow citizens for being in the arena from the beginning of the Revolution until now. I hope that the Exalted God grants us the favor to be present in the arena. The respected government must pay attention to the fact that in addition to the divine duty that is for the entire nation, the government possesses a specific divine duty that is exclusive to it and the rest of the administrators and it shall strive to be disciplined in the affairs from all aspects. The subject of the defensive war that is topmost priority and the devoted nation regards helping the cause as a necessary matter and in relation to it, the government truly makes all-out efforts, but it is necessary to remind and to repeat in matters that are of importance. It must extend the dimensions of aid to the warfronts and God willing until final victory give the topmost priority to the defense program. Thank the Almighty God; the Islamic armed forces have for the defense of Islam and the beloved homeland, have from the start of the invasion of the insurgents until now by sacrificing their lives, blood and with love for the meeting with God smashed the satanic forces of the enemy. At every stage, they have emerged stronger and more devoted to continue with their courageous fighting than the previous one. All of us and the homeland of the Islamic Iran are indebted to their invaluable services. If it was not for their spiritual and divine power, it is not evident that our country with so many enemies and assistances of the big and small powers would be in what situation. The holy warrior and pious nation that has throughout the Revolution and the imposed war not withheld its generous help to the warfronts and behind the frontlines. One of the pillars of victory is the presence of the nation in all the arenas and especially in the war arena. Truly, this exemplary nation has an enormous value at the court of the Exalted God; and it is hoped and expected that for the safeguarding of Islam and their Islamic country, they will increase the amount of their assistance which God willing, it will be done just as the volume of the expenditure of the government is increasing daily. At a time when the presence and aid of the noble nation of Iran to the government and the warfronts increases daily, a group of God-denying hoarders and profiteers continue with their dirty profession and are not sympathetic to their own and the country's condition. They must be fearful of Divine wrath and not bring greater shame to themselves in the presence of God and the creatures of God.

D. Regarding culture, however much is said about it, it is insufficient. We know and you know that if a deviation is detected in the culture of a regime and all the organizations and authorities of that regime are firmly on the straight path of humanity and divinity, and believe in the independence and freedom of the nation from the satanic bonds and pursue it and the nation also are firm in their obedience of Islam and its valuable demands, yet it will not be long before cultural deviation overtakes everybody and everybody will willingly or unwillingly be pulled towards deviation. It will corrupt the future generation in such a way that deviation would be regarded as being beautiful and the straight path to salvation so that they accept the deviant Islam instead of the true Islam. They will wreak such havoc on themselves and their country that the oppressive monarchy brought upon the country especially in the course of fifty years of despotic rule. The legislature, the nation, and the pious intellectuals must believe in this reality and take the reform of the culture including the reform of the schools from the primary level to the university, quite seriously and strive with all their strength to block the deviation. A few persons do not have the strength to undertake this immense weight of reform and to make it hundred percent Islamic and national and place it in the service of the state. We are all responsible and must answer at the Court of God and the court of the creatures of God. At this moment that we have a valuable opportunity, no excuse from any person is acceptable and all must strive to the extent of their abilities in this critical issue so that the blood of the young holy warriors and the efforts of the nation and its unstinted holy struggle are not wasted.

3. The authorities and officials of the country have repeatedly announced to the Islamic governments of the region that the Islamic Republic of Iran is essentially based on Islamic justice and is faithful to it with all its existence. It has no permission to invade the territories of others and engage in oppression and injustice and this divine covenant is the principle of the system of Islam and the Islamic Republic. Repeatedly and at every opportunity, it has counseled the governments of the region and others and has asked them to be faithful in observing the decrees of God and the glorious Qur'an regarding Islamic fraternity and good neighborliness. It has assured them that if they take a single step towards observance of fraternity, we shall take several steps to shake their hands in order to eliminate the superpowers. Several times they have been reminded that if the Muslims act according to the Islamic tenets and safeguard their unity of expression and avoid quarrels and disputes that are a source of their defeat, then under the protection of the flag of" There is no God save God" they shall be immune from the invasion of the enemies of Islam and the global plunderers. As a result, the hands of the East and West will be cut off from the beloved lands of the Muslims because they are both numerically superior as well as they have infinite resources. Above all, they have the infinite power of God for their support while the great powers and their likes are in need. Repeatedly this fact has been stated and been experienced that the super criminals of the East and the West do not worry about anything except their own devilish interests and looting the property of others and dominating them. They blatantly say that they have interests in the region and must safeguard our interests and benefits! If they help you with a single dollar, they take hundreds of dollars in return. These political visits and arms and military aid are only in order to fortify the foundations of their influence in the Islamic and non-Islamic countries. You and the mass media of most stations whether you engage in malicious propaganda or not and whether you shut your eyes and ears to the explicit truth or not, Saddam and the Ba`ath Party of Iraq are basically anti-Islam and wish to create discord in the region. America exploited the ignorance, ambition and pride of Saddam and forced him to invade Iran. In the reasoning of America, defeat of Iraq and Iran or the destruction of both or Iran are in any case both to its benefit. The wretched Saddam had made some of his own calculations. In his empty head, he imagined himself being the gendarme of the region and commander of Qadisiyyah. What he did not know and will not understand is the power of the great Islam and the self-sacrifice of the combatants of Islam. Because of this ignorance and foolishness, he threw himself into a trap from which no power can save him. Once again, we warn the governments of the region not to trouble themselves more than this for saving a hardcore criminal who if he gets the opportunity will set the region on fire and they should not put themselves in danger. The promises of America and others should not make you negligent that by continuing assistance to the enemy of Islam for possibly it can create an obligation for the nation and government of Iran that we do not like. Until there is, still time, surrender to Islam and its life-giving commandments and save your country from the evil of the deceptive powers. Know that to revert to Islam and peaceful coexistence with the Islamic Republic is in your interest; and the nation and government of Iran are better for you than America and Saddam and Egypt and other tricksters. You must have felt and sensed that the sum of all the powers of the region is half as powerful as the deposed and deceased Shah. The power of Iran today by the blessing of Islam and the presence of the nation is several times greater than that of the former regime. In the same manner that in time of the distress of the deposed Shah, America could not and did not want to help, it shall also not come to your help who are of lesser vale than the Shah was to it. America and the other powers are using you as a tool to secure their interests in the region and if you fall into their trap, then do not take the trouble of rescuing yourself.

4. Administrators of the affairs and the Higher Council of the Judiciary and the follow-up committees should strive to attend swiftly to the prisons and the condition of the prisoners and those persons whose amnesty poses no harm to the Islamic republic and deserve to be granted amnesty, a list be prepared and their amnesty be speeded up. Those persons for whom Islam has decreed a punishment, their case must be determined and after implementation of the commandment of God, if they do not cause corruption are to be freed and finally, the tendency should be based on amnesty and mercy. But with the corrupt and the corrupt minor groups and the immoral, they should be tough except those that repent and it is proven that they are serious in their repentance and they can be set free on bail.

5. One of the important issues that bother me is the problems of the seminaries especially the great seminaries such as the sacred Qum Theological School. The respected theologians and teachers that want the good of Islam and the Muslim countries must pay careful attention lest they be carried away by protocol and numerous buildings for political and social objectives of Islam cause them to neglect the important issues of the seminaries which is to pursue the current Islamic sciences and especially jurisprudence and its origins in the traditional manner. Lest not God forbid, pursuit of the origins and fundamentals result in neglect of the main objective which is revival and development and research of Islamic sciences especially jurisprudence in the manner enunciated by the noble predecessors and the great scholars such as" Shaykh al-Ta'ifah" «6» and his likes- may the Almighty God be pleased with them- and the later ones such as" Sahib Jawahir" «7» and the honorable Shaykh" Ansari". «8» If God forbid, Islam loses its all but the theology that is handed down through generations from the great theologians remains, then it can continue on its path. However, if it attains everything but God forbid, loses the theology in the same manner of the noble predecessors, it cannot continue on the path of the truth and will be destroyed. Although we know the grand theologians and the supreme sources of emulation and the respected teachers- may their sublime presence endure- pay attention to this issue but the fear exists that if formalities and the glitters resembling the materialists becomes commonplace it has an impact on the future generations and God forbid, that what we fear befalls the seminaries. It is necessary that the sirs that are involved in these affairs and are responsible for these affairs pay attention to prevent extremism and whatever they do is in the service of the theological schools and in the service of Islam and Islamic sciences. Tasks should be distributed and extremism be shunned. I pray to the Exalted God to grant everyone the favor to be at the service of knowledge and the theologians and Islam and the nation.

6. The subject that is always of consideration of all and which has been stressed is safeguarding the unity of expression and avoid differences. We all know what miraculous effects the unity of the nation has and has had. In contrast, what havoc discord and disputes have brought upon the Muslims in the course of history. It is necessary that the great nation of Iran, that has witnessed both aspects and suffered from discord and- thank God- also tasted the sweetness of unity and has felt its miraculous power from the start of the movement until the Revolution and until now, be vigilant and not allow the dirty satanic hands and operatives of global arrogance to enter their sacred ranks and sow discord. Whenever they witness such treachery from persons or groups, they should without hesitation and immediately take steps to prevent them and inform the authorities of the state and introduce them. This matter is of importance for the entire nation and is of special importance to two sections namely: One, the strata of students especially the university students. It is necessary that they with sagacity and devotion to Islam and service to the country, take care of the circumstances of the students and university students so that God forbid, these great centers of training and education do not fall prey to issues that they were formerly afflicted with. God be the helper and companion of all of you.

Second are the armed forces which in the present situation when the aliens have attacked and we are facing the conspiracies of the satanic powers, its importance is greater than at any other time and everything else. All the commanders and personnel of the army, the Guards Corps, the Basij volunteers, the tribe forces, the security and police forces pay special attention to this critical issue. If God forbid, these devoted and beloved strata with the help of the criminals and conspirators, get afflicted with differences and each regards itself as a pivot, then rest assured that the devils and the Great Satan have infiltrated them; and it will not be long when all shall be destroyed and defeat shall be inevitable. With their defeat, Islam shall face a defeat both here and in the rest of the regions from which it cannot recuperate for centuries. Brothers' soldiers, beloved of the nation, supporters of Islam and the Islamic Republic, are alert for the devils are lying in ambush and the smallest negligence on your part shall cause the biggest disaster for the nation and for Islam. The Benevolent God save us from their evil.

7. I would like to say a final word in the presence of the Benevolent God that O God! You have obliged us and on a day such as the 22 nd of Bahman (10 th February) granted us victory over your enemies. You assisted this oppressed nation and led it from the downhill of decline and hell in both worlds to the lofty summit of Your favors and You lifted this people that were oppressed throughout the oppressive monarchy, to eternal honor. You caused the noble youth of this nation to be enamored of Your love and for martyrdom while you answered the prayers of the night worshippers for we the guilty ones.

O God, do not withhold Your favors from us and make our Twelfth Imam- may our souls be sacrificed for him- to be pleased from us and make us to always benefit from the light of Your guidance. O God! These combative youth of ours who with the love of Your beauty and with hope in Your favor and patronage fought gallantly and broke through the ranks of the invading enemy who attacked Your creatures suddenly and shed the blood of innocent beings. They destroyed their homes on their heads and were worse than the Mongols showing no mercy to young and old, `Arab and non-`Arab. In a war that was unequal, with one side being armed to the teeth and having every kind of weaponry at its disposal and was being aided endlessly by the West the East and the region. While the other side consisted of sincere and pure Muslims and dawn-rising and zealous combatants that were in awe of You and bonded to You. They defeated them in every region and took a large number of prisoners of war and war booties and relegated them to abasement and disgrace and threw them out of their country. They had no regard for the assistances of the East and the West O God! Bestow Your blessings upon them in abundance and grant them the final victory. Resurrect their martyrs with the martyrs of the dawn of Islam who fought alongside the honorable Prophet of Islam. Resurrect their honorable parents that reared these beloved youth in their bosoms of love and sacrificed them in the path of Islam, with Your blessing with the honorable saints (may God's peace be upon them). Grant their spouses and sisters and brothers and their near ones patience and honor. Grant strength and power to the nation of Iran that brought honor to Islam in the world and created a model country which it is hoped that the rays of its sun-like radiance shines over the lands to the East and to the West of it and the oppressed of the world triumph over the arrogant oppressors.

Salutations to all the holy warriors of the path of the Truth, right from the honorable Prophets and the benevolent saints, to the pious and the peacemakers throughout history. Salutations especially to the last Prophet and the most supreme of the lineage of Adam, Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (may God's peace be upon him) and his glorious progeny, the last of the saints of God- may our souls be sacrificed for him. Salutations on the twenty-second of Bahman- the Day of God- and on those that made it happen. May God's peace be upon his righteous servants.

Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini