In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Their Eminences, the prominent `ulama', Hujjat al-Islams and the great Islamic jurists (may their blessing last and their names be exalted) :
I was most grateful to receive your worthy telegram containing your sympathies and condolences on the grave disaster brought to Islam and the Muslims, and your support for the holy seminary and the legitimate aims shared by all of `ulama' of Islam and groups of the Muslims.
Being aware of the policy adopted by the despotic regime, it is evident that if Muslims become negligent, do not take special care and do not struggle for defending the domain of the Holy Qur'an and Islam, may God forbid, the unclean hands and the foreign agents step beyond the essential laws of Islam and strike the foundations of Islam. There is evidence showing that the despotic regime, because of its intrinsic malice, is aiming at annihilation of the foundations. The armed attack on the center of Islamic Jurisprudence, dishonoring the maraji` and fuqaha of Islam, imprisoning and torturing the students of the Islamic schools and insulting the Holy Qur'an and other sanctities are some of its explicit instances. Other clear instances include the announcing of absolute equality of the rights between men and women, dropping the prerequisites" being Muslim and male" for those who elect and those elected, and omitting the same prerequisites from the conditions for becoming a judge. Some other examples of the deviation of the despotic regime include being strict with the pilgrims to Ka`bah (the House of God) and overcharging them. Instead, they accommodated and facilitated the trip of a few thousand agents of Israel to London for conspiring against Islam, and recognized them as a religious minority (as mentioned in some of the newspapers which are surely government-directed institutes and it has been dictated to them) . Another example is granting a discount of 500 on the airfare of each member of the misled sect «1». In addition, I can mention the revival of the old rumors about" changing the handwriting" and other rumors, which cannot be mentioned openly, as well as the shameful phrases they use in their deplorable speeches. These instances and others like them are what make me fear and I have no doubt that keeping silent in front of the despotic regime will not only entail the annihilation of Islam and the Shi`ism, but it will be a disgraceful destruction as well.
The Muslims, especially the distinguished `ulama', are heavily held accountable before God, the Blessed and Exalted. If we keep silent, the next generation will be prone to going astray and will be eternally doomed, and it will be our fault. Islam and Iran are threatened to destruction by the lurking danger of Israel. In my opinion, it is not worth living the life of disgrace and shame even for a limited number of days. I expect the prominent `ulama' and the other groups of Muslims to save Qur'an and Islam from the lurking danger, by combining their efforts. I ask God Almighty for the glory of Islam, the Muslims and the `ulama' of Islam. May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini