Message [Commencement of the academic year]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Dhou'l-Qa`dah al-Haram 5,1398 AH
I am hereby sending my greetings on the commencement of the academic year to the students of the religious sciences and those of schools and universities who have risen for the cause of Islam and the establishment of the government of Islamic justice.
The year that passed was one of sacrifice and suffering for all strata of the dear nation and for you the children of Islam. It was the year of the approach of the bridge of triumph and the appearance of its signs. It was the year of merciless massacres and mourning, and, at the same time, of the perceptible retreat of the Shah, his masters and lackeys. It was the year of the inclination of all groups of people towards Islam the guarantor of freedom, independence, happiness and intellectual and experiential growth, and the year of the repulsion of the satanic army and criminals.
With the assistance of God the Almighty and adherence to the sublime precepts of the Qur'an, I am giving you, the dear children of Islam, the good news of final victory, provided that the magnificent Islamic-cum-national movement continues and the bonds between you, the worthy youths of Islam, remain unbreakable. And, also, on condition that you be aware of the ploys of the expansionists, both rightists and leftists, and their demonical army, and of the pawns in the form of the Shah, the government, the parliamentarians and ministers who are harassing the downtrodden masses and are drinking their lifeblood.
Yes, my dear ones! Rise together in full awareness in the schools, universities and teachers' colleges, and strive jointly for the salvation of Islam and the country. Before everything else, you must adhere in practice to the invaluable precepts of Islam that have insured the welfare of nations. Alert the groups that- having been duped by foreign propaganda- have accepted or are inclined to certain ideologies, to the ploys of the enemy while exposing the crimes of the deceitful heads of the deviationist doctrines. You must also positively eschew disunity and discord and remind them clearly of our demands that are the demands of the oppressed. Recommend our motto to them which is also that of the oppressed, deprived people. Perhaps they will join you by a proper understanding of the matter. Tell them on my behalf that the Islam that you have heard about from others and those unacquainted with the teachings of the Qur'an, or what the discord- sowing deviationists and the puppets of expansionists have introduced to you, is not Islam. Come, hear about dear Islam from the savants who are well versed in the logic of the Qur'an, and learn the things that are beyond your ken and perception. Do not be deceived by the propagandists of the expansionist powers. A cursory glance at the condition of the heads of such countries is enough to awaken you.
Very recently you saw the Chinese leader «1» without any regard for our dear departed- slain by the Shah's henchmen for the" crime" of demanding freedom- officially backing the Shah with the utmost impudence. The same is the case of the Soviet Union and the leaders in the Kremlin who supported and are supporting the Shah over the massacres of Khordad 15 and those of recent days. All the communist powers are making deadly weapons out of the lifeblood of the meek nations to destroy mankind. Then there is America- the great world-devourer- whose real self is clear for all to see.
O children of Iran! Strengthen your bonds with our great nation that only wants to stand on its own feet and not lean towards East or West for which reason it is being assailed by the leftists and rightists. We are witnessing the daily massacres of our people by the Eastern and Western powers. With the slogan of monotheism, prevent the access of the despots and international plunderers to our rich resources. By securing our huge resources, and by depriving the treacherous ruling circles and officials of their power, you must undertake the task of administering the country's affairs with the support of the great nation. For the interests and the good of the nation and the country, you must utilize the huge assets that are now being destroyed by the plundering, international thieves, the Pahlavis, their relations, the government and others. With the God-given blessing of the Islamic government, you must put an end to the chaos, the profligacy and the lewdness and thus rescue your nation. Rely on the Omnipotent God for He is your protector and supporter.
Now please give your attention to our initial and primary demands, without which it is not possible to attain prosperity, freedom, independence and the Islamic government of justice. And also pay attention to the obstacles that have to be removed from your path:
1. The overthrow of the monarchy as all the miseries of the meek nation in the course of history have been caused by the kings and monarchial rule. Their oppression has darkened the pages of history, a present-day example being the Shah who is fast dragging the country to a state of collapse. Consenting to the monarchy whether explicitly or by means of a scheme the inevitable result of which is his survival, is treachery to Islam, the Holy Qur'an, the Muslims and Iran. Whoever by whatever name acquiesces in it stands ostracized; avoiding him is essential.
2. Driving out all the elements that, under Pahlavi rule, were in charge of important affairs of the country, such as ministers, and Majlis deputies who, without exception, have been party to the crimes and the means to fulfill the purposes of the foreign powers along with the Shah. They must be relieved of their responsibilities for the affairs of the nation, then tried and punished. There is no difference between those who are in favor of the government and those who, through opportunism and deception, have shown themselves as being opponents and have started asserting themselves. Then there are those who speak of free elections and of acting in accordance with the Constitution. All these people are trying to keep the Shah in power by means of these diabolical deeds, and so continue and intensify their own abuse of authority and help the international plunderers in robbing us of our resources.
3. In all events, our slogan is the severance of our links with the foreign powers, leftist or rightist. With foreigners of every type, ideology, and creed meddling in every sphere of the country's affairs- political, educational, economic and military- development, independence and freedom are nothing but mere fancies. Whoever, in whatever position and form, allows the foreign powers to meddle in the affairs of our dear homeland, whether openly or by means of schemes that result in foreign domination of our country to continue or fresh domination to be occasioned, is a traitor to Islam and the country. Such a person must necessarily be shunned. If the meddling on the part of the foreign powers- particularly America, the Soviet Union and Britain- continues, every regime that comes to power will only be a tool for keeping the nation in a state of backwardness and for perpetuating the misfortunes and deprivation on the one hand and the plunder and tyranny on the other. Though changing the pawns might lead to a temporary improvement in the conditions, it would have no effect on our destiny, as all the misfortunes and miseries of the Muslims are a consequence of foreign interference in their affairs.
These, in brief, are our initial demands. The other demands will be made after this stage is passed, and will be implemented with all our might with the continuation of the national-Islamic movement, God willing.
My dear friends, do not allow fear to grip you over the impending difficulties as, these will be solved and eliminated sooner or later, God willing, as He is the is the companion of those who strive for their rights.
Our duties and yours; the university, secondary school and theology students, are these:
1. If you notice any deviation on the part of the professors, teachers and community leaders from the national-religious path, the most important of which is the overthrow of the rotten regime, you must protest vehemently, and invite them to follow the path of the nation which is the path of God. In case they pay no heed, you must ostracize them and report their deviationist aims very clearly to the oppressed nation. Such people are traitors to the religion, nation and country. They want the Shah, his masters and the international plunderers to carry on with their plunder and keep the nation impoverished and backward.
2. The theology and secular students should have a friendly and working relationship among themselves. They should join all the various categories of the people for the purpose of attaining independence and freedom and for dispossessing the usurpers of everything belonging to the nation by right.
3. You and we and all the others are duty-bound to make the army understand that, with its armed might, it should break the foreigners' chains of domination over us. By joining the nation, they should free the country of the shame of being under the control of the foreign advisers as it is to the spiritual and material benefit of all. Deliverance is not possible without the overthrow of the Shah's regime. The army must be made aware that the Shah, with those who follow him blindly, is using them for his own sinister purposes and those of the super powers (the plunderers of the poor), examples of which are the safeguarding of foreign interests and collaboration with Israel. In all this, the massacres and the ignominy are your lot, whereas the perpetuation of position and the continuation of oppression and plunder are his. The fate of the non-commissioned officers and the soldiers is death and genocide, whereas that of the others is benefits and a life of pleasure. They should save themselves from the Shah's mischief and thereby see victory fall in their lap.O you young men of the army, rise and save your country from wretchedness and abjectness. Deprive the plunderers of the country's resources; leave your dignity and glory to serve as a memorial of yourselves, and ensure your blessedness in both the worlds. Within the universities, it is the duty of the students to encourage and exhort the army to stage a general uprising. They must call the army their brothers and loudly ask them:" Are bullets the answer to flowers?"
4. Ponder the current issues with great alertness and do not be deceived by the ruses of the Shah who wants to sow discord through various ploys. According to what is being heard, they want to have the Shah's lackeys and agents to raise communist slogans in the universities in order to alarm the people over its dangers. The Tudeh Party is a despicable party connected to the Shah's apparatus. All its slogans and pretences are only to weaken the Islamic campaign and to save the Shah from being toppled; to keep the plundering set-up in place and perpetuate exploitation of the oppressed nation's resources. Dear students, it is your duty to neutralize these diabolical plots.
5. You, dear students, are duty-bound to support the rightful and valiant insurrection of the deprived Muslim workers and employees among whom the strikes are spreading. These are the deprived Muslims who are weary of the Shah's trampling on their rights, and who have risen to uphold these in unison and sympathy with their brothers. Everybody knows that as long as the regime lasts, social justice and redress of the plight of the deprived, hard-working people will never materialize. Tell them on my behalf not to be led astray by the deceitful establishment; tell them not to stop their strikes. Tell them to continue the Islamic movement until the hands of the plunderers are severed from what is yours and the nation's by right. With the help of the Islamic government, we will attain genuine justice and be blessed with God's bounties. Remind them to persevere with their strikes and make the Islamic slogans more widespread. Relying on God the Almighty they can be sure of gaining their rights.
My dear friends! The pressures put on me by the Shah have been the cause of my inability to continue with my Islamic activity which is a divinely-ordained duty. I had decided to migrate to one of the Islamic countries. Having a passport and a Kuwait visa, Kuwait thought it a danger to themselves to even allow me to pass through the city to the airport. I have now come to Paris so that, notwithstanding all the difficulties, I may be able to discharge my religious duty which is to serve the Islamic country and the deprived people of my land. It is hoped that I will, to the best of my ability, serve the people who have risen to make sacrifices in defending Islam, although no kind of service will compensate for the continuous sacrifices of the dear nation. I ask God to forgive me for my shortcomings, and request Him to give victory to the Islamic nation, and honor, independence and freedom to all. May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.