In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Unity is the only way to victory
Different doctrinal beliefs and ideological leanings can be found to exist between these groups that are now around. I myself more or less sensed that there were differences when I came here (to Paris). A group of people who share the same aim and who want to see this aim through to the end, people who want to prepare the ground for this aim to be realized, who want to win the day, can be likened- both the individuals within this group and the group as a whole- to drops of water, to streams, floods and seas. If you take a look at individual raindrops you will see that each one, when in isolation from other raindrops, is not even capable of wetting a leaf; one raindrop is even insufficient to make a leaf wet. Even if you were to consider millions of such drops, drops which existed in isolation from each other, which were not linked together in any way, they still would not be able to achieve anything worthwhile. While each raindrop remains isolated from the rest it can achieve nothing. Now it may well be that a number of raindrops join together while others remain unconnected. For example, imagine that raindrops have fallen somewhere and that a certain number of these drops have joined together whereas the other drops have either not come together or they have indeed joined together but remain unconnected to the former group of inter-connected drops. Here, one group of drops forms one stream or canal while the other group forms another. Of course if these drops did not join together in the first place then they would remain as the individual drops they initially were. But having come together, this stream which will have been formed will be capable of achieving something yes, but it will not be anything of great significance. This link which will have been established between these drops of rain and which will have given rise to the formation of a stream, could possibly serve to irrigate a piece of land for example which could then be cultivated, but even so, there will be a limit to what this formation of raindrops can achieve. And the same goes for the other stream which will have been formed. As for any drops which may have remained separate from the rest, they will be able to achieve nothing at all. Were these streams to join each other however, and give rise to a flood of water or a river, then the power at their command would increase. Initially, before forming a flood of water they would have been individual raindrops whose capability was that possessed by a raindrop, and hence they would have been neither able to wet a leaf nor make it stir. On joining together however, and thus giving rise to the formation of a stream, these drops would become a powerful force by virtue of this very interconnection. That is to say that minor forces would have come together, those without power would have come together and as a result a unitary force would have come into being, a force which would be commensurable to the number of drops it comprises, or even on occasion a force which would exceed the sum of its contents. But even so this would be a limited force, a force which is sufficient to irrigate a piece of land, or, were it to find momentum, a force which is sufficient to create a flowing stream, to set a piece of straw in motion. However, were these streams, these canals formed from individual raindrops, to combine and thus form a flood of water, they would increase in power whereby this newly-formed flood would become a raging flood, a flood which may well uproot certain trees, a flood which because of its raging nature may destroy certain structures. Moreover, were all these floods of water, these rivers to combine thus forming a sea of water, then the powerful force which would come about as a result would be so great that merely one wave of this sea would be enough to wreck ships.
Indeed, the same principle applies to this society of ours. If each person were to be regarded in isolation, then even if there were one hundred million individual persons, even if there were a society one hundred million strong in which each person was an isolated individual, no one having anything to do with anyone else, this society would be able to achieve nothing. Each person's capability would be confined to the individual level and because there would be no link between these people they would be unable to achieve anything. They are like those drops of water which could not cause a leaf to stir. One individual person possesses a certain power, a certain capability, but his power is far, far too limited to achieve anything of crucial importance; he cannot achieve anything. Even if we were to suppose that a certain group of people somewhere came to share the same ideas as this one individual person, and that they joined him in trying to achieve the same aim, when the rest of the people in society either do not share the same ideas as them or worse still hold ideas which are quite the opposite, when the rest of the people are not of the same opinion as this group, then there is only so much that the latter can accomplish for it has a limited capability. Yes, indeed, it can accomplish minor achievements due to this newly-found strength it has acquired from the bond which has developed between its members, and especially if there is nothing there to act as a hindrance, then yes, it is able to achieve something. But should another group of people disagree with the course of action adopted by this group, should they want to adopt another line of action, they would then present an obstacle and this newly-developed obstruction would mean that any action taken by the former group would be undermined. That is, neither would the former group reach its goal nor would the latter group. If the latter group of people should want to succeed in achieving its objective then it is not to get in the way of things. Should you want to go from here to somewhere outside the city for example, you will only be able to do so if there is nothing obstructing your path; but if you are faced with some obstacle or other, by some kind of flood, if some kind of mountain is there to cause you a problem, then you will not be able to leave the city.
Disunity is a factor in undermining the resistance
Let's now imagine that this group which we have conjured up has been formed from a limited number of people and that these people have co-operated with each other to reach a certain goal and they want to take certain action to this end, if another group of people were not confronting them and causing them problems then they would be able to take some kind of action and even achieve some minor success as a result. But if another group of people were to appear, and were to stand in the way of the first group, neither group would get anywhere. Just imagine a group of people a hundred, two hundred strong, two hundred people who have united to form a group, but two hundred people who all hold different views and follow different lines of action, people who are a hindrance to one another- the case not only being that they have nothing to do with each other but that they hinder each other too- then the potential strength of this two-hundred-strong group of people would be undermined by these ever-arising obstructions. That is to say, this group would become a lame duck; no one would achieve his goal; everyone would fail to realize his objectives. When can the objectives of a group of people be realized? It is when the people in that group are united, when the Muslim people say, people who number something like eight hundred million or maybe by now one billion, «1» become united. The reason why these one billion people can be seen to lie under the domination of others- there not now being any part of this one-billion-strong community, this community whose members are all Muslims, which is not under the influence of the superpowers- the reason one billion people lie captive to a superpower of say two hundred or one hundred and fifty million people is that this one hundred and fifty million people have united to achieve one goal, whereas the one billion Muslim people are not only disunited, they even oppose one another.
When you take a look at Iran, when you consider Iran and her neighboring countries, you see that these countries are not in fact her neighbors. This is what has become of the Islamic countries. But this state of affairs has not arisen out of the blue. It is not a case of these Islamic countries- countries which disagree among themselves, which stubbornly disagree with one another and on occasion go to war with each other- just happened to have turned out this way. Indeed no, it is the intrigues weaved by the superpowers which cause these countries to jump at each other's throats and to be disunited so that this one-billion-strong force will not become an obstacle and gain universal predominance. But what must these superpowers do to achieve this? They must separate these countries from one another; these countries, countries which are like different rivers but rivers which do not converge, must be separated from one another: this country must follow one policy; that country must follow another policy; the other country must follow yet another policy, and so on. Each country is to have a policy of its own and is to be in conflict with the other countries; there is to be quarrelling and fighting. And this state of affairs has arisen because of the acts of betrayal committed by the leaders of these countries, of these Islamic countries, or because of their blindness and ignorance whereby they have failed to reach any mutual understanding or to combine like the waves of the sea in order to smash whatever confronts them.
Muslim unity is the way to save Palestine
Indeed, you can see for yourselves how in Palestine «2» a certain number of Zionists, «3» a limited number of Jews have behaved in such a way with so many Arab countries, countries whose population exceeds 100 million, that some of the latter have surrendered to them while others, although wanting to take action, can't actually do anything about the situation. How many years is it now since Israel went and usurped this land which belongs to the Palestinians, yet throughout all this time this vast Arab population and all of these Arab countries haven't been able to rid themselves of this problem in Palestine. They say that America is supporting her (Israel) and they can therefore do nothing. But this is not so, it is you (the Arabs) who are feckless! Yes, they are feckless. It is not a case of America preventing them from taking action. If this one-hundred-million- Arab population were to join forces, then even America wouldn't be able to stand in their way and neither would the European countries. No country would be able to stand in their way. But the fact is that they are not united. Yes, indeed, what the foreign powers do is to ensure that these Arab nations are prevented from joining forces. If at any time they suspect that these Arab governments plan to unite, what they do is to act so as to foil these plans. Hence, for example, they take the Egyptian President to America where they sign a treaty with him or whatever. «4» They thus lead him along a path which is not open to others, while they lead another Arab leader along a different path which, again, is not open to anyone else. It is because of our lack of understanding and our inability as Muslims to do something that we are all under foreign domination and that America, Russia and other countries like them are taking away whatever is of worth in the East. It is because even in those places where they have combined together, these drops of water have not in fact united.
You can see for yourselves that this is the case; but now let us turn to that which we intended to look at which is the case of Iran. When Iran is now claimed to have a population of thirty-odd million people, and these thirty-five million people, «5» thirty-five million individual lives, then they are only able to act on an individual basis and can only achieve that which can be achieved by a single person. They cannot act as a social group because there is no unifying link between them. Now supposing that these people join together and form some kind of social group, others may then cause disagreements over the very idea of them having formed such a group and may try to prevent their continued existence. Different camps would then be set up. Do not be mistaken in thinking that these parties that you now see in Iran- remember we are now discussing the case in Iran- that these parties which more than likely initially appeared on the scene subsequent to the Constitutional Revolution, «6» came together as different groups and then formed various parties just by chance, for indeed this has come about as the result of a devilish conspiracy. In order to prevent the people of Iran from uniting, the powerful nations have set up one party calling it such-and-such, and another party, calling it something else. This party is hostile to that and that party is hostile to this. They have implanted different parties into the womb of this society; they have caused different parties to be formed. Moreover, it is not a situation where these various parties and fronts get on with their own business and have nothing to do with the other parties and fronts. No indeed, they in fact oppose each other; they are against one another. One of the ways in which the West can use us, and in which America and Russia can benefit from our resources and wealth, is precisely by doing this; by sowing discord via various means into the very heart of a society, a society which ought to be able to stand on its own two feet and achieve some kind of progress. They engineer disputes between different camps: the conflict between the Turks and the Persians; the conflict between the Kurds and the non-Kurds; the conflict say between the Balouchis and whoever, are all examples of disputes engineered by them. They are the architects of such disputes. In a country where everyone should be united, they lead each person toward a different path. That is to say, these plots of theirs take the people in different directions. And it is by means of these very differences, differences which lie at the heart of the society itself, that they prevent this society from developing. The superpowers take full advantage of the situation, and the people busy themselves with internal conflicts. The former come and take the people's oil away and take the people's gas away, plundering whatever they have, and no one says a thing about it because there is no consensus in the society; people hold divergent and diverse views. Therefore, this range of differences are differences which they implant into the heart of our society, differences which have not appeared by mere chance but which are in fact part of a deliberate scheme to sow discord.
Another issue concerns their planning some divisive scheme before the arrival of the holy months of Ramadan and Muharram, the two months when the Muslims come together- Ramadan being a month of social activity, a time when the people become preoccupied with the social gatherings which are held in the mosques; and Muharram also being a month of social activity in Iran, a month in which even those in our own government co-operate with the people, yes, even the members of our own government. When these two annual occasions next come around test the validity of my words for yourselves and see whether they (the regime) do in fact come up with some divisive scheme or not before these periods.
We actually saw over the past two or three years- and the repercussions of this incident are still in evidence- what a great commotion they caused over the book Shahid-e Javid! «7» There was discord between all groups: between the orators, the preachers, the merchants and so on. A tug of war ensued. People wasted the entire months of Ramadan and Muharram as well as days which lay outside these periods (debating this issue); their energies were dissipated and" His Imperial Majesty" was free to appropriate the nation's wealth at his leisure, while at the same time strengthening his rule over the people! The gentlemen of the clergy all know by heart what is written in the book Shahid-e Javid and where it is written; they know what the book is and is not trying to say! They argued and differed over these issues, everyone's efforts and harangues, speeches that should have been addressed with a view to destroying this dam which serves to obstruct Islam, to check the spread of Islam and to check the country's development, this dam which is personified in the figure of Muhammad Rida, were instead used to dispute issues concerning the book Shahid-e Javid! For several years these gentlemen wasted their energies. And even to this day the traces remaining from this affair can still be seen. Following this yet another matter was sparked off. The late Shamsabadi, «8» may he rest in peace, was killed thus giving rise to yet another song and dance. Again for another year the people were kept in suspense as to who did and who did not kill Mr. Shamsabadi. People even argued over an issue as obscure as this. «9» But this didn't come about by chance. Do not imagine that it just so happened that someone was killed and someone else did whatever, for this is not the case. These matters all form part of a deliberate plan, a plan which has been carefully thought out. Whenever you are about to come together as a social group and those in authority fear the outcome of such a social gathering, the latter come up with something of the nature already discussed; and once this particular affair has become somewhat outworn, they again come up with something else. `Ali Shari`ati: «10» just look how much of our energies and the energy of Islam they managed to exhaust over the controversy surrounding this man's works. Look how they succeeded in directing everyone's attention toward each other, and how they succeeded in sapping everyone's energies, all with a view to sowing discord among the preachers and orators. All hell was let loose; and disputes were held concerning the role of the preacher and the role of those in the universities and colleges.
These differences of opinion still persist today and it is these very differences which have allowed your real enemies to sleep soundly and to praise the Lord that the people have lashed out at each other and are fighting among themselves!
The need for the young generation to wake up
The younger generation must wake up. It must awaken to these devilish conspiracies that they devise. In Europe right now, there are several thousands of you. If these several thousands of people were to fight for the same goal, that is, if those of you who are in France, others of you who are in Germany, and others who are in America, were to set out with one aim in mind, if you were to operate efficiently, if you were well organized, then should you wish to devise a plan of action you would be capable of achieving great things. Regretfully however, this is not the way things now are. Differences still exist. So-and-so has formed one group, and so-and-so has formed another, and these groups are in conflict with each other. X comes and accuses y of something or other and y comes and accuses x of something or other. This is the way things are in Iran. But now that Iran has pulled itself together somewhat, and now that conflict over this ultimate aim is either slight or nonexistent among the popular masses in Iran- those among whom discord is to be expected either being in the minority or having now put their own house in order- it is not the time for us to sit down and argue among ourselves over these trivial matters. For you to do this would be like sitting down together and discussing what such-and-such a story is about; it would be like sitting down somewhere and relating stories to each other while an earthquake is taking place in some city or other which is about to destroy homes and kill everyone.
Now that the Muslims in Iran have all joined forces and are standing up to the various powers that be, now that they are standing up to the Shah and those powers which support him, it would be tantamount to treason against Islam for us to sow discord among ourselves and for us to differ with each other. It would be a betrayal of the nation were this momentum, which has appeared in Iran, to come to naught because of these differences among us. Should this momentum which has appeared in Iran come to naught- a momentum which is unprecedented in history and not only in Iranian history, for you won't find any other time when a child so small has cried out for the same thing as an old man, when everyone was so united in their demands- God forbid, but should this uprising, this historically unprecedented movement which has now appeared in Iran stagnate, having achieved nothing, then you will remain under foreign domination for evermore. You will remain servile to foreigners for evermore; they will put an end to you and your progeny once and for all.
The obliteration of the Shah and his masters depends on unity of the society
They have now realized that these people command a certain power. The people in Iran hold some kind of power. It is a kind of power which cannot be destroyed by the military; martial law cannot stop that which has already been started. A certain powerful force now exists in Iran which has truly frightened the superpowers and has baffled them as to what they should do next, what devilry they should get up to next to curb this force. Right now they are busy researching, investigating and planning ways to harness this power, ways to quash this uprising which has now appeared, an uprising which is driving forward like a raging flood and which is foiling their plans. They are considering which plan they should put into action to quash this uprising, to arrest this movement. God forbid, but should this movement fails to accomplish its aims and should it die away, then Iran, Islam and the Muslims will live under European and American rule forever. If this is the case, although in truth there is no `if' about it, but if indeed we do believe this to be the case or suspect that it may well be so, then religious law and reason dictate that we must all be united in our demands. A situation where there are differences between us and where each person follows a different path is unacceptable. We are all to cry out in unison. We are all to say: No! No to Muhammad Rida Shah! No to the Pahlavi dynasty! No to London! No to America! No to Russia! We are to say yes to Islam, to the Muslims, to ourselves. Should you manage to accomplish this, should you now succeed in maintaining this unity and in making further headway, then you will have found deliverance. But should you fail to find deliverance now, then, God knows, you will remain in a state of wretchedness forever.
O Lord! I told them- I told the gentlemen (of the clergy) all I know; I told the people of Iran all I know. Thus I am not to blame. The matter in hand is not one to be taken lightly. It concerns a nation which throughout history has suffered under the rule of kings. Throughout a two-thousand-five-hu history it has been under the rule of kings, kings who have brought it nothing but suffering and misery. Even those supposedly just rulers were also evil; even that `Anoushirvan the Just' was an evil ruler in Iran; even that Shah `Abbas who is now said to" dwell in Paradise" was a perverse ruler like the rest «11»- he was someone who blinded his own son. Yes, throughout history this nation has lived under the rule and oppression of these evil kings.
The colonialists have been plotting for centuries
Two or three hundred years ago, when the foreigners found their way into Iran they conducted certain investigations and a thorough inspection of the situation there. They studied the mentality of the people there; they studied the land there; and they traveled to our desert regions by camel to conduct research, to see what was and what was not to be found there! Just take a look at historical accounts- at a time when there were no buses or the like, these foreigners traveled by camel, they covered the entire desert regions of Iran, regions with neither water nor vegetation, mounted on camels. They studied these regions and examined the mentality of all those who live in Iran including the members of its tribes. Their investigation included everyone from the Balouchis to the Kurds to the Lors, so that they could discover how to keep these people in a backward state. The foreigners convinced these people that they were never to revolt, and from that time onwards we have remained under the domination of America and Europe. Initially, we were under the domination of the European countries, of Britain and so on, and now America has entered the scene- America, a country which is worse than the others. Russia and America- each has attacked the country from different sides! Indeed, if they want to take away our resources, to destroy whatever we possess, to capitalize on the situation and to keep us in a wretched state of backwardness, what should they in fact do? Having conducted investigations they have reached the conclusion that they must cause the people to be divided. They have many plans in store, numerous plans, and if their plans are to succeed they must firstly create division among the Muslims- Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and so on must all be separated from one another and each must be at war with the other. This is one way, one means of preventing these people from getting their act together and from uniting with each other to confront the superpowers.
Resistance to Islam and the clergy is the imperialists' old plan
They have endeavored, through various means, to do something within every country to ensure that the different forces there do not unite, as they have in today's Iran. At the time of Rida Shah, they humiliated the akhound so much that the latter was unable to leave his home, not for fear of the government, but for fear of the people! This is the extent to which they had influenced the people. The people used to say:" These akhounds are all affiliated to the Royal Court!" While that member of the Royal Court (Rida Shah) was in fact busy behaving with such hostility toward the akhounds, the people believed and argued that they (the clergy) were affiliated to the Royal Court! This `Royal Court' was killing our akhounds, our mullahs, it would imprison them and kill them, yet at the same time the people believed that they were all affiliated to the Royal Court! They had brainwashed the people into thinking that any mullah who stood up to confront the powers that be had to be ruined before the people of his own nation, that he was to be segregated from the people, for once they had done this he would no longer pose a threat for he would have lost any power he might have had. They had convinced the people that the akhound was not someone fit for leadership, or someone who could engage in active opposition while enjoying the support of the people. He was an akhound; and the akhound must be driven to the wall.
Moreover, they weren't satisfied with ruining the akhound alone, but rather they claimed that Islam is an opiate, that religion as a whole is an opiate! They call this religion an opiate- this religion which serves to encourage all kinds of social action, this Qur'an whose verses with regard to battle are so explicit, whose verses with regard to social action are so explicit- they call this an opiate! That is to say they claim that this religion aims to put the poor people to sleep so that the holders of power may continue to devour. This Qur'an which has come to wage battle against those with power is said to have been produced by the powerful to enable them to fleece the poor and needy! Although the wars engaged in by that Most Noble of Messengers (the Prophet Muhammad) and by other Muslim personages were fought against these holders of power, the people have nevertheless been made to believe that it was in fact the latter who brought the Prophet to power! But these are all stratagems devised to make you disunited and to alienate you from the Qur'an.
The Qur'an is an obstacle; it is a barrier in their path; it is something which, had it been adhered to- and at one time indeed it was adhered to- the Muslims would not have found themselves in such a wretched state. But we abandoned the Qur'an, we did not follow the teachings of this `obstacle' and as a result we reached this present state where we are being struck on the head by them (those in power) from all directions. No matter where one may step out of line, an official has been placed there to beat him into silence.
This Muhammad Rida Shah himself has said:" The Allies thought it fitting that I should remain!" And only the day before yesterday, the British Foreign Minister said:" He (the Shah) is on our side. Indeed, he is protecting our interests, so how could we not give him our support!" We are fully aware of the fact that he is protecting both your and America's interests! This is precisely what the nation is shouting against, it is protesting against his having come in order to `serve his country'! He has a" mission" for his country! He has been given a mission by America and by Britain, a mission to behave thus with the people; to keep Iran in a state of backwardness; to destroy the education in Iran; to destroy Iran's clergy; to push Islam into the background; to change the Islamic calendar. You were under the impression that what this demon had done was of no grave importance! Yet taking all of the crimes he has committed into account, from the very first to the last, nothing compares to his crime of changing the calendar of Islam, so could this crime that he committed be said to be of little significance? Yes, they all joined hands together in order to smash these barriers which stood before them. Now that the people of Iran have risen up and are crying out in unison saying:" Down with this monarchy," for differences to exist between us, whether outside the country or within it, is self-destructive, it is suicidal. For differences to exist between the intellectual sector of society and the non-intellectual sector, or within the universities themselves between this and that group, is at this moment in time, tantamount to self-destruction; it is an act of suicide; it means the country's undoing; it means betraying the country; it means betraying Islam. Over what do you disagree? Why do you, people who have come abroad and who are busily engaged with your work, why do you differ among yourselves? Come together; hold social gatherings together; follow one path; all cry out in unison, all of you, until your protest movement becomes transformed into a flood and until this destructive flood eradicates this dynasty's set-up and the set-up of those who drain our assets dry with the help of this royal family. May the Lord keep you all safe from harm and may He grant us all His forgiveness (the audience cries: Amen).