[In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful]
Draw up the perspective of the Islamic state
I hope that an Islamic government will be established in Iran and that its virtues will be made known to man, so that he will come to understand just what kind of religion Islam is; what the relationship between a government and a nation should be; in what manner justice is administered, and what kind of differences exist between the living standards of the first person of the country and those of a peasant. If the people were to come to understand some of the virtues of Islam, then it is possible that they would embrace Islam.
The first person of an Islamic government, who is the caliph of the Muslims and can be said to be a ruler of the Muslims, lives a more humble life than a third class citizen does, and his standard of living is the same as that of a poor person. The social justice and other rights which Islam brings into effect to the benefit of all social classes are without precedent among mankind. An Islamic government is not like other systems of government such as a monarchical or republican system. The ruler of an Islamic state takes his example from he who used to go and sit with the people in a small mosque in Medina. Those men in whose hands the destiny of the country lay would gather in the mosque too, just like the other classes of people, and this gathering was such that were a stranger to walk in on it, he would not be able to distinguish the leader of the country or the man of high office from the poor man. For, the ruler would dress as the poor did and would feast as they did. The execution of justice in an Islamic system is such that were someone from the lowest class in the land to lodge a complaint with a court of law against the first person of the country, that is against the ruler or the governor, the judge would summon the ruler to stand before him and he in turn would have to comply; if the judge's decision went against the ruler, he would still have to abide by that decision.
Unfortunately, the virtues of Islam have remained hidden to man, even to the Muslims themselves, and the oppressors and oil-devourers have not allowed Islam, as it truly is, to be revealed to the people. Were true Islam to be put into practice, then there would be hope that the whole of mankind would come out under the banner of Islam, and all other ideologies would be defeated. Unfortunately, they have not allowed the people to come to know Islam. Sometimes they have described Islam as" reactionary," sometimes as barbaric and sometimes they have said that it is something which belongs to one thousand and so many hundreds of years ago and cannot be used to administer a country today. But all this is just propaganda. Proof exists in the Islamic scripture showing that what the propagandists of other countries have said about Islam is untrue.
We are in search of original Islam
We want to bring Islam, or its government at least, into effect in such a way, that you will see the true meaning of democracy and mankind will discover how greatly different Islam's democracy is from that more well-known conventional brand of democracy that the leaders of republics and (constitutional) monarchies claim to practice. The divine laws are not something that can be explained, even briefly, in this one session, however, I will try to give you just an overview of them. The laws of Islam are laws designed for people, for each individual in the human race. They govern the relationship each person has with God, with the Prophet of Islam and with the government, the relationship he should have with other people and with those who are not of his nation. All relationships which can possibly exist between two people or between human societies are covered in Islam and rules have been given for them. Many of these rules pertain to the relationship between man and God, to that dimension of man's being which,(according to the Christian religion of today), Hadrat Jesus, may God's peace be upon him, introduced to man.[According to today's beliefs,]Christianity concerns itself only with our relationship with God, the Creator. In Islam there are many rules pertaining to this relationship, but in addition, there are rules for other relationships concerning man. There are rules to ensure man's well being even before he is born, to ensure that a sound, healthy, refined individual comes into the world. Islamic law contains provisions relating to the preliminaries of marriage, the choice of spouse, and the form in which a marriage should be contracted; there are laws for when intimate relations take place between a man and his wife, for when a child is conceived and when it is being suckled. There are rules for the child for the time it is being reared by its mother and when it is being trained by its first teachers. Islam has rules for all of these things, and laws to train man. Moreover, Islam is not like Christianity which has no rules for government and the administration of a country- and if it once had these rules they have not reached the Christians. Islam has a form of government like other governments do; it has institutions which are based wholly on justice. The relationship between the government and the various citizens of the state; the relationship of the citizens with the state; the relations between the government and the religious minorities; the relations of the Muslims with people of a religious minority; the relation of the government with other governments; the relation of the Islamic society with other societies; Islam has laws governing all of these. I cannot explain all the Islamic laws for you in this one session, not even briefly; if however, God grants you His favor and you embrace Islam, then whichever one of you is interested will gradually learn about these for yourselves, God willing.