Speech [The politico-religious dimensions of Islam]

I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I apologize to the gentlemen present here for the inconvenience caused by the lack of space. May God protect you all.

Today is a day of feasting, and in Iran people wanted to offered prayers, however, the army obstructed the participants in the performance of this religious ritual. In Qum, they dispersed the people with tear gas so that they could not hold the prayers. In some places, they have sown chaos and acted with savagery. Well, this is the last bolt the Shah has in his quiver. They have treated the people all over Iran with absolute savagery and want to persist in having their evil way.

Military government with a military prime minister who is ignorant of God Almighty- all this is useless. All this hauling and tugging is futile. The Shah has lost ground with the people. Rida Shah's rule was also illegitimate from the very beginning, and even if it had been a legitimate one, it was based on an (anti-God) rebellion. Through their cries everywhere, the people have rendered it invalid. Now, the Shah is a rebel who is plundering the Treasury through his ungodly rule and is massacring the people.

These occasions in Islam like `Id al-Fitr, `Id al-Adha «3» or Qurban, the Hajj ritual, the Friday and other congregational prayers that are held night and day, have religious as well as political and social aspects; that is, their devotional thread is woven into their political fibers; they are adjoin. The religion of Islam is not only a religion of devotion or a duty a servant has toward his Blessed and Exalted God; it is not only a spiritual duty; neither is it merely a religion of politics, rather, it is devotional as well as political. Its politics is combined with its acts of worship. That is, its devotional aspect has a political facet, too. These very gatherings on feasts for prayers, from which Muslims should derive a lot of benefits, are a form of worship, but ones which have a political aspect too. For instance, in the early days of Islam, mosques were not the lowly places that they were later to become due to some devious personalities. Mosques were places from which armies would march out to fight unbelievers and oppressors; and where sermons would be delivered and people would be called upon to fight when a straying, aggressive individual had rebelled against the Muslims, plundering their property and bullying them. From these mosques, people would march toward enemy camps. In these same mosques, agreements would be concluded.

In sermons delivered at Friday prayers, the destiny of the country should be discussed; political issues in the country should find expression and social issues be made current; the problems of the Muslims and their differences should be discussed and solved. Crimes like those of Muhammad Rida Khan should be mentioned and criticized and ways to eradicate these criminals should also be aired at Friday prayers. The Friday prayer is (a form of) worship, but worship that is blended with politics; politics that is blended with worship as the religion of Christ had once been- not this religion that Christians now believe in- I do not believe that the religion of Jesus (`a), is the same religion as that which is being practiced nowadays. True Christianity is not a religion that does not concern itself with people's lives or politics. It is not merely a case of going to (church), ringing the bells after which a little prayer is uttered and that is it, one then resumes one's daily activities. I do not believe that such a religion was ever the religion of Christ. Christianity has been distorted. The Jewish religion, as well as the religion of the Nazarene (Christ), has digressed and has been distorted. But the religion of Islam, whose scripture is the Qur'an, has been fully preserved. Not a word of it has been changed.

Because of this the Qur'an is all inclusive. The glorious Qur'an was revealed to shape the human being and all his human dimensions. It is a book that contains everything that man needs and endows him with everything he has: spirituality and materiality, exteriority and quiddity. It came to satisfy whatever needs he has and guide him in matters relevant to him such as his relationship with his Blessed and Exalted Creator, the concepts of the Unity of God, the Divine attributes, the Day of Judgment, socio-political issues and the question of war against the unbelievers. The Qur'an is replete with verses making it incumbent upon the people and the Prophet to fight aggressors and oppressors. When the illustrious Qur'an was revealed, it brought with it dynamism to the Arabs of that time who were a disunited people and who wasted their time by incessantly engaging in inter-tribal conflicts. They led a barbaric life and never bothered about political affairs. However, within less than half a century, within about thirty years, these very same small groups of nomads, who initially gathered around the Most Noble Messenger who had built up and enlightened them, conquered two empires which had nearly the whole world under their domination, namely the Persian and the Roman empires. Because it (the Qur'an) brought them such dynamism, these Arabs found their way out of the Arabian Peninsula and headed toward Iran and occupied it. They marched into Rome and conquered it and then toward Europe and conquered it! These conquests, however, should not be likened to those made by Napoleon «4» when he invaded a country. Islamic conquests were made to perfect human beings, make them monotheistic and just and enlighten them on certain issues. They were not for territorial expansionism. They were aimed at making human beings upright, at civilizing the savage- those who would engage in a life of savagery. And within half a century, the glorious Qur'an transformed a belligerent community, who had been continually at war and savagely killing each other, into a just people who would treat each other equitably like a civilized nation and even better than that!

Islam, unlike other religions which are now manifest to us, is a religion that rectifies all aspects of a human being's life with respect to his intellect, morals and moral edification. It is concerned not only with his physical appearance and outward behavior, but also with all affairs that are expedient to him. It follows then that an Islamic government cannot be similar to other governments which are concerned only with man's social and political affairs and are indifferent to what a person does at home. Such governments are not concerned with whatever misconduct an individual commits inside his house; (non-Islamic) governments do not care if he gambles in his home and does all sorts of vicious acts because this is not a concern of theirs. They interfere only when he turns offensive and disturbs the peace and order in the society.

Islam cares for you and your family in the privacy of your own home. It is concerned with how you socialize with your neighbors and fellow citizens and establish relationships with them. Islam concerns itself with your relationship with your fellow believers too, as well as with those who do not share your religion. All these have rules to follow in Islam. That is, in Islam, a government is not one that is merely concerned with political affairs. One facet of Islam deals with government and governmental and political affairs, and another deals with man's spiritual development which concerns man himself alone: What should he be in terms of beliefs, ethics and social behavior? What must a man be? In these respects, Islam encompasses every aspect of human life, whereas other governments and societies are impassive toward the same. That is, no government will ever approach an individual and reprimand him for engaging in whatever (immoral) activities at home. It is no concern of such a government whatever misdeed takes place in an individual's home. Islam, however, is concerned with the individual even if he is alone at home; that is, it tells him what he is supposed to do, how to behave and what ethics and intellectual perceptions he should adopt. It tells him how a father should treat his children, how a child should behave toward his father, a mother to her child, a child to his mother, a brother to a brother, how families should behave among themselves or a family toward another. All of these have rules to follow in Islam which takes everything into consideration.

Islam also has ideas about the society. It has matters relating to all mankind. In Islam, no country is inferior to another. It is not limited to a country, say, Iran or Iraq. The whole world is under its supervision because it is aimed at building human beings. It attributes no special relationship to any group of people, the East or West, North or South, or considers one group below or above another. It does not discriminate against any class of people anywhere. It is a divine religion, in the same way that the Blessed and Exalted God is the God of all, not the God of just the Easterners and Muslims or the Westerners and the Christians or Jews. He is the God of all and He provides sustenance for all. That is to say, He is the Creator. Islam is a religion that belongs to all. It was revealed to build up a human being in a way that it proposes; to mould him into an equitable man in such a way that one human being cannot commit one grain or pinhead of injustice against another; that a human being cannot be unjust to his own child or to his wife, or a wife to a husband, or two brothers to one another or these to their friends. Islam wants to mould man into a just being in the fullest sense of the word human being, one whose intellect is humane, whose essence and appearance are human and one who respects human behavior and conduct. Islam wants to materialize these goals.

One branch of Islam consists of its system of government and governmental issues are included in its canonical rituals as well. Take the Hajj ritual as an example. The Divine Exalted God has called upon the people to perform the Hajj in which there are stations. However, the Muslims have failed to exhaustively make use of this ritual as they should. The Hajj is a general assembly of all Muslim communities. This is a call to all kinds of Muslim groups whether from the near East or the far West, wherever they may be- north or south or anywhere in whatever country-" people" have been invited, not only the Muslims. Everyone must become a Muslim and go (to Mecca), that is, those who can afford to do the pilgrimage and have the means to reach Mecca are called upon to go there once a year. The aim of this ritual is actually to bring about a general assembly there. If Muslims realize its value, they can seek the solution to their problems and difficulties in this gathering. For instance, if Iranian Muslims go there and inform others of their problems and predicaments, it becomes incumbent upon the other Muslims to sympathize with them. Once they learn of what Iran wants, what it does, what its government does to the people, they should disseminate these issues in their country when they return.

Similarly, if these people have seen anything wrong with their governments or people and have discussed their problems there in Mecca, they (Iranian Muslims) should also sympathize with them.

Islam is a religion in which a gathering is both political and an act of worship. A person might think that congregational prayers are merely a form of devotion whereat people gather and pray together. At such congregations, political issues must also be discussed. The person who ascends the pulpit once a week, leads the congregational prayers and preaches, must also bring up the political problems of the Muslims and talk about them in addition to other things, like the anomalies they observe in their governments; they must guide the people in both matters of worldly affairs as well as their origin (God) and destination (the afterlife) and all the things they need in life.

Now, in Iran, the situation is such that the government is preventing people from performing acts of worship with bayonets. Today, they did not allow this divine act to be performed in Qum. The same iniquity is being committed in other places. We have not received all the news yet. But in many other places killings have occurred and the people have been answered with bayonets. In reply to those shouting:" Hey, Mister, do not give away our oil and natural resources to others! We want freedom, we have been strangulated so much in these fifty years of suppression, we want independence!" and those who protested against their handing over the whole country to others, they came up with a military government with a military prime minister and cabinet. He (the Shah) wants to keep himself installed by resorting to the military. On the one hand, he unleashes his club-wielders to batter the people, and on the other, he sets up a military government! On one hand, he says there must be order, and on the other, he sows chaos! He orders his club-wielders to grab their maces and storm into the cities and set them ablaze and what not.

This condition of our country, the Shah's rule and this life now are indications of the abominable last days of this vicious man. We are duty bound to help the Muslims in Iran. At least we can help through propagation, by making individuals you meet here understand. For instance, these Europeans you meet, make them understand the facts. It is not true, as the Shah claims, that the people of Iran, may I say, are savages and that the Shah wants to subdue them but they cannot be subdued! You should tell the people that the Iranian people are a nation which wants to be rescued from this oppressor; they want to be free; they want to be independent; they want to lead a humane life and this man will not let them.

May God protect you all and may you be successful, God willing.