Speech [Illegitimacy of the monarchial regime; the need to educate children on all dimensions of Islam; the peril of one-dimensional Islam]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

All affairs will be run well under a just government and carried out decently. If heads of the ruling party are corrupt, this corruption will spread among all walks of life in the country. You saw how a corrupt individual ruled this country and for thirty-seven «1» years dominated over the country's people, and an illegitimate domination for that matter, and spread a lot of corruption. This principle of the monarchial regime is opposed to human rights, because even if we assume that the entire nation gathers and votes for the monarchial regime, as it is their right to choose a regime, it does not have the right to determine a regime for the future. That is, the entire destiny of the country should be run by the people themselves. The people have the right to choose an individual to rule over them as a monarch, president or anybody by any title. It is right to do so. The people possess discretionary right to do this. However, do the people have the right to determine the fate of the succeeding generation, of their children and the children of their children? Nobody has any right to do such a thing. Based upon human rights, you must rule over your own destiny and have a hand in it, but you cannot rule over the destiny of another country or nation. You cannot interfere in the destiny of the succeeding generation. You do not have this right. That a monarchy can be inherited by an individual to rule a generation after another generation is, therefore, illegal and is against human rights.

Brushing aside everything we know, let us assume that when Rida Shah came to the scene, he was welcomed by the people and everybody accepted him. Well, assuming that some fifty odd years ago when Rida Shah came to power, all the people accepted him, but now the population in this country is totally different from the population that existed in that period. Those people who made up this nation at that time had no right to choose his son to rule over us who live in another era. Our fathers did not have the right to do so. Therefore, even though we believe that Rida Shah had been welcomed by the people (of his time), his selection had been legitimate, however, choosing his son to rule over us was illegal. However, everybody knows that the coming to power of this dynasty was illegal from the very start. From the very beginning, the Constitutional Parliament they set up was done under the force of the bayonets. The representatives to the Parliament were appointed and not elected by the people, who were totally unaware of what was going on and if they had been cognizant, they could not have been able to breathe (under suppression). The very basis of this government, therefore, had been tyranny and its rule bore no validity. Ever since the beginning, their domination over the country has been illegal. And while it was so, all affairs were run through treacherous and criminal ways. Now, if you consider the state of your nation, wherever you go or whatever institution you consider, you will find that each institution is malfunctioning. Your culture is now a colonial one, not a proper culture. The military and its training was under foreign advisers. They embarked upon a total destruction of our agriculture and industry. They ruined this country under the guise of the" great civilization" and transformed it into a market for big countries, especially the US Therefore, an all-out general collaboration is needed to wipe out the corruption and disorder that plague this country.

Certainly, you, the instructors of `Alawi School, as has been relayed to me( I, myself, am not involved in such affairs, )have done well and have educated our children well. There is only one point that I would like to call your attention to and consider from this time onwards, is the fact that our children must be brought up at every juncture in time according to the norms of that time. There are narrations available to us that say," Raise your children in a way different from how you, yourselves, had been brought up." «2» We should raise them for the future because they will run the country in the future. You should not keep children estranged from politics. Keeping them aloof from it will cause them to be blind when they step into and be part of the society. People who want to live in this country and run its affairs must be aware of the deceptive tactics and all the things perpetrated by colonial powers. You must inform and educate them of all the backwardness brought about by the colonial powers. They must be aware of current affairs. Otherwise, you will witness that those deviated individuals who have an insight into current affairs will prevail over truthful people who lack such an insight. Education and training must be comprehensive enough to satisfy the (educational) needs of the country and individuals.

Islam, if you are informed about Islam and the Qur'an, and, God willing, you are, is not merely a form of worship or concerned with devotional teaching and education and the like. Islam is not separate from politics. It brought into existence a country and a great government. It had created a great country. It is a regime, a political regime. Other regimes are neglectful of many issues, but Islam is never neglectful of any affairs. That is, Islam educates man on all aspects of the human life. One aspect is material and encompasses man's materiality, and the other is the spiritual aspect, which talks of spirituality. Moreover, it has commandments regarding everything, from pre-marital arrangements on which woman to choose for a man to marry and vice-versa and what morals or religions they should adhere to even before a man and a woman become united in matrimony. When a farmer wants to sow a field, he plants a seed in the earth that he nurtures and considers everything its breeding necessitates. And when, finally, it sprouts, he must be careful of what is beneficial or detrimental to it; oversee this process and likewise, look after it until it bears fruit.

Islam, similarly, applies these procedures to human beings, that is, it treats man in the same way a farmer does his field at time of sowing. Before man is born, Islam has rules regarding what kind of father and mother he should have, that is, how a couple should be before marriage. This is because Islam considers the ultimate end of this act, that is, if (one of) the father or mother is morally corrupt or behaves inhumanly, what influence it will have on the children who will be born in terms of inheritance. For this reason, Islam, as is true with the planter, is very precise and compassionate regarding this matter. Islam considers the human being from his birth until he gets married and what behavior to adopt during his married life and what rules should be followed on matters of conception. There are numerous rules regarding pregnancy and suckling the child. There are also rules on behavior toward one's mother and under the auspices of the father. Furthermore, there are rules concerning schools and the society. It considers the child from before its birth up until it reaches the superior stage. Islam has rules that encompass all human aspects. Other regimes and governments in the world do not have any regard for these matters. They are merely concerned with one thing and that is to keep the society at peace for their own vested interests and so that they can plunder the people! Or, they are very good and just and are not concerned with plundering and are merely involved in rectifying their own social problems. But when it comes to how a child should be from beginning to end and how to rear it up to the end (of its life), during pregnancy and the suckling period, other regimes are aloof.

Islam is such that when a human being reaches maturity, it outlines rules on how he should associate with his brother, his father and mother; how a father should associate with his son; and the association of both with their neighbors, town mates, co-believers and foreigners. Islam is a government that concerns political rule, on the one hand, and spiritual rule, on the other. That is, the human being has two faces: a material facet on which Islam has encompassing laws and a spiritual facet, which was never considered in other regimes, which prohibit the human being from educating himself spiritually, or edifying himself until it reaches a level that nobody knows but God. This is how Islam clutches man's hand and takes him until he ascends to heaven. Other regimes are not like this.

What I mean is that politics is not an issue that Islam does not discuss. The idea of separation of politics and religion is an issue that the colonialists had put in people's mouth and through this they wanted to cause a disparity between these two branches. They wanted to cause discord among religious scholars and likewise, among secular groups, segregate politicians from the rest of the people to achieve their vested interests. They embarked upon such factious agitations, firstly, by disseminating the idea that religion and politics were separate, and prior to this (they propagated) that religion was basically the opium of the masses, and that clergymen worked at imperial courts! Because they knew that if these two forces converged, they would not be able to achieve their objectives. They distanced these two and drew a shaky image of the religion before the people's eyes.

If one looks at those who had brought religions into the world, such as Hadrat Abraham and Moses, may God's peace be upon them, and the messenger (of Islam), may God's peace be upon him and his household, we will understand what clan they came from and what occupation they had. Were they, say Moses, brought to power by the Pharaoh, or was he a shepherd and then went to deal with the pharaoh. Did Moses go to the Pharaoh to defeat him and take his Pharaonic power into his hands? Or, did the Pharaoh brought Moses to himself in order to stupefy the people into slumber? Moses awakened and made the people aware and with this awakening, they attacked the Pharaoh and achieved other things. Our own prophet was a shepherd and was of the masses of third class of people. From the very beginning, he rose and revolted against the contemporary Quraysh bullies and dictators and other tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. They did not install him in power to deceive the people! He enlightened the people and then dealt with them (oppressors).

If anyone knows the history (of Islam), they know that when the Prophet migrated to Medina, «3» a group of Muslims from among the virtuous group who did not have anything congregated around him. The Messenger's mosque was a simple platform made of clay, not like other platforms that you have seen. A great number of the Prophet's companions and followers would sleep there. They never had houses. The Prophet's home were these rooms, which were made from clay and without any architectural (expertise). Yet in these, he gathered this third class and oppressed people, and with them initiated his battles against the capitalists, the bullies, and the camel and caravan owners. The wars he waged were continually against this group.

Therefore, it was a deception that they (colonialists) brought up the issue of separation of politics and religion. Is (real) politics any different from having a country run smoothly and wisely in accordance with a certain criterion and ties as had been carried out in (the early days of) Islam? The Islamic government conquered almost the whole of Asia, but they are telling us that politics is separate from religion! Whereas those who were in charge of religion were also in charge of political matters. Hadrat Amir would talk not only about issues (of the country) but also about canonical laws and would fight holding a sword in his hand. The Messenger brought the Qur'an and the iron. He brought the sword, fought against his enemies, and overcame them. This issue has to be observed very closely.

The gentlemen who are responsible for educating children would also teach them current politics. I am not saying all of them should just be political issues. The lessons should include everything. A child who leaves school must know religious issues such as prayers and fasting; he should be scientifically and politically educated according to whatever system is enforced. Of course, they used to oppose this issue but, God willing, I hope that from now onward a little freedom will be allowed. You must perform all your tasks with freedom. What you are responsible for is the education of human beings. It is the most important issue, so you must perform your task correctly and well.

Moreover, I must say that we have entered `Alawi School and" invaded" it! Or, perhaps we are the guests of the gentlemen here. The moment the schools open, I told them to gather all those people (students) and I will move somewhere else. The school officials in charge of its affairs came and asked me not to go from here and that if my leaving would not take long too long, to move to Qum from here and not anywhere else, and that my stay would be a great support for them. I obliged their request. I will stay for four or five days after which, God willing, I will go and leave you in God's care. I implore the Exalted and Beneficent God to support you and grant you victory. I was hoping and counting on the possibility that Mr. ... «4» who was unable to come, will also be there on Thursday. I have known him from the very beginning and he is one of my old friends. I implore the Beneficent God for his success.