Speech [Colonialists' designs to separate the various strata of the nation from Islam and the clergy]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

One of the things we and perhaps you too, have gained in this movement was the fact that we had not gathered under the same roof until now. Before the inception of this movement, we were estranged from one another. This estrangement was the result of foreign powers' activities to distance all the classes of people from each other. They feared the unity of expression because they had witnessed what it could bring about. Their experts, as you know, had delved into a scrutiny of the region a few years earlier. They studied every inch of our land to the remotest deserts! Those days they would use camel to go searching and exploring, and wherever they discovered (oil) wells, they would draw a map while we were in deep slumber. Studies were made on the morale of this nation, the proclivities it had and issues that, if materialized, would go contrary to their interests. Their specialists toured every place and spent time with all tribes. For instance, they went to Bakhtiyari areas and lived among them for a long time in order to gain an insight into these people's morale and mentality. They also were with the Qashqa'is; and in Kurdistan. They went everywhere and studied every place. They surveyed the land and discovered underground resources. Perhaps thirty years ago, I was in Hamedan for one year. A friend of mine, who was a man of knowledge and education and who later assumed another job, brought me a large piece of paper on which a map was drawn with areas highlighted by dots. He told me that it was a map of Hamedan that was made by Europeans (I don't know from where in Europe) who came there and that those dots represented locations of resources in Hamedan. They discovered these resources, which were underground. They did the same thing throughout the country and we were not aware of it.

These (enemies) have arrived at this understanding that if this nation converged under the banner of Islam they would not be able to prevail over it. They attempted, firstly, in order to distance it from Islam and, secondly, to tarnish the image of Islam, saying that Islam, like such other religions, had been a narcotic for the masses from the very beginning! They said that these (religions) were created by the capitalists in order to keep the people in a state of oblivion! They said that religions had been created by the ruling governments, kings or the tyrants of the time as to dupe the people and let those who intended to plunder the people do so at will! This was their logic in keeping people apart from Islam, by which they wanted to estrange the people from Islam. And perhaps many believed them, whereas, at the beginning, studies made by men on the lives of the prophets revealed that they had been individuals who staged uprisings.

Among those prophets on whom we have information are Hadrat Abraham (`a), Moses (`a) and our Prophet Hadrat Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him and his household. We should consider what these men had done and from which group of people they were so that we can verify whether what some people say about them, asserting that were created by the capitalists, is correct or not. Moses was a shepherd who spent long periods of his life shepherding. He rose, with a staff in hand, from the masses and fought the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh did not create Moses! Moses was from the people and no matter how hard the Pharaoh tried, he could not get rid of him! You have probably read the Mathnavi. «1» There is a long story on Moses and the Pharaoh, which you have probably read. Moses rose from the masses, these ordinary people, with only a staff in his hand and destroyed the Pharaoh's court! It was not the Pharaoh who created Moses to lull the people. Moses awakened the people in order to destroy the Pharaoh.

The history of Islam has been lucidly written. You all know it. You, and those who are used to studying, know that the prophet of Islam, too, rose from the very same masses, and when he appeared and invited the people (to Islam), the Quraysh tribesmen, who were the capitalists, the tyrants and the bullies of his time, opposed him;. And the Prophet could not openly put forth his call (to Islam) in Mecca. He spent long periods in that cave (of Hira') and could not leave it as if he had been imprisoned there. Later, he moved to Medina, where the deprived class of the people gathered around him. When he built the (first) mosque, not a pompous one, but a rather humble mosque, many of his companions would sleep on the platform of the mosque- that was not up to much- because they had no home. As related in the history (of Islam), during wars, one single date was shared by a number of Muslims because they lacked everything. «2» Yet, those same poor people were those who subdued the Quraysh bullies and other tyrants. They (the tyrants) did not create them (prophets) to lull the masses! The prophets awakened the masses to destroy the tyrants. This was a way by which they wanted to separate Islam from the nation.

They (bullies) also wished to separate clerics from people. They propagated that clerics were" court-related." This was among the things they bandied about against the clergy." They are affiliated to the court; they lull the people into a stupor." You have witnessed that in all the movements that took place during our existence or close to it, those who rose were the clergymen. Other categories would also follow suit but it was the clerics, who began the uprisings. In the Tobacco Movement, it was the clerics, who disrupted the situation. They were also in the vanguard of the Constitutional Movement with the people supporting them. In other issues, too, the clerics were always with you (the people), with all people. So, saying" the clergymen are court-related" has been one of the things the enemies fabricated to separate the people from the clerics in order to cause animosity among them so that people would fight each other and the oil-grabbers could plunder our oil and resources.

In the last fifty years perhaps you, «3» and I, remember, although many of you may not recall, from the beginning it was obvious that the British brought Rida Shah to power. At that time, the US was not so powerful. The British brought him to power. I myself heard it over Radio Delhi, which was at the time under British control that" We (British) brought Rida Khan to power in Iran but he later betrayed us and we toppled him." So, the British said themselves that bringing Rida Khan to power and bringing him down was something they did! And that was the case. The man who succeeded Rida Khan, and did things to this nation worse than those done by the former, also admitted in his book that the Allied Forces came to Iran and considered it their interests to have him in power. The Allied Forces installed him in power and caused us so much misfortune. The sufferings we went through and are still undergoing have resulted from being separated from each other. We did not sit together in an assembly to make it known to one another what each side had to say. We (the clerics) were separated from the judges of judiciary system, from universities. They had portrayed the university fraternity in such a way that we formed pessimistic views of them. They portrayed us in a way to make them cynical about us. We were far apart. During Rida Khan's reign, they had presented the clergymen in such a bad light that people would not give them a ride in their cars. A friend of mine told me that once he wanted to get into a car in Arak but the driver told him that they (drivers) had decided not to give rides to two groups of people, namely the prostitutes and the clerics. That was how they humiliated the clergymen. Because Rida Shah knew that it was the clerics, like Mudarris, who would impede his way and openly shout at his face" Long live myself, death to Rida Khan!" So, at the time Rida Khan had power, they used to treat us in that manner. They separated us from one another and everyone from everybody else. They made everyone cynical of each other. A nation, in which every one is suspicious of others, cannot function properly. And when people could not do what they were supposed to, then the enemies could achieve whatever they wanted quite easily; they plundered our resources, disrupted our agriculture, paralyzed our educational system backward, and took control of ours.

Consider this juncture in time when nearly a couple of years have passed. Of course, the beginning (of the Islamic movement) was June 1963 after which there was a lapse (of inactivity). Then about one and a half years ago, it started (again). No hand other than God could have brought about this solidarity of the nation, this unity of expression. It was God who engendered this unity of word among people from all walks of life: we who were apart from each other and some of us were cynical. Now, all over the country wherever you go, you see this unity When I was in Paris, an acquaintance of mine came to see me saying that he went to Hasan Falak Fortress- I know where Hasan Falak Fortress is; it is near a mountain, near Kamareh and has about ten households living in it; at the time I had seen it there was nothing on either side of it. He said that the same slogans people cried out in the capital were the very same words being uttered in this remote fortress! He further added that in Bakhtiyari villages, Kamareh and the outlying hamlets, a clergyman would lead a march every morning and all the people followed him. One person or a group could not have brought about this phenomenon. God did this and when I first saw that a kind of unity of word has come about, I knew that no other hand could have made it possible; there must be something divine at work, and I became hopeful. Therefore, I never became lethargic in carrying out my task because I was hoping that God would take it to fruition. I have said from the very beginning that he (the Shah) had to go; he had no alternative. He went away! It all happened so easily.

Now we are in a situation wherein we are heir to a devastated country. You know that everything is a shambles. Now, we do not have a strong army; the army is in a mess and it should be restructured. What else can they do (to repair it); they are doing their best. We do not have a healthy economy and they are also making efforts (to remedy this problem). Everyone is busy working hard and no one should expect us to be able to bring the country back to a sound state in one or ten days or even a couple of years after it had been devastated during the last fifty years or, shall I say, 2500 years. Nor can a single group of people, that is the government, bring all affairs under control in a short period. This is impossible. It is also impossible for you or one stratum of the people to do it alone. Everybody should cooperate and do it. In the same manner that everybody took part in throwing this generation (of the Pahlavis) out of this land, which could not have been accomplished had everybody not been united, everybody should also help in the construction of Iran, especially now that the task is very difficult. You should all join hands and work together. It is not the case that one should say," I should take the first step or you should make the first move." Such utterances are irrelevant. We should be together ranged in one rank" as if they were a solid structure." «4» We should all be united so that we can carry out this task. There should not be any selfish motives involved, one of you saying," I should lead, you shouldn't, or you lead and I won't." Such things should not be said, as this will gradually push us back to square one. The evil forces are lurking and they have not given up hopes; they are lying in wait in this Revolution and they have planted a group for their propaganda campaign (against this movement), waiting for us to show any weakness.. If we fail to cooperate with each other and protect this unity of expression and movement, we will be pushed back to where we were before, in fact worse than that. Why will it be worse? It is because they have witnessed what the power of the Islamic nation is and what faith had done to such a great power which was supported by everybody that openly announced their support for him, with others doing so clandestinely; whereas, others, like America, openly provided a tremendous amount of aid. They witnessed how the Iranian nation advanced forward barehanded and rooted out all of them who had amassed all their forces. They deracinated a 2,500- year monarchy and wiped it out. The enemies could not do anything and did not. They could not have because all the forces stood before each other and were careful of each other's moves. God had so destined it.

Therefore, we, that is me, who is a theology student, and you, attorneys-at-law, `ulama', lawyers of the judiciary system, and the others should all join hands and reconstruct this devastated country they have left for us, each one of you doing so in his own sphere of activity.

Of course, attorneys-at law and jurists should sit (and consult each other and think of) a way to reform this judiciary system. Our justice administration was a disaster! It was not a justice department, but a mockery. You might have been here when I said it and I have recounted this event repeatedly regarding an attorney whom I knew during my youth and who was involved in the prosecution (of somebody). He said that he would defer the trial and would not allow it to progress in the right course for as long as he lived and after him, his son (would do the same). At times, one had to wait two years before a hearing could get underway, or, if, for instance, the court was in session or not. Could this be called a court? This much they knew (about justice administration). It was their plan to suppress its intellectual manpower, so that people had to go to the justice department from morning until sunset wasting their life away. And even after this it was not clear what result they would get, or whether they would get their rights upheld or not. Whoever from among the attorneys who knew how to twist the law articles or any of the judges who could be bribed more would judge the case. We used to have a judge in Khomein, who would accept bribes, but would decide against the briber. No matter how loudly the unfortunate loser would shout exposing the judge, saying that he had accepted bribes and then voted against him, his word would be ignored. These were the sorts of things that were in vogue at the time. Anyway, you are now duty-bound, nationally and Islamically, to sit down (together and reform) this justice administration because it is not a justice administration. Our justice system is based on a Western model; however, it is not functioning properly (as it should be) The problem with us is when we adopt something Western; it becomes only partially Western and inefficient. Another thing is this Western model is not appropriate to our country. You, legal experts and the informed ones should sit and rectify the justice administration. Our justice administration should not be the same as the previous one. It should function on religious laws, and judgments be meted out according to the same rules. It should not be as before. I have heard that one of those who have just arrived «5» and wants to become somebody «6», has said that Islam itself cannot be implemented. Mister (Shaygan), what do you know of Islam to say that it cannot? How do you know that Islam cannot be implemented? These contentions are reasons why I say that they (regime) had obscured Islam and did not let it solve people's problems. Islam was kept from the people's reach. They thought Islam was merely going (to mosques) in the morning to say prayers! Well, let us see how Islamic leaders had been. Hadrat Amir would say his prayers but would also wield his sword (against the enemies). While he prayed, he also held his sword. He would also pass judgments. He would handle everything. Now, affairs have become extensive. The expansion of affairs means that things should be done in such a way that everything is somehow improved. Judgments should be administered based on religious law. Judgments that were based on connections (rather than laws) and would lead to the condemnation of people at courts should be stopped; bribery and other malpractices were rampant and must be eradicated. You- the judges and all of you- should all sit together, deliberate, and set up a justice administration, devoid of a state of affairs in which a court order is issued today and is sent to this and that court and people have to spend their time going from this to that office and then return. That kind of practice wastes the people's time and money. All this should be rectified. Of course, it is difficult and cannot be achieved in a couple of days, but we should not be disappointed; just as our task (toppling the Shah) was arduous and we (thought we) could not unseat that government and no one ever thought that it was possible, but God was with us. When God is with you, everything becomes easy. If we are sincere in our intention and if we want to serve the people and Islam, rest assured that the Exalted and Blessed God is with us. May God grant all of you success and keep you in good health.