speech [The role of the foreigners in sowing seeds of discord and preventing Muslims from resorting to the Glorious Qur'an]

I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I would like to thank you, gentlemen, who have come from a faraway place to commiserate with our Iranian nation, to call on the nation, which had been trampled and crushed under oppression, tyranny and because of the (Pahlavi) crimes for more than fifty years. I would also like to thank the gentlemen, who have come all the way from a remote city to express their kindness to the nation and us. May God awaken you and all Muslims from slumber. May God awaken us and make us vigilant at a time when slumber and negligence have overcome most Muslim countries.

The criminal hands of foreign powers wanted to take possession of the East, in particular, Islamic countries, in pursuit of their vested interests. After conducting an inch-by-inch scrutiny of this region, all its cities, deserts, townships, provinces and after studying the collective morale of the people living in these areas, their rituals and the extent to which these rituals influenced their lives, they understood that they had to prevent the Muslims from resorting to the Qur'an. They knew the Qur'an in a hundred of ways. If Muslims had resorted to the Qur'an, no opportunity would have been left for them. Therefore, they separated Islam from the people; hence, nations became separated from Islam. Through their anti-religious, anti-Islamic and anti-Islamic clergy propaganda calls, made either directly by themselves or through their agents, the foreign powers sowed seeds of discord among Muslims and alienated them from one another. The formation of numerous parties since the early days of the Constitutional Movement was all aimed at causing disparity and such moves were all meant to forestall Muslim unity.

Causing differences among religious sects, that is, Muslim sects, was intended for the same purpose of segregating Muslims from one another so that they would not be able to serve the interests of Islam. These activities have been going on for more than three hundred years.

Thank God, a movement, that is, a divine movement has been initiated in Iran these recent years. I cannot give it any name other than to call it a divine movement. Small children as well as old citizens took part in this movement. It was a movement in which small children sucking pacifiers would take them out to shout" Death to the Shah!" and would then put them back into their mouths! All the people, from children who had barely started talking to old men who were in their declining years, were all together, and all of them discarded this taghout (regime). This unity was the secret of Iran's victory: reliance on God,(struggling) for the sake of God and unity of expression and one unified goal and destination. Whoever was asked what (the movement's) goal was would say it was (attaining) an Islamic government. At the beginning, the goal was to overthrow the taghout rule. The goal was independence and freedom under the auspices of an Islamic government. The secret of the nation's victory was unity of expression and unity of purpose, and, most important of all, reliance on the Exalted and Blessed God. Do not forget this secret wherever you are, gentlemen.

Of course, I have a complaint to make against (the governments of) the Gulf States and the surrounding countries. Not only did many of them disagree with us but they also opposed us. You, yourselves, know individuals who were there and who would support the taghout, and I do not know whether they still do so! Are they wishing for him to return?! Advise those individuals; tell them to turn to Islam. These governments (Gulf littoral states) are taghouti governments and are against Islam. Do not think that the Exalted and Blessed God is with those that gain power. Mu`awiyah had power, so did the Pharaoh, who also ruled over a kingdom. If a ruler is th» il-Allah (the shadow of God), if the king is th» il-Allah, he is a bona fide ruler. What does th» il-Allah mean? It means that just as a human shadow does not have any movement of its own except by the movement of the person who casts the shadow, if a king also has no independent movement and moves only when the Exalted and Blessed God makes him move, he is th» il-Allah (the shadow of God). The Messenger of God was th» il-Allah and besides him, those who were close to him were close to the» il-Allah; the main one was the Messenger, who was a» il-Allah. Amir al-Muminin (`a) was th» il- Allah because his whole being was annihilated in the being of the Messenger of God. Tyrants are the shadows of Iblis! This is the criterion that distinguishes a despotic king from a just one. A ruler, who is evil and tyrannical, is the shadow of Iblis and not of God. These (oppressive rulers) even usurped the title"» il-Allah"! They deceived the people. He who does not have anything of his own, has no movement of his own but the will of God-" when thou throw (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but God's" «2»" Verily those who plight their fealty to thee, do no less than plight their fealty to God" «3»- because you have nothing. Your whole being is annihilated in God. Those who subscribe to the taghout are the shadows of Iblis. A person is either the shadow of God or the shadow of Iblis. These (taghout) rulers have betrayed out nations by usurping this auspicious phrase for themselves in the same way that they had usurped the seats of power for themselves.

Tell our brothers in Qatar and other littoral states to be united. Seek refuge under the banner of Islam. Keep away from the taghout. Forge a unity of expression. The secret of our victory was unity of expression and reliance on God. You, too, rely on God and have unity of expression and you, too, will be victorious. All Islamic nations must be united. If Islamic nations had not been disunited, I do not know whether we have an Islamic government or not. Perhaps you know that we do not have; but is hoped that we will have one. Had the Muslims been united, they would not live in abjectness; the hands of foreigners and their agents could not manipulate them. There are approximately one billion Muslims, but one billion divided Muslims. If a government were the same as the one in the early days of Islam, with every follower supporting it, we would not have sat idly (for years). The foreign powers took great efforts in order to turn the tables in their favor and splintered the entire Muslim nation. Even the Ottoman Empire, which was a vast empire, was fragmented into around fifteen states after the war was over, and the powers installed their own puppet rulers. «4»

Muslims should become vigilant. They should wake up after three hundred years of slumber, which they had been lulled into. They should look to Iran, which triumphed over tanks, cannons, machine-guns and the great powers with nothing but their bare fists because its nation relied on God. All the people in Iran were saying they wanted Islam. All were clamoring for an Islamic government. The unwavering faith, which blossomed in the nation, and the change and development, which was brought about in the hearts of Muslims, was the keys to this victory. All were together in their reliance on God. My brethren! Rely upon God; have unity of expression; be together; shun discord. May God grant you dignity, health, success and unity of expression. May God grant Islam strength and power.

May God's peace and mercy be upon you.