In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Qur'anic ideals
I express my gratitude to God for His will to favor the oppressed against the oppressors and to clear the earth of the existence of oppressors and enable the oppressed to rule the earth. «2» Islam came into being for this very purpose, and the teachings of Islam are for this very premise that there be no oppressor on earth who can colonize and exploit the weak. On the basis of the sublime teachings of the Qur'an, and from what we know of Islam and the personality of the benevolent Prophet and the Leaders of the Believers and the behavior of prophets- as narrated in the Glorious Qur'an- it is that the downtrodden should congregate and revolt «3» against the tyrants and not allow them to take away their rights. We advanced with these teachings and our nation welcomed martyrdom with open arms to attain this objective. And because Martyrdom was an avowed aim, it was able to prevail over all the hellish forces, over tanks and guns, over the superpowers who were lined-up behind the former Shah with fists and blood. We want this secret to be present among all governments and nations. Governments must be the servants of the people; just as it was traditional in Islam that government be at the service of the people and the army at the service of the people. Governments were sourced from the people and so was the army from them. And had the governments and nations acted on the traditions of the prophet and the Leaders of Believers, peace would have prevailed all over the globe and these conflicts and bloodshed would not be present.
The Revolution of Iran, a role model for the oppressed of the world
We pray to God that this Islamic movement and human movement becomes a role model for all the oppressed and a warning for the oppressors. The oppressors should not assume that they must rule over the downtrodden and colonize and exploit them. The oppressed should not regard government as rulership but rather as a servant. They should be brothers; brothers that serve the other brothers; and both of them back one another. If the tenets of Islam be observed by nations and by governments and the behavior of governments and nations be Islamic, neither will the governments think of encroachment of the rights of the people, nor will the people oppose the governments.
I thank you for coming here on behalf of Mu`ammar «4» and bringing his greetings to us. Also, convey my greetings to him and to the people of Libya. I implore God to awaken all the nations and governments and to unite all the Islamic people and governments together so that the superpowers would not be able to prevail over them and take away their resources.
Muslims are a population of approximately one billion, but unfortunately because of the disunity that exists among them and because of the lack of foresight that is present in their governments, they have not been able to achieve the power that Islam has foreseen for them. I implore God to cause the oppressed in all parts of the world to prevail over the oppressors, and the oppressors be put in their rightful place, and that governments and nations have fraternal ties.
[Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Libya, representing the Libyan delegation gave a speech «5» to which Imam Khomeini responded as follows:]
The issue that has become a riddle for me and the theologians of Iran and the rest of the people is the tragedy of Mr. Sadr. «6» The theologians of Iran and I have been deeply affected by this tragedy. And this has become a puzzle for us; and this puzzle will not be resolved except at the hands of the Libyan government. We want our brother Mu`ammar and the government to solve this riddle and end our anxieties. I have repeatedly stressed the importance of this issue and now I emphatically stress that this issue has a bad reflection upon the people and the theologians, and I do not want a misunderstanding to exist between our nation and your government. I ask you to solve this puzzle and help to remove our anxiety.
[After the statements of the Imam, the representative of the delegation gave some explanations to which Imam answered:]
Say «7» I did not intent to level false accusations against you or your government. What I meant is that you have it in your power to take action in this country that is close to you and- according to you «8»- he has gone there to solve this puzzle for us. We will never slander our own brothers and go against Islam, but we ask you to solve this issue because you have the power to solve this problem and to take up an investigation with the governments of the countries he has gone to and inform us of his whereabouts.
[After listening to the speech of the representative of the Libyan delegation, «9» Imam Khomeini stated:]
Yes, I too know this reality, but it is important that there be no misunderstanding among Islamic nations and governments and the Islamic Unity be always safeguarded and that all Muslims be brothers of one another. And that with regard to this issue of Mr. Sadr, I mentioned it in order that this very misunderstanding- because of the activities you undertake for the investigation of this subject- be removed and a correct understanding arrived at among the governments and nations. And you must negate these false accusations that the foreigners would like to level in order to create a rift between governments and between nations, and also their propaganda. My attempt has always been to unite the Muslims against the enemies in accordance with the commandment of Islam and that these should be a single entity just as Islam has wanted. But our main objective was that this misunderstanding be removed and for the fraternity of Iran and Libya to be safeguarded so that the hands of the foreigners who wish to sow the seeds of discord between two brothers- the two governments, the two peoples- be severed off.