Speech [Roots of the Islamic Revolution; heavy responsibility of the university and seminary; SAVAK agents]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate the Merciful

There are two types of fundamental problems that may be classified as major and minor. The first must be argued today, while the latter will be introduced after materialization of the first. If we introduce the minor problems, they will surely overshadow the principles and disputes may arise and bring the movement into a deadlock. Therefore, in my mind for the time being there are two things that helped us to gain victory; one was the principle and the other came to being at the materialization of the principle.

The principle was the fact that people entered the scene in the name of Islam and as representatives of faith. Because they all were unanimous in faith and Islam, all strata of the people united and gained victory, which was unity of deed and creed indeed. Some thought it would be impossible but we made it possible. They termed it impossible because they saw only empty handed people with no political organization in front of the armed forces; do not consider now that we have some guns; there were no guns in the beginning and people picked up whatever they could stones and sticks, knives and canes to fight the regime. Women came out hugging their babies, etc.

The key to victory was all-out chanting of slogans against the corrupt regime and seeking establishment of the Islamic Revolution. This made something that was impossible in the world, possible, which is the victory of nothing over everything- of course, by materialistic calculations. The Iranian nation advanced this revolution under the light of Islam and which the power of spirituality. This faith imposed failure on the most powerful countries and they could not keep the Shah on his throne. In Paris, they contacted me and advised me against going to Iran, because they said," it is too soon, and we will back you up". We gained victory over armed forces empty handed, because we were united. All strata of the people in hamlets, villages, and cities allover Iran united, and it was not possible but in the light of Islam. Nothing could be mobilized so fast and so effectively in the absence of Islam. You gained victory in the light of Islam.

Of course, we are not enjoying the final victory. I think the situation is more critical than those days that we used to attack the enemy and we used to mobilize people for fighting. That time all the concern of the people was to smash the barrier; the high barrier was an obstacle to our progress. They did not pay attention to their issues. All people intended to break apart this barrier regardless of their food, debts, claims, etc. There was no attention to this and people increased pressure day by day to break it apart.

It is in the nature of all revolutions that the days before the final victory are the most sensitive periods. People come to realize what the change is. They think to their life, debts, claims, livelihood, and the like. The United States will not leave us alone. It will make its experts study the situation of Iran. They had started their psychological studies a hundred years ago or more; and they know what to do. Today, their agents have mixed with all strata of the people to draw a comparison between the government of Shah and the Islamic Republic and say," Well, what happened?" Their agents want to disappoint people, and want to make them turn away from the revolution in order to collapse the revolution and gain power again in Iran.

When we review our estimations and anticipations to compare past and present we will find out that whatever has been done has been nothing less than a miracle; what does it mean to say," What happened?" You have thus far been captives of SAVAK that had its roots everywhere possible and tortured people. Photos of some of their imprisonments and tortures make us terrified. All that they did with people in the dark jails! Was it a menial gift that this revolution presented to you? Breaking the barriers astonished all political observers and all scholars. How was it possible? The foreigners had clasped our oil reservoirs and our underground mineral reservoirs. Instead, they established military bases in Iran to say that they compensated for it with dispatching arms that Iran did not know how to use. They plundered oil and gave us the arms. They sent arms for themselves, for use in their military base; otherwise, we did not know how to use them. They gathered heavy artillery in Iran to have a strong base in this country for possible war with the Soviet Union. They plundered oil and built bases for their military personnel, under the name of giving us back our oil money.

Another major achievement of this revolution was cutting short the hands of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union from our country's reservoirs. Today, oil is ours- I would say- other reservoirs are ours. Oil and all other reservoirs belong to us.

Some mercenaries publicize questions such as," What is the change and what improvements have been made in the state of affairs," in order to suppress the Revolution. They go to factories and succeed sometimes, because the laborers are not familiar with political affairs. They go to farmers and make them disappointed in line with their plots. If these agents allow us to work, all future programs will be materialized fast.

Consider the referendum, for instance, which all strata of the people welcomed happily. Was it in favor of the nation that the agents of enemies set fire to the ballot boxes, or prevented people from voting by brandishing guns and knives? They even forbade the referendum. «1» Were they really proponents of the nation? Or, they sought the closing of the referendum and staging crises and returning the past regime or something similar to that? Referendum was a national issue that people welcomed. Almost 99.5 percent of the people voted for and half a percent voted against the Islamic Republic. All internal enemies of the revolution were less than half a percent. Why did they prevent a referendum that all strata of the people wished to participate in? Why do they prevent it? People want to build houses for the deprived ones «2»; all strata of the people gave money, women granted their gold and life savings to build houses for the deprived ones. These agents have infixed themselves in all strata of the people to prevent materialization of these projects. Why? Is this in disfavor of people? What you want to do for the deprived is not in their favor.

Nay, it is not the question. The problem is that they want to create civil disorder in the country and prevent implementation of the welfare projects.

When there is no peace and when people do not meet their expectations, civil unrest will be the result and that will be ideal for the enemies. Otherwise, is building houses for the deprived and the workers something bad? Is it contrary to the expediency of the nation? Why do they want to prevent it? As regards agriculture, why do they prevent farming? Is farming harmful for the nation? Such is the case in factories. They seek staging unrest in the country and publicizing in the countries which want to plunder us, that an Iranian Islamic government is unable to administer the affairs and invite one to come and manage the country. They want to achieve this by a coup and return the previous government, even more corrupt than before, and God knows how long they will press the nation worse then before.

Hear this from me that we are in the middle of our path. We have not reached our goal. The goal was throwing out all these plunderers of public treasury. To this point, we cut short the hands of some of these people and some managed to take their money and escape from Iran. Praise be to Allah, they are away from us now, but God willing, we will take back the nation's treasury from them. For the moment, we have overcome some difficulties and we have uprooted some obstacles to human, national, intellectual, and natural development. However, there are some obstacles yet to be removed. Some of the enemies are still in Iran busy propagating against the Islamic Republic and they are doing their best to ignite oppositions with any device and at any cost.

The most important thing to do, when we have the country in control, is gaining self-sufficiency. We must reconstruct our economy, our agriculture, our university, and our judiciary system. All of these areas are underdeveloped. We have inherited them from the previous government. They are yet to be revolutionized and our government is transitional for the time being. It is not a permanent government. Therefore, the major concern will be safeguarding the Islamic Revolution and uniting the students in the universities and theological schools. In the past, the government disunited the theological schools and universities, both of which were and still are the most important pillars of the country. They introduced these two enemies of each other by propagation. Unfortunately, this propagation was effective in all of us. This group cursed the other and the other group did the same. We were indulged in cursing each other and the enemy reaped the anticipated results. They divided and disunited all strata of the people: they sowed the seeds of discord between the businessman and the laborer, between the laborer and other, etc. This was all in line with preventing unity between the people. This movement strengthened our unity. The academicians approved whatever the businessmen said and these believed in whatever the clerics said. All believed in and said the same thing that the farmer said.

If we fail to safeguard the Islamic Revolution, and if we- God forbid- lose this revolution, past cruelty and past oppression and suppression will return harsher than before. These foreigners had not experienced defeat, they had not imagined failing in Iran, but the Islamic revolution defeated them here in Iran. They sensed the danger and did their best to prevent unity of all strata of the people. They knew nothing could withstand the national will of a united nation. They have come to know this today more palpably and they have equipped themselves to divide us. One blessing of the revolution can be seen today. You respected academicians never ever came to sit with us and talk to us but today; thanks to the blessings of the movement you have come here to exchange views and express pains and concerns. Previously, the government did not allow any relations between the clerics and the factory workers. Today, however, the relations have been improved. Today, on Thursdays and Fridays we see many people from all strata of the people, students and workers, average people and military personnel gathering in the Faydiyyah Madrasah. Men and women gather together with no hatred or fear of one another; neither the military nor the people have any fear or hatred of one another. They attend such gatherings and exchange views. We must protect and promote this value. The enemies want to sow the seeds of discord and disagreement among us, in ways that seem quite appropriate to us.

There were all these problems in the past regime, and I used to mention them. However, the government was powerful and efforts were not useful. Before the month of Ramadan- they feared this month because people used to gather in the mosques for supplications and there was the pulpit and everything was ready for opposition groups- they doubled their attempts to sow the seeds of discord among people. They kindled an unimportant matter to overshadow the major one; they did the same before the month of Muharram. Before the month of Ramadan, they stirred up the issue of Shahid-e Javid «3» and generally, they had something to work on during the month. A group used to curse another group and there was harsh argumentation all in vain. The schemers used to sit aside and deride us igniting their plot. They wasted all the month of Ramadan on a book that was not worth it. They tempted us to say something, for or against the book. They deviated us from saying something against him (the Shah), and we talked about ourselves. When this crisis was about to subside, they raised another one to prevent another gathering. At a time, they argued the issue of the late Shamsabadi. «4» I guess, as some others have made such conjecture, they themselves slaughtered him to initiate unrest. This wasted the time of both the clerics and the average people, then the SAVAK realized that the tide was subsiding. Then, they waited for another month of Ramadan or Muharram to sow the seeds of discord. At a time, they introduced the issue of Dr. Shari`ati and screening and asking about his ideas. The clerics- not realizing the plot- used to go to the pulpits and speak about it. A group of inexperienced young people used to chant slogans for or against the person, and there were two groups opposing one another and enemies fished in the troubled water.

Today is the most sensitive period in the history of the Islamic Revolution. We must set aside the trivial matters and focus on the more important issues. Today we need national unity. The United States is our archenemy and we must take it seriously. We must also pay serious attention to the enmity of the archenemies on the West and East, those who want to plunder us, to plunder the entire East not just Iran for sure. Iran is a part of the project. They want to plunder the reservoirs of the East, prevent intellectual growth of our youth, and prevent reopening of the universities. When it is the time for getting ready for examinations, they mislead the students to trivial matters to lead them astray of their education. We must take heed to identify the enemies' hands and to prevent ourselves from becoming their playthings and being indulged in unrest, and help them enjoy whatever they wish. Universities and schools must be on alert to prevent helping the agents of enemies who are among us, to sow the seeds of discord among to us to subside the movement and to return the past suppression and oppression.

We must consider the priorities for the time being. True, we have problems and hardships. We are all suffering from these. Problems are not exclusive to the academicians; all people suffer from these problems. It is not the right time to concentrate on menial problems; today is the day of advancing our principles by forming a parliament of people's representatives from everywhere. Then, it will be the right time to consider the trivial matters. Today, all of us- you and me- are accountable, answerable in the presence of God, in view of the nation and the coming generations. Now, we are at a level in society that we can work better. We can form an expert's assembly and consultative assembly by the unity of expression we have today. We can form a permanent government and if we do this, everything will be in favor of the people.

Today all of you should try to be united. The academicians and the clergies, both influential members, should pay attention to unity. The academicians must not try to neglect the clerics, because people are with them. The nation supports the clerics. Wherever they want to take the nation, they will follow the clerics, because people regard them as representatives of the Imam of the Time- may Allah expedite his glorious advent. Do not lose them; they are great potential powers. Do not leave this power. This is not the first time I am recommending this. When I was in Najaf, I used to say we would fail if we forget the clerics. We are not dynamic and energetic today, but the clerics can work effectively. Do not leave this group alone. The clerics, on the other hand, must not understate the academicians. Our administration system is in the hands of the universities. Our tomorrow will be in the hands of the academicians. These two groups must come to new terms with each other. Both groups are among the intellectual, but alas, one group thinks the other is fanatic, and another group considers the other infidel. It was the domineering thought in the past, but today these two groups are united for political growth. You must understand the seeds of discord come from elsewhere, from those who publicize Islam minus clerics. They beguile you from abroad. Clerics should know that academicians are the constructive members of the society and our future salvation will be in the hands of these people, and on the other hand, destroying Iran will be possible by the academicians. These two groups should unite. Do not lose control in the ruckus. Keep united, be colleagues, and advance this movement.

Failure of the movement, no future for the country. God only knows that if this movement falls, there will be no bright future for the country. You are all accountable. There is no distinct difference between me a cleric and you academicians. Both of us are answerable. It is neither on your shoulders nor on mine. I work as far as possible and you must work as far as possible. And all of us should focus on the principle matters. We must meet these principal needs first, and then come to trivial matters. Do not put the trivial matters on your agenda for the time being. Pay serious attention to the establishment of a permanent government, a form of government that could uproot the corrupted roots of evil in this country. When we establish our government, the academicians, clerics, and other strata of the people will introduce their problems.

The representatives of all strata of the people I visit here talk about their problems, and they are right. The Bakhtiyari people come here and say nowhere else was as destroyed as theirs. They complain about lack of water, electricity and other necessities. Balouch people repeat the same. The people of Kurdistan come and say the same things. So say the people of Khouzestan. All of them are right. Nothing has been done for the development of their regions. For the former regime did not aim to do anything for the people; they aimed to plunder; they did not want to do anything. They did not do anything for the shanty houses in Tehran's suburb- about thirty districts of shanty houses of the disinherited people. They have neither water nor electricity, nor anything else. They did not aim to do something for them; they aimed to work only for a certain sector, those who were the beneficiaries, or were gaining interests, and not for others.

Every one of them is correct. But it is not time for the Bakhtiyaris to seek meeting all their demands promptly. This may lead to the disappointment of the people and the government, then the movement may fail and the past suppression and oppression may return. All of us should guide people. You academicians! You must guide your classmates. Warn them of the treacherous hands and agents that to seek sow the seeds of discord among you.

I ask the Almighty God to help us get familiar with our obligations and duties and cast a more realistic and Islamic view at the problems, abstain from making mistakes, keep strengthening our unity and not allow the subsiding of the Islamic movement. Let us advance this movement in order to make an Islamic government, which is the best of governments. Islamic government differs from all other forms of government in the best of which they prevent theft, sabotage, and help material development, but Islam pays attention to the spiritual development of people too. The other governments do not insist on preventing evils; rather they prefer to have it hidden. And the people are free to do everything in their houses, to be corrupt in their houses but not outside. Do not come out for demonstration and observe discipline, rules, and regulations, then do whatever you want. This is what the other good governments want. Those bad ones are just in search of their own benefits.

Islam pays equal attention to all aspects of human life. Islam has everything ready for your child before marriage, for selecting one's wife, one's husband, and the qualifications of both genders for a mutual life. This is because man is considered like a plant that ought to grow. It is like a farmer who inspects the land before sowing the seeds, inspects the fertilizer, water, etc. Man is like the seed. Before the plantation of man, his land should be prepared and the planter of the man should possess some qualifications. When they get married, Islam prescribes how and when the intercourse might be. Islam pays equal attention to all aspects, because it wants to shape a man. The Qur'an is the book of human perfection. The Book wants to make man in a form he deserves. A man who favors Qur'anic teaching comes out somebody like Mudarris. «5» He was like a group who resisted against Rida Khan's rule. He was old but stood up against Rida Khan, against the rule of the Soviet Union, who wanted to attack Iran. The foreigners fear perfect men; therefore, they prevent rearing perfect men in the universities. They did the same in our schools in the past. They wanted to disturb everywhere, the mosques, everywhere.

We are obligated to do our best to safeguard this movement until its final establishment, in order to see empowerment of an Islamic government. We must establish a religious government that could be a model in the world, to show the foreigners what democracy is, what does freedom mean. They complain about lack of freedom and human rights violations in Iran because we detain and punish the assassins and thieves, but when the enemies kill influential people like Mr. Mutahhari, they remain silent.

We want to form a form of Islamic government to show them what human rights means, what freedom is, what the rights of women are, the rights of men, and the rights of farmers. We want to form such a thing if the satanic powers, the mercenaries of the Great Satan, do allow us to do so. Then, they will see how Islam respects the laborers, the farmers, religious minorities, and all strata of the people. However, they do not give us a chance to work on it. I wish all the best for you and for all strata of the people. I feel tired now, and at another opportunity, I will talk about it more.

May God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.