In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The realization of Islamic tenets, the principal aim
I hope that all of us will be the guards and pasdars of the true religion of Islam and that God, the Blessed and Exalted, will register you brothers among the pasdars of Islam and the companions of the Holy Prophet's Household (`a).
All the strata of the nation, of course, participated in this movement, and so did you, the pasdars. All our youth also took part in it. I hope that they will remain in it from now on as well. What is important is that we know our present and future duty. The past went off well, thanks to God, but it is essential that we know what our duty is for now and, also, later.
The Islamic republic that we want has not yet come into being. Of course, the present government is an Islamic republic in accordance with the referendum that was held. It was, however, not our intention to merely vote for an Islamic republic and then have nothing more to do with the matter. We want an Islamic republic in which Islamic tenets become a reality throughout the country and, God willing, in all the Muslim lands. It is hoped that it would be so in all countries.
Freedom in Islam
To state briefly, what concerns us now is to see what we are going to do with this freedom that you gentlemen and the various strata of the people have experienced, and are now free. We are now free of the shackles of the former regime; therefore, you have come to see me unrestrainedly which you could not do in the past. We can now talk freely with one another. But what should we do with this freedom? Should we put aside all restraints now that we are free? Should we say and write whatever we want on having become free? Can we do whatever we like? Is this the meaning of freedom in the Islamic Republic that all restrictions be removed? And to let anybody say whatever he likes even if it is against the nation, against Islam and the Holy Qur'an? No, the freedom we want is what Islam had prescribed for us; it has limitations.
Freedom is within the bounds of the law. In every place in the world, the freedom that each nation enjoys is within the bounds of the law. Nobody can break the law in the name of freedom. Freedom does not mean that you- for instance- can stand in the street and, God forbid, insult every person that passes by, or beat him with a stick, claiming that you are free! Freedom does not lie in picking up a pen and writing whatever pleases you, even if it be against Islam and against the law.
The danger of abusing freedom
God, the Blessed and Exalted, is now testing us with the freedom that He has granted us. There was a time when you were not able to do anything. However, God has now favored you by driving away from the country those people that had taken away your freedom. Now that He has expelled them and bestowed this freedom upon you, He is testing you to see how you are going to use it. The bounties of God are the means of testing His creatures. Let us see whether we are going to thank Him for His blessings or show ingratitude. Being ungrateful means using our freedom to do wicked things." I am free to do anything I want to do." Even if! Being grateful for this blessing lies in using the freedom for what God, the Blessed and Exalted, has commanded. If you abuse this freedom which is a divine gift to us, it is possible that God, the Blessed and Exalted, will take His gift back in which case we will revert to our former state. We should all be heedful about not abusing our freedom.
One of the abuses is overcharging in that a person says he is free and so extort as much as he can from the poor by overpricing his goods, thus creating a taghouti-type bazaar. Extortions and unfair dealings are not things that reason can accept and about which God, the Blessed and Exalted, can be pleased. The bazaars have to become Islamic.
The difference between Islamic and democratic republics
Everything in an Islamic republic should be Islamic. The offices should be Islamic; they have yet to be transformed. The judiciary should be Islamic and the judges should be in the Islamic mold; but this has not happened up to now. The educational system should shed its colonialist trappings and become Islamic; this has not been done so far. The apparently religious merchants, who control the bazaar and feel that there is nobody to exert pressure on them over the prices, should not fleece the people. It is up to the governing authority to prevent this, and it is possible that we will give our permission to stop this extortion that is going on in the bazaar." We are free to sell heroin; we are free to sell opium; we are free to open casinos, bars and liquor stores!" Such things do not bring freedom. This is the Western kind of freedom that brings these things. The freedom in Islam is within the restrictions imposed by Islamic laws. The things forbidden by God should not be done. You are not free to do such things. There is no such freedom for the people to say about somebody who wants to gamble:" He is free; it is his own affair"! Yes, if there was democratic freedom and if the republic was democratic republic, these kinds of freedom would exist in accordance with its laws. Whoever wanted to open a wine shop could do so, and the same would have been the case with the gambling establishments. In a democratic republic, houses of prostitution are not prohibited. Those who want a democratic republic want such things; they want such freedom. We say that an Islamic republic is one that should be based on the laws of Islam. The centers of prostitution should be closed down. Our youth should not enter such centers.
The treachery of the Pahlavi family toward the young generation
They brought up our youth badly. They made them addicted to heroin and opium. They brought them up to be gamblers and drunkards. They inflicted great damage upon our country by depriving us of our workforce and rendering it useless. The workforce must remain secure in an Islamic republic. Proper use must be made of the workforce so that the nation is safe from trouble. We now have a country whose workforce was destroyed over many long years, especially during these last fifty-odd years that this dishonest father and son, this criminal father and son ruled over the country. You now have to pick up a lamp and look around to find a proper person! They did not allow an upright person to be found. They did not let our universities to be Islamic ones, humane ones. They did not let us learn our lessons properly in our school. There was pressure and repression, each one in a particular manner, in that period and this. They provided centers of prostitution for our youth and encouraged them to visit those places. It is said that there are more centers of prostitution than libraries! And it is so. I hope that all this would have been stopped by now. In any case, the damage suffered by Iran as regards the workforce is more than that suffered from the economic and other aspects. The economy could be set right quite rapidly. But as for the workforce, many years are required for one to mature into a proper person.
I hope that you will safeguard yourselves in the same way that you are Islam's protectors, and that you will keep your passions in check, and not let them get out of control and do whatever they want. Harness your passions to be subservient to Islam. Do whatever God wants you to do.
May God grant you success. May this country settle down, God willing, and all of you enjoy prosperity. May God protect you.