Speech [The attempts of the enemies to separate religion from politics; the conspiracy to prevent Islamic rule]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

In the early days of Islam, the mosque and the pulpit were the centers of political activity. Many of the wars that took place in Islam were planned either in the mosque or from the pulpit. With reference to some of the sermons compiled in the Nahj al-Balaghah, Hadrat Amir (`a) was a great orator and the pride of the preachers. With his magnificent sermons, he would mobilize the people for the defense of Islam. In similar vein, instructions pertaining to moral and ideological issues and all other matters are to be found in this sacred book. The mosque was the place where political activities would begin. The pulpit was also the place where sermons would be given; sermons that were political and constructive in nature. Unfortunately, extensive propaganda has been carried out from perhaps nearly three hundred years ago, that is from the time the Westerners set foot here and made general studies on the peoples of the East, and looked into their political, social and moral condition and circumstances. At that time, there were no means of transportation such as the present ones. History tells us that the people used camels for traveling. The Westerners would make a survey of our country's deserts and wild tracts of land; they surveyed every place. They are aware of our underground resources better than we ourselves do. They made a study of all the groups of the country, whether the border-dwellers and tribes, or the city-dwellers and intellectuals, and concluded that the mosque, the altar and the university should be so fashioned as to render them unproductive. That is, to forestall the result that Islam wants from the mosque, the altar and the university.

Regarding the mosque, the pulpit and the clergy, their agent, Rida Khan, came and- perhaps most of you do not remember what he did- put an end to all the sermons from the pulpit. The mosques were half-closed and the commemorative meetings (for the martyrs of Karbala and other saints of the Prophet's Holy Household) stopped. All the clerics were subjected to the mischief they did removed their turbans. They pulled off their robes; they made changes. The preachers, prayer-leaders, big and small, were all subjected to pressure. An important act that affected the university and also the pulpit, the altar and the clergy was the widespread propaganda- that was done to misrepresent the issue to the clergy itself- over the clergy's role in politics. The clergy had nothing to do with politics! The clerics had better go and say their prayers! They ought to cover their heads with their cloaks and go to pray, after which they could give a short sermon and return home! What did they have to do with the affairs of the country?! What did they have to do with the needs of the people?! These issues concerned only them (the regime)!

When it was arranged for us to come from that prison to that confinement, «2» this Pakravan- it seems that he has been executed- who was the head of the Organization «3» at that time, dropped in there. Mr. Qummi «4» and I were sitting together. He (Pakravan) came there and said that politics is a matter in which there is falsehood, wickedness and what not. His final word was that politics was rascality! He said that politics should be left to them! I said that he could keep the politics, as portrayed by him, for himself!

Such was the propaganda that a mulla (a clergyman) entering the field of politics, wanting to talk about the government, the Majlis and the political problems of the people- would be referred to in clerical circles as being `political' and therefore, of no use! This( being `political' )was the same virtue that `Ali ibn Abi Talib, a statesman, possessed. His being a statesman is evident from his sermons and his letter issuing instructions to Malik al-Ashtar that are all political in nature. We had been negligent of the origin of this matter, of early Islam, of the excellence of the policies of the Noble Messenger, of those of the Commander of the Faithful (`a) and the covert ones of the Imams (`a) who would implement them in a dissimulative manner. They (ex-regime) had instilled the idea into us- and had blinded even us to its meaning- that we had no right to interfere in these (political) affairs! Thinking that we would be rather pleased, they said that we were above politics and that it was beneath our dignity to interfere in political affairs! They said that being distinguished clergymen, we ought to refine the people's morals and lecture them in ethics, etc. They deprived the pulpits (sermons) of the meaning they ought to have had which was to take part in the country's political affairs. They also deprived the mosques, the clergy and the theological centers of the substance, that Islam had wanted them to have, of attending to these affairs (of the country). The" occurring events" should be referred to the clergy. What are" occurring events"? They are these same political issues. Islamic tenets are not part of the events; these are recurring events «5» and should be referred to the Islamic jurisprudents. The events are these political ones. These consist of the matter that nations come up against. These are the things that ought to be referred to others who are for example, at the helm of affairs. Otherwise, question on religious precepts are not part of" events"; they are the things that have always been there.

In any case, they have deprived us of that quality which I, a seminarian, and you, a preacher, ought to have. This was their greatest crime. It was clear that the pressure exerted by Rida Shah would get him nowhere. Nothing can be accomplished by using pressure and force, and as you saw, they were overthrown. Pressure could not achieve anything; trickery had to be employed. This was the next step: to say that he (ex-Shah) was a supporter of Islam; that he accepted Islamic social justice and that he would not stop even then. Just few days ago, I read in a magazine that he does not fear the people as he is a Muslim! He was once again under the impression that he could do it again[ ]In any case, what is important for us is just what took place, thanks to God, these past two or three years in which the preachers and prayer leaders traversed a path that should have taken hundred years to do so. All the people and the universities made headway that ought to have taken a hundred years. That is, a spiritual transformation had occurred in the society. The point is that the preachers who never dared to mention political issues out of fear of the audience or they, themselves, believed that it should not be done, were now transformed into committed individuals- as we observed these past two or three years- and discussed the same issues of Islam that were raised in its early days. The altars (prayer leaders) were transformed into what they had been at the advent of Islam; the case of the preachers was the same. The bazaar underwent a transformation. The merchants who never allowed themselves to dabble in political matters entered the political arena and involved themselves in political affairs. The universities were transformed. Some people in the university circles who used to think that Islam would not work and that it was not dynamic came to understand that all movement stemmed from Islam. The Qur'an is a book of action and motion. They, too, joined you. The bazaar also joined the people. The workers also joined everybody else. The employees also joined all the people. And in the end the army also joined everybody else. This was a divine matter. This cannot be attributed to anybody. We can only attribute it to God. God brought this about. It was the will of God that favored the people and united all of them in such a way that the army joined (the people) and so did the gendarmerie. All the people joined together and with one voice demanded the same thing. They wanted an Islamic republic; they did not want the regime.

This was a transformation that human beings could not have brought about. It was a divine transformation. That is, the Muqallib al-Quloub[ Transformer of Hearts ]affected it. He removed that dread from the hearts (of the people); the dread that everyone had of these regimes. He had them shed their fear, and in its place planted the will to be courageous so much so that women, children and men [surged into the streets]. When was there a precedent for women to join the struggle and face tank and cannon?! It was a spiritual transformation that God, the Blessed and Exalted, wrought in this nation. We shall prevail as long as we safeguard this transformation and also this movement just as we have done up to now.

Make efforts! You gentlemen, whose duty is heavier, the profession nobler and responsibility greater than all the other classes, should make the people aware that we have just a few steps more to reach the point where- as you had mentioned- the president has to be elected, the Consultative Assembly established and the Constitution approved. You and I, the preachers and the prayer leaders, the clergy and the other classes as well as the academics and the scientists are duty-bound to strive collectively in order to have these tasks accomplished quickly.

You should take not that we wanted to hold a referendum about which the whole nation was united. Who was opposed to it? Why? Some of the people- those who had no faith in Islam; those who paid no attention to it, and the ones that did not want Islam to have a part in the proceedings- boycotted the referendum; some of them boycotted it in Kurdistan. Some people, who were communists and the ones in Tehran that were in league with them, also did not take part; some groups and parties. Though their number was not much, they, nevertheless, set the ballot boxes on fire in some places and, with force of arms, prevented the people from voting in others. These very people, who were trying to prevent the Islamic Republic from being voted in, had no objection to the" Republic" part of it; they were against its being Islamic!" Republic" was good enough for them, whether they were associated with the East or West; they had no objection to this part of it. The word" Islamic" had to be removed and replaced with" Republic". All of us were friends! ... That is, we had to remove" Islam" so that they who had kept Islam aside became our friends!

You have to see now who those people- please note- the ones that are saying that they will hold demonstrations until the Constituents' Assembly is formed, are; who are the ones that have linked up and what their aim is in this matter. Their aim is that it should take six months for the members of the Constituents' Assembly to be nominated and two months for scrutinizing the credentials of five, six or seven hundred individuals in order to see whether they are suitable or not. It will take approximately one, two or three years for the arguments and wrangling over each and every case to come to an end. What is to happen if these devils cause a delay of a month or two over an article of law? In case these remnants that can now be easily uprooted and thrown out are to gain fresh vigor; if these various people are to link up and unite, and by so joining together obstruct the real vote being given to the Islamic Republic, the problems of the past will then return.

This is the crux of the matter. However, there are people among them who are under the wrong impression but are not evil-intentioned. They possess faulty information; they are mistaken; they are under the influence of those that are malicious. Some others possess evil intentions and are acting according to a plan. Investigate and find out who these people are joining together. Are they bazaar merchants? Are they preachers or prayer leaders? Or are they groups that have nothing to do with Islam? In fact, some of them are bitterly opposed to it. Those who say that they are no longer under Pahlavi dictatorship but are now under that of the clergy, are not afraid of dictatorship. They are prepared to live under communist dictatorship. They fear the clergy; they fear the turbaned-men. They fear Islam; not dictatorship, the worst form of which is the communist one. The West does not have that kind of dictatorship. They do not fear it. Islam dealt them a blow; such a blow as to instill fear into them.

You have perhaps more than a thousand friends there. They are more than that, thanks to God. May He increase their number. You must make it known to all of them in my behalf; a humble notice that a poor person with outstretched arms is asking them to announce from the pulpits that the nation does not want the Constituents' Assembly in the form proposed. Explain the matter to the people. It is not an issue of the economy or housing that I could do without; it is a matter concerning the Qur'an. Can we overlook it? We cannot overlook it! Those who say that they will boycott (the proceedings) if there is no Constituents' Assembly are these same communists that had stayed away. They are saying the same thing again. Or it is somebody who is making a mistake; his mistake has to be eliminated. Their aim, of which the well intentioned people are heedless, is to have the matter postponed.(They want) postponement after postponement and a Constituents' Assembly as it is in the West, with us always having to imitate the West. Unfortunately, they have not given up this obsession with the West. It will take six months for the individuals to be nominated to the Constituents' Assembly for seven hundred or eight hundred individuals; that is, if they do not create any obstructions. Subsequently, it will take some months for an assembly to be actually set up and its rules and regulations written. After that, God alone knows how long it is going to be under consideration in the way the devils want.

We want to create an Islamic country, not a Western-type one. We do not need Western jurists. One who is an expert in Western jurisprudence and its Westernized meaning is not competent at all. He is not competent to have anything to do with our Constitution. We do not want to have the Constitution of Moscow nor that of America. We want to frame an Islamic Constitution. Islamic experts should have a say in it. The clergymen are experts on Islam; and some others in their circles too. Although they are from other professions, they, nevertheless, possess Islamic and political knowledge. We want to nominate these people. That is, not that we want them; rather, the whole nation wants these very people. We are publicizing, and you are also publicizing this matter of the need to nominate such people. It is now the duty of you gentlemen; your friends and brothers, and also the duty of our friends to keep this in mind that the plan the government will give is the right one. Everybody should assist the government so that the Constitution is put to a referendum.

It was last night that I read in the newspaper of the Swiss ambassador having stated that his country's Constitution is to be put to referendum, and that it is the custom everywhere. If we go to their ministries, we will see that they are unacceptable (to us). If we go to their offices, we will find them not to our liking. We do not want such a thing. Our nation wants Islam to be realized in form. That is, anybody entering a ministry should feel that he has entered a temple, a place in which the people are pious. If he entered the gendarmerie (building), he should not find it like it was in the past when Rida Khan had once entered the premises. At that time, it had been written that he had gone into the gendarmerie office and, placing his hands in his pockets, had stated that he was afraid they would rob him. It should not be like this.

The commanders of the Islamic armies were also the congregational prayer leaders. The commander, sent to some place as governor or as the head of an army division, would also be the congregational prayer leader. They were pious people. Not that they were merely congregational prayer leaders; no. They were pious. We now want it to be like this that our Chief of Staff leads by example. They are following his example. We want it to be like this. We want things to be such that Islam is evident wherever we go in the country. This is our objective. It was not our purpose just to say that we want an Islamic republic and to leave it at that. We now have to accomplish all these tasks. The important thing now for all of you to bear in mind is this plan given by the government by which the people should nominate seventy-five individuals, following which their cases will be appraised and the referendum then held. Accept this plan and instill it into the people that it is the right one. And the other ones- considering that we want it to be carried

out soon- are just to delay the matter. There are- I should say- plots and conspiracies. The devils intend to band together.

I thank you for coming here to visit me in person and to talk about our problems. May God assist all of you.

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