Speech [The duty of the Islamic Guards in facing the internal and external enemies]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I wish to thank you the Islamic Guards for two reasons. One is that you have come from afar to meet me and say what you want to say. We will also speak to you in case we have something to say. The other matter is that you are guards, the guards of Islam. I hope that all of us can be the guards of Islam and the Holy Qur'an.

One part of guarding Islam is that a large number of people are, thanks to God, engaged in protecting the length and breadth of the country. The order of the country is now in their hands. Had it not been for them, this orderliness would not have existed. But there is a kind of guard duty that is above this, and that is guarding Islam, the tenets of Islam and oneself. Just as a country has its thieves, traitors and criminals, and crimes and treacheries ought to be prevented by standing guard- thanks to God that the Islamic guards are preventing them- so also is the satanic army present in large numbers within the human being, and which will destroy him if he is not on his guards. If our Islamic guards also keep guard over themselves so that this service in which they are engaged is done sincerely and lovingly for Islam and in the straight path of Islam; if they do so, they will have discharged their guard duty.

God forbid, if some deviation occurs; if there is any transgression against their brothers by those who say that they are the guards of Islam, and, now that they are powerful, strong and free, misuse this power, strength and freedom, and, God forbid, transgress against their brothers and the homes of the people, then it would not be like any ordinary person doing it- the ordinary person who does such things is also a criminal. It would be a number of people under the name of the guards of the Islamic Republic and in the uniform of the guards. If something wrong is done and a mistake committed, God forbid, by the guards of the army of Islam and of the Islamic Republic, it would be different from the case of an ordinary person doing it. The reason is that they introduce themselves as being of the army of Islam and the guards of Islam, with the people expecting the guards of Islam to conduct themselves on Islamic lines, and their actions to be Islamic.

Similarly in the case of two clergy that are protectors of Islam and Islamic tenets, one clothed in the robes of the clergy committing an offense is different from the case of ordinary persons as they are the protectors of Islam and are dressed in clerical robes; in the robes of the protectors of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. God forbid, if at any time they do something wrong or make a mistake, it will not be the same as the case of an ordinary person doing such a thing. Therefore, you young people who are the guards of the Islamic Republic, and the clergy who are the protectors of Islamic tenets and the Qur'an, have heavy duty and a noble profession. The profession is noble as safeguarding Islam is a most noble profession and carries great responsibility. You ought to safeguard these rules and laws of the country. It should just not be that you are Islamic guards, and we say that we are clergymen and you say that you are Islamic guards, but, God forbid, not carry out the duties that the guards and the clergy have to perform. Just as we claim to be the guards and the protectors of the Islamic Republic and Islamic tenets, so also should we initially observe Islamic limits. Our path should be the straight one of Islam so that what we claim is accepted by God. If we suppose that the people are not aware that we are doing something wrong, God is aware of it; it is done in His presence. In such an event, we cannot claim before God that we are Islamic guards because acting contrarily to Islamic principles, God forbid, and then claiming that we are the watchmen of Islam is meaningless. One who acts against Islam cannot say that he is an Islamic guard. A person who is a thief himself cannot say that he is a watchman or a policeman. One cannot be a policeman while being a thief; he is not a policeman, he is a thief. If an Islamic guard, God forbid, does not conform to Islamic norms, he cannot be a guard. He is a person who is against Islam.

Brothers! Try to reform yourselves and to keep guard over yourselves. Your safeguarding the Islamic Republic will be accepted by God, the Blessed and Exalted, when you guard yourselves. It is valuable thing; most valuable. At such a time when Islam need guards and the people who are against Islam and the Islamic Republic are busy hatching plots, there is a need to have guards at such a juncture. You must keep guard over yourselves and also over the Islamic Republic. May God make all of you successful. May you be triumphant and successful, God willing, Mr. Madani «1» will proceed to Hamedan, God willing, after he has straightened out his affairs a bit in Tabriz. May you be successful, God willing.