Speech [Monotheist religions against the (powerful entities) ; the clergy's role in the contemporary movements]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Islam is the school of movement, and the Holy Qur'an, the book of movement: movement from the natural state to the unseen; movement from materialism to spiritualism; movement for justice and for the establishment of the government of justice. Regrettably, those who wanted to plunder the East and take the Muslim nations into bondage carried out propaganda which even the people of the East- those that were neglectful of Islam and the monotheist schools- believed. Contrary to what the monotheist schools are- the schools of movement- they said that religion was the opium of the masses! That is, religion had come to lull the people into sleep, and also that the clergy were countries, the clergymen were in the service of capitalists. This is the propaganda that has been carried out for, perhaps, hundreds of years, and had intensified in recent years during the time of this father and son. This is exactly opposite to the facts.

If you study the history of the prophets, the history of Islam and its early period which is close to us, you will see that contrary to the propaganda they have been making about religion being the opium that puts the people to sleep- like an opium addict who lapses into slumber- for the capitalists to rob them, the prophets had come to awaken the people; to alert these addicts and those who had fallen into sleep. Moses (`a), the details of whose history appear in the Qur'an and other heavenly books was a person, a shepherd- he was Hadrat Shu`ayb's shepherd- who carried a staff and for a long time had mobilized the masses against the Pharaoh who was the greatest power of his (Prophet Moses') time. He did not lull the people into sleep for the Pharaoh to rob them! He awakened the people so that the Pharaoh not rob them; just the opposite of what they (the propagandists) said and which our youth believed.

The people ought to see whether Islam, which is close to us in time and the history of the Prophet of Islam accessible to everybody, had come to make the people addicted? To put them to sleep? Or whether the Qur'an is a book of combativeness; a book of struggle against the polytheists who were powerful. In saying," And wage war on all the idolaters," «1» the Qur'an is alluding to the polytheists that were the powerful entities of that time, such as the polytheists of Quraysh who possessed all the power. Did they, did the powerful ones mobilize the Prophet? Did they make him put the people to sleep so that they could rob them? Or did he rally the people! The Prophet of Islam rallied the barefooted people against the polytheists. He waged war against them and fought them until he wiped them out and established social justice. It is contrary to what the Westerners told the people of the East which many of us, regrettably, believed. Their propaganda was extensive.

In the time of Rida Khan, which most of you do not remember, or none of you are aware of, his first aim after coming to power was to wipe out the clergy. It was his primary aim. He did away with madrasahs and defrocked the clergymen. They would arrest some of the respectable clergymen in the streets and take them to the police stations. They would not tell them to go home and remove their clerical dress. They would tear off the robes and cloaks there itself and throw them away so that they (the clerics) go and wear suits, for instance!

Has Islam made the people addicted? Or does the history of Islam show that when the Prophets of Islam was in Mecca and had hidden himself out of fear of these same Quraysh and polytheists, he used to carry out propaganda clandestinely. When he could not stay there any longer, as they had joined up to kill him, he fled to Medina. The people who had accepted his invitation and accompanied him were the people of the lower class, the poor ones. They were the Sitters on the Benches [ashab as-suffah] «2» who are well known. They were some people who, lacking homes, used to come to the mosque and sleep there on a surface, in a platform. They possessed nothing. As it is said, one of them would put a date in his mouth, take it out and put it into another one's mouth who would then remove it from his mouth and give it to another person! Such was their condition. The Prophet had rallied these people against the capitalists, the polytheists and the powerful ones who used to rob the people. The propaganda of the West was that it was not so. The fact was quite opposite to what was said that the prophets had come to make the people addicted and the powerful ones to rob them! The history of the prophets is known: they came to mobilize the poor people to go and put the plunderers in their place, and establish social justice.

It is also said among the clergy that they belong to the court, and that the powerful people created them in order to make the people addicted so that they (the ones with power) could rob them. I was once seated in a bus with two of the gentlemen. It was during the days of Rida Shah. We were going from the north of the city to the south. There were also some other people in the bus, two of whom started talking with one another. One of them, pointing to us, said that it was years that he had not seen such figures. We were three clergymen (in the bus). He later said that the British had created us so that we mislead the people in Najaf and Qum and to keep them silent for the benefit of the British. That person was ignorant of course; not that he was spiteful. They had instilled this in the people's minds. They had told them such things, and the people believed them. Many of our youth had also come to believe all this, whereas our own history of the last several years; the last 100 years; when we look at the last 100 years- it was also the same before that, but these last 100 years that we consider- we find that every movement that took place was that of the clergy against the kings. The Tobacco Movement was against the king «3» of that time. The Constitutional Movement «4» was against the (then) regime but, of course, with the regime being acceptable. It took place for justice to be established. In our own time, many of the clergymen rose against Rida Khan on several occasions: once from Khorasan; once from Azerbaijan and once also from Isfahan. And they invited everyone to Qum from all parts of Iran. We had witnessed all this. All of these uprisings were against Rida Khan, He, of course, had power and was able to defeat them. He had the `ulama' of Azerbaijan arrested and sent to Sunqur, I think. Two of the `ulama'- the late A'Mirza (Ayatullah Mirza) Sadiq Aqa «5» and the late Angji «6»- were taken to Sunqur or thereabouts in Kurdistan where they spent a long time in exile. After they were released, the late A'Mirza Sadiq Aqa came to Qum and stayed there without returning to Azerbaijan. He later died there. All those `ulama' of Mashhad who staged an uprising were arrested and brought to Tehran where they were imprisoned. The senior `ulama' among them were taken bareheaded through the streets to the police station or the court to be interrogated! They broke up the strike of the `ulama' of Isfahan, who had come here, by using pressure and trickery. It even came to be known and said that they had poisoned the late Haj Aqa Nourullah, «7» who was the leading figure among them. The uprisings against them would be started by the `ulama'. But the people would also assist them to some extent, of course.

But, instead, they told the people that the priestly class was basically affiliated to the court! They said that the clergy worked for the court and wanted the monarchy to remain secure and the court to exist, whereas the clergy was opposed to them. But they made propaganda that was contrary to the fact. Why? Because they saw that there were two forces and that if these two forces remained, their masters would not be able to derive any benefit from Iran. Their experts had realized that if these two forces remained in the eastern countries, they would have to wash their hands of the East. One of these powers was Islam. If Islamic power remained and ruled in the East, it would not allow them to come and take away everything of ours, and destroy whatever human and non-human resources we had. The other power was the clergy. And if this class remained, the people who supported them would not allow them to derive any benefits. So these two forces, Islam and the clergy, the power of Islam, had to be neutralized because religion is the opium of the masses. Even some of our wicked writers would say these things from time to time. Such a thing is said even now. This is being mentioned today as well, while they have seen with their own eyes that it was the clergy that mobilized the people to rise against the regime. They cannot stand this; they want to break this power. That is, they are the agents of those who want to destroy this power. They studied the matter and concluded that in case this power remained intact and the masses, who supported the clergy, raised their voices of protest, the others would join them. So, they had to do something to break the power of the clergy among the people themselves. During the days of Rida Khan, they created such a situation in which the drivers (of cabs) - as it used to be said- would not allow the clergymen to enter their cars. A friend of mine, one of the `ulama' of that time- may God bless his soul- said that when he wanted to hire a cab to come from Iraq to Qum (Iran), the driver told him that they had agreed not to allow two groups into their cars: the prostitutes and the clerics. Such was the propaganda in Rida Shah's time. That is, it was propaganda; not that the driver himself, wanted it to be so. They had persuaded that driver in that way. The propaganda was such that they had persuaded the drivers. Their (the enemies) agents were everywhere; they were engaged everywhere in making propaganda against the clergy. Why? Because if they developed in power and had the standing that they ought to have in the community, they would not allow every other entity or country to come and devour some corner of this land. That fellow «8» used to say that Iran would be partitioned without him, and would become Iranistan! He is not here anymore and Iran is the same Iran. Neither was it partitioned, and nor did it become Iranistan. And their links to the country have also been severed.

Brothers! Be aware, the devils are still there; they who want to do these two things. One is that Islam should be rejected; it is outdated. These accursed people, these lackeys of others, are even now saying the same thing: " Islam belongs to the period of 1,400 years ago!" They want to destroy this Islam which became such a driving force as to destroy this regime. It was the motivating force, the cry of Islam that destroyed the regime. They are their servants. They are traitors, either knowingly and of their free will, or out of ignorance! These same people want to break that second power, too! It is now worse than before. The foreigners have now felt that Islam is able to do such a thing, and that the clergymen also are able to so such a thing. They are now doing more propaganda than they were doing at that time. Their lackeys are now doing more propaganda than before. Those people who have come here from abroad and are now engaged in hatching plots will do, and are doing, this propaganda more than before. Thus you read of those same issues in some of their articles. However, they cannot say so openly; they are saying it implicitly in a certain way. They cannot say it openly and frankly. They mention those same issues implicitly. These are the same issues that existed from the beginning of Rida Khan's time. They had existed even before him. But those two issues and the propaganda over them had existed from the beginning of his rule until now when his son went away from Iran: propaganda against Islam; propaganda against the clergy; in other words,(propaganda against) Islam and those serving it. These two propaganda issues had been there from the time of Rida Shah. In those days, many of the people- because of the extensive propaganda, the pressure that was exerted from that side and the prosecution to which the clergymen were subjected- came to believe the propaganda then being carried out. During this one's (ex-Shah) time, too, many of our youth, having being tricked and deceived, turned their backs on Islam and the clergy.

They have now understood that it was the power of Islam that demolished this big barrier. It was the power of the clergy that rallied the people everywhere. Wherever you went you would see that the clergy of that city had mobilized the people, uniting all of them. They had the people gather in the mosques and by the altars and united them until they demolished this barrier. Once again a certain group, certain people want to mention these issues implicitly and explicitly, with various approaches. That is, those same issues that were voiced by certain individuals in the days of Rida Khan are once again emanating from the throats of a group of people:" Islam is antiquated. Islam cannot work anymore. The clergy and the priests should attend to their own affairs! They should see to what they ought to. They want to establish a priestly dictatorship!" I do not know where this priestly dictatorship is! Really, which clergyman is dictator that they speak about this?

In any case, brothers, be vigilant. Those same traps which existed at that time and brought us misfortune, and made Islam and the clergy fall into disfavor with the people- of course, not all of them- and the intellectuals, the same plots, the same issues, and the same words are still there. Large numbers of people get together and keep on forming groups! We took the trouble; the clergy took the trouble of making the people band together until they accomplished this task and demolished this barrier. But now a number of groups have appeared. If you read the newspapers you will see this group and that group appears everyday; clusters of them. They are nothing as such but keep on forming into small groups. The same groups of people that had disbanded because Islam wanted to unite all of them and the clergy took the trouble of doing so, are now pretending that they are for the nation; for the people. If the same ones that are making such claims to intellectualism are traitors, well, it is clear that they speak out of prudence. But if they are not traitors, they are not so intelligent to see that attempts are being made once again to split the people into groups, the groups that linked up and merged together giving rise to a tremendous flood that smashed this big dam. They want this group and that group of people to withdraw and for everybody to get separated so that the way be opened once again for those who want to derive benefits.

Be careful that you do not get separated into groups. This country succeeded because of the unity of expression. Do not disperse the people." And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate." «9» Accept this Qur'anic verse. Hold fast, all of you to the rope that is Islam, which links you to God. Do not get separated from one another. Do not separate. Do not keep on making your oaths separate. That path is of such-and-such a movement; of such-and-such party; of such-and-such a group and, God knows of what faction. Do not separate the people from one another. Remain together; be friends.

Forming parties, with this one and that one pulling the people from this side and that, is tantamount to creating enemies. Keep yourselves under one banner, all of you, under one flag, the same flag that has led you to victory so far. Remain under it from now onward, too. You will be victorious, God willing, if you do so.

I am hopeful that they (the opponents) will not be able to create a serious split again. May God give you success, and may you be safe.