Speech [Worrying for Islam; the offenses committed by the authorities are the cause of the school becoming vulnerable]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The Islamic guards, the `ulama' and the other classes of the people have assembled here. The matter that worries me, and will also worry the gentlemen if I mention it, is the danger that is confronting us at this time when with the support of all the ranks and classes of the people, the movement has been brought up to here, the enemy expelled from the scene and the power of the foreigners curtailed. The danger that is now causing me concern and which I repeatedly tell every group of people that come here- the clergy, the Islamic guards, of which the clergy is also a part, they too, are the guards of Islam and so are the others; in fact, the entire nation ought to function as the guards of Islam:" All of you are responsible and you will be questioned for the things that had been entrusted to you." «1» The danger which has worried me- and I repeat, to every group that comes here I repeat it (to them) - is not one of defeat. The danger does not lie in this. Many of the Saints of God were defeated in the wars; even the Prophet, at times. Hadrat Amir also was defeated by Mu`awiyah. Suppose that we and you who had risen against the regime had been defeated and even killed. It would not have mattered as it would have been for the sake of Islam. What is now causing anxiety is anything being done against (Islamic) policy by these two important groups and the other ones. These groups are: the clergy who have been the protectors of Islam now, and the Islamic guards; and in addition to these, the committees and the revolutionary courts. We claim to be the protectors of Islam- and you are also the guards of the Revolution; the whole nation must be the guards of Islam- and the country's system to be Islamic. We consider the Republic to be Islamic. We voted for it together with the nation whereby our country is officially an Islamic republic now. If, at this time, we, you, the committees or the revolutionary courts do something which would appear to the world as being against the system, our many enemies abroad and within the country who are waiting for us to make a wrong move, will magnify it a thousand times and reflect it in the newspapers and magazines abroad, and in veiled manner in Iran. They will say that the Islamic system is just this; and that these are its Islamic guards, its committees, its merchants, and all the other classes, and so discredit our school. They will say:" Islam has such Islamic guards and that there is now an Islamic republic which is not different from the previous regime. At that time, Muhammad Rida Pahlavi and the security apparatus used to commit offenses, and now the clergy, the Islamic guards, the revolutionary courts, and the committees are also committing them, so it is clear that Islam is also like the other regimes." They will not say that I, you or the gentleman has done a wrong thing. They will say:" The regime is now Islamic and there is an Islamic republic. These people say that they are the Islamic Republic guards; the clergy say that they have been the guards of Islam from the very beginning; the courts also say that they are the Islamic revolutionary courts; and committees say that they are Islamic committees. All of them say such things using the name of Islam." We have these people now who say that the Islamic Republic is also like the monarchy." A bunch of people used to do those things (offenses) at that time, and now another bunch is doing the same. In those days, that group would force its way into people's houses and commit atrocities, and now this one is doing it. At that time, that group would do wrong things and now another group is committing aggression in the name of Islamic committees. Muhammd Rida and his followers used to do these things at that time; now the clergy are doing such things. The pawns are changed but the same problems remain!"

It is a danger; a calamity that is greater than any other. Killing the Doyen of the Martyrs did not matter as they were destroying the school. His martyrdom revived the school. He was killed but the school of Islam came alive and buried the taghouti regime of Mu`awiyah and his son As the Doyen of the Martyrs saw that they were sullying the name of Islam by committing crimes and oppressing the people in the name of the Islamic caliphate, and this would be portrayed to the world as the Prophet's caliphs doing these things, he considered it his duty to wipe out the very traces of Mu`awiyah and his son even if he was to be killed in the process. Therefore, the killing and martyrdom of the Doyen of the Martyrs was not something that was detrimental to Islam. It was useful as it brought about the revival of Islam. If we had also been killed in this movement that we had staged, and in following this path of struggle and combat, it would not have mattered because we were pursuing our aim. We would have been killed in the way of Islam, but Islam would not have been endangered; it would have been strengthened. The affairs have now fallen into our hands. You have ousted the adversary. You have taken over the country and are running it. You are Islamic guards, and so are the gentlemen. In these conditions, if we do anything wrong, and God forbid, differences and quarrels arise among the clergy in the cities; if differences arise among the Islamic guards and they start shooting at one another, and also among the committees, and if the courts do not attend to the cases properly, it will not be said today that any of these gentlemen who does wrong is a SAVAKi. They (the enemies) will say that a clergyman is doing it; that the clergy are like this and that it is the dictatorship of the clergy! Our school will stand disgraced; not we ourselves. We are not important; the school will be tarnished. The people who are watching our actions closely, and who bear enmity to us and Islam, will reflect all that we do. They will say that so-and-so has done a wrong thing. They will say," The regime is now an Islamic one and these people- all of them- claim to be the guards and sentinels of Islam, and the clergy as well claim to be the protectors of Islam; but this is what they are doing! So, it is clear that Islam is like this." They will reflect it in this way that such is Islam; that the clergy used to tell lies that Islam is a progressive school and that it is just this.

This is big danger to us. It has to be avoided. How can we prevent this? The clergy ought to fulfill their clerical duties; the duties that Islam has laid out for them. The Islamic guards should attend to their guard duties. They are the guards of the Revolution; not its disturbances, not its opponents. We are not clergymen if we commit an offense. We are devilish people that have assumed a clerical appearance and put on clerical dress. Not that you have power, if you Islamic guards do something that conflicts with your duties, you cannot be called the guardians of Islam and the Revolution. You are the guardians of your own lustful desires. You act according to them and to the teachings of Satan. If the merchants in the Islamic Republic do the same things as used to be done in the taghouti regime, it then cannot be claimed that the bazaar is Islamic. No, it is a taghouti bazaar! This fleecing of the poor that is now going on, this usury that is now prevalent; this selling of heroin and such things that is now in vogue, will all be attributed to Islam and the Islamic Republic. Our school will suffer a defeat. Islam will be defeated and buried. And nobody will be able to resurrect it.

My dear clergymen brothers! My dear pasdar[ Islamic guards ]brothers! Help Islam! Put your differences aside. Behave like brothers with one another. Join hands and save Islam. These are dangerous days. Now that we are free, should we do whatever we like? Islam does not give such freedom to anybody. Now that we are no more under the oppressive yoke of the previous regime, should we, in turn, oppress the people?! Well in what way are we different from them? You in the uniform of the guards and the gentlemen in clerical robes bear a great responsibility. It is now that the responsibility of everybody; all the classes, all the Muslims, in Iran is great. It is not the previous regime in which we would not be blamed for all the oppressions that used to be done; that regime would be blamed. But the regime is now Islamic. Any wrongdoing on the part of the Islamic government will stain the name of Islam. Any wrong done by a clergyman at this time will weaken the school. If our Islamic guards, God forbid, do anything wrong- such as the wrongs done in the days of the previous regime, but now in the name of the guards- it will undermine our school. And the same applies to the committees. If our courts do such things, the school will suffer a blow. These courts are not taghouti courts; they are Islamic ones. It is expected of the Islamic courts to put Islamic commands into effect, and the same applies to all of us. This matter is one of the vexations that disturb me. And you, too, ought to feel uneasy about it. The remedy lies in each one of us discharging the duties that God has laid down for us. The clergy should act according to the duties that Islam has given them.

The Glorious Qur'an states:" And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate." «2» This is an order; it is a binding one. It is an order that consists of a command and a prohibition: Be united; hold fast to Islam, everybody together; let there be no discord among you. Let it not happen that the countries, the ones who are our enemies and are watching us, say that the troublemakers in every city consist of the clergymen of the place. This will bring disgrace upon us; our wrongs- I should say- will be humiliating to the Imam of the Time. When the angels take the records of our deeds to him and he sees that his Shi`ah- well, you are his partisans, and we are as well- are doing such (wrong) things, he will feel ashamed. Wake up; the matter is dangerous. The danger does not concern a person or a nation. It concerns Islam.

May God give you success in carrying out your duties. May God give all of us success in discharging our Islamic duties, and our duties as clergymen and Islamic guards. May we succeed in this campaign. And may this country belong only to you, and become an Islamic one.

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