In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The main objective of the prophets
The objective behind the efforts made by the prophets and the battles they fought with the opponents of the path of the truth and in particular the battles of the early period of Islam were not for the sake of fighting. Nor was it to conquest. The objective has been to have a system of justice where justice and God's decrees would prevail.
The prophets went through all that trouble not merely to expel their adversaries and to take over the battlefield. Rather, the main objective had been to save the humankind from the claws of those men who lacked humanity and who were following the path of falsehood. The prophets would see this path as the path of wrongdoing, the path of atrocity, the path of darkness, a path that will lead people to atrocity in this world and to destruction in the next. The prophets were commissioned in behalf of God, the Blessed and Exalted, to deliver mankind. If they had left the people to themselves, they would be no more than an animal that could understand nothing but eating, sleeping and carnal desires, and act upon them accordingly, since the metaphysics is hidden from the public. What the people do know is this very universe- the nature universe- and those who are more knowledgeable, they understand the nature's characteristics. However, all of this is that they benefit from the nature and are attentive to the nature. They also know man by the very natural aspect and trouble themselves for this same natural aspect of mankind.
The materialists' efforts in the recognition of nature
All the efforts of the materialists that are unrelated to the divine school[ maktab ]are spent on perceiving nature and the characteristics that are (attached) to the nature and the use of nature, and that is, the nature of mankind from among the whole universe's natures. Whatever great and modern civilizations and humanity's great advancements you look at, all of it is related to this very nature and the human being's benefiting from nature, that is, the use by natural human of the nature's universe. Beyond the nature's universe, these natural creatures cannot understand. Hence, they do not have access to the other world but through the revelation[ wahi ]that has the entire universe under its domination. And since this human is not like other animals- which are the same natural and worldly- rather, humankind is created in such a manner that, in addition to natural life, it also possesses a metaphysical life. That metaphysical life is man's true life. Here, it is the very animal life. Thus, people are destitute to receive reports in finding the right path through revelation. And God, the Blessed and Exalted, made mankind obligated and sent on missions the prophets in order to show the way to them (people).
The objective of the prophets' teachings
All of the prophets' teachings are meant to show the path leading to the destination which humankind has no choice but to pass through. Humankind is compelled to pass through this world to another world. If he is wayward, he is but an animal that passes from this world to the other world. And if he follows the path of the prophets, his humanity becomes complete and the more he obeys, the more his humanity grows. All the prophets' efforts have been to mold the humankind, modify him and change the natural human to a divine human so that he is a divine human even in this very world. The prophets' view of this world is different from that of ordinary people. The prophets aim at divinizing this world. In other words, they want it to be such that whatever they look at, they see a sign of divinity in it. Other strata, whether philosophers or other learned men- especially the natural scientists, all of them are of the opinion to discover the traces of nature and take advantage of nature. The prophets recognize the nature; however, they check the nature in such a way that it is controlled under the domain of divinity. In other words, it is under the control of the higher world. We- who are not knowledgeable about those realities- take the same advantage of this world of nature. An individual, who is aware of what is going on outside the nature's sphere, takes the same advantage. The only difference is that the one who does take such an advantage is focusing his intention on this very nature. And he, who does take such an advantage, considers the nature the traces of the other world and witnesses God, the Exalted, in the nature. All of those battles that have taken place in Islam and the troubles that the awliya' «1» of God have gone through have been for the sake of Islam's survival and the implementation of Islamic decrees. All of this is meant to guide the human beings to the realities of which they are not aware and the paths they do not know. They (the divine guides) know how to traverse the path.
The nation's objective behind the Islamic movement
Up until this moment, all of you went through the trouble and all the nation's strata became united, and through sacrificing of their blood and suffering persecution eliminated the obstacles and cast their votes for the Islamic Republic. This was not just to give ground to the adversary and occupy his seat. It was to change a corrupt regime with a proper regime, a just one, for when a just regime is materialized, and the Islamic decrees are enforced in their fullest sense, then if they are practiced by the people, they will find the right path to reality. If the regime is also Islamic and the way it acts is Islamic, and the entire system is Islamic,[then there is] a just system where no one's right is infringed upon; if you see Islam in whatever government offices you walk in or you see the same in whatever agency you walk in; and the one who governs, governs according to Islam and there is no non-Islamic doings. Up until this time we have not reached this. It is true; we cast our votes for the Republic to be Islamic. And now the system is indeed Islamic Republic. But, it is not true that after we cast our votes, the Islamic Republic is now an Islamic Republic. The only thing that is Islamic Republic is the system and the entire world has also recognized the government of Iran as an Islamic Republic. But this is not what Islam was after, i.e. that we cast a vote and claim an Islamic Republic. What Islam has been after is the establishment of a system in which wherever you set foot, you see the Islamic decrees govern, and nothing be different. If after all that toils and all that sacrificing of bloods we reached a point where there is an Islamic Republic and abandon it again, all we have done will be undone. In other words, it does not matter who is the real taghout; Muhammad Rida, I, or you. The only thing that would be different is the scope of the radius of operations. There is a time when someone is taghout in his own household; one is taghout for his own self and for his neighbors; one is taghout in his neighborhood; one in a city; another in a province and yet another one in countrywide. There is no difference in being a taghout; the difference is in the radius of operations. The same taghout who is a taghout in his own household, should he sees it fit, he will act as a taghout of a whole community; if he sees it fit, he will be a taghout on the whole country. This is because when he is a taghout by his nature, then the magnitude of the radius of operations makes no difference to him. It is beyond his reach; otherwise, if he is in the position to do so, this same person will do whatever Muhammad Rida was doing. Unless there are Islamic and humane teachings and one is influenced by the teachings of the prophets, one is in the position to do so. Otherwise, if it is within his reach, he will do all those things and then he thinks, in his own imagination, that he does not. Someone who is oppressive in his own household will infringe upon the rights of his own offspring, his own children, and his servants. Now, if this man's servants are increased, his offspring are increased, and there is an increase in his dependents, parallel to those increases, his extent of oppression increases. This is due to the fact that he is an oppressive person. If there were ten people under the domination of an oppressor, his oppression would equal that of ten people; if there is a population of thirty-five million people, his oppression would equal that of thirty-five million people. This person is the very same person; for he has not become human; he is a taghouti and a wicked creature. If this taghouti wicked creature does not undergo the prophets' domination, and is not influenced by the teachings of the prophets, there is no difference between the mentalities of this individual and that of the one who is plundering a whole world. However, there is a difference in the ways the two act, in the sense that the former has it beyond his reach but the latter is able to do so. For instance, those who had dominated Iran- Muhammad Rida for one- if their domination had extended to Iraq, they would have committed there all the oppressions that they had committed here. If he had extended his domination to all the Muslim countries, he would have done everywhere else all the things that he would do here. If he had extended his domination to the whole world, it would have been the same. You can see how these superpowers have extended their plundering hands everywhere. The person, whose scope of plundering was limited to a specific domain, will find a bit of wider range when he is raised to a top position; he will do the same things there. Do not you imagine that you and I would not do the same if we found ourselves in a position to do it? Unless we become human beings, it is the same story.
Everybody's efforts in the Islamization of the system
We should all think about the point of making our system of government an Islamic one. For a system of government to be Islamic, it means that the individuals who are in its helm and the individuals who are in the helm of that system- suppose that they are serving the nation- all the civil servants, wherever they work, their work should be Islamic work. They should not harbor the mentalities that now that such and such department is corrupt in one part; let other parts be corrupt as well! Or, now that such and such person is violating the law in that place, let him do the same in this place as well. We are all duty bound; all of us. If the whole world is violating the law, a person who is trained in the school of the prophets, will not do wrong. If the whole world falls apart, and there is oppression everywhere, Hadrat «2» Mousa (Moses) will not do wrong." Now that everyone is plundering, I should follow suit," does not have a place in the prophets' training. For `Ali ibn Abi Talib (`a), «3» it would not make a difference if all the world population would become infidels. It would have made him grief over why those people do wrong, but it would not have changed his policy. There was a time when he was sitting in his home and there was a time when he was in charge of a caliphate with such a vastness that Iran was a part of it, extending to Egypt and Hijaz «4» and all these places were under his domination; even a part of Europe. All this would not make a change in his state of mind; he would not subscribe to the thinking that" Now that I have my hands over such a thing, I should do this and that." Not a bit. It did not have any effect on his state of mind, for his spirit was a divine spirit. And for one with a divine spirit, it makes no difference whether he has under his charge a small population or the whole world; it would not make a difference in his state of mind. He is duty bound to do justice; he can do justice with four and if he was capable, he would extend his justice everywhere.
Now that all of us call ourselves the Islamic Republic and, thanks to God, we expelled the old regime out of the country and buried it there and it will not return to life again, God willing, all of us are duty bound to make this regime that we claim it has materialized, to materialize in reality; to go from word to action and to go beyond a mere voting and reach the boundary of deed. Those of you who represent a certain government ministry should act in the same way as those of you who belong to another ministry. You all should act in an Islamic way. Each individual should feel bound by duty to do justice to the task, however trivial, which is assigned to him or her who occupies a position of responsibility. They should not wait until a time when the minister is just. Whether the minister is just or not, you should act with justice; whether the prime minister is just or not, and whether that is good or bad, it is his own business; that is quite a different issue. So is yours. His account with God is a separate one. His is also a separate account with the nation. You who are assigned with a trivial task or as an errand boy who is running a trivial chore should all do justice to the duty assigned to you. The head of a department who is sitting behind a desk should do justice to what is assigned to him; he should not wait till everyone else is just in order for him to follow suit. This is likened to my waiting for everyone else to perform his or her prayers so that I do mine. Or, I wait until everyone else has his or her lunch so that I have mine! How can one perform his normal duties in such a manner? Everyone should perform his normal duty in his own personal way. Have you ever waited for someone else to breathe so you follow suit? Or, for others to view (something) so you do the same? This does not make any sense at all. Everyone performs his normal duties in his personal way. The divine duties are the same. In the same way that you perform the normal duties, you are bound to perform the divine duties. Moreover, you are duty bound to urge everyone else to do just the same. You are not bound to make others to look, but you are bound to change others for the better and teach others.
Performance of duty
Each one of us is bound to act ourselves. We are also bound to make others to act. If there is found such morale among the nation and I hope it does, God willing. How good it was if there existed a spiritual morale of cooperation similar to the financial one that existed during the days of the Revolution. Of course, this did demonstrate itself in a sense: those who took to the street for demonstrations were offered drinking water and food by the inhabitants; people would help and assist them. Now if there is found a sense of spiritual assistance in the humankind, and everyone would see himself or herself duty bound and beyond his inclination to do justice, when he is behind his desk and what he does is based on duty and not on material expectation; nor based on fear. Rather, it is based on duty in the same way that one performs his personal task: He sees as a duty to provide his children's clothing; this is done out of one's duty and not out of any fear or greed. If a human being- one who in charge of a task- sees it as his duty that he is paid a salary in order to perform his duty. Even if he is not paid, he should feel that it is his humanitarian duty and his Islamic duty to perform whatever duty has been assigned to him and there are people who depend on him to act upon what they need." I should not postpone the assigned tasks; I should perform according to the best of my abilities and not to postpone or expedite a task based on connection or favoritism, and not to do injustice. If I do expedite or postpone, this is what the taghout did. It is the taghout style in a lesser degree; in a shorter radius.(How I wish) every one of us pays attention to this very interpretation and everyone would be attentive in them, and correct themselves. For instance, there is five hundred staff in a department. If each staff does what is assigned to him or her, and minds his or her own business, that department will get back on track; that is also true of a ministry and of the rest and of the whole country. If such a thing is found in a country that country is advanced; an advanced country is not merely one that has the kind of cinemas and the kind of hanky panky that was going on before. Nor is an advanced country one where brothels and alcohol drinking are that abundant; this is decadence.
The criterion for a country to be considered advanced
An advanced country is one whose people are advanced. An advanced person is one who is dutiful both in his professional duties and the divine duties. If a human being is dutiful, he is considered an advanced human being and is a just human. If by the will of God we succeed and you succeed and everyone else would succeed in terms of becoming dutiful people in this country and the republic becomes Islamic[ ]Islamic Republic is one whose finance department is Islamic, too. It is one whose justice department is also Islamic. Change should take place; change in the system; change in the individuals who want to drive this system forward. It makes no sense if there is change in the system but not in the individuals. Suppose that someone created a change in the system tomorrow it is these individuals who want to move the system forward and this same individuals are able to distort things and do wrong to the system. Thus, it makes no sense if there is no change in the individuals.
The importance of individuals' mental change
Change in the individuals and in their spirits work as a regulator. This depends on the men to make it a habit to perform their works according to their duties. They should view themselves in an Islamic Republic and imagine that they are in a country whose head, the Imam of the Time (may God's peace be upon him), «5» is watching them attentively; he has secret agents; the angels act as his agents. They should imagine themselves under surveillance. Remind them of the fact that now we have a country that has an infallible observer and we are all under his observation. Thus, our deeds should be such that, if brought to his attention, he will be pleased with us. Wherever you work, you are going to serve the Muslims.
The government is a server and not a commander
The governments are servers of their people and not their commanders. It is in a taghout regime that, for instance, its prime minister or its president is apt to command. This is what taghout is. Of course, giving orders to a certain degree is considered the government's duty and it is duty bound to exert that. But if it wants to command in excess and take advantage of its newly acquired position, this is the same as being a taghouti regime. Now, either it cannot lay its hands on more; or it is scared of the people to create difficulty for it. If its hands can reach more, it may do whatever Muhammad Rida was doing; if things are in my reach, perhaps I will do the same thing. Unless the training is a sound one, nothing would work.
And I hope that you gentlemen, you, your friends, others, everyone else make recommendations: Tell everyone that we now have reached a point that we can claim that we are Islamic. You are now an Islamic group. If one can be Islamic merely by claiming it, then the entire world can have the same claim. Was it not that Muhammad Rida also claimed," I am a Muslim"? He was also printing Qur'an; he was going on pilgrimage to the shrine of Hadrat Rida «6» where he would stand and others would recite prayers that are said at the time of performing a pilgrimage; he was also performing prayer. He was doing all those things but they were not genuine. If we want our system to be an Islamic one, claim that we are Muslims, are advocates of Islam and are supporters of the Islamic system, we should take these steps, the most important one being that the contents of a country should be Islamic. Anywhere we set foot, we see ourselves in an Islamic country. Not that if we go to the bazaar, we see the bazaar being that same bazaar and in it the same things as usury, unfairness, unwarranted overcharging, and all the rest. And then they cry Islam! And then decorate everywhere with lights! They are under the impression that they can deceive the Imam of the Time with those things. No, they cannot. Unless a light is found in our hearts, there is no use acting this way. Whatever of these deeds we do, it is only a deed; everyone can do those deeds; these deeds should be performed. It is not that these deeds should not be performed; let they be performed. But let them have a link with our hearts; let's do something with our hearts; let it be our hearts that perform that deed.
Social justice, the objective of the Islamic Republic
In any event, we are in a republic that is literally Islamic; it is not Islamic Republic. This republic is the design of republicanism. Now the design exists. Even the design is not fully spread out yet. Our country would be an Islamic republic only when everything in it is Islamic. If there is a deficiency, we would have a deficient Islamic republic. But now we have a literal Islamic republic. If four of our government departments are in order, it will be a deficient Islamic Republic. It is only that much Islamic. If it becomes fully Islamic, then we can claim that, God willing. The claim would be Islamic Republic. Only then our claim would be right and everyone will accept it. And this, too, should not be such that one person would say, let someone else becomes (Islamic) and then I will also become (Islamic). Anyone who does something should do it right. You should have observed the old passion plays. In those passion plays that they performed, a good Shimr «7» was one who could be a perfect Shimr! If that Shimr was supposed to perform an act that the Doyen of the Martyrs «8» was supposed to perform, this Shimr would not be a good Shimr! The Doyen of the Martyrs was one who, though in a passion play, should play his role properly. If he does play his role well, he is a good passion player. Every one of us should play a role given us properly and refrain from checking others to see what they are doing and how. Do not interfere with others' doings. You are responsible to perform what is assigned to you in a proper way. Even if your brother was going to perform and you noticed that he did a faux pas, tell him," Our republic is Islamic." What the Islamic Republic means is that there is justice. What justice means is this: If a person who needs me is on his way from out of town, has come from a remote area, and needs this department, his need should be taken care of right away. It should not be such that we take care of a client's transaction just because he is our acquaintance to the expense of postponing the transaction of a stranger whom we do not know. Think of the things that you are aware they were done; from now on, do not let those things that were done be repeated.
May God protect you all and make you succeed and I hope that we can altogether establish an Islamic republic.