Speech [Designs of America against the Islamic Revolution and their failure vis-a-vis the will of the nation]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

One of the handiworks of Satan is" despair". In matters that a human being must act with hope, confidence and decisiveness, the devils create despair; and by this creation of despair, they sometimes weaken the will of our youth on matters that require a firm decision to move ahead. From the time that I remember, from the beginning of the movement until now that I am seated here, whether it was when I was in prison; whether it was when I was in exile in Turkey; whether at the time when I was in Iraq; whether it was the time when I arrived in Paris; and whether it was the time when the Shah ruled with those ostentations and powers and whether it was when he left and Bakhtiyar took over- I was never overcome by despair because of the problems.

I have been of the opinion that when this nation wants something, it gets it. Especially recently when we were in Paris- I do not know whether I met the gentlemen there or met with some of them- they would come in the morning; we would meet with them, both the ladies and gentlemen. Recently when we were there and we would get the news about Iran and including the reports that some of them took note and told me that one of the gentlemen had said that he had been to the villages of some of the regions- and he named the place which is a settlement «1» where I too have visited there as it is around where we are- he said that in this village every morning the preacher leads a protest march with the people following behind him; he named the settlement which I have been there and know how large it is; maybe ten or fifteen families live there; he said that he had been there and heard the same slogans that were chanted in Tehran by the people there. This was very interesting for me and convinced me that an issue that concerns the nation is such that wherever you set foot, the same issue is present. Those of you who were in Europe and in America; and those who were in any place outside the country would say the same things that have been said inside; the students would speak the same things as the `ulama'; the small child would say the same thing as the elders; this convinced me that there was an invisible hand involved.

The range of activity of a human being is limited. One person can influence a neighborhood; one person can influence a city; one person a province but no person can in this manner influence all the existing strata in every part of a nation from the smallest child to the aged and students despite having numerous thinking and different ideas; to unite all of them under a single issue; this is not possible except with the involvement of an invisible hand. I am convinced that God, the Exalted, has granted a favor and if that favor is, God willing, sustained, you will be victorious.

As long as this commitment to Islamic objectives is in place, this nation shall be victorious; and these things that are being said and these pens that are present are of no consequence. When those powers that were present and all of them were backing Muhammad Rida, perhaps on numerous occasions they sent me messages from America; when I was in Paris, they repeatedly came to me and spoke directly with me; sometimes they would contact some of the persons who were with me; sometimes by means of threats and sometimes in the form of advice. They wanted to keep Muhammad Rida in power; they wanted to maintain the regime. Britain also openly made attempts to keep him in power and safeguard its interests. Similarly the others and unfortunately, it was also the same with the Muslim governments. The Muslim governments also supported him and were basically, separated from our objectives and adopted this policy. Nevertheless, when a nation wants something and that want is also a divine want- it did not ask for a material want- and said that it wanted Islam, that it wanted an Islamic republic; that it did not want injustice; that it did not want a plunderer regime; that all its matters were Islamic; all of it was humane, it is not possible to argue with such a nation and do what one wants to do; it cannot be done.

Let us suppose that it is basically such in this world; suppose that one of these superpowers invades Iran and occupies it- they will not do, it cannot be done but now let us suppose- but with a nation that is united, they cannot stay. To takeover is one thing but to stay there is another thing; the situation differs. If they want to keep a watch on every person it is not sensible. If they will keep a group in every city, after sometime, the people shall wipe them out. To conquer a country is other than keeping it. They are intelligent because firstly, in this world one can no longer takeover by force; that way it is absolutely senseless. Secondly, the forces of the superpowers are all facing each other. This one is watching that one and that one is keeping an eye on this one; if this one takes a step forward, that one shall also say that I too want to move forward. In this manner, God protects the people by the same way that the superpowers are in confrontation with each other and none of them can engage in aggression. They know that- if we assume- they also become a single power and decide to launch an attack and occupy a place, they cannot continue with their existence. These occupations of countries that would happen by invasion of a country and end in their occupation would culminate after a period in destruction of all of them and their exhaustion; rather they would become part and parcel of the same nation and be absorbed by them.

Therefore, when a nation wants something to take place, it will take place. And you wanted Islam and you wanted an Islamic republic and all of us want the commandments of Islam- and this shall be fulfilled. Their struggling is of no use! They are causing distress to themselves; of course, they are also causing distress to us. But to cause distress is one thing and becoming victorious is another. Of course, any person who says something or writes something or criticizes, well, it is distressing; or for instance, those who go to the farmers and farmlands; to the workers and such people and sow discord and corruption, well they are causing trouble; but it is not so that now a bunch of misled youth or a bunch of youth on pay lists- that is a distinct possibility that some of them are at the service of America in a different form- can cause trouble.

In any event, I do not regard the Toudeh Party in its infancy- now I have no longer any information about them- as being very proper. Initially when the Toudeh Party was established, that person «2» who formed this party and whom everybody said was, for instance, an agent of the Soviet Union and so forth; that he was a Russian and originated from them; that person happened to be my travel companion in Mecca and Beirut when we waited for thirteen days before boarding the ship. This person was also there and would come to visit us. He would pray regularly, perform the hajj pilgrimage and was also a philanthropist! But well, he came under the influence of a group which it appears were the British who established the Toudeh Party. A Toudeh Party that is related to another strata; they formed it. Now also it appears to one that some of these parties that are leftists and tie themselves to China or link themselves to the Soviet Union, it appears to one that they are persons that have been created by America for us in order to create disturbances and chaos to pave the way for their return. My reason for this is that one of the things that they did initially was to go to the farmers and tell them not to cultivate the fields; they would prevent them from engaging in any sort of agricultural activity! Here they were unable to do that. Then, later they tried to prevent them from harvesting. There too when they failed, they resorted to inciting the people and burning the harvests.

This group that claims to be the supporters of the people; of being supporters of the masses and for instance are on the side of the masses and the people and so forth; we ask them as to what benefit is the burning of the harvests for them. It is the weaker strata who produce these harvests. This miserable fellow has toiled for one year for this harvest; is this burning of the harvest support for the weak? Then we ask as to who benefits from these acts?

One of the ways to arrest a criminal is to see who stands to gain from the crime that has been committed for us to say that he has committed it. If we do not have wheat, from where do we have to import the wheat? We import from America. Suppose we do not have barley; once again it is America. If we have no agriculture the one that exports it to us is America. Neither China nor the Soviet Union can provide us with agricultural commodities; they also buy it from America! Even the Soviet Union does not have; the profits go into the pockets of America. Therefore you are the operatives of America, because if it would go into the pockets of those countries and others, we would have said that you are from them- we do not want to discuss how they are. They too are worse than them! All of them do not agree with our situation; all of them want to satiate their appetites from this laid table; but where the subject of burning of the harvests and such activities is concerned, the profits go straight into the pockets of America because they have surplus wheat such that finally, they either have to burn them or throw them into the sea; and they seek markets.

As you noticed, the subject of" land reforms" was nothing but to provide a market for America and prevent us from engaging in cultivation. This is in the same way that the wretched one «3» was an operative of America and he did all this to create a market for America while the plan was theirs and he would implement them. Now also the plan is theirs and these people are implementing it, except that he did it in the name of" Aryamehr" «4» while these people do it in the name of so-and-so leftist! This is how it is. It was the same people who would support him when he was in power. In the royal court also the same people were present; their seniors were also serving in the royal court when America itself could no longer do anything with all the speeches that he gave at one time intimidating and at other times in the form of advice. Recently also when the Shah had left and Bakhtiyar had taken over, it was in the form of it being not expedient; that it was too soon now; that the situation was unripe and so forth they would come and want to prevent me from coming to Iran; they would insist that I should not come to Iran. This insistence of theirs caused me to conclude that my arrival was harming their interests! Because they were not saying it for our good that it was too early for me to come and then they sent a message through the President of France «5» and read it for me that now the situation was such, and so on and so forth and it is too soon; that the time is not ripe yet and that I should stay there for a few more weeks. I saw that in these weeks they wanted time to mobilize their forces so that we could no longer be able to do anything. Now that the people had arisen and started the movement, now was the time to go whatever the outcome. I decided to leave and they sealed off the airport. We said well, whenever it reopens we shall leave; obviously they could not keep it sealed till eternity so that when it reopened we arrived.

In any case, do not despair. This is a trait of the devil that he injects into human beings. Be strong, for this is from God; God has made you powerful; the nation is powerful." The hand of God is with the congregation". «6» God commands thus," Cling firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided." «7» Well, if we obeyed this command, then will God leave us at the mercy of the plunderers? We obey the command which is to cling firmly to Islam- the rope of Allah implies this Islam- to Islam; and all of us be devoted to the Qur'an and to Him; that there should be no discord among us and then will God force us and leave us at the mercy of the plunderers? No, it can no longer happen. If we are faithful to this command of God and act upon the commandment of God and become united, all our strata together, inside and outside the country, student and cleric; if we carry forward this movement from here to its final destination, have no doubt that you are victorious, have no doubt at all.

Now, the attainment of victory is in the hands of the nation itself. The key to victory is in the hands of the nation itself. The nation must understand that that which caused it to triumph was this togetherness and clinging to the rope of Allah; all had joined together and demanded an Islamic republic; we demanded for Islam; we demanded for the Qur'an; we demanded for a government of divine justice. This was clinging firmly" to the rope of Allah". This clinging" to the rope of Allah" resulted in a satanic power to be defeated all at once in spite of being backed by all the powers and not only the superpowers but even the smaller powers; it was not without reason that I was not allowed to enter Kuwait meaning that they did not permit me to even pass through this transit point of Kuwait and take the flight from there to another destination; even this was not permitted! They said that I should return to where I had come from. When I came to Iraq I saw that I thought that wherever I would go it would be the same issue because all of them were in contact with each other; this was a policy and all of them were backing him. We saw that, well, now we should go to a foreign country. We went to a foreign country and there also they changed their mind. We arrived there the youth of that country I thank all our beloved youth who came from all over to ask about our well-being; they gathered and listened to my talks; published my interviews there. Sometimes they would publish them in all places- and this was a path to our victory that was achieved by the grace of God.

In any case, I should ask you never to come under the influence of the temptations of Satan and his agents- that are these people who write and those who speak. You are victorious and victory is yours to the very end. What I wish to tell you is that try to safeguard the key to victory; if you safeguard its key, the blessing of God shall be with you. Keep up your gatherings. Now, do not go after your unfulfilled needs. This I am saying to this gentleman. I too am aware that your needs have not been met. I too have needs that have not been fulfilled; this gentleman also has needs that have not been fulfilled and that gentleman too. All want certain things that have not been fulfilled. I know of the problems that are existing since about fifty-eight years; you too who joined this movement have known the period of the reign of the Shah. From the time you opened your eyes there was repression, hardship, suffering, imprisonment, exile; these sorts of problems had existed; the other problem was plunder- they took away all your things. Some of the jewels which were the support of this country were taken away by Rida Shah which the British took it from him on his way to exile; while a quantity was carted away by him. Now also our banks are debt-ridden, meaning that the government is saddled with the debts that they had taken from the banks and fled. In any case, now is not the time to put forward our personal problems and find faults with the government; find fault with the nation; find fault with the movement.

You should know that such a good movement has not existed in the world; this was the true" White Revolution"; not that which he had concocted. The movements, the revolutions that have occurred in the world, one of them is the French Revolution; one of them is the revolution in the Soviet Union, have been bloody and the number of people that have been killed in those revolutions and the rest of the revolutions, were not killed in this revolution. Why? Because after the Revolution, an Islam came on the scene although I do not say that Islam has been realized, but it was a gentle breeze of Islam. Another was that those who brought about the Revolution have not been sitting down and counting the number of heads that have rolled until the end; to fire a volley of bullets at anyone suspected of opposition; this was no issue here. however, a group who for fifty years had engaged in killing and looting of these people that totally number until now to one-hundred plus- I do not know of the exact number now, but they have been few while their crimes have been many- but there were few in number, they have of course been given the punishment that is due to them; not the punishments that they must be given. That punishment must be given to them there in the hereafter; here it cannot be done. Basically, a person who has caused hundreds of families to be orphaned; hundreds of our youth to be separated from their mothers and be burnt and baked and to be electrocuted by means of pans connected to electricity, we cannot mete out their punishment here in this world. He possesses one life and let us suppose that that one life is taken from him; we cannot do what he has done with thousands of families; we cannot punish him here. This is itself proof that there is another place where he must be burnt until eternity; and be compensated until eternity for the crimes he has perpetrated. God willing, it will be compensated there. What I mean to say is that we have heard bigger talks than what they are saying now and have paid no attention to them. They are nothing anymore. A remnant that is making a last ditch attempt. They are splashing and making noises like one who is about to drown!

God willing, with your strength and with the power of your faith and the power of Islam, this movement will reach its conclusion; and you shall smell the fragrance of Islam at that time when you marvel at its scent; when you shall marvel at the system of Islam in which the one who is at the head such as the Prophet himself (s) and those that are at the lower rung- in your terminology or the terminology of the people- are gathered in a single place and are seated and busily talking to one another and exchanging stories and speaking of mobilizing an army and so forth; this is what the Prophet had wanted. The Prophet who was the vicegerent of Allah, whom all acknowledged, when he would sit in the mosque, a person coming from outside would not be able identify him because there was no top and bottom of seating arrangement involved. At that time, there was no such thing as flooring beneath him. He would sit on a mat if it was available, otherwise he would sit on the floor. This is Islam. We want to but we do not have the strength to present it as it is; but one must strive as much as he can to get close to the source of goodness. Now, for instance, if I cannot act like Malik al-Ashtar, well it is good if I can get close to how he was- and I am hopeful that our country will become an Islamic one; that our youth become Muslims and devoted to Islam. If this faith that carried us forward remains, no person will be able to violate your rights any longer, and God willing, he shall not be able to.

I pray to God, the Blessed and Exalted, for the health and happiness of all of you. This very feeling of being Islamic is one of the things to which a human being gets much attached and is a great source of hopefulness. This is a spiritual revolution that has occurred in the nation. A spiritual revolution is superior to this barricade that they smashed. You have come all the way from Europe to help the people. This spiritual revolution is important. This was not done by anyone except God. God is the transformer of the hearts. Among the hands of God, the Exalted, you are the spiritual hand of God, the Blessed and Exalted, that He moves wherever He wishes. At one time you were busy with your own job; in former times I was preoccupied with theological studies; you were busy with your own noble vocation; who was it that brought you over from there to here and made you go and toil in the villages for the sake of your brethren? It was God, it is the hand of God that made your hearts to turn in this manner; be grateful for it. Your hearts are now in the hands of God; He turns it as He wishes; and He has turned it for a good deed. Now it was He that brought you the university-going youth and doctors and engineers and so forth here from there whereas each of you should be engaged somewhere else. The respected ladies and beloved women who must be somewhere else have gone to the villages and are busy harvesting; and doing such jobs. However they are not harvesters in the sense of the peasant laborers but a small action of theirs gives such impetus to the harvesters that if formerly they could harvest one acre now they can harvest two. When the harvesting peasant comes and sees that these ladies who must be sitting down in the shade are harvesting and collecting the barley under the sunlight, this strengthens their spirit. Their deed has such a value that it gives strength to the others and their productivity multiplies; this is very valuable. When they see that you have come all the way from Europe, from America in order to help your brothers- look what a morale it creates in the peasant laborers. This peasant who would be visited everyday by a security organization agent breathing down his neck and either whipping him or do so on and so forth now sees that his brothers are coming here from the farthest regions abroad, not from the interior, and say that they have come to help; to help them to harvest; to help them to harvest the produce, you cannot imagine what an honor it is for them and what an effect it has on their hearts; and you do not know how worthy it is to bring happiness to the heart of the weak; we do not know the spiritual value of this deed; it is extremely high however small the deed. And considering that you are not peasant harvesters and perhaps are not able to harvest properly; but a few stalks of wheat that you gather has so much worth and draws the hearts toward you and brings hope to the people and carries our movement forward that only God knows. May God protect all of you and may God bring happiness to all of you; and may He safeguard this spiritual transformation that has come about.

I do not have time now, but one of the instances and treacheries that the system did to us is this issue of discord. By various means, they led our youth astray, by various means. The wicked among them sat down and analyzed and found ways in order to draw our young generation toward certain immoralities and to cause them to ignore those things that were related to them and their lives. These centers of corruption most of which were present in Tehran and in all the provincial cities, was done according to a plan and calculation. If a youth goes to one of the centers of corruption, and goes again the next day, goes for ten days, he gets habituated to that center of corruption; his heart follows it. A youngster or the youth whose hearts are pulled toward centers of corruption, when he dreams, he dreams of those centers; when he is awake his mind is occupied with it and then they go after those immoral objectives, this person will no longer think about the problems of our country and that we must ourselves solve these problems. His mind is diverted from these issues. This intermingling of sexes that they created for our nation by which they caused our youth to intermingle and drew those toward immoral subjects was also part of the same plans that they had drawn for us. This issue of intermingling at the seaside is not something usual; this is not something that happened on its own; this was a plan to keep the minds of our youth occupied with these subjects. If thousands of our youth were drawn to these centers in which carnal and animal issues are involved in them; these thousands of our youth have been taken away from us.