speech [General consensus; the enemy's fear of the Islamic nature of the system; position of the clergy; importance of the Consultative Assembly]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The issue altogether is that you have discussed the problems of the country; and this, too, everybody knows that the problems are many, but at present the solution is that all should have a consensus together. The government with the Revolutionary Council, everybody with the Islamic Republic Party and if possible, with other parties with whom one can arrive at a consensus and there should be no clashes, for example, between the government and the party, or the government and the council, or for instance, the radio and television broadcasting with others. At a time when clashes are hundred percent harmful, meaning that at present we need calm and we need understanding. There is no doubt that the problems are many; and there is no doubt that they shall not be solved so soon; meaning that you want a radio-television broadcasting network that was for fifty and some years at the service of the corrupt regime and the personnel who are employed in it would think in those lines and were rooted in them should now all of a sudden be transformed into pious individuals; be transformed into Muslim individuals whose thinking is Islamic and nationalist. This is something which we all aspire but it shall not be set right so soon. If you want that the government should within this short period also be able to perform these tasks- this too is not possible. Or you want that the members of the government should be hundred percent of our type, this also is not possible. I can see that there are individuals among them that are not in this path. But the solution at present is not in creating a clash and, for example, creating disorder; suppose we go after the government and repeatedly say that this individual should step aside, that one should step aside, this one should step aside; go after the television broadcasting and say that this one should leave right now and tomorrow another person should take over; another group is opposed to him and he should be changed; and the same with the rest of the strata.

In my opinion it appears that today we must strive to overlook to the extent that is possible, the valid shortcomings so that perhaps some stability is established; so that the job of the Council of Experts is concluded, God willing, with the efforts of the gentlemen sooner and we go after the Consultative Assembly and set the Consultative Assembly in order and hand over the job to the nation and to the representatives of the nation. And by handing over the tasks, God willing, to the nation and individuals that are devoted, and we are able to and you are able to have elected representatives who are, God willing, hundred percent Islamic, patriotic, intellectual and possess all the requisite qualities, then, God willing, with them the tasks shall be reformed.

But now we want to create disorder everyday, and well, I have seen from that time until now that whoever has been appointed to a job and headed a place, a group has immediately come forward and questioned the decision. For example, after intensive investigation and so forth the gentlemen have nominated a person for the position of chief of staff; as soon as he was appointed, suddenly they started saying such-and-such. It is not possible that we as soon as four persons are found who say no, put aside the person who has been selected and replace him with someone else; then again another set of people come and obstruct him. This will result in our inability to accomplish any task; we must now seek assistance and not weaken the government such that well some of the gentlemen have decided to, for example, to weaken and destroy the government. Any person, any individual who is in the government, I notice that they suddenly come and say that he is the one who was the most dangerous of all! He was the one who was the most treacherous and such statements that sometimes are not because of ill-intention; but because of ill-recognition. And the Council, for example, whose individuals we are familiar with and know what type of persons they are; and those who do not know them, criticize them just like this, in a general and collective manner saying that it is a council that does not know its job, that it is not known how it is running and so forth.

A Council of Experts that has been elected by the vote of the people; everybody knows that this Council is a council that was not imposed, nobody had imposed it; the people themselves have elected; except that you suppose that the Islamic Republic Party had fielded candidates; the world also is such that individuals become candidates; others also had fielded candidates; now they have been defeated. Those who have been defeated protest why they have not been elected! Well, you are not elected because you had no popularity among the nation! No one has blocked the people from voting! You were the ones who would prevent the people from voting otherwise the Islamic Republic Party did not prevent people from voting for others. But they say no, they did such and such a thing so that we have been defeated. Well, very good, now we suppose that what they say is right- it is a lie- but let us assume it is true; if suppose a section say that we are on friendly terms with Mr. Beheshti «1» and Mr. Beheshti is popular with the people and because of his popularity people voted for him; is this against the truth? Is there any coercion involved? Or the people themselves have come to such a conclusion and take action. Now also you are seeing that any person from any side comes and says something about the Council of Experts.

And the thing that has added to the problems of the Council of Experts and the Islamic Republic and about all of these issues is the dread that a lot of people have of Islam. They are afraid lest an Islamic system comes into being such that they can no longer do as they wish and to plunder to their hearts' content! In my opinion, the problem is that altogether when one hears what they say one sees that they are uncomfortable that a group has been elected to the Council of Experts which are the ones who want Islam and the laws of Islam, and who are to draft the laws for the Islamic Republic. They are uncomfortable and protest why they have not been included! Well, you were not elected! One or two among you who have been elected were elected by rigging! Those persons also do not belong to the people; they had rigged. They are playing games; was Qasimlou «2» elected by the nation? Even the Kurdish people are opposed to him. Well, he had a bayonet in his hand and had every sort of facilities at his disposal and introduced himself as a candidate. I wish he had come. I had hoped he would come here and they would keep him here! ... Longer.

They fear Islam and that system which the gentlemen intend to establish- God willing, they will succeed- an Islamic system in which there is no pillaging and plundering and these Westernizations and these deviations. And these are all the discomforts. They do not care too much about how the clergy is; if the cleric was also of their type, they would not be concerned with him at all. But they know about the clergy that he wants to work for Islam and for this reason they question why there should be so many clergymen in the Council of Experts. Well, because it is an Islamic country, the people have voted for them, voted for the gentlemen; and not every cleric is sent there. The chosen clerics are the ones whom the people have elected and sent them there because they want to create an Islamic republic. Yes, if they wanted to establish for example a Western republic, in that case the individuals would have been different. In that case, the clergy must in essence be set aside. But we that want an Islamic republic and want to draft laws for an Islamic republic should we go and get the individuals from Europe? Should we go and find individuals that are supporters of Europe and supporters of the West and supporters of the communists? The gentlemen should go and find those individuals so that these gentlemen are not displeased! Well, even if the gentlemen would go and find them and nominate them and the nation would come to know that they are in conflict with the path of Islam, they would have rejected even the gentlemen. The people have not entered into a contract of fraternity with the gentlemen.

The people accept them because they are Islamic and are guardians of Islam- all of us are in this manner- and as persons that are the servants of Islam; otherwise, we are not exceptionally beautiful so that people should accept us because of that. They know that we are their servants and that the servants have affection for them. These people who displayed so much affection for Mr. Taleqani, was it really because- as that person wrote- he was a democrat and for this reason the people displayed such an outpouring of affection; the things that the people would kiss; they would kiss that pickaxe that his grave had been dug with; was it because he was a man who was a democrat? Was it so? Or no, he was a cleric and the people regard the clergy as being manifestations of the prophetic mission and the manifestation of the Imamate.

And in the statements that I made yesterday which perhaps you will hear tomorrow, was that we should take note of what the people say. It is such that at one time we go into a room, sit down and write whatever we wish; this was for this reason and that was for that reason! At one time we want to see what these people who have brought about this Revolution and that express such sorrow and mourning were saying. Was it other than this that they were saying," O our master, O our leader, O the representative of our Prophet, we miss you." They regarded him as the representative of the Prophet and for this reason they would kiss that pickaxe. It is like kissing the shrine of Her Holiness Ma`soumah; the affection is not for the gold, silver and the metal, rather it is an outpouring of affection in relation to God and in relation to the Prophet and in relation to them. They dread these matters! When an aged descendant of the Prophet passes away from among this population, this is what happens whereas when a thousand persons belonging to the Democrat Party are killed, the people rejoice! This is what they fear. And we also must not corroborate them because they too want to have a stronghold somewhere and are struggling to find a solution for themselves; but we must think of what kind of blow has been dealt to this nation of ours so far and how it must move at present in order to avoid those blows being dealt to it.

For fifty and some years, we were dealt with blows by the foreigners; from inclination toward foreigners; from that all our things were devoted to them; we were struck blows; now those blows should again be repeated by us. Should we repeat the same route? Or no, we should overcome this route with another revolution. At least those that have no faith in our religion which is the most progressive religion, well, they should experience it. For fifty years they experienced the other side; for five years they should experience this side. Then if this side also turns out to be the same and if the same displays of power and those killings and those plundering are also witnessed on this side, then they should come forward and say that both should step down and another solution must be thought about. But without experiencing and without them trying to understand what it is going to be like from now, to understand from the individuals; individuals that are present now as compared to the individuals who were serving in that regime if, for example, this individual is not decisive and is not very capable- that is one issue. Another issue is that they disagree and say that this individual is doing those things that were being done in the previous regime such as stealing, plundering, subversion, and serving the foreigners; these people are also doing the same things. I do not believe that it would be fair if they wish to say such things. This is unfair. We know the individuals; we know which individuals are in the Revolutionary Council. The persons who are in the government- with the exception of a group- some of them we know very well that they are not untrustworthy in that sense of the term in the manner that they keep on saying to us that there is no difference with that regime! Is it fair that we say this system is not different from the previous one? That regime which would loot all the people and beat them up and pillage them; take away their wealth and property and burn them; whereas now there is neither a prison for the ordinary people nor for non-criminals and there is no plunderer and no forceful confiscations and taking away; now, suppose that someone commits a theft in some place, this too is an inheritance from the former regime; otherwise if an Islamic system is established, their hands will be amputated.

And the important thing is that they are afraid of you for this feature; for Islam. All the oppositions to the clergy are because of Islam and not because of the clergymen; the clergy is not something that is independent. All the oppositions are also because they regard Islam to be in conflict with their interests and the interests of those that are working and thinking for them. And those that are forcing these people to take such actions also see that with the arrival of Islam, there is power in Islam. That was one issue which they felt that Islam had such a power as to have toppled a regime that had all power at its disposal and with all those shelters- that they would constantly pressurize us when we were in Paris; constantly they would bring pressure on behalf of America that you should not behave with them in this way; and after the departure of the Shah do not do anything to him, that they are good and that we should allow them to do their job; well, now, they are seeing that they combined all their powers together and on one front was our nation that had nothing except the cry of Islam; and now those who are in abroad have come to the conclusion and have seen that this is a power; and it is possible that this power will until the end not allow them to act as they wish in this country, God willing; for this reason they are afraid; and they also must oppose, they have no alternative. Outside also they would undertake all those activities and write so many things; well, it is because of this reason that they are afraid of this issue. And yesterday a woman «3» had come here and interviewed me and one of the things that she said was this that she found me to be very calm and composed whereas in foreign countries they had painted a different picture of me; she asked whether I was not displeased by this. I replied that from a certain aspect it did hurt which was that why a human being should be such that to achieve his own end, he should say something that is contrary to the truth! You have come here, well, go to the people and ask them whether until now any breast of a female has been cut off for someone to have given the order for it. I did not tell her this, but this is a fact. It is said that they had dreamt of Satan having a handsome face! They said well, but this picture was contrary to what they had drawn for them. They said that the pen is in the hands of the enemy! This is the question. Yesterday also they brought a sheet of paper and said that this person is a Hitler. Hitler had placed his hand behind his back and was staring at a caricature of mine and I had drawn out a sword while a whole lot of skulls and heads- all of which I had chopped off- were drawn beside my caricature!

And we must also not expect that they should speak well of us; if they speak well then it is obvious that we are the renegades! In those days I would say that this regime «4» did not understand that the way to bring about my downfall was to praise me! Everyday they would engage in using foul language; the more they would abuse, the people would think that it was because I was against them. Had they begun to praise and accord respect and so forth; we would have gradually been finished! If America praises us and the American newspapers sing our praises, it is then that the people must question the issue; there must be some reason why they are praising us! Of course, they must condemn us; they must also condemn you and they must also condemn the Islamic Republic.

At any rate, they are apprehensive that this system which it is hoped, God willing, will become a reality abroad, has made them to become apprehensive; a group of traitors have become apprehensive; and also a group of respectable people; but they do not pay attention to the fact that this is not the case; the issue is not that if a jurisprudent is approved in the Revolution Council that, for example, he must possess such qualities; they think that since it has become so, thus the world has come to an end! They will make a mess of the people! That these jurisprudents will do whatever they want and then such-and-such thing will happen and they will be defeated. This is an Islamic country. It is a country whose people kissed the pickaxe with which the grave of the late Mr. Taleqani was dug. We want to work for this people, we want to draft legislation for this people; it is for this people that we want to endeavor; it is they who vote for them. If we pressurize them to vote for this gentleman, tell them they must definitely vote on this issue; then of course both we as well as they are at fault. But if we hand over the issue to the people and tell them that this is the gentleman; do you accept him or not? It is possible that you will put this one thing to public vote that whether they accept that, for example, a first rate `alim, for example, supervise these matters. Let the 35 million- except those who have joined hands and were not able to garner one million votes- see that here also it is the same or the issue is that they want to impose our will upon them. If this is the issue then it is you who are saying things against it, who are the dictators and wish to impose your will upon us.

Dictatorship is to impose something that is against the direction of the nation; that is, in conflict with the opinion of the nation. You want to impose this subject on the nation that, for example, you tell them to put aside this subject of religious jurisprudence; that we overlook the fact that our government is an Islamic government- it was God; it was God that brought this about- we have climbed down several positions and have behaved in accordance with the wishes of the gentlemen, or more because we in an instant set up an assembly with the vote of the people so that they could come forward and say which aspect of the voting was by force. Where had they brought pressure? Where had they installed a system in which they were told to vote in this manner? Or where they took away a ballot box and rigged it? They should come forward and say so wherever such a thing has taken place so that it will be annulled. But to disregard the public vote; and secondly the gentlemen also have confirmed that it was right; and thirdly, it was put to the vote of all the people- so where is the problem that those gentlemen are raising such a hue and cry? Is it except that the same anti-Islamic vein that urges them to say these?! Sometimes they are unaware of it and sometimes they are aware of it. This is the issue.

And now the subject that I must speak about here both to the gentlemen that are in the Islamic Republic Party as well as the gentlemen in the Council [of Experts] is this that we must look to the composition of the Consultative Assembly- this is important. If a Consultative Assembly that is in line with Islam is established, we shall go after our own job; they too shall become busy doing their own task; they shall do their job; we can no longer be repeatedly bothered till the end. The nation itself is doing its job; and when a nation does its own job then whoever that protests or raises his voice or cries out is inconsequential because well, the nation itself wants. Once I had said that if the nation wanted to say that it wanted to have dictatorship, you have no right to say no to them. If suppose because the West is not dictatorship- which of course it is and is worse than that- but our nation wants Islam and there is absolutely no dictatorship involved in Islam- never there was and never there has been absolutely and never there shall be. And we must try to establish, God willing, an assembly that is proper; and you should not be afraid of these statements. It is that the better that you make it, the more they will criticize it. This incident I have mentioned once or twice that the late Mr. Fayd «5»- may God bless him- was among the prominent `ulama' of this place. At a time when they had decreed that the clergy must sit for an examination and you cannot imagine what disgrace it had created for us, inside the Faydiyyah Madrasah, I was going to meet him. He said that well, these people wanted to distinguish the good from the bad and there was nothing wrong with it. I told him that they were afraid of the good! They wanted to identify the good and then destroy them! Yes, if they wished to destroy the bad we would have approved of them, but it is the good that they want to destroy; they were afraid of the good. Rida Khan was afraid of Mudarris; he had nothing to fear of the man who approved of him. The foreigners were afraid of the likes of Mudarris; and not of a person who agreed with them; or to whom it would make no difference whether this system was operating properly or that system- he obeyed the system. He obeyed as long as his car was of a good make-up even if that car was gifted to him whether by `Umar Sa`ad or by Imam Husayn- it makes no difference to him at all! It is because the yardstick for him is the automobile. To a person for whom the life of the world is the yardstick, who has no religion, only a good material life is important to him, it is welcome if this lifestyle is given by Rida Khan to him or whether you give it to him- it makes no difference to him because the automobile is the same whoever grants it to him.

This is the issue; God willing, you should find those that are religious and those that lean toward Islam; start right now. This time your troubles have increased because the Council of Experts was for a short term, whereas the assembly is for a long period; and there are advantages in it. You must be very meticulous; you must work very hard; nominate your candidates and introduce them to the people as your candidates; the one who works for Islam and propagate that Islam; the sword should be in your hands; the sword also is in your hands; get the job done with this sword; this cutting sword of Islam; but a sword that destroys the traitors and protects those that serve it. Inform the people that your candidates consist of these six-hundred or five-hundred persons for example- whatever their number. And of course do not be apprehensive if they say that it consists of the mullahs and `ulama' and that it has become a priestly affair. Islam has made it into a priestly affair; what has it got to do with us. And I should say that the clergy and the religion of the clergy means to be Islamic and follower of the Islamic religion; all must be in this manner. And then you can go to the Consultative Assembly with peace. If you do not go to the Consultative Assembly yourself or, God willing, you go, get elected, then you go there in peace and relax while the nation itself shall do the job. Now, if you permit, I shall take your leave.