Speech [Conspiracy of separating religion from politics - Comprehensiveness of the Islamic ideology]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

In advance, I would like to appreciate the ladies who have come here from far away to offer condolences. I also express my condolence to them.

What is significant in this revolution is to know the situation of the revolution and consciously pursue the goal of the Islamic Republic. So far, the taghouti regime had driven all Islamic decrees in the entire country, education and non-educational cadres, ministries, army and other places to run against Islam. Order had come to withhold Islam finding expression in Iran in its real sense. The foreigners who wanted to exploit us without difficulty struggled to sap the progress of Islam in the country. They spared those laws not posing a threat to their benefits. However, they struggled to bar the realization of the aspects that ran counter to their benefit. They attempted to make everyone believe that religion is separate from politics. Religion is a set of rules and decrees concerned only with prayers with the clerics preaching subjects that would not interfere with their business and nothing else, thus enabling them to indulge in their pillage and oppressing the nation. The religious strata should mind their acts of worship and ignore what is going on and what the foreigners were doing to this country. This is what the government planned to do during the taghout period. They tried to hinder the clergy's participation in politics. Perhaps many of them had come to believe that they should not interfere in politics. It is related that one of these corrupt agents told someone that they wanted to maintain the clergy's sanctity. To this end, they should not participate in politics. This is the ploy adapted by western states; their clients imitated it under the guise of maintaining the clergy's sanctity. This means that the clergy should just go to mosques and perform prays, forgetting the country, statehood and the parliament- leaving these affairs to pillagers and minding their own business. This was planned a long time ago and fanned while the father and son were in power. This is their word.

Our word is that not only the clergy, but also all strata should participate in politics. Politics is not a legacy left only to government, parliament or special figures. Politics signifies passing some enactments, laws, etc. to control a country. All citizens have the right to intervene in politics in this sense. It is women's right and duty to participate in politics. The same holds true for the clergy. Islam is a political religion; everything including even acts of worship in Islam is associated with politics.

Consider the Friday prayer, which was prohibited in time of taghout regime. Sometimes it was held stealthily in a mosque. The way the Friday prayer used to be held was not proper. The proper Friday prayer is what we are practicing today. It was performed for several weeks. Unfortunately, Mr. Taliqani passed away and, thank God, a paramount individual and a dutiful clergy has taken his place. He «2» had suffered imprisonment terms and torture and is well experienced. Friday prayer is a political congregation in addition to being an act of worship. Political issues and Muslims' problems must be posed in Friday prayer sermons. The same should be done in congregational prayer where people come together in every neighborhood to be informed of the country's situation and problems and to find solutions. Congregations of people in Mecca and other big assemblies in Mina, `Arafat, Mash`ar and Medina, which hail from all Muslim lands and from all walks of life and who are able to afford and make the pilgrimage are all political issues. Congregations in towns and villages are political too. Unfortunately, owing to the propaganda that confined mosque-goers to mosque, we could not utilize both big and small congregations. It was like this because of the propagation, which had been the cause of confinement of mosque-going people to mosques.

The mosque is the propagation center. In early Islam, soldiers and armies were dispatched from mosques where political decrees were made. When a problem came up, they used to call for the congregational prayer, pose the matter and discuss it. The mosque is the political congregational center- the larger and more crowded one is called the Friday prayer. According to the size of the city, people should get together at a place every week. A big city like Tehran will have a bigger congregation. An intellectual preacher should familiarize people with their political, social and cultural duties by explications in sermons. There should be a congregation once a year or for two feasts and a public one for all Muslims. Those who can afford to make pilgrimage to Mecca are required to attend it. This is a political one where people from all countries can discuss the problems of the Muslims. Unfortunately, though it is held freely in Islam, we do not utilize it. Just consider how costly and difficult would be the invitation of the Emir of Hijaz to congregate 500 people outside of Hajj time. God Almighty has obliged millions of people to get together freely without any problems for the governments, but we fail to use it. This is the result of widespread propaganda by foreigners and their clients that religion has nothing to do with politics. For themselves, they say," leave politics to the emperor and religion to the Pope and his followers" and for us," leave politics to Muhammad-Rida and go for preaching, mind your own business and maintain your sainthood". This was posed somewhat quite conspiratorially and roguishly in those days, something that I do not like to explain anymore. These are the troubles we encountered; I hope in the revolution such things are no longer observed.

One great outcome of this revolution is the transformation all people including men and women have undergone. That change for the better is the sense of responsibility. We are all responsible for training whatever is good for them in this world and the hereafter.

Islam is not a religion that considers only one aspect of life. It covers all aspects related to the world, politics, society, economy and even otherworldly life of which people of the world are not aware. Theistic religions were sent to deal with both aspects and to chalk out plans for both this and other worldly life. Monotheistic religions are not merely concerned with one aspect of life while ignoring the other. Islam in particular has insisted on association of religion with politics. Decrees relating to prayer, zakat and the khums are all politically oriented. Its Hajj and khums aim at administration of the country. The laws of hudoud, ta`zirat, lextaliones and others were all brushed aside, being superseded by western laws. I hope this enlistment will make men and women feel a strong sense of responsibility. It was this very sense that sent people to the streets to shout out at the enemies and drive the out. This was your direct participation in politics, which the opponents encouraged to avoid. They tried to make women not only indifferent, but also corrupt, also serving as responsible for corruption of others.

This was their end. They spread the idea that they freed women and men. They liberated 15 millions of women! What sort of freedom were they seeking? Were men free so that women could be free? In what field were we free? In what field were men free? In what sense we were free? Were men free? Well, of course, they were free in some respects and they were encouraged to establish corruption centers. Those women and men who were of their own ilk were free to do whatever in those centers of corruption. You well know what was going on at the beaches. They were free at the seaside. This was the" free man" and" free women" they prescribed. Foregoing this, was any of our newspapers free to raise a single word in those days? Who amongst you was free to say a word? That is why you were not free. The freedom they preached was equal to corruption, pain and trouble. This freedom ruined our young strata during these years. Thank God, a great development occurred in the recent years and you brothers and sisters came to realize that you are the ones to run your country. You are the ones to expel the corrupt strata and you did it.

You should educate girls and boys. Of course, it is an honorable occupation, but it takes on many responsibilities. You hold a noble yet responsible occupation. You are responsible for Islamic and human education of children. Train these girls in Islamic and human education. Develop their spirits into an Islamic and human one so as to be useful for your country. In contrast, the enemies worked to corrupt our youths and make them indifferent to their own problems. The heroin-taking youths cannot think whatever befalls them and the country. This is exactly what they were looking for. The youth who is accustomed to go to cinema of those natures cannot reflect what has befallen the country. This is what they sought. I hope that with the development you have undergone and the attention you have drawn towards Islam and the Holy Qur'an, God willing, this country would be reformed.

Know that so far there has been no evolution as good as the one in Iran. The revolutions in the world have claimed millions of lives and destroyed millions of houses. Let us just look at the October Revolution in Soviet Union. It is said that 60 - odd years have passed since the revolution, yet no improvement has been made nor people are free. The leaders of the revolution have failed to give expression to the goals of the revolution. However, our five or six-month old revolution has accomplished many of its aims and is proceeding to set things right. It is because it is an Islamic revolution. The difference between Islamic and non-Islamic revolutions lies in the fact that when a revolution is Islamic, the masses of people will accompany it. When people support an idea, it will advance rapidly. Corruption in such revolutions is meager. I do not say there is absolutely no corruption. Any revolution is inevitably affected by such impurities, but none of them has occurred as appropriately and quickly as that in Iran. I hope that God grants you health, glory and majesty and that we all serve our country and Islam so that all our affairs would be corrected.