Speech [Importance of Judgment in Islam]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I should first say in general terms that judgment is a very crucial question. You judges have a very perilous task. If you consider the traditions, you will see how difficult matter it is. You deal with the reputation, lives, and the property of the people. If God forbid, you do not judge carefully and efficiently, you are religiously responsible for the matter itself you are judges, in the Islamic Republic. Islamic Republic may put it in danger, defacing it. You know that different people with evil grudges are planning now to damage the image of IRI. One-way to do this is through the courts. If God forbid courts commit an offence, this will not only damage the IRI but also Islam. If the damage was inflicted on people, no matter however wrong it is. You may present a bright image of Islam as it is or, God forbid, misrepresent it. If it is so, then the enemies would add fuel on it, complain we were once embroiled in difficulties of the former regime and now in the `Aba «1» and turban. Of course whatever good deeds you do they will continue complaining, but giving excuse to them is another matter. We do not fear if they say or write something against us. Those who are whether inside or outside the country and who have lost their interests i. e. their satanic interests, will complain and make uproar. They may sometimes say baseless statements and sometimes we may give them excuse. If once an excuse is given to them, they will exaggerate it as they wish. Now that you have punished a group of criminals of whose crimes all of the people were informed, their adherents abroad started complaining as you saw. We do not expect those who have lost whatever they had to treat us peacefully. They must of course support Nasiri, «2» Huwayda, «3» Muhammad-Rida and so forth because they showed the way and assisted them in plundering. We didn't expect them not to mean for them. But the grave responsibility we have is that we must not give them any excuse. So the jurists or the public prosecutors in the courts or the policemen must be careful not to commit an offence, God forbid because they are all the members of Islamic Republic of Iran, then all their tasks should be Islamic.

You know how significant judgment is at the beginning. You deal with things on which the reputation of the people hinges and you should judge cautiously and strongly.

A criminal should be punished and no recommendation should be accepted from anyone. I have said repeatedly that if anyone receives a letter of recommendation on behalf of me, my office or those who are related to me, hit it to the wall. The judge should be under the influence of no one and should be free and judge freely, paying attention to no recommendation. If there is a just recommendation, then you must of course examine it. Supposing that there is no recommendation, you should investigate the case. But if God forbid, there is an unjust recommendation, you should not pay attention to it. The judge is in any case an independent person who should comment on the case he, but should know that God witnesses his actions too. You may disgrace a Muslim or administer rights with the pen you hold in your hand, so you should be careful that God is Omnipresent and Omniscient.

On the case of those offences, which are related to revolutionary courts, it is you to recognize. There are other cases as well e.g. the lies whose verification is very difficult and for which there are retributions in religious law. For example in the case of" adultery" four just men should testify just like `bodkin in the collybruim. '

The Almighty God does not wish such cases to be revealed soon. The reputation of the people should be preserved even though they might be sinful. If one confesses for the first time that he has committed adultery, it should not be accepted. One should be advised if one's crime is proven, one would be stoned to death. Then must be given a grace period. If one confessed it for the second time, one should be advised again to forget such wicked deeds, and if one confesses it for the fourth time, then the retribution must be executed under the supervision of a just Mujtahid, not in chaotic way. One of the honorable `ulama' of Shiraz has written a letter to me- yesterday or the day before yesterday- saying that lawful aspects and retribution of offences as for e.g." adultery" are not taken into consideration and they are executed very soon. He has asked me to work out a solution. Now that you gentlemen are present here it is the best opportunity to tell you not to treat such matters perfunctorily. You should listen to such words not forgetting them and arguing that they are not related to the revolution. If you are involved in these matters, you should treat them in accordance with the religious precepts, as the holy Prophet has said. We are not allowed to whip, imprison or execute whomever we want. There is the matter of Muslims' reputation, which should be preserved. If once a person comes informing that such and such person has done an offence, you should first consider if the informer is a just person or not. If twenty persons testify that an offense has been committed, you should not pay attention. Witness must be" just" so that their testimonies are accepted. Suppose that ten people who are not proven to be just come to the court, testifying that one has a bad reputation for committing e.g. adultery. But such a reputation about such a secret affair is not possible. A thief may make a reputation for himself somewhere but about such prostitution that take places in different places, a reputation may not be made, so no one can be assured of it. What remains is the testimony of the witness or the confession of the criminal himself, which must be done repeatedly after one, is advised against them, so that the retribution might not be executed as far as possible.

The Law Enforcement Forces are not allowed to go immediately to the door of someone's home just as they hear one has, God forbids, done such and such offence, except that an order is issued by the court and according to the religious precepts. Going to the people's home without permission is against the law.

No one is allowed to insult a person, although one is against such and such matters. It is right just to punish but not to insult him. No one should go into his house insulting his family. We want Islam so we should not act in such a way that people say the courts in taghouti regime never did such things! You, gentlemen, should solve this problem; otherwise, you are not obliged to be jurists. If you can perform things according to the principles of judgment and Islamic precepts, you should do so, if not and if you are actually limited in action, you can leave this responsibility. In any case, judgment is a significant matter not just because of the judgment itself but because when the judgment is done in a place where people want to damage Islam, its importance multiplied. Of course, when it is done in a place where people do not want to damage Islam, I must say that the matter of judgment is also significant. The jurists, prosecutors, policemen, IRGCs and committees should all perform according to religious law. A guard is not allowed to act without the permission of the jurist or the prosecutor, and if he is ordered on a duty, he has no right to violate the law and no disorder should be made.

Should we make disorder now that we have made a revolution?! Revolution should be based on Islamic precepts. We should not just name it" revolution" and do whatever we wish.

What is the meaning of the revolutionary? Does Islam change by the revolution? Islam is the same Islam as before. You have laid aside a taghouti power and now you want to establish Islam and Islamic rules so you should examine these matters very cautiously lest innocent people might not be slandered intentionally. As you see, nowadays are the days of slander! I wonder why every one accuses whomever he likes. These people do not know what punishment God prescribes for slandering a pious person and what back biting a pious person means so in fact defaming a man of piety is synonymous with defaming Allah. Every person levels accusation against anyone any time. Of course, there are groups of people who want to slander others but fear some individuals.

The first day I came in Iran, the enemies of Islam, imagining that I do not know them, started to write letters to me against several people, immediately after their arrival in Iran, including Mr. Yazdi, «4» Mr. Bani-Sadr «5» and Qutbzadeh «6» whom I know for about twenty years and who were active abroad for twenty years against the former regime, calling them American agents, voicing doubt as to whether they knew Persian at all. They say Mr. Yazdi is American wondering whether he knows Persian at all! Why should a man be so? Now that they have been disappointed in them, they are setting against other classes of the society and against a man like Mr. Beheshti about whom I know everything and a man who has studied and accompanied me for more than twenty years. They are fearful of Mr. Beheshti because he is a suitable man and they do not like such people to be in the scene and want to dishonor or kill whoever is serving the people somewhere, one by one.

Today a group of people came to me saying the people talk very ill about Beheshti whom I know closely for more than twenty years. They think since they have just come from abroad and I saw them recently, I do not know them, but I knew them. They are pious men who can serve Islam. If I lay aside those who can serve Islam one by one, dispossessing them, then who would remain! Nowadays, it is common to speak ill of whoever is in the government, city councils, and courts, something, which must be avoided. I do not know what kind of persons they are. Unfortunately, there are also some credulous persons among our youth who as it is said that such and such person is e.g. American or English; they believe it soon. The American and English agents themselves are planning to defame justifiable persons calling them American or English because they themselves are defamed. These agents know what the Iranian people understand of the concept of an English name.

I remember thirty or forty years ago when English agents wanted to boycott the clerics, they called them English. They themselves were injecting in the minds of the people to say so to defame them. Nowadays, it is common to call justifiable persons American. The American or their agents inject the people to call them American in order to disgrace them. And unfortunately some optimistic people believe it soon, repeating the same words without any consideration. I saw it was written somewhere that Mr. Yazdi and Mr. Beheshti «7» whom I know for about thirty years had gone to such and such person asking him to do something for Bakhtiyar. «8» But Mr. Yazdi was always against Bakhtiyar when I was there, and Mr. Beheshti did not say a word about him whenever he came to me. Then, why should a Muslim disgrace another Muslim? I did not want to name individuals but I deem it my religious duty to support a Muslim who was useful and has served us and Islam for twenty years and whom the enemy wanted to dishonor. Tomorrow, they will speak ill of you and of others; I wonder when it will be my turn.

The fact is that they want to disarm and boycott us one by one; what remain would be the corrupt and malicious people.

The Iranian university students and other classes of the nation should consider and know that those malicious people, who came into the universities, making false propaganda and dishonoring the respectful people, have evil intentions. They do not want this revolution to be fulfilled and want the former situation to be restored again.

I hope these malicious people cannot have any essential damage to our revolution, and these matters will be solved by the endeavor of all gentlemen- the clerics, the jurists, the prosecutors and all classes of the society- and Islam will be actualized abroad as willed by the Almighty.

Let me say a word that, the Almighty God knows, I am tougher with the corrupt mullahs than other people. One SAVAK (Shah's notorious secret police) agent is more respectful to me than a corrupt mullah. God Almighty knows that the special court of clerics is not to defend the clerics but to disarm a group of malicious people who are aiming to disgrace honorable persons. The gentlemen have proposed such a court to be established in their environment because they know these persons. Otherwise, these mullahs are not different from others. Actually, they are. The devil and mischief acts of a corrupt mullah are more damaging than others. The damage Islam sustains at the hands of a corrupt mullah is greater then that inflicted by Muhammad-Rida! There are some traditions saying, men of hell are bothered by the fetid smell of the corrupt clerics. In this world the people are also bothered by their fetid smell. We do not support the turban; we support Islam. If Islam is with everyone, he will be dignified. Being treacherous to the precepts of Islam on behalf of a cleric is worse than a non-cleric because the former is more harmful than others. There is no purpose behind establishing these courts and it makes no difference if they want to change them into the common public courts.