Speech [Peculiarities of the Islamic Revolution and its distinctions with other revolutions]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I am thankful to you, scholars, for your attention to the matters needing attention. I am hopeful that by high courage of all the classes, particularly the colleges, scholars, and thinkers, the difficulties will subside little by little. Of course, there are a great many difficulties. It is possible in every revolution to refrain from difficulties. But to you, I give good tidings. This Islamic Revolution is better than all the revolutions happened in the world. Its casualties are far less. The thing that is availed and there is hope that it will be availed more and more soon. It is important. All the revolutions, some how or other, hail from a tyrant power and get shifted to another tyrant power. A coup d'etat occurs. Some party gets more powerful, and the regime is declined giving way to some other regime. Both the regimes are always similar because the thing in-between is the thirst of power.

Now you are witnessing in Afghanistan coup d'etats are frequently taking place. But this coup d'etats happen by a stronger one in favor of one and again in favor of another. Likewise, its cycle rotates. The nation has no say in this affair. This chaos, which is existing there, and the revolution, which actually belongs to the Soviet Union, is not the revolution of that man. «1» Before this man's coming to power the Soviet forces had entered Afghanistan. They abolished the existing government. What they did was not based upon the will of the people. They invaded the country and occupied it. The government was a corrupt one. They abolished the government. «2» They replaced it by another more corrupted government. Even now, Afghanistan is in their hands against the will of the nation and the thinkers. All the governments not affiliated to the Soviet Union have condemned this act.

The ambassador of the Soviet Union had come over here and had stayed after a few hours of their occupation. He met me. He told me that he has brought a message. He mentioned the message to me. It contained the same thing that a foreigner force has entered Afghanistan and were engaged in creating disturbances. They were against the nation. The Afghan government asked the Soviet Union to come to their aid. So the Soviet too wants to enter Afghanistan. They had already done this thing. I asked him as to who was the foreigner he was referring to. Then hesitatingly he replied: for instance, Pakistan. Then I narrated to him the whole case telling that the ground of our case too is the same. I also told him that if he wants to bring calm at the point of a bonnet or a lance and make a nation to yield to him, it is a mistake. It is possible to suffocate or even kill one at the point of a lance. But it is impossible to remain there or get established. A nation if determined at a thing it is not possible to stop the nation or to go against its determination. If the government belongs to two regimes and the nation is insistent to have a communist government, then it will not work out. You do not be hopeful of victory from a nation desiring to have Islamic rule and you trying to impose a communist one. Yes, you can kill as you are already doing it. But you cannot stay there any longer.

The main thing is that the governments cannot understand their obligations towards the nations. Whatever government has come to power, it seems as though it has come to suppress the nation. The fact is that a government particularly in the sense of democracy should be a servant of the nation not a tyrant to it. But, we see such is not the case with the governments. These governments that we have seen and confronted, all well know how their position was. Besides, the governments in our neighborhood too are the same like them. A group in minority by the support of a foreign comes to power and suppresses a nation as much as it can. It continues till the nations come out of their somnolence. Iran too is in this category. Iran too was suffering under a government, which at first came to power at the point of British lance, and then the allied forces of the three. «3» It continued and submitted to the Americans. The kings went on worse and worse as all saw and know.

The appraisal of Iran was a powerful one against another powerful that was to be repelled and this one should come in its place at the point of a lance. No, this was not the case. The appraisal of Iran had emanated from the depths of the population. It was a national campaign. In other words, young and elders, men and women- all had joined in the appraisal. They all collectively wiped out the tyrant government. This is a distinction that distinguishes the Iranian Islamic revolution from all the other appraisals. This was cent percent a national one. A man with a lance in hand marching ahead killing all the people or with a tank and gun shooting other. This was not the case. It was not like that. All that it had was a cry, demonstrations and trust in God. From this aspect the distinction is that it was a national movement. This appraisal was not a coup d'etat either or a power against a power to overrun it. A nation has wiped out a power while it was neither an army or did it have any military training not was it a student folk of any university or of a religious school. They, women and men, and traders in bazaar having had neither military training nor any weapons, were all together and all were after one thing- the Islamic justice, and Islamic government. This was the hope of all. Even the children who had just learnt to utter words were saying" Islamic Republic" which they had heard from their mothers. Men and women and those informed ones were all saying:" We want an Islamic government." So as such this appraisal of Iran had two dimensions: One, it was originated from the people. Second, its power or motor was the belief in Islam. When the campaign went forward it did not start suppressing the people. Now you see the situation in Afghanistan. The government of America is brought down. And, now they are busy in massacre. The planes of Soviet Union are hanging over the heads of the people. A force of forty-five thousand is now stationed there. It is said that the forces well equipped are patrolling in towns and cities. Of course, the people are campaigning against them. Ultimately the victory is to the people God willingly. Here it was not like that. This is a thing we all have witnessed it. After the decline of the power the Shah went first. Afterwards went his followers. Houses were not invaded. People were not killed. No planes flied over the heads of the people. The reason is that it was the nation, which had upraised. All were together. No power had come to rule against the nation. It was the nation itself. All were friends and brothers. So, this was a striking distinction and peculiarity in our appraisal.

Therefore, it was not entailed by massacres. A group of several thousands as one told more than three thousand at one spot in Afghanistan were killed. In a mosque wherein 250 persons were worshipping and others were busy in their jobs. All were killed by weapons. Such a thing never happened here. Here no power confronted a power. A nation it was that confronted power. When the nation succeeded then for what it should commit such things? Nearly for five months there was a freedom in this country. Such a freedom never came into being after any revolution in the world. It is said that France is the oldest, for instance, in civilization. After the revolution that happened there, it is said that a great number of people were killed there. Even at this stage it is not known as to whether it has gained the stability in its correct sense. Whether there exists freedom such as one here. But here when the barrier was broken there appeared a flow of true freedom. All the airports too were open.

Generally when a revolution happens all the airports are closed and the telecommunications controlled. But here such a thing never happened. The airports remained open. The newspapers too are subject to censorship. This is the characteristic of revolutions. But here all have seen the absolute freedom that ensued our revolution. All the newspapers were coming out. For five months there existed complete freedom. The corrupt people took advantage of this freedom. Essays and articles used to appear in the newspapers. Announcers kept their jobs. Everything was in its place. All roads and highways were open. Now after a few months it is discovered that a group wants to publish its own beliefs, which they entertain. Now it is known that plots are in cooking. They are being paid by Israel- the enemy of mankind. After all this few newspapers are held up in order to find out the source of their mischief and the ground for it. But the things such as massacres and so on never happened. A few of them who had been committing murders and inciting others for such actions for fifty years were brought to justice. When their actions were proved in the court and their identity established, they were either executed or put into prison. This was their lot given to them.

There is an example of a revolution in the world such as one like ours. Revolution happens and the antagonists are treated humanely. Freedom is given in full measures. We do not have any example of such a thing. The reason into this is, it had originated from the people, and it was for the sake of Islam. The nation saw a binding upon itself to refrain from the wrong. Of course, in a population of thirty and odd millions there do exist a few wrong doers. Always it has had been such. In the past too, such a thing existed and now too it does exist. But a vast massacre never took place. The victorious group carries out collective murders and suffocates all liberties, such a thing here does not happen. The main thing was that the revolution belonged to the people and it was for Islam. This is an issue that differentiates our revolution from all the revolutions. Its direction and dimension was the people and Islam.

As you see, all the classes of the people, with the exception of a very small group, which is corrupt and gets instructions from abroad, have become busy with their jobs. They are sensible to their obligations that they should do something for their country. University is busy. Institutions are busy. Farmers are busy with their farming. Two days ago, farmers from around Qum had come with their sickles. It was interesting to see them carrying the bunches of wheat. They were showing the wheat and shouting:" We want to do our own farming." You know a country wherein the responsible ones had no trucks with the people except to drag them to corruption, and this lasted for fifty years. Their endeavor was to harm the country from every aspect. In the colleges by some other way, they tried their mission. They had made the university an imperialist. Our youths when came out they were acting for the interests of foreigners. They talked in their interests more than their own. They used to train in this way. Wherever they laid hands upon, they spoiled it. In each place, they used a particular way for this purpose. Among the masses of the people they created differences, lack work. They did not want the people to work. They wanted them to depend upon the foreigners and dependent upon them. More important than this- they even made our culture affiliated with foreigners. Our belief had reached to this extend that except the West nothing is worth and there exists no place to its level. There is nowhere to rely upon. We must depend either on West or on East. The good ones among us used to say to depend on West. They were so short of comprehension to think that we can exist by ourselves. We can stand upon our own feet. We can do work. We prefer to give up the culture, which has corrupted us. We prefer to live a simple human life.

If we attain independence of thought and turn our face from this corrupt culture, we could gradually become self-sufficient. The thing that blocks the way to becoming self-sufficient in every stratum of our society is the dependence we have upon them. If the best happens to be the Jerusalem of a nation the people will stand facing towards it, and speak in its favor. Ataturk «4» whose photo I have seen when I was there. His status was, as I have seen it in Turkey, with his hand extended. The people there told one that he was pointing to the West. To this effect that every thing should be from there. One of our so-called scholars in Iran «5» had said that unless everything of us becomes English we will avail nothing and go nowhere. Such intellectuals who believe every thing of the West is best have given wind to the propaganda of this like. All these years this propaganda has gone a great length to bring home this belief to us that West is better- as though we ourselves are not human beings. If one got a headache he sued to go to Europe. If one wants to learn a few words, he saw himself obliged to go to Europe. You can judge by comparing one learned in Europe (in his own conjecture he thinks he has learned) with one studied here itself. The studies here too they had kept too low. Yet, you will see him far better than that one who has learned in Europe. He went there for enjoyment. He returned with a paper of permission to impose himself upon others. In the West, they bestow diploma easily and quickly. But to themselves they don't give such easy and quick diplomas. They want to become scholars. So they labor hardly to get a diploma. When our turn comes, they do not want us to become scholars. They keep us at a level to think that we are nothing. Everything is the West.

This reality that we are human beings and that we too exist in this world, we must establish it. East too is one of the quarts in the globe. West is not everything. We should prove it. East is a place where its treasures are plenty and its thinkers have had been more than anywhere else. This superiority continued till they overpowered us and we yielded to them. The median went to West from East. Likewise the culture, it was Eastern culture that civilized them. Regrettably, see how the things developed. See how the propaganda worked. How the things were categorized. As a result, we lagged behind. We are kept behind in a way that we think ourselves very little. I have told this time and again. The wool is woven in Isfahan. The mark or brand is stamped at its back in English. The reason is that no one buys it if it is not English. Even you and I too do not purchase it unless it should be English. Our roads. If they should be decorated they are named after the foreigners. For example, Roosevelt «6» Avenue. Roosevelt who ruined us and brought havoc to us. This man «7», according to himself as he had said: They deemed it befitting I should be here. ' God may curse them for such deeming. In spite of this, the road should be in his name Roosevelt. And so with Churchill Avenue. «8» You go and search all the streets in the West. Though I do not know but I do not think that one single name of our kings adopted by them. Yes, it is likely to be if they want to please us for their some or other end. They have made us such as to close our own information- we go after the information of others, that too not real information but the information which they expect. If that information was useful, we would have not been in this situation today. The exported information means which should not be of any use to us or by its help we cannot attain higher grades. It was all- only in name and a vast propaganda. You see where we have reached. This man «9» who claimed to have arrived at the door of civilization, now he has gone and you see what is our position and where we are. Now we belong to nothing. We have nothing. Our treasures are empty. Whatever oil we had is taken away. This man too had told that for twenty years we will have the petrol. We will here take advantage of the sun. Had this man been in power, we perhaps would not have the petrol after twenty years. Thanks god we have petrol. It will be there if there not is any theft.

Anyway and however, the peculiarity of this revolution that it is Islamic and a national one and has established a ground for you all, gentlemen, to be bound to work collectively. Whatever possible for you to do the work you will not refrain from. You know that the work and its advantages are for yourselves. It is for your own house. Now you consider Iran as your own house. Before this you used to say:" Why and for what for should I work? I work and the advantage should go to America?" For instance, look at the petroleum industry. We work and it is being taken away by the USA. So what for should we work? Now you see it is for yourselves. But now everywhere some threads from the past are existing. Their aim is that we should work and the Americans take away the benefits. These persons want us to work for the advantage of the foreigners. They pretend that they work for the people, for the nation. This is the mask they are wearing, but the fact is something else. We decided how the nation is to be.

A nation, as a whole, has stood together. They have given their consent for one law. They all say:" This is not a democracy. Democracy is other than this. People should determine the affairs and their fate." Where in the world exists such a type of democracy? The people have voted twice for the constitution. Once they voted that the reporters may witness for themselves. For the second time they voted to confirm the constitution, the fundamental law. Yet, they claim that the process is still doubtful to them. You want to impose upon the nation. You are dictator. This is not the case. They want to have a puppet parliament and a puppet regime. They fear this regime because it has originated from the people.

These foreigners have studied every thing of us. They are very strange animals that are strange creatures. Their experts came here and all the plains and plateaus and the vast lands of our country they have searched and researched at a time when there were no vehicles. Camel and the camel man was the means of conveyance. Only caravans were plying that time. They used to take maps of the places other than the common ones. By means of the tools, which they had, they were discovering the hidden treasures. So they knew what existed under the ground. I was in Hamedan. A friend of mine brought a huge paper. He told that it was the map of Hamedan. I saw it. It was a big sheet showing Hamedan and its outskirts. I noted therein several dots over a spot. My friend told me that the map belonged to the foreigners. The dots therein indicate that there exists something beneath the earth. As such they know what is hidden in our lands. Besides checking and controlling our lands they also check the classes of our society. They went to the tribe of Bakhtiyar. One of them stayed there for several years. They studied their manners and customs to find out as to how they can be made humble and how to incite them to revolt. They studied even their spirits. Likewise, they went into Balouchistan and Kurdistan with similar mission. It is likely that one of them still might be living there whom the Kurds still might be living there whom the Kurds have no knowledge of. They might mistake him for one among themselves. Sometimes it has occurred that a man from among them had become a clergy. He kept" `ammamah" (turban) over his head. So, they have penetrated everywhere and every quarter. They have studied the psychology of the people- what provokes them what incites them. The motives of a nation that could be the source for an action or a venture, they have studied. In the past they had their research. But they had availed nothing. You, the great nation, you provided a proof to their studies and research. They had reached to a result by their long research that Islam is harmful to them, a dreadful element to them. Another thing that frightened them was the unity of the nation. If the nation becomes united at a word and all the Islamic interests at heart than the life will be hard for these foreigners. So, in the era of Rida Shah they assaulted Islam and the clergymen. They did what should not be done.

There are those who might remember or might have seen. Those who have not seen will read it in history at a later stage because history too was suppressed to record it. The errand was to abolish or weaken Islam. The history of Islam they wanted to destroy. But their endeavor went in vain. They wanted to separate the people form those who need to work for Islam or were Islamic experts. Under the pretext that they had stick-in-the-mud attitudes. They used to approach the university intellectuals and tell them that these clergies are attached to English people. And they used to tell the clergies that these university people have no faith at all. They shave their beards. I myself have heard them saying that English have brought into being these religious institutions of Najaf «10» and Qum. They have made these schools or centers so that we could not progress and remain ignorant and backward.

It was God's will that in a span of time these two classes should be together. Both have one end and one errand. Now they want to repeat the same old thing- to separate the university students from the clergy schools. They bring forward the parties and several groups so that all differ with one another. Regrettably, we too are not aware of the purpose. We cannot penetrate into the depth of the issues so as to conceive the matters. Two hundred groups and two hundred parties to have come into being within less than a year; what does this mean? Why should it be such? Two hundred groups have taken shape. As many groups so that differences too will be much and wider.

In my view, the very system of parties they created in the beginning of" Mashrotiat" was in order to keep the people apart from each other that are not, to get together and united. At that time, they kept the parties- here" `Idalat" (justice) party, there Democrat party and so forth. These parties became opponents to each other. This against that and that against this. But abroad, parties are not like this. If at all they demonstrate that they are not united, it is only to fool us. In fact, they do not have any basic difference. It is a way for us to have differences among ourselves. They treat us like a child. They throw a ball and the child goes after it.

If you, gentlemen, desire and our nation desires- of course, desire, your independence and want freedom- of course, you want, then you should free your thoughts. Our thought is now into fetters. God willingly may it happen that is an appraisal of thought. The appraisal of thought has not taken place. But this appraisal should be pushed ahead to make progress. You are the university elite and you are scholars and thinkers. These youths- they should be brought up in such a way that they should see themselves as somebody.

They should not say that we should rely on West. We should be westernized. No. Be Eastern. If any craft worthy can be availed from the West, try to learn it and obtain it. But do not become Western. To learn is something. But to make the mind and submit it to the West is something else.

We are not against culture and civilization. But we are against the imported civilization. The imported one has rendered us to this day.

The imported freedom is one, which has dragged our children to corruption and debauch. Therefore, the centers for this trade multiplied in plenty. All in the name of freedom. All our newspapers were at their service. All this in order to keep our youths away from the university and drag them to corruption. Although our university was not up to the mark or a standard one, but that much too they did not want to render any good to the students. They drew our youths from the places of work to the corrupted places so as to become lazy. One addicted to a corrupted place becomes lazy.

When it becomes a habit with one to go to cinema houses in the night, he becomes addicted to it. The cinema, which teaches nothing good, except the sinful actions. Of course, you know how many cinema houses were in Tehran. As to its number who knows that existed between Tehran and Shemiran. When our youths who are the manpower of our country become habituated to these centers of corruption, they become idle and lazy. Such an active power of our country becomes a waste. Besides the heroine who they made so common that all the classes of our nation were involved in it. All these things did not occur by themselves. It was a studied and calculated program. When they want to turn a youth, the capital of a nation, into an addicted one, sick of drugs, there is nothing to stop it or check it. It does happen. As a result, our youths are rendered waste. They wanted to make us a lazy lot, a waste that we should not understand what they do and whatever they steal from us. We should be deprived of thinking. We should not be sensible of this as to how or why one is addicted to opium or heroin. So, our thought would not consume the matters concerning our own wealth of petroleum. His thought goes only to his addiction. Now it is time for smoking opium or any other drug. They wanted the very same. They wanted to hold our youths from thinking what harms them. Our youth or the whole youthful class should give up their thinking power. They should become all idle and lazy. So, in such a situation, at such a juncture, should we not utter a word? God did not want to be happened such. God rescued you. While still on half the way, God saved you. So, you preserve it.

You train your youths in a way so as to be active. This should not happen that they occupy a table. This is havoc. All the university students who labor so hard only to go one after another to sit behind a table, that is to become clerks. Why? Because there is no work. They become servants to get a monthly pay. In the past too it was so. Nowadays, the offices are not good. Suppose a department, which could be managed by a staff of hundred persons, used to have five hundred or even a thousand persons. The work was done by the hundred clerks while the rest of the staff was sitting idle and getting their salaries. It was pastime for them. Once this was shown in TV. So now they want to create the same situation. A university should create a scholar and not a clerk for an office. This is a simple issue. Now the need is that scholars should come out of the university. It should prepare persons who can run a country, preserving the aspects of culture and knowledge. It should not be this way to get a paper in hand and tomorrow go to an office and sit there. Had there been a work, it was justifiable. But in the offices there is no work. So such a multitude of staff is absorbed there for what? To consume the government budget and nothing else. Ultimately they too become lazy. An active power is congealed into idleness in addition to the government budget having gone in vain. This should be mended and addressed.

I am in the sundown of my life. You are young, you can amend the things. Do amend them. If you want to be independent you should mend these things. The whole country should engage in mending the things. More important is to correct the people. Reform them. Make the universities the center for training. Training is necessary besides the learning. A scholar without a good training is harmful. He will betray. One with learning and knowledge if betrayed, the danger will be far and wide involving all the people. The students are able to be trained. If they are brought up will and calculated, they will be able to administer the things. Later on you have to give this country to these youths to run it. Do long to be independent. God willing you long so. It is you the men of universities, and the men of teaching. So teach the youths along with training. May God save you all. may you Be prosperous. As long as I am in existence, I will serve you and as much as I can. Of course, I cannot serve, as it is due. I will do to the extent of my ability.