Speech [Expounding duties of representation in the Parliament]

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I am afraid that I might believe the things Mr. Hijazi «1» told me. I fear that I become decoyed by pride and entrapped in depravation of myself by the flattering remarks of his and of his like. I take refuge to God from pride and arrogance. If I accept myself distinct from other men, it is depravation of thought and mind and of spirit as well. Although I appreciate Mr. Hijazi he is a committed man and a polished speaker. But I have a complaint about what he says in my presence about me, which I might be seduced to believe. I want to say a few things to the gentlemen here because we can enjoy reminding things to one another." To be reminded is for the good of the believers." «2» It is a good occasion. You have gathered here. In fact we are in the presence of the nation. Nation trusts you. What a good coincidence! It is a feast. Furthermore, the parliament is opened today; a day when justice is born in the world. It is a day when the Lord of Believers was born. He reflects the justice in the world. He himself was a miracle in the world. From the creation of the world till the eternity nobody has been equal to him in his distinctions and qualities. So, we take this occasion as a good omen. We believe that since the parliament is inaugurated on the day of Imam `Ali's birthday, we should be the followers of Imam `Ali's conduct too. He was the beacon of justice. He was a shadow of divine justice on the earth.

I have visited some sessions of the parliament in Rida Khan's time. I have heard about some sessions of the parliament in those days. As far as I have seen, they were not parliaments. Actually they were combating houses.

The deputies were fighting and disputing for their aspirations and anticipations. Some of them were men of good conduct. They used to respect the law outside the parliament too. But even such people had no Islamic behavior as if it was obligatory for them to behave like others. Some of them even strayed.

The Islamic Consultative assembly, the parliament, is a house for consultation. The Mps should congregate and decide what the country needs. They should exchange views, argue and debate the concerns of Islam and the country. You are the representative of the people in the parliament to render service to them. So the issues that should be raised there must be those the people desire. The concerns of Islam should be debated there too. If befitting, they should be turned into a legislature. There should not be any personal motives. Supposing, God forbid, I have a grudge or a prejudice against you. But in an Islamic parliament, it should not be raised. The House is not a place to raise the personal issues. The parliament House is not a briefcase that everybody can come to know the inside happenings. The sessions or sittings are not public. It is an open arena. The proceedings are televised and broadcasted and the media publish them. Throughout Iran, they have seen and heard and come to the conclusion about the things that has happened there. God forbid, if rows are arrayed for battles and nervous breakdowns, or if the same trend that was practiced in the arrogant days is repeated, or the gist of the past parliaments resuscitate, then this is not an Islamic parliament. The concerned people have not done their divine duty.

I hope that the respected representatives will not act in the parliament on personal scores. They should refrain from selfish motives and shun personal prejudices. They should concentrate on the job to which they have become bound by the trust vested in them by the people. They should dispute, debate and consult within the frame of their representation. If the obligations are carried out in an Islamic environment, there will be no more controversies. Of course, such things will not happen, which used to take place in the past parliaments or in some of them, which was really shameful. Many great changes have taken place so far. The same trend should continue. You should preserve the dignity of the nation in the parliament. You should respect the nation in the House. Since you are a deputy, you should reflect the dignity and greatness of the nation. You are an epitome of good tributes of the nation. This is an Islamic nation. It endears Islam. In endears the Islamic regulations and rules. You are not delegated to the House to square your accounts. If it happens, it is a seduction, a perversion. It will be an illegitimate place for you. You should be a teacher of conduct for the country there because your proceedings are disseminated for the whole country. When all the people witness their deputies who are sincerely at their service, at the service of their country and Islam, and their debates are also Islamic, and their investigations are also Islamic, it will be a lesson to all the individuals and to those remote ones as far as the waves go abroad. We must train and educate all the classes. You have got access to the House. When you raise a question, put it in an Islamic mould. In other words, you should enter the field fully armed with Islamic conduct, with Islamic manners. Use the same weapon as a tool to train the people. The signs of your discourse in the parliament will be in the minds of the people after a few years. Your conversions, your debates will be indelible for the people. The parliament will mirror your record. Moreover, God is present everywhere. He has the records of your conduct. You should know that you are in the presence of God the Almighty. The words you utter are in the blessed presence of God. Acting against His will is a great crime. You should know that God is the illustration of your actions. He supervises all your deeds. You should teach these things to others too. In all centers, whatever they are, there should be a training center for others as it was in the early stages of Islam. The high dignitaries, the high ranking officers, the chief of brigades and regiments taught the people by their own actions and behavior. We claim to be Muslims and claim that we are the followers of Islam. So, we should also train people by our own conduct and behavior.

God forbid if any deviation occurs in the parliament, it will spread widely because it will be reflected in the media. So it will constitute a great responsibility. Therefore, you should avoid deviation by means of your actions and deeds. You should act clearly to the nation. God will reward. You will have a reward from the Prophets. Do not found your actions on confrontation or a campaign from the beginning. There should be no such thing. That is the place for debate and consultation. A mild debate must be in the spirit of Islam supported by reason and logic. In fact, there should be no quarrel. It is all for Islam's sake. It is a service to Islam. You are all in the service of Islam. Don't do what they did in the past i. e. a group this side and the other one on the other side. It should not turn out into a battle front. I don't know if in the foreign countries they battle in the parliament. In the past the disputes in the parliament dragged the House to depravation. I do not know if they imitated the foreigners or they invented it in the parliament. Anyway it was the ugliest thing. Its bad impression has remained and shall remain for ever. I hope that your performance will not have that impression.

There is one thing I have to tell you in persuasion of this very matter itself. Now our country is in its initial stage. Thank God, all the things that a government needs are now achieved. But still we are in the initial stage. There is one peculiarity in this stage, which later on might not exist. Now we are being assaulted from inside and outside, from inside by various means, by various pens, various magazines, various speakers and hooligans and hoodlums. From outside, the big powers are the source of trouble for us. If we want our country and Islam to be victorious, we should not impede work. We should have one voice. Guidance is one thing and hurdling the job is another. People should be guided. The center of power and law is parliament. Parliament is the guidance to all. It should be. But the parliament should not weaken the government. Likewise, the government should not weaken the parliament. Enfeeblement one is enfeeblement of the whole. If the president weakens the parliament, he himself will decay and decline. If parliament weakens the government and the president, it will end in the weakness of all. Occurrence of such things is not to our interest. It is a big sin and a crime. There is a thing wrong. But it does not threaten our country's destruction or eradication. Now this is our country's situation. Within a period of one year and a few months our country's work has been done which could take years. Neither the foreigners nor their agents inside could see and tolerate such a vast progress. Since the very beginning, they were thinking and anticipating that the Islamic Republic could not sustain. Republic should not necessarily be Islamic. Republic should be national. This was what they thought. We did not see anything useful from these Nationalists except destruction. We did not see one single individual among them- a correct one, a Muslim, a straightforward individual. We all should advance in an Islamic framework with Islamic plans and programs. Islam is not indebted to me neither to you, nor to any power. We are indebted to Islam. It is Islam that has bestowed us this victory and triumph. This is a bounty that God has granted us. If we do not be grateful God certainly will take it away from us. As it was in the initial stage, all hands were stretched above asking one thing and in one voice:" We want Islam"," We want Islam", and" We want Islamic Republic". God answered the wish too and granted what we wanted. Now if we withdraw our hands, one goes this way and another that way, each says a different thing and each enter a campaign against one another, the government goes against the parliament, and the parliament stands against the government, then this denial of the bounty could become the cause for our missing it. God may withdraw His blessings from us. We might fall headlong. We may decline. Our country will return back to its previous position- to the same atrocities and the same tyrannies. Thanksgiving is for this: you are a parliament member, don't stymie the government. Guide the people. Wherever they lay foot crookedly guide them.

Whoever the government is, the prime minister or anybody else, they should not put an obstacle in the way of the parliament too. They are the executive powers. They should abide the law; the law which has been voted by the people. Whatever the nation has not voted for should be put aside. Don't let it be your concern. Your concern should be your own job. This law should be in the hands of all. Let the law fix the boundaries of all things. For the parliament, law has determined its limits. The limits should not be trespassed. They are not better. You shouldn't think that if you say a certain thing it will be welcome by the open-minded people. If you pray, it is not good nor is it welcome by some open-minded people. If you supplicate it will also not be welcome by the open-minded ones. There are some good ones among them. Good is in all classes. I mean those people who started adversaries from the very early stages.

There are also those who have always been trying to stymie the formation of the Islamic Republic under the pretext of service to mankind. Don't fear any power or anybody. Don't fear the leftists or the rightists. As for the constitution, it is also linked and subordinated to Islam. You'd better think of Islam. You should not follow other countries.

For example, in some countries, it is such and such. We'd better not be like them. At least let us remember God or say God once. Let us think beyond these things for a while. Be straightforward. Be on a straight path. Things themselves will advance with you if you be straight. Your support is God. Don't fear any thing or any power. I don't want to say that you can win all the powers.

I want to tell you that if we do our duties, if we pace the way that God has shown us, defeat will have no sense, no meaning. In this regard, there are two things. There is no third. Suppose they (our enemies) come and we are beaten and defeated. So what? We have acted upon the obligation. We have obeyed God. We will win at the end of the day. So, defeat has no sense here. Imam Husayn was also defeated at Karbala. He was killed. But he resuscitated a world. Imam `Ali was also defeated in the battle of Siffin. But it was not a defeat. It was a service to Islam. He acted for the sake of God. There is no defeat for the acts of God. They will be victorious. Victory is in their alliance. You shouldn't have any fear or hesitation. If you say something against the Marxists' school or their belief, they may vilify you and say that you are too backward. But this is not so. They themselves are backward. They are lagging behind. They believe in themselves more than anybody else. They themselves are dictators more than others. They have fettered their nations. There is no freedom in their countries. Likewise, in the Western countries, there is no freedom. Freedom is only in words and in speeches. Had there been freedom, these blacks would have never been under tyranny. What have these blacks done? Do you think that these proposals and plans that they forward are ever put into practice anywhere in the world? They, the big powers, have created the organizations and institutions in the world and they hold them in their grip. Had it been a reality, they would have not the right to vote. It is a chicanery to deceive us or to overrun our rights. This is to fool us. These tools should not cheat you. You should not be influenced by East or West. You should act within the framework indicated by Islam. Don't pay any heed to what they say. Your aim, your motto should be Islam. You know that those who are against the revolution, against Islam, against the parliament, will persist in their controversy with you. The only difference is that they sometimes use some pretext and sometimes they seek some other pretexts.

You should heed this thing. If you serve the nation and your country, then you are the people's representative in its true sense. The people want Islam. You should serve these people who have voted for you. You are a betrayer to the representation and the trust vested in you. I hope that God willing, you will promote this uprising with consummate respect, glory and power. The parliament shall be perfect in all aspects too- Islamic and of high moral. You should be a teacher of conduct to the society. So the whole society will be your supporter. You should have one identity- you, the government, the nation and the army. You are all part of one whole. You are all at the service of a perfect man- the Prophet. You are all the members of his organization. If this happens, then the victory will be yours. God forbid, if deviations take place, and personal interests creep in, and debates turn into disputes, it will be the initial stage of our moral levity and the beginning of our conduct's latitude. This will be shameful to us in the presence of God. Moreover, you should not talk too much to be able to carry the load to the destination. May God help you all, and help all of us and all Muslims. May God save us all from the great Satan and his followers. May God save us from the civil of self that leads us towards badness.

May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.