Speech [Clarifying the duties of the clergy in the Islamic system]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

If the gentlemen would please sit down I would be more at ease. Please sit down; please sit down. I apologize to you in that you have come in this heat and you are here in such a hot and cramped place. This is your home «1» and I am at the service of the gentlemen themselves. May God, the Blessed and Almighty, grant you gentlemen and the whole nation success so that the difficulties that lie ahead vanish through everyone's endeavor.

I would like to have a word with the `ulama', the prayer leaders, and the clergy in general all over the country; and a word with the nation as well. What I would like to tell you priests is that, as you are also aware, conspiracies are showing up on every side and are increasing. But, the conspiracies that are related to guns and the military forces are nothing to be afraid of. God will assist us in these conspiracies, just as He has done up to now, which you can see for yourself. Just today, one of the `ulama' of Jamaran came to me and related a story in which God's support was manifest. He said that some of the members of the Islamic Revolution Committee and officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards had planned a crackdown on a house in Shemiranat [i.e. a neighborhood in northern Tehran] based on the reports they had about it being used as a casino. When they entered the house they found the gambling equipment and the alcoholic drinks as they had expected. When one of the officers went around to see what there was behind the place, a dog ran up to him and barked at him, forcing the officer to enter the basement. There in the basement he found a great number of guns and other weapons. The story may be announced to the nation through the radio and the media later on. I told that gentleman that this discovery was made by the guidance of that dog. The dog was an agent [of God]. All the beings in the world are[ His ]agents. On that particular day «2», wind and sand were His agents, and in this incident the dog was the agent that compelled the gentleman- that pasdar- to make the discovery. Do not be afraid of such events. Our nation should also be fearless of such incidents. Those who witnessed the failure of their head [i.e. Muhammad Rida Pahlavi] who possessed all that power [that the West gave him] and enjoyed the support of all the national and international groups, in doing anything against our nation and against God's (the Blessed and the Almighty) support of our nation are really stupid. These individuals [who carry out armed conspiracies] are a bunch of hopeless creatures who, after their heads have gone to hell, are trying to carry out conspiracies [against the Islamic Republic] for the sake of trivial and transitory worldly considerations. Moreover this conspiracy was such [so insignificant] that it is obvious that even if we had not detected it, and they had carried out their coup, they would have been crushed. Such incidents need not to be feared. The gentlemen should pay attention to those plots which began with the commencement of the movement- that is, our victory and yours- and are still persisting.

The enemies avail themselves of every opportunity and of all the means there are [so as to neutralize the Islamic regime]. For example, one of the attempts being made abroad and backed by the domestic devils is to block and disrupt the enforcement of order. A peculiar tone of propaganda is infiltrating the Islamic Revolutionary Committees, the Students' Islamic Association (which exists all through the country), the courts, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, police officers and other military forces in order to deprive our nation of its unity and to show the world that the people (in Iran) are not subject to any laws; that they do not have a system. They want to show that the law of the jungle rules in Iran so that the superpowers find an excuse to send a" guardian" for us in order to rectify the situation. They cause chaos in the country. For instance, the members of the Student's Islamic Association (their young members) occasionally do things which entail disorder. Or even the Islamic Revolution Committees, in some regions of the country, influenced by certain [antagonist] individuals who have penetrated their ranks, implement certain measures that shatter the [normal social] order. The Jihad-e Sazandegi [The ministry responsible for the construction and improvement of the deprived regions], also under the influence of such [enemy] agents who have penetrated and are penetrating their organization, sometimes perform their tasks in ways that make people hate them. Moreover, the courts also make mistakes that result in [peoples'] dissatisfaction. Their goal is to weaken the clergy's status among other people and to destroy the coordination between this force, that ought to be present, and the organs that should exist to run the country. If, suppose, the police force and the other armed forces act without cooperating with each other, no matter how strong they be, they will not be able to do anything. Until there is no solidarity among the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, the gendarmerie, the army, the police and the rest of the armed forces, and until they do not tread the same path, they will not be able to counteract and snutt the conspiracies that are afoot and may take place any time. Members of the clergy, from whichever level (whether the `ulama', jurisprudents, students, preachers or prayer leaders) must fulfill their respective duties, for if they disregard their own duties and attend to other matters that do not concern them, they will have done something against the established order. This will[ provide the enemies with the adequate pretexts ]to portray you other than what you really are which will gradually lead the rest of the nation away from you. That was the same tactic carried out at the beginning of Rida Khan's rule, when he staged a coup d'etat, and after he established himself. The same programs are starting now.

I am addressing this public message to all the `ulama', priests and to the whole nation. You all must consider this plot carefully and with great attention. Not doing so will separate the people from the clergy and render the clergy unable to fulfill their duties.[Beware that ]if they find the right opportunity they will utilize his plan (separating the masses from the clergy) and do the same thing again. It is the same plan that I well remember. It was implemented during the rule of Rida Khan. It was to depict the clergy unrealistically and afterwards to separate them from the masses. This was one of the measures that Rida Khan implemented at the beginning of his rule and after his power was established. Back then, the chauffeurs were good agents [for the enemies]. One of the `ulama' (may God bless him with His mercy) once told me," I wanted to go from Arak to Tehran or Qum, but I was not able to hire a cab. One of the drivers said, `we have decided not to take two groups as passengers: prostitutes and priests!" That was how the chauffeurs were back then. I do not know how it is that they are again making use of the drivers, notwithstanding the drivers being different from what they were in those days. Of course, most of the chauffeurs are religious, God willing, but some are acting in the same way as before. They have been affected by the enemies' propaganda. Some cliques have formed because of which some chauffeurs do not take the `ulama' as passengers. This is that same scheme that the British started first, and now all the agents of those world powers opposing you [i. e. Muslim scholars] [are implementing]. You must pay heed to one point and the nation must also pay attention to it. You must be careful not to exceed the limits of your religious and clerical duties.

All priests and other citizens must be active concerning political matters; they must show their presence. What some individuals are saying that priests must limit their activities to religious gatherings and academic work and their other customary functions and to leave politics for them, is either the result of inattention to the depth of such issues, and I must say that some of them are inattentive or because they are the enemies' agents who would do such things in Rida Khan's time. They had been brain-washing the nation and the clergy for about three hundred years- that the clergy should not meddle in politics- to such an extent that the gentlemen had become convinced about it. If there was an issue- a political one, for example- that benefited our people and, therefore, some of the `ulama' wanted to have a say in that matter, some other members of the body of clergy would actually protest the former's concern by claiming that the issue was political and that it was none of the clergy's business. They had totally pulled aside from political issues. I mean that they had actually been put aside. They [i. e. the enemies] had convinced them [i. e. the `ulama'] that their only occupation was to inform people of the [minor] Islamic ordinances and not all of them. If they were to speak about all issues, it would mean also the political issues as most of the jurisprudential books concern politics. However, the clergy had come to believe [that false precept] and so had our people. That was the result of their [the West's] propaganda. When the westerners came to Iran, they studied [Iran's social situation]; they came to the conclusion that the clergy were a danger to them and so they must be put aside from the social scene; they wanted them to become preoccupied with their own trivial internal matters and the people be disconnected from them so that if anyone of them decided to intervene in political affairs, people would not agree with him because the issue was political and was none of the clergy's business. On the contrary, therefore, all people from the various strata of our society, especially the clergy, must take part in the country's political affairs and must be aware of what is going on in the country, in the Majlis, the Executive branch and the other parts of the government. Of course, they [i. e. the clerics] should not abandon their own occupations. They should not think, like they would in the past, that they should not participate in any way in political matters, and on the other hand they should not think that their sole purpose is political activity. No; this sort of thing was not proper for you and me at that time, and neither is it now.

All of you [clerics] must hold fast to your [religious] pursuits. The prayer leaders must hold fast to the mosques; the preachers must hold fast to their preaching; the jurisprudents must be diligent in keeping up jurisprudence in the religious schools in Mashhad, Qum and other centers, and also Najaf. These schools must be schools of jurisprudence. It was these centers of jurisprudence that have safeguarded Islam since the past one thousand and some hundred years. Safeguarding (Islamic) jurisprudence has been the policy of our `ulama' since the distant past- the times of the Imams of Guidance- up to our own time. You should not suppose that because you must be active in political affairs, you can disregard jurisprudence; not at all. The schools of jurisprudence must continue with their traditional syllabus without any violation of that system. Study jurisprudence and its prerequisites in the same traditional order and endeavor to hold up jurisprudence. The prayer leaders must hold fast to the mosques and be diligent in guiding the people. The preachers of our people must persist in their preaching, giving advice and guiding [other people]. At the same time, they must be vigilant regarding their country's affairs, just like the merchants who must be attentive of the country's affairs and, at the same time, continue with their business. We should be careful not to turn away from the most fundamental element in securing Islam [i. e. jurisprudence]. Therefore, the theology centers should not become heedless of jurisprudence. Jurists are like forts for Islam; they have secured it. The schools for Islamic studies should mainly focus on the field of jurisprudence. If the schools of jurisprudence vanish, God forbid, or become ineffective, the bond between the jurists and the people will dissolve. The schools of jurisprudence are the main elements in keeping this bond. It happens that some figures in the schools of Islamic studies propose that the study of jurisprudence does not need to be so lengthy and detailed, and that other subjects must be added to the curriculum, they are either making a mistake or are agents [of our enemies]. The study of jurisprudence must persist vigorously as it has in the past. Traditionally, the schools of Islamic studies had jurisprudence [as their main course]. Some students also studied other fields including the philosophical fields. There were ethics teachers as well who preached morality to the people and other scholars. There were mystics too who preached there own mystical subjects and carried on their own affairs. However jurisprudence, which is the foundation, had (and should have) its own specific place. Moreover, the gentlemen must also hold fast to the mosques. Do not loose hope by the hearsay that the aliens' agents spread among the populace. Just as you must be aware of the country's political affairs to see what is good for the nation and what is not, you must maintain the schools of jurisprudence as firmly as before. Jurisprudence is the element that has secured Islam up to now and, God willing, will secure Islam to the end. Beware of straying from your main occupation and your path. For example,[it is not right] for a cleric to have four bodyguards or to do whatever he wishes; it is not right for a cleric to set up a committee [unnecessarily] and [make that an excuse] to get bodyguards for himself and to [think that he can] act according to his own wish. These are plots that have been arranged to remove you from the arena. They [the enemies] want to delude you into following certain fields to remove you [from your main duties], so that they could spread frustration among people by making them believe that you have occupied all the offices of the Islamic Revolution's Committees and the courts [in order to usurp all the power and benefits for yourselves]. If clerics do wrong in a couple or few cases, they will magnify it and disregard all the good deeds.[Therefore] at the same time everyone is doing his or her own job and is doing it to the best of his or her ability, he or she must be active in the country's affairs and aware of its political issues.

You must be alert; whenever you realize that a group or individual or even the government is taking the wrong step, you should all protest and prevent that wrong from materializing. Moreover, if incompetent individuals are put in charge of missions and the `ulama' of those regions are aware of the corruption of the officials, they [i. e. the `ulama'] should not act themselves, rather they should inform the concerned authorities who can replace them, and should ask them to replace such officials. If the `ulama' act in person or send someone to remove that official (even though he is corrupt), they will bring suspicion upon themselves. They should enlighten [the respective government agency in charge of the mission] that its choice of officials is wrong; they should pressure the Executive and the Legislative in order to correct them. The `ulama' will be disgraced among the populace if they intervene directly; everyone is duty-bound to safeguard his or her reputation. Every believer must seek to safeguard his or her reputation, but the obligation of the `ulama' in such matters is greater because they are more aware of what is right and wrong. Therefore, it is our [i.e. the clergymen's] duty to hold our own occupations in esteem. The prayer leader must not lose hope in his congregation; the preacher must not lose hope in preaching; the religious reference authorities must not lose hope in their religious leadership; the regional `ulama' must not become disheartened as a result of their respective problems. They must perform their own specific duties and also be active in the political matters.

What I would like to tell the nation is that they must be alert as the enemies of Islam and your country will utilize all means [to implement their plans]. Some of their plans that you people have also witnessed, such as causing disorder and corruption, are obvious. Another plot that they are working on right now is to undermine those centers of connection between the clergy and the people and to extinguish those centers little by little. They are trying to spread this notion that clerics are good for nothing, so why should people attend mosques [where clergymen preach]? The people may participate in demonstrations; demonstrations are all right as such. But mosques are centers from where all our affairs must be governed. The mosque was the cause of our nation's victory. Mosques are very important centers that people must pay heed to. They should not say," We do not need mosques any longer for we have already won victory." Our victory was to make way for the rule of the mosque. If we did not care about prayers and Islamic practices, then for what reason did we trouble ourselves by getting involved in these [i.e. political] matters? We are performing these tasks for the sake of Islam. You people stood up for Islam and did so much for Islam, and are still doing so. Make sure that you do not leave the centers for spreading the truth of Islam, the centers for expanding the Islamic jurisprudence and the mosques vacant. This is their plot: they want to gradually empty all the mosques. [One method that they use in implementing this plot is that] while the clergyman is leading the prayer someone enters the mosque with several others (who most likely do not even believe in mosques or even Islam, and in some instances, it is evident that they are not believers) and [instead of praying behind the clergyman] go to a corner to perform a separate congregational prayer with one of them leading the prayer. This is no prayer at all. They want to kill Islam with that prayer. Therefore, the clergymen must safeguard their reputation; they must not do anything that would give a wrong impression of Islam to the people, God forbid. The people are [on the other hand] duty-bound to protect their mosques, the centers that pertain to the clergy. The same scheme [that was carried out] during Rida Khan's rule is being now implemented. At that time as well, they came one by one, little by little. Their [the enemies'] poets started writing poems:" Until there are clergy and Qajar in this country, this wealthy state will get nowhere." This was how their poet wrote poems (I do not intend to read the whole poem now). The articles they [the enemy agents] wrote were anti-clerical. Back then they wrote and circulated [anti-clerical] propaganda with utmost impudence. They had forced all the different groups to work against this group according to the duties they had set for them. That is, the obligations that the English (at that time) had set for them. Basically, they had brought Rida Khan up because they had realized that he was a thug. And of course, at first they brought a journalist, Sayyid Diya' «3» along with him. But then they ousted the latter and kept him [i.e. Rida Khan] who was a thug and could do the job [as they wished]. First of all, he was illiterate; he did not know anything about politics. And secondly, he was a thug and would do whatever they told him. That was their scheme at that time, and [even then] they were scared that the clergy might do something about it. Now that they have witnessed that the clergymen, replying to the peoples' calls, alongside all the other strata of society- including university students and teachers, merchants, laborers and farmers- have performed something so great, they are trying harder now than at that time [at Rida Khan's time]. If they were then figuring out a plan in order to prevent something like this from happening, now they know [and have seen] that such events could happen.

Now they know that if the clerics, university students and teachers and the other strata unite, they can surely carry out other such great tasks. They are now more persevering in separating the people from this group [the clergy], to separate the university from the [Islamic studies] school, and to make all the different strata of society pessimistic towards one another and to set them against one another.

Today, this is a duty for all of us. Our nation must fulfill this duty. Today, is a time when the world powers want to crush this movement and Islam, which has recently caused them much damage, and to uproot them completely through domestic and international plots. Today is a time for all our people to be on guard. Do not go after land and other worldly acquisitions. Do not go after such a things so much. You must safeguard Islam. Maintain all earthly possessions under the protection of Islam.[Do not be deceived that] if they take away your Islam, they will be harmless to the nation and your national pride, as these nationalist groups portray and keep on saying Nation! Nation! If they take away your Islam and separate the clergy from the people, there is no way that you several nationalists «4» could do anything [for this country; that is if you do not do any harm and] if you do not have someone like Bakhtiyar «5» among you,[for if you do have such characters among you] which seems like you do [you will be harmful for this country]; do not create so much discord. «6» O writers! do not undermine the clergy. O enlightened intellectuals[! ]do not pull the country from one side to the other [meaning: do not play with the country's affairs for your own benefit] ; [if you persist] they [the people] may, God forbid,[decide to] discharge all of you [from your offices]. Be united. Be ready. The nation must be prepared for the difficulties ahead, so [if] that day comes, God forbid, that, suppose, their Phantom [fighter] jets come and destroy this place [i.e. Imam's residence], and I go after my business [i.e. I get killed], the nation must have ready hands and protect Islam with their tight fists. The clergymen, the merchants, the laborers, the farmers, the government employees, the armed forces must all be on guard. Now, that we are still on the way [to building an Islamic state] what with all these conspiracies [of our enemies]; if we disregard this movement; if we disregard this revolution and go after our normal lives; [if] we return to our normal occupations and not be present in the political arena; and if we do not prepare ourselves for safeguarding this Islamic state and securing Islam, the situation may lead to a bad end; God forbid. It is possible that Of course they cannot do anything, God willing, but they can delay [our progress]. You can see for yourself that whatever [project was planned to be carried out] some groups [have opposed those plans] and blocked their progress. They created commotion [in the country to stop the reconstruction projects]; but they were not able to. I am not saying that they can do [any real] harm. They [absolutely] cannot. Even if [they had been successful in] getting the Phantom jets off the ground [to carry out the coup]; what could they have done?! They (the people) would have beaten the hell out of them!

[ It seems like they have thought that ]our people have sat down [in their homes mindless] and would let one or two Phantom jets do anything! These idiots thought that they could take over a thirty five million population, all prepared, with some soldiers- who do not support them- and some non-commissioned officers, for example, and the like. They thought wrong. They have not realized that the Soviet Union, in spite of all its power, its means and modern armaments, had its nose bloodied in Afghanistan. Even though such an action was sheer folly, but they carried it out by compelling some youths, unfortunate and dumb individuals, to do such a thing.[That is] the activities that had been going on for the past two or three days, for instance.«7» [The Nojhe coup was a good example of such coups. But even though it was so well planned and devastating in effect if it had been carried out, Imam says that we should not fear such events]. These persons [who cooperated with the enemies] were so mindless that they did not think that even if they had been successful in taking off from the Hamadan base and had come all the way up to here and had bombed, say, a few places, they had to land?! Or were they planning on staying up in the sky?! We are not scared of such events. We [on the other hand] fear our own [internal disputes and] groups.[We should] fear ourselves.
If you [clergymen-referring to the audience] and your colleagues, the whole body of the clergy (may God assist them), do certain things, God forbid, that diminish your credibility even [if not now but] in the long run, that [time when people are fed up with you] will be the day that there will be no need for Phantoms [for dissolving the Islamic state]; the people themselves will put you aside. And the nation would not be able to do anything [for saving the Islamic state] without a guide [i.e. the clergy]. And even though what I am saying is [not regarding our present status but in preparation] for several years from now; but then [when the people do not want you anymore] the foreign enemies will be able to do their work. I am afraid that we, the clergy, would not be able to fulfill our obligations appropriately. I am afraid that the Islamic schools, as the result of certain propaganda, would disregard their fundamental task, which is securing [and working in the field of] jurisprudence and that, gradually, jurisprudence would be forgotten, and [therefore], they [i.e. the enemies] would achieve their goals in the long term. You should not think that they are in a rush to finish up the job [i.e. to overthrow the Islamic state] in the next two or three days. If they could, they would do it now, but if they are not able to do so, they will plan to do it in [for example] the next fifty years. They will never give up. And one of their most important schemes is to create disunity among the different groups of people. And the important project [for them] is to separate the clergy from the populace.

The blow that they received from the [Muslim] clergy [of Iran] was unprecedented, because they believe that the damage that others caused them was because the clergy had compelled them.

They believe [rightly so] that the mosques compelled people [to revolt and overthrow the American regime]. Therefore they know that they must start by doing away with the mosques. The reason why they [i. e. the enemies] want to lessen the congregations in the mosques, and [some of our] unfortunate youths and religious citizens fall for [their plot], is that want the congregations during this year's month of Ramadan to decrease bit by bit; and then a little more next year until there would not be anything left of the congregations in ten or fifteen years time. They are not in a hurry. They will carry out this plan gradually as much as they can. You should be alert and safeguard your mosques, your mihrabs «8» and your pulpits more than before. Now that you have seen this miracle «9» originating in the mosques, you should hold on to them firmly. You should not detach yourself from them. You «10» who have seen such a miracle in Islam, crushing all the [world] powers and not just the superpowers, and our nation that has received this miracle from Islam, should not be apathetic with regard to it. Even if four [i.e. several] policemen or [Islamic Revolutionary] guards do wrong [it should not make the people cool towards the Islamic Revolution. After all] they were the ones who detected this «11» conspiracy. Why do you not appreciate their efforts? Why is it that if one of them does wrong, you [i.e. some people] say that all the [Islamic Revolutionary] guards are like that. [Why is it that when] a scholar, a clergyman or any individual [from the clergy] commits wrong, they [i.e. some people] say all the clerics are like that. This is that scheme. They want to create disunity among the [Islamic Revolutionary] guards, the Army, the gendarmerie, the armed forces and you[ i. e. the clergy ]and to make the people lose hope in you all, so that if they [i.e. the enemies] want to act [to dissolve the Islamic state], there would not be any clergyman to guide the people and to mobilize the populace; so that there would not be any armed forces (to defend the country). [That is why] they want to make all [the different groups and divisions in the government] oppose one another.

Today is the time for all the government organs to cooperate and to maintain order, for if law and order breaks down, there will be an upset in the situation [i.e. the Islamic regime will dissolve]. Everyone should be a devotee ready to sacrifice him/herself for Islam. They should be ready, wherever they are, test the enemy comes- suppose at night- to bombard us. They should be ready to come out and kill them [i.e. the pilots, etc.] when their (jets) fuel is exhausted and the planes have to land. Be prepared. Do not go after the [trivial] disputes that you have among yourselves. You [i.e. the people and all those responsible in the Revolution] are still on the way [and are therefore vulnerable]. Put your differences aside. There will be other times for you to argue in case you want to do so, God forbid. But now it is not the time. It is not the time today for the Islamic associations to create disorder, God forbid. Or, for example, for the Revolutionary Guards, or the gendarmerie to do so. They should be concord among all of you. If you have any disputes, put them aside. Suppose that two of you are quarreling and all of a sudden an earthquake begins, Would you continue quarreling?! No! You will jump up and try to save your lives.[We are in the same situation right now!] The super powers have created an earthquake in Iran. [Therefore] do not spend your time on your personal affairs and disputes. Do not go after such matters! Be prepared. Be prepared just as you were at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution. Be prepared in the same way, and hold on tight to the mosques and increase the congregations in them.

I must assert today that it is a religious obligation for all Muslims to safeguard the mosques. Islam depends on it today. Whether during the month of Ramadan or afterwards, you must enliven the mosques (with your presence). Once when I had the honor of visiting Mecca, I went to a bookstore to buy a book. The deal was of benefit for the bookseller too, but when the adhan was called he suddenly left, leaving me standing there, and[ as he was walking away ]he told me" sunnatun hanafiyyah". «12» And he did not say anything else and went away to say his prayers. In Madinah, the Bazaar was closed at prayer time. I mean that the doors were open, but nobody was there. They would go for prayers [when it was prayer time]. Why do you [people] not go for" Namaz" (prayer) [like that]?! Why do not you leave your shops at noon, when it is prayer time, to go to pray?! If you be persistent in praying[ in mosques at the beginning of prayer time ]you will have revived this Islamic political tradition. Just as you, thank God, participate in the Friday congregational prayer, go to the mosques on other days as well and fill them up. If the mosques, the center and bases of Islam are kept strong, there will be no reason to fear the Phantom jets. So do not fear America or the Soviet Union, etc. That day should be the day of your fear when you disregard Islam; when you disregard the mosques.

May God assist you and make you successful, and may He protect Islam and the Muslims, and render the designs of the aliens on this country ineffective. May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.