Speech [The failure of the Nojeh coup in the Islamic Iran and the obligations of the Muslims in the month of Ramadan]

I thank you ladies and gentlemen who have come and gathered here at this time when the month of Ramadan is near. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you and to put forth several issues [about the present situation] and to say a few words regarding the blessed month of Ramadan. The adversaries of the Islamic Republic have made a big mistake intending to carry out such a childish and devilish act. «2» They have imagined that the Islamic Republic of Iran is like other regimes in that a regime sometimes takes control and then [after a while] a party or an army officer with his clique stages an uprising rebel and overthrows that government and sets up another government in its place, or another regime. These people have made a mistake in comparing the Islamic state and the Islamic movement with those other regimes and governments. And for the same reason, those groups who have not realized the depth of this revolution, and also some of the political and military figures; those who had dreams about taking this opportunity [i. e. the coup] for plundering the country- just as they did in days of the previous [regime] - and having a free hand in robbing [the riches of this nation] and doing whatever evil they wanted to do, are gradually losing hope, and so they resort to such things without realizing the depth of the issues. A coup takes place in a country that has a government distant from the people, and with which the people have nothing to do, or are dissatisfied. This is usually the case. In those regimes, a quarrel breaks out among the heads of the country and the political parties, for example, or among the high-ranking military or political figures, without the people having any part in the affairs. They do not understand what the participation of the people [in the regime] means! Or they do understand but have planned such a conspiracy out of lust for power and wealth, thinking that they have, perhaps, a one percent chance of being successful [in their scheme]. They [i. e. the enemies] do not realize the difference between political uprisings, between nationalistic revolts, between those revolts that are carried out for achieving worldly gains and this Islamic movement! In the Iranian Islamic movement, neither nationalism and nationalistic trends, especially in its crooked meaning [i. e. the immoral nationalistic trends utilized in some countries to bring up Western-backed regimes] nor political groups and the enlightened intellectual figures and other such elements that are present in other rebellions, had any role at all [in the Islamic Revolution]. This movement originated from among the masses; from among the men and women. And the role of women in this revolution was [actually] no less than the role of men. It could even be [rightly] asserted that the ladies had a bigger share in this revolution as put more effort into it. Their efforts and enthusiasm were greater, the reason is that when the ladies enter the fray, the men's courage becomes twofold or even tenfold. Men cannot stand to see women enter the fray while they just stand aside. A mass of Muslims, a population of thirty five million (excluding the few hundred corrupt persons), believers in God, believers in Islam, believers in the Holy Qur'an; thirty five million people with one voice, and with faith in God and the Holy Qur'an rose up [and revolted]. In every house you enter, you will feel the Islamic movement. As I have been informed, the topic of all the ladies' and men's gatherings has shifted to political subjects. Suddenly peoples' attention, regardless of their social status, their gender and age; turned to political affairs. So much so that even the children who come to our house sometimes to play, play political games. One of them plays the President's role; another [child] plays the role of another one and so on. Those who really think about issues should be able to realize the depth of what has taken place in Iran. When in the past fifty years (which some should probably recall) or the past twenty or thirty years (which most of you should remember); when have you ever witnessed the women entering the fray just like the men [as in the present Islamic movement]?! The women would be in the forefront of the demonstrations holding their children in their arms. If a lady had two children, she would carry one in her arms and hold the other child's hand and came to the demonstrations like that standing up against guns and tanks. Can you and we remember such solidarity among the various groups of people and such vast participation in the state and political affairs? [Before this Islamic movement] when something happened in the country, even the men would not come to know of it, particularly so in a certain quarter of Tehran. The ladies, too, would be indifferent; and so would the people. Even those who were aware did not care. This involvement of the different groups of people [in the affairs] is unprecedented. All people of this nation are involved in the political and social issues and they hold themselves responsible. If certain events occur that are opposed to [Islamic] values, people will not be indifferent, men will not be unconcerned and women will not occupy themselves with something else [instead of taking action]. This [i. e. peoples' indifference to the regime] is not the case [anymore]. May God approve of you ladies and men for being present in the forefront [of political and social activities] all [united and] together. These individuals [i. e. those responsible for the coup] thought that [they can overthrow the regime] by mounting a coup, killing several people and bombing several locations, they thought that the center [of this movement] was just one location, one district or a few districts; and, therefore, if they destroy those centers, it would be like the case of other coups in that on bombing the pivotal point itself. The others have less, or nothing, to do with the whole affair. They (the plotters) thought that it would be the same in this case as well.[But] now all the houses are the centers of this movement and all the people are the soldiers of the army of Islam.

This issue [securing the Islamic regime] is an ideological one; not a materialistic issue. Women do not take part in [this movement], risking their own and their children's lives, for (later) profit and position. Islam and the Holy Qur'an were [the sole] incentives that brought the ladies out of their homes [to participate in] in the political scene alongside the men, or even ahead of them. Every house belonging to this nation is the abode of hope. They think that by bombing a house, or killing one, ten, a hundred, two hundred or five hundred people everything would be over! Every man and woman of this nation is Islam's pasdar. The issue [in this movement] is faith, not material gain so that if people think they will not be gaining anything, they will stop supporting it [as the enemies have perceived]. No, the issue is faith and defending Islam. And,[we] must defend Islam to the last person. Therefore, the only way for them to succeed is to kill the total thirty five million population; in which case there will be no country left after the coup; and [obviously] this will never happen. They do not realize that they are making a mistake. Their intellectuals, who claim to have insight and understanding of politics; the different [opponent] groups that also have such claims and some of the military officers, who are also unaware of the issues, have not been able to grasp the depth of this subject. They have still not realized the power of Islam; they have still not paid heed to this aspect. Who has invited these [Islamic Revolutionary] guards to perform this task?! Has anyone asked the officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Committees to form these committees? Who mobilized the students, the scientists and the other elements of this nation? Who mobilized the women in that they are participating [and rightly so] in the country's affairs? Nobody; God has invited them. They are answering God's call. There is no way that someone could think of taking over such a country by killing some people- and supposing that you kill as well- and bombing this place and that by means of the Phantoms; even if they succeed in getting their jets off the ground. Do they really think that this uprising is dependent on one person?! No; this is not the case. The problem is that they do not know Islam, because they have never been in it to understand what it is about. Maybe they do not intend to study the history of Islam [to try at least to understand it]. Maybe their reluctance in studying the history of Islam is because they are so much against it. They are unaware of the background of Islam, of the events that have happened in the history of Islam and how it has progressed. They weigh everything in terms of these material considerations and, according to them, nth hand political considerations that they are concerned with. That is why they do such things or call for such measures. This Revolution was the work of Islam. Could any other element but Islam mobilize everyone, regardless of age, for a single purpose?! Everyone had his or her own business before this movement. Everybody had his own separate task. No one minded such issues. The one cause that welded everyone into a union and mobilized the masses was Islam. They must study Islam and know it so that they do not make such mistakes any more. Let us suppose that they had fulfilled their plan and had killed the several main figures of this regime; well, did the nation revolt for the Prime Minister or for any other figure?! Do they really think that one figure is controlling this movement?! Every individual is involved in these matters; the whole nation is involved. This misconception should be changed so that they would not make such mistakes and, later, undergo these trials. All the various groups must change their views; all the political groups, all the [supposedly] enlightened intellectuals must alter their perceptions and all the other [active] groups in this country must correct their vision and eliminate this misconception. They must realize where a coup would be successful and where it would be a failure. They should realize that the issue of public involvement in this country is the same in all the various regions, whether the capital or the farthest regions of the country. Wherever you went, you would hear the same thing:" We want an Islamic Republic." Is it possible for people to mobilize themselves like this without clinging to the Holy Book and the sunnah? It was the faithful minds that staged the uprising. These are the (faithful) people, whether the women or the men, whose children on meeting me, not once or ten times, but many times, request me to pray for them to get martyred; and I pray for them to triumph. This is the case from the time I was in Najaf up to now. Can they (the enemies) overcome such minds full of faith and hearts full of light with a coup d'etat «3»?! They ought to clear their misconception and pay heed to the essence of the Islamic movement, the essence of Islam, the essence of the holy Book and to faith. If these matters are taken into consideration, neither the person who intends to disrupt the working of the university by creating commotion will do such a thing, nor the one who, for example, wants to stage demonstrations [against the Islamic regime]. If these people realize the core of the matter, if they realize that Islam is the stimulus of this movement, if they realize that the leader is the Imam of the Time, if they realize that the minds of the thirty five million people of Iran are vivified with the light [of faith], and that they are alive for Islam, they will never reach the conclusion that they can go and kill several people and take the helm of affairs at hand. Is such a thing possible?! Yes; a government run by some people at the top without the public being involved, can be overthrown and replaced by another group. But in this regime, there is no ruler and no ruled; we are all standing shoulder to shoulder. We are brothers and sisters unto one another, and all of us have a share in this movement because it is Islamic. Islam is not exclusive to one person; it does not exclude the others. Faith does not apply to just one person while excluding the others. If they [enemies] want to take over [the country], they must fight from house to house; not only in Tehran, but all over the country. Suppose that they take Tehran (though this is an impossibility), the rest of the country will rise against them and retake Tehran. If America and those who think they can overthrow this regime really want to accomplish something, they must utilize such means and bring in such people as to oust the population of 35 million from the political scene. What means are those that can oust thirty five million men and women who are all [spiritually] equipped and are involved in the (country's) issues. It is impossible! Bakhtiyar and Carter surely cannot remove those whom God has brought on to the scene. One who is addicted to drugs «4» can never stage a coup; it is all talk. What they are saying that he was to come is just talk. Who was to come? As it is being said, if it is two hours late for him to use drugs, he becomes physically incapable of action. So, who was to come? The fact of the matter is that they are not familiar with Islam. They are under the impression that Islam is a regime like the American or Russian ones. In those regimes, only the high-ranking officials are involved in the political affairs (of the country). Even their own people are against them. Those high-ranking officials [of those regimes] rule [as they wish]; they oppress and squander [the riches of their countries]. The people are not at all involved in their country's affairs. It is not the case that the people are involved in the political issues such as in Iran where all the ladies also participate. It would be of great benefit to them if they tried to understand Islam; if they studied Islamic history and read about the events that occurred in the early periods of Islam. In one of the battles that took place, the unbelievers had taken position in their citadel. As at that time, the means (obviously) did not exist to go up and bomb them from above, and as the citadel had to be taken, one of the Muslim commanders proposed that he sit on a shield and the Muslims lift the shield high on their spears so that he could climb up the wall and, entering the fort, fight them inside it and then open the door from the inside. One man against a host that was in possession of the fort, did just such a thing. His men placed a shield on their spears, and their commander sitting on it, they lifted it up with their spears whereby he reached the top of the wall. Then he entered the citadel, fought his way to the gate and succeeded in opening it. It is Islam; it is faith that accomplished these things. These different perverted groups would do well to study a little about Islam. They ought to study a little of Islam's history and understand the meaning of Faith.

The sacred month of Ramadan is ahead; a month in which you should strengthen yourself morally. There is a tradition attributed to the Noble Messenger about informing the people of the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan. One of the phrases is:" You have been invited to God's feast." «5» The difference between God's feast and peoples' feasts is that when you go to a feast, you will have some items of food to eat and means of entertainment befitting your status. But in God's feast, one part is to observe the fast. Another important item which is a [spiritual] meal from the Unseen, is the Holy Qur'an. You have been invited to His feast; you are His guest in the month of Ramadan. Your host has compelled you to fast. Block those avenues that lie open to worldly considerations and lusts so that you are prepared for the" Laylatuul-Qadr". «6» The month of Sha`ban «7» is the prelude to the holy month of Ramadan. It prepares the people for the holy month and for the feast of God. When you want to go to a party, you do not go in your usual, everyday dress. You normally dress up in another way and attend the party in a different manner. You modify your manners from what they might be when you are at home. The month of Sha`ban is the time for that preparation before attending the party, just as you get ready and make yourself look a bit different from the way you appear in your house. Sha`ban is the month that prepares these people; these Muslims, for" God's Feast". And the manner of preparation lies in the" Munajat-e Sha`baniyyah". «8» I have not seen any other supplication that has been said to have been recited by all the Imams «9», as is the case with this Sha`baniyyah Supplication. This supplication is unique in this regard; I do not recall any other one that the Imams used to recite. The purpose of this Sha`baniyyah Supplication is to prepare you and everyone for" God's Feast".

People have some misconceptions that have greatly increased. That is why some [of these supposedly enlightened] people, not understanding what supplications are all about, say that reciting the Qur'an is enough. They, thereby, disregard the supplications. They have not understood them for what they are. They have not bothered to study the supplications and their meanings to see what they are all about; to see what they want to convey to the readers and what their purpose is. Even if there was no supplication attributed to and recited by our Imams- the originators of our supplications- except this one, it would have been enough to substantiate their rightfulness. All the issues that the mystics have discussed, and have written in their books in great detail, are present in this supplication, but in fewer words. It could further be asserted that the Muslim mystics used these supplications as their material. Islamic mysticism is different from the mysticism of India and other regions. These are supplications about which some of our great teachers «10» used to say that while the Qur'an is the book that has descended and come down [for us], the supplication is the thing that" ascends"; it goes upwards [from us to the unseen]. The spirituality needed for moralizing people and making them real humans [that is, in accordance with the God-given criteria governing real human beings], without which people would be more savage than the carnivores, rests and exists in these supplications. These supplications, with their unique language, drive people upward [towards the Divine] to that height that you and I cannot understand. Only those who have lived that way are familiar with it. Why is that someone like Kasravi «11» proposed the burning of [all Arabic] books. Mafatih al-Jinan «12» was one of the books that he burnt. He burnt the books of the mystics as well. Of course he was a very skillful writer but he became insane towards the end of his life, or he had that sort of a mind. Many Eastern characters are like that: when they learn a few words, they think very highly of themselves. Towards the end of his life, Kasravi claimed that he was a prophet. Because he could not reach those high levels [of faith and spiritual purity], he thought he could bring the High down to his own level. Mafatih al-Jinan is not Shaykh `Abbas Qumi's book; he is just the compiler. He has collected the supplications in it. This person who burned the Mafatih al-Jinan or had designated a day for burning such books was not aware of the content of this book. He may have not read Munajat Sha`baniyyah even once in his life. He did not have that sort of a mentality. The supplications of some of the months and days, especially those that pertain to the month of Rajab, Sha`ban and Ramadan, strengthen the soul miraculously. Of course not that I can understand such realities; but those who are familiar are aware of the effects of the supplications. These supplications open the way for the people. They are the search lights that enable the human being to come out of darkness and into Light [i. e. spiritual vivification]. You must pay attention to these supplications. You must not be deceived by what some writers, like Kasravi, who used to undermine (the significance of) these supplications. This results in undermining Islam. But these unfortunate characters are ignorant. They do not understand what exists in this book [i. e. the Mafatih al-Jinan]. The same issues that exist in the Holy Qur'an are present in this book except in a different style, in the language of the Imams. The Qur'an has its own specific style; the supplications retain their own unique style and the language of the `ulama' and the mystics is also different. The things which make the person light-hearted and move him out of this dark abode and rid the soul of its problems and miseries are the supplications. Our holy Imams (s) were under the oppression of authoritarian rulers and thus could not perform the tasks [that were necessary for the peoples' guidance] openly. Therefore the supplications they uttered, apart from the guidance they gave clandestinely, were their means of mobilizing the people against the tyrannical regimes. On reciting these supplications, the people's morale world rise. They would feel light-hearted whereby martyrdom would become sweet and easy for them. The supplications of the sacred months of Rajab, and especially Sha`ban are the prelude and the provisions that prepare the soul to reply to God's invitation to His feast. The table on which the meal is served is the Holy Qur'an and the location of the feast, of course the most important location, is the "Laylatuul-Qadr". It is a feast to purify, prove and educate. The souls [of the believers] are prepared from the first day of the holy month of Ramadan through fasting, struggling [against the worldly lusts] and supplicating (God) in order to get ready for the main meal which is the" Laylatuul-Qadr", when the Holy Qur'an was revealed.

This Divine feast should divert the humans from this [base] animality to the real aspect of humanity. It should pull them out of the pits of sin to the gates of Absolute. Light on which the whole world depends. The purpose of the prophets' message was to save humanity from the state of confusion they are in with every single individual going in a different direction. They wanted to call peoples' attention to the Right Path out of this world [of misery]; to tell them to disregard all the other paths, for the only way is the path of God. Show us the straight Path" «13»;" Lo! my Lord is on a straight Path" «14». There is no other way out but this path. Other than this path, there is only the [base] world: that is those issues pertaining to the human desires and their worldly wishes; this is the [base] world. The world which has been denounced is not this natural world [of the creatures]. This world of nature is Light [i. e. the continuation of God's illumination and thus includes no evil].

It is the attachment of the soul to this world that corrupts the humans. The darkness that overtakes us is the result of becoming attached to this world, to these posts and positions, these delusions and superstitions. All the prophets came to grasp our hands and release us from these worldly desires, which are all against what our nature and temperament necessitate. They came to rescue us from these attachments and guide us to the world of Light. Islam is above all other religions in this regard [for it is the final message]. The supplications [that our holy Imams have uttered] are to rid people from the desires that have made them wretched, from the miseries of this world that have bewildered and confused them, and to save them by driving them to the true path of humanity. There is no other way; the Right Path is the only way for humanity. And our holy Imams, not being able to guide people openly as the result of the situation they were in, utilized these supplications as the means of guidance. The goal of the holy prophets was not to take control of a region [for example] and do something for themselves. This was not the intention, sir! The prophets' goal was not to take over the world in order to develop it. Their goal was to show the path to the people of this world; to the extremely oppressive and ignorant humans. This path is the only way to God, the Blessed, the Exalted:" Verily my Lord is on the Right Path." At one end [of this path] is this world and on the other end, that which is beyond the world [the world of light and immortality]. On one side there is this [base and dark] world, but beyond it exists the Ultimate Light. The prophets' mission was to help us reach that Light:" Allah is the Protecting Friend of those who believe. He bringeth them out of the darkness into Light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of Light into darkness." «15» Taghout struggles against the prophets, against Allah.

If we succeed in participating in God's feast, and arriving at the table of the Blessed and Exalted Lord; that is if they allow us into this grand gathering- for the devils are standing on the way to block our path- and thus if we succeed in attending that banquet, we might find our way to the path of (real) humanity. All other directions [of life] are wrong. They are the paths of animals. Humans are strange creatures. They possess animal passions that are boundless; and devilishness which also stops at no limit. They are boundless creatures in all aspects. Whichever path they choose is limitless. And all the paths are wrong and misleading; they all end in Hell except the" Right Path", the path which is that of humanity [and not the animalistic aspects of humanity]. Thus, if they permit us to attend God's feast; if we become eligible to take part in this banquet and comprehend (the significance of) this sacred month, there is hope of our being guided. Fortify yourself during this auspicious month and get prepared for all the upcoming events. The holy prophets wanted spirituality and, therefore, struggled to correct the deviations in human societies and also among the ruling class. For instance: take the story of Moses: a shepherd «16», staff in hand, going to Pharaoh and, despite the Pharaoh's pomp and power, inviting him to become a Muslim (and submit to God's authority); to become a (proper) human being, or a minor, the orphaned son «17» of a shepherd- or a shepherd himself- from the Hijaz (Arabia) inviting all the powers (of the time) to humanity, was all for the purpose of turning the people into proper human beings. The whole purpose is for us to become real humans; but, unfortunately, it has proved very difficult. There used to be a saying:" Becoming a priest is so easy; but becoming a human being is so difficult." But my late teacher, Shaykh `Abdulkarim «18» (May God have mercy on his soul) used to say:" Becoming a priest is so hard; being a human is impossible." It is so difficult as to be almost impossible. The mission of the prophets was to achieve the impossible. Do not strive so much to this way and that. Your souls want God, and so you must go after what you really want. Your spirits desire God, but you are unaware (of the fact). The spirits of all people desire God. You must edify yourselves during this Ramadan and every Ramadan. Today, which is probably the last day of Sha`ban, you and I must prepare ourselves for attending" God's Feast"; His banquet, so that, God willing, we enter this great month with spiritual well-being and benefit by the Blessed and Exalted Lord's Light of guidance and so change ourselves (for the better). We must really be different in this month as compared to the other months, and must try to comprehend the" Laylatul-Qadr" and its bounties, for it is the night in which the Holy Qur'an was revealed and the directions for the prosperity of the whole world were disclosed. That is why it is superior to all other nights; and we must understand this (reality). May God assist you and give you the opportunity to attend His Feast in good health and happiness. And I hope that we get blessed with the heavenly blessings- the Holy Qur'an and the sacred supplications- and that we enter the" Night of Grandeur" with a pure heart in order to comprehend it." That Night is [Laylatul-Qadr] Peace until the rising of the dawn." «19»

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