Speech [Obligation of Muslim countries in relation to the attack of Saddam on the Islamic country of Iran]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

We have gathered here in this humble place at a time when a multitude of Muslims from all over the Islamic countries have gathered in the holy city of Mecca. The gathering is political besides being religious. Islam is an ideological-politica religion with worship being systematized in its political affairs and politics in its devotional matters. Islam has arranged these gatherings in a facile manner once a year as an obligation for the Muslims who can afford to gather in Mecca Mu`azzamah and the sacred places. It is recommended for all Muslims, even those who are not wealthy, to fulfill this divine obligation. The salient point in those gatherings is that Muslims are brought together in this spot; in an environment far from formalities, where they are denuded of personality distinctions. All of them are clad in a coffin and a couple of coverings to the minimum extent. The important thing is to acquaint one another of all that has taken place in the Muslim lands during the course of the year and to think about eliminating the difficulties of the Muslims. And the great Islamic gathering of millions in the Hijaz is for this very purpose. It is worship, too, at the same time. But regrettably, we, the Muslims, have distanced ourselves from Islam and have been detached from the Islamic realities. In fact, the thought does not occur to us at all that firstly, those who can go, should do so and have the honor of visiting the House of God, and (secondly) those who are the intellectuals, the writers, the scholars and the enlightened ones ought to collect in that place and reviewing the problems of the Muslims all over the world, solve them to the extent they can. Now, in having the honor of going to Mecca and (performing) the Hajj in the House of God, it is only the common people; the commoners, who collect there. The influential people- government officials, community elders, etc- assembling there and reviewing Islamic affairs and the socio-political problems of the Muslims is a matter that has, unfortunately, been neglected. And, instead of the problems being dealt with in that place, they are augmented. The problems of the Muslims are many. But the greatest one is that they have put the Holy Qur'an aside and have come under the banner of others. The Holy Qur'an states:" And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate!" «1» If we; if the Muslims abide by this one verse alone, all their difficulties- social, political, economical and everything else- will be solved without leaning on others. Islam has set down certain political-devotional practices for the people of every region. The gatherings in every town, village, and hamlet of the Muslim countries are of a political and devotional nature. Their purpose is to have the people of a region congregate in the mosques and deal with the problems of that region. The Friday (congregational) prayer is an act of worship with political and social dimensions. Its purpose is to have more and more people assemble every week. Sort out their problems on the spot. The gathering at the Ka`bah is the largest one. No government can, by itself, convene such a gathering. The Blessed and Exalted Lord has so affected it that the Muslims congregate in that place without any inconvenience or difficulty, and without any cost to the governments. But, unfortunately, they do not make use of it.

We have gathered here on a day when the government of Saddam the tyrant government of Saddam has attacked Iran by air, land and sea without giving any valid reason acceptable to all the governments of the world, and without a prior declaration (of war). His action is without precedent. He in his own fancy wanted to conquer the country and lay hands upon the Caliphate of Muslims and thereby the rule over them without having any belief in Islam itself. And, regrettably, while the Holy Qur'an states that in case of two groups of Muslims have differences between them, the others must bring them to a compromise, and if one of the groups is oppressive and rebellious, it must be made to obey God's command by force, which Muslim country examined the matter to determine the oppressive and rebellious group, and which group it was that launched the attack, so that all of them (the Muslim countries), acting on God's commands fight against that group? On which Muslim Country has the fact been lost that Saddam rose against us, oppressed us and attacked us? Why don't the Islamic Countries act according to the noble verse?" Fight ye that which doeth wrong till it return unto the ordinance of Allah" «2» Most regrettably, some of the Muslim countries, that is, those governments who rule over them in the name of Islam, while they see that he has risen against us and has attacked an Islamic country without any reason or excuse have declared that they approve of his action, while some others support him. Where in the world should we mention the difficulties besetting Islam and solve them? In which forum can the Muslims of the world solve their problems? In the international forums which are the creations of the big powers? Or, in the circles that carry the name" Islam", but, where there is no sign of Islam at all? To which authority must Iran submit its complaint? With whom should a nation that has been attacked for no rhyme or reason, discuss this matter? With which one of the governments must it bring up this matter? According to what is written in the Qur'an, it is incumbent upon all the Islamic governments to fight against the Iraqi government so that it obeys the Word of God and the Command of God.

Yes, Saddam thought that he was opposing a country that was in a disturbed state and had been isolated, and that all the governments had turned their backs on it or had subjected it to economic sanctions. He also thought that we lacked an army and a security force, and arms and armaments as well. He was under the impression that he would be able to take Tehran within a few hours. But he was unaware of God. It never occurred to him that we are a tightly-knit nation and that all the people possess faith, and that it is faith that enables them to overcome all problems and difficulties. They (the Iraqi regime) did not pause to think that this zealous nation of Iran equipped with the power of faith, had dispatched the treacherous, former Shah to hell in spite of the military power he possessed and the backing and support of the (world) powers that he enjoyed. It did not occur to Saddam that the Iranian nation had swept aside the powers that had supported the defunct Muhammad Rida and, cutting off their access to Iran's resources, had put an end to their domination. He (Saddam) was needless (of these realities) because of his nervous condition. When he came to power, I told the people that he is a dangerous person because he is mentally deranged and has dysfunctional nerves.

It is rather deplorable that some think that we have become isolated because of our opposition to America. No; it is America that has become isolated. It is the nations that are the principal factor. Stop repressing the people and leave them to themselves, and you will see as to who is isolated. In spite of the people of Iraq living under the bayonet, they are with us, and very soon there will be an eruption in Iraq like the one that occurred in Iran. We are not isolated. Those who are tyrants and committed tyranny against us are the ones that are isolated, because as I said, the nations are the criterion. Prior to the Revolution, we were isolated because the nations paid no attention to us. After the Revolution, our nation became consolidated and unified." The Muslims constitute a unified body vis-a-vis the others". «3»

All the weak nations, even the non-Muslim ones, that are part of the oppressed nations, are with us. So, how are we isolated? Yes, the governments with whom their nations are not in agreement, are against us. But this is not a matter of concern to us. We welcome this isolation wholeheartedly, the reason being that as long as we are not in an isolated state and our links to the superpowers and others are not severed, we will not be able to carry on with our work and stand on our own feet. To be independent, it is necessary to get isolated first we have to become isolated in order to be free. Isolation is not a problem for us nor do we care about isolation, be it political, economical, or social, because it is the nations that count; they are with us. If you listen to the radio broadcasts, you will notice that the world is on our side as it has announced its approval of our stand. The people of the world have even requested us to let them appear on the battlefronts to rescue us from this- in their own words- misfortune, but we are not in need of any help. We will give Saddam and the Ba`ath party of Iraq such a blow that they will not able to rise again. We should clear this misconception that the despotic government of Iraq and the rest of the Muslim countries have of Iran being vulnerable to an attack. Iran is a divine entity that nothing can harm. Iran is a country that is united. Thirty-five million people, unitedly and with one voice, are standing up against the (big) powers. No power can isolate such a nation, and no nation can rule over a nation that has risen (for God). You just take into account Afghanistan. Even though it has leftist parties, which are powerful and strong, and the government, too, is against the nation and the nation against the government, and the forces of that big power are already there, still the Soviet Union has received such a strong blow in this respect that it stands disgraced before all the countries. The Afghan guerrillas have given the Soviet Union such a slap in the face that it will not be able to raise its head again. Iran is much more powerful than Afghanistan, because it does not have various groups. Supposing that there are some communists and" Savakis" (the ex-Shah's secret police) here, they are of no consequence; they are nothing compared to the people. But our nation is with the government and the security forces; they are together. Thanks to God that our security forces are strong now and well equipped with arms. These are the arms that our enemy (America) had supplied to enable the ex-regime to stand up to the Soviet Union. These have fallen into our hands; we will resist it (America) and every other government. They are not aware of our power; the spiritual power that exists in Iran. They have not as yet perceived Iran's Islamic power.

Muslims should pay attention to the power of Islam. It was the power of Islam that gave victory to an empty-handed nation over a strong and tyrant government and the big powers of the world. Why are the Muslims unaware of this power? Why are the Islamic governments not aware of such a power? Why should `Arab governments be slapped for all these years by the Zionists? Why should they be under the domination of the foreigners? Why don't they unite? Why don't they act according to the holy verses of the Qur'an? Why are they not united? Why don't they obey the sayings of the Prophet? Who has stated that the Muslims constitute one hand against those who separate them from one another? It is regrettable that they stand divided among themselves. The problem of the Muslims is that they (the enemies) have created differences among them. This plot was designed immediately after the world war. Seeing the power of Islam, they devised their strategy and separated the Muslim governments from one another. They set the Muslims against one another while their governments became inimical towards each other. This is a problem that should be solved. This difficulty should be settled on the day of the `id and on the day of" `arafah" «4» in the shelter of the house of God. It is a matter that calls for the community heads to assemble in Mecca mu`azzamah and comply with the command of the Blessed and Exalted Lord. They should collect there, discuss their problems, and overcome them. If such a thing is achieved, none of the powers will be able to confront you. You, Muslims, are in possession of every thing. Above all, you have the power of Islam which is above everything and which is the greatest weapon. You, Muslims, have plains, vast seas and very large countries. You are rich. In spite of your being rich most of your needy people are living in poverty. This is because you are not in line with Islam. The properties of Muslims that should be spent to the advantage of Muslims, are given by you to non-Muslims, and that, too, at a trivial price. In the era of the deposed Shah, that same trivial amount would return to America, after which they would manufactured weapons to confront the Soviet Union. But thank God that He wanted that these weapons fall into our hands.

And today we shall stand against all the countries that want to assault us or carry out any aggression. Our nation with the power of Islam, army and security forces, the holy warriors of Islam and all the powers, armed and unarmed stand together, and nobody can commit aggression against this Islamic country. We don't know why the Muslims, that is the Islamic countries, though are with us, do not intervene and put this person on trial? What are they afraid of? Saddam should be put on trial, just as Carter should be put on trial. He (Carter) worked for his own sake but this cursed one works for the sake of America. It is not for the sake of a few kilometers of parched land, that he is fighting (us), that he is compelling the multitude of Muslims of both sides to kill and get killed, and causing these two countries losses of so many billion of Iraqi dinars and Iranian tumans, and also making us fire on each other with those weapons that ought to be used against Zionism and imperialism. This is a crime Saddam has committed. We, on our part, are defenders of our interests. We are defending Islam. We do know this man. I knew this man when I was in Iraq. This man, God forbid, if given a free hand, he is worse than `Aflaq «5» who considers Islam contradictory to every belief of his.

We defend Islam. A defender of Islam defends it with his life, wealth, and dear ones, and never gives up. Whether we are victorious or get defeated in the material sense, victory is with us. The Prophet of Islam, too, was defeated in some of the battles, but the victory rested with him. Similarly, the saints of Islam were defeated in some of the battles and the enemies triumphed. But the victory was theirs because truth always triumphs, and falsehood disappears." Lo falsehood is ever bound to vanish." «6» This day, we pray for all the Muslims. We stretch out our appealing hand importuning God the Almighty to awaken the Muslims and the Muslim governments. The Muslim governments should pay attention towards eliminating their difficulties. They should put an end to their dependence on the superpowers, and become independent; they should rely on themselves and govern their own countries. When we say that our Revolution should be exported everywhere, it should not be misunderstood that we want to conquer countries. We consider and regard all the Islamic countries as our own. We want them to be in their own places. We want what occurred in Iran to happen everywhere. We want this awakening that took place in Iran by which the people distanced themselves from the big powers, and sacrificing themselves cut off the access of these powers to our resources, to take place in all the nations and countries as well, this is our wish. The meaning of exporting our revolution is that all the nations, all the governments should wake up. They should deliver themselves from these troubles and this domination (under the alien powers). They should put an end to this destruction of their resources because of which they are living in poverty.

May God, the Blessed and Exalted, make this feast blessed for all Muslims. This day and this feast are blessed ones for the nation of Iran that is at war. This feast is blessed for the martyrs of the war and those who have submitted martyrs. May God, the Blessed and Exalted, give us the opportunity to get martyred, too, for His sake.

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