Speech [The society in need of unity among its various strata; the authorities being in the nation's service]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

At the outset, I wish to thank all the masses for having risen in this period in time in a manner befitting the Islamic government with everybody supporting one another, and acting upon their human and Islamic obligations. I also thank all the armed forces, whether the army, the Guards corps, the gendarmerie, the police and the volunteers, that are busy making sacrifices and are serving Islam at this crucial time. I hope that they will all be the soldiers of Islam and of the Imam of the Age (s). There are some issues, the importance of which is so great that they must be mentioned repeatedly. The books like the Qur'an that have come to build man's character and the books that are being written on ethics with the aim of building man and society have each topic of theirs repeated according to its importance. There is much repetition in the Holy Qur'an. Some ask" why this repetition?" Repetition is necessary. One of the things useful for making one a human is inculcation. A man who desires to build himself should suggest to himself and repeat those issues that concern self-development. The effect of a matter on one's self is enhanced by auto-suggestion and repetition. The point in constantly repeating the supplications and prayers several times a day is that man recites and listens to the constructive verses that he himself utters and hears, like the blessed chapter" Hamd" which is a constructive lesson. A person should repeat them and inculcate them into himself and should prepare his soul to listen to them. When one says something, a listener hears it in an instant and the words also enter his mind. But in the case of the speaker, the words are first impressed upon his mind, then he utters them and hears them. Subsequently, they sink into him. Inculcation is something that is necessary. A certain topic concerning some issues which I repeatedly state and inculcate into my friends is because of the fact that it is important. It has to do with developing a society, and a nation. A society; a nation cannot attain its lofty aim unless it is developed (in character). Therefore, the matters of importance must be repeated. The speakers must repeat them and the listeners must inculcate them into themselves so that it has an effect on them, God willing.

Sometimes a speaker speaks well or a writer writes well. He may write a book on monotheism or on ethics. But it is merely writing and saying and presenting them (to the people). He, himself, is oblivious of all this. There are many issues that are expressed by the orators wherever they be. They propound many issues and they do it very well. They present them well and invite and recommend to the people (to heed them) well. But as their own selves have not been developed, they preach without being aware of what they say. It is quite likely that the writers who write books on ethics, and write them well, are not marked by good morals themselves. It is likely that those that teach and inculcate nicely the subject of monotheism into the minds of the people are themselves, not aware of it. If a lecturer is not alive to what he is saying, his lecture will have little effect on the class. Sometimes, one is very good at conversation. He speaks eloquently; he also writes well and imports the topic well. But in observing the speaker, the writer or the preacher, one finds out that, in practice, he is not so. As the saying goes:" Observe what is said; not the one who says it." «1» Wisdom ought to be acquired even if it be from a poly theist. But in spite of this being true, when a person hears something, he should also take into account that the person, who said it, is.

Inviting the people to unity is an important and necessary thing in our society today. The various strata of the people will not realize their goal as long as they remain disunited, possess differing outlooks and beliefs and unless they do not adopt the straight path and follow it. Perhaps you had witnessed the time when this nation was united and, having cast aside all other aims, was just after one goal which was the ouster of the regime. Everybody, at that time, was after this aim and taking steps to that end as well. It was not that the people were just calling for the regime's ouster without doing anything about it. When I speak of the nation, I mean these ordinary people and those of the less affluent areas. These people, in those days were in a ruined condition. There were those who were sorry to see the regime go, but they were nothing, in comparison with this raging flood, this roaring river that was the nation. Hence, they would not utter a word. They could not express their views. You saw that with the unity that had emerged among our people, with all of them following the same path leading to one goal, they defeated the powers that were supporting the Shah, this demonic power. The Shah, himself, had become isolated from his own soldiers; the ones who were not with the nation and the masses. He was not able to remain, and so went away to the place to which he had to go. It was the unity and your attention to God and Allahu Akbar (God is the Greater) that made you victorious over those powers. You are at pinnacle of victory even today. Therefore, I recommend firstly the whole nation and secondly to the armed forces to be careful that this unity is not lost, and also that attention to God and His Absolute Power is not undermined, God willing. Do not think that we have attained all our aims and that we have no more need for all this, or that we should pursue our own lives; lowly animalistic lives. We have now come half the way, and thank God, have been successful so far. The corrupt roots that existed in Iran have gone one by one and the rest too will go. You will execute the Islamic laws and commands successfully in this country, God willing.

In a meeting wherein dear army officers, guards and their chiefs are assembled one of the issues which ought to be brought to your ntice is about building the self. Don't think that now that we have defeated that big power and have become powerful by our victory over that power, you and we should become like that demonic power that served, that acted on Satan's behalf.

You have many enemies as you are the pasdars of Islam. The devils are bound to be the enemies of those in the army, the gendarmerie and the other forces who are trying to put Islam into effect in this environment and this country, and, later on, in other places as well, God willing.

Those devils that are your enemies are not sitting idle. They are plotting constantly. The military designs of those powers will have no effect. Those plots are effective that will lead to your internal decay and external disintegration, and cause you to fall in the people's esteem and deprive you of their support. Their plan is, first of all, to create as much discord as they can within the army itself, and also among the army chiefs, and, if possible, among the chiefs and those lower in rank, right up to the lowest ranks. They want to sow discord wherever they can. They even want to do so between the army and the guards corps. They want to lower them in one another's esteem; for one group to say that the other is not committed to Islam and for another one to say that the other is not aware of it, that they are headstrong and lack discipline. All this is not to destroy you alone. The object is Islam. What they have come to realize and feel is that it is Islam that has kept them at bay. It is Islam that has united all the classes of people and has turned the drops into a roaring flood. Their basic aim is to deal Islam a blow. Therefore, today, the whole nation, including the army, the armed forces, the bazaar merchants, the academics wherever they be, the farmers, workers, employees and all other classes of the nation must become the guards of Islam. The honored (religion of Islam) Islam has been placed in our custody. You, therefore, have to protect it and hand it over to the future generations.

We will have to take the blame if Islam, God forbid, is harmed today or any wrong is done to it. The responsibility does not depend upon a particular class." All of you are shepherds. All of you are responsible"; everybody is responsible; the nation as a whole is. The people ought to observe Islamic laws. All of us owe Islam a debt of gratitude; all human beings do so. Islam is now in our hands and we are its guards. We will be held responsible if it is harmed. We will all be responsible before God.

Any differences, God forbid, arising among the guards, or the occurrences of something that is contrary to the interests of the nation, to Islam or the Islamic country carries a responsibility. Do not think that you are a single individual and that your acts as such have nothing to do with the others. No, it is not so today and it was also not so before. An individual's action has its own effects on society. A society is comprised of individuals. It is not something else. An act of each one of you has its effect. If you do something bad, it will influence the others who see it. Doing a good deed also has an effect on others. If any of you do something- like an injustice or an offense- that might hurt Islam, all of you will be responsible for it. The whole nation will be responsible. Everybody ought to prevent wrongdoing. We must all feel responsible as we are indeed, responsible. It should not be so that having disarmed the tyrant, you yourselves oppress the people. Because of its actions, the previous regime became a cursed and hated one. It was owing to its misdeeds and not because of a person, or who and whose son he was. His actions made the people detest him and, as a result, he could not endure as they had turned away from him.

It should not so happen that we fail to practice what we preach, or that we invite the people to unity but act to the contrary. Let it not happen that we call for unity through our newspapers while our actions are otherwise.

This is the meaning of a hypocrite who says something but does not do what he says. He invites you to goodness and generosity while he himself is bereft of them. He invites you to the true Islam which he himself does not want. He invites you to unity but he himself has no intention of fostering it. He tells you to abstain from discord while he himself does not do so. By paying attention to the Blessed and Exalted Lord, we must all close our ranks.

You, gentlemen, the officers! May you be successful. Note that the ex-regime's army was the object of all those taunts and curses of the people because of the things that it had done and the wrongdoings that it was compelled to do. But after the ouster of those corrupt elements and those who were free of corrupt practices joining the nation, you can see for yourself in what esteem the masses now hold you. If the people ever looked at you those days when you used to pass by, either alone or in groups, it was out of fear that they would do so. Their hearts were not with you. They had turned their backs on you.

The hearts of the people are with you today. The nation's heart is with the armed forces and you are from this nation. You are not separate. If, as in the past, your path diverges from the nation's path, the nation, too, will turn its back on you, and will not endure. This is the case with all the armed forces and governmental institutions. If the armed forces, a government, or a government official wants to impose something on the people, it is not Islam's fault. The armed forces are there to serve the people. They are not imposed or forced upon them. The government and its related organs are the people's servants; not their masters. They are servants. If you want to have mastery over all the powers and see that no power takes you back to the previous state- a state in which you were wretched, poor and robbed (of your things) - you should all be together. Do not think that the pasdars, the gendarmes, and the army are all separate from one another and that they are separate entities.

Consider yourselves to be brothers. You have the common goal of strengthening Islam, God willing. Put Islam into practice; in its victory lies the prosperity of nations. Everybody is under the banner of monotheism. By so being, you will remain invulnerable. I repeat this matter because it is important. And hence we have to keep on dinning it into one another's minds. Whoever admonishes the people, ought to dwell on this issue. Whoever gives a speech, ought to mention it. One should not think that it has been spoken about already. No, it ought to be constantly mentioned. The people, the nation, the governmental institutions should be repeatedly told that they should not forget the question of unity. Just do not keep talking about it without working for it. There ought to be unity among you in practice. You are one another's brothers. In the Holy Qur'an, the Blessed and Exalted Lord looks upon you as brothers. «2» If selfish motives give rise to differences, God forbid, the power of faith will disappear, and the one who creates divisions is, in reality, outside the pale of Islam, even if he is, on the face of it, among the Muslims.

I pray to the Blessed and Exalted God to bring solidarity among all of you, among all the people and among all the armed forces so that all of them constitute a unified force vis-a-vis the superpowers.

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