Speech [Steadfastness in the pursuit of goals; putting a check on deviation]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

It is not very realistic to expect everything to go as per your desires from the very first days that you embark upon any mission. Even though you may feel that you have not achieved anything significant, your very intention to do something good has been the greatest achievement. The guidance of a nation is surely a great task and its most challenging aspect is the guidance of women who comprise half of the entire population and it is bound to be difficult. Even forming the intention to take on this task is an important step and once you have decided upon taking on a mission it is important that you do not give way to doubt and despair. This is because if man takes on a task with a shaky intention and then harbors doubts about his ability to see the job through to its desired end he is bound to be unable to do the job well. With the same enthusiasm that you decided to take on this mission, it is important for you to remain resolute and optimistic about your ability to succeed in this task, keeping in mind that you can succeed in achieving anything that you set your intention upon. You are seeing for yourself that many big achievements have been made within these two years in this country and the major transformation that has taken place here after centuries of oppression; and in spite of being a big task that many of these thinkers and intellectuals had thought would be impossible, it nevertheless became possible because the nation was determined and was unshakably resolute in its determination. Once again, the nation needs to stay determined and, God willing, stay resolute about finally achieving success and its very intention and determination will make it emerge victorious.

Now that you ladies have got involved in an Islamic and humanistic mission, you need to remain firm, keeping in mind the fact that since you are doing all this for God, you are bound to ultimately emerge victorious. First of all, put in your utmost efforts to ensure that those who have deviated from the path of Islam and the course of the Islamic Republic do not infiltrate into your affairs. It is not as if these people will approach you declaring that they are deviated and have come to join you. In fact, they may even appear more enthusiastic than you, about wanting to work along with you for the cause of Islam.

It is important that you have previously known the people that you choose to work with well enough and that you are clear about their condition as well as the situation of their families, what path they have been pursuing, their university records if they have attended university, and all the other information about them like what jobs they have held and other such details and only then select people to work with you in this big mission. And as regards your method of operation, refrain from paying any attention to the criticism that these deviated elements aim toward you or even toward the name that you have chosen for your magazine. Stick diligently to the path that you have chosen!

Make sure to form a committee to carefully scrutinize all the articles that are sent to you by people who are not on your editorial board. It may just be that an article may begin very impressively and yet there may be matters included elsewhere in it that may be against your ideology. Thus, all the articles must be examined thoroughly by a whole committee and not just by a single person. And only once you are ensured that it falls completely in line with your mission should it be published in your magazine. The same applies to the photographs you publish, if any. Although it cannot be generalized, it is important that you pay the utmost attention to the pictures you use in your magazine so that you are not tricked into including photographs that your magazine should not contain. Stay persistent in your mission and expand it. And if there are some people in your office who are against your principles either dismiss them or at least do not give them the permission to get involved in your work. I pray to Allah to grant you success in this great and much needed service! Yes, there are people in our country who are against your mission. You do remember what the women of our country went through during the times of the Shah and his father and how they had converted this large stratum of the people who should have been at the service of Islam and the Muslims into puppets in their hands. You should pay serious attention to these matters and should avoid such people who were earlier at the service of the previous regime. Make sure that they do not

infiltrate among you. May Allah grant you success in the continuation of your great work!