In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
23/8/1361 AHS
Praise to be God for his bounties and peace be upon his Prophets and diviners especially, the last of Prophets and the companion of God and particularly the concealed and endure (Twelfth Imam) of them, may our souls be sacrificed for his sake.
I have never had and never have the inclination to speak about my closer and dear ones or to defend them. But in addition that I am guilty and responsible; and hope for His pardon and forgiveness at His Exalted Court; and all my capital and assets is confession of guilt and forgiveness for it; and I also confess to the Muslims and the beloved nation of being guilty and at fault and I hope for their forgiveness and seek their pardon. In relation to certain groups and individuals, I am guilty of unforgivable sins and I strongly believe that after I am no more, in order to take revenge from me, they will slander some of my near and dear ones that I consider to be unfair; and to burn them in the fire that I must be burnt, and probably on the pretext of coming to my defense, they take my revenge against them. Now during my lifetime, there are talks and rumors that add strength to the above-mentioned possibility. Thus, I consider it my religious duty, in order to remove injustice and unfair criticism; I express my views to the beloved nation so that I am not faulted in this respect. One of them against whom the possibility of taking revenge against me exists more than anybody else is my son Ahmad Khomeini. I bear witness at the Court of the Truth that from the beginning of the Revolution until now and before the Revolution and from the time he has entered the arena of politics, I have never seen any behavior or statement that was against the course of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. He has supported the Revolution at all the stages and during the stage of the splendid victory of the Revolution, he has been my assistant and helper and does not do anything that is against my opinion. In the relevant affairs, whether in the circulars or counsels, he does not interfere or give opinions without referring to me. Even in the wordings of the circulars, he does not interfere without referring to me and if he gives an opinion on an issue, it is a recommendation and his recommendations are sincere and are not against the direction of the Revolution and interests. If I do not accept his recommendations, he does not oppose me; and if also I take his words to be right, I accept them and I hope that I accept the right recommendations from every person.
But with regard to the financial matters, which some opponents of the Revolution ascribe to him, I must mention that he does not interfere in my financial affairs; and the confiscation and safekeeping of the public property at the disposal of some gentlemen enjoy my trust and if he wants some amounts for the persons, he proposes and I pay the amount directly or through a third person to them. I hereby declare that Ahmad does not have any money or share in any local and foreign bank or institution. He does not have any agricultural or other land in any place inside or outside the country and so forth; and if he takes possession of one of these instances inside or outside the country after my demise, the contemporary government with the permission of the contemporary jurisprudent should confiscate them and take legal action against him. I hope that the government authorities of the Islamic Republic always consider the merits and shun nepotism. One of the matters that need to be reminded is that one of the false accusations that are leveled against him is that he has stolen the `Abbasid Museum and has taken its contents to Paris and for a period the opponents utilized their time on this subject only to be proved contrary. On the other hand, that he has purchased land in the north of the country and so forth which my opponents would level in order to seek revenge from me.
With regard to the political issues, for a time he was accused of being a supporter of the munafiqin and that I was witness to his opposition in the course of the Revolution that was more serious and categorical than others. In addition, of late when the subject of the Evin prison came to the fore, and complaints were filed against Mr. Lajevardi and there was opposition to him, I did not see any body except Ahmad to be stauncher in his support of Mr. Lajevardi and to come to his defense. He regarded his being in charge of the Evin prison as being necessary and his removal as almost a disaster. On the other hand, take the question of his support for Bani Sadr; as long as I would support Bani Sadr because of certain expediencies, he, too, would sometimes support him. However, when I drew the curtain and removed him from office, he did not support him even once and would oppose him strongly. Alternatively, taking the question of" Third Line" that was the topic of meetings of the opponents and they would level unjust criticisms while I would enjoin him to remain silent. He was never outside the line of the Revolution and Islam and if finally because of vendetta against me after my demise, certain groups rise up in opposition to him, I have paid my debt to him as a Muslim and as a father. The Blessed and Almighty God bears witness to this and I hope that Ahmad places his trust in the Blessed and Almighty God and is not afraid of anyone beside Him and be in the service of the Creator and the creatures. He should not show weakness or hesitation because of the slanders and oppositions while serving, place his hope in the Almighty God. He should not take any steps for obtaining a position of power and because I regard him to be a useful person for the Revolution; I hope that at the side of the adherents of the Revolution and the devoted of the path of Islam and with the aim of serving Islam, he strives even more. He should strive with his revolutionary and faithful brothers in the path of the Revolution and Islam, not spare any efforts at service, and not demand any reward from any creature. He should continue to serve sincerely and for the consent of God in the path of the Islamic country and the Divine objectives. He should serve the poor and the weak that the Exalted Truth has enjoined, more than others, and to call upon others to serve them. Whatever difficulty arises in the path of serving the objective, which is the beloved Islam, and whatever disruption occurs in the process, he should not stop his efforts for the sake of God. He should accept to serve for whatever task he is called upon and which he considers to be useful and to earn the consent of God through service to the people.
However, with regard to the clergy that sometime slander Ahmad; I regard him to be a staunch supporter of the clergy. The basis of the clergy is not something that a Muslim be opposed to it. But unconditional support in the sense that any person with any deed and moral behavior and ideology should be endorsed by him; and that whoever wears the garb of the clergy, even if he behaves contrary to Islamic and humane principles should deserve to be necessarily overlooked is not expected from him nor from any other devoted and Muslim clergyman that believes in the Islamic values- and it must not be expected. I have repeatedly mentioned that an unrefined pseudo- clergy toeing a non-Islam line is more dangerous for Islam and the Islamic Republic than a former agent of the" SAVAK". In any case, Ahmad follows the line of Islam and the line of the devoted clergy in this regard; and it is hoped that God Almighty willing, he will remain firm in this straight path, which is the straight path of God. I pray to the Almighty God for the perpetuation of the Islamic Republic and the honor and glory of the Muslims of the world- and especially the noble nation of Iran. I pray for the devotion and steadfastness of the administrators of the affairs and power and glory for the combative soldiers and for the presence of the great nation of Iran in the arena. May God be upon His righteous servants. «1»
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini, may God parden him,
Sunday, Aban 23, 1361 AHS/ Muharram al-Haram 27,1403 AH