Speech [Unity and uniformity of the Monotheistic Schools - importance of the Assembly of Experts]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I am pleased that the Islamic Republic has made available certain opportunities for us and for our nation; and these opportunities are the meetings with the various strata and doctrines and religions. We have all come together under the banner of monotheism. Iran belongs to all and monotheism is the religion of all; and the genesis and resurrection is the ideology of all; and we have these commonalities and are a united nation. It is necessary that with regard to the problems of Iran, all be present in the arena and all of us be united so that others who want to do encroach against all of us whether in the name of Islam or pretend in the name of other religions, think it fair to violate against the Muslims of the world or the oppressed nations of the world. We cooperate with one another to find a way to thwart oppression among all the strata of human beings in the world. The great Prophets- may God's peace be upon them- from Adam until the last Prophet who arrived on the scene and the great universal Prophets that lived among the people, all of them came with the purpose of hoisting the flag of monotheism and justice among the nations. The Prophets, all the Prophets throughout history were not only admonishers rather in order to rectify the morals of the people; they were delegated with words, actions, and activities. The Blessed and Almighty God has appointed the Prophets in order to make them complete human beings, in order to develop humane ethics among them, that they possess humane qualities and actions- and all of them did their job in any situation and according to their assignments.

One point, which I have also mentioned previously, is that we do not know why these Prophets who worked so tirelessly to purify the nations, to reform the nations, for the spiritual aspect of human beings, the rulers that have come to rule throughout history- whether the Islamic rulers or rulers of other religions, in most cases have acted against the teachings of their Prophets. Today, you are witnessing that the countries of the world are made miserable with leaders who claim to be Christians; who claim to be Jewish; who claim to be Muslims. The suffering of the nations of the world today at the hands of many of these leaders is an affliction that we must consider as being the affliction of the Prophets. In the same way that the Prophets at the dawn of universe until the end suffered at the hands of traitors that behaved with them in such a way that they blackened the face of history. Today, their nations also are suffering at the hands of leaders that darken the face of history and- God forbid- bring disgrace to the Prophets in the presence of the Blessed and Almighty God. You see if the Prophet of Islam is brought in the presence of God and the Blessed and Almighty God reveals to him to see what these individuals, these governments that make claims to Islam, are doing with their people; to see how these rulers are acting against the interests of their own nations, he will have no reply to give except to say that he has propagated the religion but they have not listened to him. If they bring each of the Prophets in the presence of the Blessed and Almighty God and reveal to them to see what these rulers that are of your religion are doing in the world today; see what America is doing with the people in the name of Christianity- that Christianity whose whole existence was based on spirituality- they will have no reply to give. Jesus Christ, who was very spiritual and who came with the objective of making the people spiritual, now those who claim to be Christians do not face a better fate than the polytheists do. Those who do not basically accept genesis nor the Day of Resurrection with those that claim to be Christians; with those that claim to be Jewish- these leaders are no different from them or perhaps those are ahead of them in giving importance to worldly affairs and trampling the rights of the innocent people under their feet. Today, you are seeing that the Zionists of the world who claim to be Jewish and whom the Jewish do not accept, see what they are doing with the people and nevertheless claim to be followers of His Holiness Moses! Worse than them are the big Christian governments and what they do with the people! With the spirituality, that His Holiness Jesus Christ had; see what they are doing to their people and with their own nations- even against their own oppressed people. What the others are doing that has darkened the face of Christianity- of course, they have darkened their own face. Likewise, are the other strata and those who make claims to Islam. Today, the blow that has been dealt by Saddam to our nation, and the oppressed Christian and non-Christian nations from the Zionists in Lebanon and the likes of Lebanon, who has suffered these miseries from others? All of them are claimants, but in practice, you see what they are. We the nations, we who are all under the banner of monotheism, until we do not become united and gather under the true nationality that belongs to all of us, and until not present in the arena, we will not be able to resist this torrent of faithlessness, which is overtaking the whole world. You are seeing that since four years or about four years, Iran- praise be to God- has resisted and its combatants since approximately three years and more than two years are engaged in a war; you are seeing that they are resisting despite all the difficulties and the nation is backing them- this is the cause of our victory.

You must know this fact that the Islamic government if it acts upon its Islamic duties, it respects all the strata, all the religions that are officially recognized in- for all of them. In the same way that it respects the rest of the strata of the Muslim nation, it also respects them and this not for any other reason except that Islam is akin to it.

Perhaps you may have noted in history about the army of Mu`awiyyah came and what it did to some people and removed the anklet from the foot of the women that belonged to the divine religions. When His Holiness the Commander of the Faithful, who was the head of the government of that time, came to know of this incident- as is quoted- he stated that he had heard that the anklet had been removed from the foot of a person that was under the supervision of Islam. He then said that if a person dies for this reason, he is not to be reproached. «1» This is how it supports.

The nation of Iran must all be in the arena collectively. All of them must make a united effort for safeguarding Iran and in order to, God willing, free the rest of the countries also from the bondages that they have. You should compare yourselves among the former regime and the regimes that are now present in the world and existing regime that has been established in Iran today. Compare these two and you will see that the condition of the whole nation, despite every kind of problem our government and nation are facing; despite the economic pressures of the superpowers that our nation and government is facing; despite the fact that our government and nation are facing military aggression; yet the works that have been done for the poor in these few years- in these past two or three years, more or less- despite all these problems, was not done throughout the years of the reign of the Father and the Son. You should know for sure that the Islamic government serves all the strata of the nation and is not restricted to one or two strata. Islam mandates us to this effect; we are mandated that until the gentlemen remain committed to their undertaking to the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic, we shall remain committed to our undertaking to serve them. I hope that the nation always pays total attention that these Muslims and these non-Muslim strata associated with Islam and those who have been recognized by Islam and the Constitution, which our victory lays in that the minor differences that exist between you, be resolved and that there should be no differences involved. In matters pertaining to the government, matters pertaining to the parliament, in matters pertaining to the law, all must cooperate and the whole nation be united.

Today, the issue of the Assembly of Experts is put forward for the selection of the leadership. This is an issue, which the nation of Iran must not take lightly. At present, a bunch of fugitives are making the rounds and saying that there must not be any Assembly of Experts because it weakens the leadership. The Assembly of Experts strengthens the leadership. They should not be deceived by these words. All must enter the arena; this is a religious duty. The protection of Islam is a religious duty for all of us. Safeguarding of the monotheistic state is a religious duty for all strata of the nation. If all are not united and not present in the arena and not cast their ballot for the legislators and not cast their ballot for the Assembly of Experts so that the legislators that must be elected do not receive the required number of votes, they have acted against their religious duty. All must be present in the arena and all must be informed. I say to the strata of the clergy that stepping aside will result in a situation similar to the former times when the religious scholars stepped aside and resulted in our nation to be distanced from their elders so that the governments acted as they wished. They left the government alone so that it acted as oppressively as it wished. If you leave the arena, and the theologians and men of learning leave the arena, this will result in a recurrence of the same old problems. Today, it is a religious duty; the Assembly of Experts is a religious duty for all so that the person who wants to become an expert should file his nomination and the nation vote for them. In any case, if all of us are not present in the arena and all of us do not think of saving this country from the evil of the corruption and immorality; if we do not think so, then God forbid- although it may not be very effective for the present, but it shall be effective for the future of the nation- then again God forbid, our nation will be subjugated by those same individuals that had neither mercy for our young nor for our old. I hope that the Blessed and Almighty God grants us all the favor to serve this country; to serve this nation and that we all are united and safeguard our movement against those who are against this nation; that act against the interests of the nation. I hope that God willing we do not suffer from those governments who regard themselves to be distinct from the people and who had organized monarchies for themselves. God willing, we do not suffer at their hands.

May God's peace be upon you and His righteous servants!