These tricksters, Imam stated: “Remarkably enough, a delegation is reported to have gone to Azerbayjan to tell the people that the Shah was unaware of the crimes being committed. But who gives any credence to this claim, apart from the members of SAVAK and the Majlis? And even they know in their hearts that this is false.”

In the speech in question (Speech 27) Imam Khomeini, whilst paying due regard to the Qum uprising of January 9, severely attacked the governments of America, Britain and other countries which had signed the Declaration of Human Rights and which had endorsed the crimes perpetrated by the Shah during those days. Furthermore, he maintained that American interference was the source of the Iranian nation’s suffering. During his discourse, Imam exposed the Shah as the one to blame for the massacre of January 9, and he indicated both the danger of the idea of the separation of religion from politics, and the heavy responsibility borne by the clergy in dealing with society’s political concerns. Furthermore, by giving a detailed description of the political involvement of the Immaculate Imams (pbut) and religious leaders, he strongly attacked the view of those who had taken a stance of destructive expectation ^{( 602)} and silence in opposition to the oppressors.

In another part of his speech, Imam pointed to the volatile economic state of Iran, and condemned the Shah’s plunder of national resources, plunder which was to the benefit of America and Israel; and he regarded it the duty of all free human beings to give assistance to those people who had risen up in revolt.

The event which occurred in Tabriz on February 1 8, 1978 , which resulted in the martyrdom of a large number of the people of this city, had wide repercussions throughout the country. The regime realising the serious nature of the popular uprising, adopted various other measures, amongst which was a visit by Jamshid Amuzegar, the Prime Minister, to Azerbayjan which was made in order to console the people of that area. However, the guidance and leadership of Imam and the resistance of the people was such that none of these tactics bore fruit. With the holding of commemorative ceremonies for those martyred in Tabriz, people of different cities exposed the crimes perpetrated by the Shah’s regime and increased the extent and frequency of demonstrations held - a trend which continued until the triumphant revolt of Bahman 22,1357 (February 11, 1979).

SPEECH NUMBER TWENTY-SEVEN

I SEEK REFUGE IN GOD FROM THE ACCURSED SATAN

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL

In addition, there is no povver and no strength save in God, the Most High, and the GreatSurely, we are God’s and to Him we shall surely return As we are gathered here, according to the information reaching us, all the major cities of Iran such as Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad and Qum are closed down. ^{( 603)} some cities, such as Qum, are completely closed down while in others, the bazaar and other centers of’ activity are closed. We hear that the bazaar in Tehran is completely closed except for a few merchants who may have some connection with the regime. From what we are told, these closings represent a form of active protest against the Shah himself. The people have identified the true crinnal. Of’ course his identity was obvious before but no one dared to speak out. Now however, by God’s grace, this harrier of fear has collapsed and people realising who is responsible for the misery of our nation.

Forty days have now passed since the death of our young ones, our students of the religious sciences, our clergy and our devout youngsters of Qum. How people have wept and mourned during these forty days; and what courage - the like of which has rarely been equalled in history - was displayed by the people of Qum and the students of the religious sciences who fought bare-handed against the government and the Shah’s agents and yielded their martyrs. According to reports, the agents of the regime spilled into the streets and alleyways of Qum and attacked the people; but the latter resisted to the best of their ability, both before and after the massacre, thus proving they are alive and not dead! ^{( 604)} Likewise, the great maraji’ of Islam in Qum, have expressed themselves courageously ⁽⁶⁰⁵⁾ both in their speeches and in their declarations, including the one issued two or three days ago on the occasion of the fortieth day following the massacre and the general strike ordained for that day. In this declaration they addressed the main issue and stated who is responsible for the crime, albeit not explicitly but rather by implication which is in fact more effective. May God keep them steadfast? The students of the religious sciences, despite living in a place, which is subject to attack by those bandits, yesterday organised an impressive mourning ceremony which was attended by a large number of people, and at which several vigilant and active youngsters fearlessly gave a truthful account of the state of affairs.

According to reliable information, as we sit here in Qum, a great meeting is taking place at A’zam Mosque in this city. I do not know what the government intends to do about this meeting. I wonder whether the regime’s agents have once more gone on the rampage, killing and plundering? This is now a matter of grave concern to us. We are anxious and concerned for the people of all the major cities in Iran; cities like Mashhad, towards which the government shows a particular sensitivity; or Azerbayjan and Tabriz, which are under government observation. And I wonder what lies in store for Qum, which is the centre of all our struggles and the centre of learning from whence knowledge is disseminated to all lands, (just as was predicted by the Prophet’s family (pbut)), what danger awaits her? In fact, we now see that not only is knowledge disseminated from Qum, but action too, whereby it is now the centre of Islamic activity -the centre of the Islamic movement. ^{( 606)}

The movement emanates from Qum, from the city itself, from the religious students, from the ‘ulama, from the teachers (may God support all of them), from the masses of its people who are the faithful soldiers of Islam, and it spreads throughout the country. It remains to be seen whether it will spread to us here in Najaf or not; God only knows what will happen.

All the miseries that we have suffered, still suffer and are about to suffer in the immediate future, are caused by the heads of those countries that have signed the Declaration of Human Rights, but that at all times have denied man his freedom. The declaration’s maxim is “freedom of the individual.” Each individual human being is born free and must remain free. Everyone must be equal before the law; they must be free in their choice of residence and occupation, and they must enjoy freedom in their everyday lives. This is what the Declaration of Human Rights advocates. From the time that this declaration came into being not only Muslims but also humankind as a whole have suffered at the hands of those states that signed and ratified it. The US is one of the signatories of this document. It has agreed that the rights of man must be protected and that freedom is one such right. But just look at what crimes the US, this so-called signatory of the Declaration of Human Rights, has committed against mankind. For as long as I can remember - and I can remember back further than many of you, for you are younger than I - America, one of the countries, which gave its signature to the issue concerning human rights, has been the cause of disasters for humankind. It has appointed its agents in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries to deprive everyone living under its domination of his freedom. The imperialists advocate man’s freedom in order to deceive the masses; but people can no longer be deceived. All of these issues to which they give official sanction, of which the Declaration of Human Rights is but an example, are mere acts of deception and hold no authenticity. They draw up some pleasant-looking, high-sounding declaration with thirty articles relating to human rights, but in practice, they neglect to enact a single one of them! This Declaration of Human Rights is but a fallacy; it is the opium of the masses.

What we have said is true not only of America but also of Britain, another country that signed and ratified the Declaration of Human Rights; a country whose civilization and democracy are so highly praised by those who Britain itself has convinced of its praise worthiness via effective propaganda and cunning. Indeed, it has succeeded in convincing people that it is the leader of democracy and the home of true constitutionalism. However, we have all seen what crimes and atrocities Britain has committed in India, Pakistan and its other colonies. ^{( 607)} the imperialist states like America. In addition, Britain brought Israel into existence, ^{( 608)} and we have seen what misery they have inflicted and continue to inflict on the Muslims there, and in particular on the Shi’ i Muslims. Meanwhile, they have installed an agent in Egypt named Sadat, ^{( 609)} whose every act is devoted to serving imperialism and who, only a short time ago, visited Israel where he gave it official recognition and approved of every word the Israelis had to say.

For as long as I can remember during the past fifty years - fifty years of national mourning and tragedy inflicted on our nation by this disgraceful family - it was Britain, this democratic lover of mankind and signatory to the Declaration of Human Rights, that kept the Iranian people suppressed and afflicted. In fact, it was Britain, according to its own admission that brought Reza shah to power. ^{( 610)} for almost twenty years, we, the religious scholars, and the Muslim nation as a whole were subject to intense pressure. Reza shahwished to expunge every trace of the Shari’ a. Of course, he did not succeed but this was his intention. Hence, anything, which bore the remotest resemblance to Islamic propagation, was prohibited.

As for America, that other signatory to the Declaration of Human Rights, it imposed this Shah upon us; a worthy successor to his father. During his period of rule, he has turned Iran into an official colony of the U.S. What terrible crimes he has committed in the service of his masters! Indeed, what terrible crimes both he and his father have committed against us all since their appointment by these signatories to the Declaration of Human Rights - these very signatories who have brought such misery and suppression to mankind, of which we have heard and witnessed but a fraction. However, one cannot truly understand a situation by hearing about it alone. You may hear of what this nation experienced at the time of Riza Shah, but you cannot actually conceive what the people they in fact felt and experienced, or what they suffered at the hands of these people. You are only able to appreciate and sense what this man is doing now, at the present time, and then only insofar as you are now physically present. You are thus aware of the present situation in Iran. You can appreciate what this man (the Shah) has done to this nation during the past few days. Even now, it would not surprise me if at this very moment some confrontation or conflict were taking place between the people and the Shah’s agents, although we have not yet in fact received any reports to this effect. What we do know however, is that agents of the regime have attacked the forecourt of the Shah Mosque ^{( 611)} in Tehran and have forced a few shops there to open up for business, but the Tehran bazaar as a whole has not surrendered.

Even though the government has sent a circular to all the bazaars in Iran forbidding anyone to close his shop and threatening severe punishment for disobedience, nevertheless, not a single bazaar in the country has paid any attention to this threat, not even the bazaar in Tehran, which lies within close range of the regime. People no longer pay any attention to these empty noises. Gone are the days when they could intimidate people and frighten them into heeding their warnings . . . today people are being killed, yet they refuse to heed any threats.

It is now forty days since the massacre in which many of the ‘ulama and the young and devout people of Qum were killed. May God preserve the Iranian people and the theological centre of Qum, both of which in proving how fully alive they are have ensured the recording of their names in the annals of history. Even now, as we calmly sit here, these people are in a state of intense activity. You can’t imagine the condition Mashhad is now in. I have no detailed information of its present state but I do know that until recently everything was closed down there. The same is true for Azerbayjan; there too everything was closed, but more than this, I cannot say. According to the reports we have received, a general shutdown prevails in Qum whereby not even a single grocer’s shop is open. Even Tehran is ninety percent closed and to achieve this is not as easy as one may imagine. In fact, the closure of Tehran is a smack in the mouth for those babblers who once said that they had the backing of six million people who had voted in favour of their White Revolution! ^{( 612)} that was a foolish claim to make. I was in Iran at the time, and sent some people to Tehran to find out what a “referendum” of theirs was that they wanted to stage. When they returned they told me that no more than 2,000 people had gone to cast their votes, and that even these were in fact their own agents.

Yes, they once said: “Six million of the Iranian people have given us their vote, and since the rest of the people are either elderly, women or infants and hence unable to vote, the six-point programmer has been given unanimous approval.” The Shah too would repeatedly claim in his speeches that: “The people are with me. Only a handful of people voice objection every now and then and they are the Islamic Marxists, ^{( 613)} otherwise the nation is behind me!” Now you will see the uproar that the regime will cause following this national shutdown. They will object and behave as they did previously after the week-long closing in Qum, the eight-day closing in Isfahan, and the two or three days of partial closing and the one day of complete closing in Tehran. On the latter occasion, some unsuspecting wretches were seized by the Shah’s agents and loaded onto buses; whilst another group of the regime’s officials sent circulars to government offices and schools demanding that they close down and participate in a government-staged demonstration.

This is what you call freedom, demanding that people “freely” participate! Notwithstanding, most government offices ignored the circulars they had received. As for those poor wretches who had been loaded onto the buses, they were falsely told that they were being taken on a pilgrimage to Qum, and on realizing the truth of the matter during the journey, those who were able to, fled. From what I was told, those who remained behind and who were compelled to take part in the demonstration behaved as though they were participating in a funeral ceremony. However much they were told to shout, “Long live the Shah”, they remained silent. The whole crowd was as silent as if it was attending a funeral! Indeed this was in fact the case, for they were attending the Shah’s funeral. ^{( 614)} those who rule us do not appreciate the situation and once again we have failed in our attempts to reform them. If only they had compromised somewhat with the people; if only they had heeded the people’s demands; if only they had performed their duties; if only they had shown sympathy towards Islam and the laws of Islam then the people would not have opposed them so. However, the people see that “His Imperial Majesty” is against whatever they attach value to. He is against the Islamic calendar which means he is against Islam itself. In fact, the worst thing that this man has done during his reign is to change the calendar. ^{( 615)} Changing the calendar is even worse than these massacres; it is an affront to the Most Noble Messenger himself (pbuh).

In spite of such plans however, they will never achieve ultimate success. Just as they tampered with the Islamic calendar which meant so much to the people, so too they attacked the centers of learning. They have raided and plundered our madrasas several times now. ^{( 616)} Before, it was the Fayziya Madrasa that they stormed and made the scene of their crimes, but now it is the Hujjatiya Madrasa, the Khan Madrasa and the Haqqani Madrasa which are the targets of their attacks - or in fact any madrasa whose gates are open and where gatherings take place, however small. We are told that the entire doors and windows of the Khany Madrasa have been knocked in and smashed by rifle butts, and that a student of the religious sciences was shot and killed at the gate of the Hujjatiya Madrasa. One of the ‘ulama who went to visit the scene told me on his return that a stream of blood ran from the place where the student had been shot to the edge of the pool in the madrasa courtyard. ^{( 617)}

Do you suppose the chief of police in Qum is responsible for such actions? No, he is not capable of doing such things. Do not repeatedly put the blame on the officials of the regime. The Shah himself is the culprit. He is the one who gives the orders and tells them to kill. If he didn’t give the command to kill, there would be no killings. Do you imagine it is a trivial affair to open fire on a whole nation with rifles and machine guns, or to make an armed attack on the theological centre in Qum, which is so loved and highly respected by the people? Do you imagine that the command for such action could be given by the head of SAVAK in Tehran, the head of SAVAK in Qum or even the Prime Minister? No, it is the Shah himself; he is the prime culprit! In addition, who is responsible for imposing him on us? The Shah himself stated in his book: ^{( 618)} “The Allies, after occupying Iran, thought it fitting that I should be in control of affairs, and they agreed to my accession to the throne.” May God curse them for thinking it fitting? Later, on realising the mistake in having mentioned this matter, it was erased from the text. Those Allies, ^{( 619)} those who signed the Declaration of Human Rights, it is they who appointed such a person to reign over us, and it is they who brought about such repression. You say humankind is free! However, what about the Iranian people? Yes, the imperialists appointed a man to rule in Iran, as they had his father before him; ^{( 620)} the latter also having denied the people all kinds of freedom.

However, the situation was different then, either people were unable to confront the regime then as they can now or there consciousness was not yet truly awaken.

The theological centre in Qum has brought Iran back to life; it has performed a service to Islam that will endure for centuries. This service must not be underestimated; we must pray for the theological centre in Qum and pray that we will come to emulate it. This centre’s name will remain inscribed in history for all time. In comparison to Qum, we here in Najaf are dead and buried ^{( 621)} it is Qum that has brought Islam back to life. It is the centre in Qum and the preaching of its maraji’ and ‘ulama that have awakened the universities, those same places where we religious scholars used to be accused of being the opium of the people and the agents of the British and other imperialists . No, all that was the propaganda of Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union and others, designed to misrepresent us and make the ‘ulama and their institutions appear to be the opium of the people. They spread such propaganda because they know full well how active the religious scholars are and what a dynamic and militant religion Islam is.

They drew up a plan to bring the religious scholars into disrepute, and propagated the notion that religion must be separated from politics. This campaign has been in operation for many years now, whereby even the akhunds themselves have now become convinced by it and ask the question: “What business do we have with politics?” But to pose such a question is in fact to abandon Islam, to bury it in our chambers in the madrasa and in our books of religious learning.

The imperial powers dearly wish that religion could be separated from politics and politics from religion. From the very beginning this is the idea that our politicians have promoted, until it has reached the stage where even we, the clergy, have come to believe that politics is none of our concern, and must be left to the politicians; and that we must concern ourselves with matters of religion only and turn the other cheek if they slap us in the face . ^{( 622)} this idea of turning the other cheek has been wrongly attributed to Jesus (pbuh); and yet again this too has been the doing of these imperial beasts. Jesus (pbuh) was a prophet, and no prophet can be so illogical. Look at the history of the prophets. We see how Jesus did not remain among his people very long before his ascension to heaven. ^{( 623)} you are all aware of the history of the prophets. It is well known that the exalted prophet Abraham (pbuh), one of the earliest true prophets of God, took up his axe and shattered all the idols. He was not afraid of being cast into the fire and burned. If he had been afraid of such things then he would not have been a prophet. This man who stood alone before such great forces and who was then cast into the fire, he could not follow a logic that required him, if slapped on one cheek, to turn the other cheek for it also to be slapped. That is the logic of the indolent, the logic of those who do not know God and who have not studied the Qur’an. Then look at Moses (pbuh), a simple shepherd with nothing but his staff in hand. He too fought single-handed and he did so against Pharaoh who made claim to divinity. Here too, the Shah would like to make such a claim but he realizes that now is not the right time, for people would not believe him. Nevertheless, should he detect the least relaxation in our vigilance then he too would cry: “I am your Lord the Most High”. ^{( 624)} There have always been those who have made such absurd claims in the past, and there always will be. Then there is the Most Noble Messenger (peace and blessings of God be upon him). As you well know, he began his mission alone, prepared himself for the struggle to come for thirteen years and then fought for a decade. I-Ic did not ask: “What business do I have with politics?” But rather he administered the entire Islamic realm. The same was true roof the commander of the faithful (pbuh). He ruled, engaged in politics and fought wars. He never said:

“Let me sit at home and devote myself to prayer and worship and not concern myself with political issues.”

Now we find one have the ‘ulaina (may God grant him mercy) saying: “If the Imam of the Age (pbuh) considers it to be the appropriate time then he will come. I cannot claim to be more concerned for Islam than he is and he is well aware of the present situation. Thus, he is the one who must make the first move to remedy our affairs and not I!” This, however, is the logic of those who want to shirk responsibility, ^{( 625)} it is not a logic of which Islam approves. Islam does not acknowledge such reasoning. Those who reason in this way conduct diligent searches in order to come up with a couple of religious traditions which tell us, for example, to make our peace with kings or to pray for them. But this is contrary to the teachings of the Qur’an. They have obviously not read this holy book. Even if they could find a hundred such traditions, it would not further their argument ^{( 626)} for such traditions are in discord with the Qur’an and the custom of the prophets. There is a tradition that says: “Whoever wishes long life for a king will be resurrected along with him.” ^{( 627)} could a Muslim possibly wish long life for a king, whereby that king might commit more injustice? Could anyone wish to maintain relations with someone who slaughters people; who slaughters the ‘ulama?

Are you aware of how many of our great ‘ulama, our valued teachers, are now living in prison or in exile? These are the very same ‘ulama and religious scholars who, until recently, were living in exile and who, on being released, returned to their home towns, clenched their fists and began to speak out against the government and the Shah. Once again they were arrested. The honorable young man who delivered a speech at the commemorative gathering yesterday afternoon had previously endured imprisonment and banishment; and it is quite likely that he has been arrested again now, or that he will be tomorrow. This is what true Muslims are made of. He is the true Muslim, who, when he comes out of prison, clenches his fist and resumes his struggle. The Prophet (pbuh) stated in a tradition that even if a Muslim constantly says: “La ilaha lila ‘llah” (there is no God but Allah), but he shows no concern for the affairs of his fellow Muslims, he is not a Muslim. ^{( 628)} A Muslim is the person who works to benefit Islam and his fellow Muslims; fellow Muslims such as those killed by the Shah. They kill our young men and yet we shouldn’t care? They kill our ‘ulama and yet we shouldn’t care? Are we supposed to agree to all this, or to behave as if we are in agreement? If this is so then we must become different human beings!

In Iran, our young men were imprisoned and banished and now they are subject to the same measures again. But when these courageous youths return from prison or exile, they recommence their struggle, returning to the themes of their earlier preaching. Again, they are sent into exile. But even if they were to be banished or imprisoned and then released ten times over they would still be the same people that they were in the beginning. This is because they have received true Islamic training. Simlarly, if the Commander of the Faithful (pbuh) were to be killed and then brought back to life a hundred times over, he would still be the same Commander of the Faithful. However, take some apathetic person and kill him, if you were to bring him back to life, he would still be as apathetic as before.

We have suffered and continue to suffer all these misfortunes at the hands of those government heads who have signed the Declaration of Human Rights and who loudly proclaim men right to freedom. Before, it was the British that brought us misfortune (until the time when they no longer held such influence in our country), and now it is the Russians on the one hand and the Americans on the other. These are the ones who are responsible for all our miseries. If only they were to withdraw their protection and backing of those in the Iranian government, the people would skin them alive. It is the government of Iran which granted absolute immunity to the American advisers, for which it got a few dollars in exchange; and one can see how many American officials there are in Iran now and what huge salaries they receive! That is our problem -everything in our treasury has to be emptied into the pockets of America, and if there is any meagre amount to spare, it has to go into the pockets of the Shah and his gang. They buy themselves villas and goodness knows what else abroad and stuffs their bank accounts with the people’s money whilst the nation lives in poverty. At the same time, they constantly proclaim: “Iran is one of the most advanced countries in the world. It is now on a par with America, or at least Japan” (and maybe even a little more advanced than Japan). However, the absurdity of these words and the warped thinking that underlies them has become apparent to everyone. Even the corner grocer will tell you that the Shah is talking nonsense but that “he is quite unashamed and goes right on talking, so what can be done about it?”

After these events, the general strike and shutdown, you will see in tomorrow’s newspapers that they’re back to their old bombastic claims:

“We hold the support of all the nation; all the people are with us except for a few misguided individuals; those clergymen who are truly enlightened support us, as for the rest they are all reactionaries including the ‘ulaina and the great maraji’ of Qum who announced a general shutdown, the “true” religious scholars - that’s what they call them - are all in agreement with us .” The only problem is that these “true” religious scholars are only to be found in the newspapers. To which “true”