Today, on October 26 (Aban 4)^{( 271)} , even Iran’s own radio service has spoken of demonstrations and disturbances taking place in many of the cities in iran; and according to reports, people in Qum, northern Tehran and certain other places have dressed in black clothing, black banners also being in evidence in some places^{( 272)} There are different kinds of birthdays: one kind of birthday is something from which goodness springs, it is a source of blessings, it is something which leads to the oppressor being crushed and to the idol- and fire temples being destroyed. This is the kind of birthday, which pertains to the Holy Prophet. It has been said that the fire in the temple at Pars was extinguished and that the columns of Taq-i Kisra tumbled to the ground. History has spoken of this demolition and extirpation^{( 273)} , but the point to bear in mind is that at that time two powerful forces were in existence:

One of them comprising the oppressive rulers of the day, and the other, the fire-worshipping clerical authorities, and because of the birth of the Holy Prophet, because he had been brought into this world, these two forces were eventually destroyed. The awe-inspiring columns of Taq-i Kisra, which served as a visible sign of these powerful forces, came tumbling down.

“Anushirvan the Just^{( 274)} ” of whom some speak, is nothing but a myth! He was in fact a cruel tyrant of a man, but maybe he was called “just” in comparison to other kings, for otherwise how could he possibly b~ called “Anushirvan the Just?” It was because the Holy Prophet was born into this world that these columns of oppression collapsed. That is, the roots of oppression were eradicated and the flames of dualism, polytheism and fire-worship were extinguished because the Prophet came into the world

The foundations of both of the powerful forces, which prevailed at that time, were destroyed because of him. The following two basic principles then became widespread: via the Holy Prophet, monotheism grew world­wide, and, God willing, still continues to grow; and the essential purpose of prophethood was actually realised, for the real purpose of prophet hood is a prophet’s mission to wipe out the roots of power held by those in authority who treat the people unfairly.

Thus, the Prophet had come to wipe out these roots of oppression, to destroy these columns of oppression, which were so impressive, these palace columns which were erected through the hard toil of these poor people, through the torment suffered by these poor people, through the exploitation of these poor powerless people. And at the same time, since that which really matters is the spread of monotheism, the Prophet destroyed those places from where fire and beings other than God were worshipped, and he extinguished the fires therein.

However, quite the opposite results from the births of certain other people, and October 26 is a case in point. Of course, I must beg the Holy Prophet’s forgiveness for mentioning his birthday in conjunction with that of this despicable wretch (the Shah), but it is a case of wanting to compare light to darkness, of comparing a true human being to one who is inhuman. And it is this inauspicious birthday (of the Shah), which has led to the present state of affairs of which you are all aware. These two affairs concerning the signs of polytheism and oppression constituted the reason for the Holy Prophet’s coming and indeed both of these signs were eventually wiped out by him, but the situation with regard to them both was reversed with the birth of this person! That is to say, the birth of this person has led to a situation where both fire worshippers and the worship of fire have gained strength and have been promoted, and where the roots of oppression have become increasingly firm. And this is especially the case in our own country of Iran.

One side of the story in Iran concerns the fire worshippers who live in and around Yard, and who have been given so much encouragement and support^{( 275)} , that according to the newspapers, these American fire Worshippers even wrote to the Shah thanking him and stating that no one else had hitherto supported and honored their faith to the extent that he had. It was God’s will that our people soon awoke. Even though they awoke after the event, they nevertheless awoke in time and were thus able to prevent this person from following his plans through. The American fire worshippers and the wealthy among them had intended to impose their will upon him (the Shah), or perhaps it was also a case of him being found willing, but whatever, there was more to this affair than that which I have mentioned. There was much more involved than the issues I have pointed to and indeed these issues were of a more delicate nature.

It all began when he helped to promote some of the fire temples and changed the calendar whereby time was reckoned according to Zoroastrian history rather than that of Islam. God knows that this act of betrayal by him towards Islam, and this affront to the Holy Prophet, God’s peace and blessings be upon him and his descendants, constitutes a crime of much more serious proportions than that of these killings which he has brought about. If we were to balance all these killings against this one deed which involved changing the official calendar of Islam, changing the symbol of monotheism, the symbol of humanity, into these things which relate to fire worshippers, into a fire worshippers’ calendar, a calendar for the Zoroastrians, then we would see that this crime outweighs all of the other crimes that he has committed against us. This person wanted to ruin Islam’s reputation and worth; he wanted to destroy the symbol of Islam.

He has sent our oil to them, taking it and giving it away to them. And yet these are things which matter in material terms only but which nevertheless clearly constitute a crime. Giving a country’s reserves away to foreigners constitutes a crime against a nation, but changing the calendar constitutes an affront to the reputation of Islam. And this is exactly what this person has done. Indeed, if it weren’t for that punch which the nation gave him in the mouth thus compelling him to bring back Islamic calendar and dispose with the Zoroastrian calendar, then this affair would have developed even further. Basically, they had intended to return things to the way they were before the Holy Prophet of Islam, to the time of those tyrannical kings, those vicious murderers, and they had intentions of behaving as the latter had done and of bringing about the same state of affairs that had existed at the time of these kings.

“Pan Iranianism^{( 276)} ” is the belief that Iran must preserve its Iranian identity! But do the ancient kings mean everything to you? Are the ancient kings all that you can claim to have had in the past? Just look at what these kings did to the people. And the same goes for that group which comprised the Magi and others like them, just look at how they treated the people of Iran^{( 277)} .

As for the other side of the story, this concerns how the Holy Prophet behaved towards his own people when he came and called on them to believe in monotheism, and even how he behaved towards those infidels who paid tribute to the Islamic state, those people who were against religion. Hazrat Amir (Imam ‘Ali), peace and blessings be upon him, once said that he had heard of an army of soldiers - apparently they had been Mu’ awiya’ s soldiers - arriving at a certain place and of them stealing, amongst other things, an anklet from the foot of a non-Muslim (dhimmi), from the foot of a woman who was either Jewish or Christian. Accounts describe how Hazrat Amir then said: “Even if one died of grief because of this incident, this would not be an overreaction^{( 278)} .

This is the kind of person he was. This is the kind of ruler we seek. We seek the kind of regime whose ruler, whose king - indeed, it is impertinent of me to call Hazrat Amir “king” - whose ruler, whose leader, is like he who governed over a range of countries including the Hijaz, Iran, Egypt and so on; like he who showed concern for all of his subjects, including the person who was not of his own faith. On the very day that they swore allegiance to Hazrat Amir, accepting him as their sultan as it were, as their imam and caliph, once homage had been paid to him, he took up his pick and went to work, for he was someone who used to get things done himself, through his own toil. But why should he have done this - why did he dig the soil? Once he had in fact dug a well, someone came to him to congratulate him after which he replied: “It is the succeeding generations that you should congratulate.” He then asked that the indigent be brought to him and he endowed the place in question to them^{( 279)} .

Yes, we seek a ruler like Hazrat Amir, who would sit and reckon the accounts of the public treasury in the light emitted from one lamp, from one paraffin lamp or oil lamp or whatever kind of lamp they used at that time. In fact, on one occasion Hazrat Amir was busy making such calculations when somebody called on him to discuss something which bore no relation to the work in which the hazrat was engaged at that moment. Imam ‘all therefore turned out the light saying: “Until this moment I was reckoning the accounts of the public treasury. This light is public property and I was using it to enable me to do work which relates to the people’s property, but now that you wish to speak to me about something else, something which bears no relation to the public treasury, why should we continue to use the people’s lamp^{( 280)} ? Of course, no one can behave as Hazrat Amir did, no one in the world is capable of this, but the least we ask is that our ruler be someone who is not a thief! Now we have reached the stage where we will be content to have a ruler who at least does not steal to such an extent, a ruler who will not plunder the wealth of these people so, or oppress them in this way.

As I previously explained, the birth of the Most Noble Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, led to the fires in the fire temples being extinguished, but on the contrary, besides his (the Shah’s) intention to relight the fires in such temples - fire temples which had once given occasion to oppression - according to what they say, he has actually given his approval and support to some of the fire temples which are located around Yazd. Furthermore, he changed the calendar and he had intended to continue with this line of action, putting such plans into effect one by one, that is, of course, until the nation came to the rescue and caused the columns of Kisra’ s Palace to tumble to the ground, although true enough, oppression is yet to be put down in this way.

Do you now see what he did to this nation? Do you see how he has oppressed and continues to oppress this nation? Yet, even at this late hour, now that his number is up and his efforts are in vain, he has come up with certain ideas! From what they say, the regime has sent a certain group of people to Kerman, people who are supposedly kolis, people whom they call “vagrants” - now whether the regime paid these people to go there or not I Do not know - but it is similar to what happened in the year when Fayziya Madrasa was stormed.

On that occasion I was present, I was in Qum when those SAVAK agents and those commandos posing as “peasants” charged into Fayziya Madrasa, setting fire to the Qur’an, setting fire to turbans, flinging people to their deaths from the roof. And all this was supposedly done because