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Date: October 31, 1 978 (AD) / Aban 9, 1 357 (AHS)
/Dhu aI-Qa’dah 28, 1398 (AH)
Place:Neauphle-Ie-Chateau, Paris, France
Theme:To unite against the Shah’s regime is a rational decree and a religious duty and
to be disunited is A betrayal of Islam and the nation
Occasion:The appearance of conflicting views amongst groups and parties both inside and
outside Iran
Those present: A group of Iranians and students residing abroad
Reza Pahiavi, the Shah’s Crown Prince, is now staying in Washington and is a guest of jimmies Carter (the US President) and his family. According to press reports, during a meeting with the Crown Prince Carter had said that he hoped the violent anti-regime demonstrations and the strikes being held in the oil-rich areas of Iran would come to an end as soon as possible, and he had declared: “Our friendship and alliance with Iran is one of the Important bases on which our entire foreign policy depends. We wish the Shah our best and hope the present disturbances can soon be resolved. We are thankful for his move toward democracy, and we know that it is opposed by some who do not like democratic principles. But his progressive administration is very valuable, I think, to the entire Western world.” (!)
‘All Amini, a long-standing American sympathizer in Iran, despite his awareness of Imam Khomeini’s refusal to be won over, still lives in the hope that American support will ensure that the Shah remains as monarch, and he still has visions of once more becoming the Prime Minister. He believes that:
“Forming a coalition government in which persons trusted by the people have a presence is the only solution.
>The interview given to reporters by Karim Sanjabi, the National Front leader, subsequent to his having met with Imam In Paris, indicates that the National Front has set its sights on challenging the regime via the electoral process! As the month of January (Bahman 1 357 AHS) draws close, so too the Islamic uprising increases in intensity. Meanwhile, those political groups and parties, which, because of Imam’s firm stance, now consider the Shah’s departure and a change in the regime to be a certainty, begin to wonder how they can capitalize on the present situation, each group seeking gain for its own political camp. The current topic of conversation discussed within both vocational and organisational political circles and societies revolves around the following prominent issues: the revival of those organisations whose leaders had been released from prison due to the popular uprising; the formation of splinter and coalition groups; setting a high value on struggles engaged in by themselves in, the past; and relating the emergence of the uprising to one’s own outfit. Leftist groups each in turn and each according to its own outlook and the extent to which it depends upon China, Russia, Europe or America, has now announced its presence on the political scene; and each group accuses the other of co-operating with the regime and of sympathizing with the bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie. The Freedom Movement stresses certain acts of betrayal committed by some members of the most recently-established National Front, and expresses the higher expectations it now has from this recently-formed movement; whilst the nationalists on the other hand, have returned to the political arena using those events which occurred at the time of Musaddiq as arguments to justify their stance.Differences of opinion are not only to be found within Iran but abroad too where the supporters of each group now act in the interests of their own political outfit. Serious differences have also now appeared amongst the members of the Confederation of Students’ Islamic Associations Abroad, the majority of these members having adopted the path of Imam Khomeini, whereas a number of the confederation’s executive members, due to their leanings towards either the Freedom Movement or the National Front, have voiced the opinions of their own party - opinions which conflict with those of Imam over central and fundamental issues. Those in the West, aided by liberalist sympathisers within Iran, are now making every effort to disband the revolution’s leadership and to push people like Mr. Sayyid Kazim Shari’ atmadari Into the political limelight’( 351)
In accordance with Imam Khomeini’s directives, street demonstrations and strikes intensify daily. In spite of the aforementioned state of affairs, Imam cleverly retains his role as the Leader of the Revolution, and firmly stands by his formerly-declared objectives, those being: the overthrow of the Shah and the monarchical regime; the severance of American Influence in Iran; and the establishment of an Islamic government.
America and other Western countries, having awoken to reality and having gradually lost all hope in the schemes designed by the Shah’s regime -schemes involving a change in policies and leading government figures for example, or involving an escalation in the killing of people - now pin all their hopes on the telling weapon of sowing differences and discord, and on their ability to put the various parties and their numerous political perspectives to good use.
The lengthy speech delivered by Imam Khomeini on October 31, 1978 (Aban 9, 1 357 AHS), is devoted to the most pressing need of the time, that being to urge all opposition forces to unite and to avoid discord. By employing metaphor, Imam discusses examples of the amazing outcome resulting from the harmonious order, which is to be found amongst elements and phenomena both in the natural world and in human society. He then sorrowfully states: “The reason one billion people lie captive to a superpower of say two hundred or one hundred and fifty million people, is that this one hundred and fifty million people have united to achieve one goal, whereas the one billion Muslim people are not only disunited, they even oppose one another.
Later in his speech, Imam argues that the hands of America, Russia and the West in general are the prime cause of numerous fronts and parties being formed, and that since the time of the Constitutional Revolution it has been they who have been behind the confrontations In Iran between the Turks and the Persians, the Kurds and the non-Kurds, and the Baluchis and whoever. Then, by pointing to the benefits reaped by the Shah’s regime, the aggravation of differences over the matter concerning the book Shahid-i Javid, and the murder of Mr. Shamsabadi In Najafabad, and by relating these Issues to similar such Issues which occurred during the recent holy months of Muharram and Ramadan, Imam alerts the people to be on their guard and says: “The younger generation must wake up, It must awaken to these devilish conspiracies . . . it would be a betrayal of the nation were this momentum which has appeared in Iran to come to naught because of these differences amongst us . . . We are all to cry out in unison . . . we are all to say: No! No to Muhammad Riza Shah! No to the Pahlavi dynasty! No to London! No to America! No to Russia! We are to say yes to Islam, to the Muslims, to ourselves . . . should you now succeed in maintaining this unity and in making further headway, then you will have found deliverance.
Having delivered this lengthy and unifying message, Imam woefully but humbly states: “0 Lord! I told them - I told the gentlemen (of the clergy) all I know; I told the people of Iran all I know . . . For differences to exist amongst us, whether outside the country or within it, is self-destructive, it is suicidal. For differences to exist between the intellectual sector of society and the nonintellectual sector, or within the universities themselves between this and that group, Is at this moment in time, tantamount to self-destruction; it Is an act of suicide; It means the country’s undoing; It means betraying the country; it means betraying Islam.
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Different doctrinal beliefs and ideological leanings can be found to exist between these groups that are now around. (Imam addresses a member of the audience and says: Please be seated). I myself more or less sensed that there were differences when I came here (to Paris)’( 352) A group of people who share the same aim and who want to see this aim through to the end, people who want to prepare the ground for this aim to be realised, who want to win the day, can be likened - both the individuals within this group and the group as a whole - to drops of water, to streams, floods and seas.
If you take a look at individual raindrops you will see that each one, when in isolation from other raindrops, is not even capable of wetting a leaf; one raindrop is even insufficient to make a leaf wet. Even if you were to consider millions of such drops, drops, which existed in isolation from each other, which were not linked together in any way, they still would not be able to achieve anything worthwhile. Whilst each raindrop remains isolated from the rest, it can achieve nothing. Now it may well be that a number of raindrops join together whilst others remain unconnected. For example, imagine that raindrops have fallen somewhere and that a certain number of these drops have joined together whereas the other drops have either not come together or they have indeed joined together but remain unconnected to the former group of inter-connected drops. Here, one group of drops forms one stream or canal whilst the other group forms another. Of course, if these drops did not join together in the first place then they would remain as the individual drops they initially were. But having come together, this stream which will have been formed will be capable of achieving something yes, but it will not be anything of great significance.
This link which will have been established between these drops of rain and which will have given rise to the formation of a stream, could possibly serve to irrigate a piece of land for example which could then be cultivated, but even so, there will be a limit to what this formation of raindrops can achieve. And the same goes for the other stream, which will have been formed. As for any drops, which may have remained separate from the rest, they will be able to achieve nothing at all.
Were these streams to join each other however, and give rise to a flood of water or a river, then the power at their command would increase. Initially, before forming a flood of water they would have been individual raindrops whose capability was that possessed by a raindrop, and hence they would have been neither able to wet a leaf nor make it stir. On joining together however, and thus giving rise to the formation of a stream, these drops would become a powerful force by virtue of this very interconnection. That is to say that minor forces would have come together, those without power would have come together and as a result a unitary force would have come into being, a force which would be commensurable to the number of drops it comprises, or even on occasion a force which would exceed the sum of its contents.
But even so this would be a limited force, a force which is sufficient to irrigate a piece of land, or, were it to find momentum, a force which is sufficient to create a flowing stream, to set a piece of straw in motion. However, were these streams, these canals formed from individual raindrops, to combine and thus form a flood of water, they would increase in power whereby this newly-formed flood would become a raging flood, a flood which may well uproot certain trees, a flood which because of its raging nature may destroy certain structures. Moreover, were alt these floods of water, these rivers to combine thus forming a sea of water, then ~. The powerful force, which would come about, as a result would be so great
That merely one wave of this sea would be enough to wreck ships.
Indeed, the same principle applies to this human society of ours. If each person were to be regarded in isolation, then even if there were one hundred million individual persons, even if there were a society one hundred million strong in which each person was an isolated individual, no one having anything to do with anyone else, this society would be able to achieve nothing. Each person’s capability would be confined to the individual level and because there would be no link between these people, they would be unable to achieve anything. They are like those drops of water, which could not cause a leaf to stir. One individual person possesses a certain power, a certain capability, but his power is far, far too limited to achieve anything of crucial importance; he cannot achieve anything.
Even if we were to suppose that a certain group of people somewhere came to share the same ideas as this one individual person, and that they joined him in trying to achieve the same aim, when the rest of the people in society either do not share the same ideas as them or worse still hold ideas which are quite the opposite, when the rest of the people are not of the same opinion as this group, then there is only so much that the latter can accomplish for it has a limited capability. Yes indeed, it can accomplish minor achievements due to this newly found strength it has acquired from the bond which has developed between its members, and especially if there is nothing there to act as a hindrance, then yes it is able to achieve something. But should another group of people disagree with the course of action adopted by this group, should they want to adopt another line of action, they would then present an obstacle and this newly-developed obstruction would mean that any action taken by the former group would be undermined. That is, neither would the former group reach its goal nor would the latter group. If the latter group of people should want to succeed in achieving its objective then it is not to get in the way of things. Should you want to go from here to somewhere outside the City for example, you will only be able to do so if there is nothing obstructing your path; but if you are faced with some obstacle or other, by some kind of flood, if some kind of mountain is there to cause you a problem, then you will not be able to leave the city.
Let’s now imagine that this group which we have conjured up has been formed from a limited number of people and that these people have co-operated with each other to reach a certain goal and they want to take certain action to this end, if another group of people were not confronting them and causing them problems then they would be able to take some kind of action and even achieve some minor success as a result. But if another group of people were to appear, and were to stand in the way of the first group, neither group would get anywhere. Just imagine a group of people a hundred, two hundred strong, two hundred people who have united to form a group, but two hundred people who all hold different views and follow different lines of action, people who are a hindrance to one another
- The case not only being that they have nothing to do with each other but that they hinder each other too - then the potential strength of this two-hundred-strong group of people would be undermined by these ever-arising obstructions. That is to say, this group would become a lame duck; no one would achieve his goal; everyone would fail to realise his objectives.
When can the objectives of a group of people be realised? When the people in that group are united, when the Muslim people say, people who number something like eight hundred million or maybe by now one billion( 353) become united. The reason why these one billion people can be seen to lie under the domination of others - there not now being any part of this one-billion-strong community, this community whose members are all Muslims, which is not under the influence of the superpowers - the reason one billion people lie captive to a superpower of say two hundred or one hundred and fifty million people is that this one hundred and fifty million people have united to achieve one goal, whereas the one billion Muslim people are not only disunited, they even oppose one another.
When you take a look at Iran, when you consider Iran and he neighbouring countries, you see that these countries are not in fact he neighbours. This is what has become of the Islamic countries. But this state of affairs has not arisen out of the blue. It is not a case of these Islamic countries - countries which disagree amongst themselves, which stubbornly disagree with one another and on occasion go to war with each other - just happening to have turned out this way. Indeed no, it is the intrigues weaved by the superpowers, which cause these countries to jump at each other’s throats and to be disunited so that this one-billion-strong force will not become an obstacle and gain universal predominance.
But what must these superpowers do to achieve this? They must separate these countries from one another; these countries, countries which are like different rivers but rivers which do not converge, must be separated from one another: this country must follow one policy, that country must follow another policy, the other country must follow yet another policy, and so on. Each country is to have a policy of its own and is to be in conflict with the other countries; there is to be quarrelling and fighting. And this state of affairs has arisen because of the acts of betrayal committed by the leaders of these countries, of these Islamic countries, or because of their blindness and ignorance whereby they have failed to reach any mutual understanding or to combine like the waves of the sea in order to smash whatever confronts them.
Indeed, you can see for yourselves how in Palestine( 354) a certain number of Zionists, a limited number of Jews( 355) have behaved in such a way with so many Arab countries, countries whose population exceeds 100 million, that some of the latter have surrendered to them whilst others, although wanting to take action, can’t actually do anything about the situation. How many years is it now since Israel went and usurped this land, which belongs to the Palestinians, yet throughout all this time this vast Arab population, and all of these Arab countries haven’t been able to rid themselves of this problem in Palestine. They say that America is supporting her (Israel) and they can therefore do nothing. But this is not so, it is you (the Arabs) who are feckless! Yes, they are feckless. It is not a case of America preventing them from taking action. If this one-hundred-million-strong Arab population were to join forces, then even America wouldn’t be able to stand in their way and neither would the European countries. No country would be able to stand in their way. But the fact is that they are not united.
Yes indeed, what the foreign powers do is to ensure that these Arab nations are prevented from joining forces. If at any time they suspect that these Arab governments plan to unite, what they do is to act’s so as to foil these plans. Hence, for example, they take the Egyptian President to America where they sign a treaty with him or whatever.( 356) They thus lead him along a path which is not open to others, whilst they lead another Arab leader along a different path which, again, is not open to anyone else. It is because of our lack of understanding and our inability as Muslims to do something that we are all under foreign domination and that America, Russia and other countries like them are taking away whatever is of worth in the East. It is because even in those places where they have combined together, these drops of water have not in fact united.
You can see for yourselves that this is the case; but now let us turn to that which we intended to look at which is the case of Iran. When Iran is now claimed to have a population of thirty-odd million people, and these thirty-five million people live thirty-five million individual lives,( 357) then they are only able to act on an individual basis and can only achieve that which can be achieved by a single person. They cannot act as a social group because there is no unifying link between them.
Now supposing that these people join together and form some kind of social group, others may then cause disagreements over the very idea of them having formed such a group and may try to prevent their continued existence. Different camps would then be set up. Do not be mistaken in thinking that these parties that you now see in Iran - remember we are now discussing the case in Iran - that these parties which more than likely initially appeared on the scene subsequent to the Constitutional Revolution( 358) , came together as different groups and then formed various parties just by chance, for indeed this has come about as the result of a devilish conspiracy. In order to prevent the people of Iran from uniting, the powerful nations have set up one party calling it such-and-such, and another party, calling it something else. This party is hostile to that and that party is hostile to this. They have implanted different parties into the womb of this society; they have caused different parties to be formed Moreover, it is not a situation where these various parties and fronts get on with their own business and have nothing to do with the other parties and fronts. No indeed, they in fact oppose each other; they are against one another.
One of the ways in which the West can use us, and in which America and Russia can benefit from our resources and wealth, is precisely by doing this; by sowing discord via various means into the very heart of a society, a society which ought to be able to stand on its own two feet and achieve some kind of progress. They engineer disputes between different camps:
The conflict between the Turks and the Persians; the conflict between the Kurds and the non-Kurds; the conflict say between the Baluchis and whoever, are all examples of disputes engineered by them, They are the architects of such disputes. In a country where everyone should be united, they lead each person towards a different path. That is to say, plots of theirs take the people in different directions. And it is by means of these very differences, differences which lie at the heart of the society itself, that they prevent this society from developing.
The superpowers take full advantage of the situation, and the people busy themselves with internal conflicts. The former come and take the people’s oil away and take the people’s gas away, plundering whatever they have, and no one says a thing about it because there is no consensus in the society; people hold divergent and diverse views. Therefore, this range of differences are differences which they implant into the heart of our society, differences which have not appeared by mere chance but which are in fact part of a deliberate scheme to sow discord.
Another issue concerns their planning some divisive scheme before the arrival of the holy months of Ramadan and Muharram, the two months when the Muslims come together - Ramadan being a month of social activity, a time when the people become preoccupied with the social gatherings which are held in the mosques; and Muharram also being a month of social activity in Iran, a month in which even those in our own government co-operate with the people, yes, even the members of our own government. When these two annual occasions next come around test the validity of my words for yourselves and see whether they (the regime) do in fact come up with some divisive scheme or not before these periods arrive.
We actually saw over the past two or three years - and the repercussions of this incident are still in evidence - what a great commotion they caused to arise over the book Shahid-i Javid( 359) ! There was discord between all groups: between the orators, the preachers, the merchants and so on. A tug of war ensued. People wasted the entire months of Ramadan and Muharram as well as days, which lay outside these periods (debating this issue); their energies were dissipated and “His Imperial Majesty” was free to appropriate the nation’s wealth at his leisure, whilst at the same time strengthening his rule over the people!
The gentlemen of the clergy all know by heart what is written in the book Shahid-i Javid and where it is written; they know what the book is and is not trying to say! They argued and differed over these issues, everyone’s efforts and harangues, speeches that should have been addressed with a view to destroying this dam which serves to obstruct Islam, to check the spread of Islam and to check the country’s development, this dam which is personified in the figure of Muhammad Riza, were instead used to dispute issues concerning the book Shahid-i Javid! For several years, these gentlemen wasted their energies. And even to this day, the traces remaining from this affair can still be seen.
Following this yet another matter was sparked off. The late Shamsabadi, may he rest in peace, was killed thus giving rise to yet another song and dance. Again, for another year, the people were kept in suspense as to who did and who did not kill Mr. Shamsabadi. People even argued over an issue as obscure as this. ( 360) But this didn’t come about by chance. Do not imagine that it just so happened that someone was killed and someone else did whatever, for this is not the case. These matters all form part of a deliberate plan, a plan which has been carefully thought out. Whenever you are about to come together as a social group and those in authority fear the outcome of such a social gathering, the latter come up with something of the nature already discussed; and once this particular affair has become somewhat outworn, they again come up with something else.
‘Ali Shari’ ati.( 361) Just look how much of our energies and the energy of Islam they managed to exhaust over the controversy surrounding this man’s works. Look how they succeeded in directing everyone’s attention towards each other, and how they succeeded in sapping everyone’s energies, all with a view to sowing discord amongst the preachers and orators. All hell was let loose; and disputes were held concerning the role of the preacher and the role of those in the universities and colleges.
These differences of opinion still persist today and it is these very differences which have allowed your real enemies to sleep soundly and to praise the Lord that the people have lashed out at each other and are fighting amongst themselves!
The younger generation must wake up. It must awaken to these devilish conspiracies that they devise. In Europe right now, there are several thousands of you. If these several thousands of people were to fight for the same goal, that is, if those of you who are in France, others of you who are in Germany, and others who are in America, were to set out with one aim in mind, if you were to operate efficiently, if you were well organised, then should you wish to devise a plan of action you would be capable of achieving great things. Regretfully however, this is not the way things now are. Differences still exist. So-and-so has formed one group, and so-and-so has formed another, and these groups are in conflict with ‘each other. X comes and accuses y of something or other and y comes and accuses x of something or other.
This is the way things are in Iran. But now that Iran has pulled itself together somewhat, and now that conflict over this ultimate aim is either slight or nonexistent amongst the popular masses in Iran - those amongst whom discord is to be expected either being in the minority or having now put their own house in order - it is not the time for us to sit down and argue amongst ourselves over these trivial matters. For you to do this would be like sitting down together and discussing what such-and-such a story is about; it would be like sitting down somewhere and relating stories to each other whilst an earthquake is taking place in some city or other which is about to destroy homes and kill everyone.
Now that the Muslims in Iran have all joined forces and are standing up to the various powers that be, now that they are standing up to the Shah and those powers which support him, it would be tantamount to treason against Islam for us to sow discord amongst ourselves and for us to differ with each other. It would be a betrayal of the nation were this momentum which has appeared in Iran to come to naught because of these differences amongst us. Should this momentum, which has appeared in Iran, come to naught - a momentum which is unprecedented in history and not only in Iranian history, for you won’t find any other time when a child so small has cried out for the same thing as an old man, when everyone was SO united in their demands - God forbid, but should this uprising, this historically unprecedented movement which has now appeared in Iran stagnate, having achieved nothing, then you will remain under foreign domination for evermore; you will remain servile to foreigners for evermore; they will put an end to you and your progeny once and for all.
They have now realised that these people command a certain power. The people in Iran hold some kind of power. It is a kind of power, which cannot be destroyed by the military; martial law cannot stop that which has already been started. A certain powerful force now exists in Iran which has truly frightened the superpowers and has baffled them as to what they should do next, what devilry they should get up to next to curb this force. Right now they are busy researching, investigating and planning ways to harness this power, ways to quash this uprising which has now appeared, an uprising which is driving forward like a raging flood and which is foiling their plans. They are considering which plan they should put into action to quash this uprising, to arrest this movement.
God forbid, but should this movement fail to accomplish its aims and should it die away, then Iran, Islam and the Muslims will live under European and American rule for evermore. If this is the case, although in truth there is no ‘if’ about it, but if indeed we do believe this to be the case or suspect that it may well be so, then religious law and reason dictate that we must all be united in our demands. A situation where there are differences between us and where each person follows a different path is unacceptable. We are all to cry out in unison. We are all to say: No! No to Muhammad Riza Shah! No to the Pahlavi dynasty! No to London! No to America! No to Russia! We are to say yes to Islam, to the Muslims, to ourselves. Should you manage to accomplish this, should you now succeed in maintaining this unity and in making further headway, then you will have found deliverance. But should you fail to find deliverance now, then I swear you will remain in a state of wretchedness for evermore.
Zero Lord! I told them - I told the gentlemen (of the clergy) all I know; I told the people of Iran all I know. Thus, I am not to blame. The matter in hand is not one to be taken lightly. It concerns a nation, which throughout history has suffered under the rule of kings. Throughout a two- thousand-five-hundred-year history it has been under the rule of kings, kings who have brought it nothing but suffering and misery. Even those supposedly just rulers were also evil; even that ‘Anushirvan the Just’( 362) was an evil ruler in Iran; even that Shah ‘Abbas who is now said to “dwell in Paradise” was a perverse ruler like the rest’( 363) - he was someone who blinded his own son. Yes, throughout history this nation has lived under the rule and oppression of these evil kings.
Two or three hundred years ago, when the foreigners found their way into Iran they conducted certain investigations and a thorough inspection of the situation there. They studied the mentality of the people there; they studied the land there; and they travelled to our desert regions by camel to conduct research, to see what was and what was not to be found there! Just take a look at historical accounts - at a time when there were no buses or the suchlike, these foreigners travelled by camel, they covered the entire desert regions of Iran, regions with neither water nor vegetation, mounted on camels. They studied these regions and examined the mentality of all those who live in Iran including the members of its tribes. Their investigation included everyone from the Baluchis to the Kurds to the Lors, so that they could discover how to keep these people in a backward state. The foreigners convinced these people that they were never to revolt, and from that time onwards we have remained under the domination of America and Europe.
Initially, we were under the domination of the European countries, of Britain and so on, and now America has entered the scene - America, a country which is worse than the others. Russia and America - each has attacked the country from different sides! Indeed, if they want to take away our resources, to destroy whatever we possess, to capitalise on the situation and to keep us in a wretched state of backwardness, what should they in fact do? Having conducted investigations, they have reached the conclusion that they must cause the people to be divided. They have many plans in store, numerous plans, and if their plans are to succeed they must firstly create division amongst the Muslims - Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and so on must all be separated from one another and each must be at war with the other. This is one way, one means of preventing these people from getting their act together and from uniting with each other to confront the superpowers.
They have endeavoured, through various means, to do something within every country to ensure that the different forces there do not unite, as they have in today’s Iran. At the time of Riza Shah, they humiliated the aklzund so much that the latter was unable to leave his home, not for fear of the government, but for fear of the people! This is the extent to which they had influenced the people. The people used to say: “These akhunds are all affiliated to the Royal Court!” Whilst that member of the Royal Court (Riza Shah) was in fact busy behaving with such hostility towards the akhunds, the people believed and argued that they (the clergy) were affiliated to the Royal Court! This ‘Royal Court’ was killing our akhunds, our mullahs; it would imprison them and kill them, yet at the same time the people believed that they were all affiliated to the Royal Court! They had brainwashed the people into thinking that any mullah who stood up to confront the powers that be had to be ruined before the people of his own nation, that he was to be segregated from the people, for once they had done this he would no longer pose a threat for he would have lost any power he might have had. They had convinced the people that the akhund was not someone fit for leadership, or someone who could engage in active opposition whilst enjoying the support of the people. He was an akhund; and the akhund must be driven to the wall.
Moreover, they weren’t satisfied with ruining the akhund alone, but rather they claimed that Islam is an opiate, that religion as a whole is an opiate!( 364) They call this religion an opiate - this religion which~ serves to encourage all kinds of social action, this Qur’ an whose verses with regard to battle are so explicit, whose verses with regard to social action are so explicit - they call this an opiate! That is to say, they claim that this religion aims to put the poor people to sleep so that the holders of power may continue to devour. This Qur’an, which has come to wage battle against those with power, is said to have been produced by the powerful to enable them to fleece the poor and needy!! Although the wars engaged in by that Most Noble of Messengers (the Prophet Muhammad) and by other Muslim personages were fought against these holders of power, the people have nevertheless been made to believe that it was in fact the latter who brought the Prophet to power! But these are all stratagems devised to make you disunited and to alienate you from the Qur’an.
The Qur’an is a dam, it is a barrier in their path, it is something which, had it been adhered to - and at one time indeed it was adhered to -the Muslims would not have found themselves in such a wretched state. But we abandoned the Qur’ an, we did not follow the teachings of this ‘dam’ and as a result we reached this present state where we are being struck on the head by them (those in power) from all directions. No matter where one may step out of line, an official has been placed there to beat him into silence.
This Muhammad Riza Shah himself has said: “The Allies thought it fitting that I should remain!”( 365) and only the day before yesterday, the British Foreign Minister said: “He (the Shah) is on our side. Indeed, he is protecting our interests, so how could we not give him our support!” We are fully aware of the fact that he is protecting both your and America’s interests! This is precisely what the nation is shouting about, it is protesting about his having come . . . in order to ‘serve his country’! He has a “mission” for his country! ( 366) He has been given a mission by America and by Britain, a mission to behave thus with the people; to keep Iran in a state of backwardness; to destroy the education in Iran; to destroy Iran’s clergy; to push Islam into the background; to change the Islamic calendar.( 367)
You were under the impression that what this demon had done was of no grave importance! Yet taking all of the crimes he has committed into account, from the very first to the last, nothing compares to his crimes of changing the calendar of Islam, so could this crime that he committed be said to be of little significance? Yes, they all joined hands together in order to smash these barriers which stood before them.
Now that the people of Iran have risen up and are crying out in unison saying: “Down with this monarchy,” for differences to exist between us, whether outside the country or within it, is self-destructive, it is suicidal. For differences to exist between the intellectual sector of society and the non-intellectual sector, or within the universities themselves between this and that group, is at this moment in time, tantamount to self-destruction; it is an act of suicide; it means the country’s undoing; it means betraying the country; it means betraying Islam. Over what do you disagree? Why do you, people who have come abroad and who are busily engaged with your work, why do you differ amongst yourselves? Come together; hold social gatherings together; follow one path; all cry out in unison, all of you, until your protest movement becomes transformed into a flood and until this destructive flood eradicates this dynasty’s set-up and the set-up of those who drain our assets dry with the help of this royal family.
May the Lord keep you all safe from harm and may He grant us all His forgiveness (the audience cries: Amen).