General Azhari’s military cabinet had grasped the reins of power, but

Only in the days immediately following its inception did the unremitting manoeuvres of tanks and armoured vehicles, the widespread presence of armed officers and soldiers, and the constant coming and going of trucks laden with troops go any way towards curtailing the spread of demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of Tehran’s populace. Sporadic clashes between demonstrators and agents in the central and southern areas of the city continued and nationwide strikes persisted. A strike by workers at the power plants plunged Tehran into darkness for some hours daily.

Newspaper offices were occupied by military agents, and only two or three publications, which were confined to publishing the communiqués of the military command, went to press. The people awaited the arrival of a message or taped speech from Imam In Paris. As soon as one was received, it was quickly reproduced and circulated. Imam’s Interviews too were, in various lengths, broadcast by different radio stations. With the arrival in Tehran of Imam’s message beginning with the words: “My dear ones! Do not fear this military hullabaloo, as I know full well you will not! You courageous people have proved that these tanks, guns and bayonets are rusty and cannot confront The iron will of the nation. Do not be deceived by this devilish cajolery and satanic declaration of repentance, as I know you will not be,” and after its reproduction and distribution to the provinces, the people’s morale found new strengths. Demonstrations and rallies began again and in the streets and alleyways of Tehran and the provincial cities, clashes broke out on an even larger scale than before.

On this day, November 9, 1978 (Aban 18, 1357 AHS), hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered at Bihisht-i Zahra in remembrance of students martyred earlier on November 5 (Aban 1 3) in the grounds of Tehran University and the surrounding area. Slogans such as: “I will kill the one who has slain my brother;” “oh treacherous Shah you have killed the youth of the country;” “death to the Shah;” and “death to this Pahlavi dynasty;” rang out throughout the cemetery and could be heard for a distance of many kilometres. During this commemoration, a clergyman read out sections of Imam’s most recent message: “Although I know full well that whatever happens, the tricks of the Shah, his verbal appeasements and his very real acts of intimidation will have no effect on the serried ranks of our great nation, I feel it necessary to remind you, my dear people that: The aims (of the movement) are those which I have mentioned in speeches and declarations, that is: (a) the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy and the sinister imperial regime and (b) the establishment of an Islamic republic government based on the laws of Islam and supported by the vote of the people.” These aims announced by Imam in this message were confirmed by those listening with cries of: “That is so, that is so.

Tehran was facing an important period in its history. Twilight saw a continuation of demonstrations and skirmishes between the young demonstrators and agents of the military government in most of the alleyways throughout the southern and central parts of the city. The people opened their doors to the demonstrators and signs were fixed at the entrance to blind alleys to guide the people. The walls throughout the city were covered with the slogans “Death to the Shah” and “Greetings Khomeini” which military agents would paint over during the night, the next day however these were replaced with the slogan: “Infamy will not disappear with paint.

After the formation of Azhari’s cabinet, Imam Khomeini gave numerous interviews in which he announced the nation’s disregard for the military Government and the defeat of the Shah’s last military mobilisation.⁽⁵²⁴⁾

In addition, on November 9 (Aban 1 8), a joint declaration was issued by the maraji’ in Qum concerning the take-over of the military government. In parts of this we read: “This government is not only unacceptable to the clergy and the noble, justice-seeking nation, but is also completely condemned and rejected by them.

It is worth noting that Imam’s audience on this occasion was a group of young French boys and girls interested in Islam. This group requested the interpreters there to translate the following French text for Imam and to read it out for him in Farsi before he delivered his speech: “With this bouquet of flowers which we present to you, we express our joy at your presence in France which has made us more interested in Islam. Moreover, in view of the special circumstances that we have seen here, we would like to visit Iran as a group and witness at first hand the special relationship between man and God that Islam proposes.

Unfortunately, the virtues of Islam have remained hidden to man, even to the Muslims themselves, and the oppressors and oil-devourers have not allowed Islam, as it truly is, to be revealed to the people. Were true Islam to be put into practice, then there is hope that the whole of mankind would come out^{( 525)} under the banner of Islam, and all other ideologies would be defeated. Unfortunately, they have not allowed the people to come to know Islam. Sometimes they have described Islam as reactionary, sometimes as barbaric and sometimes they have said that it is something which belongs to one thousand and so many hundreds of years ago and cannot be used to administer a country today. But all this is just propaganda. Proofs exist in the Islamic scripture showing that what the propagandists of other countries have said about Islam is untrue.

We want to bring Islam, or its government at least, into effect in such a way that it bears some resemblance to Islam, so that you will see the true meaning of democracy and mankind will discover how greatly different Islam’s democracy is from that more well-known conventional brand of democracy that the leaders of republics and (constitutional) monarchies claim to practise.

The divine laws are not something that can be explained, even briefly, in this one session, however, I will try to give you just an overview of them. The laws of Islam are laws designed for people, for each individual in the human race. They govern the relationship each person has with God, with the Prophet of Islam and with the government, the relationship he should have with other people and with those who are not of his nation. All relationships which can possibly exist between two people or between human societies are covered in Islam and rules have been given for them. Many of these rules pertain to the relationship between man and God, to that dimension of man’s being which, according to the Christian religion of today, Hazrat Jesus, upon whom be peace, introduced to man. According to today’s beliefs, Christianity concerns itself only with our relationship with God, the Creator. In Islam, there are many rules pertaining to this relationship, but in addition, there are rules for other relationships concerning man. There are rules to ensure man’s well being even before he is born, to ensure that a sound, healthy, refined individual comes into the world. Islamic law contains provisions relating to the preliminaries of marriage, the choice of spouse, and the form in which a marriage should be contracted, there are laws for when intimate relations take place between a man and his wife, for when a child is conceived and when it is being suckled. There are rules for the child for the time it is being reared by its mother and when it is being trained by its first teachers. Islam has rules for all of these things, and laws to train man. Moreover, Islam is not like Christianity, which has no rules for government and the administration of a country - and if it once had these rules, they have not reached the Christians. Islam has a form of government like other governments do; it has institutions, which are based wholly on justice. The relationship between the government and the various citizens of the state; the relationship of the citizens with the state; the relations between the government and the religious minorities; the relations of the Muslims with people of a religious minority; the relation of the government with other governments; the relation of the Islamic society with other societies; Islam has laws governing all of these.

I cannot explain all the Islamic laws for you in this one session. Not even briefly, if however, God grants you His favour and you embrace Islam, then whichever one of you is interested will gradually learn about these for yourselves, God willing.