Speech to Clergy and Students of the Seminary and Friday Prayer Leaders of Bushehr Province

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I am also very pleased to spend some time with you dear brothers and the esteemed Friday prayer leaders of the province and the respected scholars of Bushehr and some other regions of this province. What was initially evident in this province—although it was largely known to me through reports before this—was that, thanks be to God, both in Bushehr itself and in other cities of this province, the esteemed Friday prayer leaders have a strong, correct, and enlightening presence, along with cooperation and collaboration with the executive officials of the province. It was also evident from the reports, and it was known that, thanks be to God, the Friday prayers in this province—both in Bushehr itself and in other cities of this province—are of desirable quality, and the sermons are substantial and profound. Of course, I cannot claim to be sufficiently informed about the situation of the clergy in this province. What I have generally understood from the overall situation of this province is that the clergy have played a good role; and this is indeed the right thing.

The past of this city and this province, in terms of scientific and religious aspects, is a good past. There have been scholars and great figures here; whether it is the late Sayyid Abdullah Baladi—who was one of the great scholars of Iran in his time, and I mentioned him during that trip—or other scholars, and the well-known scholarly families who have been here and have authored books in jurisprudence, hadith, and other subjects. This can also be understood from the religious state of the people.

If in a city the tree of religious knowledge is not strong, fruitful, and overshadowing, the religious spirit in the people of that region does not grow, and the enemy finds a ground for infiltration. Since the people of this city and this province are religious and revolutionary and are in service of religious goals, it can be clearly understood that the training of religious scholars and the dissemination of religious knowledge and the conduct of religious propagation in this province have been carried out properly. I congratulate you on this; consider this state as precious and strengthen it, and let every clergyman, in whatever center he is stationed, devote all his existence and all his efforts to explaining religion and the religious upbringing of the people; of course, "let him begin by teaching himself before teaching others." This is the point that I initially needed to mention in relation to my understanding of the issues of this province.

Dear brothers and esteemed scholars! Our attire and our status have always been associated with responsibility. It is not that we assume there can be a time when a religious scholar is free from the serious responsibilities that are above those of ordinary people; no, it has always been this way. This is due to the nature of knowledge, which states, "Two groups of my nation, if they are righteous, my nation will be righteous, and if they are corrupt, my nation will be corrupt"; the first of which are the jurists, and then the rulers. The combination of these two has also occurred in our time, which is a calamity! Therefore, a heavy responsibility rests on the shoulders of those who possess both.

In past times, it has always been this way; hence, we see great scholars among the Muslims of Iran who have taken on very decisive roles in the movement of history. If you look at the struggles during the Constitutional Revolution and after the Constitutional Revolution and before the Constitutional Revolution and the struggles of the scholars of this very province of Fars and the strange and very prominent struggles and endeavors of the late Sayyid Abdul-Hussein Lari and the struggles of the scholars of this very Bushehr of yours, like the late Sayyid Abdullah Baladi, and then the presence of the grand sources of emulation in most of the important issues of this country and then the struggles of the scholars of other cities throughout the country, you will observe a decisive role from the great scholars.

Of course, it is possible that the role of other scholars has not been recorded; because their greatness was not so much; otherwise, for example, the role of the late Mirza Qomi (may God's mercy be upon him) in the defense that the Iranians made against the Russian invasion is clear. He wrote the "Abbasid Treatise" on jihad. Or the late Kashif al-Ghita (may God's mercy be upon him), who played the same role at the same time and expressed very important rulings; and so on. This role is extensive; except when our scholars were in isolation; that is, they were overpowered and were not given attention by those who held the reins of affairs.

These very struggles and sacrifices created an inexhaustible reserve. Of course, everything ends; even these reserves of honor will end sooner or later; it depends on our actions. The scholars of Islam—especially the Shia scholars in Iran—created a great reserve of public prestige, which was able to bring this revolution to victory. If anyone thinks that this great revolution, with the spiritual power and the spiritual firmness of the Imam—which, as we have seen and experienced, is found in one out of thousands of thousands of people—could have succeeded with the same leadership without the deep spiritual belief of the Iranian people in the scholars—which this reserve is precisely that belief—be assured that they are mistaken. If that deep faith reserve of successive generations had not existed, no hand could have spontaneously created such a revolution and brought it to victory.

The Imam was one of those pure series; one of those who himself added a very great share to this reserve; he gave prestige to the clergy and the Islamic leaders; but he made maximum use of that reserve in its place and in the correct manner.

When our great Imam started the movement in 1962, those who responded to his call, out of a thousand people, one did not know who this man was. Many could not even pronounce his name correctly, but they responded; they knew he was a great scholar who had stood up in Qom to preserve Islam. The attraction was this: a religious scholar. After people became acquainted with him and got to know him, then that unparalleled passionate bond emerged, which was not present among our scholars and will not be easily present. This is that spiritual reserve.

Every great scholar who came added something to that reserve. Mirza Shirazi and Sheikh Ansari and Akhund Khorasani and Sheikh Abdullah Mazandarani and Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Yazdi and Sheikh Mirza Muhammad Hasan Ashtiani and the late Modarres and the late Ayatollah Kashani and the late Ayatollah Boroujerdi and others added a page to this book, and this detailed and extended book full of religious virtues and the honors of the scholars of religion was created; this is no joke. This was the groundwork for the victory of this movement; and this belongs to the past.

And as for today. Today, the same heavy duties and responsibilities rest on the shoulders of me and you, the clergy, with something additional. We must know a few things so that based on them we understand how precise and sensitive our movement must be:

First, the fundamental responsibility of the religious scholar. The responsibility of the scholar towards those who need his knowledge is "to make it clear to the people and not to conceal it." This statement itself requires initial clarification and understanding. We must understand in order to be able to explain what we have understood. Therefore, acquiring understanding is also obligatory and necessary and unavoidable for us. We must add to ourselves day by day. What we know, compared to what we do not know, is not even a straw in comparison to deserts and fields. What do we know? Every book one opens, one sees a flood of topics in these books that our empty vessel needs. Where is the depth? Where is the talent? Where is the success for all this understanding? In any case, we must strive.

We know nothing compared to what we should know and the knowledge that our people need. We must study and research. Now, I do not want to impose the duty of studying here; we must add to ourselves through study, research, contemplation, and reflection so that we can explain. So, one duty is the duty of explanation, which all scholars have had.

The second duty—which we share with the scholars of previous periods—is the duty of striving for the people. Even if the revolution had not succeeded, this duty existed. Our scholars always worked and strived for the people, they worked hard, they protected the poor, they took care of them; the habit and method of the scholars was this. We do not want to say that this is one of those generalities that has not been specified and has no exceptions; no, it is not like that. The main habit was to help the poor and weak classes and to stand against the oppressor, to stand against the khan, to stand against the sultan. Our scholars—especially the Shia scholars—have always been known for this.

You know that from a jurisprudential belief perspective, there is a small difference here between the scholars of our Sunni brothers and us, and that is that they consider any government to be obligatory to obey; but Shia is not like that. Shia has always been a thorn in the eyes of false governments and has not tolerated chaotic situations. Of course, those Sunni brothers have also had extraordinary and interesting struggles with oppressive and tyrannical governments in specific cases, which we know and recognize examples of in other countries and sometimes in this country; but this was the habit of Shia scholars and Imamiyya scholars to be good to the weak and help them and to confront tyrannical governments and powerful ones. This is also one of the duties that has nothing to do with whether the revolution had succeeded or not; whether there was an Islamic government or not; our duty and our intention was this.

Your province has been like this. The day when the British landed in Bushehr during the reign of Mohammad Shah Qajar, because he had put pressure on Herat, this place became a lever of pressure for him. Who stood against them? Who gave fatwas to the likes of Rais Ali and explained to them and encouraged and urged them and gave the people confidence and power? Who else but the scholars? They stood against the oppressors and bullies. This is our eternal duty and we must observe it.

Another duty that arises from the revolution is that we must preserve the prestige of the revolution. I once narrated an incident in a speech; I do not know if you gentlemen have heard it or not. Molavi in the Masnavi narrates an incident and says in a city inhabited by infidels, there was a Muslim neighborhood. A girl from a Christian family fell in love with Islam and became enamored with Islam. She wanted to become a Muslim, but her parents prevented her. She did not pay attention to her parents and no longer went to church. The Christian father was perplexed about what to do with this girl. A Muslim muezzin had just come to that place and was calling the adhan with an unpleasant voice. This Christian went and paid this bad-voiced muezzin and said call the adhan loudly; that muezzin also called the adhan loudly. This girl was sitting at home, and suddenly she heard an unpleasant, ominous sound. She said, what is this? The father said, it is nothing, this is the muezzin of the Muslims calling the adhan. She said, really! Are Muslims like this? Consequently, her love for Islam faded!

God knows that since the beginning of the revolution, I have remembered this story on numerous occasions and my body has trembled. We must be careful in this regard; lest we be that bad-voiced muezzin who turns hearts and loves and desires and attractions to Islam—which are abundant today—into hatred with our unmeasured actions and bad deeds. This is something that our predecessors were not at least as severely afflicted with; but I and you are afflicted with it, and I am more afflicted than you. Whoever is more active and prominent in this system is more afflicted with this issue. We must be careful in our behavior, in our actions, in our words, in our conduct so that it does not become like this.

Another important duty that rests on the shoulders of the scholars today is to pay attention to the position of the Islamic Republic and what the enemy is aiming for. The enemy is not willing to tolerate Islam and the Islamic Republic for a moment. Look at what they are doing in the world today. In these few days that the elections in Algeria have started, sometimes when I hear these news, I see how oppressed Islam is in the face of these arrogant, tyrannical powers of the world. Wherever they feel Islam even slightly, they attack it without hesitation. Now Algeria has not yet declared the Islamic Republic. Some have emerged from among themselves and out of fear that the enemy might become very sensitive, they said no, we will not become like that; we will observe certain things; lest the enemies become sensitive and say these have also become like the Islamic Republic! Despite these, because a popular movement in the direction of Islam has occurred, a state of panic and confusion has arisen in all the poles of power in the world, trying to prevent it if they can.

Look at what they have done to Iran in these few years. They have dealt blows as much as they could. Now some of those blows have not hit at all and God Almighty has returned the blow; some of those blows have hit, but have had no effect; some have had shallow effects; some have finally caused some damage; but the enemy has been smaller and less than to be able to bring us down. If we pay attention, the enemy will be thwarted; but if we are negligent and not vigilant, the enemy will not be thwarted and will succeed.

Who has said that falsehood can never strike the truth in the world, or temporarily eliminate it? What law can say such a thing? What is in the divine law is that ultimately, the truth will prevail; ultimately, falsehood will be overthrown; but who has said that in the course of the way, falsehood will not have the opportunity to strike the truth and even remove it from the field?

Of course, there is another law: if the struggle is carried out for the sake of the truth, no falsehood will be able to advance. If struggle and endeavor are made, God Almighty will help and guide; but if there is no endeavor, if we sit idle, if we are not vigilant, if we sleep in the trench, will the enemy still not come to conquer our trench? Who has said such a thing? We must strive so that the enemy is thwarted. If we do not strive, the enemy will succeed; and we seek refuge in God from that. We must not let this happen in our time and with our responsibility and on our shoulders. For this reason, the duty of the scholars is also very important in this regard.

Of course, the mark and desire of the religious scholars was and is and must be to be indifferent to the deceptive appearances and manifestations of the world; we must not forget this; this is very important. Otherwise, the delicious and sweet world that is appetizing and attracts a person who has feelings, if it is placed at the disposal of anyone, they will grasp it with both hands. If we grasp it with both hands, what is really the difference between us and others? While the religious scholar must have differences.

Thanks be to God and by divine grace, as a result of the struggle that has been carried out in these thirteen years, today the foundations of the system are firm and strong. There was a time when they hoped not to let the foundations of the system grow; there was a time when they hoped not to let it take root; there was a time when they hoped to uproot it in a stormy situation. They imposed the stormiest situations—namely war—on us. To incite a government against a revolutionary country and then have the whole world help it is a strange thing. Some of them have paid their dues, and some will pay more.

This very Yugoslavia that you see today is caught in that fire of war—like Lebanon—these are the same people who in their propaganda told us, are you savages; why don't you solve the problem of war through negotiation?! This was while Iraq was still in our land! Of course, they did not dare to say these things in front of us; they expressed it in their propaganda! Currently, the situation of that country is such that they have fallen upon each other and the people of two provinces of one country are in conflict; people whose race is the same—many of them are of Slavic race—their language is the same, their historical and cultural backgrounds are the same! This is one of those countries that during the war, both in terms of armaments and more in terms of propaganda, made the hearts of those who were involved very bloodied; this very country that is now under the fire of war, its cities are being hit with mortars; that is, they go near the cities and hit each other with 60 and 81 mortars; this is how intertwined and close these wars are! Therefore, they tried very hard and hoped that in these stormy situations, perhaps our Islamic system would be destroyed.

The greater stormy situation was the passing of the Imam (may God's mercy be upon him). They had set their eyes on this situation a lot. For years they said that when the Imam is not there, many things will happen, many things will change! The presence of the people, the power of the people, the unity of the people and the scholars, and their vigilant presence in the scene, these youths, these various classes, closed this hope on these.

Today, thanks be to God, in terms of solidity, it can be said that the enemy has the least hope. The system, thanks be to God, is solid, planning is good, and the government is strong. We clerics, wherever we are, must accelerate our movement according to the needs of the situation; religious propagation, correct work, maintaining unity and cohesion, which has a direct impact on the spirit of the people; the very thing I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks.

Sometimes in some cities, it is seen that there are differences between some officials, or some scholars, or some people of different statuses and affairs; people have neither the mood for Friday prayers, nor the mood for congregational prayers, nor the mood for marches, nor the mood for various activities; they are completely disheartened. Unity and agreement and coordination and closeness to each other give people enthusiasm and vitality. Here, thanks be to God, it is like this; we must increase this as much as possible.

Some of you brothers are in the armed forces. Here, thanks be to God, there are both naval bases, and there are air forces, and there is the army, and there is the Revolutionary Guard, and they have connections with you and with the people. The gentlemen who are working in these sectors should act regularly, orderly, deeply, thoughtfully, calculatedly, in accordance with the situation and according to the requirements of the time, and extract what is necessary and appropriate from religion, God willing. Emphasize the Quran; the Quran is very important. Also emphasize prayer and the presence of people in congregational prayers.

The future, thanks be to God, is a good future. What we see on the horizon of the future is that by divine grace, the enemy will be surrounded in the world. They tried to surround us in the region; but God Almighty will surround them from the sides; "The punishment will cover them from above them and from beneath their feet"; now you are witnessing examples of this here; this Islamic awakening is of this kind; this disintegration of the former Soviet Union is of this kind; these internal and racial and ethnic conflicts in Europe are of this kind. We do not wish war for anyone; but God's work is spectacular!

The divine tradition will operate when we stand firm and steadfast in our place; this is the main issue. Scientifically, practically, verbally, actively, politically, socially, individually, collectively, we must stand firm and with sacrifice and with low expectations in the place where we are and our post is—wherever our post is, wherever our mission and responsibility is—and do our work, and God Almighty will help and His blessings will descend upon us, God willing; as it has been so far, thanks be to God; as the glad tidings of the Imam (may God's mercy be upon him) showed this. He always believed—I had heard—that the end and the horizon were very good and bright; he saw the hand of divine power with the people and was hopeful. Now when we look, we see that it is indeed as he repeatedly said and taught all of us.

We hope that God will increase these capabilities for us and make this nation subject to His mercy and grace and, God willing, make you esteemed gentlemen subject to His favors and success and support.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings