Statements in a Video Conference with the People of Qom

On the anniversary of the 19th of Dey (1)

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, and God's curse upon all their enemies. Peace be upon you, O my lady, O Fatimah al-Masumah, daughter of Musa ibn Ja'far, and God's mercy and blessings.

Meeting with the enthusiastic people of Qom has always been a valuable opportunity for me; we have been deprived for two years, and today we renew our meeting with the present gathering and convey our greetings and expressions of devotion to all the dear people of Qom.

Today’s discussion is about the important and historical event of the 19th of Dey, 1356. Some historical events that carry profound meanings and convey significant messages to future generations must remain alive; we must discuss and speak about them; we should not allow the dust of forgetfulness to settle on these great events. The event of the 19th of Dey is one of these.

Of course, when we discuss the event of the 19th of Dey, we are actually referring to this event and its aftermath — because this event was the origin of a series of movements that ultimately led to the victory of the revolution; therefore, the perspective is not merely on a limited event over a day or two; it is to view this event as the source of a great transformation — it is a sign of the depth of the religious belief of the people; we emphasize this point; it is among the clear and evident aspects of the revolution. However, the propaganda of those who harbor animosity towards the revolution gradually leads to even the evident aspects of the revolution being questioned. I emphasize that the event of the 19th of Dey in Qom and its aftermath demonstrate the depth of the religious belief of the people. The connection of this event to a religious authority, to a source of emulation, brought this event into existence; that is, if the central figure of this event had not been Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) as a religious authority and as a spiritual and fighting leader, this event would not have occurred, and nothing like it would have happened; no other person, no other movement could have done anything to mobilize a city, then another city, and then multiple cities, and ultimately an entire nation in this way.

You know that during the tyrannical regime, hundreds of prominent figures from various political movements, many of whom were engaged in struggle, from the left, right, Marxists, and others, were threatened, imprisoned, tortured, executed, and insulted, yet nothing changed in the social environment of the people; that is, it could not have any impact. However, for the esteemed Imam, they wrote four lines in a newspaper, and this great event occurred in Qom; this means that this event is connected to a source of emulation, to a religious scholar, to religion and religious matters.

And I must tell you that most of the significant events that have occurred in our country over the past 150 years are of this nature; almost in all historical events, social events, events where the people entered the field and were able to achieve something — as far as I can recall — the presence of a religious authority, a brave, fighting, and politically aware scholar is involved. For example, consider the tobacco issue, where Mirza Shirazi was involved; during the Constitutional Revolution, the religious authorities of Najaf, the great scholars of Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and other places were involved; in the important incident of the Goharshad Mosque, the late Hajj Agha Hossein Qomi (may his soul be sanctified) and the scholars of Mashhad were involved; during the 30th of Tir, the late Ayatollah Kashani was involved; during the 15th of Khordad in 42, the esteemed Imam and some other great scholars were involved; a brave, fighting, and politically aware cleric is present in all these events, and it is his presence that is the source of popular mobilization. Yes, it is possible that a person, an influential individual, can mobilize a number of people to react or take action, but the massive movement of the people, shaking and stirring this vast ocean, is solely the work of a religious scholar, solely the work of a religious authority; and from here, we can understand the reason for the enmity of the arrogant powers of the world with religious scholars, political scholars, with political religion, with political jurisprudence, and with political scholars — why they are opposed; because their presence is anti-global arrogance and anti-colonial, and it has brought about these great events; they know this, hence they oppose political scholars, they oppose political authorities, they oppose political jurisprudence, they explicitly say they oppose political religion and political Islam; and this is a truth that must be acknowledged.

Furthermore, the deep enmity and animosity of America towards the Islamic Republic of Iran can also be understood from this perspective. The Islamic Republic is the manifestation of the religious belief of the people and arises from a revolutionary perspective rooted in religion towards the current issues of the world and the country; for this reason, the head of global arrogance, which is America, opposes the Islamic Republic. The fact that some people say, "Why do you oppose America? Why do you say 'Death to America'?" seems superficial and shallow to us; the depth of the matter is that the nature of global arrogance is inherently opposed to a phenomenon like the Islamic Republic, which is entirely rooted in religion, related to the interpretations of religious scholars and a religious movement. This is one point regarding the issue of the 19th of Dey.

Another point is that we should not overlook the role of the religious zeal of the people in this matter. The reason I emphasize this is that one sees that there is widespread cultural propaganda aimed at accusing things stemming from religious zeal of being irrational and of unreasoned violence. I want to say that no, the matter is not like that; religious zeal, where it manifests and has an impact, is accompanied by rationality; and religious zeal is fundamentally rooted in insight, which is a branch of rationality and indicates the depth of religiosity, and in most cases, when you look at this religious zeal, you see that it is accompanied by rationality. The personalities who have the most religious zeal are often those who possess high rationality; an example is the esteemed Imam; he was the pinnacle of religious zeal; truly, we have not seen or recognized anyone who, in terms of zeal for religion, religious culture, religious life, religious lifestyle, and religious laws, is like the esteemed Imam; at the same time, he was at the peak of rationality; wise, knowledgeable, and learned. And I should mention on this occasion the contemporary jurist and philosopher, the late Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi, who was also like this; he was indeed a worthy student of the Imam and was at the peak of religious zeal, as well as rationality; he was a philosopher in the true sense of the word. The uprising of the 19th of Dey is a brilliant combination of zeal and rationality.

Now I will briefly explain to clarify how much success this uprising has achieved in terms of rationality. The goal of the tyrant was — that is, the issue of writing that article in the newspaper Ettela'at (2) was not a spontaneous and immediate decision; it pursued a significant goal — to break the sanctity of the Imam; to diminish the greatness that the Imam had in the eyes of the people and for which they moved at his command. They observed the increasing influence of the Imam in the thoughts of the people; they wanted to diminish the Imam's position in the eyes of the people; thus, they began this work. If the strong fist of the people of Qom had not struck the tyrant's chest on the 19th of Dey, this work would have continued; it was not just that one article; they wrote multiple articles, books, and stories, produced films, and so on to diminish the Imam and his position in the eyes of the people, and in fact, to eliminate the centrality of the movement; because the Imam was the axis of this massive movement of the people that was expanding day by day [and the tyrannical security apparatus understood this truth, thus they wanted to eliminate this axis of movement and the energizing center of this movement with this action].

The tyrant was also backed by America; that is, he was assured that any action he took in this regard and its aftermath would accuse the Imam of being an extremist and violent, and they would plan to pressure anyone who supported this great man, believing that America was behind him and that there would be no international reaction. You know that during those days in January of that year, [that is, on the 10th of Dey, 1356], Carter was in Tehran and celebrated their January festival with the Shah; there he made a speech in which he said that Iran — the Pahlavi Iran — is an island of stability. One of the mistakes he made, which became clear how erroneous their calculations were — American calculations are still erroneous — was this statement that Iran is an island of stability. Therefore, the tyrant — Mohammad Reza — felt that the situation was completely suitable to suppress the movement by attacking the esteemed Imam [since his physical presence was out of their reach, as the Imam was in Najaf], but they could tarnish the Imam's mention, memory, and respect; they saw it as a good opportunity and began this work. Thus, this was a calculated action; they had calculated the matter and were sitting down to plot.

The people of Qom disrupted this calculation; that is, in fact, the action of the people of Qom disrupted the enemy's calculations; فَالَّذینَ کَفَروا هُمُ المَکیدون; (3) they plotted, but this plot turned against them; they wanted to break the Imam, but it resulted in the Imam appearing more firmly and brightly on the scene; they wanted to weaken the people's relationship with the Imam, but this relationship became stronger; they wanted to weaken the movement, but this movement became stronger; in fact, the people's movement contained such a calculation. We do not say that each individual who came to the streets had made this calculation, but behind this collective movement, which God Almighty had inspired in the people, there was an important calculation that disrupted the enemy's calculations and destroyed the enemy's plot; that is, the same person who, on that day — the 10th of Dey, 1356 — had called Iran an island of stability, namely Carter himself, a year later in Dey 1357 was forced to send Hauser (4) to Tehran to extinguish the movement by any means possible — through a coup, through massacre, through the mass killing of the people, to do this — which, thanks be to God, they remained unsuccessful in this endeavor and could not prevent the occurrence of the revolution.

This erroneous calculation of America in their calculations continues; it is still the same; even now, regarding various issues, they make calculations, [but they fail;] an example is the recent issue of the martyrdom of our dear martyr, martyr Soleimani; what did they think, and what happened! They thought that by eliminating martyr Soleimani, the movement and great movement that he represented, that he was the embodiment of, would be extinguished; you see that it has increased. This year, on the second anniversary of martyr Soleimani's martyrdom, whose great work was this? Who can claim that we did this? It was solely the work of divine power and the hand of divine power. In Iran, outside of Iran, this great movement, this public expression of devotion and sincerity towards martyr Soleimani could not be calculated by the enemy; they cannot calculate these things; the enemy's calculation apparatus is truly and honestly oblivious and flawed; they cannot perceive the realities related to the Islamic Republic as they are. When the calculation of the current situation is erroneous, the decisions will also be erroneous; erroneous decisions lead to failure, and they have remained so far, and God willing, they will continue to remain unsuccessful.

Well, my dear ones! Those days have passed; the 19th of Dey will not be forgotten; thanks be to God, it remains alive to this day, and it will not be forgotten after this. After the incident of the 19th of Dey, the movement surged; God blessed the movement of the people of Qom, this movement surged, culminating in the revolution, leading to the great days of the revolution, the esteemed Imam returned to the country triumphantly, the revolution succeeded, and the Islamic Republic — which is a religious democratic system — was established and came into existence.

43 years have passed since that day, and these 43 years have been accompanied by jihad, ups and downs, and various movements. These events are our past events from which we must take lessons and learn, but a living nation does not only look to the past; a living nation, at every moment in its history, considers the exigencies of its time and the duty it has at this moment and what it must do next — and to the outlook as well. We must recognize the duty of the current moment, we must specify our steps for the future, we must clarify the outlook, focus on that outlook, and with all our power and strength, we must move towards it; this way, this movement will truly succeed and reach its ultimate victory, which is the good life of the Iranian nation in the first place — now others have also learned, that is another discussion; it has become a model, that is another subject — to the happiness and Islamic life that is the good life, in which there is both this world and the hereafter, both welfare and body, both soul and the provision of all these exists, God willing, we will attain it. We are currently in the middle of the road. Of course, so far, some distance has been covered, the Iranian nation has worked, has strived, and we have made some progress, but we must know our duty today and also our duty for tomorrow and our outlook.

Now sometimes one sees, for example, surveys about people's opinions being expressed, [but] these do not reflect the reality of the Iranian nation; the reality of the Iranian nation is shown by the procession of martyr Soleimani; it is these that show what the Iranian nation feels, what days and times they are going through, what their emotions are, what their inner selves are; that is, a domain as vast as the country of Iran and the Iranian nation is needed to reflect the truth of this nation and its inner self. These surveys that some, whether with malice or without malice, conduct here and there cannot be the criterion.

Fortunately, today, the thoughts of the faithful Hezbollah youth in the country are widespread. We are fortunately today accompanied by revolutionary and faithful thought, a creative, progressive thought from a large number of youth. Therefore, based on this, I will present a few reminders. Of course, there are many reminders, [but] the nature of this session does not allow for extensive discussion; [thus] I will present a number of reminders.

The first reminder is: my dear ones, those who hear this word from this humble servant! Preserve your religious zeal; preserve your religious zeal. The factor that saves the country in critical moments has been the religious zeal of the Iranian nation. It is religious zeal that turns threats into opportunities. One example is the imposed war and the eight-year defense, which was a great threat, [but] the religious zeal of the people, the religious zeal of the youth, the religious zeal of fathers and mothers and spouses led our youth to go to the front and in this international war, where America of that day, the Soviet Union of that day, NATO of that day, and the regional reactionaries were all colluding to defeat Iran and bring the Imam to his knees and destroy the movement, all of them were defeated and managed to prevail. The source of this was religious zeal. Now this was the sacred defense; in the following years, there have also been various events.

In our current period, the martyrdom of our dear martyr, martyr Soleimani. Truly, the martyrdom of martyr Soleimani became a historical and extraordinary event; no one thought, friends did not think that this event would gain such magnitude and that God Almighty would bless this event so that it could place the religious and revolutionary identity of the people before everyone's eyes and everyone could see it. The Iranian nation, under the coffin of martyr Soleimani, truly showed its identity, showed its unity. Well, in Tehran, in Kerman, in Tabriz, in Mashhad, in various cities [of Iran], in Iraq, that great procession; if it had been intended to take this sacred body to Syria and Lebanon, the same event would have occurred there; if it had been taken to Pakistan, the same event would have occurred there. That is, this great movement of the Muslim nation was shown; this event was a significant event. The martyrdom of a great personality like martyr Soleimani was considered a threat by the enemy and by all, but the zeal of the Muslim nation, the Iranian nation, turned this threat into an opportunity and became an opportunity.

We have such [events] in our past history; the event of the 9th of Dey is also of this nature. The event of the 9th of Dey in 88 is also like this; there, too, a great threat arose, lasting several months, but the zeal of the people on the 9th of Dey came to the field and eliminated that event, rather it eliminated the adverse effects as well, turning that threat into an opportunity. This is one point that the main factor behind these victories, these successes, this transformation of threats into opportunities has been the religious zeal of the people; this must be preserved. Speakers, writers, influential individuals in the mental and intellectual spaces of the people should pay attention to this point. Of course, it is clear that opponents and enemies will also do their work in this regard; they will criticize my statements in this regard, they will speak, but the truth is this; the truth is that this religious zeal must remain preserved in the people, and by God's grace, it will remain preserved.

The second reminder I present is: pay attention that one of the things that is currently severely on the agenda of the enemies of the revolution and the enemies of the Islamic Republic is the desensitization regarding the principles and evident aspects and foundations of the revolution. The people are sensitive; the people are sensitive to the fundamental issues of the revolution; if someone attacks these foundations, the people will take a stand. They want to gradually diminish this sensitivity; this is again through the extensive propaganda that is currently being conducted in the virtual space, in the foreign media in various forms. Sometimes they highlight the words of various individuals, people who have little value — neither their words nor their thoughts — they elevate the voices of low-value and high-claim individuals who question these foundations of the revolution.

The principles of the revolution, in the first place, include the sovereignty of religion. The Islamic Republic, the Islamic revolution was established for the sovereignty of God's religion; it is fundamentally for the community to live and be organized according to a religious shape and geometry. The government must be organized and move forward according to religious geometry; this was among the evident aspects of the revolution. The people gave their lives, offered their blood, sacrificed for this to happen; this is among the principles of the revolution; they weaken this. Or, for example, the refusal to submit to the arrogant enemy; this is among the principles of the revolution. We must not submit; we must not tolerate the arrogance of the enemy; that we may negotiate with the enemy at times, speak, interact, is another matter. The revolution tells us that we must not submit to the arrogance and the words of the arrogant enemy; so far, by God's grace, we have not submitted, and after this, it will be the same; this is among the principles. They weaken this, [saying] for example, "Why, what is the problem, what is the issue?" That is, they are downplaying such prominent principles. Or the independence of the country, or the fight against corruption, the fight against injustice, and so on; these are the principles of the revolution.

These are part of a vast and diverse soft war that the enemy is pursuing. We must pay attention to this and stand against this desensitization. Thinkers, writers, speakers, those engaged in various social activities, those active in the virtual space, those who can and have the opportunity, have a responsibility in this regard; and they should not allow the enemies to gradually diminish this sensitivity and zeal of the people.

Let us also know that the assumption that these principles are not beneficial for the people, for the country, and for the future is a very erroneous and unrealistic assumption; it is sheer injustice. In our country, over these 43 years, wherever we have made progress, wherever we have had successful movements, and wherever we have had freedom of action, it has been where revolutionary individuals with spirit, with struggle, have become active, entered the field, worked, and we have advanced. In the field of scientific progress, in industrial advancements, technical advancements, political advancements, in various sectors, wherever faithful, aware, revolutionary individuals have entered the field, we have been able to progress; [but] wherever work has been left undone, when one looks, one sees the presence of opportunism, corruption, elitism, and non-revolutionary perspectives; these are what cause work to remain undone and progress to stagnate. Therefore, adherence to the principles of the revolution is certainly one of the most important means and tools for the progress of the country and the progress of the nation; this is another reminder that must be taken into account.

The next reminder, which I believe is also very important, is the issue of maintaining unity in the country. We must minimize the factors of division as much as we can. Of course, differences in tastes exist, differences in opinions exist, differences in methods and approaches exist; these are there, but we must not allow these to lead to confrontations against one another; the general cohesion of the people must not be disrupted by these things; we must not allow these differences to escalate.

Of course, naturally, there are some who stand against the revolution, and the revolution has no choice but to stand against them; but if the discussion is about differences in opinion, differences in taste, differences in viewpoints, [if] these differences exist in society, they should not lead to the national cohesion being disrupted; that is, collective decisions for defending the country, for advancing the country, for instilling hope in the youth in the country, and similar matters must remain.

We must always keep in mind that among the enemies we face in the world, there are enemies whose specialty is creating division; their specialty is "divide and rule"; this is among the old tactics that relate to some of these; they know how to do this; and one sees that wherever they have been able, they have done this; including sectarian differences, differences between Shia and Sunni; we must not allow these things to occur or escalate in the country. Well, in the country, Shia and Sunni have lived alongside each other for centuries, for years; they have not had any problems. We have sometimes had differences among ethnic groups, conflicts among different ethnicities, but we have not had conflicts and differences between Shia and Sunni; now [we must not] allow a pretext to arise, such things to arise, which, thank God, such things have not occurred, but we must not allow them to arise; we must be vigilant. Now, when someone makes a wrong statement, someone feels obligated to respond to him, we should not escalate it, we should not prolong it. Therefore, we must all preserve this cohesion.

You observe, well, the Islamic Republic is an Islamic government, and its flag is the flag of Shia, but now in Islamic countries where Sunnis live, sometimes one observes their strong expressions of interest and support for the Islamic Republic; in various countries from East Asia to West Africa, there are those who behave like this towards the Islamic Republic, and they are not Shia. Therefore, in the Islamic world, today the Islamic Republic is the manifestation of Islam, the manifestation of the Islamic nation, the manifestation of the sovereignty of the Islamic nation. I mentioned, you saw in the anniversary of martyr Soleimani, in various countries, many of which were Sunnis, that they created those massive demonstrations and similar events. We must not assume that today we have the right to behave with indifference towards this issue of national cohesion.

Of course, there are other reminders that have been mentioned many times: strengthening hope and outlook towards the future; this is one of our important issues today. There are those who try to weaken hope in the youth and make them hopeless and distrustful towards the future, so that there is no outlook before them; it is our duty to strengthen this hope in their hearts. [Strengthening] this hope cannot be done only by talking; it must be through effort, through movement. And the officials of the country, the statesmen of the country, who, thanks be to God, are busy working and acting, should pay attention to the fact that many of their positive actions can fill the hearts of the youth with hope, make them overflow with hope, and encourage them. When the youth have hope, they work well in various fields, study well, and research well. One is that they should not allow some to move against the direction of encouraging the youth with their temptations in the virtual space and outside of it.

Another point and reminder is that we must not allow the successes of the Islamic Republic to remain concealed; this is one of the truly important issues. Well, today we have economic problems; consider the issue of inflation, the issue of the rising prices of some goods, the livelihood of the people, especially the underprivileged classes, the problems of banks, tax issues, and so on; well, these are our problems. Some express these problems in such a way that it seems as if no success has occurred in the Islamic Republic and they conceal them. There are dozens of successes in various sectors of the Islamic Republic that I have referred to in the second step statement (5). We must mention these great successes of the Islamic Republic to the people and remind those who are negligent of them. Therefore, this is another point that must be taken into account.

Another point is the issue of being people-oriented. Well, fortunately, the government currently in power has good connections with the people; it goes among the people, is present among the people; there is a noticeable people-oriented movement that must be completed; first, it must continue. Now, some even question this, and [we must] not pay attention to them. Truly, being present among the people, even though it is tiring for the statesmen — this is a hard job, it is not easy — but it is very effective, it is very good, and it must continue. Secondly, the promises made to the people must be fulfilled; they must be fulfilled on time so that the people know there is seriousness. In cases where fulfilling these promises is not possible — there are instances where a promise has been made but in practice, the means are not provided — there, they should go to the same people to whom this promise was made, explain clearly and openly, and say that the reason we could not do this is this, and God willing, we will do it; this is also regarding fulfilling promises.

One more thing is that sometimes experts and specialists who are part of the people provide opinions, methods for work in various sectors to the statesmen; [the officials] should adopt a mechanism that allows them to utilize these opinions so that in reality, they involve the people in the decision-making processes of the responsible institutions of the country; this is one. And for this, they should also establish a mechanism for how to utilize the people's capacities in action. There are many who are willing to assist the government in some of the work and help; the way must be specified so that the means of connecting public assistance to this sector is clear; they must sit down and think about these; this requires thinking, studying, and so on.

And also utilize the people's capacities for public oversight. In various parts of the country, there are instances of corruption, favoritism that may have escaped the attention of the relevant officials; the people observe these, see them; the people's capacities should also be utilized in this regard. Therefore, being people-oriented is one of the very fundamental tasks, and the statesmen must pursue this as outlined in a general way.

And in general, in response to these recommendations we make to our dear people, the respected officials of the country must also consider themselves obliged to truly work with all their being. Of course, today what I observe is that, thanks be to God, the respected officials — from top to bottom — are busy working, striving, and making efforts; as far as our eyes can see, they are making efforts, truly working hard; may these efforts be blessed by God. They should continue these struggles, work for the people, purify their intentions for God, so that this movement will also be a great act of worship. I conclude my remarks.

I ask God Almighty to grant success to the Iranian nation in all arenas and scenes; to grant victory over its enemies; to make the pure soul of the esteemed Imam happy and to unite him with his friends and to make him pleased and satisfied with us, so that we may not be ashamed before our esteemed Imam; may He make the pure souls of the martyrs pleased with us and unite them with His friends and not make us ashamed before them.

Once again, I extend my greetings and sincerity to the dear people of Qom and to you, the respected attendees of this session, and I hope that God Almighty will include all of you in His grace, mercy, and blessings.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.