Statements in Meeting with the People of Qom

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, especially the Remaining One of God on earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters; the opportunity to meet in person with the dear people of Qom is very sweet and desirable for us. I do not forget, I mean it is always in my mind, the presence of the dear people of Qom over many years in this Hussainiyah, with that enthusiasm, with that excitement, with those feelings, with that clear insight in various fields. Well, we were deprived for two or three years; this year, thanks be to God, we are once again at your service.

The commemoration of the 19th of Dey (December 30) of 1978 is repeated every year; it must be repeated, it must continue; in the future, this luminous thread must endure; why? Because the event was a significant transformative event, it was not an ordinary event. Keeping the transformative events of history alive is the duty of all. Now, I will explain that in major historical events, there is either a valuable experience or a clarification of a divine tradition in nature. Each of these is worthy of attention, worthy of historical use by nations; therefore, it must be kept alive.

Why do we say that the 19th of Dey in Qom is a transformative historical event? Because it was the beginning of a great jihad. From here, a great jihad began throughout the country, and the goal of this jihad was to free dear Iran from the digestive system of the West; to pull Iran, which had been crushed under the feet of the distorted and erroneous Western culture and under the political and military domination of the West, out, to make it independent, to revive the historical identity of Iran. The historical identity of Iran is Islamic Iran; since the emergence of Islam until today, which other nation do you know that has served Islam in various fields, in philosophy, in jurisprudence, in various sciences, as much as the Iranians? Refer to the precious book of the late martyr Motahhari on the mutual services of Islam and Iran. This Islamic identity of Iran had been lost; if someone came and walked in the streets of Tehran — and not just Tehran, many other cities; even in some places in Mashhad — they would not feel that this is an Islamic country, that this is a Muslim people living here; that is how it had been.

This jihad that began — the first flame of that jihad ignited in Qom — was to save Iran from that situation; to return it to its original identity, to its true identity, to its historical identity, to its glorious identity. Of course, those who were in the midst of the event that day may not have realized the importance of this work; they felt a duty — which I will explain — and came into the field. Perhaps they did not realize — at least not all of them realized — what they were doing; what a great movement they were shaping; they did not know, but if we want to define historical events, we must define them with a view to their past and future. The event of Qom arose from what and what consequences it had; this shows the importance of the event and the measure and value of this matter. Well, this is the reality of the event of the 19th of Dey in 1978 in Qom.

The event is a very significant one; it must remain alive; this event must not be erased from the memory of history and fade away. Of course, the strategy of the false current is to conceal the days of God or to diminish such events. The strategy of the false current is to prevent such days, such events from remaining alive, from shining. From the perspective of the false front, these days are often concealed or denied; it even reaches denial! The 22nd of Bahman (February 11), the 13th of Aban (November 4), the 19th of Dey, the 9th of Dey (December 30), the 29th of Bahman (February 18) — the issue of Tabriz — the day of the funeral of martyr Soleimani, the day of the funeral of martyr Hojjati, all of these are days of God; they want to conceal these. Each of these is a torch that, from the perspective of the false current, must be extinguished. The false current that stands against you, against this nation, against this revolution, cannot tolerate these torches; it must destroy them, extinguish the torches. This is exactly the opposite of the Quran; our Quran commands us to remember and mention such events: وَ اذکُر فِی الکِتابِ مَریَمَ اِذِ انتَبَذَت مِن اَهلِها مَکاناً شَرقیّا; (1) the important event of [Prophet] Mary must not be forgotten; it must remain in history. وَ اذکُر فِی الکِتابِ اِبراهیم, (2) وَ اذکُر فِی الکِتابِ موسیٰ, (3) وَ اذکُر عَبدَنا اَیّوب, (4) وَ اذکُر عَبدَنا داودَ ذَا الاَید, (5) وَ اذکُر اَخا عادٍ اِذ اَنذَرَ قَومَهُ بِالاَحقاف; (6) perhaps there are ten or more instances in the Quran like this: وَ اذکُر, وَ اذکُر. In some places where they concealed, the Prophet of God was commanded to extract it from their mouths: وَ سئَلهُم عَنِ القَریَةِ الَّتی کانَت حاضِرَةَ البَحر; (7) do you conceal the issue of the day of “Sabbath”? Ask them about that deception they wanted to carry out with God, to deceive God, and God Almighty turned you into monkeys (8) and pigs (9). Do you want us to forget and not know? وَ سئَلهُم عَنِ القَریةِ الَّتی کانَت حاضِرَةَ البَحر; ask them and get an answer; this is the logic of the Quran.

Well, now these events, as we mentioned, either contain a historical experience — which well, if you entered the field with God through deception and trickery, وَ اللهُ خَیرُ الماکِرین; (10) God Almighty is better at deceiving you; indeed, they plot a plot * and I plot a plot; (11) very well, [now that] you enter the field of God, God is the Owner of the Kingdom; this is an experience that has occurred in the historical life of mankind; I, a living person in this era, must know this, must understand; the experience that befell the companions of the Sabbath, I must know [and not repeat their actions] — or it contains a divine tradition. When some deny the Resurrection, the story of the companions of the Cave comes up; God Almighty puts some people to sleep for three hundred and some years, then wakes them up, showing that this is how it is. Or various other issues that are abundant in the Quran. Reflection in the Quran leads us to many of these truths; these things can be a guiding light for us in this period of our lives. We ultimately have a beginning and an end; during this time, we must strive, we must work. By the way, our era is a sensitive and important one. This era in which you and I live, especially you young people [must] pay great attention to this era; this era is sensitive and important. You must benefit greatly from these divine traditions. Well, so the importance of the event is this.

In the event of the 19th of Dey itself, there are lessons. I have often referred to some of these events in my talks with the dear people of Qom, but if someone takes a comprehensive look at this event, [they will understand] it is a very strange event; this event contains lessons. The issue begins like this — and well, you know these things; everyone knows these things — a vile article was published by order of the court, that is, by order of those at the top of the tyrannical regime — it was not the work of the middle and lower ranks; it was from the top — against Imam and containing insults to the great Imam, who was in exile in Najaf, and his son had just been martyred, had passed away. People sympathized with the great Imam because of the passing of this respected and honored son — Haj Agha Mustafa was truly a distinguished person — they saw they had to do something, [but] they acted foolishly, created problems for themselves, and published this article. فَاَتاهُمُ اللهُ مِن حَیثُ لَم یحتَسِبوا; (12) from a place they did not expect, they faced a storm.

Well, now the article was published. Usually, around two o'clock in the afternoon, this newspaper was printed. By the time it arrived from Tehran to Qom, it took about two hours. When is this? On the 17th of Dey. As soon as this newspaper reached Qom and people looked and saw such a thing, a number of them came out; that is, the beginning of the issue is from the 17th of Dey. They reacted quickly, came out into the streets, burned some copies of this newspaper, expressed their hatred; this is the day of the 17th. On the morning of the 18th, it was the turn of the students; they suspended their lessons and discussions, came out into the streets collectively towards the houses of the Marja’s [religious authorities]; the movement of the students continued until night, and there were many clashes and confrontations with the regime's military and agents throughout that day. On the 19th of Dey, which is the main day of the event, the people entered the field; the youth came, the merchants came, ordinary people came, everyone came. The tyrannical apparatus was always ready to suppress the people; they also entered the field, martyred a number of them, injured many, beat some, and finally, the event that day ended with martyrdom and such things, but [in reality] it did not end, it began; this was the beginning. I have narrated the text of the event to you.

Qom, with this action, became the flagbearer of the revolution. Qom is proud to have carried the first practically raised flag of the revolution. Of course, at the beginning of the movement — which began in 1961, 15 years before this date — the people of Qom were ahead of others, but at that time the issue was not yet so mature and well-considered and fully developed; but here, in the beginning of the revolution and the great movement of the revolution, the people of Qom became the flagbearers, they became the vanguard; because they were believers, because they entered for God. If it were not for God, how could a person keep their chest in front of bullets? Is it possible for someone to put themselves in front of such a great danger without believing in the truth of the existence of God and the right of God? Because they were believers, because they had faith in God, God blessed their work. This work began in one day, two days, three days, as I mentioned, and apparently ended, but it did not end; it ignited the country; first Tabriz, then other places.

Now, there are several points in this movement that I want to mention three or four points. These are lessons for us. You see, we live in a strange era; now no one can calculate precisely, but it is not an exaggeration to say that the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic today are hundreds of times more advanced, stronger, more aware, more insightful, and more in control of affairs than in those early days. The events of the world today are very different from those days; strange events are dominating the world; things that were unbelievable are now coming to pass; in the West, in the East, the farthest East of the world, the farthest West of the world, the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere, everywhere. The world is in a strange situation; you see. We must use the experiences of those days; these experiences do not become outdated.

The first point is speed of action. [The people of Qom] quickly felt a duty. Sometimes our problem is that we do not quickly recognize our duty; they must come and sit down, talk to us, reason with us, and do things like that; [well] time passes. The speed of action of the people [of Qom] in feeling their duty when they saw that this was happening, they understood what they had to do, they came into the field. The shopkeeper came, the merchant came, the student came, the scholars came, great figures from the seminary entered, ordinary people came into the field; they quickly felt their duty.

The second point is that they accepted the great dangers of this work — they knew and recognized these dangers. It is clear that when you come out into the street in a regime like the tyrannical regime, with that oppression, with that ruthlessness, with that heartlessness; they had seen their heartlessness and the people had seen it; they had seen the 15th of Khordad (June 5), they had seen the subsequent events [that followed]. In Qom itself, apart from the second of Farvardin (April 1) of 1963, when the events of the Feyziyeh School occurred, in 1975, another significant event occurred in the Feyziyeh School; (13) the people had seen these; it was not that they were unaware; they knew the dangers but accepted them, they accepted the danger, they entered the field. After all, without accepting risks, one cannot enter great works.

The next point is that they acted in a timely manner. You see! I have often mentioned this in various gatherings that in a production line, there may be twenty workers standing in a row, this industrial product is moving on this line, each must do a job; one must hit with a hammer, one must turn a screw, one must put something down, one must pick something up; they must do this work at the moment it is needed. If this object — and you are one of those twenty people standing behind the production line — passes in front of you, and you think about it ten seconds later, it is lost; the work is finished. It must be done at the moment. The Tawabin (the Penitents) came to avenge the pure blood of Imam Hussein, they fought, they were all martyred, but in history, they are not praised; why? Because they acted too late. You who wanted to give your blood for Imam Hussein, why did you not come at the beginning of Muharram, on the second of Muharram, to at least do something? You stand there watching, Imam Hussein is martyred, then your heart aches, and then you come into the field! [The result of] not acting in a timely manner is this. The work must be done in a timely manner.

We must not neglect the duty that reason and Sharia have placed upon us; we must enter the field without delay. There should be no delay. At that time, according to the importance of that work, we must accept the dangers. After all, in every event, one should not accept every danger; some events are not so important that one should risk their life. In proportion to the importance of the event, we must accept the danger associated with entering the field. The problem arises when we create disruptions in these duties: we do not quickly feel our duty, we do not enter in a timely manner, we do not accept the danger, we hesitate; this is how it is.

If we observe these conditions, progress is certain; that is, do not doubt it. An example is the years of sacred defense. I again recommend for the umpteenth time to read the biographies of the families of martyrs of the sacred defense or the defense of the household of the Prophet; see what hardships they endured. This young man leaves his dear wife, his beloved child, goes to fulfill his duty. In the sacred defense, thousands [of people] went into the field like this; well, what is the result? The result is that a madman like Saddam, with abundant resources, enters the field, America helps him, Europe helps him, NATO helps him, the reactionary Arab countries pour money at his feet, and in the end, he cannot do anything and returns empty-handed. When we have a young man like the young men of the sacred defense in the field, whose faith supports them, and someone like Imam kisses the hands and arms of these, the result is certain progress. Yes, there was the Battle of the Confederates, and in this Battle of the Confederates, Iran was victorious; that is, all the powers of the world joined hands to disintegrate Iran, to separate Khuzestan, to separate this place, [but] they could not take even an inch of the country’s soil; is this a small thing? Is this a small victory? When we move, feel our duty, accept the danger, enter the field, this is the result; this is our experience.

Another point in this event of [the 19th of Dey] in Qom is why the tyrannical regime, which knew that the people were attached to this great personality, dared to do this? Because it was backed by America. وَ اتَّخَذوا مِن دونِ اللهِ آلِهَةً لَعَلَّهُم یُنصَرون; they cannot help them, and they are their soldiers present; (14) it was backed by Carter. A few days before this event in Qom, Carter met with the Shah here (15) and they drank together, and in a drunken state praised the Shah; a detailed praise. He said this is an island of stability and such words; it was backed by him. When such false support exists, the result is this; it does not help him. لا یَستَطیعونَ نَصرَهُم; those who rely on the power of disbelief — I do not say they interact with the power of disbelief; no, we also interact with the power of disbelief — if they rely on a power other than God, the result is this. Well, this is from that side.

From this side, the people were actually fighting against the tyrannical regime, but they were actually fighting against America, they were actually fighting against Carter. The presence of America in Iran at that time was something strange and extraordinary. In my opinion, you dear young people who are present and did not see those times, and perhaps some of you have read about them in books, many have not even read in books — unfortunately, our children read little — do not know how much influence there was; America was dominant over all the affairs of the country.

Look; in 1963 — thirteen years before the event of the 19th of Dey and fourteen years before the victory of the revolution — Imam was exiled from Qom; why was Imam exiled? Imam had made a speech; in this speech, what did Imam say? Imam spoke against capitulation, that is, the immunity of Americans in Iran; he attacked America. In that speech, Imam says — the essence of his speech is this — that if the Shah of Iran runs over an American dog in the street, he must be held accountable, but if an American cook runs over the Shah of Iran in the street, no one has the right to hold him accountable! This is capitulation. Imam attacked this, he shouted at the heads of the apparatus. At that time, Imam was exiled for these [words]! Now, Imam’s exile lasted thirteen years, but for them, it was a lifetime exile; from their perspective, it was a lifetime exile. Now, fortunately, the revolution succeeded, and Imam returned to the country thirteen years later. This shows how much influence America had in this country. Well, the people rose against such influence; they rose against such a powerful influence in the country.

Another point I want to mention regarding this event in Qom is that neither in this event nor in the subsequent events that occurred, individuals or groups and currents with empty claims and without roots could not infiltrate; this is a very important matter. [Here] it was not like the Constitutional Revolution; the Constitutional Revolution was initiated by the scholars to remove despotism, but known or unknown individuals entered the field and diverted the path towards the British embassy! They went there. For a request that belonged to ordinary people, the British embassy became an intermediary. When unworthy people enter a movement, [the result] is this. In the Qom movement, such a thing did not happen; in the current that was launched with this movement, such a current did not occur. Everyone, [even] those who opposed it, were intimidated; intimidated by the people, intimidated by this great movement, intimidated by the Imam’s calls. One sits in a religious class in Najaf, and shouts so loudly that it shakes the world! We did not properly recognize Imam; we did not properly recognize the personality of Imam. This movement was one that others could not enter; they were intimidated. Even those who opposed it — there were communists in Iran, various individuals whose hearts were not with this movement, with this action — neither dared to oppose nor dared to enter; because the movement of the people was a great movement. What I am saying are personal experiences of mine; what I have seen up close, what I know, I am sharing with you.

Well, now why could they not infiltrate? This is also an important point. Why could other currents not enter, disrupt, infiltrate? The reason was that the leaders of this movement, at the head of this movement, were religious personalities; religious personalities courageously entered the field. In all cities — in Tehran, in Qom, in other places, in our Mashhad as well — great scholars, reputable religious figures entered the field and they became the flag. In various cities, we saw these. A number of scholars who were exiled here and there, wherever they were exiled, they brought that place along with them, with their words, and made all hearts turn towards them.

Ultimately, the Islamic revolution and this great movement that began in Qom managed to save Iran from the bloodthirsty and plundering hands of America. It is true that the movement was against the monarchy and against the court and against the corrupt, dependent government, and thanks be to God, they overthrew it, but in reality, it pulled Iran out from the throat of America. I have a purpose in stating this. It pulled Iran out from under the grip of America, and this became the foundation and basis of America’s enmity with Iran. You see; that they say a certain event, a certain issue caused the Americans to become enemies with us, [is wrong.] Some now, after forty years, say why do you make the Americans your enemies! Are we making them enemies? For forty years, they have been [making us enemies], they are thirsty for our blood! Are we now making America our enemy?

The Americans started from [the very] first day. A document was recently published — which was brought to me; apparently, just a few weeks ago — from a reputable American center; which publishes important documents, for example, after thirty or forty years. This [center] published a document stating that in December 1979, that is, about ten months after our revolution victory — the revolution succeeded in February [1979]; this is in December; there is about a ten-month gap — Carter issued an order to the CIA; the order was to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is from that day; that is, at the very beginning of the revolution, the President of the United States issued an order to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran — with a disturbed sleep he must have had — to the CIA. At that time, the interesting point is that he mentions how to overthrow it.

The first point he mentions is propaganda; he says to promote against the Islamic Republic. Do you think this policy is unfamiliar? Promoting against the Islamic Republic; promoting in the world, promoting in public opinion, promoting inside the country. This was the work they started that day; propaganda. Of course, it was not just propaganda; there were sanctions, espionage, infiltration, and groundwork for a military coup, and such things, but first, he names propaganda, saying with propaganda. This has continued until today; from the year 1979 — which becomes the year 1358 in the Iranian calendar — until today, for 43 years, this American policy has continued; the policy of targeting the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. By what means? Through sanctions, through infiltration, through maximum pressure, through creating anti-Iranian alliances, anti-Iranian, anti-Islam, anti-Shia; through these means, and at the forefront, through propaganda. For 43 years, the Americans have been doing this, and this work continues to this day.

Of course, it is clear that the enemy has not succeeded in its evil intention. The Islamic Republic of those years is nowhere near the Islamic Republic of today with its strong roots that have spread not only in the country, [but] in the region! The strength that today, by God’s grace and with God’s help, the Islamic Republic has, is not comparable to that day; however, they have struck us, these actions slowed our movement, we could have been further ahead than this. They committed crimes. They imposed an eight-year war on us; this is a crime. Well, a country that concentrates all its forces for the defense of the country, these forces could have been used for construction, could have advanced the country, could have eradicated poverty. It is not just the imposed war; there is pressure, there are sanctions; all of these are effective, all of these have been effective. They committed wickedness to slow down the movement of the Islamic Republic.

Well, can we compensate for this slowdown? Yes, in my opinion, we can. We must work harder, manage better, and strive tirelessly; this is the way. We can compensate; it is not that it cannot be compensated. As in some areas, by God’s grace, this work has been done; this work has been done in scientific fields, in defense fields, in many production fields, which now the details of the work done [are extensive]. Thanks to the efforts of the jihadist work, thanks to the faith and belief of the workers, thanks to working day and night without recognizing night and day, great works have been accomplished. In all areas, this work must be done; we can do it.

Well, I want to make a reference to the recent disturbances. In the recent disturbances, the hand of the foreign enemy was evident, which now some have denied. As soon as one says “foreign enemy,” to bring down a faction or a person or a group or a government, they immediately deny it, meaning [they say] “no, it is your fault”; but no, the hands of foreigners were clear, it was evident. That American work, that European work, various European countries; each entered this issue in some way; openly, clearly, not secretly. It became clear who was involved in this issue; in the recent disturbances, it was the same. This cannot be overlooked. Well, here too, the most important part of the work was propaganda; here too, the most important part of the enemy’s movement was the issue of propaganda. مِن شَرِّ الوَسواسِ الخَنّاسِ * اَلَّذی یُوَسوِسُ فی صُدورِ النّاسِ * مِنَ الجِنَّةِ وَ النّاس; (16) the whispering is not just from the jinn; humans also whisper, they create doubts. You saw the virtual space; you have observed the foreign media from the West and Arab and Hebrew and such. Therefore, here too, the primary role was propaganda.

Well, some wanted to portray it this way, and the foreigners in their propaganda portrayed it this way that these disturbances, where a number of people come out into the streets and shout and insult and break something and set a trash can on fire and such, are against the weaknesses of the country; managerial weaknesses, economic weaknesses, weaknesses like these; no, I tell you the opposite is true. Those who entered the disturbances and initiated them did not aim to eliminate the weaknesses of the country; their goal was to eliminate the strengths of the country. They wanted to eliminate our strengths: our security — security is one of our strengths — the issue of education; we constantly boast that we have made such progress scientifically; well, where is education? In educational centers, scientific centers, research centers, right? They targeted these centers to shut them down so that education would not take place; there would be no security, no education, no growth of domestic production. We [announced] this year’s slogan at the beginning of the year, like two or three years ago, production, with a specific method and from a specific perspective. Production this year has had a good movement. Just a few months ago, in this Hussainiyah, a group came — it was broadcast on television — they explained the great production works they are doing in the country that have never been done before. (17) They stood right here and explained, which was broadcast. They wanted to stop these; they wanted to stop these. Or they wanted to strike at the issue of tourism. One of the policies of the government, for example, has been tourism, which is a good income that was just starting to take off; they wanted to stop this. They wanted to eliminate the strengths; otherwise, yes, we have economic problems, we have the livelihood problems of the people; there is no doubt; does economic problems get solved by burning trash cans? Does it get solved by coming out and rioting in the streets? They did not want to eliminate weaknesses; they wanted to eliminate strengths. Well, undoubtedly, these were treachery, and the responsible agencies will deal seriously and justly with treachery, and they must do so. I want to say two short words at the end:

One is this issue of “jihad of clarification” that I have repeated many times, and I repeat again. The enemy’s main plan is propaganda; as they say, it is propaganda. The remedy for propaganda is “clarification,” clarifying the truth from various tongues, from different voices, with various expressions, with various innovations; clarification. What can dispel the temptation that affects that young person or teenager? A baton cannot dispel it; that temptation can be dispelled by clarification. This is the first point. The jihad of clarification must be taken seriously. Everyone, in the seminary, in the university, in the media especially, in the press, in every place where you stand and have a surrounding radius and can have an effect, must engage in clarification; correct clarification, accurate clarification.

The second is that great goals require great works. Great works must be done, transformative works must be done. In my opinion, it can be done. There are faithful, hardworking, and diligent officials; transformative works can be done. The revolution itself was the greatest transformation. The preliminary works of the revolution were each a transformative work. It was these that enabled us to pass through those difficult turns. After this, whether in the field of economy, whether in the field of culture, whether in the field of security, whether in the field of science, whether in various fields, transformative and great works are necessary. In my opinion, this work is possible: we have the people, we have the officials, thank God, the country has good young people. In these universities and in many seminaries across the country and among various people and different classes, there are individuals who can work; innovative works, novel works, and transformative works.

We hope, God willing, that God Almighty grants all of you and us success in what is our duty.

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