On April 15, 1964, Imam Khomeyni, in his first day of classes in the seminary, made important remarks before a large crowd of people in the Grand Mosque of Qom. Addressing the Shah’s remarks the day before in which he had said “We oppose the obscurantist ideologies and beliefs,” he stated: “He does not give up on his words and accuses the Islamic thoughts of adopting reactionary attitudes.” Also, rejecting the Shah’s lies and the domestic and foreign media, he stated:
“We have been accused of being an obscurantist. The media outside of Iran, those who have been provided with huge budgets to beat us, would call us the opponents of the reform. The Muslim scholars oppose killings, cruelty, and dictatorship, is it obscurantism? Neither we nor Islam are against civilization. These luminous thoughts of the high-ranking scholars belong to Islam. Complete compliance with and blind imitation of others and handing over the countries’ resources to them are obscurantism. Shame on this attitude. You who work for the tyrannical rulers and oppress this nation, you have broken all the rules, you disregard all the Islamic precepts, are you calling yourself a progressive?”
Then Imam Khomeyni addressed the plot of cultural colonization by making a simple and firm statement:
“You (the regime) change the manifestations of the modernity and civilizations in Iran such that a lawful thing has become haram. Should the radio serve their interests? It is colonialism that makes newspapers so vulgar to poison the minds of young people. It is colonialism that regulates our cultural program so that we would have weak youths in this country. We disagree with these manifestations. We say that the universities should not mislead our youths, rather it should make them a fighter, a person who would stand up against colonialism.”
Also, while addressing the false propaganda and slandering that were carried out by the regime he stated:
“We do not take issue with the progress of women; we are against the depravity and corruption. Are men free that women want to be free? Merely using the terms (a free man) and (a free woman) will not change anything!”
While disclosing the regime’s relations with Israel, Imam Khomeyni declared the opposition and hatred of the Iranian people against the Israeli regime and said:
“You bring a military expert from Israel to this country; you send students from here (Iran) to Israel. We disagree with these measures. We say that many Islamic countries stand up against Israel and disbelief and you along with the Turkish government stand side by side with Israel. I swear to God that this is harmful. When Iran stands up against all Muslims, it will have adverse effects on the Iranian nation and hence our Sunni brothers would consider the Shi’ahs as those who worship Jews! People should be aware that our nation is against the alliance with Israel, this is not our nation, this is not our clergies. Our religion requires that we fight against the enemy of Islam.”
Imam Khomeyni strongly rejected the rumour that the regime had made a deal with the clergies and refereed to the historical role of the clergies in the country’s independence:
“Could Khomeyni make a deal with cruelty? He has no right to do so! Even during the imprisonment, Khomeyni was trying to maintain the message and glory of Islam. He is supposed to do that. be aware that even if Khomeyni agrees with you, the Islamic nation will not compromise with you. We are on the same front as we were before. We oppose all the anti-Islam decisions that have been ratified. We support this country for free and we do not use your budget. We would get along with all these beatings, prosecutions, and imprisonments and we are a pillar for this country. If danger threatens the country, we will not afraid of it and would stand against it.”
Imam Khomeyni, while listing the reasons for clergies’ opposition to the Shah’s regime, warned the regime about the continuation of the struggles:
“If you believe in Islamic laws so these are the laws of Islam; and if you rely on the constitution, act upon the constitutional amendment for which the Muslim scholars sacrificed their lives so that the whole nation will obtain freedom. we neither had enmity with that government, nor we consider you as our brothers! We look at your deeds. If I realize that saving Islam requires expressing an opinion, I would do so without being afraid of others. Thank God I have not been afraid of anything so far.”
In the end, Imam Khomeyni expressed his gratitude to all the sources of emulation, scholars and clerics of Iran and other countries as well as people who had supported him in various ways. Also, he emphasized that the sources of emulation and scholars are a blessing of Almighty God. In addition, he warned young clergies not to offend even one grand scholar because of political reasons, because insulting a source of emulation is equal to insulting an Islamic society and will break the divine guardianship over the person.
Then he humbly stated:
“I kiss the hands of all the sources of emulation including those who are here (Qom), and the ones in Najaf, Mashhad, Tehran, etc.; I kiss the hands of all Islamic scholars. The destination is greater than this. I extend the hand of brotherhood to all Muslim nations throughout the world, from the East to the West. We humbly respect Islamic scholars; you should do the same.”
In order to defeat Imam Khomeyni’s movement, the regime tried to create division between Imam Khomeyni and sources of emulation and their supporters or intensify the existing divisions and disagreements; on the other hand, it sought to increasingly control the activities of Imam Khomeyni’s supporters and even imprison them. Before Imam Khomeyni’s release, SAVAK had studied and investigated the issues over which there were disagreements, and after his release, given the new emerged situation and before the beginning of the month of Muharram – during which probably Imam Khomeyni would react strongly on the occasion of the June 6th event anniversary – SAVAK again studied the ways and methods for isolating and weakening Imam Khomeyni and hence offered the following suggestions to the decision-makers:
1. Supporting the clergies and preachers who are favouring the regime and provide them with financial assistance;
2. Taking oppressive measures regarding the clerics and preachers who stand up against the regime and are the adherents of the sources of emulation especially Imam Khomeyni;
3. Controlling mourning ceremonies by the law-enforcement forces and forcing their coordinators to abide by the regime’s rules;
4. Controlling the anti-regime preachers and their meetings as well as forcing them to commit to not interfere in political affairs;
5. Controlling the mass media in order to prevent the anti-regime clerics from finding flaws in the system;
6. Creating division among the clergies and exploiting the subsequent atmosphere of disagreement;
7. Devising plans by law-enforcement and security agencies in order to prevent and forecast future events and creating full coordination of the aforementioned bodies in implementing these decisions.
It was also ordered that the arrest of pro-Imam Khomeyni clerics that had begun a few days earlier would continue. Moreover, those who had published and distributed Imam Khomeyni’s leaflets, tapes, pamphlets and photographs were widely arrested and prosecuted.
Imam Khomeyni’s good relationship with Qom and Mashhad scholars after his release, as well as his important remarks on April 16 praising Iranian and Iraqi scholars and warning his followers of insulting the sources of emulation contributed largely to the resolving of the existing disputes. In addition, he sent delegates to other cities and asked the scholars residing there to become united, urging them to gather together one night a week (preferably Sunday night) to review the important political events in the country. He also wrote letters to the sources of emulation and scholars of Karbala and Najaf, advising them to do the same. Also, he had a meeting with the sources of emulation of Qom every Sunday night. But some Qom scholars were reluctant to attend these meetings and stressed their disagreement with Imam Khomeyni. Before the anniversary of the June 6th event, Imam Khomeyni wrote a statement but due to its harsh and revolutionary content that had targeted the Shah’s regime, the sources of emulation of Qom refused to sign it. Also, they did not sign the second statement which had contained more moderate content. Therefore, the second announcement was sent to Mashhad. Ayatollah Milani and Ayatollah Qommi signed it, and when it was sent back to Qom, Ayatollah Marashi-Najafi also signed it. But Ayatollah Golpaygani and Ayatollah Shariatmadari neither signed the statement nor issued separate statements. As a result, with four signatures the statement was secretly printed and distributed a few days before the anniversary of the June 6th event in Tehran, Qom, and many other cities. Referring to the last year’s event, this proclamation stated that: “The June 6th incident has brought disgrace upon the government.”
“The tragic event of June 6th and the Feyzieh Seminary or other events struck the Muslim community such that the Islamic nation will not forget such calamities. We declare the 12th of Muharram a national mourning day. Let them call us reactionaries or obscurantist.”
Although issuing that statement was another reason for rejecting the rumours of the clerics and the Shah coming to an agreement, yet the refusal of the two grand Ayatollahs of Qom to sign it was an indication of the existing disagreement between the sources of emulation of Qom of which the regime would take advantages. Therefore, in a letter to one of the sources of emulation, Imam Khomeyni complained about Ayatollah Shariatmadari’s views and expressed concern about the consequences of his actions.
On the occasion of the anniversary of the June 6th event, it was announced that a ceremony would be held to commemorate the incident on the 12th of Muharram in the house of Imam Khomeyni. The following day, the mourning ceremony was held in the house of Imam Khomeyni in which he attended. In this ceremony, the speakers and lecturers talked about the massacres of innocent people on June 6 and cursed its perpetrators. In that assembly, one of the clerics urged people not to chant slogans against the regime. Hence, Imam Khomeyni became angry and said that he has to leave the meeting and then stated:
“Why people do not have the right to chant? They (the regime’s forces) have killed 30,000 people then you ask us not to chant slogans?!” A few days later, Imam Khomeyni, along with Ayatollah Marashi-Najafi, visited Ayatollah Shariatmadari, and reminded him of the negative implications of his actions and described them as the damage to Islam and the clergies. In response, Ayatollah Shariatmadari described Imam Khomeyni’s method as useless and fruitless and criticized the slogan of unification with Islamic states and nations and attacking Israel, calling it a political and non-religious action. He also stated that opposing Shah would undermine the independence of the country and Islam and asked Imam Khomeyni that from then on all Iranian and Iraqi sources of emulation should decide about the important issues. Subsequently, it was decided that all the sources of emulation consult about the content of the statements so that no one will be annoyed.
At the same time, Imam Khomeyni, after knowing about the disputes between the sources of emulation of Najaf, sought to settle the dispute and sent a considerable sum of money to the well-known preacher, Mr. Falsafi, to distribute it among the preachers who had been banned from making speeches during Muharram. Imam Khomeyni was trying to inform the Iranian people of the great dangers posed by Israel and its agents (the Baha’is) to the country as well as the other Muslims and Islamic countries.
Therefore, he referred to this point in all his statements issued from 1962 onward. In June 1964, in a telegram to Mr. Falsafi who was in Sirjan at that time, Imam Khomeyni urged him to warn people and the government about the threat of Israel, criticize the regime’s wrongdoings and violent crimes and encourage people to demand their rights.
On September 9, 1964, Imam Khomeyni delivered an important speech in the opening ceremony of the seminaries. In a speech delivered in front of more than three thousand people who had gathered in the Grand Mosque of Qom, Imam Khomeyni referred to the extensive and comprehensive relations between Iran and Israel and the dispatching of the students and administrators to that country and strongly condemned the trilateral relations between Iran, Israel and Turkey. He also stressed that taking important military and administrative positions by Baha’is is a great danger for the Iranian people and the government. Referring to the existence of Baha’i ministers in the government and praising some of the noble and committed military officials, Imam Khomeyni urged the officials to expel the Baha’i personals from the army. In addition, he warned the government that if the Baha’is were not prevented from taking important administrative positions he will personally react to such measures.
Imam Khomeyni condemned racism as an implication of colonialism, calling those who create divisions between Shi’ahs and Sunni the agents and mercenaries of colonialism. Also, in his view, the main cause of the historical problem of the misery of the Muslims was the puppet Islamic countries and their leaders. Imam Khomeyni stressed that the reason that the heads of Islamic countries lack self-esteem and govern puppet administrations is due to their “Westernization” and inability to urge them to trust themselves and through Islamic unity stand up against Western colonialism which, in his view, certainly will be defeated. Imam Khomeyni also called on the Buddhists to fight against Western colonialism.
While referring to Islam’s capabilities for running a government, Imam Khomeyni said: “If we want to have an Islamic state in which the Islamic percepts would run the country, all the boundaries will be preserved.” In the end, he asked the government to let the clergies run the Ministry of Culture (the Ministry of Education) so that they could give independence to the culture of the country and confront the cultural invasions. He also demanded that the clergies should supervise and broadcast radio programs. Of course, Imam Khomeyni was well-aware of the regime’s viewpoint: “You will not let that happen.”
Imam Khomeyni’s recent remarks illustrated that the westernization of the governors and their inefficiency and inability in managing the affairs of the country are two sides of the same coin and that the only way to gain political-cultural independence is to return to the original Islamic teachings that the clergies inherit. In addition, those remarks emphasized the clergy’s willingness and ability to participate in and run the affairs of the country and showed some promising horizons of the Islamic state.
Archive of Imam Khomeini
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