Islamic Revolution in Leader’s viewpoint  

 By Our Staff Writer

 The Islamic Revolution of Iran was an exceptional, unique phenomenon of the twentieth century. The inherent features and its specific messages as well as its sphere of influence turned the Islamic Revolution into a bright, firm revolution that became the focus of attention of the world. Both the Islamic world and other nations, including the peoples and the politicians, were influenced by this revolution and became acquainted with new aspects of Islam as a state religion. The Islamic Revolution of Iran was a development that was carried out by the people and was based on their religious principles and pillars. Hence, the Islamic Revolution had two major features that were manifest in the name of the political system it founded, that is, "Islamic Republic".

"I am going to discuss these two features, which have left major impacts on the image of this revolution in the world as they did in the victory and perpetuation of the revolution in our Islamic country. One of these two features was that the foundation of this revolution was based on religious values, ethic, and spirituality; and the other was that the revolution was based on the people's will and determination who wanted to play their role in the formation and administration of the revolution. In other words, in the post-revolution era, people's role was not undermined and they remained in the scene of the revolution as a significant element. These two features exist in our revolution."

Before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the politicians, scholars and peoples of the world were acquainted with the name of Islam, but they had knowledge of an Islam, whose features were grossly different from what happened in the Islamic Revolution. The best explanation in this regard was given by Imam Khomeini, the founder and leader of the Islamic Republic. He classified Islam into two categories: one, what is known in the world as “American-style Islam” and, second, what was introduced by the Islamic Revolution as “genuine Mohammedan Islam”.

The genuine Mohammedan Islam is the Islam of justice and equity; Islam of dignity and Islam of protection of the downtrodden, barefooted and disinherited; Islam of defense of the rights of the oppressed and wretched; Islam of jihad (holy war) against the enemies and uncompromising with the bullies and plotters. It is Islam of ethic, virtue and spirituality. American-style Islam is something in the name of Islam which is in the service of the arrogant powers and justifier of their acts; it is a pretext for the isolation of a major chunk of the believers and evasion of attending to the affairs of the Muslims and the fate of the Muslim nations; it is a tool for separating a great chunk of the social-political decrees of Islam from the corpus of religion and confining the religion to the mosques (of course, mosque not as a base for running the affairs of the Muslims – as it used to be in the early years of the development of Islam – but as a corner for renouncing from the worldly life and separation of the this world from the hereafter).

The American-style Islam is the Islam of  indifferent people, who do not think of anything except their own animal-like welfare and consider God and religion as a capital for trade and a means for accumulation of wealth or gaining power and would shamelessly forget, or give a biased interpretation of, all the Quranic verses and traditions that are against their interests or will. The American-style Islam is the Islam of the kings and rulers who sacrifice the interests of the their deprived, oppressed nations in the altar of their deities, the United States and Europe, as a quid pro quo for their support of their government and stigmatic power. It is the Islam of the capitalists who trample upon all the values and virtues in order to preserve their own interests. Ye, this is American-style Islam which invites the people to keep away from politics, understanding, discussion and political action. But the genuine Mohammedan Islam considers politics as an inextricable part of religion and calls on all Muslims to political understanding and action. And this is what the Muslim nations should always remember from their late Imam and the impressive tongue of Islam.”

 Liberation from Domination of Superpowers and Breaking the False Sanctities

 Before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the dominant powers through their propaganda and show of power could convince the nations and the weak leaders that they could not confront them and that any move to become independent of the superpowers was doomed to fail. Through their propaganda and due to the weakness of governments, the big powers had created a false sanctuary for themselves, and the very trick had caused the nations to ignore their own power, belief and determination in defeating the powers. The Islamic Revolution astonished the entire world through defeating the oppressive monarch, that enjoyed strong international support, and then through its astonishing resistance against both the United States and former Soviet Union, by raising the slogan of “neither East nor West”, the seizure of the US Den of Espionage (US Embassy in Tehran), and through the resistance it put up against the eight years of Iraqi aggression that enjoyed the support of most powers of the power, led by the United States, Zionism and the West. All these developments also demonstrated the hollowness of the domineering powers and convinced the nations that their will, faith and millions-strength move could really overpower the systems which are equipped with the most sophisticated weapons.

“Among other features of the modern world our honorable Imam and Revolution created in the world include the principle of liberation from domination, occupation and sphere of influence of the great powers; and also the fact that a nation by relying on itself and trust in God in confronting an oppressive power does not trust or rely on anybody or does not trust any power; it was the path our nation started under the leadership of our honorable Imam and today this path is finding a large number of followers in the world.”

“As a superpower, the United States was strong, but today it is not. In how many parts of the world today you observe that the people set the effigy of the US president or its flag on fire? In how many places of the world the nations and masses raise their fists and chant “death to US”? Once you were the only ones to raise this slogan and others would advise you not to do so; but today people chant “death to US” in Europe and in farthest parts of Asia, in the countries under the US influence and in the countries controlled by regimes similar to that of the United States. Your revolution did it; that is, it undermined the false sanctity of the international bullies and superpowers”

The main bulwark against the attempts of great powers to suppress the Islamic Revolution or to distort its image was its spiritual and divine values. Of course the will and unity of nations can defeat the domineering powers, but the divine values created fervor in this country and in the hearts of the faithful youth that threatens the existence of the arrogance. As a result the arrogance not only feels that it is unable to confront the Islamic Revolution, but it is incapable of confronting Islamic movements in other countries, such as Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan; neither is it able to contain the movements in non-Islamic countries whether within the Islamic geography or in the West.

“Another message of our revolution was that the material powers are helpless in confronting the spiritual values and the movement and determination of the masses. The greatest sign of the helplessness of the arrogant systems that rely on material power is that the revolution, the system and genuine Islam have survived in Islamic Iran and become stronger and rooted every day. It is now several years that the arrogant systems, with all available means, have come to the scene to confront the revolutionary Islam and the Islamic Revolution. Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic, the Islamic Revolution and the message of Islam survived and became deeper and more widespread. Today, you observe strong signs of the inclination of the Muslims towards return to the fundamentals of Islam in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world where the Muslims live. It means that the arrogant front is not able to confront.”

 Introducing New Criteria for Governance, Different from Those of East and West

 The Islamic Republic, which is the outcome government of the Islamic Revolution, offered the notion of negation of both great camps of those days, which manifested in the form of two superpowers and had divided the world countries into two blocs under their domination. The main slogan of the Islamic Revolution in this regard was “neither East, nor West” which was an expression of opposition to the permutation of forces under the umbrella of two superpowers. In other words, the Islamic Republic would not follow the Eastern and Western models and therefore negated any alliance, covert or overt, with the said blocs, for it has its own independent values and principles, which are supported by the people. The main reason of the hostility of both the superpowers with the newly-established Islamic Republic was the fact that it introduced a new model to the thoughtful, free human beings, particularly the Muslims. The Islamic Republic has two aspects, that is, “Republic” and “Islamic”. The term republic is a known concept in political systems in which the “people” form the basis and pillar of the political system. The combination of Islam with republic, demonstrates a new kind of political system. Although it was not unprecedented and some of the Islamic countries had already established republican systems, the new system was really unknown in the world because of its peculiar features, that is, genuine Islam and true participation of the people in the political processes.

“Before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the world had experienced two kinds of political systems and accepted them: one, the Western democracies, and second, the socialist systems… the Eastern and Western blocs fiercely opposed and antagonized each other. But when the Islamic Republic was established as a new form of government, both the blocs astonishingly and then in a horrified manner confronted it! What was the reason? The reason was that the Islamic Republic enjoyed certain features that would negate both the prevailing systems in those camps, considering them unfit and harmful for man’s life – and it announced it. In other words, the two political systems prevailing the East and West had some commonalities and the public culture was similar in those countries, that is, pushing the people towards ignorance and unleashing the rein of promiscuity and caprices. This was what existed in both the political systems. This is the common culture of the East and West.”

 Islamic Awakening among Muslims

 Undoubtedly had the Islamic Revolution remained confined to the geographical borders of Iran, it would not have provoked the animosity of the arrogance to the present extent, but the characteristics and messages of genuine Islam do not recognize geographical borders. Hence, the Muslim nations were influenced by the messages of the Islamic Revolution and followed its model, which resulted in an Islamic awakening and dignity and grandeur of the Muslims across the world.  Wherever a Muslim took pride in the Islamic Revolution, it led to honor and dignity and he woke up to rise against the injustices and oppressions of arrogance and its lackeys. The security of the diabolic powers was endangered and hence they became hostile to this revolution and tried to suppress it, but did not succeed.

“This nation holds a magnificent flag. The flag you hoisted has awakened the world. Just see what is going on in Palestine today; what is going on in North Africa. See how Islam is restoring its rights in the Muslim societies. All these achievements have been accomplished by you. They had raised Muslim in a manner that they felt weak vis-à-vis the culture of arrogance and infidelity. In many places the Muslims have been able to restore their rights and regain a share in the government systems, while before the Islamic Revolution no one dared to speak of Islam. In the Muslim countries where the Friday and daily prayers leaders set up organizations and prosper mosques to become centers of movement, until yesteryears the mosques belonged to a bunch of disabled old men. Today, those mosques are the site of the youth and center of movements. It has been, in effect, accomplished by you. It was accomplished by your movement and your honorable leader – that divine man. This is why the enemies of Islam are angry with you: “Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of religion.” Whether the arrogance likes it or not; whether the US likes it or not; and whether the Zionism likes it or not, Islam has reawakened – this great hero of centuries has once again risen in the middle of the scene. The enemies of Islam cannot do anything [against it].

Although this wave of awakening has encompassed most of the Islamic countries and Muslims of the world, other nations too under the influence of the humane messages of this revolution feel dignified and greatness. Other nations now feel that they are powerful and are able to withstand the domineering powers. The countries that could never clearly and openly oppose the United States, talk of opposing Washington and the West today.

“In the new era, which was launched by the Imam and its sphere is not limited to Iran, the masse are the main determining factors and decision-makers; it is they who direct the currents… You have observed that in the Eastern European countries millions of masses move and come to the scene in the same style our nation did in confronting and opposing the oppressive monarchical system. In other words, the basic characteristic of the new era is victory of blood over the sword, that is, during the new era, as it happened in Iran, all citizens without any equipment and weapon, only with their souls and bodies come to the scene and expert pressure on the oppressive, usurping governments.”

 Revival of Religious, Ethical, Spiritual and Ideological Values

 The people during the course of the Islamic Revolution were looking for changes on the basis of Islam. The longstanding endeavor of the global arrogance and its domestic agents to eliminate Islam from political, social and cultural life of the people were thwarted with the victory of the Islamic Revolution. The people put the religious beliefs top on their agenda during the course of the revolution. This Islamic feature prepared the grounds for comprehensiveness of the revolution as a result of which the revolution did not remain confined to the clerical class; on the contrary, the entire nation participated in the revolutionary scenes, for they considered the revolution of themselves and for themselves. Also Islam and Islamic objectives were always given priority over other goals.

“The Islamic Revolution began from the house of religion – that is, mosque and seminary – and religious orientation become stronger day by day. The role of religion and spiritual values became so strong that attracted such figures towards the revolution who normally would not come to the scene in any other revolution. Even the aged, apolitical people and those living in remote villages came to the scene of struggle and joined the revolutionary mainstream. People’s rage in the course of the revolution was not because of a material objective, rather it was due to their demands for religion, spirituality and God. After the victory of the revolution, the government that was established on the basis of the revolution was an Islamic government, that is the Islamic Republic. The government did not waver to the left or right, rather it remained the in the right path of religion and did not give up the religion with the passage of time. In fact, in legislation, in election of the executives, employees and top officials – such as the parliament members and others – the people participated in the political processes on the basis of Islamic criteria. Religion was the [main] feature of our religion and it remained so. It was not such that religion becomes the feature of the revolution for sometimes and then it changes into something else. This feature is not found in any other revolution; and, due to this very feature which was an important factor, wherever a heart throbs for Islam, it is interested in the Islamic Republic – which moves for Islam and thinks of the sublimation of the word of Islam.”