Islam is a Political Religion

The message of Imam Khomeini upon the occasion of Eid-i-fitr (the festival which marks the end of the month of fasting).
In the Name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate
I send greetings to all Muslims of the East and the West for the blessed festival of fitr. I hope that God the Most High accepts the prayers you have given throughout the month and blesses this Festival.
Islam is a political religion. It is a religion in which politics can clearly be seen in the instructions and rituals. The purpose of the gathering daily in mosques in Islamic countries, in all the provinces, villages and remote districts is so that Muslims can become aware of their own problems as well as the problems of deprived and abased peoples.
On the other hand, one day a week there is a gathering at the Friday prayers which includes two sermons and by which means all routine problems and questions facing the country, whether political, social or economic are discussed.
There are also two Festivals in which all of the people gather together and by means of the two sermons given after the Festival prayer and after sending greetings to the Prophet of Islam and his successors, the political, social, economic and all pending problems and the needs of the country and of each district are discussed there. In this way, people become acquainted with current affairs.
Above and beyond all of this, Muslims each year make the haj or pilgrimage to Mecca. The people who have the possibility are obliged to gather together at the haj. They come from all Islamic countries to speak about and discuss their problems during this time, especially in Mecca, Mina, and the Mosque of the Prophet. In this way, they survey the circumstances of all of the Islamic countries:
Thus, the daily gathering, the Friday gathering, the Festival gatherings and the pilgrimage is for this purpose so that the problems of the districts, towns, provinces and Islamic countries can be studied accurately and in detail. All of these are political concerns. Muslims should note these occasions with care. Unfortunately, the advantages have been overlooked and the proper results have not been achieved from these meetings and gatherings. Muslims gather in Mecca and other places but they seem to be separate from each other. They perform the Friday prayers and the Festival prayers but they are not united together as they should be.
Islam has called people to these gatherings in order that important goals be achieved. Two particular verses of the Qur’an have been particularly selected to be recited by the leader of the prayer for the people.
The Chapter on Congregation (Jum’a)
The first part of the Congregational Chapter and the second part of the Chapter on the Hypocrites should be noted. The Congregational Chapter discusses the mission of the Prophet of Islam. It has been selected to purify the people and teach them the Qur’an and wisdom. Priority has been given to the purification of the people over the teaching of the book and wisdom. People should first be purified in order to be prepared to accept training and wisdom. The Congregational Chapter mentions that the secret of the mission of the Prophet is purification and the training of the community. It includes all aspects of teaching and training.
Following this, the chapter shows the position of religious leaders who have learned the science but do not act according to it. They have been given the worst of names, 'Those who carry the Book, but who do not act according to it, are like donkeys who carry books.' If knowledge does not influence a person and does not lead him towards humanity, what is its use? It makes no difference whatsoever if the book is carried inside his heart or outside. It is just like an animal that carries books. As the books have no use for that animal, knowledge, which is uncommitted to social action, which is not used for the mental development and guidance of the people, also has no use.
God mentions this point here so that people may distinguish between right and wrong scholars. It also serves as a reminder to religious leaders of their duties. There are many other important points in this chapter which I have not mentioned.
The Chapter of the Hypocrites (Munafiqun)
In the Chapter of the Hypocrites, God explains the characteristics of hypocrites, people who claim to be Muslims in your presence but they are liars. They are not Muslims. The hypocrites are called the worst of names so that people come to know them. Do not believe everyone who says, 'I am a Muslim,,' or 'I accept the Islamic Republic.' Study his or her actions. How 'engaged' or 'committed' is this person? What has this person done for the country? What is this person's idea about it? They pretend to be Muslims and then open fire on the people in the provinces. They set the harvests of the people on fire. They kill our young people here and there. In Kurdistan, they have killed many of our young people and many Kurds. In the meantime, they say they, are Muslims. No one believes them. The Qur’an says, in this case, 'You are hypocrites.' You whose words differ from your deeds are not realistic, you are not Muslims, but you are hypocrites. You intend to deceive the people. You who are causing corruption in Kurdistan and say you are Sunnis, if you were really Sunnis, you would be obliged to obey the command of the Islamic leader according to the religious decrees of the great Sunni religious leaders. Today, the commander of Islam is the Islamic government of the country. Therefore, you should obey Islamic and Qur’anic jurisprudence and the words of your religious leaders. If you are Muslims, why do you not obey the Qur’an. As the Qur’an says, 'Obey God, obey the Prophet and obey your leaders.' Why do you not listen? You claim to be a Muslim but, in fact, you are not.
Dear people of Kurdistan, our young people of Kurdistan, this is a time for you to recognize hypocrites from the non-hypocrites. Those who claim to be Muslims but set fire to the harvests of the people, those who pretend to be Muslims but put people under pressure and cause them to suffer, those who claim to be Muslims but set fire to the hospitals, kill people, recognize them. They are the hypocrites. They say today, in order to deceive you, that they are Muslims. But you must recognize who they really are. Those who did not vote for the Islamic Republic liked the oppressive regime. If they are Muslims, they should vote for an Islamic Republic and approve of a just Islamic government. Those who reject voting for an Islamic Republic are hypocrites. Those who set fife to the harvest of the people and prevent people from voting are not Muslims. We will treat them as we treat non-Muslims. We will treat them as hypocrites. We will defeat them.
So that the people of the world may come to know our policy and know the type of persons we are confronting, we give freedom to them. Under this freedom more than two hundred different parties have been formed. Many newspapers, magazines and journals have been published. No one prevented these. While they were insulting to our pieties, they acted against our government and Islam, nevertheless, no one prevented them until we saw the conspiracies and understood them to be conspirators.
You are hypocrites who bring about conspiracies against Islam, the nation and the people. You have contacts with foreigners. We control your movements. We are informed that you are in contact and have connections with the agents of the previous regime. After your conspiracies have been proven and the people have realized your true features, we cannot permit you to freely do anything you want to do. We will defeat you.
I give notice to my dear nation and the great people of Kurdistan that Islam is a refuge for all of us and will supply us with all things. They are following foreigners. They must be captured and the traitorous leaders must be delivered. Our young people must know that they are people God has called hypocrites. He has explained their character in the Qur’an.
The Nation Must Be Aware
I give notice to all groups of the nation to avoid such persons at all costs. If they do not put aside their satanic deeds, I will arm the entire nation and we will destroy them. The nation must be aware. The nation must be prepared. You must not allow those corrupt statues to alter the country and take it back to what it was and allow them to impose a monarchy upon us.
I ask Almighty God to bless this Festival and all Islamic Festivals and to awaken all Muslims to arise together and protect the interests of Muslims all over the world. I pray for our Muslim brothers in Afghanistan to be able to solve their problems. They are confronting the same hypocrites who pretend to be Muslims. In Jerusalem, in Lebanon, in Palestine and other places, our Muslim brothers are confronted by the super-powers and Zionists who are opening fire upon them. All Muslims must become aware of these points. They must pray when it is time for prayer and act when it is time to act. I hope that the banner of Islam will be raised throughout the world. Islam is God's religion and thus all people should follow it. I also mention that having a Party of the Deprived and Abased formed in all parts of the world does not mean that the other sound parties which have been formed in Iran and elsewhere should be abolished, but I hope that the Party of the Deprived and Abased will be established in addition to local parties.
Peace be upon you, and the Mercy and Blessings of God.

Source: Imam reza network