Molotov

Ettela'at English Edition
May 1936
Letters to the Editor

SOCIALISM AND THE CULTURE OF PLAGUE: A CLARIFICATION

We of the Learned Council hear much talk these days of a supposed salvation sweeping across Europe and the Americas, a modern Socialism that bears no resemblance to our victorious Constitutionalists and their successors, brave Iranian patriots who fought alongside the beloved Ahmed Shah to restore dignity and Islamic values to our occupied nation. Indeed, it is is perplexing to look across the Majilis and see the Most Loyal Servants in Opposition, for despite our disagreements, I know the root of their Socialism lies in their pious souls and love of the Greater Iranian people. But across the world, from the rebellious mobs in France and Britain to the chaos in the Americas and a foe lurking in our own shadow besides, others too claim the label of Socialism, when in truth they are merely plague-bearing rats, unknowingly carrying the disease of Iblis.

For this clarification, I bring forth four considerations, one of the world of the faithful, and one of those that have not yet submitted to the beauty and wisdom of the Holy Qur'an. Consider, my brother Iranians, what was once the glory of the world. Recall the magnificent art of Cordoba, the bazaars of gold and silk in Samarkand, the days when Esfahan was host to a hundred nations and the call of the muezzin could be heard from Andalusia to the isles of the Pacific! Then, with that image in your mind, think of their fall: warring emirs and sultans became vulnerable, the Turks to the west grew fat and decadent, seeking out the ways of their foes to compensate. We ourselves, may God forgive me for speaking of this shame, became pawns to the plundering Cossacks under the Tsars and the avaricious wiles of Imperial Britain, prompting of course the protests and eventual revival of our true and righteous identity!

What prompted this fall? Why should the Muslim nations -who certainly must have held many true believers even as our leadership decayed- be punished for their sins while the empires of the old order -decadent, inbred, and astray from even the teachings of their own religion- prosper? This is the third point we must bear in mind. The character of true Islam provided for citizens that were inspired to submit themselves fully before God, and in doing so contemplate the beauty of creation, bringing us great works of art and a scientific system that would have left the outside world naked and shivering had it not been discovered. This spirit is what gave us Shahs and Sultans that knew law derives its worth from the word of God and His prophets. This fundamental strength was what we had lost, and more importantly, lost before the corrupting disease of the old order had truly set in!

But truly, as the folly of the last great war and subsequent revolutions have shown, the infection to come is what would birth the monstrous Socialism of London and Paris. Where the great pursuits of the Islamic world had been done in the name of righteousness and justice, those who had shirked Islam or never heard the Prophet's words to begin with made their advances out of greed, ambition, and lust! Factories were built for the profit of a few, nations divided and exploited to sate the desires of a bovine populace kept intentionally ignorant, sinful acts were made public virtues as men learned to act as schoolboys and women shamed into becoming objects of desire and impurity. For the forbidden and sinful are as powerful motivators as piety, and an easier road to follow besides. Thus the empires of the old order grew large enough to crowd out the sun, as it were, and bring about the fourth and final point: the symptoms that led to the atheistic mandates of Syndicalism and the new illness that it has become.

For, praise be to God, what seems to be the gains of sin in the short term become the reaping of sorrow with the progression of time. Just as our hypocritical leaders led us astray, the death of the old order was the injustice of the great empires, who led their people into a brutal war of aggression against Germany and the near-colonization of our own country. But where the Muslims of the world have the Qur'an and the justice of sharia to turn to, the exploited outside our borders have only the sophistries of divisiveness and chaos, provoking their reasonable anger into a hatred so poisonous that it has even ensnared some of our own brothers and sisters.

But what of its claims of equality? They are perhaps laudable, were it not for the utter rejection of religious guidance in politics -a notion I rule as forbidden, for the Imamate of Ali is derived rightly from the Caliphate of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)- and more pragmatically, its emphasis on maintaining what would leave Muslims in a state of fitna, a war upon each other. Remember that the Prophet (pbuh) was asked: "Who among men is most favored by Allah?' He replied: "A man who does the most good to people." And is good not done by princes as well as paupers? Islam is a religion of struggle, and the most righteous struggle is to aid another man towards Paradise. Therefore, the modern Socialism of the West is the Socialism of Iblis, seductive in nature but causing only conflict, dividing man from his brothers and eventually, God.

And so we may conclude, friends, that the character of salafiyya is not one of “left” or “right”, when taking into consideration the Syndicalist disease. It is one of the Sunnah, where the Shah, the mullah, and the laborer all submit themselves to the mercy and grace of God. This is why all true Iranians reject the atheism of Totalism, and stand instead as one through their Guilds, Councils, and Militias. Help the poor, commands the Qur'an, and help yourselves as well! We must adopt those advances which protect our Islamic ideals -constitutionalism, freedom of speech, and many others in fact have their origins in Islam- and those technologies that will make us stronger. For how will we struggle among ourselves when our crop yields a bounty so large one would be forgiven for thinking we were already in Paradise, when our sons march to defend noble Iranzamin from her enemies unafraid of tanks or bombs, when the clothing our daughters sew are worn by the best of Berlin, Tokyo, and Washington? Iran will be one people, reaping the fruits of their righteousness as an example to the world!

Liberty through this unity -one beginning with our Iranian brothers both within and without our borders, but ending with all Muslims- is the path to prosperity, and prosperity is not a commodity. It is a temporal sign of eternal salvation, and while that may change if sinfulness becomes too powerful, it is a goal we attain only through comforting those who need it and supporting those who strive for more.

Allah, Shahanshah, Iranzamin!

-Seyyed Hassan Modarres