Khomenei was careful not to publicize his ideas for clerical rule outside of his Islamic network of opposition to the Shah and so not frighten away the secular middle class from his movement. His movement emphasized populism, talking about fighting for the mustazafin, a Quranic term for the oppressed or deprived, that in this context came to mean “just about everyone in Homeland except the shah and the imperial court”.In Homeland, a number of missteps by the Shah including his repression of opponents began to build opposition to his regime.