THE GREAT ENEMY WE FACE AS INFIDELS IS ISLAMIC!
AND THE TWO MAIN BRANCHES ARE SUNNI
AND SHIITE!
THE SHIITE ARE COMMANDED TO AWAIT MAHDI’S RETURN
WHICH THEY THINK COULD SUDDENLY OCCUR AT ANY TIME!
PART 2
January 29, 2010
The following Excerpt is from The Middle East Media Review, “The Doctrine of Mahdism: In the Ideological and Political Philosophy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi.
May 31, 2010
Inquiry & Analysis Series
Report Number 357
Messianism in Iranian Foreign Policy
The messianic doctrine of Mahdism is also manifest in Iranian foreign policy, especially in its attitude towards the Western superpowers and towards the nuclear program. Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi, mentor to Ahmadinejad, expressed this approach in an October 11, 2006 speech: “The greatest obligation of those awaiting the appearance of the Mahdi is fighting heresy and global arrogance [i.e. the West, primarily the U.S.].”[xviii]
Ahmadinejad’s speeches are characteristically derisive of the “forces of arrogance,” i.e., the West, primarily the U.S., and threatening towards anyone who does not accept Shi’ite messianism as an alternative to the “perdition and destruction” awaiting them: “Those who do not respond to the call to proceed towards the truth – a good destiny does not await them. I heard that the president of one of those countries [i.e. U.S. President George Bush]… said that Iran’s president was threatening him. I say to him: ‘I am not the one threatening you. It is the entire world that threatens you, because the world in its
entirety is steadfast against oppression and the oppressors.
You [Western countries] are nothing compared to the might of God. We invite you to [take] the righteous path, the path of the Prophets,
of monotheism and justice.
If you believe that you can sit in your glass palaces and determine the fate of the world, you are mistaken… Our call [to you] to take the direction of truth [stems] from pity. We do not want you to get into trouble, since you know that the outcome of oppression and injustice is perdition and destruction.”[xix]
These characteristics are also evident in Ahmadinejad’s nuclear policy: In contrast to Khatami’s government, which endeavored to soften the position of the West on the nuclear issue via ongoing dialogue, Ahmadinejad and his close circle do not avoid confronting the West, since they consider this struggle to be one of the ways to prepare the ground for the return of the Mahdi.
According to the Internet daily Rooz, “Some of those close to Ahmadinejad, who frequently speak [of the need] to prepare the ground for the Mahdi’s return, explicitly link the [fate of] the Iranian nuclear dossier to this need… According to reliable information, they stressed, in various private meetings, that the [Iranian] opposition to global pressure [on the Iranian nuclear program] and its insistence on the right to utilize nuclear power are among the ways to prepare the ground for the return of the [Hidden] Imam.”[xx]
Mahdism in the Ideology of Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-e Yazdi
The address given at this year’s International Seminar on the Doctrine of Mahdism by Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-e Yazdi shows that he too regards belief in the Mahdi as a concept that transcends the religious or theoretical realm.
Ayatollah Yazdi gave this belief a tangible political-ideological dimension when he explained that the Mahdi’s return would lead to the establishment of a single rule over the entire world, and that the present battle against the infidels and against “the global arrogance” is preparing the ground for, and hastening, the coming of the Mahdi:[xxi]
“…Implementing the laws of Islam, establishing justice and fighting heresy and oppression are the most important duties for those who await [the return of] the Hidden Imam and prepare the ground for his coming… We must enhance religious faith and [the power] of religion in Iran and in the entire world… In order to hasten the coming of the Hidden Imam, we must disseminate justice and religious law, in order to increase the public’s awareness of them [throughout the world], so that the [Shi’ite] faith will be accepted by society [everywhere]…
“One of the ideological aspects of the Mahdist doctrine is [its] universality, since the Mahdi comes to establish justice and righteousness in the entire world. Another aspect is the dissemination of justice and righteousness [under the rule of] a single man, a single center, and a single system. Since it is the Hidden Imam who is responsible for disseminating righteousness and justice, the world will need to have a single center and government… so that it will emerge from a state of [division] and establish a single [universal] rule headed by the [Hidden Imam], and every kind of oppression and exploitation will [then] vanish from the world…”
In a 2006 speech marking the Mahdi’s birthday, Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi emphasized the importance of fighting heresy, which, in his opinion, is delaying the coming of the Mahdi: “…Our noblest duty is to strive to reduce oppression, to be more [stringent] in our implementation of Islamic law… and to weaken the control of oppressive and tyrannical regimes over the oppressed. These [actions] can [hasten] the return of the Hidden Imam… If we wish to expedite the Mahdi’s coming, we must remove any obstacles [delaying his return]. What are the obstacles delaying the appearance of the Mahdi
? [They are] the [heretical] denial of the blessing [conferred] on society by the presence of the Imam, [as well as] ingratitude, insubordination, and objections [to the doctrine of Mahdism]. If we want to hasten the coming of the Mahdi, we must eliminate these obstacles.
We must strive to instate greater justice, ensure a [more stringent] implementation of Islamic law, [bring] the people to take greater interest in the faith and its directives, [establish] the religious laws as the dominant [values] of society, [ensure] that religious faith be taken as a consensus at conferences, and limit the [control of the oppressors, i.e. of the Western powers] over the oppressed throughout the world – both Muslim and non-Muslim. [This is what we must do] in order to prepare the ground for the Mahdi’s coming. Thus, the greatest obligation of those awaiting the appearance of the Mahdi is fighting heresy and global arrogance.”[xxii]
Support from Conservative-Revolutionary Circles for the Politicization of the Mahdist Doctrine
The politicization of the doctrine of Mahdism has found support among conservative circles and certain sectors in the security forces that belong to the ideological camp of Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah-e Yazdi, which brought Ahmadinejad to power. The weekly Parto-ye Sokhan, for example, stated that “with the advent of the new government, and [due to] Ahmadinejad’s singular devotion to the Hidden Imam and his heir, the people of the West and [the Iranian] dissidents fear a rise in Mahdism not only in Iran but throughout the world… [They fear this] because they see Ahmadinejad taking every opportunity and using every platform to spread this doctrine… so that the blessed name of the Mahdi is reaching the ears of all the people of the world, [even] from the world’s most exalted political pulpit – the U.N. [Assembly Hall].”[xxiii] Parto-ye Sokhan characterized Ahmadinejad’s mention of the Mahdi in his U.N. speech as “one of [his] foreign policy successes.”[xxiv]
After Ahmadinejad’s rise to power, Ayatollah Yazdi’s pupil and spokesman Qassem Ravanbakhsh expressed his hope that “during Ahmadinejad’s term in office, religious laws that were suspended and religious values that became weak [during the era of presidents Khatami and Rafsanjani]… will once again receive [due] attention in order to prepare the ground for the arrival of the Hidden Imam. Ravanbakhsh also rejected the claim that Ahmadinejad is not fit to be president because he is not a cleric, saying that being a cleric “is not a requirement for [serving the people].” To support this point, he stated that “in previous administrations – such as that of Khatami, who is a cleric – it was the presidency that dealt the worst blows to Islamic values.”[xxv]
Support for Ahmadinejad’s policy also came from the conservative group called Ansar-e Hizbullah.
A spokesman, Ali Davani, said at one of the group’s weekly meetings that Ahmadinejad’s U.N. address in 2005 “was one of the signs [heralding the imminent] return of the Hidden Imam.”[xxvi] Fatemeh Rajabi, who is affiliated with Ansar-e Hizbullah and who authored a book about Ahmadinejad titled The Miracle of the Third Millennium, said that the “Ahmadinejad government [was established to facilitate] the coming of the Hidden Imam.”
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