Posted on 02/01/2006 1:42:56 PM PST by Shermy
Amongst some of the most bizarre e-mails that I have received, is one from a mysterious and strange fellow who eloquently identifies himself as 'the Mahdi' (the chosen one who will guide the world before the day of judgement). This fellow generously sends with his e-mails a number of web links along with photos of himself wearing extremely elegant attire.
The man is genuinely convinced that he is the Mahdi. He speaks confidently and calmly without overly enthusiastic bursts concerning his mission, as if casually discussing the weather in Britain. It is as if one should be indifferent when hearing such claims.
On a more serious note, there are many who believe that the Mahdi is on the verge of appearing, each one with his own vision of the form and characteristics attributed to the Mahdi, based on his or her traditional vision of what he will look like and what he will do. Thus, the Mahdi of the Shia differs from that of the Sunnis who in turn, is different from that of other Islamic sects and sub-sects.
Among the Mahdi zealots (albeit not as elegant as my laid-back email friend) is Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Iraqi Shia cleric. He became famous by his controversial standpoints and famous pictures that his followers carry in which he features usually pointing with his forefinger and staring sharply. Written roughly underneath each poster, the following words, "We will never be humiliated," appear.
During his visit to Kuwait last week, Al-Sadr was quoted by news agencies as saying "the American forces did not come to Iraq for the sake of the Sunnis or the Shia, rather, they came driven by a right-wing, Western ideology to prevent and confront the emergence of the awaited Mahdi who will appear in Iraq."
Another character, close to Al-Sadr on both the intellectual and cultural level is the passionate Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. On 16 November 2005, as he addressed a religious crowd in Iran, he stated, "the main task upon my government is to pave the way for the glorious return of the Imam Al-Mahdi." The Iranian society takes pleasure nowadays in gossiping about the preparations made by Ahmadinejad as Tehran's governor, to prepare the city for the return of the Mahdi.
In the case of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is actively seeking nuclear warheads, the whole matter is not one to be laughed at, but should provoke an anxious and distressed response. History informs us that firm believers in metaphysical notions could make history at some point and decide the fates of millions, despite reality. In fact, they become the "realists" as history unfolds according to their plans.
The "Mahdist" obsession and the prophecy of epical answers to the political challenges are not restricted to Al Sadr who believes that the Americans are in Iraq to prevent the "Mahdi." Nor is it restricted to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who believes that his raison d'etre is to pave the way for the "Mahdi" and who believes that recently, a circle of light was surrounding him during his U.N speech. Moreover, it is not only restricted to Muslims, but this is another story.
The notion of "Mahdism" symbolically or literally, expresses the human aspiration for justice. The point should then be realized that politics has its conditional rules that are distinct from religious narratives.
The dilemma is that many politicians attempt to ride the wave of religious legitimacy by identifying with certain narratives. They try to impress their citizens as embodiments of divine will. Most of them are brutal dictators yet they feel that they have cleared their conscience since they are the trustees of God's will. The founder of the brutal Almohads, Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Tumart was a glaring historical example.
At present, many political actors whether in government or part of the opposition have sought to attach attributes of the "Mahdi" to themselves. In Sudan, Mohamed Ibn Ahmad who was born in 1844, claimed to be the Mahdi who would bring justice to the world. The illegitimacy of such claims has often led to disastrous conclusions, for example, the 15-day siege of the Grand mosque in Mecca in 1979 by Juhayman Al Utaibi. Many were killed in the following clashes with the Saudi security forces. The followers of Juhayman claimed that the awaited "Mahdi" was amongst them.
The strangest thing is that many Sunnis nowadays believe that the various Bin Laden attacks around the world are in preparation for the coming of the Mahdi. Therefore, we are faced with a sweeping chaos of interpretation with the impurity of politics and greed on one hand, mixed with the purity of religion on the other. After all, could we really prevent this story from its disastrous conclusion and Ahmadinejad from paying allegiance to the "Mahdi" whilst riding a nuclear missile? I wonder.
well done...beat me to it by 1:06, and with a better historical discussion
Nice to know that their Mahdi is enough of a pushover that the U.S. military can prevent his emergence.
http://off-topic.internet-haganah.com/archives/000164.html
January 19, 2006
"The Mahdi in an ill-fitting overcoat"
http://off-topic.internet-haganah.com/omedia/19jan06-mahdi_needs_a_new_tailor.jpg
I figured Sadr was just a thug riding on the coattails of his esteemed father.
Now I know he's a psycho. too.
Right now
I am an anti-christ,
And I am an anarchist.
Don’t know what I want, but I know how to get it,
I want to destroy, possibly?
Cause I want to be anarchy. no dog’s body.
Anarchy for the u.k.
It’s coming sometime it maybe.
I give a wrong time, stop a traffic light.
Your future dream is a shopping spree.
Cause I want to be anarchy, in the city.
Of many ways to get what you want
I use the best, I use the rest.
I use the enemy,
I use anarchy.
Cause I want to be anarchy, it’s the only way to be.
Is this the m.p.l.a.?
Is this the u.d.a.?
Is this the i.r.a.?
I thought it was the u.k., or just another country
And other ####-like tendencies.
Cause I want to be anarchy, cause I want to be anarchy,
You know what I mean?
Cause I want to be an anarchist, again I’m p!ssed, destroy!
Sheer Mahd-ness.
BTW, Anarchy in the UK by the Sex Pistols.
Was he hoping that the Mahdi was a reformed Saddam? No wonder why the Iranians did not want us to bomb Iraq.
We got rid of a potential Mahdi/Third Antichrist... Saddam. Thank god for Israel bombing Osiraq and the First Gulf war. Things would be much different if these events did not happen, and there would be a nuclear armed Hussein running the Middle east.
YEAH!!! G-DUB BABY!
As I have been saying quite frequently now, for the last few DECADES the Muslim people have been flooded with propaganda that we are living in the End Times, therefore 1) the Mahdi will soon appear who 2) is predestined to destroy the greatest evil ever to scourge the earth, the Dajjal, 3) whom the imams identify one way or another as Western Civilization and its participants 4) in order to establish a world-wide Islamic state governed by shari'a law.
If you hear the word "Mahdi" don't think "charismatic Muslim leader" -- think "man their scripture says is predestined to kill all the infidels."
So, of course they want their Mahdi to have a nuclear arsenal at his disposal.
The notion of "Mahdism" symbolically or literally, expresses the human aspiration for justice.
I disagree. It's less the Muslim peoples' collective aspiration for "justice" than the desire of the extreme jihadists to wipe every non-Muslim off the face of the earth.
many Sunnis nowadays believe that the various Bin Laden attacks around the world are in preparation for the coming of the Mahdi.... could we really prevent this story from its disastrous conclusion
Well, of course they would see OBL as doing preparatory work for the Mahdi's army, if they don't think OBL is himself the Mahdi.
Is there any way to prevent a disastrous conclusion? Likely not. Many Muslims believe that the world is going to end in 2076. So they think that the events occurring today are just the beginning of the Mahdi's jihad to conquer the world.
See here for more info on Muslim End-Time beliefs.
great minds, yada yada
Sadr and Ahmadinejad are not "psychos." They are just good Muslims who have been repeating and acting upon the standard Muslim "Signs of Qiyamah (End Times)" that the imams have been pushing for many years now.
Neither is saying he himself is the Mahdi, both are, as the author says, "paving the way."
As I keep urging people, you should do a web search for the words Mahdi Mehdi / Dajjal Dajjaal / Qiyama Qiyamah Qiyamat and look at the tones of websites out there in English -- and there's lots more in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Indonesian.
Sadr called his "insurgent" group "The Mahdi's Army." What we need to take from that is that it means we are the Dajjal. The Dajjal in guaranteed 100% to be killed in the prophecies of the Hadith. So they are not fighting hoping they can defeat us -- they are fighting under the assumption that Allah has told them they will be victorious.
If there are the "moderate" Muslim Bush talks about, they need to begin an active counter-propoganda campaign that these ARE NOT the Last Days and that the US and our Allies ARE NOT the Dajjal.
They could be more correct than they realize.
Cause if they get too cutesy with nukes then the US is going to turn Iran into a (radioactive) parking lot!
Full Disclosure: We'd bomb them back into the stone age...but they're already there.
The group flourished during the 1979 revolution that ousted the Shah and installed an Islamic government in his place, and was later banned in 1983 by Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini objected to the Hojjatieh's rejection of his doctrine of the "Guardianship of the Jurist" upon which the Iranian constitution os based. This doctrine stipulates that during the absence of the infallible imam (Mahdi), the guardianship and leadership of the nation is the responsibility of a "just and pious jurist." (i.e. Khomeini or his relatives) Hojjatieh members reject this and believe that true Islamic government must await the return of the Mahdi, who is currently in occultation. Only then, they argue, can a genuine Islamic republic be established.
Ahmadinejad is said to have sympathies with the Hojjatieh, if he is not a member outright. Of the 21 new ministers in Ahmadinejad's cabinet, three are said to have Hojjatieh backgrounds, including Intelligence chief Hojatoleslam Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejehyi. The hardline minister of the interior, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, is another Haqqani alumnus with suspected Hojjatieh sympathies.
This new end-times gang controlling the levers of power in a nation on the brink of nuclear status is set to pave the way for the appearance of the Mahdi. So, get ready everybody for a return to the 10th century, Islam style. Since they believe that the 12th Imam's return will be hastened by the creation of chaos on earth. Expect more death, suicide bombings, terrorist attacks, or regional warfare. Islam being the Christian heresy that it is, has its own perverted version of Revelation, but of course, to get to their Messianic era they must destroy the world themselves.
Psst, check post 19...it's a link to that classic film
I'm suprised that Hollywood actually allowed it to get onto DVD,
as it's a clear cautionary tale for our era.
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