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Iran Prepares for Messiah Miracles
Worldnet Daily ^ | January 27, 2007 | Worldnet Daily

Posted on 01/26/2007 10:39:03 PM PST by oneolcop

Iran prepares people for 'messiah miracles' Government broadcasts series on imminent appearance of apocalyptic Islamic 'Mahdi'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: January 27, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Official Iranian radio has completed broadcasting a lengthy series on the imminent appearance of a messianic figure who will defeat Islam's enemies and impose Islamic Shiite rule over the entire world – even speculating on specific dates the so-called "Mahdi" will be revealed.

English-language transcripts of "The World Toward Illumination" programs can be found on the website of IRIB, a public broadcast arm of Tehran.

"Be joyous my heart, miracles of the Messiah will soon be here," reads a poem used to conclude the first broadcast. "The scent of breaths of the One we know comes from near. Grieve not of sorrow and melancholy, as assured I was … last night that a Savior will come, it's clear."

After the coming of the 12th imam, or Mahdi, "liberal democratic civilization" will be found only in "history museums," explained the program.

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iran prepares people for 'messiah miracles' Government broadcasts series on imminent appearance of apocalyptic Islamic 'Mahdi'

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(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 12thimam; ahmadinejad; amahdinajad; bluegenie; globaljihad; iran; jihad; mahdi; qiyama; qiyamah
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To: Dajjal

Thanks very much for the link. Very, very good.


61 posted on 01/31/2007 2:07:40 AM PST by PGalt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:AMOwIZLTH_E-wM:http://www.politics.co.uk/photo/radiation-sign-%244000612%24180.jpg
What is this going to be, 
the mother-of-all-suicide
bombings...???

62 posted on 01/31/2007 2:16:55 AM PST by Seadog Bytes (OPM - The Liberal 'solution' to every societal problem. (Other People's Money))
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To: oneolcop

The Phffit was supposed to hit the Shanh last March, then last August. and so on and so on...


63 posted on 02/03/2007 7:27:52 PM PST by FDNYRHEROES (Always bring a liberal to a gunfight)
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To: spokeshave

Beware "Mahdi Gras!"


64 posted on 02/03/2007 7:31:45 PM PST by Frank Sheed ("It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged." --G.K. Chesterton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: jimmyray

bttt


65 posted on 02/03/2007 7:37:28 PM PST by Cvengr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Dajjal

Anybody happen to copy the website contents?

When I pulled it up, I had the html for a couple of seconds, then the connection was terminated and reset. No joy returning to the site.


66 posted on 02/03/2007 7:40:22 PM PST by Cvengr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: Cvengr
Anybody happen to copy the website contents?
When I pulled it up, I had the html for a couple of seconds, then the connection was terminated and reset. No joy returning to the site.

The link worked when I just tried it, but to save people the trouble, here are the contents. It's fairly long, with a lot of blather, it's but not interminable.

Remember, the postings are in reverse order, so scroll down to read post# 1.

http://english.irib.ir/IRAN/Leader/Illumination.htm
The World Toward Illumination

The World toward Illumination

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday January 1, 2007

Imam Hasan Askari (PBUH), who was martyred at the young age of 28 years in the year 260 AH by the enemies of humanity, had told his 5-year old son Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance): God will break the back of the oppressors with your hand, revive the principles of religion, brighten world horizons, and establish peace from coast to coast. Even the child lying in his cradle will wish to run toward you. The savage ones in the desert will wish to find their way to you. Every part of the world will become green and fresh.

Security is one of the primary needs and the cherished wish of the human community, for in its light the flourishing of talents and creativities as well as growth of civilizations becomes possible. Man needs to establish a legal peaceful government in the light of security. According to the Holy Qur’an, security covers all individual, social, political and economic fields. Prophet Abraham (PBUH) had prayed to God for security. Ayah 126 of Surah Baqara has preserved his words:

"and when Abraham said: My Lord, make it a secure town and provide its people with fruits."

The Prophet’s cousin, son-in-law and first infallible successor, Imam Ali (PBUH), says there is no blessing better than security. He believes the worst city is one without security and greenness. He says qualified rulers are needed to establish this security. Imam Ali (PBUH) is quoted as saying in the famous book Nahj al-Balagha that people need a ruler under whom the faithful could go about their work peacefully and under secure conditions. It is the duty of the government to set up the treasury and use to thwart the plots of the enemies, so that roads will be safe and the rights of the weak will be taken back from the powerful.

Thus the creation of a legitimate and qualified government is the most important source for creating social security. But if the government has weaknesses, security will be endangered. In our world governments are run by people who have expansionist designs. They have not been brought up well and not benefited from religious teachings. Thus they are not committed to social justice and they create insecurity in the society. Islam believes that true security is provided in the light of faith. God Almighty says in ayah 82 of Surah Anaam "those who believe and do not mix up their faith with iniquity those are they who shall have the security and they are those who go aright."

As could be gauged by the verses of the Holy Qur’an, Imam Mahdi (AS) will establish security throughout the world. He will uproot lawlessness, remove anarchy and establish new social relations based on justice, law and respect for human rights. Everything will be precise and calculated, and as the holy Quran says at that time fear will turn into security. Young women will be able to travel alone, even on highways, without the least fear of being harassed. No one is afraid of his or her right being trampled. Theft and swindling will no longer exist and there will no longer be any grounds for the corrupt and oppressors to move about. The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), says: the time of difficulties and thirst will end by our hand. And when the Promised One appears, hatred will leave hearts and animals will also live in coexistence. Women can travel from Iraq to Syria with all their jewelry without fear of anything.

Imam Mahdi (PBUH) says: I am the cause of tranquility and peace for those on earth as the stars are the cause of security in the skies.

Although in occultation by God’s Will, it is because of the existence of the Imam that the today’s world exists, despite the rampant corruption and aggression. As a matter of fact, like the sun when it is behind the cloud, Imam Mahdi (PBUH) continues to inspire hope in the hearts of the faithful of his eventual appearance to fill the earth with peace, security and justice. There are many places around the world that are associated with the hidden Imam, who had appeared there or instructed the building of a site of worship at some specific spots.

The holy mosque of Jamkaran in Qom is a renowned place. A few kilometers from Qom the turquoise dome beckons the faithful. The people's huge gatherings and the sound of prayer draw the attention of those who just arrive. The mosque was built on the instructions of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) over a thousand years ago. Devotees gather at this place to beseech God and they come from all over Iran and even from other parts of the world. Some regularly visit the Jamkaran Mosque every Tuesday of the week. Here we see a special spirituality. Looks are filled with kindness, and faith is seen among the waves of people." A female university student says" When you enter the mosque you are like a drop in a big sea, you feel that everyone has come for love of the Mahdi and is impatiently awaiting his beautiful world."

The atmosphere is same every Tuesday in Iraq where on the skirts of the city of Kufa stands the sprawling Sahla Mosque, which was the home of Prophet Idris or Enoch centuries before the great deluge of the days of Prophet Noah. In the courtyard of the mosque is the Maqaam Saheb oz-Zamaan or the Place of the Imam of the Age, that is, Imam Mahdi. Like the Jamkaran Mosque, prayers are speedily answered here as well, where despite the persecution of the successive tyrannical minority regimes ruling from Baghdad, the faithful have not stopped coming to this sacred site. Now after the overthrow of Saddam, the masses have considerably increased, for when the Imam reappears, he will make Kufa the capital of his world government of peace, security, justice and equity, while he will deal with world affairs from the Sahla Mosque.

That was the end of the 25th and last edition of our programme The World Towards Illumination. Thank you for keeping us company and goodbye, with an earnest prayer to God to speed up the reappearance of the Saviour of Humanity. Amen


Monday December 25, 2006

Man's effort to procure the facilities needed in his life, is as old as history. In today's world, science and technology have helped human societies to achieve many of the amenities. But mankind has not yet been able to eliminate poverty and remove the unequal distribution of income in the society, because of the unjust world order imposed by the so-called big powers, which by monopolizing science and technology terrorize weaker nations and plunder their wealth and natural resources. The cold and calculating domineering powers impose on the weaker nations, the methods of production, consumption and technology that are to the benefit of capitalists. In the weird system of today’s powerful counties, moral and spiritual values have no place and are seen as undesirable liabilities that prevent these powers from reaching economic welfare and what they call true prosperity. However, the exploitation of the weak, the unjust system of distribution and denial of the rights of nations, will end with the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS). In the government of the Imam man will witness real economic welfare throughout the world without any discrimination. The main issue in his global government is carrying out social justice and one of the main products of social justice is a highly developed economy that leads to the blossoming of moral and spiritual values as emphasized by the dynamic teachings of Islam. According to narrations, justice revives the dynamics of the shari’a or religious rulings. The Prophet’s 6th infallible successor, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (PBUH) says people will be needless when justice governs their life.

In the ideal society of Imam Mahdi (AS), justice will be materialized. Elements for production and economic prosperity will increase and people will witness the full development of the Islamic society. Abundance of goods at affordable prices coupled with services, are necessary for real welfare that in turn leads to security of people and their economic activities. The Prophet’s 5th infallible successor, Imam Mohammad Baqer (PBUH) says during the Mahdi's rule all people will acquire knowledge and science to the extent that women at home will judge based on the Book of God, i.e. the Holy Qur’an, and sunnah or practice of the Prophet. Imam Mahdi's educational system will mould man's personality and morality toward sublimity and create conditions throughout the world that will lead man to abstain from any extravagance and overuse or waste of natural resources. Thus the environment and its resources will remain immune from destruction and pollution. In the economic field, people will have complete mutual trust and conclude deals without the exchange of economic documents, and no infraction will be committed in these deals.

One of the characteristics of the global government of the Mahdi is the astounding growth of science and technology. There will be an explosion of science. As we said last week, knowledge is made of 27 letters and up to now whatever man has discovered is within the confines of only 2 letters. But when the Mahdi appears the other 25 letters of knowledge will be at the service of mankind, which is something not imaginable with the limited knowledge that we have today despite the seemingly great progress in science and technology. The Mahdi will correct man's scientific mistakes and bring up new and astonishing methods that had never occurred to man before. Imam Baqer says, the treasures of the earth will be revealed for the Promised One. The Mahdi will also regain the wealth and properties that have unrightfully been usurped by invaders and oppressors and distribute divine blessings among the people. Imam Baqer (AS) says he will divide them with such equality that there will no longer be any poor person. In Islam's logic justice and good relations among people will lead to the flow of abundant divine blessings from the sky. Since people will have the best of qualities vital rains will pour down and all the earth will be filled with greenness and freshness. The Prophet had said in this regard: in my ummah, the Mahdi will rise and people will gain such welfare as never seen before. The sky will repeatedly rain and the earth will hide none of the things it can grow.


Monday December 11, 2006

Last week we talked of the promised advent of the Saviour of mankind, the Prophet’s 12th infallible successor, Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance to rid the world of oppression and corruption and to establish the global government of peace and justice). As we said the materialization of true justice in the world is the most important characteristic of his government. Regarding the Islamic goal of the perfect and ideal state, it should be noted that the world desired by Islam is not a far-fetched idea like the utopia of the West in which the realities of today's society have no effect. Since the natural growth of man is toward sublimity, dedicated Muslims in each and every era strive to materialize the characteristics of the promised society to the best of their ability. The Islamic state of perfection is one which God the All-Wise has promised and guaranteed. Thus efforts to correctly get to know about the promised society and moving toward it can help organize the Islamic community’s life personal and social life in any era and geographical place. The Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (may his soul rest in peace) used to emphasize this and would say: We, of course, cannot fill the world with justice now. If we could we certainly would. But since we cannot, he, the Saviour must come. The world is full of oppression and if we can prevent oppression we will have carried out our part of the duty.”

Among the characteristics of the desired society is a basic development in harmony with the world people's religious beliefs. There are many people who have overlooked what is right and in doing so have acted contrary to their own innate nature, thus neglecting their God-oriented nature. Instead of obeying the benign commandments of God Almighty they have submitted themselves to the supposedly big, satanic powers of the day. In the perfect state, according to Islam, people are transformed and they turn towards God the Glorious. Ayah 55 of surah Nour of the holy Quran says: "Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make the rulers in the earth as He made rulers those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly after their fear give them security in exchange; they shall serve Me, not associating aught with Me."

Ayah 33 of Surah Towbah terms this tendency as Islam, and gives the good tidings to humanity that Islam as the universal religion in perfect conformity with mankind’s nature will soon eclipse all creeds. The ayah says: "He it is Who sent His Prophet with guidance and the religion of truth that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse." When speaking about those who embrace the truth of Islam, God Almighty speaks of it through the tongues of the Prophets Abraham, Ishmail, the sons of Jacob, Moses, Jesus and the last and greatest of them all, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In other words it is understood from the Holy Qur’an that Islam, which means peace, healthy way of life and submission to none but the Almighty Creator, which has become the proper name for the dynamic message preached by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was the theme of all divine missions preached in antiquity by various prophets around the face of the earth since the creation of the progenitor of the human race, Father Adam.

With the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS), conflicts, differences and discriminations that stem from lack of faith and atheism in the society will be eliminated. The shortcomings of religions and schools of thought will be clarified and Islam will prevail as the perfect pinnacle of faith. In other words, methods will become one and oneness will appear in people's beliefs. The Mahdi will materialize the call of the holy Qur’an, which throughout its text has urged mankind to unite and worship the One and the Only God without associating partners to him. The writer of the book Imamate and Mahdaviyat, says: the idea of placing humanity under one religion irrespective of their color, gender, language, class and ethnicity is a gift given by Islam to humanity'. Renowned 17th century Iranian philosopher Molla Sadra says: 'the things that will materialize when the Mahdi appears are in accordance with the holy Prophet's sayings, for the Mahdi is the culmination of the mission of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Thus in the perfect Islamic state we will witness a fundamental change in the nature of social relations. Man will attain more proximity with God and the worship of God will extend throughout the world. Man's relation with himself will also change. He will reach intellectual maturity. His wisdom will become complete and he will look toward broader horizons. People too will not encroach the rights of others, no one will oppress others, there will be no deceit or wars, violence and discrimination. Corruption will be uprooted and social justice will prevail everywhere. The horizons of knowledge will be widened beyond imagination. The Prophet’s 6th infallible successor, Imam Jaf’ar Sadeq (PBUH) says when our Promised One rises the sound of monotheism and testimony to the mission of the Holy Prophet will be heard from every single point on earth.


Monday November 27, 2006

When the sun of freedom and justice shines, the sounds of a rider coming from afar will be heard. The winds obey him, and in his presence the turbulent seas and fiery storms will reach the shore of calmness. The appearance of the Saviour will make the fragrance of eternal justice embellish the soul of the earth. The Mahdi (PBUH) himself will say, my existence is the cause of security and peace for the world people.

There are various narrations on the global government of peace and justice of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance and cleanse the Planet of all vestiges of sin and corruption). Narrations on the global government of justice, the universal government, the government of the deprived, the government of welfare and security, and each of these indicates one aspect of the Savior's government. The justice-spreading universal government encompasses all these. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) has been quoted as saying: I give you the good tidings of the Mahdi. He will rise in my ummah, while my ummah is entangled in differences and deviations. He will fill the earth that is immersed in oppression, with justice. And all those in heaven and earth will be content with him.

All prophets sent by God pursued two main goals. One was the establishment of a correct relation between the Almighty Creator and mankind, as summarized in the word monotheism, and the other establishing good, just and peaceful relations among human beings. In ayah 46 of Surah Ahzab God says:

O prophet, surely we have sent you as a witness and a bearer of good news and a warner and as one inviting to Allah by His permission, and as a light giving torch.”

In ayah 25 of surah Hadid the Almighty says:

“Certainly We sent Our Prophets with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the Balance that people may conduct themselves with equity”'

Justice is the opposite of oppression. People attain certain merits in this life based on their creativity and acts they carry out. Justice means placing each thing in its own place and giving each person's rights according to his merits. Thus, the justice-seeking government pays attention to people's welfare, and their security at the highest level. This government brings happiness in this world and the hereafter. Of course, there are different interpretations of justice. Some European philosophers like Nietzsche and Machiavelli dismiss justice as the longing of the weak. Others believe justice should be sought through economic means. But Islam believes man's nature is justice-oriented and God responds to this need. Islam believes oppression is temporary and ultimately man will reach the truth and justice. In the just government of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) the world reaches a balance and the era of illumination begins. The Imam creates a new society where there is no oppression. No person will be enslaved by others. All members of society will get their share of truth and generosity. The scope of justice is so wide that it influences all components of the world and social relations. The Prophet’s 6th infallible successor, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (PBUH) says: By God the Mahdi will make his justice enter all aspects of people's homes in the same way that cold and hot weather enter homes.

In other words the Savior's justice has been depicted so beautifully that man understands that the world has actually been completely transformed to reach this very point.

Of course, expansionists may be averse to such concepts. In view of these facts, one of the first measures of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) is fighting all centres of domination and power-mongering. In this way, Global Arrogance and its minions puffed up by their economic and military might will try to create problems but they will not be able to change anything in their favor. The Mahdi considers his programs within the framework of conventional criteria, and says: Fear God and surrender to us and hand over the affairs to us. It is up to us to quench your thirst from the spring, as we are the one who take you to its source.

The Mahdi's far sightedness and firmness in the face of mischievous elements will strike awe. After his uprising from Mecca all of Arabia will be submit to him and then other parts of the world as he marches upon Iraq and established his seat of global government in the city of Kufa. Then the Imam will send 10 thousand of his forces to the east and west to uproot the oppressors. At this time God will facilitate things for him and lands will come under his control one after the other. The Prophet’s 5th infallible successor, Imam Mohammad Baqer (PBUH) says: It is as if I see the Mahdi who has taken control of the east and the west, and all obey him.

Thus, as is clear, in the justice-seeking government the clouds give way to bright sunshine, as the Promised Savior spreads his radiance on the earth. God's infinite kindness will give refuge to mankind and the brightness of truth and justice will be seen in all dimensions of life.


Monday November 20, 2006

He will appear as a handsome young man, clad in neat clothes and exuding the fragrance of paradise. His face will glow with love and kindness for the human beings and because of this reason a famous hadith from the Prophet of Islam (SAWA) has referred to him as Inn-al-Mahdi Tavous ahl al-Jannah, which means “Indeed the Mahdi will be like a Peacock among the People of Paradise.” He has a radiant forehead, black piercing eyes and a broad chest. He very much resembles his ancestor Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Heavenly light and justice accompany him. He will overcome enemies and oppressors with the help of God, and as per the promise of the Almighty the Mahdi will eradicate all corruption and injustice from the face of the earth and establish the global government of peace, justice and equity.

Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka’ba in Mecca. The cloak and other special belongings of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) will be with him. He is the essence of all good and the mirror reflecting the characteristics of the 124,000 Prophets sent by God for the guidance of mankind since creation. He calls on all and says I am Baqiat-Allah or the Repository of God on earth. The Prophet had said: Mahdi will appear with a cloud moving above his head. From the sky it will be announced that the hands of the oppressors have been cut and the best of men from the progeny of Mohammad has taken over the leadership. Then the birds will lay abundant eggs and the fish will exceedingly reproduce, the rivers will flow in all their glory and the springs will gush forth from the earth, and the fruits will be multiplied."

In our discussion of the world in the last days of the earth we had said in our previous editions of this programme that no source has pointed to the exact date when the Savior will appear and only God knows about the exact timing of the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS). The Prophet had said: He will certainly appear and if only a day were to be left to the end of the world God will make that day so long for Mahdi to appear and rise. There are various versions of the exact day of his reappearance. Some say it would be Friday and the date will be Ashura or the 10th of Moharram, the heart-rending martyrdom anniversary of his illustrious ancestor, Imam Husain (AS). Others say the date will be the 25th of the month of Zil-Qa’dah and may coincide with the Spring Equinox or Nowrooz as the Iranians call. A saying attributed to the Prophet’s 6th infallible heir, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (PBUH) says the Mahdi will appear on the Spring Equinox and God will make him defeat Dajjal the Impostor or the anti-Christ as the Christians say, who will be hanged near the dump of Kufa. The 6th Imam goes on to add: There will be no Nowrooz when we will not be waiting for him.

Then he will be joined by 313 of the most devoted believers, equivalent to the number of those that had accompanied the Prophet at the Battle of Badr, the first armed encounter imposed by the infidels on the Muslims. Imam Mahdi and steadfast devotees will gather in Mecca; the people of Mecca will be surprised at the presence of so many faithful. These enlightened individuals will pledge allegiance to the Mahdi; their gathering reminds us of ayah 148 of Surah Baqara of the holy Qur’an that says, “Wherever you are Allah will bring you altogether, surely Allah has power over all things.”

After his appearance the Imam would remain in Mecca for some time, and then go to Medina. According to narrations Sofyani, a descendant of the Prophet’s archenemy Abu Sofyan will seize Syria and attack Iraq and the Hejaz with the ferocity of a beast. The Sofyani will commit great crimes against humanity in Iraq slaughtering people bearing the names of the infallible Imams, and his army will lay siege to the city of Kufa and to Holy Najaf. Of course, many incidents take place in this line and finally Imam Mahdi sends troops who kill the Sofyani in Beit ol-Moqaddas, the Islamic holy city in Palestine that is currently under occupation of the Zionists. Soon a pious person from the progeny of Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS) meets with the Imam. He is a venerable God-fearing individual from Iran. Before the Imam's appearance he fights oppression and corruption and enters Iraq to lift the siege of Kufa and holy Najaf and to defeat the forces of Sofyani in Iraq. He then pledges allegiance to Imam Mahdi. Another beautiful moment of the Savior's appearance is the coming down of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) from heaven. Hazrat Mahdi receives him courteously and asks him to lead the prayers. But Jesus says you are more qualified for this than me. We read in the book Tazkarat ol-Olia, 'the Mahdi will come with Jesus son of Mary accompanying him.' This indicates that these two great men are complement each other. Imam Mahdi will be the leader while Prophet Jesus will act as his lieutenant in the struggle against oppression and establishment of justice in the world. Jesus had himself given the tidings of the coming of God's last messenger and will see Mohammad's ideals materialize in the time of the Mahdi. The seat of the Mahdi’s global government will be the city of Kufa, where his headquarters will be the Sahla Mosque, presently outside the city that was the home of Prophet Idrees or Enoch long before the great deluge of the times of Prophet Noah. From here he will dominate the east and the west to fill the earth with justice. The Prophet’s 5th infallible heir, Imam Mohammad Baqer (PBUH) says the Mahdi's appearance is mentioned in Surah Hadid, ayah 17 that says, "Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its death."

It means God will enliven the earth through the Mahdi after the corruption and vice wrought by the oppressors and sinner. Thus his appearance will take place when morality and humanity have reached a dead end. The people's yearning for justice in the midst of all the oppression allows him to carry out his mission. In our time, many pray for his appearance and each day they renew their allegiance to him. "O God, make me one of his companions, show me his respected and bright visage, and hasten his reappearance.


(13)

Sometimes incidents that occur in the world are like an insignificant but infectious pimple that suddenly explodes. Some theoreticians support this view and believe that nothing should stop this volcanic explosion and we should allow corruption to extend so much that the prevailing system would disintegrate. But the uprising of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) is not like this. This uprising is like a fruit that must pass through stages till it is ready to be picked. Thus, if the Savior has not yet appeared it is not because the world is not full of oppression, but because the time must come for the people to be wise enough and ready to accept justice. Pure and sincere people must be trained in order to help the Savior in his implementation of global justice. Thus some have termed the human community's progress a snail-like one where sometimes everything is in order and at other times there is chaos. But in general the community is moving toward sublimity. Professor, researcher and writer Dr Bolkhari says, some believe that concurrent with the growth of technology man's tendency toward arrogance and corruption has increased and he has become more entangled in the material world. They point to the extension of moral corruption or indecent movies dished out by the unprincipled west that indicate this.

For example the opening scene of Terminator II shows the main actor Arnold, who is idolized in the west as the symbol of manhood, sitting nude like what we see in ancient Roman murals. Director James Cameron clearly wants to distort the reality and claims in support of such an immoral scene that what is needed today is a return to what he calls naturalism of primitive societies of 2500 years ago. This group has a pessimistic view of the future and wants to deceive mankind in order to spread corruption.

Bolkhari adds, another group believes that although man tends toward corruption and destroys his spiritual and intellectual bases, however in our world man will reach intellectual maturity with the growth of science and technology in harmony with spiritualism, and this can prevent corruption. I think this is the path we will tread. Man will control his wanton desires and try to make his life principled and within the framework of rational laws. Today man flees justice because he has not reached sublimity. If man is trained well he will prefer justice to self- interest. When this happens the ground for the Savior's appearance will be paved. All civilizations and religions believe in this in some form. The martyred Iranian professor Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari in his book The Uprising of the Mahdi, writes: "In history there is always a confrontation between progressive human groups and stagnant or decadent human groups that will ultimately lead to a revolutionary movement in favor of the progressive groups. In this line waiting for the Savior is meaningful and opens the way."

Thus in Islam waiting for the dawn does not mean keeping isolated and not looking to the future; rather this waiting is a motivating factor and a kind of worship. According to a hadith, the best of actions is waiting for the appearance of the Savior. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei terms the kind of waiting that leads to recession and indifference, as destructive, saying "waiting for the Mahdi is an important part of Islamic beliefs. This waiting is an integral part of the life of Muslims and is bright and hope-creating way. Since they believe the Savior will fill the world with justice and equity they strive with joy and motivation."

Those awaiting the Savior have the enthusiasm of attaining a better situation. Thus with their reformative moves and by fighting oppressors, they try to create an opening toward light, in this world full of discrimination and arrogance. In their personal life they also try to adorn themselves in the best way, striving to acquire knowledge and getting to know more about the Savior. The Prophet’s 6th infallible successor, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (PBUH) says: "whoever wants to be among the Mahdi's companions should wait for him and act piously. And if he were to die in such a state his reward will be like the one has found the Mahdi."

One author writes that the Savior is like the soul of spring, and till the advent of spring we tend the garden by sowing seeds, irrigating, and waiting with enthusiasm. Spring is not the season for sowing seeds, it is the season when plants sprout and flourish. When spring comes the garden with no seeds will not give any flower or fruit. The day when God's brightest sign, that is Imam Mahdi, appears, the world will be illuminated and hearts will become calm. Undoubtedly the dawn is near so we must get ready for the spring of the global government of peace, justice and equity.


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Undoubtedly, history will not end with the memory of man's failures; man's ultimate fate is not weakness and inability; and the sun will undoubtedly not spare its vital rays from anyone. Many Iranian poets have spoken of the rise of the sun at dawn and consider man to be worthy of living in a bright and beautiful world full of the aroma of spirituality, where there is justice and equality.

We said that man has always been thinking of attaining the best kind of life, and has always looked toward distant horizons in order to find a better and more organized future. This idea has been crystallized in different ways in people's lives and we surveyed them from the viewpoints of western intellectuals, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity. Now we shall speak about the belief in the Saviour from Islam's viewpoint and the Islamic promise of the Perfect and Ideal State. This concept is based on the fundamental tenets of Islam and Muslims have long been awaiting the Promised Saviour, a Saviour, the good tidings of whose appearance have been given by all the prophets especially the last one, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In Islamic ideology when we speak of utopia, hope toward a bright future accompanied with absolute social justice are hidden in the depth  of its beliefs. Of course the principle of belief in a savior in Islam has not stemmed from the thoughts of philosophers or the hypotheses of intellectuals; rather its basis are the divine inspirations, Hadiths and accredited religious texts. Islamic sources have given the good tidings of the appearance of a grand personality of the Prophet's progeny at the end of time. Contrary to the views of western theoreticians, who usually depict an ambiguous and dark future for mankind, Muslim experts believe human history, despite its many ups and downs, has a very auspicious fate, and with the appearance of the Imam of the Age, Hazrat Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance), finally the world matters will gain order. Muslims believe hopes for the realization of such a happy ending for the world, is called "Awaiting Redemption," and means waiting for man's problems to be solved by the Saviour at the end of time. This awaiting, influences many, and inspires them with activity and enthusiasm in confronting darkness and oppression for changing the existing situation.

Based on the Ayahs of the holy Qur’an, Muslims believe that history proceeds based on God Almighty's laws and regulations and if world matters were to go according to the will of the oppressors, this will not last forever. Finally the era of the rule of evil will end and the qualified will rule the world. That is when justice and security will be established in the farthest parts of the world. The Qur’an says the world has a bright future ahead. Ayah 9 of Surah Saff reads:

He it is Who sent His Prophet with the guidance and the true religion that He may make it overcome the religions, all of them, thought the polytheists may be averse.”

And we come across God’s promise in ayah 105 of Surah Anbiya, which reads:

And certainly We wrote in the Psalms after the Reminder (i.e. the Torah), as for the earth, My righteous servants shall inherit it.”

When that Promised Person who is the direct descendent of the Prophet rises up, the sun of justice and freedom will shine on the hearts and he with his kind hands will extend friendship throughout the world. His face will be attractive and his look charismatic. He is humble before God's greatness. He is a manifestation of God's glory and beauty. Imam Mahdi is the perfect human being. His behaviour is praiseworthy and his manners immaculate. He is the embodiment of justice. His torch of guidance is for all mankind. The holy Prophet of Islam said: “Mahdi is from my Ahl ul Bait.” He also said: “I give the good tidings of the appearance of Mahdi at the end of time when hardships, mischief, differences and insecurity appear, and through him God will fill the earth with justice.”

In short, when he reappears, peace, justice and security will overcome oppression and deceit and one global government, the most perfect ever will be established. He will make the earth prosper in a way that no ruins will remain. Man's maturity will reach its height, full equality will be established among the people, and no one will be arrogant toward the other and will not try to dominate others. Finally, corruption, war and rebellion will no longer exist and everything will be new and fresh like spring.


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The apocalypse is a deep belief among humans regarding the end of the world. An end in which there will be goodness and beauty and man will gain his old time wish. Mary who is a British Christian says, the earth has in it good tidings, to give blessings to all houses, to tame all savage jungles, to give fresh strength to all the dry and burnt deserts with boiling springs, for the leaves, fruits, flowers and abundance of blessings to reveal the beauties of the world and unite all people's hearts to praise the Creator. That day will certainly arrive.

In the past programs we said that divine religions have common points regarding the end of time and the savior. They believe that the future of this world's life will be with the victory of the truth and the rule of faith. Of course among the followers of religions, some have turned extremist, among them the Zionist Christians. This group interprets the teachings of Jesus based on its own interests and presents plans that are in line with this sect's arrogance and domination –seeking in the world. As Dr. Edgar, Secretary General of the National Council of Churches says extremist Christians do not present the original view of the existing Christianity; rather they are deviating current at the service of Zionism. The day that the actor of western movies Ronald Reagan became US president , hardly anyone paid attention when he said , I want God to give me the blessing of being able to push the button for nuclear missiles to be launched marking the beginning of  Armageddon . In 1983 he told the Zionist lobby when I look at the ancient prophets, the holy book and the signs that predict Armageddon; I ask myself will we be the generation that will witness this war? Believe me these predictions are in accordance with the era we live in.

After that, especially under current US president George W Bush the activities of Zionist Christians intensified. Using the religious beliefs of Christianity and Judaism they introduce themselves as God's chosen agents to provide the grounds for Armageddon. With special deceitfulness they take advantage of Christians' beliefs to their own benefit. Bush in early 2003 chanted this deceitful slogan: the US has been called on to give freedom which is a divine blessing to all  world creatures! We now see that dozens of satellite channels using the most attractive methods propagate the latest teachings of these extremist Christians. The 24-hour programs of more than 1500 TV networks, 80 000 priests, 200 scientific institutes and colleges as well as Hollywood, have placed the issue of the end of the world as the axis of many of their products and insinuate that Armageddon is near. Blackstone who is the father of Christian Zionists in the US in his book titled Christ Will Come promised that Christ would come in the year that Israel is founded in occupied Palestine that is 1948. But soon it became known that this prediction was another untrue and deceitful promise.

The Christian Zionist sect believes that in Armageddon 200 million forces of the east and millions of people from other parts of the world will engage in war in a valley by the same name. At that time Christ will appear and will take the followers of this religion to heaven on a spaceship. That is when human history will end and they can witness the destruction of the earths' inhabitants. With such predictions, extremist Christians overlook Christ's teachings ,especially his good will and peace for all humanity. We know that Prophet Jesus PBUH was the manifestation of kindness and peace and is known in this way in the world. At the end of time he will together with Hazrat Mahdi (May God hasten his  reappearance) ,who is mankind's savior confront the manifestations of oppression and polytheism,. Thus contrary to the Christian Zionists ' claim we cannot accept that this divine prophet would lead a destructive nuclear war that would destroy humanity. American author and researcher Ms Grace Halsell in the book Predictions and Politics has criticized the views of Zionist Christians. The interesting point is that she herself was first a follower of this sect but when she came to know about the truth of its superstitious and deviating ideas she decided to write this book. She considers the final war of Armageddon unjust and inhuman and writes, Protestant priests in their TV programs that are liked by the masses try to convince people that they do not have to strive for attaining peace in order to have a bright future, rather they should want war. They say God has planned for us who live in this generation to start a nuclear war. Ms Halsell adds. They do not tell people that Jesus' path was not based on military power and that his message was peace.

The Christian Zionist sect overlooks the right to live for some other nations. For example John Voord who is one of the sects' preachers with total impudence says regarding all the sufferings and injustices tolerated by the Palestinians: God has not given a place to the Palestinians in his general plan; God's attention is focused on the Jews. Another activity of this sect is to distort Islam's image. This group in order to bring Armageddon closer and reach their goals, has launched intense propaganda against Muslims. This propaganda gained new dimensions after the 9/11 events. Christian extremists by changing Islam's teachings and the Quran's ayahs, introduce Islam as a violent and terrorist –creating religion. In this line Hollywood in its products relates evil and mischief to the east and Islamic countries and by magnifying the catastrophe, creates doubts among its addressees. Grace Halsell at the end of her book writes, instead of keeping silent, all the world's peace seeking people must voice their protest against the union between the Israeli government and the US warmongering Christians and prevent this nuclear Armageddon in the most effective way.  


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We said that one of the characteristics of the West in the current era is obsession with the end of time. Experts say discussions about the savior and the ‘end of time’, have not been so prevalent before as they are now in the west. As you know Christianity, which has a myriad of sects, has 3 main denominations such as the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. Southern European and Latin American countries are mainly Catholic, northern Europe and the US are Protestant, and eastern European countries Orthodox. These 3 main Churches are separate from each other regarding their religious beliefs and worshipping ceremonies, and each of them has been divided into other branches. There are more than a thousand sub sects inside the Protestant branch and more sects are being formed each day. But a new current that has become prevalent among Protestants in the past century is the Evangelist current. One of their principles is all out support for international Zionism. For this reason they have also become known as Zionist Christians. This current for the first time took shape in the late 19th century in the Church of England. With their illogical and superstitious beliefs they divide the world into good and evil and since they consider themselves the symbol of good and the saviors, they consider the others to be evil and of hell. Such a view can be clearly seen in the remarks of the US president and his co-workers. They consider themselves born again Christians and that only they can be saviors.

The important and questionable part of the belief of extremist Christians is related to the events of the end of time. They believe that the end of time will soon come and they have also determined dates for it, some of which have gone by and their incorrectness has been proven. Famous evangelist priest Pat Robertson firmly says the Messiah will appear in 2007. Many of this sect's leaders consider that the highly suspicious 9/11 events in New York and Washington in 2001 prepared the grounds for the end of time. But how do you think these events will occur? These extremist Christians believe that certain events must be carried out by the Protestants in the world so as to prepare the grounds for the Messiah’s reappearance. The followers of this school believe they have a religious duty to accelerate these events, for example planting the illegal Zionist state of Israel for the Jews of the world, in Palestine. They believe the Jews must destroy al-Aqsa Mosque and Qobbat as-Sakhra in Bait al-Moqaddas and construct a large temple on these holy sites. They believe that Armageddon will begin when the Jews destroy these places. During this war when the anti-Christ is gaining victory, the Messiah will reappear and will establish his global rule with its center in Bait ol-Moqaddas, with the help of born again Christians. This sect's religious leaders in the 1990's strongly propagated their beliefs in the US and European societies. In the past 2 years dozens of books have been published in this field and different films like Armageddon have been screened. In early 2001 a US priest named Hal Lindsay who is a Christian Zionist wrote a book titled Where Does the US Stand in the Bible's Predictions? This was a US bestseller in 2001.The writer says the US will lead Armageddon and will defeat the opponents of Jesus throughout the world. Now we see that Christian Zionists and Tel Aviv leaders are like 2 allies. The closeness of these 2 currents has up to now not had any result but war, darkness and death for world people.

Christian Palestinian writer Bishara Awad considering the countless crimes of Christian Zionists in Palestine says, what I have been pursuing as a follower of Jesus is the truth. Remember that the Arabs of Palestine are not idol worshippers against whom such crimes are committed. They too worship the God of Abraham (PBUH ). What is happening to them is not an order of God but the result of political greed and incorrect behavior of humans against other humans. These Christian Zionists due to their incorrect interpretation of the divine book and following Satan need to voice repentance before God. Their incorrect understanding is destroying the life of people for whom Jesus (PBUH) was crucified. He adds, as Christians, we do not consider the beliefs of Christian Zionists to be in accordance with the divine book and Jesus' teachings. The teachings of this group have negative effects and can deviate the church in its understanding of its duties in the Middle East. Christ did not make a sacrifice to free this land. He made a sacrifice to save us from the land of darkness. Jesus liked the world and thus he protected it. With such knowledge about Jesus, can we accept that a group of oppressors are trying to dominate the world with their arrogance and depriving nations of peace and security, by naming themselves followers of Jesus?


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As we said some experts believe the US stances are such that they will gradually lead to its disintegration. The logic of force and bullying has been so institutionalized in the US policy that it has turned into the official culture of that country's politicians. In this midst Hollywood as a medium and a cinema faithful to the policies of the pro-Zionist US government plays a major role in propagating and insinuating this policy, and this goal can be seen in its different productions. Hollywood in the lower layers of its productions insinuates to the viewers that whoever has more power will take control of the world's future. This thought had a special role beginning in the mid 20th century. During Word War 2, Hollywood intended to justify the US entry into the war for the American people. In this connection, after the start of the war, two movies were made to propagate militarism. One was Why We Fight and the other Casablanca. In the first one Hollywood directors like Frank Capra were given the mission by the Pentagon to make this documentary and to highlight the crimes of Nazi Germany and Japan. In this line all sorts of torture and mistreatment of Jews were depicted with the aid of the huge budget of the US and Hollywood. This film bore results for the US, for, the people at the end reached the conclusion that if they do not take part in the war to their country's favor, they would get caught in the clutches of Germany or Japan. But after the war, world conditions changed and Hollywood too made some changes in its methods.

Q – We asked Dr. Mohammadi what he thought about this Stance by Hollywood?

A - With the passage of time the trend of Hollywood propaganda took on a new model. After the year 2000 the US according to the global village theory of Mc Lohan and the theories of Fukuyama and Toffler decided to project itself as a kind of savior of the earth, the Messiah of the apocalypse and the redeemer of mankind. Thus it designed new policies for Hollywood. Based on these, Hollywood pursues two goals. One is presenting an image of what it calls Satan that is after destroying the whole world and is dangerous for the earth's inhabitants. The other goal is presenting the image of a so-called savior in the face of this supposed Satan. In Hollywood films this savior of the earth would be introduced as a kind of spiritual father figure for human beings, an American who is a Jew. Of course, sometimes they try to hit two birds with one stone meaning that the savior is a Jew living in the US. Thus the majority of Hollywood movies are made in New York where the US Jews are concentrated. Here we must point to another issue. The borders of most world countries were actually drawn arbitrarily by the British over a hundred years ago. The crafty British drew these borders in a way to intensify nationalistic and ethnic differences and for creating crisis in what has become known as hot spots of the globe. But based on Mc Lohan's global village these borders are no longer effective now. The Americans intend, if possible, to redraw borders of world countries, but they know that this will lead nowhere. A Pentagon theoretician John Arquilla has brought up the theory of cybernetic wars according to which he divides societies from the viewpoint of information into two groups, namely, the producers of information and the producers of energy. He believes the 2nd group receives orders from the first, just like man's body where all organs receive orders from the brain. Food, water, air and other elements are turned into energy in the body and the brain determines where the energy is used. For Arquilla the US is the brain of the world and the other 195 countries are its organs, controlled from Washington.

Q - As you said, like in Arquilla's view, they are after the US superiority, and Hollywood also pursues this goal. Hollywood's aim in producing these films is not defending people who have been attacked by foreign and destructive elements, but rather showing off its atomic bombs, horrendous weapons and the US military superiority over other countries. Hollywood by taking advantage of the viewers' subconscious intends to insinuate the US superiority to them.

 

A - Yes in the film Matrix made in 1999 the future man has turned into a machine and lacks identity and a central computer controls all his life. In this movie the only utopia in the world and the way for man's salvation is the city of Zion that is under the ground. This city that is filled with Zionist symbols is like the supposed Temple of Solomon, which the Zionists believe is under the al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Islamic city of Bait ol-Moqaddas. Other symbols of ancient Judaism like the Sanhedrin Council have also been reconstructed in this symbolic temple. In this movie the world's future depends on the emergence of the Jewish messiah. Instead of being a divine prophet, this messiah is a computer technician. He does not believe in any religion or in God and he saves the world by relying on his human will. Matrix was made in Hollywood with a cost of billions of dollars and was purposely awarded 4 Oscars in order to increase its fame and popularity around the world. In this film the Zionists' role in the world is that of saviors. In another Hollywood product named Armageddon, a name related to the messiah and savior, US technicians and oil companies come to save the earth, and Islamic countries, which are in the state of backwardness, are waiting the US aid. Armageddon displays for the US leader's capitalist ideas and has been made as per the theory of Alvin Toffler on what he calls the need for technological superiority to dominate the world. Of course, such movies do not always have the same cliché. For example in a movie named Constantine that has a different stance, a young American man saves the world from a plot hatched by 2 ultra-material superpowers. In this movie too the messiah and savior of the world comes from the US.


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One of the methods of the western countries from the 1980's onwards has been the attempt to extend the views of these theoreticians through movies. Now we will get acquainted with how these meanings are insinuated in the western cinema by analyzing a number of Hollywood products.

But prior to discussing Hollywood we should point to the effects of cinema on the viewers. In this connection we had an interview with Iran’s Arts University Professor Dr Hasan Bolkhari. First we asked him to explain the effects of cinema and the west's' goals, or in other words about the west and the western politicians' view toward cinema and the 7th art. He said today's world is the world of images. Western thinker Postman in a book titled Living in Luxury, Dying in Pleasure depicts three phases for the transfer of human knowledge and meanings: in the 1st phase the transfer of knowledge took place through speaking; for example the father said it and the child memorized it. The 2nd phase was the phase of writing where books were the tools for transferring and protecting  meanings. Postman considers images to be the tool for transferring human knowledge in the 3rd phase. He believes that cinema and television will replace the two previous phases. According to Dr Bolkhari: “the truth is that we live in the age of images and cinema. We are constantly faced with titles like the age of information or the explosion of information. Since 75-80% of our information is gained through seeing images, today western powers take advantage of the science of images in order to maintain their domination over the world's thoughts. At the beginning of the renaissance Francis Bacon said the ultimate goal of knowledge is power. Today the West says cinema's ultimate goal is power. In this line Hollywood as the centre of American cinema produces 600-700 movies a year; it rakes in 15-16 billion dollars of profit a year and it nurtures 78% of the world media.”

In explanation of this issue Dr Bolkhari added, today the West by relying on this power that has been obtained through science and art has made a strategic framework out of cinema. Thus currently in the West there are no neutral movies. Movies produced all have specific intentions. From among these movies 30- 40 of them are produced to have an impact at the world level in order to create a kind of culture through them. With special techniques and the selective giving of Oscars and other awards to such movies the West launches a lot of propaganda campaign to increase its attraction at the world level. For example, in the 1950's the illegal Zionist entity, Israel, spent millions of dollars in order to cover up its legitimacy crisis in order to become accepted. As part of this plot, movies like Ben Hur and the Ten Commandments were made. In order to portray Ben Hur as more attractive and raise the viewers' curiosity, this film was given as many as 11 Oscars something unprecedented in the history of cinema. On the other hand movies that were contrary to Hollywood's goals and Western interests were not allowed to be screened. For example, such movies as the Passion of the Christ or more recently Now Paradise. Currently the West by coming to know the power of cinema follows up its ideas in its movies and translates them into images. New psychology also says that no words have the impact of images, for, according to the findings of this science the influence of every image is equal to that of a thousand words. In this way movies with determined goals influence feelings and leave a great impact on the addressees.

In continuation Mr. Bolkhari pointed to some of Hollywood's hidden goals that have their roots in the ideas of western theoreticians. He said one of the most important aspects seen in almost all Hollywood movies is the theory of Mr. Toffler that has been brought up under the subject of power and the 3rd wave. In this idea the world's future is to be at the service of the world superpower that is the US and the special characteristic of this world will be its electronic growth and communications installations including the media and computers. With this in mind, the majority of movies focus on what they call as an advanced US utopia in which American values are to be institutionalized and all opposition to them is to discouraged and portrayed as negative. This issue is fully tangible in the series of movies made in the past two decades, especially after emphasis on the so-called new world order. Among these movies are Independence Day, Matrix and Terminator. Independence Day is very powerful in terms of special effects. In this movie a group from outer space attacks the earth and the Americans defend the earth. Finally on July 4, that is Independence Day in the US, the Americans manage to destroy the extra-terrestrial enemy. The movie's message is that the US and the cultural system ruling the west is the only system that protects the world form these dangers. In Matrix too this idea is insinuated to the viewers more strongly. After the year, 2000 movies made in Hollywood show a combination of the ideas of Toffler, Fukuyama and Huntington that have reached a joint cliché. Such movies constantly depict a serious danger for the earth and all its creatures and the US army in the majority of cases saves the world. In reality Hollywood pursues two parallel goals in line with making a culture for the future world: one is convincing the public opinion of the world to accept the US' superior power and justify the US lack of commitment to international pacts such as the Kyoto pact on environment and the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Their other goal is to change the identity of Jesus on his reappearance in the last days of the earth, from a divine figure to a government like the US. In other words, the Zionist controlled Hollywood, which is actually taking the Christians for a ride, wants to distort and falsify accepted religious teachings.


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Huntington is a Harvard university professor and a US theoretician. He was a renowned figure for political experts as a former member of the US National Security Council. But his fame came due to his controversial article, the Clash of Civilizations that was first published in 1993. Three years later he published the article in the form of a book titled the Clash of Civilizations and Restructuring the World Order. This US theoretician believes that the era of ideological and economic wars is over and the main point of clashes in the future world is cultural. He says the lines of rift among today's civilizations have replaced the political and ideological borders of the Cold War and these lines are the sparks for creating crisis and war. Thus clashes among civilizations are the last clashes in the modern world. Huntington believes that the world today has a number of large and important civilizations such as the Islamic, Confucian, Japanese, Hindu, the Slav-Orthodox and the Judeo-Christian West, which also considers itself heir of the Greco-Roman civilization. These civilizations have basic differences in their history, language, culture, traditions, and most importantly religion that seem to be unchangeable. For this reason the clash of civilizations is a dominating world policy and forms the last phase of clashes in the new era.

Some observers say Huntington has taken the idea of the clash civilizations from the medieval French mystic Nostradamus. Films and programs have been made about Nostradamus' predictions in some countries. Among them, Paul Turner an Australian producer in a satellite program titled Nostradamus, the man who claimed to predict the future, has spoken of his supposed predictions and the occurrence of incidents in the future. It is obvious that the materialization of some of these supposed predictions likened to the Islamic Revolution and the suspicious September 11, 2001 events in the US, have led to the concern of western politicians. Nostradamus was a French physician. One of his followers writes, he worked for 3 years on his first poem that spoke about the future and its developments and in 1555 he gave the notebook that contained more than 300 poetic predictions to his son Cesar. In his look at the future Nostradamus claimed that a huge world war will occur but in this war, the West is not able to conquer the world and it cannot be the one and only world power. But as we said Huntington comments on the issue of the current world's developments in a way that strengthens his theory that the western civilization will dominate the world. In an interview quoted in Huntington's Internet site he considers the September 11 2001 incidents a confirmation of his theory of the clash of civilizations and tries to respond to the cases that contradict his theory. One of thee instances is the opposition of key European countries with US warmongering in Iraq. Huntington accepts that this incident is not justifiable according to the theory of the clash of civilizations, for Europe as part of the western civilization is opposed to it. He believes that here the structure of power has dominated over culture and civilization, but he considers that to be temporary. He admits that now the US is faced with serious problems in its attack on Iraq and cannot benefit from the theory of the clash of civilizations or fight against terrorism.

In reality Huntington like Fukuyama by presenting his plan tries to justify and safeguard western liberalism. But Carol Quigley in his book the Completion of Civilizations points to another point and says it should be seen whether the West would be able to revive itself and stop the rapidly decline towards corruption. She adds, of course the West's main issue is not economic problems or the fall of the population rate; what is more important is the issue of the fall of morality, cultural suicide, and lack of political unity. The weakening of the family foundation, general weakness in work ethics, and antisocial behavior like crime, violence and drugs have faced the West's future with serious danger. Many experts have criticized the theory of the clash of civilizations. Undoubtedly history treads its path, and civilizations are not everlasting. Thus one cannot ignore the distorted internal situation by placing the US as the axis, as Huntington does. In reality it is not the clash of civilizations that threatens the West, rather according to Huntington’s fellow thinker Zbigniew Berzhinsky it is the internal corruption of the Western system that threatens the US power. On the other hand Huntington in a survey of the obstacles in the way of the US leadership over the world considers the impossibility for reconciliation between the Islamic World and the West as an obvious issue. In reality he forgets that the root of the tension between the Islamic community and western powers is the expansionist and warmongering policy of Western governments not their being Christian; for Islamic and Christian civilizations originate from the same single source and they share many commonalities. The last point is the general tendency of the world people, keeping away from fighting and violence and tending toward peace and friendship. From their viewpoint the theory of the clash of civilizations more than before moves the world toward war, darkness and insecurity. On this basis when former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami brought up the idea of Dialogue Among Civilizations during his term in office, his idea was warmly welcomed by the world people and international organizations and in this line the UN termed the year 2001 the year of Dialogue of Civilizations, a designation that was deliberately aborted by the neo-conservatives ruling the US through the suspicious September 11 events in New York and Washington and the subsequent war and occupation of Afghanistan.


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In our survey of Francis Fukuyama's theory about the world's future we said he believes that the end of history will come when man reaches material perfection and liberalism dominates the world. But the world’s developments show a move that is contrary to his sayings. In today's program of The World Toward Illumination we will acquaint you with other theories from other western intellectuals about the world's future.

The day that Marshal Maclohan a Canadian researcher and theoretician wrote that soon television would turn into a big global village, no one believed that events would take place at such a high speed that you and me have not yet completely had our tea or coffee yet. Hundreds of years ago people became informed of a news days or weeks after it occurred. The telephone and then the radio and television brought this contact closer and now the great information revolution connects everyone within a second. In a way that experts believe that in the past 3 decades the new information produced has been equal to that of the past 5000 years. Maclohan depicts a society in which the explosion of information turns today's world into a village. He believes that in this village, since the west is the source of this information, it will absorb native non-Western cultures and lead the western liberal democratic culture to dominate over other cultures. As a result the liberalist ideology will spread throughout the world. In other words from Maclohan's viewpoint in the world of information the cultures of different nations are digested into one culture and the economy, politics and culture will all move toward becoming one and ultimately a world government will be formed. But the point that apparently Maclohan has not paid attention to is that social order is not only formed based on the further closeness of the people to one another or their greater awareness. Rather, other elements and tools are necessary too. In other words if injustice and oppression are not eliminated in this global village, discrimination and inequality will continue just like in the past and for example Whites cannot accept Blacks to be beside them or to give them the same right to live as they give to themselves. One of the defects of this utopia is that in this global village many people receive incorrect information. As a result the truth remains hidden and inequalities continue. Norbert Bolts a professor of communications at a German university writes, the digital world is a land where falsifying news and information takes place easily and the falsifiers leave no trace. Here you can no longer find the smallest sign of the correctness of information. Experts believe that in the new information society, the rift among societies gets larger, for more information creates more power. Thus, countries with this technology become more powerful and digest other countries. Alvin Toffler is another Western theoretician. This American author has written different books about the world's future. The book 'Third Wave' made him famous. The main subject of this book that was written in 1980 is a survey of the three main waves of human civilization in history. The first wave is agriculture. The 2nd is industry and the 3rd electronic civilization or the era of information. Toffler believes that with the arrival of the 3rd wave the characteristics of former civilizations lose importance and the future of the world is determined. After that Toffler wrote the book 'Shifts in Power' in completion of this theory. He depicts the problem of the future world based on the type of power and its division and like many western politicians he considers power as the main effective element in the world. He claims that the future world will take shape based on a connection among science, wealth and war.

In general Toffler assumes that the West in the future will be the major power in the world and the possessors of might are those who have more power and science. In this way Toffler likes to believe that the warped concept of Western liberal democracy as the best way to solve the world's problems. In this connection he says in the ‘Third Wave’ that wars will take place in new forms and with new tools. Naturally the power of these weapons is very high. As we see today during the US war against Iraq heavy damages are inflicted on the Iraqi people and installations with these new equipments. What has not changed in the opinion of Toffler and other Western theoreticians is the principle of capitalism. The West's capitalist spirit, which is prevalent in Toffler's views depict a utopia in which the rich and owners of power get richer every day while injustice and poverty each day destroy the normal and weak people under their heavy weight. In Toffler's ‘Third Wave’, once again consumerism increases on a daily basis and instead of reaching a world without classes and with equality, we will face a classified world. On the other hand one of the problems in Toffler's ideas is that he overlooks the growing waves of spiritualism and tendency toward religion even inside western societies. This is while the West due to a lack of spirituality and morality is not able to respond to man's needs. Lack of attention to man's sublime needs in these societies has created social and cultural crises. Thus this civilization like those of many other Western theoreticians is just an unreal theory. It seems that in the same way that the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini predicted the fall of communism we must get ready to search for the liberal democratic civilization in history museums.


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Maybe in no era of history has the world been faced with so much crisis and tension as it is in our era. Every day issues like war, civil strife, terrorism, genocide, kidnapping, global warming, and others are the headlines of news broadcast by the media in all parts of the world. In the midst of all this chaos, the people think about the world's future. Will the future also be like today?

In last week’s edition we saw that the theories of Marxism for its claim of materializing a desired and ideal society were unsuccessful and this ideology reached the end of the line. As a result of the events that occurred in the last decades of the 20th century, contemporary writers placed the ideas of a world government and the world's future in new forms as the axis of their predictions. The joint view of these writers who are mainly westerners is to try to reach what they call a liberal democratic world government. On this assumption western leaders have propagated that liberal democracy is the ultimate wish of the western man that is about to materialize with the fall of communism. They surmise that in this trend the resistance of the people and leaders of other countries is useless and the world's events will occur according to their equations. Francis Fukuyama the author of the highly controversial book the End of History is among these theoreticians. This American writer of Japanese origin thinks that the true current of history has reached its spiritual perfection and after the fall of fascism and Marxism, liberal democracy will dominate and man will ultimately also reach material perfection. He assumes that the end of the history of some societies means their transformation into the so-called liberal societies and the remaining ideologies will give up their claims about the world's future.

Fukuyama likes to believe that liberalism will dominate the world because according to his way of thinking, there is no other ideology or thought, or that they do not have the power to confront it. This theory by Fukuyama that has become known as the theory of the End of the World means the globalization of the western version of democracy that leads to a capitalist life and a society of consumption. Fukuyama has named this period of history in which he thinks there is no ideology to engage in rivalry with liberalism, the End of History. It is an era when enthusiasm will be gone and miserable centuries will be ahead. But has the End of History truly arrived as Fukuyama claims? Is the liberal democracy system the last form of human government and will this ultimately lead to the end of history? Certainly not, in view of the fact that without the least doubt man has always been thinking about the best ruling system regarding the world's future. This system that is to mark the end of the era of oppression and injustice in the human society must be so powerful and real, that no person or group could have the possibility to take advantage of it. In the early 1990's when Fukuyama brought up his theory about the world's future, hardly anyone could understand his main incentives in bringing up these discussions. But a while later the United States' invasive policies and its attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq and their occupation clarified the realities behind the fig leaf of liberal democracy.

If someone believes Fukuyama's end of history theory, he has in reality accepted that human thought is limited and is stopped at a point in history, meaning that man is incapable of thinking about new plans beyond the western notion of liberalism. This is while the scope of man's thoughts is very diverse and vast; each day he reaches new points and the extent of his knowledge and innovations is extended. Thus, man's thoughts never stop at a point in time and this is among man's basic characteristics. On the other hand opportunism, individualism and materialism that are the bases for the liberalist ideology, have up to now inflicted many damages and losses on the human community, clear instances of which are moral and sexual corruption, the rule of violent and merciless capitalism and injustice in the world. Liberalism likes to claim that is one of the forms of 'tendency toward the new' and modernism that triumphs over other forms. But a closer look proves that modernism and novelty are actually leaving the field of liberal democracy and opening the way for the entry of other forms of ideologies and views of the world. Today many intellectuals and independent experts of the world know that liberal democracy is a deceit and has failed to reach the climax of the human civilization or the supposed End of History. The late German Orientalist Ms. Anne Marie Schimel says, liberalism is the basis for injustice and spread of oppression in the world and man by listening to his internal call should return to himself.

George Weigel is among the social scientists who in addition to accepting some dimensions of democracy, considers that it is faced with serious problems. Before him German political scientist of the 20th century Haider also announced that democracy is not the only solution for the technicalized modern world. Frenchman Regie Debret, in an article published in the November 17, 1989 issue of the French daily Le Monde wrote that democratic capitalism has become what he called the indisputable owner of the field, but, he added, if democratic capitalism thinks it can control or end history with its assumed victory, it is grossly mistaken. The so-called victory of capitalism, in the long run will boomerang and result in the defeat of capitalism. This defeat will come a day when the fantasy of democracy's domination over the world has been removed, the same fantasy that led to Marxism’s collapse. Debret adds that Marxism and liberalism have been partners for a century and propagated that in their supposedly ideal world, economy has the first place. But that day is not very far when in the ultra-industrial world this position will be inverted, in a way that culture will stand in the first position and economy will be placed last after politics. There are many theories about the future of the world and the best type of government. But these utopias indicate the reality that they are all the products of man's fallible mind and thoughts and for this reason they are unreal, impractical and structurally contradictory.


(4)

When humanism was brought up, western thinkers and philosophers pursued the idea of the ideal state or utopia as they called it. In this connection we mentioned intellectuals like Thomas Moore and Francis Bacon. According to their views man would reach perfection in this life and by relying on his efforts. This type of thinking gained more force in the next centuries and gradually turned into a school of thought whose axis was the human being. At this time philosophers like the French Auguste Comte spoke about the religion of humanity. Comte founded the philosophy of positivism. In the 19th century he brought up the religion of humanity. He believed that in order to create an ideal society, a group of wise men should rule, so that the leadership would be in the hands of people who do not commit oppression and who look at man from a humanistic view. After the occurrence of many developments, this ideology took an extremist form, in a way that in the utopia depicted by Aldous Huxley named the Brave New World, man's carnal desires became the replacement for religions. In the Brave New World there is no sign of kindness and honesty. The Brave New World is a city that has used the latest technical achievements and in it, even people are produced under a series of chemical and physical procedures in factories. These creatures that resemble humans are classified as alpha and beta, and there are devoid of any feeling, kindness, criticism, desires, or orientation towards religion or spiritual values. In this imaginary city all the responsibilities and limits have been pre-determined so that workers would work in factories like robots while directors man their posts as mere automations. They have treaded the phases of growth and education in a way that they have forgotten things like love, protests, religion and poetry. In the Brave New World all human actions are limited to responding to animal and physical needs, and the rank of man declines to that of animals.

After Thomas Moore’s Utopia, Italian monk Tomasso Campanella wrote the City of the Sun in which he depicted his own ideal state. Campanella's society is clearly socialist and the and the government in it is tyrannical, not to the liking of contemporary man. In his work, marriage as a social institution has no meaning and newborns belong to the government. The The citizens all wear the same clothes and apparently there is  elfare and material prosperity. But it seems that there is no freedom here either. In reality these utopias are more like fantasies and imaginations of warped minds in view of their unilateral view of the world and their lack of attention to humans, as creatures that have thoughts and ideas.

The interesting point is that Marxism that is a materialistic school has also spoken about a utopia to its followers. Communism has promised a world in which full equality, abundant material blessings and social justice are established. In other words communism claimed that it would divide whatever there is equally among the people. The supporters of this utopia thought that with communism's economic theory, an appropriate social system would be established in the world in which there would be no disorder or social inequality. The attractiveness of these slogans was such that some of the society's weak and deprived strata sought justice in the shadow of communism.

Karl Marx believed that religion rose from the minds of individuals, and man in order to confront difficulties and elements that lead to his fear and concern has created God in his mind so that he would fight these calamities. He believed that when class usurpation is eliminated based on the communist ideology, religion too would be removed. Marx terms the socialist ideas before him imaginary and considers himself a realist. But the practical experience of the Soviet Union's socialist revolution since the very beginning indicates its lack of realism and showed that the utopia sketched by the communists is only an imaginary ideal. The Marxists for 7 decades propagated the programmed policies of communism as one of Marx's' economic principles.  But when after 70 years the issue of people's basic needs such as food had not been solved, the failure of this utopia was more than ever revealed and Marxism also reached the end of the line.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn a Russian dissident writer who was sentenced to jail during the Soviet Union's era writes: Communism has always been a series of pompous sayings; sayings that the world workers will destroy capitalism and after that the most brilliant society would emerge. This in reality is nothing but the result of the imagination of the German duo Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The ideology of communism under the cover of freedom, equality and justice, takes nations as captives and distances them from the truth. Marxism takes will away from man and leaves him with no authority. In another place Solzhenitsyn writes: this red dragon had previously gobbled me but it failed to digest me. I am a witness to what went inside the monster of Marxism and returned from his fiery stomach.

Thus by probing ideal societies or utopias imagined by western intellectuals, we see that these societies are not the materialization of man's wishes and sense of perfection. Although some of these plans influence man's inner feelings and have a lot of attraction, they never lead to man's ultimate prosperity and happiness and are very far away from what man truly desires.


(3)

How beautiful and auspicious will be the day when the world is cleansed of deceit and mischief and the government of justice is established throughout the world. On that day the perfume of life will begin to circulate within humans and the aroma of narcissus, irises and chrysanthemums will fill their soul. Undoubtedly such a day is nigh.

Seeking pure water so thirsty am I,

Moonlight surely appeals to my eye

Oh bright dawn I desire you as I sigh

The luminous sun I seek or I die

In the previous program we said man has pinned his eyes on a hopeful future. In this line intellectuals have tried to open a new horizon before humanity for man to flourish and the world to be adorned with justice and peace. In this 3rd edition of the world toward illumination we will take a look at what western intellectuals thought about man's future, after the renaissance. During the renaissance new schools emerged and man's viewpoint toward the world changed. New sciences provided western man with the possibility to in his opinion search for his lost paradise on earth. One western philosopher says, with the Renaissance man thought he could overcome all problems with the weapon named science. Based on the ideology reigning over the renaissance in the west, the era of revelation had ended and man considered himself the criterion for everything. The Humanist school in its path placed man as the axis for everything and established the desired society on this basis. Man's ability to cope with nature and exploit it led the western man to see himself on one side and the entire world on the other.

During the renaissance some western intellectuals came up with works for designing new and idealistic cities. Thomas Moore's Utopia and Francis Bacon's New Atlantis are among these works. They have depicted fantasy cities on paper. Moore is among the architects of the theory of utopia during the renaissance. In order to depict his idealistic city he wrote a book titled Utopia. His utopia is a supposed to be a country whose ruler Utopus has ordered moats to be dug all around the country so that this land would be separated from other lands like an island. A sailor named Raphael accidentally passes by this island and lives there for 5 years. He only returns to Europe because he wants to make Europeans familiar with the so-called just system of the island; a system supposed to based on equality where people's lives are intertwined. The members of the 30 families that live on the island have lunch and dinner together and cooks prepare the food from the material available in the public storage. In this imaginary island everyone provides his needs from the public storage. Moore's Utopia is a quiet and inactive city, where there is not much work and not much consumption either. Thus a civilization can never be created in such a city. Thomas Moore has made all his efforts to give a realistic image of his imaginary society. But some experts believe his utopia is not the supposed heaven on earth, but is actually a pretext to criticize his own society.

After Moore we see the plan of a utopia in Francis Bacon's New Atlantis. He is known as Christian Europe's first new philosopher. Although in some of his works Bacon considered the idea of an idealistic society to be an imaginary and useless thought, at the end of his life he came up with a utopia of his own and talked about his fantasies as a humanist philosopher. In Bacons' New Atlantis the roots of humanistic views in his era are completely tangible. In his idealistic and imaginary society the government is in the hands of the scientists and their duty is to provide man's welfare. Bacon places everything at the service of knowledge, discoveries and inventions and safeguarding them. Schools, universities, laboratories and hospitals all work in line with advancing science and the aim of advancing science is dominating nature.

 In Bacon's New Atlantis religions and religious ceremonies have also been mentioned. For example he speaks of halls where people gather to pray and worship God. However he too like the other humanists of his era portrays religion as quite unimportant.

The survey of intellectuals' ideas indicates that generally there are two views regarding utopias. Iranian university professor, writer and researcher Mr. Shafiqi in an interview we had with him said it should be noted that utopias or the ideal states have been elaborated on from two viewpoints. One viewpoint is materialistic and became more outstanding after the renaissance. In these utopias scientists only rely on new sciences and have tried, apart from the message of revelation to create their imaginary heavens on earth. The other type of the ideal state is based on divine promises. Intellectuals who believe in this try by relying on the principles of revelation to define man's status in the world and depict a society that can be materialized and is free of inequality and discrimination.

Mr. Shafiqi added: if we survey the ideal states created in man's mind we see that these cities are mainly formed on the basis of wishes and fantasies. For this reason despite the dozens of greater works by historians and philosophers these plans cannot be materialized. In these utopias instead of a realistic look at the world and instead of paying attention to God's unchanging traditions, an unrealistic and imaginary view prevails that is far from the truth. But at the same time these ideal states express an important issue and that is that man will one day reach his old-time wish and  materialize his desired world.


(2)

A man with a heart full of sorrow is standing and after years of waiting and torture, he calls for his homeland. Tears don’t' give him a chance. He cries at the darkness of history so as to wash the pages of history from all this inequality and oppression. He has struggled for many years. But he sees children who run in the streets full of blood and gunpowder without any refuge, he sees mothers that beat their chests due to the separation from their children, and the olive trees of his homeland have gone dry. And he is thinking, then when? When will all the world's rivers rise and when will a savior come? His injured conscience recites this poem:

The city is empty of lovers, waiting for a man to come and do something.

In the first part of this series presented to you last week we spoke of the current situation of the world. The roots of many disorders in our world are corruptions, inequalities and the tyrannies of dominating powers. As God says in verse 41 of Surah Roum: “Corruption has appeared in the land, and the sea on account of what the hands of the men have wrought that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, so that they may return.”

In today's program we will take a look at the views of some thinkers about the future.  With this we see that the demand for having a good future has dedicated to itself a considerable chapter of the cultural and literature of nations and the views of intellectuals. Thanks for accompanying us in this program.

In the same way that reaching perfection is the wish of every person, reaching a utopia and a bright future is also the wish of those who do not see justice and wisdom among themselves and others of their species. They hope that one day the desired society will materialize and as a consequence justice in all individual and social aspects will begin to spread and spiritual sublimity together with spiritual peace and material needlessness will be combined.

A study of the written works and the oral traditions of ancient nations, indicates that both in religions, philosophies and among the founders of the contemporary culture, the issue of utopia and a superior society has been brought up. Will Durant in his book Pleasures of Philosophy, quoting Irish poet and writer Oscar Wilde writes, the map of a world that does not have a utopia or a perfect and ideal state is not worth looking at. For, this map has not shown a country where humanity has reached perfection.

Religions and schools of thought have drawn the attention of man to a better world. India’s first prime minister after independence from British colonial rule, Jawaharlal Nehru said that in a world full of conflicts, hatred and violence, believing in mankind's destiny and future is necessary more than at any time else. When the future we work for is filled with hope for humanity, tolerating the hardships of today's world will be easy.

Throughout history those who have spoken of a perfect or ideal state have depicted a city free of any defect or mischief and in their plan they have used all executive and administrative organizations to safeguard it. The Greek philosopher Aristotle's thoughts circled around the axis of knowledge and moderation and he believed that the society's desired political pyramid should be comprised of people who have more knowledge and wisdom. But his teacher Plato is among the most renowned people who have spoken about the ideal state or utopia in Greek. During his era crisis, chaos and wars especially stemmed from tension between Athens and Sparta and had created a lamentable situation. Plato who saw the corruption and failure of political systems, thought about depicting a stable and ideal society. He believed that the wise men should rule the city, so that in the light of solidarity, work and rejecting private property, all the inhabitants of the earth would enjoy justice. In his book The Republic he writes, in an ideal state, either philosophers and wise men should become rulers or rulers should become wise men. In other words political power and knowledge should be gathered in one individual so that he can save humanity from difficulties. In Plato's Republic special guards, as a permanent corps, have the duty to establish justice and goodness and with full preparedness they think about safeguarding the society's interests and do not love anything but this. He believes that these guards must be banned from paying attention to money, because this attention might reduce their idealistic love toward the ideal state.

Prior to the renaissance other philosophers in the Christian world also spoke about the ideal state. St Augustine of Hippo, a bishop of Roman ruled northern Africa, who in the 4th and 5th centuries in what are now parts of Algeria and Tunisia, his book the City of God has depicted the world of the future. In his theory there are two groups of people, the chosen ones and the cursed ones. In elaborating on these two groups he has spoken of what he calls A City of God and A City of the Earth. In the City of the Earth material life is the basis and its citizens are selfish and arrogant. But in the City of God, which he names the Heavenly City, people have spirituality and its citizens place God as the basis. He says that one day these two cities will be separated from one another and the inhabitants of the City of God will enjoy God's blessings.

St Augustine leaves everything in the City of God to destiny. This issue is the weak point of his ideal state, for it takes will and responsibility away from people. In Augustine's city of God science and knowledge are not important. He believes that science is necessary only up to the point of understanding the holy book.

The renowned Muslim thinker and philosopher of the 4th century AH Abu Nasr Farabi, who hailed from Central Asia and lived in the Hamadanid court of Aleppo in Syria, at a time when in neighbouring Byzantine, the superstitious teachings of the Christian Church had plunged all Europe the dark ages, wrote a masterpiece in this regard. From his viewpoint the ideal or more properly The Perfect State as is evident from the title of his famous book Madinat al-Fazela, is a society where everyone cooperates to reach prosperity. His Perfect State is a society based solely on wisdom. He believes that if the rulers are knowledgeable and wise, that is enough and the place of a philosopher is actually in such an ideal state. He says if there are no philosophers in the Perfect State, they must migrate there. Farabi considers the fundamental elements for the formation of the Perfect State to be the existence of God-oriented or divinely decreed leadership, whom he calls the first and foremost person in the society, and implicitly hints that it should be the infallible Imam.

Since the 15th century a new understanding overcame western thinkers, an understanding in which man's status and role changed, and following that another world was also depicted for him. The new historic period that was the beginning of the 16th century witnessed the birth of a man that had a different view of the world than in the past. Thus this man took measures to change the world and prepared the tools to dominate it.


(1)

The age-old wish of human beings has been living in a fine society based on peace and justice. On this basis it can be said that one of the major concerns of man is the future he has before him. The turbulent mind of man is entangled in a storm of questions about the future. Where is man moving to? What will happen in his future? What fate will today's nations and civilizations have in the future? Will they destroy one another? Will a power, nation or civilization prevail? And finally to what direction will the speed of technology and modernity take man?

These are issues, which in the framework of numerous theories and hypotheses are among today's interesting discussions. Thus it can be said that in the current era more than any time else man is concerned about the future, and all people are looking at the future from different angles and with different incentives. Many of the world's people are awaiting a better future and salvation from their current situation and another group is trying to justify and stabilize the current situation. In this new program that we have prepared for you, with the help of God we will try to find answers to these questions and in these critical conditions bring the good tidings of a bright future for you.

In the current era new interpretations of happiness and prosperity for man have been brought up. In these interpretations there is talk about welfare and worldly tranquility. Some believe that science and material progress automatically bring about prosperity, and man can attain sublimity on earth. In this line philosophers like the Frenchman August Comte have spoken of man's origin and psychiatrists like Eric Forum have spoken of the art of loving. But the world's reality shows that man more than any other time is searching for prosperity and tranquility. The daily increasing production of destructive weapons, domineering tendencies, racist wars, genocide and instability of world markets, all threaten the world's security and tranquility. Now western rulers under the slogan of liberal democracy are tyrannically and oppressively looting the capital of oppressed nations. The weakness of the family foundation, crime, violence, narcotics, human trafficking, anxiety and depression have faced the world's future with serious danger. British thinker Bertrand Russell in his book Does Man have A Future has spoken so pessimistically about the future that he writes in the books' last chapter: I am writing in a dark moment and I don’t know if the human race will last long enough till my writings are published, and if they are published, will they be read or not?

A Colombian student in his composition has depicted the current juncture of time as part of history and compares it with other historic periods, beautifully. He says currently we are living in conditions when stories have been added to our buildings, but our patience has decreased. Highways are big and vast but our viewpoints are narrow. Houses are big but families smaller. Our education has increased, but our feelings have decreased. We learn how to increase our income but we have forgotten how to live. Our welfare is greater but we smile less. These are the days they call the days of world peace.

The tensions of the current era have led western theoreticians to discuss and survey the world's future. From the viewpoint of some of them man tends toward corruption. This tendency leads man to destroy the logical and spiritual principles of his life. The more he moves ahead with the growth of science and technology, his carnal tendencies are reinforced and he goes deeper into the material realm. They believe that currently the system of domination nourishes this corruption and behavior. Efforts to create a unipolar system in the world and attaining the strongholds of power and wealth take place by those who with their interest seeking and domination propagate corruption in the society. This group mainly depicts the future as ambiguous and dark. In this connection reference can be made to the downward trend of thoughts and morality. Today man instead of making better use of technology has become addicted to it and instead of getting used to the people around him, he acquires excessive hate or love toward them. Another group of theoreticians believes that in the future man will tread the path of logic. In their opinion, for the past 3000 years man has had a movement accompanied with trial and error. That is, if in one era it was faced with shortcomings, in the next era it rebels against that viewpoint and tries to remove this shortcoming and make his life logical and legal. The thoughts of this group are a bit closer to the viewpoint of religions. From the viewpoint of religions man treads the path of perfection and the world moves toward goodness, justice, knowledge and honesty. Christianity and Judaism believe that at the end of the world a figure will appear that will fill the earth with justice and truth. In this line we read in religious narrations, those qualified should provide the grounds and preliminaries for the appearance of the savior and move the society up toward redemption. In Islam's view, the world on one hand moves toward sublimity and perfection and on the other hand those who cannot tolerate this current, add to the scope of corruption and deviation. At this time the Promised Savior will appear and heal all sufferings of mankind.

And finally we invite you to tune in to our next programs to see how the future will turn out to be. And we invite you to listen to an inspiring poem.

Be joyous my heart, miracles of the Messiah will soon be here

The scent of breaths of the One we know comes from near

Grieve not of sorrow and melancholy, as assured I was made last night That a Savior will come, its clear



67 posted on 02/03/2007 8:18:51 PM PST by Dajjal (See my FR homepage for an essay about Ahmadinejad.)
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To: FDNYRHEROES

If you say so...


68 posted on 02/03/2007 11:30:19 PM PST by oneolcop (Take off the gloves!)
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To: Stillwaters

ping


69 posted on 02/03/2007 11:42:28 PM PST by lonevoice (It's always "Apologize to a Muslim" hour...somewhere)
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To: Dajjal

Thanks for the post.


70 posted on 02/04/2007 8:21:55 AM PST by Cvengr
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To: Dajjal
"A Colombian student in his composition has depicted the current juncture of time as part of history and compares it with other historic periods, beautifully. He says currently we are living in conditions when stories have been added to our buildings, but our patience has decreased. Highways are big and vast but our viewpoints are narrow. Houses are big but families smaller. Our education has increased, but our feelings have decreased. We learn how to increase our income but we have forgotten how to live. Our welfare is greater but we smile less. These are the days they call the days of world peace."

IMHO, the above quote has good insight.

71 posted on 02/04/2007 8:27:26 AM PST by Cvengr
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To: Cvengr
Wisdom comes from a variety of sources.

Personally, I believe we are in a global war with two aspects; the first and most obvious is the war we are fighting to stop terrorists from attacking us; the second is the spiritual war. We cant fight this one with bullets and bombs, only with sincere prayer.

72 posted on 02/04/2007 1:02:04 PM PST by oneolcop (Take off the gloves!)
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To: All
Rather than start a new thread, I decided to post this here. I believe it is an ominous sign. You all can decide for yourselves.

Reprinted from NewsMax.com Iran Diplomat Goes Silent Stewart Stogel Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007

UNITED NATIONS — "I do not do interviews anymore" was the cryptic response from Iran's veteran U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif. Zarif, a U.S. educated diplomat, was responding to reporters' requests for an elaboration on the latest developments related to Iran's atomic "research" program, as well as White House allegations about Tehran's increasing influence inside neighboring Iraq.

The Iranian's response on the interview request was even more curious, since he has generally been accessible to the media.

Zarif, Iran's most experienced diplomat in dealing with the United States, had been the "unofficial" point man in indirect contacts with the Bush administration as well as with several congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill.

To many inside the United States, Zarif has been the face of Tehran.

A moderate by Iranian standards, he has often privately admitted to being "confused" by the policies of current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Many in the government just really don't know him," he often confessed.

Zarif also admitted that he saw his long government service likely coming to an end sometime in 2007.

"I have been in New York for more than 5 years. I am overdue to be rotated. If it happens, I can always go home and teach at a university," he sheepishly explained.

Once a point man at the center of Iranian foreign policy, Zarif has been relegated to explaining the policies of others since the government under Ahmadinejad took office.

During his tenure, several unusual incidents occurred at Iran's U.N. mission that raised eyesbrows at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Last year, a mysterious fire engulfed the ambassador's 5th Ave residence (one the home of the Shah of Iran) causing Zarif to find shelter in a suburban Westchester County hotel for several months.

In 2005, the New York Police Department raised complaints about two Iranian diplomats supposedly photographing several subway stations. Neither incident was ever fully explained. Another sign was Zarif's declining status inside the U.N. diplomatic corps took place just last Wednesday.

The Iranian was expected at a New York reception for visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Zarif was inexplicably delayed. By the time he arrived, the foreign minister had left. Embarrassed, Zarif darted in and out of the Russian mission.

Just who might replace the Iranian ambassador is another unanswered question.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations had no comment. 112-112

73 posted on 02/04/2007 1:13:15 PM PST by oneolcop (Take off the gloves!)
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To: Cvengr
IMHO, the above quote has good insight.

Oh, The devil's best lies are chock full of truths. That's what makes them so dangerous.

How's this for an End-Time hadith "proving" that the Mahdi will soon wonderfully guide mankind to happiness (or is it happyness now?) under shari'a law:

When you see that truth has died and people of truth have disappeared, and you see that injustice prevails through the land; and Scripture has become despised and things are introduced into it that are not in it and it is turned towards men's desires; and you see the people of error having mastery over the people of truth; and you see evil out in the open and the doers of evil are not prevented nor do they excuse themselves; and you see moral depravity openly manifest and men being content with men and women satisfied by woman; and you see the believer silent, his word not being accepted; and you see the sinful lying and he is not refuted nor does his deceit redound upon him; and you see the lowly despising the great; and you see the wombs cut open; and you see he who boasts of moral depravity is laughed at and is not spurned; and you see young men being handed over like women and women cohabiting with women and their numbers increasing; and you see men spending their wealth on things other than pious deeds and no one opposes or hinders them; and you see the onlooker turn his back on the efforts of the believer; and you see one person molesting his neighbor and no one prevents it; and you see the unbeliever joyful because he does not see gladness in the believer when he sees corruption in the world; and you see alcoholic drinks being drunk openly... and you see women occupying places in the assemblies just as men do and usury is carried out openly and adultery is praised... and you see the forbidden things made legal and the legal things forbidden; and you see that religion becomes a matter of opinion and Scripture and its laws fall into disuse; and you see the leaders drawing close to the unbelievers and away from good people; and you see the leaders corrupt in their rule;... and you see men eating what their wives have obtained as a result of their immorality and knowing this and persisting in it;... and you see places of entertainment appearing which no one who passes them forbids them and no one is bold enough to put an end to them; and you see a worshiper only praying in order that the people may see him; and you see the experts in religious law devoting themselves to things other than religion, seeking the world and leadership; and you see the people living together like animals; and you see the pulpit from which fear of God is enjoined but the speaker does not act in the manner he has enjoined others to act;... and when you see the tokens of truth that I have taught, then be aware [of the advent of the Mahdi] and seek salvation from God." - The Sixth Imam Jafar As-Sadiq (as)

74 posted on 02/05/2007 1:21:11 PM PST by Dajjal (See my FR homepage for an essay about Ahmadinejad.)
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To: oneolcop; Cvengr
We can't fight this one with bullets and bombs, only with sincere prayer.

I would say "We can't fight this one merely with bullets and bombs, only with sincere prayer as well."

In other words, "Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition."

75 posted on 02/05/2007 1:27:11 PM PST by Dajjal (See my FR homepage for an essay about Ahmadinejad.)
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To: Dajjal

AGREED!!!


76 posted on 02/05/2007 2:21:02 PM PST by oneolcop (Take off the gloves!)
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To: Dajjal

I haven't read the excerpt fully yet, although I did read the post to which this this responds. When was it written? I have to admit it fairly well describes US national politics.


77 posted on 02/05/2007 3:57:13 PM PST by Cvengr
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To: Cvengr
I haven't read the excerpt fully yet, although I did read the post to which this this responds. When was it written? I have to admit it fairly well describes US national politics.

The quotation I pasted in post# 74 is not from the Iranian radio website. It's a hadith attributed to Jafar al-Sadiq (702-765 AD), the Sixth Imam to rule in Medina.

78 posted on 02/05/2007 4:14:08 PM PST by Dajjal (See my FR homepage for an essay about Ahmadinejad.)
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To: Dajjal

There must be something of substance in Hal Lindsey's approach if Islam categorizes all of Christianity today as represented by only three groups, RCC, Orthodox Church, and Christian Zionists as exemplified by Hal Lindsey.

Funny thing is that Protestantism doesn't believe in promoting Armageddon as the Iranian website asserts, rather the emphasis is on remaining in fellowship with God through faith in Christ in all things.

Makes one wonder if the fostering of belief of Iranians that Protestants seek to promote Armageddon, and the western promotion of Islam as seeking to promote Armageddon, aren't simply operations by others controlling media to mold a politic to isolate and pit religions against one another as a distraction from an ulterior intent by a third party.


79 posted on 02/06/2007 3:11:21 AM PST by Cvengr
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To: Cvengr
There must be something of substance in Hal Lindsey's approach if Islam categorizes all of Christianity today as represented by only three groups, RCC, Orthodox Church, and Christian Zionists as exemplified by Hal Lindsey.

Actually, that whole passage seems to be a regurgitation of the thesis of the late Grace Halsell. In her 1986 book Prophecy and Politics she asserted that Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and other "Christian Zionists" were urging Ronald Reagan to drop the bomb and begin the Battle of Armageddon.

Democrats, Buchananites, Muslims, and sundry other groups have been parroting her assertions ever since. The charges were adapted to fit G. H. W. Bush, Newt Gingrich, G. W. Bush, etc.

See, for instance, this 1988 article by her:
http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/1288/8812031.htm
Israeli Extremists and Christian Fundamentalists: The Alliance
By Grace Halsell

80 posted on 02/06/2007 3:17:21 PM PST by Dajjal (See my FR homepage for an essay about Ahmadinejad.)
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