Isn't it chaos that brings forth the 12th iman... If not, or if so, or whatever -- what's a "mahdaviat" society?
I know it’s wiki dic but here ya go:
Mahdaviat
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Mahdaviat is a religious term in Iranian Shi’a Islam meaning
“belief in and efforts to prepare for the Mahdi”. Believing followers of any Mahdi claimant
can be referred to as Mahdawis (or Mahdavis); their belief, faith or
school of thought is thus
Mahdaviat (or Mahdawia(t) and similar transliterations,
depending on Arabic, Persian or Urdu pronunciation).
In Islamic eschatology, the Second
Coming of Isa (Jesus) is preceded by the appearance of a figure known as the Mahdi or
“rightly-guided one”. Shi’ah Muslims believe this person is the same as the 12th Imam (also Imam
Zaman), who was hidden by God following the death of his father in 874, and will reappear as “the
restorer of religion and justice who will rule before the end of the world”.
There is so much misreporting on this, even by people like Robert Spencer, Bernard Lewis, etc.
The Mahdi is the 12th Imam only for the Shi'ites; for the Sunnis, Sufis, etc. the Mahdi will be some Muslim almost as great and pure as Mohammed himself.
He comes with this twofold purpose: to kill the Dajjal, and by that act to establish a world-wide Islamic state governed by shari'a law.
It is not amorphous "chaos" that causes the Mahdi to appear -- it is the presence on earth of the Dajjal ("the Deceiver") -- the greatest evil to beset the planet since the serpent in Eden.
Here's the key: For the past several decades, many Muslim preachers have identified Western culture, the Western nations, and the Western people -- collectively -- as "the Dajjal." Ergo, if we exist on Earth, the Mahdi will soon appear to kill us all and to wipe the planet clean of us.
The Hadith foretell that the Dajjal will take over / have influence on nearly the whole planet (all except for Mecca and Medina) in the Last Days. Muslims are interpretting that as the pervasive influence of Western multinational corporations, Western governments, Western culture, Western technology, etc.
The Hadith further prophesy that the Mahdi and his small vanguard of "true" Muslims will overthrow the Dajjal and kill all of his followers. That explains the unquestioning conviction the Muslims have that they will triumph.
Neither the Qur'an nor the Hadith gives a date, but there is a widespread belief that Judgment Day will arrive in the Muslim year 1500 AH, or 2076 AD.
Ahmadinejad believes that he can best "pave the way" for the return of the Mahdi by creating a "Mahdaviat" society -- that is, by creating a society based on strict interpretation of shari'a law and the rejection of all "Dajjalic" Western influences. Thus, when the Mahdi arrives, he will be able to just slip into the driver's seat to lead the jihad against the Dajjal.
See my FR homepage for more information.