Mission of A’jad
Ahmadinejad before the U.N. General Assembly (through translator):
In the name of God, the compassionate and the merciful, oh, God, hasten the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers and those who attest to his rightfulness.
Mr. President, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased and grateful to the almighty to have the opportunity once again to attend this important universal forum …
Iraqi-American Haider Ajina at Gateway with the questions the Columbia crowd, media, etal should have stuck to A’jad:
Who is Imam Almehdi?
What has to happen before Almehdi returns?
What is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doing for the return of Almehdi?
When is Armageddon coming and what is he doing to prepare his country for it?
It is good when we try to understand one another.* Great line of questioning from Ajina that seems to have been lost in all the to-do about temporal concerns … the terrorism, the nuke lust, the gay hangings, the woman-hating, the Jew-baiting and Bush-bashing, etc. Seeing as the Islamic Republic of Iran pretty much is Shia central, a place where apocalyptic zealotry, government, and modern weaponry meet, perhaps this is a good time to take another look at the Mahdi and his needs. We could go to Ask the Imam, but I don’t have all day, and I don’t know if he offers advice to infidels, other than maybe “come back when you’ve converted.” So here’s Jihad Watch, with a 2005 Reuters article helpfully bolded:
“Our revolution’s main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi,” Ahmadinejad said in the speech to Friday Prayers leaders from across the country.
“Therefore, Iran should become a powerful, developed and model Islamic society.”
“Today, we should define our economic, cultural and political policies based on the policy of Imam Mahdi’s return. We should avoid copying the West’s policies and systems,” he added, newspapers and local news agencies reported.
Ahmadinejad refers to the return of the 12th Imam, also known as the Mahdi, in almost all his major speeches since he took office in August.
A September address to the U.N. General Assembly contained long passages on the Mahdi which confused Western diplomats and irked those from Sunni Muslim countries who believe in a different line of succession from Mohammed.
This fascination has prompted wild stories to circulate.
Presidential aides have denied a popular rumor that he ordered his cabinet to write a letter to the 12th Imam and throw it down a well near the holy city of Qom where thousands of pilgrims come each week to pray and drop messages to the Imam.
But what really has tongues wagging is the possibility that Ahmadinejad’s belief in the 12th Imam’s return may be linked to the supposed growing influence of a secretive society devoted to the Mahdi which was banned in the early 1980s.
Founded in 1953 and used by the Shah of Iran to try to eradicate followers of the Bahai faith, the Hojjatieh Society is governed by the conviction that the 12th Imam’s return will be hastened by the creation of chaos on earth.
Ahmadinejad, who is only the second non-cleric to become president since the revolution, has made clear his immense respect for Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, a deeply conservative cleric with close ties to the Hojjatieh-founded Haqqani theological school in Qom.
Conspiracy theorists, never in short supply in Iran, allege that many members of Ahmadinejad’s cabinet and other key appointees are Haqqani graduates and Hojjatieh followers.
“It seems that they (Hojjatieh members) have recently become more active and are spread through the government,” said a political analyst who declined to be named.
“The president has repeatedly said his government will pave the way for the Imam’s return.”
Here’s the Christian Science Monitor, which had lengthy chats with a lot of mullahs, politicos re Ahmadinejad’s Mahdi jones in 2005:
“What Ahmadinejad believes is that we have to create a model state based on … Islamic democracy - to be given to the world,” says Hamidreza Taraghi, head of the conservative Islamic Coalition Society. “The … government accepts this role for themselves.”
Any possibility of détente with the US may also be in jeopardy, if the US-Iran conflict is cast in Mahdaviat terms. That view holds that the US - with quasireligious declarations of transforming the Middle East with democracy and justice, deploying military forces across the region, and developing a new generation of nuclear weapons - is arrogantly trying to assume the role of Mahdi.
A top priority of Ahmadinejad is “to challenge America, which is trying to impose itself as the final salvation of the human being, and insert its unjust state [in the region],” says Mr. Taraghi.
Taraghi says the US is “trying to place itself as the new Mahdi.” This may mean no peace with Iran, he adds, “unless America changes its hegemonic … thinking, doesn’t use nuclear weapons, [or] impose its will on other nations.”
Final rulings on such issues rest with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose position of velayat-e-faqih - God’s jurisprudent on earth - is meant to serve as the direct link with the divine.
And while rule by clerics might suggest joy over a leader who believes he is divinely guided, Shiite religious texts ban all claims of such revelations and warn against “false prophets.” The punishment for “fooling” people is so great, notes one, that “hell’s fire and its occupants are crying.”
That sounds pretty bad. Wouldn’t want to be wrong about it.
The Mahdi’s eventual return is an article of faith for Shiite Muslims that taps deeply into Persian consciousness and mystical tradition. Signs began to appear in Tehran three years ago, announcing that “He’s Coming.” But only a portion of Iranians actively prepare for that moment.
Part of the tradition holds that the Jamkaran mosque was ordered built by the Mahdi himself, during a dream revealed to a “righteous man” some 1,000 years ago. It is here that believers are closest to the Mahdi. Written prayers dropped into the adjacent well (which, local guides point out has no religious basis) are thought by pilgrims to be divinely answered.
Officials deny rumors that Ahmadinejad, as mayor last year, secretly tasked the Tehran City Council with reconfiguring the capital to prepare a suitable route for the Mahdi’s return. They also deny that a list of Ahmadinejad’s new cabinet members has been dropped into the well - a superstition that even Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of Iran’s revolution, refused to associate with.
“The legitimacy of Khatami came from the religious elite. But the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad comes from traditional religious thought [over half a century ago],” says Mohsen Kadivar, a reformist cleric and philosophy professor in Tehran. “Ahmadinejad and his men believe it is popular, [but] it’s a very simple interpretation. We don’t believe in it; the majority of academics don’t believe in it.”
Still, an early cabinet decision earmarked $17 million for Jamkaran. And there is talk of building a direct train link from Tehran to the elegant blue-tiled mosque, which lies 65 miles south of the capital, east of the Shiite religious center of Qom.
…
Critics, many of them clerics, accuse Ahmadinejad of manipulating public sentiment, even if he is personally sincere in his belief.
“They pay more attention to the facade of religion, rather than the jewel of religion,” says Mohammad Ali Ayazi, a professor at the influential seminary in Qom. “Having sincerity or honesty does not make any difference to the results.
“It’s very dangerous, a person exploiting religion for political achievement, because everyone has their own relationship with God,” says Mr. Ayazi, who estimates that focus on the Mahdi’s imminent return appeals to 20 percent of Iranians. “It makes me sad that someone would endanger that.”
Ayazi says that Ahmadinejad uses religion to motivate the public because he lacks political legitimacy. “You don’t expect such a thing from a leader, because it turns comic. You laugh, but you become sad, because it is not supposed to be funny.”
Sayed Hadi Hashemi, a black-turbaned senior cleric in Qom, says that “The Mahdi will rise, and it’s a reality that needs [study] by religious science. But if you say, as Ahmadinejad says, ‘We should construct an avenue in Tehran for the Mahdi to arrive,’ this is only fooling the public.”
But few doubt the sincerity of Ahmadinejad’s belief. Some point to his seemingly impossible prediction of electoral success, three months before the June vote.
“You will see, on the day of the election, I will be the winner - I have no doubt about it,” says political editor Mohebian, quoting those who heard the remarks. “People change, and we can calculate [politically] why he won. But this [gives a] kind of self-confidence,” he says. “Mr. Ahmadinejad thinks he has a mission.”
Mr. Ahmadinejad’s greeting to his pals in the General Assembly … Shiite boilerplate or statement of intent? He apparently keeps a lid on the more overt end-time chatter, perhaps under domestic pressure from more sober-minded black-turbaned imams who’ve done the cost-benefit analysis of wishing the Mahdi would show up vs. telling everyone its about to happen. False prophetry-induced “Hell’s fire,” etc. Actions speak louder than words, however, and there is no doubt Iran and Ahmadinejad are bent on chaos intended to advance Iran’s earthly goals. If that has the added benefit of hastening the Mahdi, well, who’s going to quibble?
A’jad’s UN speech is well worth a read. I’m not going to bother to deconstruct all the hypocrisies. There is the usual blatant Jew-bashing, America-bashing, and of course the widely reported statement that Iran doesn’t intend to pay any attention to the U.N. Security Council. But this part is telling. You’ll recall Bush yesterday counseled the General Assembly to its roots of freedom and democracy. A’jad had a different admonishment:
Is it not high time for these powers to return from the path of arrogance and obedience to Satan to the path of faith in God? Would they not like to be cleansed of the impurities, submit to the will of God and believe in him?
Faith in God means believing in honesty, purity, justice and compassion for others. They can be certain that they will benefit from purity, honesty, justice, and loving and respecting the human dignity.
They can also be certain that such values are more and more considered appropriate, valuable and beautiful by the nations of the world.
This is the invitation of all the divine prophets, from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Mohammed, peace be upon up him. If they accept this invitation, they will be saved. And if they don’t, the same calamities that befell the people of distant past will befall them, as well.
According to the Holy Koran, one who does not answer the divine call should not think that he has weakened God on earth. He has no companion but God and he is clearly engulfed by darkness. They have nothing of their own and cannot escape from the dominion of the rule of God and his will.
In this important gathering, I have to remind them of the following words of the almighty which has been mentioned in the Holy Koran. Do they not look at the powers and governments which came before them? If the people of the past had actually possessed something, they would have kept it and would not have let you possess it now.
God destroyed them because of their sins and nobody could protect them against the will of God. These powers have to know that the thoughts and methods based on oppression and injustice are doomed to failure. Do they not see the signs of vigilance and resistance based on monotheism, philanthropy and the justice-seeking spirit of the nations of the world? Do they not notice that we are nearing the sunset of the time of empires? I hope that this invitation will have a practical answer.
“Sunset of the time of empires.” You could read that a couple of ways, but planted at the end of all that wrath of God chatter, I’m going with end time.
* Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, wacked recently for his inane 9/11 anniversary remarks about the terrorist attacks being the result of a failure of human understanding, may in fact have been on to something. Clearly, American presidents from the Iranian hpstage crisis through Sept. 11 did not did not understand that radical Islam is a deadly toxin, and that its adherents must be mercilessly eradicated or otherwise deprived of the means to do harm. And that was a deep and tragic failure of human understanding that many today still suffer from. I don’t think that’s what Patrick meant, but I thank him for inadvertently helping me to understand a little better. Only through understanding can we prevail. Understanding and cruise missiles. Understanding and F-18s. Understanding and a larger army.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:17 pm on Tuesday, September 25, 2007
8 Responses to “Mission of A’jad”
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September 25th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
I suspect that the widespread lack of understanding that seems prevalent among so many in the West about how dangerous Iran is may be due, in part, to unfamiliarity with the mode of expression Ahmedinejad uses. If Gorilla Boy, as Meryl Yourish calls him, was a Christian fanatic declaring that we had to institute the perfect Christian society and plunge the world into nuclear war in preparation for the imminent Second Coming of Christ, everybody who is now complacent about Iran would be foaming at the mouth to prevent these actions and overthrow the government of fanatical, maniac preachers, even if it meant making Dubya dictator to do it. The mode of expression would be familiar to them. Gorilla Boy says pretty much the same thing but in so unfamiliar a mode that the bien pensants of the West don’t comrehend what he is saying. Stupid, unobservant, and ignorant, our elites hit the trifecta.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:21 am
The Mahdi will be flying into town on a Tomahawk.
September 26th, 2007 at 2:46 am
It is my experience that the multiculturalists, for the most part, don’t really care about a particular culture’s ideas. They focus more on things like festivals, food, etc., i.e., inessentials (unless it involves living in “harmony” with nature, of course). Diversity doesn’t mean diverse ideas; it stands for ethnic or racial traditions. Ideas have to do with the mind, and the transnationalists have little to do with ideas. It doesn’t matter what the culture is; all cultures are equal, and the ideas of men are treated as metaphysical primaries not to be tampered with.
September 26th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Saltydog, I have a somewhat different take on it: The multiculturalists both do and don’t care about ideas. They care very deeply in the sense that they hate hate Western civilization (especially America). They don’t care at all in the sense that they are willing to promote any other culture, no matter how medieval and cruel, in their quest for ways to undermine Western culture.
September 26th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
pst317, I agree if it is specified that the ideas that they hate are those of the Enlightenment: individualism, the primacy of reason, and liberty to live by one’s own mind, morals, choices, etc. Those ideas preclude force and coercion, and the Transnationalist social engineers, with their PC mind control and multicult amorality are all about coercion and force–which make it not just medieval, but primitive and savage. Once reason is removed from the relations between men, only force is left. This is why the more we hear about brotherhood and love, the more violent the culture gets.
September 26th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
When I read it, I thought this is exactly the same kind of stuff Christian preachers have always preached. But whereas Christian preachers always meant it to be a personal struggle with God, Ahmapettitmahdi means it to be a physical coercion against “the infidel”. Why this is so difficult for lefty apologists to understand baffles me. Mahmoud says it loud and clear. If you asked him, he would have his translators relay it in slow, understandable English, just before giving you the choice to convert or die. Those who don’t understand after that simply choose not to.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Perhaps Bush should start his next UN speech with solemn invocation of the second coming of Christ Victorious, just for kicks.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:16 am
[...] dunno … ”the crazy, genocidal end-timer” might be a better [...]