Mick Hartley

From MEMRI, a transcript from the website of the governmental Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) of a series on the imminent arrival of the Mahdi, the Twelfth or Hidden Imam, awaited by Shi’ites as the Messiah, and much invoked by President Ahmadinejad. “The program describes in glowing terms the messianic age to be inaugurated by the Mahdi. He is to begin his uprising in Mecca, and then march on Iraq, where he will establish his “seat of world government” in the city of Kufa and subjugate the current world powers. This will be an age of unparalleled happiness; there will be completely new technologies at mankind’s disposal, and “corruption, war, and rebellion will no longer exist.” Neither will “liberal democratic civilization.”

“…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?…

“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… 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…

“…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… last night

“That a Savior will come, it’s clear.” […]

“…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.” […]

“… 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 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 Savior must come. The world is full of oppression and if we can prevent oppression we will have carried out our part of the duty…”

“With the reappearance of Imam Mahdi… 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…”