MAHDAVI SOCIETY
Year:2021 | Volume:1 | Issue:2 (2)|Papers Count:7

The important place of Mahdiism belief in the religious knowledge system of Islam and its direct and bilateral relationship with the Islamic Revolution has made the holy system of the Islamic Republic of Iran adopt appropriate strategies to manage the culture of the waiting. These strategies have not been compiled, but can be identified and analyzed through examining the intentions of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei. For this purpose, in the present study, using the content analysis method, the text of the wise leader’ s thoughts have been processed, combined, and summarized in three stages. The result of this process was the formation of eight comprehensive themes that, in fact, constitute the strategies of this study. The identified strategies were then analyzed comparatively. These strategies, in order of importance are: emphasizing the relationship between Mahdiism and the Islamic Revolution, drawing a hopeful, inspiring and motivating image of the ideal of Mahdiism, explaining the correct meaning of the culture of the waiting and its pathology, institutionalizing the culture of the waiting in certain strata and reference groups, emphasizing meta-Shiism, meta-religion and universalism of Messianism and taking advantage of Mahdiism places and occasions, the emphasis on seeking justice as an important feature of the state that paves the way for the reappearance and the waiting community, and finally developing the epistemological foundations of Mahdiism.

With regard to the wisdom of occultation and reappearance, there are several viewpoints, among which the fluent words of Imam Sadegh that this wisdom should be covered until its reappearance and its alignment with the occultations of the previous divine Hujjas, can be very helpful. Accompanying this explanation with Imam Khamenei’ s viewpoint on the necessity of occultation and waiting, even assuming that Ghadir will bear fruit, has led to more reflection on the subject and writing of this paper. In this article, with an analytical and explanatory approach, the two topics of occultation and reappearance have considered, not as a punishment for weak believers, but as a divine tradition and a permanent cycle for the reappearance and full knowledge of the Imam (Mahdi) and his guardianship position. This has started in history from the beginning of the invitation of the great prophets and before the Bi’ tha and has continued until the story of Ghadir Khum and then in Ashura and finally until the era of the occultation of Imam Mahdi (a). In addition, with regard to the continuity of these historical events under the concept of Kobra Resurrection, this cycle has been continued after the reappearance during the Raj’ a period and until the Resurrection, and it will be the main mechanism to lead human beings under the Infallible Imam to the Resurrection.

This paper, entitled "the vision of the waiting community in the thought of Ayatollah Khamenei", examines and analyzes the views and thought of the Supreme Leader of Iranian Revolution about the ideal future of the waiting community and its prospects and vision. Using the method of compiling a vision and collecting information in the form of library method, this paper describes and analyzes the narrative-rational data and provides a favorable model of the waiting community. In order to achieve the vision of the ideal community in his thought, the data have been analyzed in two sections. The first section is the fundamental ideology, which includes the basic values and goals (existential reason). The second section is the future of the vision, which includes daring goals and a vivid description of the future. In the thought of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, the vision of the waiting community is: the society and the Islamic state moving towards goodness, justice and empowerment with high hope, readiness and dynamism to approach the grounds of the reappearance and victory of Imam Mahdi (a) and play an important role in global developments and the formation of a new Islamic civilization.

The age of waiting (for Imam Mahdi) is one of the most important periods of human life in which human beings are waiting for the world and promised savior and they form the waiting community. One of the most obvious tasks of the waiting community is to prepare the ground for the realization of the Mahdavi community and to move towards the creation and beginning of the age of reappearance. Certainly, preparation and moving in the direction of the ideal government of Imam Mahdi (a) requires readiness and arrangements, including the establishment of a religious system in society. The fact is that the victory of the Islamic Revolution (of Iran) and the establishment of the Islamic Republic in its form is a very big and important step in the path of systematization in the waiting community, which must be thoroughly examined and studied. The thirty-year presence of Ayatollah Khamenei in the position of the leader of the Islamic system has made this noble person a comprehensive and complete figure. In this regard, his views on the age of the waiting, the duties, and responsibilities of the waiting community, the goals, and characteristics of the waiting community, and the systematization of the waiting community are of paramount importance. In this paper, the view of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution on the issue of the waiting and the waiting community and the requirements and needs of systematization in the waiting community are examined and studied, using explanatory and analytical methods.

The West’ s attention to the issue of the end time view of Islam and Mahdism has grown undeniably in both scientific-research and political-media fields. As in the numerous scientific centers of the West, deep Mahdi research is evident; various examples of anti-Mahdiism are clearly visible in the Western media. The current paper with a descriptive-analytical method in addition to presenting a picture of the current situation of the West’ s confrontation with Mahdism, in the light of the Supreme Leader’ s views, first, intends to find the causes for the attention and conflict with and Islamic-Shiite Mahdiism belief, and then present strategies to counter the Western movements on the subject of Mahdism through his guidelines. According to statistics, the rise of Islam in the West, the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and its profound impact on the world, the introduction of Mahdism as a model of the ideal system by Islam and the threat of Western colonial interests due to welcoming this Islamic doctrine, are the most important reasons for the increase in Mahdiism studies and anti-Mahdiism in the West, which are also reflected in the words of Ayatollah Khamenei. Acceptance of Western planning against Mahdiism and its intelligent observation, creating a special base for confrontation, correct introduction of Mahdiism and striving for conscious and active action, are among the most important proposed solutions that has been obtained and presented from the context of the guidelines of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution to counter the activities of the West in this field.

The clergy, as the greatest and strongest social force in the waiting community, must play a vital role. Because the clergy claims that he wants to be in harmony with Montazar community (Imam Mahdi community) in Montazer (the community waiting for Imam Mahdi) community based on four causes (actual, formal, material, ultimate). However, in the montazer community, in each of the four causes, a kind of inadequacy, incompatibility, and even crises can be seen in comparison with the montazar community. In this regard, the question is how to prepare montazer community for montazar community. Among these, the actual cause (i. e., the clergy) is more sensitive than the other four causes, since the "presence or absence of the clergy" or their struggle for survival is no longer defined and given meaning. Rather, the problem is to have a more effective and efficient presence for realization and preparation of montazar community. Therefore, the main question is: what is the strategy of the clergy with its existing role and base? To get the answer, the author carries out the study using the SWOT method and with the hypothesis that the clergy is in the WT or defensive position instead of the SO or offensive position. Therefore, in order for the montazer to be realized, the clergy must move towards offensive strategy with full intelligence.

It seems that among the components of Mahdiism, the most basic component is "the innateness of truth of the waiting (for Imam Mahdi)", which has had a special place in the statements of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution of Iran and has been emphasized a lot (Khamenei, 20/09/2005). Every innateness goes beyond a specific time and place as well as a particular belief and race, and includes the type of human at all times and places. It also eliminates the innateness of a thing, its decline and change, as well as differences and violations in that thing. In this regard, the reappearance of the Imam Asr and the world government of that Imam is a manifestation and place of the same goal and purpose that is embedded in human nature and his existential structure, and human beings have been created for that goal and have continued to live. Accordingly, the innateness of the waiting for reappearance is the continuation of the innateness of a superior and more comprehensive waiting, that is, the waiting for reaching the goal of human creation. In this paper, it has been tried to explain the relationship between the ultimate goal of human and the general truth of the waiting with an innate and intuitive attitude. It should be clear that the reappearance of the Imam Asr and the world government of that Imam within the world community of the End Time is also one of the main levels of the absolute goal. Therefore, that general waiting also follows the specific waiting for this reappearance.