Allah's messenger who will...herald the reign of divine justice.

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Pakistan's Shia-Sunni divide

 

" Differences between Pakistan's Sunni majority and Shia minority go

back to the Islamic schism following the prophet's death.

 

But in the past two decades those differences have been manifest in

repeated violence wrought by Sunni and Shia extremists. ...

 

In early Islamic history the Shia were a political faction ( " party of

Ali " ) that supported the power of Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet

Mohammed and the fourth caliph (temporal and spiritual ruler) of the

Muslim community.

 

Ali was murdered in 661AD and his chief opponent, Muawiya, became

caliph. It was Ali's death that led to the great schism between

Sunnis and Shias.

 

Caliph Muawiya was later succeeded by his son Yazid, but Ali's son

Hussein refused to accept his legitimacy and fighting between the two

resulted.

 

Hussein and his followers were massacred in battle near Karbala in

AD680.

 

Both Ali and Hussein's death gave rise to the Shia cult of martyrdom

and sense of betrayal.

 

Shia has always been the rigid faith of the poor and oppressed

waiting for deliverance. It is seen as a messianic faith which awaits

the coming of the " hidden Imam " , Allah's messenger who will reverse

their fortunes and herald the reign of divine justice.

 

Today, they make up about 15% of the total worldwide Muslim

population. "

 

BBC, June 1, 2004

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3045122.stm

 

 

 

 

" The Mahdi, (the name of the last of the twelve imams, the first

being Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed) according to Islam, and in

particular its Shiite branch, is the Savior to come at the time of

the Last Judgment to save the world. It is interesting to recall that

Mahdi, in Sanskrit, is the contraction of Ma Adi (Primordial Mother)

in the same way that the returning Savior according to Buddha,

Maitreya, is a contraction of Ma Treya (Mother threefold, trimorphic

protonnoia or trigunatmika).

 

The function of the Mahdi is similar to those attributed to the Kalki

of the Hindus, the Maitreya of the Buddhists or the Christ King of

the Christians. The return of the Mahdi constitutes the most frequent

prediction of the imams. Al-Kultani and Al-Nu'mani consecrated an

entire chapter and Ibn Babunye passed down in thirteen chapters the

predictions of the Prophet, Fatima and of the eleven imams on the

subject of the Twelfth imam.

 

The obscure presence of the Mahdi dominates totally the religious

conscience of imamism during the period of the disappearance of Ali

until the return of the awaited Savior. But here and there,

throughout the prophetic texts, there are hints of an esoteric

knowledge. " At the moment of birth a light pierced the top of the

child's head (a possible reference to the opening of the seventh

chakra) and reached into the depth of the sky. This child is the

Mahdi, He who will fill the earth with equality and justice just as

it is now filled with oppression and injustice. "

 

The universal precursory Sign of the return of the Mahdi, " He who

Guides, " consists of the general invasion of the earth by Evil

and the victory of the forces of Evil over those of Good. Without

such a manifestation, the entirety of humanity would be engulfed by

darkness.

 

Here we find extracts from the eulogies of Ali Talib describing

various components of the sign announcing the return of the Mahdi.

The Sign consists of the following traits: the people will neglect

prayer, squander the divinity which is conferred on them, legalize

untruths, practice usury, accept bribes, construct huge edifices,

sell religion to win this lower world, employ idiots, consult with

women, break family ties, obey passion and consider insignificant the

letting of blood. Magnanimity will be considered as weakness and

injustice as glory, princesses will be debauched and ministers will

be oppressors, intellectuals will be traitors and the reader of the

Koran vicious. False witness will be brought openly and immorality

proclaimed in loud voices. A word of promise will be slander, sin and

exaggeration.

 

" The sacred Books will be ornate, the mosques disguised, the

minarets extended. Criminals will be praised, the lines of combat

narrowed, hearts in disaccord and pacts broken. Women, greedy for the

riches of this lower world, will involve themselves in the business

of their husbands, the vicious voices of the man will be loud and

will be listened to. The most ignoble of the people will become

leaders, the debauched will be believed for fear of the Evil they

will cause, the liar will be considered as truthful and the traitor as

trustworthy… They will resort to singers and musical instruments

… and women will horse ride, they will resemble men and the men

will resemble women. The people will prefer the activities of this

lower-world to those of the Higher-World and will cover with lambskin

the hearts of wolves. "

 

The Qaim (Mahdi) comes to re-establish the lost sense of sanctity.

Firstly He will re-establish Islam to its original purity and

integrity. The imam is described also as energy-giving. The imam

says: " As to the way of benefiting from my presence (literally

– " to benefit of me " ) during my disappearance, it is

similar to the profit we gain from the sun while it is hidden from

sight by the clouds. "

 

According to Majid Golpur, a scholar who reviewed the relationship

between ancient Muslim writings and new revelations, some language

seem to refer to new cognitive powers that may be associated with the

rise of the Kundalini. All the faithful joining the ranks of the

Mahdi will be gifted with special miraculous powers, in particular

those of super sensitive communication with the imam. " At the

time of Advent of our Qur'an, " says Ja'far, " God, may

He be exalted and glorified, will develop the hearing and sight of

our faithful in such a manner that, without there being a messenger

between the Qa'im and themselves, He will speak with them and

they hear Him and see Him without Him having left the place where He

is. "

 

This text probably refers to the dawn of collective consciousness,

whose property is the connectivity described in the previous

chapters. More specifically, we can recognize a mention of the

vibratory consciousness of the chakras, which correspond to specific

locations in the hands. " For decisions which they have difficulty

in taking, they will receive instructions and direction from the imam

who will write on the palm of their hands, they need only look and

then execute the orders. "

 

The following language could possibly indicate a succession of imams

or the collectivity of realized souls, through the reference of the

wind. But, without subtler the subtler spiritual experience, it can

easily feed the delusion of self-appointed elect fanatics. God

speaks: " O Mohammad. These are My friends, My pure elect, and My

proof after you for mankind. They are your legatees and your priests

and the best of My creatures after you. By My Glory and My Majesty I

will manifest through them My Religion and I will raise through them

My Word; by the last of them (Mahdi) I will make the earth pure of My

enemies. I will establish him from the sunrise to the sunset

throughout the entire earth; I will confer to his power the wind and

will lower for him the stubborn clouds. I will help him with My Army

and aid him with My Angels until he raises My Name and the creatures

acknowledge My uniqueness, and then I will prolong his reign and I

will ensure the succession of My Friends over the time until the Day

of Resurrection. "

 

In this way the awaited Imam (al-Muntazar) Mad-dhi, Qaim, will

prepare the earth for the Last Judgment and the Resurrection. The

battle of Qa'im will mark the ultimate victory of the

`believers' against their `enemies' and the universal and

final establishment of the `religion' of the imams. The

community of the faithful is a familiar theme of all eschatology.

 

It is interesting to know that these texts imply a profound criticism

of Islam as some parts of the Arab world seem to know it. The

returned Mahdi will do as did the Prophet, destroying that which was

before, just as the Prophet destroyed the rituals of the period of

ignorance, and He will establish once again Islam. Our Qa'im will

repair the Mosque and will reconstruct His Mecca. The Qa'im will

bring a new Order, a new Book, a new Legislation and a New Tradition.

 

Of course the primary ambiguity of these prophecies is that they may

refer to more spiritual and ethical realities or be understood as a

militant call for a violent upheaval. But there are texts indicating

that these prophecies do not invite the fight of Islam against other

religions but rather, the fight of all religions for their inner

renewal. Mahdi will equally re-establish the other religions, also

abandoned and disfigured, in their original Truth and Purity.

 

Indeed: " The Mahdi will extract the Torah and the other Divine

Books from their caverns and will judge amongst the faithful of the

Evangiles according to the Evangiles, amongst the faithful of al-

Zabur (The Book of David) according to the al-Zabur and amongst the

faithful of the Koran according to the Koran. "

 

It is the universal initiation by the imam of all men into the

secrets of existence and of their own religions, and this is without

doubt the meaning which must be understood by the term Mahdi given by

the fifth imam al-Bagir: Mahdi (the Guide) is named as such because

it is he who will guide (Yahdi) us in the secret teachings. "

 

If so, the prediction of the Mahdi does not announce the victory of

zealot warriors who will wipe out non-believers, understood to be

other races or religions. Rather, the prophecies talk of the power of

love, not the might of hate. They would then refer to the fight

against ignorance, no doubt the most formidable of all battles. But

if Allah is indeed the Merciful and Compassionate, such is the most

likely meaning of the predictions of the imams. The real jihad is an

internal fight for our own purification, so that out full spiritual

potential might finally manifest. Consequently, even in the stern

Muslim prophecies we can read the hopeful and promising light of

mankind's renewal. This may or may not combine with events of

massive destruction that can still manifest. But let us focus on the

hopeful dimension of this momentous period.

 

Gregoire de Kalbermatten, The Third Advent

King Printing 2003, pg. 205-8

 

 

http://www.adishakti.org/al-qiyamah/hidden_imam_mahdi_%28qaf%29.htm