#12thimam

The Mahdi, Dajjal, and the Return of Jesus.

One of the most eye opening pieces of information I ever learned was the Shia belief system relating to "End Times" prophecy. When you learn what the Shia believe in regards to this, especially the roles of the different characters, we here at M.O.T.B.R. think you will wholeheartedly agree that it is compelling evidence to pay close attention  to Islam's role in what is to take place. We don't mean just in regards to terrorism and tightened security around the globe, but in the actual fulfillment of prophecy.

What are Shia Muslims anyway?

Here we will give a short history lesson, as the majority of (Especially American) people are woefully ignorant of Islam in general, and specifically the Islamic eschatology traditions. So let us begin...

Why the religion split.

In 632 a.d. the "Prophet" Muhammad died from a fever after returning from Mecca, he is buried in Medina under what is known as the "Green Dome." After he died there was a conflict among Muslim's regarding leadership of the religion. One side (The Sunni, which means "one who follows the traditions of the Prophet," thought that the new leader should be elected from those who were qualified as leaders and scholars. The Shia (Short for "Shia of Ali," Shia meaning follower) believe that leadership should stay within the Prophet's family, among those specifically appointed by him, or among Imams appointed by God Himself. They believe that the leadership should have went to Ali bin Abu Talib, hence the name Shia. We are not going to discuss here the long conflict and wars from this schism (Think the aftermath of Iraq for one), instead we are going to focus on the eschatology of the Shia, and mainly on the branch known as the "Twelvers."

The "Twelver" sect (Think Iran) and why it matters.

The "Twelver" sect of Shia Islam is so called from it's belief in the divine ordination of the 12 leaders of Islam, or "Imams" that were directly descended from Muhammad. Iran actually has it's lawful state religion being "Twelver" islam. The last Imam was named Hasan al-Askari and his death is sketchy like a lot of things regarding this whole sect. Some say he was poisoned, but either way he died at age 28, and upon his death the land was scoured to determine if he had a successor, as it was the only way to continue leadership of the Shia without God's direct intervention. This part of the story is very confusing but to cut it short, there arose a belief that the 11th Imam had a son whose birth had been hidden (a la Moses). This son was named Muhammad al-Mahdi, or the Mahdi for short, and this is where things begin to get interesting. Shias believe that the Mahdi was "Occulted" or hidden by God for some reason that will be told when the time comes, he is often called the "Hidden Imam." I will now list the things that are said to be true of the Mahdi, or Islam's awaited "Savior." The Mahdi is Islam’s primary messiah figure. He will be a descendant of Muhammad and will bear Muhammad’s name (Muhammad bin Abdullah). He will be a very devout Muslim. He will be an unparalleled spiritual, political and military world leader. He will emerge after a period of great turmoil and suffering upon the earth. He will establish justice and righteousness throughout the world and eradicate tyranny and oppression. He will be the Caliph and Imam (vice-regent and leader) of Muslims worldwide He will lead a world revolution and establish a new world order. He will lead military action against all those who oppose him. He will invade many countries. He will make a seven year peace treaty with a Jew of priestly lineage. He will conquer Israel for Islam and lead the “faithful Muslims” in a final slaughter/battle against Jews. He will establish the new Islamic world headquarters from Jerusalem. He will rule for seven years (possibly as much as eight or nine). He will cause Islam to be the only religion practiced on the earth. He will appear riding a white horse (possibly symbolic). He will discover some previously undiscovered biblical manuscripts that he will use to argue with the Jews and cause some Jews to convert to Islam. He will also re-discover the Ark of the Covenant from the Sea of Galilee, which he will bring to Jerusalem. He will have supernatural power from Allah over the wind and the rain and crops. He will posses and distribute enormous amounts of wealth. He will be loved by all the people of the earth. Does any of this sound familiar? It should as it is basically a description of the Anti-Christ of Christianity. But it gets more interesting...

The Dajjal and his war with the Mahdi.