Supplement 1
The world economy is controlled by these oppressive nations. Bribery and corruption is a menace that is undermining democracy. Examples of such are like the British based company, BAE systems, the world's largest militarycontactors
who landed a $19 million contract with the Arabs through bribery but the prosecutor's investigation were not concluded as Tony Blair said "it would hurt UK's relationship with the Arabs' which was vital to fight terrorism (The War and Peace digest, 1996). Another example is US company Halliburton winning contracts of over $600 million from the Development Fund in rebuilding Iraq, out of which more than half cannot be accounted for (Kerr, S. 2003).
The real reason of invading Iraq was to take control of their oil fields and controlling their economy. Weapons of mass destruction were just a cover. This was recently admitted by AustralianDefence
Minister Brendon Nelson when he said, 'securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq' (Sands, N. 2007). The US is still moving on to gain control of the broader Middle East economy.
It will not be surprising that the drive for Darfur may be under the same pretensions. It is common knowledge that there is oil in Southern Sudan and the reason to rush there now is under the pretensions of 'war'. Intelligence reports indicate that the policies of the US have created more terrorists than it has killed (Nye, J. 2007). The US has enough nuclear weapons that can wipe off the whole face of the earth, yet they pose restriction to who can have these weapons and who cannot. The US administration's plotting in acquiring power and control knows no boundaries.
It takes them whatever cost to accomplish their greed. It is bent on creating divisions within the Muslim world. Their current strategy is using Muslim allies to fight Muslims within the Muslim world resulting in sectarian violence between Sunnis andShias
. The unrest in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Iraq are a direct result theseplottings
.
Democracy in such countries is no longer free and fair unless the US gives its approval. The rightly voted Hamas government was ousted out by MahmudAbbas
under pressure from Israel and US. This is just one of such example. Freedom of rule is being curbed within Muslim lands for those who do nottow
the line. Turkey, Iran, Syria and Lebanon are the current targets.
If we examine our environment, signs are that we are destroying our universe through our selfish ambitions. Humankind faces new untimely challenges of catastrophic climatic changes and without any aggressive preventiveactions,
it will lead to serious energy and climatic shocks that will disrupt agriculture, industry and people in general. The abstaining of signing the Kyoto Protocol by the US and some of its allies is a sign of defiance in maintaining a peaceful environment.
Every nation must be able to take responsibility of its own actions. AsMayur
Roshni
, a leading urban environmentalist and head of Mumbai based Global Futures Network rightlyanalysed
, 'it is becoming apparent that the governments ruling the world are in fact being controlled by multinational companies who call the shots'.
These trans-nationals buy governments and rule the world.Mayur
further comments that 'trans-national corporations have become the real power of the earth, the de-facto government, outside the rule of law' (The War and Peace digest, 1996).
The UN has proved ineffective in dealing with the challenges of trans-nationals like governments. These companies even walk out of the world court.
Abject poverty and suffering coupled with dependency has risen beyond the control of many nations' power to resolve it. The benefits of globalization seem to have bypassed more than 3 billion of the world's neediest people. When self made entrepreneurs can accumulate enough money to purchase that country then it is an embarrassment to human society. When a single person from the elite takes home monthly incomes which are 100 times more than what an average worker in society earns in a year, something is totally out of place. The imbalance in economy, power, and world control being in the hands of dictators is very evident as the gap grows wider between the elite and ordinary citizens.
People have to question their governments and the decisions their leaders make. Why do military budgets in most countries exceed health and education budgets combined?
Shirin
Ebadi
stated that if people want to free themselves from this cycle of terror and the wars of the 21st century then there is no other way but to put into practice the laws of human rights for all mankind (Gay, A. 2004). If enough people want change it will happen. But it cannot just happen by itself. People must be active in their pursuits for their own futures and should continue their struggle against oppression and oppressive rule.
History has recorded that when the oppressed rise against their oppressors in unison, their might and power crushes the fort of the oppressors. The uprising of the people against the apartheid in South Africa and the rising of the people against the Pahlavi regime of Iran are some valid examples. This indicates that real power is in the hands of the ordinary, when they are driven with faith in their struggle for justice.
Then no matter how sophisticated the weaponry or military, the opposition have, the will of perseverance leads the down trodden to victory. TheMahdi's
(a) revolution will bring triumph of the downtrodden people as in reality they are the majority and form the real manpower. The world scenario depicts the stage being right for the coming of thesaviour
as narrated from theHadith
. However at this point it cannot be ascertained as to how close we are to that time, since that will depend on the will and actions of the people and God's command.
The number of true people needed to set off this revolution may just be 313 (Al-Bahrani
H., 2006). This is indicated as the initial force required by the Imam when he reappears. In assessing this number one cannot be sure whether we have reached the target or not, or have we surpassed this number and wait for it to dwindle to these few? It is difficult to conclude; however the general feeling is that there may not be enough individuals with the will to save humanity at large.
Although there are those who are willing and are concerned with fighting oppression and injustice, they may be operating within their own regions. The scale of this global revolution requires those who will fight for all mankind. This will then pave way for the global rule of ImamMahdi
(a) as mankind's problems can no longer be solved by national governments whose interests lie only in promoting national interests.
World governance is now necessary to match global institutions of civil society with a global reach. A need for structural change reflecting a full range of world member states is direly essential. The power of veto which givesfavour
and power to certain 'godly' states is unrealistic and needs to be abolished. What is needed urgently is one unified government to take control of governing the globe. Re-distribution is the core political issue of the coming century. There has to be a shift of paradigm to be able to develop improvement in human conditions. A just and sustainable society for the people rather than sustained economic growth and building of fortunes and power houses is what humanity requires.
It is not possible to justify fully all the issues facing mankind in such a short discussion: nevertheless having presented some of the issues facing human kind today, the situation depicts the need of asaviour
. This analysis should not be considered as the need to justify the reason for the reappearance of the Imam as that is inevitable and has been ordained. The promise of God in spreading His religion in the Quran (Tawbah
9:33) certifies that it is He who has sent His messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to make it prevail over every other religion, however much the disbelievers dislike.
Therefore the coming of the last awaited guide is a known fact to all believers and the issues facing mankind indicate that the appropriate time of his reappearance is not very far (SheriffDewji
, M. 1982). The Holy Prophet (saw) emphasized on waiting for this last from hisAhlul
Bait and encouraged joining hands with him. He said: 'if you see him then pledge allegiance to him even if you have to crawl on an iceberg, because he is the Caliph of Allah, 'TheMahdi
' (Sihah
eSitah
).
The emphasis laid by the Prophet (saw) was to draw attention of the people torecognise
the status of the Imam being a divine representative and for men to join hands with him to achieve salvation. Nonetheless, it will not be easy to make this pledge as the revolution of the Imam will not be an ordinary one. It will bring a sea of change in the cosmic order.
The present world governances depict oppressive rule of democracies,favoured
military supremacy, bribery and corruption, enriching of powerful nations, unfair distribution of the economy, polluting of the environment with no accountability, poverty and war, which leaves the majority of the world citizens in dependency and despair.
The purpose of the global revolution in the coming of ImamMahdi
(a) will be to rid man of these situations Appleby S (2007) in 'Solutions to save the world' proposes that if meaningful alliances are to be made among societies that have recently clashed orharbour
historic resentments, religion must play a central role. Such thoughts are an indication that human society is becoming more aware of the need of faith and conviction. The coming of the Imam will address this need and release man from slavery and enable him torealise
his true worth.
To be able to put forward the foundation of Imam's governance and the events that will develop is like putting forth a hypothesis. The fact that our knowledge about future events is limited, it is challenging for anyone to define exactly what the future destiny holds for mankind. As there is not enough supporting evidence to back up or deduce the coming events that will procreate after the coming of the Imam, the analysis presented forth is based from historical recordings of his ancestors and the traditions from the household of the Prophet (saw).
The basis of argument is thus taken from literature with aspiration fromSura
Nur
(24:54) in which God gives glad tidings to the righteous people by saying….'God has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make you successors in the land'. These indicators point to his rule being a reality; however it is defining the proposed manner of governance that is hypothetical.
In presenting forth the foundation of Imam's governance, it is necessary to demonstrate the situation that will face him on appearance, how he will handle this situation, what principles he will adopt in governing, the kinds of people and nations he will need to come to his support and the mandate of his rule.
The reign to his rule will not be a smooth takeover. Just like theQureish
who fought the Prophet (saw) to exile, the perpetrators will challenge the Imam equally. Their arrogance will blind their vision and greed will overcome their reason: however the rule of man will be in accordance to what God has planned. The struggle against tyrants will not be something new as the Quran documents histories of Prophets who rose and fought against the tyrants to liberate the people from the shackles of oppression (Nahl
16: 36).
The situation that will face Imam on his coming will be quite similar to that which faced his grandfatherAmeerul
Momineen
, Aliibne
Abi
Taleb
(as). At that time people had lost sympathy for their government and were openly hostile to it. Rank,favouritism
and greed had led to chaos resulting in people losing every respect for authority and they revolted. The revolt was due to the terrible treatment from the oppressive regime and its refusal in listening to the people's grievances.
The people had alsorealised
that they were being kept ignorant of the true teachings of Islam and were made to concentrate on worldly benefits.Ameerul
Momineen
(as) thus led the people on a path of tranquility and justice by restoring human values (Reza, A., 2000). The world situation today too has no place for religion and society has no room for humility or modesty. The focus is more towards material gain which does not provide contentment, and in search for this, man will look for a system that will lead him towards inner peace and restoration of his dignity. This will be the system that Imamul
Asr
will rise to offer.
The hope for theSaviour
is not only anticipated amongst Muslims, but also shared among great religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism who await the coming of the king in the last days. In this quest for thesaviour
of truth there is no 'distinction of caste, creed, or country, the quest is universal, exactly in the same way asMahdi
(a) himself is universal' (Al-Sadr
, B;Mutahhari
, M).
The solace is that his coming will be followed by the coming of Prophet Isa (as) who will join hands with the Imam. It willbehove
his followers to follow in hisfoot steps
. This will see the combining of forces of Islam with Christianity that will spring forth a force large enough to form the ruling majority. However there will be no compulsion for anyone to join the Imam as freedom of worship will prevail.
The Holy Prophet (saw) said: 'TheQaim
among my children will have my name, possess my features, follow my conduct and command people to my obedience and to my law and will call them to the book of the my Lord' (Amini
I, 2003). Consequently it is fair to imagine that the Imam will govern under a similar charter as the Holy Prophet (saw) did with the citizens ofYathrib
. Among the clauses of theYathrib
Charter were:
Allpractising
Jews will enjoy the same rights as Muslims; however they will not meddle in the affairs of each other.
In the event of an attack, all will rise to defend the central government (Bodley
R., 1946).
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Author: Islamshia-w.com
