Ahmadinejad Criticized for Saying Long-Ago Imam Mahdi Leads Iran

Source: Washington Post

By Thomas Erdbrink
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, May 8, 2008; Page A13

TEHRAN, May 7 -- Several leading Iranian clerics criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday for saying that the last imam of Shiite Islam, a messianic figure who Shiites believe was hidden by God 1,140 years ago, leads modern-day Iran.

"We see his hand directing all the affairs of the country," Ahmadinejad told theological students in the city of Mashad during a speech that appears to have been given last month but was not broadcast until Tuesday. "A movement has started for us to occupy ourselves with our global responsibilities. God willing, Iran will be the axis of the leadership of this movement," Ahmadinejad said.

Several clerics in the Iranian parliament accused Ahmadinejad of implying that Imam Mahdi or Imam Zaman (Imam of the Age), as the Shiite messiah is also called, supports his government. Since the 1979 revolution, Iran's government has been overseen by Shiite clerics, but religious leaders here have resisted Ahmadinejad's frequent hints that his government's actions are guided by the Mahdi.

Clerics said in interviews published Wednesday that the president should not use the imam to his political advantage or to silence critics of the government ...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703587.html?hpid=topnews

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Iran Clerics Query President's Religious Remarks
Reuters
May 07, 2008

... "Ahmadinejad should think in a more worldly way. He should manage the country. People are not expecting (religious) advice from the president," another conservative cleric, Ali Asgari, from Mashhad, was quoted by Kargozaran daily as saying.

Ahmadinejad, Iran's first non-clerical president in more than a quarter of a century, has had other run-ins with the religious establishment. Several top clerics scolded him last month for blaming Iran's economic problems on "mafias".

One analyst said some in the clerical establishment were wary of Ahmadinejad who represents a new breed of devout politicians with less ties to the Islamic Republic's traditional clerical class, thus potentially undermining their authority ...

In his Mashhad speech, Ahmadinejad said Iran had made nuclear progress with the 12th Imam's help ...

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-5-7/70376.html

Isn't the Imam Mahdi someone who is yet to come? I recall reading about this individual, and I believe this person has not entered the scene yet.

So much Mythology, so little time.:smoke:

This is hard to explain without writing several pages. Basically the 13th Imam is a Shia religious figure who is a blood relative of the Prophet and the rightful heir to head the caliphate. He is referred to as the "Hidden Imam" because he had to be hidden from the Sunnis. The Shia believe his return as the Mahdi is suppose to signal the begining of the final battle between Heaven and Hell.


While the Sunnis believe in the Mahdi but they don't believe in the "Hidden Imam".

He was the 12th hereditary ruler of the faithful, a direct descendent of Muhammed. He disappeared as a young man about 1200 years ago, and a legend grew up that he was kept in a secret place by God and would return in the end times to vanquish evil and install the kingdom of God on Earth. The Shi'a believe that during the Mahdi's battle with the forces of the "anti-Christ" (for wont of a better term), Jesus will also return and join the Mahdi in the battle against evil. The Mahdi will then rule over all humanity until his death, at which time Jesus (who is also non-divine in Islam) will then assume the throne.

So the rich backward theocrats are complaining that the populist backward theocrats are invoking the name of god? Isn't that the whole point of a religious republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran? They're splitting hairs over this because he's threatening their economic interest.

that the senior clergy are getting a little uncomfortable with the President and many of the things he says. I have read elsewhere that they've been concerned for some time that under the populist exterior he was in fact a bit of a fanatical end-times nut-job. Seems they weren't wrong. I wonder if he's trying to imply that he IS in fact the Mahdi. That should go down really well with the Supreme Council.

He's just saying that the government is trying to behave in a godly manner. Not much different that the hokum we hear in this country at times. He definitely is a religious believer, however, and I'm sure he thinks that is his guide to action. The guardian council might not like him, but I doubt they can purge him and his followers without seriously undermining the ideological and political bases of the Islamic Republic. Instead, they'll try to curb him.

It's just he wouldn't be the first to make such a claim, but I agree it appears he's trying to say his government has the "Mahdi seal of approval." Does put the clergy in a bit of a bind WRT how to deal with him - I also don't think they'll give him the boot unless they see him becoming a threat to the continuation of republic.

Religious fanatic with delusions of grandeur and a belief in divine approval of his actions....remind me again which President we're talking about...