Truly Awaiting True Savior

TEHRAN (IQNA) – If the spiritual relations between those awaiting the Savior and the promised one is strengthened, the lifestyle of people will change and if this sense of presence is institutionalized in society, it will serve as a factor in preventing many problems and harms.

Hojat-ol-Islam Hossein Elahinezhad, president of the Mahdism and Futurology Research Department of the Islamic Sciences and Culture Research Center made the remark at a forum on the ideological functions of awaiting the Savior and a society that is awaiting the Savior. Excerpts from his comments at the forum are as follows:

Mahdism means efforts to help people realize Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his glad advent) as the end-times Savior and guide those awaiting his uprising to shape their life in way that will pave the way for his uprising.

There are various teachings in Mahdism, including Imam Zaman’s (AS) birth, Wilayat, Imamate, Ghayba (occultation), awaiting, reappearance, rule of his Nayebs (deputies), and his uprising. Intizar (awaiting the Savior) is among the most frequently used words among Shia scholars and Muslims thinkers and is very effective in the personal and social life of those awaiting the Savior.

Intizar can be viewed from three perspectives of beliefs, orientations and actions. Theoretical intellect analyzes the beliefs function of Intizar while practical intellect discuss it from the dimensions of orientations and actions.

We are in the era of Ghayba and witness the absence of Imam (AS) and in such conditions, there are many slips, sins, and deviations and people’s belief in God, religion, Imamate, prophethood, etc are at risk. Therefore, discussing this issue is necessary.

Imam Sadiq (AS) in a Hadith described the conditions of the society during the Ghayba, saying that in this period, having faith and remaining religious is so hard that it seems like removing thorns of a tree with bare hands. Imam Sadiq (AS) emphasized that in these conditions, Muslims should have Taqwa (God-fearing) and resort to the divine religion.

Ayatollah Safri Golpayegani in his book about Imamate and Mahdism has discussed the role of belief in God and being religious in Intizar and its functions and talked about the personal, social, civilizational, political, … aspects of belief in Mahdism and Intizar.