Who is the 12th Imam of
Shiites?
The 12th imam of Shiites was born
in 869 AD in Samarra of Iraq. His real name is Mohammad-ibn-Hassan, and his
titles are Imam Zaman (meaning almost the Imam of all or the end of times),
Qa’im Al-e-Mohammad (meaning the pillar of the Prophet Mohammed’s progeny),
Mahdi Mo’oud (meaning the promised Mahdi), and Imam Mahdi.
His Highness is the son of Imam Hassan Asgari – the 11th Imam of
Shiites – and Narjes Khatoun (meaning Lady Narjes). The actual meaning of the
word Imam is leader.
The Life of the 12th Imam
The life of the 12th Imam of
Shiites is divided into 4 periods:
1. From birth to absence: After his
birth, Imam Mahdi was in the custody of his father – Imam Hassan Asgari – for
five years when he lived half in shadows.
2. The Minor Absence: With the
martyrdom of Imam Hassan Asgari (the 11th Imam of Shiites) in 874
AD, the Minor Absence period started and continued until 942 AD. In this
period, 12th Imam dealt with people’s affairs through four lieutenants.
3. The Major Absence: The Major
Absence period started from 942 AD and continues until God sees it right to
end. In this period, providing answers to the questions people have concerning
Islamic commandments (Ahkam) is on general lieutenants of 12th Imam. No
specific lieutenants have been introduced for this period by 12th Imam.
4. Government: After emergence, 12th
Imam establishes a single global government by which justice will be spread all
over the world.
How is the world when Imam Mahdi emerges?
No doubt that the most important
mission of Imam Mahdi is establishing a just government for the entire world.
In fact, this has been all humans’ dream from past times to now that won’t be
realized without a fundamental change in different arenas such as politics,
economy, communication media, etc.
The major issue of today’s man is
the lack of spirituality and religiousness, and the spread of injustice and
corruption. Until religion and religious thinking are not internalized in
people, no commitment or moral and behavioral values could be guaranteed in
political and social arenas. Justice is the key to put an end to man’s woes.
The Announcement of 12th Imam Emergence and the
Struggles of His Highness
The first event after the emergence
of 12th Imam is the announcement of the emergence of His Highness – the Savior
of the World. The emergence of 12th Imam will be announced by a divine call. On
that moment, 12th Imam, leaning against the walls of Ka’ba will call people to
righteousness and announces his emergence. The call of 12th Imam is both the
announcement of His Highness’s emergence and a public call for yielding to a
global government. The return of some pious believers and divine prophets like
Jesus Christ will happen at this time where they will stand by 12th Imam and
join him in his struggles and uprising against oppressors.
12th Imam will call all people to
religious righteousness and peace first, and treat them kindly, but his enemies
will deny his calls and go to war with him. Summoning all his strength and making
use of whatever at his disposal, 12th Imam will face his enemies and a huge war
takes place.
The Victory of 12th Imam
12th Imam will finally win this
huge war. According to some traditions,
the boundaries 12th Imam victory will extend from North to South, and East to
West (figuratively everywhere).
The Establishment of a Just Global Government and
the Removal of All Geographical Borders after the Emergence of Imam Mahdi
Generally speaking, one of the
concerns of governments is to reach public satisfaction, but because of
shortcomings in running different sections, such satisfaction has not been yet
realized. One of the basic features of the Just Global Government of 12th Imam is
that all people and human societies will embrace it, and not only all the
people on earth, but also all the other living things will be satisfied with
such divine government and justice-spreader ruler (12th Imam).
The Global Government of 12th Imam has
features realizing each of which could be considered as one of the goals of His
Highness’s government. These features are:
1. The Spread of Justice
One of the features of Imam Mahdi’s
government is justice. Justice is the missing piece of the puzzle all are
looking for, and will be found in Imam Mahdi’s government.
2. Selecting Righteous Ministers
It’s quite natural that the
ministers of an ideal government led by a righteous and pious leader (12th Imam),
should also be pious and righteous, so, it has been mentioned in traditions
that the government of Twelfth Imam
is made up of prophets, their successors, righteous people, and the companions
of the Prophet of Islam. According to these traditions, Jesus Christ says to Twelfth Imam:
“I have been sent but as a minister, not a king or ruler.”
3. The Promotion of Knowledge and Awareness
One of the extremely important
events to be occurred in the just government of 12th Imam is the promotion of
knowledge and craft. The era of 12th Imam emergence is an era for the spread of
knowledge and wisdom. As injustice is replaced by justice with the emergence of
the Savior (12th Imam), ignorance will also be replaced by wisdom and
excellence, and the world will be entirely enlightened with rationality and
knowledge.
4. The Growth of Intellectualism and Rationality
In the era of 12th Imam emergence,
mankind will reach total rationality.
It has been mentioned in the
traditions that in the era of Twelfth Imam’s
emergence, mankind will be showered with divine blessings and the grace of the
Lord will foster people’s intellects to an unprecedented level of insight and
rationality.
5. Livelihood and Economic Welfare
In the era of Twelfth Imam
emergence, people will
be blessed by Lord like never before. Divine blessings will fall upon all
people and the Earth will grow all the seeds within it.
People will become so affluent in
this era that there will remain no poverty in the world.
6. The Establishment of Social Security
Social security is fully
established in this era so that if a woman wants to travel from one side of the
world to the other (West to East), she will have no fear or worry about her own
security.
7. The Growth of Education and a Cultural and Moral
Blossoming
In the era of Imam Mahdi’s
emergence, people will grow in education and morality, and societies will reach
ultimate excellence and growth.
Islamic traditions provide no
definite or obvious answer about the time after the emergence of 12th Imam
namely the era of His Highness’s government. From among these traditions, it
could be inferred that the period of Imam Mahdi’s government will be 70 or 309
years, or 19 years and a few months.
8. The Period after the Emergence of Twelfth Imam
It’s a period during which mankind
could breathe freely, walk the path to God, and make optimum use of the
potentials in them and in nature.
