Friday, January 6, 2006
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FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
Iran
leader's messianic end-times mission
Ahmadinejad raises concerns with mystical
visions
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Posted: January 6, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Editor's note: This story is adapted from the latest issue of
Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the weekly, online, premium
intelligence newsletter published by the founder of WND. Annual
subscriptions to G2 Bulletin have been cut in half to just $99,
which includes a copy of Farah's new paperback edition of "Taking
America Back." In addition, monthly trial subscriptions are
available for just $9.95.
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© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Iranian President Mahmoud's Ahmadinejad's mystical pre-occupation
with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah figure the Mahdi is
raising concerns that a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic could
trigger the kind of global conflagration he envisions will set the
stage for the end of the world.
While Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been making headlines lately by
questioning whether the Holocaust actually happened, by suggesting
Israel should be moved to Europe and by demanding the Jewish state
be wiped off the face of the earth, his apocalyptic religious
zealotry has received less attention.
In a videotaped meeting with Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli in Tehran,
Ahmadinejad discussed candidly a strange, paranormal experience he
had while addressing the United Nations in New York last
September.
He recounts how he found himself bathed in light throughout the
speech. But this wasn't the light directed at the podium by the
U.N. and television cameras. It was, he said, a light from
heaven.
Ahmadinejad at the U.N.
According to a transcript of his comments, obtained and translated
by Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, Ahmadinejad wasn't the only one who
noticed the unearthly light. One of his aides brought it to his
attention.
The Iranian president recalled being told about it by one of his
delegation: "When you began with the words in the name of Allah,'
I saw a light coming, surrounding you and protecting you to the
end."
Ahmadinejad agreed that he sensed the same thing.
"On the last day when I was speaking, one of our group told me that
when I started to say 'Bismillah Muhammad,' he saw a green light
come from around me, and I was placed inside this aura," he says.
"I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and
for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not
blink. When I say they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating.
They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just
opened their eyes Alhamdulillah!"
Ahmadinejad's "vision" at the U.N. is strangely reminiscent and
alarmingly similar to statements he has made about his personal
role in ushering in the return of the Shiite Muslim messiah.
He sees his main mission, as he recounted in a Nov. 16 speech in
Tehran, as to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam
Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance."
According to Shiites, the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the
year 941. When he returns, they believe, he will reign on earth for
seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of
the world.
Ahmadinejad is urging Iranians to prepare for the coming of the
Mahdi by turning the country into a mighty and advanced Islamic
society and by avoiding the corruption and excesses of the
West.
All Iran is buzzing about the Mahdi, the 12th imam and the role
Iran and Ahmadinejad are playing in his anticipated return. There's
a new messiah hotline. There are news agencies especially devoted
to the latest developments.
"People are anxious to know when and how will He rise; what they
must do to receive this worldwide salvation," says Ali Lari, a
cleric at the Bright Future Institute in Iran's religious center of
Qom. "The timing is not clear, but the conditions are more
specific," he adds. "There is a saying: 'When the students are
ready, the teacher will come.'"
For his part, Ahmadinejad is living up to at least part of his call
to the faithful. According to reports, he lives so modestly that
declared assets include only a 30-year-old car, an even older house
and an empty bank account.
Ahmadinejad and others in Iran are deadly serious about the
imminent return of the 12th imam, who will prompt a global battle
between good and evil (with striking parallels to biblical accounts
of "Armageddon").
An institute set up in 2004 for the study and dissemination of
information about the Mahdi now has a staff of 160 and influence in
the schools and children's magazines.
In Iran, theologians say endtimes beliefs appeal to one-fifth of
the population. And the Jamkaran mosque east of Qom, 60 miles south
of Tehran, is where the link between devotees and the Mahdi is
closest.
Ahmadinejad's cabinet has given $17 million to Jamkaran.
Shiite writings describe events surrounding the return of the Mahdi
in apocalyptic terms. In one scenario, the forces of evil would
come from Syria and Iraq and clash with forces of good from Iran.
The battle would commence at Kufa the Iraqi town near the holy
city of Najaf.
Even more controversial is Ahmadinejad's repeated invocation of
Imam Mahdi, known as "the Savior of Times." According to Shiite
tradition, Imam Mahdi will appear on Judgment Day to herald a truly
just government.
Missed by some observers in Ahmadinejad's speech at the U.N. was
his call to the "mighty Lord" to hasten the emergence of "the
promised one," the one who "will fill this world with justice and
peace."
Who stands in the Mahdi's way?
A top priority of Ahmadinejad is "to challenge America, which is
trying to impose itself as the final salvation of the human being,
and insert its unjust state [in the region]," says Hamidreza
Taraghi, head of the conservative Islamic Coalition Society.
Taraghi says the U.S. is "trying to place itself as the new Mahdi."
This may mean no peace with Iran, he adds, "unless America changes
its hegemonic ... thinking, doesn't use nuclear weapons, [or]
impose its will on other nations."
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The time is coming!! 
