AHMADINEJAD

Dee Finney's blog

start date July 20, 2012

Today's date October 8, 2012

update February 5, 2013

page 328

TOPIC:  AHMADINEJAD  VS  NETANYAHU - WHO IS THE MAHDI?

NOTE:  I WROTE ABOUT NETANYHU ON PAGE:  270

http://www.greatdreams.com/blog-2012-2/dee-blog270.html

URGENT UPDATE  FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدی‌نژاد‎, Mahmūd Ahmadinezhād [mæhˈmuːd(-e) æhmædiːneˈʒɒːd] ( listen),^[2][3][4] English: /ɑːkməˈdɪnɨʒɒd/; born 28 October 1956^[5][6]) is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country. An engineer and teacher from a poor background,^[7] Ahmadinejad joined the Office for Strengthening Unity^[8] after the Islamic Revolution. Appointed a provincial governor, he was removed after the election of President Mohammad Khatami and returned to teaching.^[9] Tehran's council elected him mayor in 2003.^[10] He took a religious hard line, reversing reforms of previous moderate mayors.^[11] His 2005 presidential campaign, supported by the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, garnered 62% of the runoff election votes, and he became President on 3 August 2005.^[12][13] His second presidency term ends on August 3, 2013. He is not eligible to run for another term under the current Iranian constitution.

Ahmadinejad is a controversial figure both within Iran and internationally. He has been criticized domestically for his economic lapses and disregard for human rights. He launched a gas rationing plan in 2007 to reduce the country's fuel consumption, and cut the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge.^[14][15][16] He supports Iran's nuclear energy program. His election to a second term in 2009 was widely disputed^[17][18] and caused widespread protests domestically and drew significant international criticism.^[19] On March 14, 2012, Ahmadinejad became the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran to be summoned by the Islamic Consultative Assembly to answer questions.^[20][21]

Ahmadinejad was born near Garmsar in the village of Aradan, in Semnan province. His father, Ahmad, was an ironworker, grocer, barber, blacksmith and religious Shi'a who taught the Qur'an.^[22] His mother, Khanom, was a Seyyede, an honorific title given to those believed to be direct bloodline descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.^[22] Ahmadinejad's father changed his name from "Saborjhian"^[23] or "Sabaghian"^[24] when Ahmadinejad was four years old to avoid discrimination when the family moved to Tehran. Sabor is Persian for thread painter,^[25] a once common occupation within the Semnan carpet industry. Ahmadinejad was chosen as it means from the race of Ahmad, one of the names given to Muhammad.

In 1976, Ahmadinejad took Iran's national university entrance contests. According to his autobiography, he was ranked 132nd out of 400,000 participants that year,^[26] and soon enrolled in the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) as an undergraduate student of civil engineering. He earned his PhD (1997) in transportation engineering and planning from Iran University of Science and Technology, located at Tehran, when he was the Mayor of Ardabil Province, located at the north-west of the country.

Supporters of Ahmadinejad consider him a "simple man" who leads a "modest" life.^[27] As president, he wanted to continue living in the same house in Tehran his family had been living in, until his security advisers insisted that he move. Ahmadinejad had the antique Persian carpets in the Presidential palace sent to a carpet museum, and opted instead to use inexpensive carpets. He is said to have refused the V.I.P. seat on the Presidential plane, and that he eventually replaced it with a cargo plane instead.^[9][28] Also upon gaining Iran's presidency, Ahmadinejad held his first cabinet meeting in the Imam Reza shrine at Mashhad, an act perceived as "pious".^[29]

Administrative and academic careers

Some details of Ahmadinejad's life during the 1980s are not publicly known, but it is known that he held a number of administrative posts in the province of West Azerbaijan, Iran.^[9]

Many reports say that after Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, Ahmadinejad joined the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution^[10] and served in their intelligence and security apparatus,^[10] but his advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi says, "He has never been a member or an official member of the Revolutionary Guards", having been a Basiji-like volunteer instead.^[30]

Ahmadinejad was accepted to a Master of Science program at his alma mater in 1986. He joined the faculty there as a lecturer in 1989,^[7][31] and in 1997 received his doctorate in civil engineering and traffic transportation planning.^[7][10]

Embassy siege

Shortly after Ahmadinejad was elected president, some western media outlets published claims that he was among the students who stormed the US embassy in Tehran, sparking the Iran hostage crisis. This claim has been denied by the Iranian government, the Iranian opposition as well as a CIA investigation on the matter.

Early political career

After the Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad became a member of the Office for Strengthening Unity,^[8] an organization developed to prevent students from sympathizing or allying with the budding Mojahedin-e Khalq.^[8]

He first took political office as unelected governor to both Maku and Khoy in West Azarbaijan Province during the 1980s.^[10] He eventually became an advisor to the governor general of Kurdistan Province for two years.^[7][31] During his doctoral studies at Tehran, he was appointed governor general of newly formed Ardabil Province from 1993 until Mohammad Khatami removed him in 1997,^[31] whereupon he returned to teaching.^[10]

Mayor of Tehran

In 2003, a 12-percent turnout elected conservative candidates from the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran to the City Council of Tehran.^[7] The Council appointed Ahmadinejad mayor.^[10]

As mayor, he reversed changes made by previous moderate and reformist mayors. He put religious emphasis on the activities of cultural centres they had founded, publicised the separation of elevators for men and women in the municipality offices,^[11] and suggested that people killed in the Iran–Iraq War be buried in major city squares of Tehran. He also worked to improve the traffic system and put an emphasis on charity, such as distributing free soup to the poor.

After his election to the presidency, Ahmadinejad's resignation as the Mayor of Tehran was accepted on 28 June 2005. After two years as mayor, Ahmadinejad was one of 65 finalists for World Mayor in 2005, selected from 550 nominees, only nine of them from Asia.^[32] He was among three strong candidates for the top-ten list, but his resignation made him ineligible.^[32]

Presidency

2005 campaign

Ahmadinejad was not widely known when he entered the presidential election campaign as he had never run for office before, (he had been mayor of Tehran for only two years and had been appointed, not elected^[33]), although he had already made his mark in Tehran for rolling back earlier reforms. He was/is a member of the Central Council of the Islamic Society of Engineers, but his key political support is inside the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (Abadgaran or Developers).^[34] He was also helped by support from supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who some described Ahmadinejad as a "protege" of.^[35]

Ahmadinejad generally sent mixed signals about his plans for his presidency, perhaps to attract both religious conservatives and the lower economic classes.^[36] His campaign slogan was: "It's possible and we can do it".^[37]

In the campaign, he took a populist approach. He emphasized his own modest life, and compared himself with Mohammad Ali Rajai, Iran's second president. Ahmadinejad said he planned to create an "exemplary government for the people of the world" in Iran. He was a "principlist", acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary principles. One of his goals was "putting the petroleum income on people's tables", meaning Iran's oil profits would be distributed among the poor.^[38]

Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. He told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting the United Nations was "one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam."^[39] He opposed the veto power of the UN Security Council's five permanent members: "It is not just for a few states to sit and veto global approvals. Should such a privilege continue to exist, the Muslim world with a population of nearly 1.5 billion should be extended the same privilege." He defended Iran's nuclear program and accused "a few arrogant powers" of trying to limit Iran's industrial and technological development in this and other fields.

In his second-round campaign, he said, "We didn't participate in the revolution for turn-by-turn government....This revolution tries to reach a world-wide government." He spoke of an extended program using trade to improve foreign relations, and called for greater ties with Iran's neighbours and ending visa requirements between states in the region, saying that "people should visit anywhere they wish freely. People should have freedom in their pilgrimages and tours."^[37]

Ahmadinejad described Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a senior cleric from Qom, as his ideological and spiritual mentor. Mesbah founded the Haghani School of thought in Iran. He and his team strongly supported Ahmadinejad's 2005 presidential campaign.^[40]

2005 election

Ahmadinejad won 62 percent of the vote in the run-off poll against Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei authorized his presidency on 3 August 2005.^[12][13] Ahmedinejad kissed Khamenei's hand during the ceremony to show his loyalty.^[41][42]

2005 cabinet appointments

Iran's President is constitutionally obliged to obtain confirmation from the parliament for his selection of ministers.^[44] Ahmadinejad presented a short-list at a private meeting on 5 August, and his final list on 14 August. The Majlis rejected all of his cabinet candidates for the oil portfolio and objected to the appointment of his allies in senior government office.^[38] The Majlis approved a cabinet on 24 August.^[45] The ministers promised to meet frequently outside Tehran and held their first meeting on 25 August in Mashhad, with four empty seats for the unapproved nominees.^[46]

2006 Councils and Assembly of Experts election

Ahmadinejad’s team lost the 2006 city council elections,^[47] and his spiritual mentor, Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, was ranked sixth on the country's Assembly of Experts.^{[citation needed]} In the first nationwide election since Ahmadinejad became President, his allies failed to dominate election returns for the Assembly of Experts and local councils. Results, with a turnout of about 60%, suggested a voter shift toward more moderate policies. According to an editorial in the Kargozaran independent daily newspaper, "The results show that voters have learned from the past and concluded that we need to support.. moderate figures." An Iranian political analyst said that "this is a blow for Ahmadinejad and Mesbah Yazdi's list."^[47]

2009 presidential election

On 23 August 2008, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced that he "sees Ahmadinejad as president in the next five years," a comment interpreted as indicating support for Ahmadinejad's reelection.^[48] 39,165,191 ballots were cast in the election on 12 June 2009, according to Iran's election headquarters. Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, (62.63%). In second place, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, won 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes.^[49] The election drew unprecedented public interest in Iran.

2012 parliamentary elections

Ahmadinejad suffered a defeat in March/May 2012 parliamentary elections with Ayatollah Khamenei’s "Principalist" allies winning about three quarters of the parliaments 290 seats, and Ahmadinejad supporters far fewer.^[50]

2009 Iranian election protests

As of April 2011^[update], the election results remained in dispute with both Mousavi and Ahmadinejad and their respective supporters who believe that electoral fraud occurred during the election. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed Ahmadinejad as President on 3 August 2009, and Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August 2009.^[51] Iran's Constitution stipulates term limits of two terms for the office of President.^[52] Several Iranian political figures appeared to avoid the ceremony. Former presidents Mohammad Khatami, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is currently head of the Expediency Discernment Council, along with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, did not attend the ceremony.^[53] Opposition groups asked protesters on reformist websites and blogs to launch new street demonstrations on the day of the inauguration ceremony.^[54] On inauguration day, hundreds of riot police met opposition protesters outside parliament. After taking the oath of office, which was broadcast live on Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad said that he will "protect the official faith, the system of the Islamic revolution and the constitution".^[51] France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States announced that they would not send the usual letters of congratulation.^[51]

2009 cabinet appointments

Ahmadinejad announced controversial ministerial appointments for his second term. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei was briefly appointed as first vice president, but opposed by a number of Majlis members and by the intelligence minister, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i. Mashaei followed orders to resign. Ahmadinejad then appointed Mashaei as chief of staff, and fired Mohseni-Eje'i.^[55]

On July 26, 2009, Ahmadinejad's government faced a legal problem after he sacked four ministers. Iran's constitution (Article 136) stipulates that, if more than half of its members are replaced, the cabinet may not meet or act before the Majlis approves the revised membership.^[56] The Vice Chairman of the Majlis announced that no cabinet meetings or decisions would be legal, pending such a re-approval.^[57]

The main list of 21 cabinet appointments was announced on August 19, 2009.^[58] On September 4, Majlis approved 18 of the 21 candidates, and rejected three, including two women. Sousan Keshavarz, Mohammad Aliabadi, and Fatemeh Ajorlou were not approved by Majlis for the Ministries of Education, Energy, and Welfare and Social Security respectively. Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi is the first woman approved by Majlis as a minister in the Islamic Republic of Iran.^[59]

Domestic policy

Economic policy

In Ahmadinejad's first four years as president, Iran's real GDP reflected growth of the economy. Inflation and unemployment have also decreased under Ahmadinejad due to better economic management and ending the unsustainable spending and borrowing patterns of previous administrations .^[60][61] Ahmadinejad has increased spending by 25 percent and has supported subsidies for food and petrol. He also initially refused a gradual increase of petrol prices, saying that after making necessary preparations, such as a development of public transportation system, the government will free up petrol prices after five years.^[62] Interest rates were cut by presidential decree to below the inflation rate. One unintended effect of this stimulation of the economy has been the bidding up of some urban real estate prices by two or three times their pre-Ahmadinejad value by Iranians seeking to invest surplus cash and finding few other safe opportunities. The resulting increase in the cost of housing has hurt poorer, non-property owning Iranians, the putative beneficiaries of Ahmadinejad's populist policies.^[63] The Management and Planning Organisation, a state body charged with mapping out long-term economic and budget strategy, was broken up and its experienced managers were fired.^[64]

In June 2006, 50 Iranian economists wrote a letter to Ahmadinejad that criticized his price interventions to stabilize prices of goods, cement, government services, and his decree issued by the High Labor Council and the Ministry of Labor that proposed an increase of workers' salaries by 40 percent. Ahmadinejad publicly responded harshly to the letter and denounced the accusations.^[65][66] Ahmadinejad has called for "middle-of-the-road" compromises with respect to Western-oriented capitalism and socialism. Current political conflicts with the United States have caused the central bank to fear increased capital flight due to global isolation. These factors have prevented an improvement of infrastructure and capital influx, despite high economic potential.^[60] Among those that did not vote for him in the first election, only 3.5 percent said they would consider voting for him in the next election.^[67] Mohammad Khoshchehreh, a member of Iranian parliament that campaigned for Ahmadinejad, said that his government "has been strong on populist slogans, but weak on achievement."^[68]President Ahmadinejad has changed almost all of his economic ministers, including oil, industry and economy, since coming to power in 2005. In an interview with Fars News Agency on April 2008, Davoud Danesh Jaafari who acted as minister of economy in President Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, harshly criticized Ahmadinejad’s economic policy: "During my time, there was no positive attitude towards previous experiences or experienced people and there was no plan for the future. Peripheral issues which were not of dire importance to the nation were given priority. Most of the scientific economic concepts like the effect of liquidity on inflation were put in question."^[69] In response to these criticisms, Ahmadinejad accused his minister of not being "a man of justice" and declared that the solution to Iran’s economic problem is "the culture of martyrdom".^[70] In May 2008, the Petroleum minister of Iran admitted that the government illegally invested 2 billion dollars to import petrol in 2007. At Iranian parliament, he also mentioned that he simply followed the president's order.^[71][72]

While his government had 275 thousand billion toman oil income, the highest in Iranian history, Ahmadinejad’s government had the highest budget deficit since the Iranian revolution.^[73]

During his presidency, Ahmadinejad launched a gasoline rationing plan to reduce the country's fuel consumption. He also instituted cuts in the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge.^[14][15][74] He issued a directive that the Management and Planning Organization be affiliated to the government.^[75] In May 2011 Ahmadinejad announced that he would temporarily run the Oil Ministry.^[76]

Family planning and population policy

In October 2006, Ahmadinejad began calling for the scrapping of Iran's existing birth-control policies which discouraged Iranian couples from having more than two children. He told MPs that Iran could cope with 50 million more people than the current 70 million. In November 2010, he urged Iranians to marry and reproduce earlier, "We should take the age of marriage for boys to 20 and for girls to about 16 and 17."^[77] His remarks have drawn criticism and been called ill-judged at a time when Iran was struggling with surging inflation and rising unemployment, estimated at around 11 percent. Ahmadinejad’s call was reminiscent of a call for Iranians to have more children made by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979. The policy increased Iran's population by 16 million in seven years^[78] but was eventually reversed in response to the resultant economic strain.^[79]

In 2008, the government sent the "Family Protection Bill" to the Iranian parliament. Women's rights activists criticized the bill for removing protections from women, such as the requirement that a husband obtain his wife's consent before bringing another wife into the family. Women's rights in Iran are more religiously based than those in secular countries.^[80]

Housing

The first legislation to emerge from his newly formed government was a 12 trillion rial (US$1.3 billion) fund called "Reza's Compassion Fund",^[81] named after Shi'a Imam Ali al-Rida. Ahmadinejad's government said this fund would tap Iran's oil revenues to help young people get jobs, afford marriage, and buy their own homes.^[82] The fund also sought charitable donations, with a board of trustees in each of Iran's 30 provinces. The legislation was a response to the cost of urban housing, which is pushing up the national average marital age (currently around 25 years for women and 28 years for men). In 2006 the Iranian parliament rejected the fund. However, Ahmadinejad ordered the administrative council to execute the plan.^[83]

Human rights

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, "Since President Ahmadinejad came to power, treatment of detainees has worsened in Evin Prison as well as in detention centers operated clandestinely by the Judiciary, the Ministry of Information, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."^[84] Again according to Human Rights Watch, "Respect for basic human rights in Iran, especially freedom of expression and assembly, deteriorated in 2006. The government routinely tortures and mistreats detained dissidents, including through prolonged solitary confinement." Human Rights Watch described the source of human rights violations in contemporary Iran as coming from the Judiciary, accountable to Ali Khamenei, and from members directly appointed by Ahmadinejad.

Responses to dissent have varied. Human Rights Watch writes that "the Ahmadinejad government, in a pronounced shift from the policy under former president Mohammed Khatami, has shown no tolerance for peaceful protests and gatherings." In December 2006, Ahmadinejad advised officials not to disturb students who engaged in a protest during a speech of his at the Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran,^[85][86] although speakers at other protests have included among their complaints that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.^[87]

In April 2007, the Tehran police, which is under Khamenei's supervision, began a crackdown on women with "improper hijab." This led to criticism from associates of Ahmadinejad.^[88]

In 2012, Ahmadinejad claimed that AIDS was created by the West in order to weaken poorer countries, and repeated a previous claim that homosexual Iranians did not exist.^[89] He has also described gays as "thieves" and "ugly".^[90]

Universities

In 2006, the Ahmadinejad^[91] government reportedly forced numerous Iranian scientists and university professors to resign or to retire. It has been referred to as the "second cultural revolution".^[92][93] The policy has been said to replace old professors with younger ones.^[94] Some university professors received letters indicating their early retirement unexpectedly.^[95] In November 2006, 53 university professors had to retire from Iran University of Science and Technology.^[96]

In 2006, Ahmadinejad's government applied a 50-percent quota for male students and 50-percent for female students in the university entrance exam for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. The plan was supposed to stop the growing presence of female students in the universities. In a response to critics, Iranian minister of health and medical education, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani argued that there are not enough facilities such as dormitories for female students. Masoud Salehi, president of Zahedan University said that presence of women generates some problems with transportation. Also, Ebrahim Mekaniki, president of Babol University of Medical Sciences, stated that an increase in the presence of women will make it difficult to distribute facilities in a suitable manner. Bagher Larijani, the president of Tehran University of Medical Sciences made similar remarks. According to Rooz Online, the quotas lack a legal foundation and are justified as support for "family" and "religion."

December 2006 student protest

On 11 December 2006, some students disrupted a speech by Ahmadinejad at the Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic) in Tehran. According to the Iranian Student News Agency, students set fire to photographs of Ahmadinejad and threw firecrackers. The protesters also chanted "death to the dictator." It was the first major public protest against Ahmadinejad since his election. In a statement carried on the students' Web site,^{[citation needed]} they announced that they had been protesting the growing political pressure under Ahmadinejad, also accusing him of corruption, mismanagement, and discrimination. The statement added that "the students showed that despite vast propaganda, the president has not been able to deceive academia." It was also reported that some students were angry about the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust.^[97]

In response to the students' slogans, the president said: "We have been standing up to dictatorship so that no one will dare to establish dictatorship in a millennium even in the name of freedom. Given the scars inflicted on the Iranian nation by agents of the US and British dictatorship, no one will ever dare to initiate the rise of a dictator."^[98] It was reported that even though the protesters broke the TV cameras and threw hand-made bombs at Ahmadinejad,^[99] the president asked the officials not to question or disturb the protesters.^[100][101] In his blog, Ahmadinejad described his reaction to the incident as "a feeling of joy" because of the freedom that people enjoyed after the revolution.^[102]

One thousand students also protested the day before to denounce the increased pressure on the reformist groups at the university. One week prior, more than two thousand students protested at Tehran University on the country's annual student day, with speakers saying that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.^[97][103]

Nuclear program

Ahmadinejad has been a vocal supporter of Iran's nuclear program, and has insisted that it is for peaceful purposes. He has repeatedly emphasized that building a nuclear bomb is not the policy of his government. He has said that such a policy is "illegal and against our religion."^[104][105] He also added at a January 2006 conference in Tehran that a nation with "culture, logic and civilization" would not need nuclear weapons, and that countries that seek nuclear weapons are those that want to solve all problems by the use of force.^[106] In a 2008 interview Ahmadinejad elaborated that countries striving to obtain nuclear weapons are not politically progressive nations and those who possess them and continually make new generations of such bombs are "even more backward".^[107]

In April 2006, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully refined uranium to a stage suitable for the nuclear fuel cycle. In a speech to students and academics in Mashhad, he was quoted as saying that Iran's conditions had changed completely as it had become a nuclear state and could talk to other states from that stand.^[108] On 13 April 2006, Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the peaceful Iranian nuclear technology would not pose a threat to any party because "we want peace and stability and we will not cause injustice to anyone and at the same time we will not submit to injustice."^[109] Nevertheless, Iran's nuclear policy under Ahmadinejad's administration has received much criticism, spearheaded by the United States and Israel. The accusations include that Iran is striving to obtain nuclear arms and developing long-range firing capabilities—and that Ahmadinejad issued an order to keep UN inspectors from freely visiting the nation's nuclear facilities and viewing their designs, in defiance of an IAEA resolution.^{[110][111][112][113]} Following a May 2009 test launch of a long-range missile, Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling the crowd that with its nuclear program, Iran was sending the West a message that "the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show."^[114]

Despite Ahmadinejad's vocal support for the program, the office of the Iranian president is not directly responsible for nuclear policy. It is instead set by the Supreme National Security Council. The council includes two representatives appointed by the Supreme Leader, military officials, and members of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, and reports directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons in 2005.^[115] Khamenei has criticized Ahmadinejad's "personalization" of the nuclear issue.^[116]

Ahmadinejad vowed in February 2008 that Iran will not be held back from developing its peaceful nuclear program^[117] and has stated that at least 16 different peaceful uses for nuclear technology have so far been identified.^[107] Ahmadinejad has stressed the importance of the right to peaceful nuclear development. Iranian opposition leader, Mousavi, has even stated that giving up the country's nuclear program would be "irreparable" and that the Iranian people support the nuclear program. "No one in Iran will accept suspension," Mousavi has said, adding that if elected, his policy would be to work to provide "guarantees" that Tehran's nuclear activities would never divert to non-peaceful aims.^[118]

In October 2009 the United States, France and Russia proposed a U.N.-drafted deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program, in an effort to find a compromise between Iran's stated need for a nuclear reactor and the concerns of those who are worried that Iran harbors a secret intent of developing a nuclear weapon. After some delay in responding, on October 29, Ahmadinejad seemed to change his tone towards the deal. "We welcome fuel exchange, nuclear co-operation, building of power plants and reactors and we are ready to co-operate," he said in a live broadcast on state television.^[119] However, he added that Iran would not retreat "one iota" on its right to a sovereign nuclear program.^[120]

Domestic criticism and controversies

Alleged corruption

Ahmadinejad has been criticized for attacking private "plunderers" and "corrupt officials," while engaging in "cronyism and political favouritism". Many of his close associates have been appointed to positions for which they have no obvious qualifications, and "billion dollar no-bid contracts" have been awarded to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), an organization with which he is strongly associated.^[121]

Other statements

In June 2007, Ahmadinejad was criticized by some Iranian parliament members over his remark about Christianity and Judaism. According to Aftab News Agency, Ahmadinejad stated: "In the world, there are deviations from the right path: Christianity and Judaism. Dollars have been devoted to the propagation of these deviations. There are also false claims that these [religions] will save mankind. But Islam is the only religion that [can] save mankind." Some members of Iranian parliament criticized these remarks as being fuels to religious war.^[122][123]

Conservative MP Rafat Bayat has accused Ahmadinejad for a decline in observance of the required hijab for women, calling him "not that strict on this issue".^[124] Ahmadinejad has been also accused of indecency by people close to Rafsanjani,^[125] after he publicly kissed the hand of a woman who used to be his school teacher.^[126]

The UN and football stadiums

Two statements that have brought criticism from some religious authorities concern his speech at the United Nations, and the attendance of women at football matches. In a visit to group of Ayatollahs in Qom after returning from his 2005 speech to the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad stated he had "felt a halo over his head" during his speech and that a hidden presence had mesmerized the unblinking audience of foreign leaders, foreign ministers, and ambassadors. According to at least one source (Hooman Majd), this was offensive to the conservative religious leaders because an ordinary man cannot presume a special closeness to God or any of the Imams, nor can he imply the presence of the Mahdi.^[127]

In another statement the next year, Ahmadinejad proclaimed (without consulting the clerics beforehand), that women be allowed into football stadiums to watch male football clubs compete. This proclamation "was quickly overruled" by clerical authorities, one of whom, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani "refused for weeks to meet with President Ahmadinejad" in early 2007.^[127]

Iran constitution conflict

In 2008, a serious conflict emerged between the Iranian President and the head of parliament over three laws approved by Iranian parliament: "the agreement for civil and criminal legal cooperation between Iran and Kyrgyzstan", "the agreement to support mutual investment between Iran and Kuwait", and "the law for registration of industrial designs and trademarks". The conflict was so serious that the Iranian leader stepped in to resolve the conflict. Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to parliament speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, furiously denouncing him for an "inexplicable act" in bypassing the presidency by giving the order to implement legislation in an official newspaper.^[128] President Ahmadinejad accused the head of parliament of violating Iranian constitutional law. He called for legal action against the Parliament speaker.^[129][130] Haddad-Adel responded to Ahmadinejad accusing him of using inappropriate language in his remarks and letters.^[131]

Ali Kordan

In August 2008, Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appointed Ali Kordan as Iran's interior minister. Kordan's appointment has been criticized by Iranian parliamentarians, media and analysts after it came to light that a doctoral degree allegedly awarded to Ali Kordan was fabricated, and that the putative issuer of the degree, Oxford University, had no record of Ali Kordan receiving any degree from the University.^[132]It was also revealed that he had been jailed in 1978 for moral charges.^[133][134]Fabrication of legal documents is punishable in Iranian law with one to three years of imprisonment and in the case of government officials, the maximum sentence (three years) is demanded.

In November 2008, President Ahmadinejad announced that he was against impeachment of Ali Kordan by Iranian parliament. He refused to attend the parliament on the impeachment day.^[135] Ali Kordan was expelled from Iranian interior ministry by Iranian parliament on 4 November 2008. 188 MPs voted against Ali Kordan. An impeachment of Kordan would push Ahmadinejad close to having to submit his entire cabinet for review by parliament, which is led by one of his chief political opponents. Iran's constitution requires that step if more than half the cabinet ministers are replaced, and Ahmadinejad has replaced nine of 21.^[136][137]

Conflict with Parliament

On February 2009 after Supreme Audit Court of Iran reported that $1.058 billion of surplus oil revenue in the (2006–2007) budget hadn't been returned by the government to the national treasury,^[138][139] Ali Larijani, Iran's parliamentary speaker, called for further investigations to make sure the missing funds are returned to the treasury as soon as possible.^[140] Ahmadinejad criticized the National Audit Office for what he called its "carelessness", saying the report "incites the people" against the government.^[141] The head of the parliament Energy Commission, Hamidreza Katouzian, reported: The government spent $5 billion to import fuel, about $2 billion more than the sum parliament had authorized. Katouzian quoted Iran's Oil Minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari, as saying that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had ordered the extra purchase.^[142]

In May 2011, several members of parliament threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Ahmadinejad after his merger of eight government ministries and the firing of three ministers without parliament’s consent. According to the Majles News Web site, MP Mohammad Reza Bahonar stated, "legal purging starts with questions, which lead to warnings and end with impeachment." On May 25, parliament voted to investigate another allegation, that Ahmadinejad had committed election irregularities by giving cash to up to nine million Iranians before the 2009 presidential elections. The vote came within hours after the allegations appeared in several popular conservative news sites associated with supreme leader Ali Khamenei, suggesting the supreme leader supported the investigation.^[143] The disputes were seen as part of the clash between Ahmadinejad and other conservatives and former supporters, including supreme leader Khamenei, over what the conservatives see as Ahmadinejad's confrontational policies and abuse of power.^[143][144]

Relations with Supreme Leader

Early in his presidency, Ahmadinejad was sometimes described as "enjoy[ing] the full backing" of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei,^[145] and even as being his "protege."^[146] In Ahmadinejad's 2005 inauguration the supreme leader allowed Ahmadinejad to kiss his hand and cheeks in what was called "a sign of closeness and loyalty,"^[147] and after the 2009 election fully endorsed Ahmadinejad against protesters.^[148] However as early as January 2008 signs of disagreement between the two men developed over domestic policies,^[145] and by 2010-11 several sources detected a "growing rift" between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei.^[149] The disagreement has been described as centering on Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a top adviser and close confidant of Ahmadinejad^[150] and opponent of "greater involvement of clerics in politics",^[151] who was First Vice President of Iran until being ordered to resign from the cabinet by the supreme leader. In 2009 Ahmadinejad dismissed Intelligence minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, an opponent of Mashaei. In April 2011, another Intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, resigned after being asked to by Ahmadinejad, but was reinstated by the supreme leader^[146] within hours.^[152] Ahmadinejad declined to officially back Moslehi's reinstatement for two weeks and in protest engaged in an "11-day walkout" of cabinet meetings, religious ceremonies, and other official functions.^[149][152] Ahmadinejad's actions led to angry public attacks by clerics, parliamentarians and military commanders, who accused him of ignoring orders from the supreme leader.^[150] Conservative opponents in parliament launched an "impeachment drive" against him,^[151] four websites with ties to Ahmadinejad reportedly were "filtered and blocked",^[146] and several people "said to be close" to the president and Mashaei (such as Abbas Amirifar and Mohammed Sharif Malekzadeh) were arrested on charges of being "magicians" and invoking djinns.^[149] On 6 May 2011 it was reported that Ahmadinejad had been given an ultimatum to accept the leader's intervention or resign,^[153] and on 8 May he "apparently bowed" to the reinstatement, welcoming back Moslehi to a cabinet meeting.^[150] The events have been said to have "humiliated and weakened" Ahmadinejad, though the president has denied that there was any rift between the two,^[150] and according to the semiofficial Fars News Agency stated that his relationship with the supreme leader "is that of a father and a son."^[151]

Foreign relations

During Ahmadinejad's tenure as President of Iran the foreign policy of the country took a different approach from the previous administration. Relations with the West generally soured while relations with other parts of the world, including Africa and Latin America, were on the ascendance. In light of the calls for sanctions on Iran for its nuclear weapons programme, Ahmadinejad and his foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, traveled extensively throughout the two regions, as well as hosted other leaders. Relations with the ALBA states, and Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, in particular, were most strengthened. Relations with America during the Bush administration and Israel were weakened.

Ahmadinejad is an outspoken critic of the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom.^[154][155]

Israel and Palestine

He abides by Iran's long-standing policy of refusing to recognize Israel as a legitimate state.^[156]

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST
AHAMDINEJAD IN RIO

He was embroiled in controversy regarding statements he made supporting Holocaust denial and for commenting that "the occupying regime" would, according to various translations, be eliminated, or "vanish from the pages of time." The New York Times reported this as a call for the destruction of the State of Israel when the phrase was translated as "wiped off the map" by Ahmadinejad's official website and Iranian state run media.^{[157][158][159]} However, American academic Juan Cole says the word "map" doesn't appear in the original Farsi quote. It has also been claimed that he said that "Israel's regime will be wiped off the map", not the actual state.^[160] On April 21, 2012, Dan Meridor, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, was reported by the Blaze^[161] saying that President Ahmadinejad did not use the exact phrase ’Wiped off the Map’.

He advocates "free elections" for the region, and believes Palestinians need a stronger voice in the region's future.^[162] Criticism of him in the West has been coupled with accusations of describing the Holocaust as a myth^[163][164] and of statements influenced by "classic anti-Semitic ideas,"^[165] which has led to accusations of anti-Semitism,^[166] though he has denied these accusations, saying that he "respects Jews very much" and that he was not "passing judgment" on the Holocaust.^{[155][167][168][169]}

On Quds Day in September 2010 Ahmadinejad criticized the Palestinian Authority over its president's decision to renew direct peace talks with Israel saying the talks are "stillborn" and "doomed to fail", urging the Palestinians to continue armed resistance to Israel.^[170][171] He said that Mahmoud Abbas had no authority to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians.^[172][173] Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, fired back, saying, Ahmadinejad "does not represent the Iranian people,..., is not entitled to talk about Palestine, or the President of Palestine"^[174][175]

United States

"Establishing an independent and impartial committee of investigation, which would determine the roots and causes of the regrettable event of 9/11, is the demand of all the peoples of the region and the world. [...] Any opposition to this legal and human demand means that 9/11 was premeditated in order to achieve the goals of occupation and of confrontation with the nations.^[178]

Personal life

He was married to Azam Sadat Farahi on 12 June 1981 in Tehran.^[181] Farahi was a classmate of Ahmadinejad's when she studied at the Iran University of Science and Technology. They have three children, including one daughter, Fatemeh, and two sons, Mehdi and Alireza.^[182] His older son, Mehdi, married the daughter of Ahmadinejad's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, in 2007; and his younger son, Alireza, is married to the niece of former military general, Mahmoud Kaveh.^[183] All of his children studied at the Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic).^[184] His son in law is Mehdi Khorshidi.^[185]

See also

• 2006 Iranian sumptuary law controversy
• Advisors to the president: Hamid Mowlana, Mohammad-Ali Ramin, Ali Akbar Javanfekr
• Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi
• Politics of Iran

References

Further reading

• Harris, David (2004), The Crisis: the President, the Prophet, and the Shah—1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam, New York: Little, Brown, ISBN 978-0-316-32394-9
• "Referral of Iranian President Ahmadinejad on the Charge of Incitement to Commit Genocide" by Justus Reid Weiner, Esq., with Amb. Meir Rosenne, Prof. Elie Wiesel, Amb. Dore Gold, Irit Kohn, Adv., Amb. Eytan Bentsur, and MK Dan Naveh
• Ali Rahnema, Superstition as Ideology in Iranian Politics: From Majlesi to Ahmadinejad, Cambridge University Press, 2011 (Reviewed in The Montréal Review), ISBN 978-0-521-18221-8

External links

• Official website of the President of Iran
• Blog of President Ahmadinejad
• Biography at CIDOB Foundation
• Video Archive of President Ahmadinejad at Irannegah.com
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Charlie Rose
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad collected news and commentary at Dawn
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad collected news and commentary at Ha'aretz
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad collected news and commentary at The Jerusalem Post
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• People Who Mattered: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Time, 16 December 2006
• The Results As They Came In, Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic, 13 June 2009

THE MAHDI

Muhammad al-Mahdi

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For other uses, see Mahdi (disambiguation).

Muhammad Al-Mahdī Imam of Twelver Shia Islam
The name of the current Imām as it appears in Masjid Nabawi A modern depiction by a Shia artist
Rank	12th Twelver Imām
Name	Muhammad ibn Hasan
Kunya	Abū al-Qāsim[1]
Birth	15 Sha‘bān 255 AH ≈ 29 July 869 C.E.[1]
Death	n/a - in Occultation (941 C.E.)
Birthplace	Sāmarrā', Iraq.[1]
Buried	n/a - in Occultation[1]
Life duration	Before Imāmate: 5 years (255 - 260 AH) Imāmate: Occultation (260 AH - present) - Minor Occultation: 70 years (260 - 329 AH) - Major Occultaion: ??? (329 AH - present)
Titles	al-Mahdī[1] (Arabic for Guided One) al-Qā'im[1] (Arabic for One who Rises) al-Hujjah[1] (Arabic for The Proof) Sāhib az-Zamān[1] (Arabic for Master of the Era) al-Muntadhar[2] (Arabic for The Awaited One) Hujjatullāh (Arabic for Proof of Allah) al-Ghā'ib[1] (Arabic for The Unseen One) Sāhib al-Amr[1] (Arabic for Master of Command) Imām al-‘Asr[3] (Arabic for Imām of the Age)
Father	Hasan al-‘Askarī
Mother	Narjis[4]
Ali · Hasan · Hussein al-Sajjad · al-Baqir · al-Sadiq al-Kadhim · al-Rida · al-Taqi al-Hadi · al-Askari · al-Mahdi

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī (Arabic:محمد بن الحسن المهدي) (born c. July 29, 869 (15 Sha‘bān 255 AH), in Occultation since 941) is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams. Twelver Shī‘a believe that al-Mahdī was born in 869 and did not die but rather was hidden by God in 941 (this is referred to as the Occultation) and will later emerge with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world. He assumed the Imamate at 5 years of age. Some Shi‘īte schools do not consider ibn-al-Hasan to be the Mahdī, although the majority sect Twelvers do.

Sunnis and other Shi'ites believe that the Mahdi has not yet been born, and therefore his exact identity is only known to Allah. Aside from the Mahdi's precise genealogy, Sunnis accept many of the same hadiths Shias accept about the predictions regarding the Mahdi's emergence, his acts, and his universal Khilafat. Sunnis also have a few more Mahdi hadiths which are not present in Shia collections.

Birth and early life according to Twelver Shi'a

In the biographies of Mahdi written by Shias themselves, it is hard to draw a line between hagiographical and historical works. In Shia sources, even in historical works of Ibn Babuya, the birth of Imam was miraculous which must be considered as hagiography.^[5] Aside from Shi'as works almost nothing is known about the life of this Imam.^[6] According to Yaan Richard some even cast doubt on his actual existence.^[6]

Most scholars say Al Mahdi was born in 869 AD. His mother was Narjis.^[4] There are a couple of narrations regarding the origin of his mother. One is that his mother, Narjis was a Byzantine slave.^[4] Another narration says she was a black slave from Africa. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi states that names like Sawsan, Narjis or Rayhana were common names for slaves at that time and his mother's name supports this narration.^[7] Other narration says that she was a Byzantine Princess who pretended to be a slave so that she might travel from her kingdom to Arabia.^[8][9] Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, in Encyclopedia of Iranica, suggests that the last version is "undoubtedly legendary and hagiographic".^[7]

To support Imam Mahdi's claim, Twelver Shi'as along with some other Muslim sects quote the following Hadith: "I and `Ali are the fathers of this nation; whoever knows us very well also knows Allah, and whoever denies us also denies Allah, the Unique, the Mighty. And from `Ali's descendants are my grandsons al-Hasan and al-Husayn, who are the masters of the youths of Paradise, and from al-Husayn's descendants shall be nine: whoever obeys them obeys me, and whoever disobeys them also disobeys me; the ninth among them is their Qa'im and Mahdi."^[10]

The eleventh Imam of the Twelve Imams Hasan al-Askari died on 1 January 874 AD (8th Rabi' al-awwal, 260 AH)^[11] and since that day, his son Mahdi is believed by Shi'as to be the Imam, appointed by Allah, to lead the believers of the era. The most popular account of al-Mahdi in Shi'a literature is taken from his father's funeral. It is reported that as the funeral prayer was about to begin, al-Mahdi's uncle, Jafar ibn Ali approached to lead the prayers. However, al-Mahdi approached and commanded, "Move aside, uncle; only an Imam can lead the funeral prayer of an Imam." Jafar moved aside, and the five-year-old child led the funeral prayer for his father. It is reported that it was at this very moment that al-Mahdi disappeared and went into ghaybat, or occultation.^[

 

Significance of the Twelfth Imam

Some hadith indicate significance to the twelfth generation of descendants of Muhammad.

A hadith from the Shi'a text (Kitab Al-Kafi) containing a conversation between the first Shia Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib and a man named al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, as well as a Hadith in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim in which Muhammad speaks of Twelve Successors.

“	I heard Muhammad saying, "Islam will continue to be strong to twelve Muslim rulers." He then said a sentence which I did not hear. My father said, "All of them (those rulers) will be from Quraysh."[12]	”
—Jabir bin Samura, Prophet Muhammad

In a hadith widely regarded as authentic, Muhammad said,

“	Even if the entire duration of the world's existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before the Day of Judgment, Allah will expand that day to such a length of time, as to accommodate the kingdom of a person out of Ahl al-Bayt who will be called by my name and my father's name. He will then fill the Earth with peace and justice as it will have been filled with injustice and tyranny before then.[13]	”
—Prophet Muhammad

The Occultation

Main article: The Occultation

Twelver Shi'as believe that, for various reasons, Allah concealed the twelfth and current Imam of the Twelve Imams, al-Mahdi, from mankind.

Period

The period of occultation (ghaybat) is divided into two parts:

• Ghaybat al-Sughra or Minor Occultation (874–941), consists of the first few decades after the Imam's disappearance when communication with him was maintained through deputies of the Imam.
• Ghaybat al-Kubra or Major Occultation began 941 and is believed to continue until a time decided by Allah, when the Mahdi will reappear to bring absolute justice to the world.

Minor Occultation

Main article: Minor Occultation

During the Minor Occultation (Ghaybat al-Sughra), it is believed that al-Mahdi maintained contact with his followers via deputies (Arab. an-nuwāb al-arbaʻa literal: the four leaders). They represented him and acted as agents between him and his followers.

Whenever the believers faced a problem, they would write their concerns and send them to his deputy. The deputy would ascertain his verdict, endorse it with his seal and signature and return it to the relevant parties. The deputies also collected zakat and khums on his behalf. For the Shia, the idea of consulting a hidden Imam was not something new because the two prior Imams of the Twelve Imams had, on occasion, met with their followers from behind a curtain. Also, during the oppressive rule of the later Abbasid caliphs, the Shia Imams were heavily persecuted and held prisoners, thus their followers were forced to consult their Imams via messengers or secretly.

Shia Tradition hold that four deputies acted in succession to one another:

1. Uthman ibn Sa’id al-Asadi
2. Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Uthman
3. Abul Qasim Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti
4. Abul Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri

In 941 (329 AH), the fourth deputy announced an order by al-Mahdi, that the deputy would soon die and that the deputyship would end and the period of the Major Occultation would begin.

The fourth deputy died six days later and the Shi'a Muslims continue to await the reappearance of the Mahdi. In the same year, many notable Shi'a scholars such as Ali ibn Babwayh Qummi and Muhammad ibn Yaqub Kulayni, the learned compiler of al-Kafi also died.

Major Occultation

Main article: Major Occultation

The name of Imam as it appears in Masjid Nabawi

According to the last letter of al-Mahdi to Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri "from the day of your death [the last deputy] the period of my major occultation (al ghaybatul kubra) will begin. Hence forth, no one will see me, unless and until Allah makes me appear."^{[citation needed]} Another view is that the Hidden Imam is on earth "among the body of the Shia" but "incognito." "Numerous stories" exist of the Hidden Imam "manifesting himself to prominent members of the ulama."^[14]

Reappearance

Twelver Shi'as cite various references from the Qur'an and reports, or Hadith, from Imam Mahdi and the Twelve Imams with regard to the reappearance of al-Mahdi who would, in accordance with Allah's command, bring justice and peace to the world by establishing Islam throughout the world.

Mahdi is reported to have said:

Shi'as believe that Imam al-Mahdi will reappear when the world has fallen into chaos and civil war emerges between the human race for no reason. At this time, it is believed, half of the true believers will ride from Yemen carrying white flags to Makkah, while the other half will ride from Karbala, in Iraq, carrying black flags to Makkah. At this time, Imam al-Mahdi will come wielding Allah's Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane, Zulfiqar (Arabic: ذو الفقار, ðū l-fiqār), the Double-Bladed Sword. He will also come and reveal the texts in his possession, such as al-Jafr and al-Jamia.

Shi'as believe that Jesus will also come (after Imam Mahdi's re-appearance) and follow the Imam Mahdi to destroy tyranny and falsehood and to bring justice and peace to the world.^[15]

Titles

The 12th Imam is known by many titles in Shia Islam, including:

• Al-Mahdi (the Guided one)
• Al-Muntathar (the Awaited one)
• Al-Qa'im (the Rising one)
• Sahab az-Zaman (the Master of the Age)
• Imam az-Zaman (the Leader of the Age)
• Wali al-'Asr (the Guardian of the Era or alternatively, the Guardian in the Twilight [of man])
• Al-Hujjah (the Proof [of Allah's justice])

Ahmadiyya view

In Ahmadiyya Islam, the terms "Messiah" and "Mahdi" are synonymous terms for one and the same person. Like the term Messiah which, among other meanings, in essence means being anointed by God or appointed by God the term "Mahdi" means guided by God, thus both imply a direct ordainment and a spiritual nurturing by God of a divinely chosen individual. According to Ahmadiyya thought, Messiahship is a phenomenon, through which a special emphasis is given on the transformation of a people by way of offering suffering for the sake of God instead of giving suffering (i.e. refraining from revenge). Ahmadis believe that this special emphasis was given through the person of Jesus and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^[16] among others.

Ahmadis hold that the prophesied eschatological figures of various religions, the coming of the Messiah and Mahdi in fact were to be fulfilled in one person who was to represent all previous prophets.^[17] The prophecies concerning the Mahdi or the second coming of Jesus are seen by Ahmadis as metaphorical, in that one was to be born and rise within the dispensation of Muhammad, who by virtue of his similarity and affinity with Jesus of Nazareth, and the similarity in nature, temperament and disposition of the people of Jesus' time and the people of the time of the promised one (the Mahdi) is called by the same name.

Numerous Hadith are presented by the Ahmadis in support of their view such as one from Sunan Ibn Majah which says:

“	There is No Mahdi but Jesus son of Mary	”
—Ibn Majah, Bab, Shahadatu-Zaman

Ahmadis believe that the prophecies concerning the Mahdi and the second coming of Jesus have been fulfilled in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835–1908) the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement. Contrary to mainstream Islam the Ahmadis do not believe that Jesus is alive in heaven, but that he survived the crucifixion and migrated towards the east where he died a natural death and that Ghulam Ahmad was only the promised spiritual second coming and likeness of Jesus, the promised Messiah and Mahdi.

Sunni view

The majority of Sunni Muslims do not consider the son of Hasan al-Askari to be the Mahdi nor to be in occultation. However, they do believe that the Mahdi will come from Muhammad's family.^[18] Sunnis believe that the Mahdi has not yet been born, and therefore his exact identity is only known to Allah. Aside from the Mahdi's precise genealogy, Sunnis accept many of the same hadiths Shias accept about the predictions regarding the Mahdi's emergence, his acts, and his universal Khilafat. Sunnis also have a few more Mahdi hadiths which are not present in Shia collections, such as the following:

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri narrated that Muhammad said:

Our Mahdi will have a broad forehead and a pointed (prominent) nose. He will fill the earth with justice as it is filled with injustice and tyranny. He will rule for seven years

—Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, ^[19]

Shia books do not explicitly mention the Mahdi having a pointed (prominent) nose.

However, the Shi'a traditions do state (about Imam Mehdi's nose): "His Nose; Abu Sa‘īd al-Khidri narrates from the Messenger of Allah (a.s) that he said, 'The Mahdi is from us the Ahl al-Bait, a man from my Ummah. He has a high nose. He will fill the earth with equity as it will be full of corruption.'"^[20]

Other Sunni hadith regarding the Mahdi are virtually identical to their counterparts in Shia books:

Umm Salamah said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah say: "The Mahdi is of my lineage and family"

—Umm Salamah, ^[21]

Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri said:

The Messenger of Allah said: "He is one of us"

—Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri, ^[22]

In the light of traditions and interpretations, the personality of the Promised Mahdi would be as such:

It is said "predictions and lore concerning the Mahdi abound"[9] Among them are that the promised Mahdi would be a Caliph of God and that to make a covenant with him is obligatory. He would belong to the House of Muhammad and would be in the line of Imam Hassan. His name would be Muhammad and his family name would be Abul Qasim, his father's name would be ‘Abdu’llah [rather than Hassan],^{[citation needed]} and he would appear in Mecca. He would protect the Muslims from destruction and would restore the religion to its original position.

Sunnis also believe that Jesus will return alongside the Mahdi, with the only difference being that they disagree with the Shia regarding exactly who the Mahdi is.

Scholarly observations

Some scholars, including Bernard Lewis^[23] also point out, that the idea of an Imam in occultation was not new in 873 but that it was a recurring factor in Shia history. Examples of this include the cases of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (according to the Kaysanites Shia), Muhammad ibn Abdallah An-Nafs Az-Zakiyya, Musa al-Kadhim (according to the Waqifite Shia), Muhammad ibn Qasim (al-Alawi), Yahya ibn Umar and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi (according to the Muhammadite Shia).

On causes of development occultation doctrine among Shi'as, Yaan Richard suggests, "the last Imams were confronted with a difficult situation: theoretical claimants to power, politically important, backed by discontented supporters of Omayyad and Abbasid caliphs, taking refuge in an esoteric justification of their quietism, the Immam were embarrassment to everyone. When they were physically present, they gave the lie to certain of the allegations made about them by Shiites. When they were absent, their eschatological "efficacy" could no longer be questioned and the desire for a return of their reign of justice became almost at reality. The occultation is therefore a convenient solution".^[6]

Consequence of occultation of Twelfth Imam

The occulation of 12th Imam left a considerable gap in leadership of Shia's. According to Shia' beliefs the Imam was both the spiritual and political head of the community. Although during the lesser occultation the network of Imam deputies (wokala) claimed to have the right to handle Shia communities issues, this system was not continued during the Greater Occultation.^[24] After the greater occultation, the role of Imam as the head of community left vacant, which did not theoretically matter at the beginning of Occultation because Shia`s had no political power at that time. However, when Shia' states arose in later centuries, since the hidden Imam was alive and was the leader of Muslims, the role of Shia' state among Shia' communities were in question.^[24] This problem has caused continuing tension between government and religion throughout the Shia's history.^[24]

Historicity of Muhammad al-Mahdi

The historical existence of the twelfth imam has been long debated since the death of eleventh Imam^[25][26]. Even though Shi’ite Scholars admit that the Twelfth Imam is an actual person, the Eleventh Imam, Hasan al-Askari, was kept more or less a prisoner by the Abbasids in the camp at Samarra, about 100 kilometres north of Baghdad, and died there in 874 A.D at the age of twenty-eight. It appears that none of the Shi'i notables knew of the existence of the son of eleventh Imam.The only possible occasion the son of eleventh Imam is said to made a public appearance was at the time of his death, then as a child and the boy was seen no more. ^[27]

It was believed that the twelfth Imam was connected to his community through four agents, giving his commands via letter; Momen doubts the historical accuracy of these accounts, mentioning that there is no indication that the number of agents was limited to four and several others are mentioned. It seems likely that after the death of the eleventh Imam, for the duration of a natural lifespan (i.e. seventy years) this system had continued to operate. The brother of eleventh Imam remained firm in his assertion that his brother had no progeny and there were legal dispute over the ownership of his bother’s estate with the supposed agents.^[27]

Henry Corbin in contrast believed that the question of historicity is irrelevant admitting that the idea of the hidden Imam was shaped around the person of twelfth and considering the extensive body of literature about him, saw the birth and his occultation as archetypal and symbolic, describing it as “sacred history”. In his History of Islamic Philosophy He writes: “..The simultaneity of these (birth and occultation) is rich in meanings from the mystical point of view… here above all, our approach should be that of the phenomenologist: we must discover the aims of Shi’ite awareness..”.^[28]

 See also

Holiest sites in Islam (Shia) Mahdi Ismaili Fatimid Empire Narjis People claiming to be the Mahdi

 Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004. pp. 159.
2. ^ al-Qurashi, Baqir Shareef (2006). The Life of Imam al-Mahdi. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. pp. 40.
3. ^ A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004. pp. 160.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Sachedina, Abdulaziz (1981). Islamic Messianism. Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press. pp. 72–74, 78. ISBN 87395-485-0.
5. ^ (Sachedina 1981, p. 70)
6. ^ ^{a b c} Richard, Yaan (1995). Shi'ite Islam. Oxford UK, Cambridge USA: Blackwell.
7. ^ ^{a b} Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali. "ISLAM IN IRAN vii. THE CONCEPT OF MAHDI IN TWELVER SHIʿISM". Encyclopedia iranica. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/islam-in-iran-vii-the-concept-of-mahdi-in-twelver-shiism. Retrieved 2011-07-24.
8. ^ The Expected Mahdi
9. ^ Online Islamic Courses
10. ^ Ikmal of Al­Saduq
11. ^ The Imams
12. ^ Sahih Bukhari 89.329
13. ^ |Sahih Tirmidhi, V2, P86, V9, P74–75.
14. ^ Momen, Moojan, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Yale University Press, 1985, p.199
15. ^ Sahih Muslim, bab nuzul 'isa, Vol. 2; Sahih Bukhari, kitab bad' al-khalq wa nuzul 'isa, Vol. 4
16. ^ Ask Islam: What is the different between a messiah and a prophet?
17. ^ http://www.alislam.org/quran/tafseer/?page=2739&region=E1&CR=
18. ^ Al-Mahdi
19. ^ Abu Dawud, Sahih, Vol. 2, p. 208; Fusul al-muhimma, p. 275
20. ^ Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi (2003). Hassan Allahyari. ed. The book of occultation (Kitab Al-Ghaibah; Bihar Al-Anwar, Volume 51) (1st ed.). Qum: Ansariyan Publication. p. 140 (Tradition XI). ISBN 964-438-478-4. http://maaref-foundation.com/english/index.htm.
21. ^ Sunan Abu Dawud, 11/373; Sunan Ibn Maajah, 2/1368
22. ^ Reported by Abi Na’eem in Akhbaar al-Mahdi, see al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer, 5/219, hadith 5796
23. ^ The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam, Bernard Lewis, pp. 23, 35, 49.
24. ^ ^{a b c} Momen, Moojan (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. pp. 170. ISBN 978-0-300-03531-5.
25. ^ Goldziher, Ignaz. Introduction to Islamic theology and law. pp. 200. http://books.google.com/books?id=6zeStDQZOSgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=introduction+to+Islamic+theology+and+law&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Sz3QT9eQB9DcsgahiJGxDQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAA.
26. ^ Akhter, Shamim. Faith & Philosophy of Islam. pp. 176. http://books.google.com/books?id=gMiQMWGhoScC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Faith+%26+Philosophy+of+Islam&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aj7QT-TsOsLVtAbFpoStDQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA.
27. ^ ^{a b} Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. pp. 161-66.
28. ^ Henry Corbin. History of Islamic Philosophy. Pages 69-70

References

• Kitab al-Irshad, Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Nu'man (al-Shaikh al-Mufid), 4th A.H./10 A.D.
• Review of 'Kitab al-Irshad' by Al-Mufid, by Dr. I. K. A. Howard

 Further reading

• al-Qarashi, Baqir Sharif (2006). The Life of Imam Al-Mahdi, translated by Syed Athar Husain S.H. Rizvi. Ansariyan Publications. ISBN 964-438-806-2.
• al-Sadr, Muhammad Baqir (1983). Awaited Saviour. Imam Al Khoei Islamic. ISBN 0-686-90398-6.
• Amini, Ibrahim (1996). Al-Imam Al-Mahdi: The Just Leader of Humanity, translated by Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina. Islamic Education and Information Center. ISBN 0-9680717-0-8.
• Corbin, Henry (1993). History of Islamic Philosophy, translated by Liadain Sherrard and Philip Sherrard. Kegan Paul International in association with Islamic Publications for The Institute of Ismaili Studies. ISBN 0-7103-0416-1.
• Hussain, Jassim M. (1986). Occultation of the Twelfth Imam: A Historical Background. Routledge. ISBN 0-7103-0158-8.
• Nasr, Seyyed Hossein; Hamid Dabashi (1989). Expectation of the Millennium: Shiʻism in History. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-88706-843-X.
• Sachedina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein (1981). Islamic Messianism: The Idea of Mahdī in Twelver Shīʻism. Suny press. ISBN 0-87395-442-4.
• Tabatabae, Sayyid Mohammad Hosayn; Seyyed Hossein Nasr (translator) (1979). Shi'ite Islam. Suny press. ISBN 0-87395-272-3.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Muhammad al-Mahdī

• Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Hujjah an article by Encyclopædia Britannica Online
• ghaybah an article by Encyclopædia Britannica Online
• Mahdi an article by Encyclopædia Britannica Online
• ghaybah(The Occultation) an article by Encyclopædia Britannica Online
• MAHDI'S DEPUTIES by Verena Klemm, an article by encyclopedia Iranica
• List of sites about Imam Mahdi
• Guide to the 12 Imams - Inc. Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi (www.shiacode.com)
• Information and Biography of Imam Mohammed Al Mahdi
• The Awaited Saviour by Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr & Ayatullah Murtadha Mutahhari
• A Discussion concerning the Mahdi, by Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr
• Imam Mahdi's Biography
• - Iran prepares people for 'messiah miracles'
• [1] Unravelling lies from people about Imam Muhammad Mahdi
• MISC. Information on Sunni & Shia Documentation about Imam Mehdi

Muhammad al-Mahdi of the Ahl al-Bayt Banu Hashim Clan of the Banu Quraish Born: 15th Sha‘bān 255 AH ≈ 2 August 869 CE Died: n/a in Occultation
Shī‘a Islam titles
Preceded by Hasan al-Askari	12th Imam of Twelver Shi'a Islam 874 – present	Succeeded by none

Persondata
Name	Al-Mahdi, Muhammad
Alternative names
Short description	Mahdī
Date of birth	868
Place of birth	Sāmarrā'
Date of death
Place of death

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