King Abdullah’s Death Fulfills ‘End-Time Prophecies,’ Say Shiites
Some Shiite Muslims have long believed, based on Islamic prophecies, that Abdullah’s death
would set off a chain of events that would destabilize Saudi Arabia and culminate
in the rise of Imam Mahdi—the messianic figure of Islamic eschatology.
Though Mahdi is not explicitly mentioned in the Koran, references to him appear in the hadith,
a collection of reported teachings by the Prophet Mohammed, assembled after his death.
According to the hadith book of Bahar al-Anvar, “When Abdullah dies, people will agree on no one,
and this issue will be kept alive till the rise of Imam [Mahdi]. An age of a hundred-year reign
comes to an end, and an age of a [kingdom lasting] a few days and months arrives.”
Though this Islamic prophecy itself is nonsensical,
belief in it by many zealous Shiites is potentially significant
The most populous group of Shiites—the Twelvers—say the Mahdi is the last of 12 divine imams that
are heirs to an Islamic nation. Mahdi is said to have been born in the mid-9th century,
but to have then disappeared from humanity. Doctrine says Mahdi will reappear in “the end times.”
As Joel Rosenberg, former aide to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said,
“n order to bring about this Islamic messiah, the Mahdi, the 12th imam, Islamic leaders
need to hasten his coming by destroying little Satan, Israel, and the great Satan, the United States. …
[T]he leaders actually believe they need to create bloody carnage, the death of millions of people
in order to create the conditions for the Mahdi to bring peace.”
Most Twelvers are in Iran. The cia World Factbook says 90 to 95 percent of Iran’s
81 million people identify as Shiite, and around 85 percent of those adhere to Twelver Shiism.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the patriarch of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, was a Twelver,
as is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader.
In 2012, Khamenei told the people of Iran: “We must prepare for the coming.
Since we consider ourselves the warriors of the 12th imam, we must fight.
Under the leadership of God, and with his invisible Power,
we will restore the glory of Islamic Civilization.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s centerfuges are spinning as the nation steadily works toward
the development of a nuclear arsenal.
Could some Shiites who believe that the death of King Abdullah is
a trigger to the return of Mahdi now be more motivated to stir up chaos?
Could they now have renewed impetus to “pave the way” for their messiah’s return?
Should the United States continue sitting idly by as Iran works toward
the development of nuclear weapons?
Some Shiite Muslims have long believed, based on Islamic prophecies, that Abdullah’s death
would set off a chain of events that would destabilize Saudi Arabia and culminate
in the rise of Imam Mahdi—the messianic figure of Islamic eschatology.
Though Mahdi is not explicitly mentioned in the Koran, references to him appear in the hadith,
a collection of reported teachings by the Prophet Mohammed, assembled after his death.
According to the hadith book of Bahar al-Anvar, “When Abdullah dies, people will agree on no one,
and this issue will be kept alive till the rise of Imam [Mahdi]. An age of a hundred-year reign
comes to an end, and an age of a [kingdom lasting] a few days and months arrives.”
Though this Islamic prophecy itself is nonsensical,
belief in it by many zealous Shiites is potentially significant
The most populous group of Shiites—the Twelvers—say the Mahdi is the last of 12 divine imams that
are heirs to an Islamic nation. Mahdi is said to have been born in the mid-9th century,
but to have then disappeared from humanity. Doctrine says Mahdi will reappear in “the end times.”
As Joel Rosenberg, former aide to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said,
“n order to bring about this Islamic messiah, the Mahdi, the 12th imam, Islamic leaders
need to hasten his coming by destroying little Satan, Israel, and the great Satan, the United States. …
[T]he leaders actually believe they need to create bloody carnage, the death of millions of people
in order to create the conditions for the Mahdi to bring peace.”
Most Twelvers are in Iran. The cia World Factbook says 90 to 95 percent of Iran’s
81 million people identify as Shiite, and around 85 percent of those adhere to Twelver Shiism.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the patriarch of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, was a Twelver,
as is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader.
In 2012, Khamenei told the people of Iran: “We must prepare for the coming.
Since we consider ourselves the warriors of the 12th imam, we must fight.
Under the leadership of God, and with his invisible Power,
we will restore the glory of Islamic Civilization.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s centerfuges are spinning as the nation steadily works toward
the development of a nuclear arsenal.
Could some Shiites who believe that the death of King Abdullah is
a trigger to the return of Mahdi now be more motivated to stir up chaos?
Could they now have renewed impetus to “pave the way” for their messiah’s return?
Should the United States continue sitting idly by as Iran works toward
the development of nuclear weapons?
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