Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei Saturday received a group of experts on Mahdism (faith in the eventual reappearance of the Savior of the World, Hazrat Mahdi Aj.)
At the meeting, the IR Leader highlighted the importance of Mahdism and described waiting for the re-appearance of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) as an integral part of the faith.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that Mahdism is among the main religious teachings of Islam and that the main goal of mission of Divine Messengers was to establish a world based on monotheism and justice.
"The era of Imam Mahdi's (A.S.) re-appearance is the era of establishing genuine rule of monotheism, spirituality, religion and justice over different individual and social aspects of the life of human beings," the IR Leader said.
"If Mahdism did not exist, all efforts and struggles of Divine Messengers would have been fruitless and futile," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Ayatollah Khamenei discussed the issue of Mahdism in divine religions and said: "While in all divine religions, some general points have been mentioned about the essence of Mahdism, in Islam this issue is among undeniable realities. And among Islamic denominations, Shia Islam discusses the issue of Mahdism with clear examples and details."
"Waiting here means expecting a living person and an indisputable truth, and in this sense waiting has certain requirements, including spiritual and social preparation for the expected era with its particular conditions," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
"The person who is waiting should always preserve and strengthen the characteristics that are necessary for the expected era and it is necessary to avoid considering this period of waiting as very long or very short," he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei warned that a large threat facing the issue of Mahdism is unscholarly, ignorant and undocumented activities based on fantasies and illusions, which might prepare the way for false claimants and might cause people to drift away from the genuine essence of waiting."
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the emergence of false claimants throughout history and added: "All these claims are wrong and misguided because certain things that have been said about the signs of re-appearance are invalid and weak, and it is not easy to apply the narrations that are valid."
"Such wrong and misguided things cause the main essence of Mahdism and waiting to be sidelined. Therefore, it is necessary to seriously avoid all unscholarly activities and rumors," the IR Leader reiterated.
"Of course, the responsibility for scholarly and well-documented work regarding the issue of Mahdism lies on the shoulders of experts who have extensive knowledge of Hadith and Rijal (knowledge of narrators of Hadith) and are perfectly familiar with philosophical issues and ideas," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
At the meeting, the IR Leader highlighted the importance of Mahdism and described waiting for the re-appearance of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) as an integral part of the faith.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that Mahdism is among the main religious teachings of Islam and that the main goal of mission of Divine Messengers was to establish a world based on monotheism and justice.
"The era of Imam Mahdi's (A.S.) re-appearance is the era of establishing genuine rule of monotheism, spirituality, religion and justice over different individual and social aspects of the life of human beings," the IR Leader said.
"If Mahdism did not exist, all efforts and struggles of Divine Messengers would have been fruitless and futile," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Ayatollah Khamenei discussed the issue of Mahdism in divine religions and said: "While in all divine religions, some general points have been mentioned about the essence of Mahdism, in Islam this issue is among undeniable realities. And among Islamic denominations, Shia Islam discusses the issue of Mahdism with clear examples and details."
"Waiting here means expecting a living person and an indisputable truth, and in this sense waiting has certain requirements, including spiritual and social preparation for the expected era with its particular conditions," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
"The person who is waiting should always preserve and strengthen the characteristics that are necessary for the expected era and it is necessary to avoid considering this period of waiting as very long or very short," he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei warned that a large threat facing the issue of Mahdism is unscholarly, ignorant and undocumented activities based on fantasies and illusions, which might prepare the way for false claimants and might cause people to drift away from the genuine essence of waiting."
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the emergence of false claimants throughout history and added: "All these claims are wrong and misguided because certain things that have been said about the signs of re-appearance are invalid and weak, and it is not easy to apply the narrations that are valid."
"Such wrong and misguided things cause the main essence of Mahdism and waiting to be sidelined. Therefore, it is necessary to seriously avoid all unscholarly activities and rumors," the IR Leader reiterated.
"Of course, the responsibility for scholarly and well-documented work regarding the issue of Mahdism lies on the shoulders of experts who have extensive knowledge of Hadith and Rijal (knowledge of narrators of Hadith) and are perfectly familiar with philosophical issues and ideas," Ayatollah Khamenei said.