The Mahdi (a.s.) is near
FOREWORD
Throughout the history of mankind, there have been moments that we may define as moments of “hope and expectation”. Currently, we are living one of those moments. International tension increases, but so does the hope and expectation in the appearance of an Avatar or a Messiah *.
The sanskrit word “Avatar” literally means “descended from afar”. Ava expresses the idea, “far, distant”. The root AV transmits the idea of “protection from on high”. All Avatars or Messiahs express the love of God for humanity and the need of men for that love. They are divine intermediates who have managed to detach themselves from all material limitations and egoistic feelings in order to place themselves at the service of humanity.
His coming is awaited by millions of people in the world.
They, along the human history, have repeatedly come and changed the existing old order , bequeathing us a new bright future, replacing what was old and no longer served to human evolution.
They come when evil predominates over good and when desperate humanity, suffering under the yoke of injustice, oppression and lies, invokes their appearance. When men and women together take action and pray inside their harts to God, His love pours forth amongst them and the miracle of His appearance takes place.
No one can deny that we live today in a crucial age of social, political and economical changes. We can even talk about the end of a civilization or culture; we can talk about chaos; about the human incapacity to resolve the enormous conflicts that these changes are generating in the present world. The appearance of the Saviour of mankind requires that those who believe in his manifestation pray God to hasten his appearance, work hard to make all necessary changes in their lives and in their communities and, at the same time, propagate their belief throughout all corners of the world, so, everybody will hear about his appearance and will await Him.
When millions of sincere people raise their eyes to God, humbly accepting that they have reached the limit of their human possibilities in resolving and managing the enormous and serious conflicts around the world and ask for help, God through the inscrutable mystery of His will and because the faith of his believers, “for God is love“ (1) shall send amongst us the awaited Mahdi (a.s.).
* Along this article the Messiah or Avatar will be named as Mahdi (a.s.).
Every religion shall call him a different name, but He is the unique spiritual entity imprested with the power and glory of God. His mission is to bring the Kingdom of God to humanity and to develop and guide the spiritual evolution of all human beings in the world without distinction, giving each, man and woman, what their spirit needs to make their path towards his Creator.
I.- WHY THE TIME IS NOW
“In every age I come back to deliver the Holy, to destroy the sin of the sinner, to establish righteousness”(2)
The world in which the Mahdi (a.s). will appear is a new world.
His appearance will not be for a region but for the whole world. Nowadays, thanks to the new media technologies, it is possible to disseminate any world event to all the corners of the planet. This was unheard of one or two thousand years ago. The advance technologies that we have nowadays will make His appearance different in time and in magnitude to that of his predecessors. New systems of transportation make it possible for millions of persons to be able to go anywhere: All eyes will see Him.
Great regenerating forces are at work, making their presence felt in many groups that try to help and elevate humanity, rebuilding this world, restoring stability and the sense of security, and, in this way, consciously or unconsciously paving the way for the appearance of the awaited Mahdi (a.s.).
Every day, an increasing number of persons are ceasing to take interest in material things; they no longer give possessions a fundamental importance in their lives. They have acquired an exact sense of values and, above all, they are happy people, because they have learned to control their desires. They had chosen in their life to be honest with their neighbours, they always give words their just value, they live a simply life, they have noble thoughts; and they are in control of their aspirations.
They are the masters of their existence at all times. They live on their efforts and uphold high ideals that they incarnate with patience in theirs communities in which they live and have good relationships.
II.-HIS DOCTRINE WILL BRING A NEW WORLD RELIGION
From Ali´s ( a.s.) point of view, the principle of justice is of crucial significance in preserving the balance of society and winning goodwill of the public. Its practice can ensure the health of society and bring peace to its soul . Oppresion, injustice and discrimination cannot bring peace and happiness.Justice is like a public highway which has a room for all and through which everyone may pass without impediment. AIi (a.s.) regards justice to be a duty and a Divine trust: rather, to him is a “Divine sanctity”.
On a certain occasion, when he assumed the Caliphate, several politicians were disappointed by his manner of ruling and their disappointments soon turned into conspirations. Some friends warned him of what was happening, and advised him to wisely set aside affairs relating to equality and justice for the moment in order to pacify the situation. Imam Ali (a.), answered categorically: (3)
“ Do you ask me to seek support through injustice (to my subjects and to sacrifice justice for the sake of political advantage)? By God! I will not do it as long as the world lasts and one star follows another in the sky (i.e. I will not do it as long as the order of the universe exist). Even if it were my own property I would distribute it with justice, and why not when is the property of God and when I am His trustee?
Restoring lost dignity to mankind, elevating them from the state of constant preoccupation for material things and teaching them to confide in Divine Providence will be one of the basic principles of the great task that the Mahdi (a.s.) will carry out.
Jesus of Nazareth gave us beautiful examples of God´s providence when : (4) “He said to (his) disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more that food and the body more than clothing. Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than that birds! Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your lifespan? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you so anxious about the rest?
Like the hero, the saint is also an exceptional being. The saint does not know inner struggle when he is submitted to extreme situation. He does not compromise himself if it demands to go against his own convictions and faith; he would rather prefer to die. God´s love fills his heart and nothing can be comparable to him.
On another level of sainthood would be the saint who devotes his life to the poor and the suffering. These saints, men and women of charity, devote themselves to human beings in the hope of attaining the love of God through their service. The needy for them are the instrument that will permit them to bring God’s kingdom and justice to the world. These are the contemporary saints, those who place their lives at the service of those who suffer social injustices, and step by step they go about establishing social justice and peace. They are heroes, because they live in the world and for the world; they do not move away from it, they look life in the eye, acknowledging and suffering in themselves the evil that each day brings, and, without aspiring to receive any glory other than the love of God, they struggle without rest every day to transmute darkness into light.
The idea of the immortality of the soul has been seen emerging in humanity since the remotest of ages. Instinctively, man has believed and intuited that physical death does not constitute the end of his existence, of his struggle, of his love and human aspiration. Something called upon him to go beyond his physical environment. Those men still did not have the capacity to think, they had still not developed their intellect like contemporary man, but they followed their instinct, which led them upward. They looked at the sky, contemplated the stars, and had the intuition that something more existed than the stars that they observed. Something above everything else that they could see and which was protecting them.
