Iran's Nukes, the Twelfth Imam and Apocalyptic Martyrdom

According to 'Twelver' Shi'a Mulims, Imam Hujjat al-Mahdī ( المهدى) is the twelfth Imam and the Mahdi, the ultimate savior of mankind. Twelver Shi'as believe that Muhammad was born in 868 and has been hidden by God (referred to as occultation) to later emerge to fulfill his mission.

Twelver Shi'as cite various references from the Qur'an and reports (Hadith) from Muhammad and the twelve Shi'a Imams. These texts predict the reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi which would, in accordance with God's command, bring justice and peace to the world by establishing Islam throughout the world.

Shi'as believe that Muhammad 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 Mecca, while the other half will ride from Karbala, in Iraq, carrying black flags to Mecca. At this time, Muhammad al-Mahdi will come wielding God's Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane, Zulfiqar (Arabic: ذو الفقار, ðū l-fiqār), the Double-Bladed Sword. This heralds the apocalypse.

As mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reported to have ordered the city council to build a boulevard to prepare for the Mahdi. A year later, as Iran's president, he budgeted $17 million for a blue-tiled mosque in Jamkaran that is directly tied to the Mahdi.

In 2006, the Washington Post reported:

The expansion [of the city of Qom] is driven by an apocalyptic vision: that Shiite Islam's long-hidden 12th Imam, or Mahdi, will soon emerge -- possibly at the mosque of Jamkaran -- to inaugurate the end of the world. The man who provided $20 million to prepare the shrine for that moment, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has reportedly told his cabinet that he expects the Mahdi to arrive within the next several years.

In a speech four years ago, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated, "Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi. Therefore, Iran should become a powerful, developed and model Islamic society. Today, we should define our economic, cultural and political policies based on the policy of Imam Mahdi's return. We should avoid copying the West's policies and systems."

Anton La Guardia, writing in London's Daily Telegraph: "Iran's president actually relishes a clash with the West in the conviction that it would rekindle the spirit of the Islamic revolution and - who knows - speed up the arrival of the Hidden Imam."

In 2007, after additional UN sanctions were threatened, Ahmadinejad stated:

As God promised, the oppressors will have their noses rubbed in the dirt. Now they are fulfilling this promise by themselves... Let it be known that in whatever we do, I see the hand of God and the hidden imam at every moment.

Princeton professor Bernard Lewis states that "...there is a radical difference between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other governments with nuclear weapons. This difference is expressed in what can only be described as the apocalyptic worldview of Iran’s present rulers."

On the holy topic of suicide bombing (martyrdom), Ahmadinejad said: "Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal than the art of martyrdom? A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity."

Iran doesn’t fear retaliation if they attack Israel or the United States because a final global struggle against an evil enemy will present them with the privileges of martyrdom as taught in Islam, Lewis wrote. Death is not a deterrent.

The most dangerous leaders in history are those like Hitler and Ahmadinejad, fueled by totalitarian ideologies and mystical belief systems. Ahmadinejad believes in the imminent return of 12th Imam, which he further believes he can hasten. He also senses that he has a personal responsibility to expedite the return of the Mahdi and is therefore preparing Iran for the apocalypse.

Given the willful incompetence of the UN and the IAEA, Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons has continued unchecked. They now appear to have achieved their goal.

Furthermore, "Iran's success in firing a satellite into Earth orbit on board one of its own missiles serves notice that it effectively already has the capability to build intercontinental ballistic missiles that can put all of Western Europe and the Eastern Seaboard cities of the United States within range."

The clock is ticking.