Global Justice Awaits Mahdi (ajt)

Question: Why was the establishment of justice not assigned to the holy Prophet (pbuh) and Imam Ali (a.s.) and why was it assigned to the Imam of Time (may Allah hasten his reappearance)?

Answer:From the outset of the creation of mankind, God, the Exalted, sent the prophets to guide man and to deliver divine injunctions. The need for leadership was imbedded in him. God should help mankind at any time and age until "end of the world". The sending of prophets and the succession of infallible Imams (a.s.) after the Last of all Prophets (pbuh) are aimed at continuing the path of perfection.[1]

God, the Almighty, has sent prophets for every nation consistent with the need and circumstances prevailing in that time. However, no prophet has been completely or absolutely successful in carrying out his program nor has anyone of them been able to establish a broad-based just government. When the divine prophets were calling upon the people to worship the One God, they routinely encountered their denial and opposition. Especially the chieftains and the wealthy ones who were engulfed in worldly pleasures[2] and were proud of their wealth, riches or knowledge[3] stood stubbornly against the call of the divine prophets drawing up many people from other strata of the society and preventing them from following the right path[4]. That is why few people would have faith in the divine prophets. [5]

It seldom happened that a society was established on the basis of genuine beliefs, just standards, equality and submission to God and the prophets. One such society was established in the time of Prophet Suleiman (Solomon), a society in which part of the teachings of the prophets was gradually applied and put into practice. Without dobut, the first object of the prophetic mission of the prophets has been to prepare the ground for growth and perfection of humanity albeit through divine revelation. One of the aims of the prophets has been to help people to gain, intellectual, moral, psychological and spiritual perfection. All divine prophets sought to establish an ideal monotheistic society and spread justice throughout the entire word. Each prophet took a step in this way as far as it lied within him. Some of the prophets were able to establish a divine government in their time within their own specific geographical limits. However, none of the prophets had the opportunity to establish a just global world because the circumstances were not paved for them. However, this does not imply the inefficiency of the divine teachings because God wants that the situation and circumstances be paved so that man should decide to go on of free will […]. There is no compulsion in religion and people are not supposed to follow the true religion and divine leaders under coercion.

The holy Prophet (pbuh) as the last divine messenger, Imam Ali and the Imams after him whose duty was to establish global justice and call on the people to embrace Islam could not establish justice because the people were not spiritually and psychologically prepared; their level of thinking and reasoning had not reached the point to be prepared for a change and for accepting a just government. In fact, man is like a child who needs to be educated so as to reach the ultimate mental growth and in order for him to gain perfection, he should cover these stages gradually. Hence, unless the ground was adequately prepared for reaching the goal, the divine leaders did not have the preparation to implement a just global government. Indeed, it is not their fault and that it was because the conditions were not propitious and the people were not ready. According to Islamic narrations, the acceptance of a just global government and the people's intellectual development depend on social, intellectual, cultural preparedness and perfection of the minds which will take place during the age of the reappearance of the Imam of Age (a.s.). Some of the above cases are explained as under:

A) Social Preparation

One of the conditions of the reappearance of the Imam of Time (a.s.) is social and global readiness.[6] Before the reappearance of the Imam of Time, tyranny, oppression and injustice permeate the world; bloody wars are fought among nations and countries, and the earth is crammed with dead bodies. Imam Sadiq (a.s.) says: "The Imam of Time shall not reappear unless two third (2/3) of the people are killed." Then he was asked: "How many people will survive?" The Imam said: "Are you not pleased to be of the one third (1/3) of the remnant?"[7]

During that time, there will be no security for the lives and property of people. The roads become unsafe; fear and horror permeate the society[8]; there will be sudden deaths throughout the human society. Imam Ali (a.s.): "There are signs for the reappearance of Mahdi (ajt) including extensive and remorseless killings, fast and consecutive deaths and spread of epidemics."[9]

According to the narrations, during that age, the innocent children are killed in the most brutal way by the oppressive rulers.[10] Deadly diseases (perhaps due to the decomposing bodies of the dead ones or because of chemical weapons) spread all over.[11] In such a difficult circumstance, hopelessness overtakes the society and death is regarded to be the best divine gift to men, and the only wish of the people would be to die. In that time, the people yearn for death because of brutality and aggressions.[12]

In such a circumstance in which the hearts of the people turn towards God and are prepared for the universal revolution and this heavenly glad-tiding echoes outs in every nook and cranny of the world: 'O people of the world, the time of the reign of the tyrants have come to an end and Mahdi has reappeared. This heavenly call once again blows a new spirit into the body of people making their lives full of love, faith, liveliness and vigor.

Thus, one of the conditions necessary for the reappearance of the Imam of Time (may Allah hasten his reappearance) is social preparation which means that the people get tired of injustice, tyranny and the available systems in the world and they taste the bitterness of the material life in a way such that despair and hopelessness take all over the world and people become prepared for a faith-based revolution. In such a circumstance, the Imam of Time (a.s.) will reappear.

B) Intellectual and Cultural Preparation

One of the conditions for the reappearance of the Imam of Time (a.s.) is intellectual and cultural preparation.[13] Indeed, attaining this level of thinking is possible only when people practically leave racial and geographical prejudices aside and forget about the factitious borders and language, and as sunlight and lively breezes, and raining clouds and other gifts and powers of the nature never pay attention to these borders and consider the world as one country.[14] Racism, nationalism etc. cannot solve the problem of the human societies. The human societies should develop intellectually and culturally on the basis monotheistic spirituality and morality so that the Imam of Time (a.s.) may reappear.

C) Scientific and Technological Preparation:

One of the other conditions for the reappearance of the Imam is scientific and technological preparation. Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi says: In order to create and control the world order, a series of "super-modern" means with which to visit and travel throughout the whole world in a short time, to get information of all nooks and crannies, to transfer things from one place to another and to pass the needed information in a short while, is necessary….How is it possible to reign over the world and establish justice, if it takes (for example) one year to send one message from end of the world to another?"[15]

There are hadiths (traditions) in this regard which have looked at the matter from a different angle. Without doubt, the technology present in the time of Imam Mahdi (ajt) will be very different from the current-day technology which has turned into objects for non-religious activities. During the time of the Imam, the limits governing the present day technology will not exist and the stretch of technology will be too wide and extensive to be perceived by today's mankind.

According to the traditions, in the time of reappearance, the world turns into one city owing the progress of industry and technology. The people who are living in the east see and hear the people in the west. Imam Sadiq (a.s.) says: "During the time of Al-Qaim[16], a faithful individual who lives in the east sees his brother who lives in the west." [17]

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi says: "The technological and industrial, especially transportational and communicational, progress in that time will be so immense that the great continents of the world practically turn into just a few cities close to one another; the east and the west will look as though they are one home. The problem of time and place will be completely solved. Perhaps, part of these developments may take place in that age through a single industrial movement and revolution. However, there should be some sort of scientific preparation as the background on the eve of such an age."[18] The existence of advanced technology not only does not hinder the establishment of a just universal government but it is impossible to attain such an objective without it."[19]

D) Scientific Progress

Religious sentiments and emotions in the time of the Imam will spread together and simultaneously with science and the men of that age do not consider religiosity inconsistent with technological progress. According to the narrations, energy and the use of non-solar energy, fast means, audio and view will become efficient throughout the universe.[20] Everything will be accessible and the Imam will reign over the entire world.[21] The good-doers will live in complete freedom and their lives will be characterized by it. All of this is materialized owing to the government of the Imam of Age the like of which mankind has not yet experienced. Of course, these amazing advancements do not take place through miracle; rather they emanate from the scientific evolution typical of the age of reappearance because man's life in this world should be according to the traditions pervasive in nature, not miracles which are exceptions and which take place in this world in necessary cases. Thus, scientific and technological evolution takes place during the period of the Imam's reappearance. Imam Sadiq (a.s.) says: "Knowledge is comprised of twenty seven letters and all that has been brought by the prophets is comprised of two letters; and men have not gained knowledge of anything but these two letters. When our 'support' (qāi'm) comes forth, he will make manifest the other twenty five letters to them so that they become propagated in the form of twenty seven letters."[22] It is concluded from this narration that no matter how much scientific progress man achieves, man's scientific progress during the time of the Mahdi (ajt) will be twelve times more. A careful study of the foregoing passage will reveal to us how amazing and dazzling the progress of science during the time of the Imam would be.

E) Perfection of the Minds

In order for the Imam (a.s) to reappear, the people should reach a high level of intellectual maturity. Imam Baqir (a.s.) says: "When our 'support' (qāi'm) rises, Allah will place his hand upon the heads of His servants. Then through him their minds will come together and through him their intellects will become perfected."[23]

Since the Imam of Age (ajt) carries out the Islamic injunctions in a complete manner, it leads to intellectual growth of the people and the goal of the holy Prophet who says, "I have been sent to perfect the morals"[24] shall be materialized. The government of the Imam of Time (ajt) entails the blossoming and perfection of the intellects, awakening and fruition of dormant potentialities. Owing to divine grace and after several long experiments, mankind realizes that the measures taken by human beings are no longer capable of solving the problems of the human society. For this reason, the entire people accept and welcome the Imam's revolution of their own free will.

F) Moral and Spiritual Perfection

According to ahadith, moral and spiritual perfection take place in the time of the reappearance of the Imam of Age. The narrators say that the holy Prophet (pbuh) said that one of the features of Imam Mahdi's government is the spread of justice and eradication of oppression and tyranny. The sentence (یملأ الله الارض قسطا و عدلا) "God fill the earth with equity and justice" is refers to the said perfection.

The holy Prophet of Islam says: "When Mahdi rises up, God puts freedom from want and needlessness in the hearts of His servants in a way such that he (the Imam) announces that whosever needs property and wealth should come but no one takes the lead for that."[25] In this tradition, the word "servants" implies psychological and inward changes of all humans in the time of reappearance, changes that did not exist in the period before the reappearance.

The narrations describes the world in the period of the Imam of Age (ajt) as a civilized world being at the pinnacle of scientific, industrial, moral, spiritual and intellectual progress which is miles away from today's scientific and industrial progress. Indeed, the basic difference between the progress in the time of the Imam of Age (ajt) and that of the present-day world is that the scientific and industrial developments characteristic of the present time are taking place towards cultural and moral declination. The more advancements man makes, the more he gets distanced from human values and moves on toward corruption, destruction and killing. However, in the time of Imam Mahdi (ajt)), the circumstances are quite the opposite of the present day circumstances. That is, man reaches the pinnacle of scientific and industrial progress and at the same time, he gets nearer to moral elevation and human perfection.

Conclusion

The conditions for the actualization of a broad just government which brings about scientific, technological, intellectual, spiritual and moral perfection could not be made possible in the time of the prophets and the infallible Imams (a.s.). Such conditions will exist only in the time of the Imam of Age (ajt). One of the factors being effective in the acceptance of the government of Mahdi (ajt) is the disturbing and chaotic situation of the world and the human society in which bloody wars and brutal murders take place. The people of the world should get tired of oppression, tyranny and the available systems in a way such that hopelessness and despair spread in the society to the extent that it causes everyone to be prepared for a faith-oriented revolution. In such a situation, the Imam of Time (ajt) does reappear. Racism, nationalism etc. cannot do away with the problem of the human society. In addition, the human societies should grow intellectually and culturally on the basis of monotheistic spirituality and morality and should have the necessary preparation in terms of industry and technology, so that with the reappearance of the Imam (ajt) and the actualization of a just government, they should witness the blossoming of science, spiritual and moral perfection of the human society.

Further Reading