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MahdiWatch.org
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Home | About Me | Links to My Articles | Info on My Books | Contact Me
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Welcome to MahdiWatch.org! NEWSFLASH! COMMENTS LINK
BELOW EACH POST IS ENABLED! FEEL FREE TO BURY ME, PRAISE ME--OR JUST ISSUE A PERSONAL FATWA!
al-Mahdi is "the rightly-guided one" who, according to Islamic Hadiths (traditions),
will come before the end of time to make the entire world Muslim. Over the last 1400 years numerous claimants to the
mantle of the Mahdi have arisen in both Shi`i and Sunni circles. Modern belief in the coming of the Mahdi has
manifested most famously in the 1979 al-`Utaybi uprising of Sa`udi Arabia, and more recently in the ongoing
Mahdist movements (some violent) in Iraq, as well as in the frequently-expressed public prayers of former Iranian
President Ahmadinezhad bidding the Mahdi to return and, in the larger Sunni Islamic world, by claims that Usamah bin Ladin
might be the (occulted) Mahdi. Now in 2014 Mahdism is active in Syria, as the jihadist opposition group Jabhat al-Nusra
claims to be fighting to prepare the way for his coming; and in the new "Islamic State/caliphate" spanning
Syrian and Iraqi territory, as its leadership promotes the upcoming apocalyptic battle with the West at Dabiq, Syria. This site will track such Mahdi-related movements, aspirations, propaganda and beliefs in both Sunni and Shi`i
milieus, as well as other Muslim eschatological yearnings.
For a primer
on Mahdism, see my 2005 article, "What's Worse than Violent Jihadists?," at the History News Network: http://hnn.us/articles/13146.html; for more in-depth info, see the links here to my other writings, including my book on Mahdism.
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Thursday, July 23, 2009
With the Mahdi, You'll Never Roam Alone
I'm willing to bet that for the past three weeks
or so in Iran the text lines have been burning up with ayatollahs sending 0113 requests!
Send
Text Messages to the 12th Imam by Faramarz_Fateh
17-Jul-2009
You can now send text message to the 12th Imam as follows. Cost is $0.50 a message.
Send all texts to #$90865$# for all carriers (including ATT, VERIZON, SPRINT, FIDO, RODGERS, VIRGIN,
ORANGE, DOKOMO, TelCel, MexTel, Mobily, STC, Mobiho): Request
Enter
Request code Curing ills/sickness 0101 Getting
Rich 0103 Finding
a husband 0105 Finding a wife
0107 Getting pregnant (women)
0109 Getting pregnant (husbands) 0111 Wishing death for someone
0113 A more comprehensive list will be posted later. Please be advised for areas outside 50 Km radius of Qom,
roaming charges will apply.
(Posted at http://www.iranian.com/main/node/72888)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Ayatollah You So....
Several weeks ago (June 26, "Hanging Together--or Hanging Separately?") I noted the possibililty of Iran's Assembly
of Experts desposing Supreme Leader Khamenei, which would provide the Tehran/Qom ruling axis with a face-saving means of placating
the Iranian street while at the same time preserving the vilayet-i faqih system under another Supreme Leader, or perhaps even
a collective leadership.
No less an authority on Iran than Reuel Marc Gerecht, writing in the July 20, 2009, issue
of "The Weekly Standard," agrees with me:
Khamenei would bite the bullet if he thought Rafsanjani [head
of the AoE] had outplayed him, by aligning enough clerical backing and dividing the Revolutionary Guards Corps, to make
the theoretical possibility of his removal from office seem a bit more concrete.
Last Friday Rafsanjani
gave the khutbah at Tehran University mosque and, by all accounts, challenged the very legitimacy of the current
government (NOT, I hasten to add, the vilayet-i faqih system instituted by the late Ayatollah Khomeini), which has emboldened
clerical politicians like the former President Mohammad Khatami to call for a referendum on the disputed Presidential election
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/world/middleeast/20iran.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper).
Again, the ostensible target of a referendum is President Ahmadinejad--but I would argue that this electoral
crisis has hurt Khamenei even worse, and that his opponents, led by Rafsanjani and Khatami, smell clerical blood in the water.
If I were a betting man, I'd put money on Ahmadinejad to survive longer than Khamenei.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Offensive Christian Soldier?
Interesting, isn't it, that certain Muslims take offense when an alleged dhimmi actually stands up and whacks back?
Here's an email I received from the same chap who took offense at my invoking of the Crusade trope:
"Clearly
Mr Furnish - despite your Phd - your response is intellectually shallow and literal - your I won`t back down approach reminds
me of my intransigent four year old - I think your view of the muslim world is a simplistic and black &
white. Your nation lacks political , spiritual and any moral authority - btw I am the first to admit the
muslim world is dogged by literalist but this is not a true reflection of the spirit of the faith. As for
the west defeating the Islamic world - I some how find that hard to believe - I mean the USA is unable to defeat the
backward Taliban. Although your military might is superior to the Islamic world - I don`t see you
using it - and also it appears your leaders lack the will to nuke Muslim lands. But if they did you
would have played right into the hands of Bin Laden and okay. PS Are you a Bush supporter -
you certainly sound like one - sad really you came across as a decent bloke - but alas I think your a conceited Christian
hypocrite - sad I never met a christian who has reminded me of the Spirit of Christ. Peace"
And my somewhat-exasperated response:
Sir, Ah, once I express something with which you do not agree, the personal attacks start. If you lived
in the US, you would no doubt be a Far Left Democrat. What else do I consider
your attaching a website entitled "Furnishwatch" to your email, other than a cheap and lowlife attempt to intimidate
me? And I fail to see how I'm a "Christian hypocrite," unless you--again,
like an American Leftist--think that all Christians must be total pacifists in order to live by our faith. I find it
ironic that a Muslim--a member of a religion that literally embraces and supports violence against non-Muslims--is lecturing
me about being a "hypocrite' on that score. Your true feelings are revealed
by your line that "your nation lacks political, spiritural and any moral authority." At the risk of
sounding like an "intransigent four year old," as an American I would dearly like for the US to bring ALL its troops
and philanthropic organizations--most of which are run by various Christian denominations--home and for us to refuse to intervene
anywhere in the world for, oh, let's say one year. WIthin 60 days the world would be going to hell in a handbasket and
even the Muslim world would be crying for us to return. But, alas, such will never come to pass. And I will note, yet again, that the accounts of Muslim--indeed, Qur'an-sanctioned--violence in my original
post that started this line of "discussion" continue to be ignored by you, intent as you are on trashing both the
US and, now, me personally. Do you spend as much time attacking those of your own faith who promote and practice violence
as you do a foreign Christian who merely observes and reports on it, occasionally expressing his disgust and exasperation
with it? Well, I'm sorry you've never met a Christian who reminds you
of "the Spirit of Christ." If by that you mean a Christian willing to meekly and mildly accept the beheadings,
crucifixions and murders of his fellow Christians, I guess I'll never qualify. In that regard I truly am unworthy of
my Savior, but that's between Him and me. Timothy R. Furnish, Ph.D.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
I Won't Back Down
A Muslim reader of my website has taken umbrage at my last posting, in particular my warning to Muslims that constant
charges of "Crusaderism" against the United States might become a self-fulfilling prophecy--and that this time the
West would win. Here is what my Internet friend said:
"Mr Furnish please temper your comments - I have
a great deal of respect for you however I felt uncomfortable with your comments - that if the west / USA was provoked by the
muslim world - you would win it - This is not correct - there would be a bloody conflict to no ones benefit - so please exercise
moderation and balance in what you post on your web."
Observations:
1) Like the American
college students I used to teach, this individual thinks that being "uncomfortable" is somehow grounds enough for
someone to change what they are saying or doing in an intellectual debate. As I used to tell my students,
"I don't care what you feel--this is history class--I care what you THINK." This no doubt lowered
my ratemyprofessor.com scores, but it did create at least some glimmers of rationality. Is my Muslim friend "uncomfortable"
that I invoked the Crusades? Good. Then start some hard thinking about whether Bin Ladin, Ahmadinezhad, Nasrallah,
al-Zawahiri, et al., are justitifed in THEIR invoking the Crusades in almost every public utterance. Follow that
up with some historical research into just what the Crusades were about (hint: there might be some element of a response to
400 years of Islamic conquest of CHRISTIAN territories!).
2) When my Muslim friend needs a break from
learning about unpleasant things like the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim's destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem in 1009 (almost a century BEFORE the First Crusade!), s/he might wander on over to some defense-related websites
and examine the size of the American military vis-a-vis those of any Islamic country--hell, the entire Islamic ummah.
Then try and tell me again that the U.S. lacks the military power to win any conflict with any or all of the Islamic world.
We might lack the POLITICAL will, but we sure as Hades do not lack the military power.
3) My Muslim interlocutor
might want to try focusing on the substance of the rest of my post from July 1--namely, the four accounts of Islam-sanctioned
brutal killings, three of which were aimed at
Christians. I note that, as usual with my critics (usually
liberal, this time Muslim), my writings IN REACTION TO Islamic violence are somehow offensive, not the well-documented
Islam-based violence itself.
4) Perhaps most importantly: at the end of his/her post, aforementioned
Muslim/Muslimah has a link to a website which had as part of its title "Furnishwatch." Is this some cheap
attempt to frighten me? If so, you've failed. As an American dedicated to the First Amendment, and as a Christian,
I will continue to speak out about all aspects of Islam, negative as well as positive. If that makes anyone "uncomfortable,"
so be it.
11:17 am edt
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Seventh Vision?
Any fool who argues that literalist Islam is peaceful should take note of the following unhelpful data from the past week:
1) Somali Islamists Cut Off Hands and Feet of Four Thieves: Thursday, June 25, 2009, Associated Press.
MOGADISHU, Somalia — An Islamic court in Somalia on Thursday cut off a hand and foot from
each of four men convicted of stealing phones and guns, drawing hundreds of onlookers as the weeping men were punished at
a military camp. The Shariah court that carried out the sentences is run by the powerful insurgent group al-Shabab,
which is trying to topple Somalia's U.N.-backed government and install a strict form of Islam. "The men were bleeding
and crying when the man cut their hands and feet off with a long knife," said one witness, Liban Ali. Journalists were
not allowed to cover the sentencing. The four were convicted earlier this week in the capital, Mogadishu (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529097,00.html?test=latestnews
This Shari`ah court is simply enforcing literal Islam: Sura al-Ma'idah
[V]:36 says "The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive with might for mischief throughout
the land is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from the opposite sides...." They're
just being good, literalist Muslims, Mr. Obama.
2) Somalia: Islamists Behead Two
Sons of Christian Leader, Compass Direct News, July 1, 2009.
Nairobi, Kenya, – Islamic extremists have beheaded
two young boys in Somalia because their Christian father refused to divulge information about a church leader, and the killers
are searching Kenya’s refugee camps to do the same to the boys’ father (http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=31242).
Again, they're just being good Muslims and taking the Qur'an literally; Sura Muhammad
[XLVII]:4 instructs Muslims that "when you encounter the unbelievers on the battlefield, strike off their heads....."
Sura al-Anfal [VIII]:12 also mandates decapitation for unbelievers in order to instill dread of Allah. (I wrote an article
on this topic: "Beheading in the Name of Islam," Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2005: http://www.meforum.org/713/beheading-in-the-name-of-islam). Can't blame those on lingering anger at George Bush. Well, you can't if you're rational.
3) Bible College Students Killed in Yemen, by Wolfgang Polzer, "ANS", June 29, 2009.
Sanaa, Yemen - Three aid workers in Yemen were killed and another six, including three children, are missing after they
were kidnapped June 12 while on a picnic, possibly by a rebel group in an area where al-Qaida has a foothold....The bodies
of three women were found by shepherds. Two of the victims were identified as Anita G. (24) and Rita S. (26) German bible
school students studying at the evangelical Brake Bible School in Lemgo (West Germany)... Both Anita and Rita were nurses
on a short-term internship at the Al Jumhuri hospital in Saada (North Yemen). It is supported by the humanitarian agency Worldwide
Services in the Netherlands (http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=31189).
4) al-Qaida Claims It Killed Missionary from Cleveland, by Jacqueline Koch, "Chattanooga Times Free
Press", June 26, 2009. A branch of terrorist group al-Qaida on Thursday claimed responsibility for the death of
Mr. Leggett, who was shot several times by unidentified gunmen. Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera said it received an audio
statement from al-Qaida's North Africa branch in which the group said it killed the 39-year-old for trying to convert Muslims
to Christianity in Nouakchott, Mauritania, according to The Associated Press. "Two knights of the Islamic Maghreb succeeded
Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. to kill the infidel American Christopher Leggett for his Christianizing activities," the group
said in the statement....(http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=31179).
I guess those murdering Yemeni Muslims and those brave "knights of the Islamic
Maghrib" didn't get the Obama memo on how they really belong to a peaceful religion--one whose adherents are so insecure
they cannot even attempt to refute a Christian missionary, but instead feel constrained to kill him.
By
the way, the "seventh vision" refers to chapter 20 of Revelation, in which St. John writes of seeing "the souls
of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus."
I challenge anyone to come forward
with similiar reports about Muslims being persecuted by Christians--or members of any other faith.
Many Muslims
are often quick to play the "Crusades" card and attempt to paint any Western, especially American, endeavor--military
or otherwise--in the Middle East or even larger Islamic world as in the same vein as what Frankish knights did nine centuries
ago. Muslims should beware of actually provoking the Christian West--that is, the United States--into waging
a true Crusade, because you can be sure that if we ever do decide to do so, we will win it. Beware of creating a self-fulfilling
prophecy, because if you keep killing Christians you run that risk.
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| Jamkaran Mosque near Qom, Iran (during my trip there Aug. 2008) |
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