The Messiah....

Anyone still want to thrash out this old silly patently ridiculous idea?
Perhaps we can start with Judaism, apparently a man (fully human) is going to bring peace to the Earth through this religion. It will be very interesting to see how the Muslims react to him, my bet is they will kill him or convert him unless he is supernaturally persuasive.

Now Islam believes the hidden Imam who is Muhummad's direct descendent and also fully human will be the one to bring peace to the Earth, it seems he faces similar challenges as the Jewish Messiah.

Of course Christianity will see either one of these human Messiahs as the Anti-Christ and god only knows how the Christian world will react to all of this.

And let's not forget the Buddhist Maitreya who is supposed to be alive today ready to make his universal claim as the one.

And are all these guys the Avatar of Vishnu finally ready to reveal to all that Brahma is truly the god of all accepting our devotion in any way we desire to worship……….

Or is this truly just more Skydaddy mythic delusion?

Re: The Messiah....

every culture has its own belief system. it's been that way since mankind's decendents parted ways from the African continent. i also know that humans are…well, we all know that. we are also all like fighting siblings. like…in war. “she pulled my hair!” “he bombed my cities for no reason!!” “MOM!! HE'S POKING MY ARM!!!”

everyone is right, and no one is right. i cannot piece together exactly what i want to say…the thought is keeping itself rather elusive.. “your god is the anti-christ, so let's slaughter his followers”

i'm not sure if you understand what i am saying..because i cannot piece together my thoughts for the life of me.. i'm sorry!!

Re: The Messiah.... the Hidden Imam

hi andrew and suni,

I'd like to begin by looking at what the hidden Imam means to at least some Muslims.

Looking at this article here, 


1) our first problem:

Can a Western diplomat, particularly one with a pressing agenda of their own,  ever really understand the thinking of a non-Western mind? Increasingly we see evidence, and from errant US media commentary in particular, that this is a real issue to making progress in the Middle East and Central Asia. The problem, when a foreign consciousness is attempting to interpret the underlying psyche of another nation, is that it is reliant on its own world picture for reference. It is somewhat akin to trying to decipher the  writings of a language one is not conversant with.  


2) Some political ramifications:


The upcoming Iranian election may well determine which of these agendas triumph. Israel is well aware of the religious dimension, even if the West is not,  hence its excitability and rhetoric about the issue – it is fearful that the ‘Hidden Imam’ agenda will be the ultimate driver. For most in the West, they do not know how important these beliefs are to some in Tehran,  and to many of the electorate in Iran.Iran’s President Ahmadinejad (or Ahmadinezhad as some  anglicize it) is quite widely believed to be a member of a sect that has rather extreme beliefs about the Hidden Imam. There is circumstantial evidence that he believes his  actions may have some influence over when the al-Mahdi (Messiah-like figure) will return to the physical world. It is a difficult concept to understand for most Westerners, but suffice to say that both Ahmadinejad  and the head of Iran’s nuclear program, Gholam Reza Aqazadeh, are believed to be members of this sect.


3) Who is the Hidden Imam? The eleventh Imam, al-Hassan al-Askari, died in 874. He was succeeded by the twelfth Imam, the youthful Muhammad, who “disappeared” in 274/878 in the cave of the great mosque at Samarra without leaving progeny.He is now known as the “expected one,” (al-Muntazar), the “promised one” (al-Mahdi”), or the “hidden one,” (al-Mustatir). The theology of the Hidden Imam is that Allah realized at last that the rightful successor to Muhammad was not going to be accepted by Islam at large so he had to be taken into hiding and kept there until he would re-appear to purify the umma and take the world for Islam.The period of the Twelfth Imam’s hiding was in two parts. The period from 878 until 941 would be known as the “Lesser Occultation,” a time when the Hidden Imam was still active in this earthly realm, communicating by messengers. The Great Occultation began in 941, when all contact with the world was broken off. This date has been misinterpreted by some authors as the date of his disappearance. The Great Occultation continues to present and will end when he re-appears. – Ahmadinejad Awaits the Hidden Imam (Interesting perpective!).




4) What relationship might this have with other beliefs?Before Westerners dismiss this as only superstition, the story has close correlations to the Apocalypse and the ‘End Times’ prophecies popular among many Christian fundamentalists. In Iran, believers think that the Hidden Imam will return as the world boils and broils, and at a  time of existential danger for man the al-Mahdi will reappear to lead believers  in a  new, unified caliphate. In many variants of the story al-Mahdi is accompanied by Jesus on his return.

 Other articlesShi'a: The Hidden ImamAhlel Bayt » Articles » Fraudulent Representatives of the Hidden Imam

Re: The Messiah....

It is possible. We prophets are all related, not through physical blood but through spiritual blood. Further we are a collective. We live seperately but exist simultaneously and draw upon each other for strength during our incarnations. Perhaps part of what I have come to establish is this concept, so that when the Messiah actually does arrive, humanity will be at a point where they will understand how things work and be a little more accepting concept of the Unity of Prophecy. As you so adequately put it humanity is not quite at that point yet, so as you can see, there is much work to be done.

Re: The Messiah....

A big job, Mr!

Re: The Messiah....

There is no such thing as a big job. There is merely the work. Often when busily engaged in a large task, many cannot see the progress being made but it is made and before you know it, it is completed.

Re: The Messiah....

Perhaps. However, not all tasks are of the same scope or complexity. Cleaning my sink is one thing, cleaning the planet quite another thing. For example :)

Re: The Messiah....

Actually they are the same thing. If everyone cleaned their sink (with green products of course), it would be one step towards cleaning the planet. My job is not to win hearts and minds or to convince people of anything but merely to put the word out and try to spread it to the point where people are aware of it.

Re: The Messiah....

One step is not a complete journey!

Re: The Messiah....

Yes, but no journey can begin without the first step.

Re: The Messiah....

true too! :)