There are so many reasons to investigate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the killing of protesters to the support of terrorism to the backing of countries like Syria in crushing its own citizens. Iranian legislators, however, have accused Ahmadinejad’s aides of working with genies. Various aides have been arrested this month for magic and calling forth gjinns or spirits, including chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.
It is all part of the religious based lunancy of the Iranian system. One of the men, Abbas Ghaffari, is described as “a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with the unknown worlds.” Sounds like Shirley MacLaine.
Conservatives are not pursuing Ahmadinejad over any of his various crimes against the people of Iran or other countries. Those are just fine. It was his disobedience of country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over an appointment, which conservatives view as the equivalent to “apostasy from God.” It is only the latest example of the dangers of the entanglement of church (or in this case, Mosque) and state.
For his part, Ahmadinejad is obsessed with the Hidden Imam Mahdi – the revered saviour of Shia Islam, who reportedly fell down a well as a kid. Ahmadinejad has widened boulevards and based policies on the return of the Mahdi. He believes that the 12th Imam, also called the sahib-e zaman (“the Ruler of Time”), lives at the bottom of a well in Jamkaran, just outside of Qom. Like other Muslims, Ahmadinejad writes down notes and throws them down a well for the Mahdi to read. He heads a major nation and presumed nuclear power. He has added a wonderful element of paranoia to his lunacy by recently accusing the United States of trying to prevent the return of the Mahdi.
Conservatives have struck back at Ahmadinejad — not by disclaiming the fact that the boy Imam in the well will emerge and lead Iran. Rather, they disagree with Ahmadinejad’s claim that he is already supporting many of his policies. Leading cleric Gholam-reza Mesbahi Moghadam objected “If, God forbid, Ahmadinejad means that Imam Zaman supports the government’s actions, this is wrong. Certainly Imam Zaman would not accept 20 percent inflation rates, nor would he support it or many other mistakes that exist in the country today,.” Yes, that’s the problem. The hidden Imam would not support 20 percent inflation. Water sanitation and development infrastructure subsidies, yes. But not inflation.
There is a deep-seated belief in genies in the Middle East, including one court that actually called a genie to the stand. It is not unknown for people to be still prosecuted for sorcery in the Middle East.
For my own part, I was obsessed with Barbara Eden for much of my early pubescent years.
Source; Guardian
My guess is that end times hysteria is related to misery and economic collapse. Nothing moderates extremism like a full belly and cable TV.
Ahmedinijad is sure going to look silly when he finds out he’s been praying next to the wrong well all these years.
“The poor you will always have with you” John 12:8 – seems he forgot to warn us the nuts will be too.
Back in the mid-1800s the Millerite Movement predicted the exact date of the return of Christ & thousands of people sold their belongings and camped in fields waiting the return. I don’t remember, how did that work out for them?
When I lived in Florida there was a guy driving a minivan all painted up with the exact date of the return, that day came & went & if the rapture did occur none of my neighbors went and the media didn’t cover it.
But recently it seems as if other religions have been joining in the fun; is end time hysteria contagious? There seems to be a lot of it going around.
tomdarch
so i guess now it’s a race between the hidden imam and jesus.
wonder what the vegas odds are
It’s a long, intricate read, with lots of unfamiliar (and sometimes similar) names, but this gives the context for the issue:
http://www.juancole.com/2011/05/jahanpour-is-iran-next-supreme-leader-versus-ahmadinejad.html
I think I understand that both sides (President Ahmadinejad versus Supreme Leader Khamene’i) want to be seen as being true to the Hidden Imam – but the details are the “local politics.”
From the piece on Prof. Cole’s blog:
“A few weeks ago, a series of documentary films were released called “The Reappearance is Near.” The films referred to the reappearance of the Hidden Imam who according to the Shi’is went into hiding as a child and who will return in the Last Days to crush the enemies of Islam and to establish a reign of justice and peace. A number of people will supposedly accompany the Hidden Imam on his return. The films openly stated that President Ahmadinejad is the embodiment of Shu’ayb bin Salih, one of the saintly figures who will accompany the Hidden Imam. This would give the president a special place above all the ruling clerics as a special companion of the Hidden Imam. In fact, the president frequently takes the entire cabinet to pray next to a well near Qom, from where the Hidden Imam is supposed to emerge. He also starts all his speeches, including the ones that he has delivered at the United Nations, with a prayer for the speedy return of the Hidden Imam.
Those films have understandably created a great deal of controversy among the clerics who see Ahmadinejad usurping their privileged spiritual position, as the true representatives of the Hidden Imam and the interpreters of Islamic teachings. Masha’i [a relative and ally of President Ahmadinejad] has been accused of having been the mastermind behind the creation of those films, a charge that he has denied. However, during the past few days, some of those who were involved in the production of the film have been arrested and accused of spreading superstition and undermining the position of the Hidden Imam.”
I’d love to point and mock Iran for this, but as we all know, “End Times” superstition is a big part of US politics.
Submitted without comment because apparently no one else will broach the topic . . .
The man is mad I tell you, Mad! Maybe we should get him a stuffed Genie and he can carry it with him for security!
throwing notes down wells, such a backwards people. don’t they know the truth is in the stars.
A whole lot of “crazy”…”here, there and everywhere”…, but this is pretty good, I must admit…
How’s that theocracy treatin’ you now, Imadinnerjacket?
This is just nuts! I knew that Iammadinthehead was crazy, but he is off the charts with this stuff!
Look, if I had a genie one of the things I would have him do would be to keep me from being charged with having a genie. So, ipso facto, QED, incontinens cerebri, the fact that I have been charged is proof that I do not have a genie.
I would further argue that anyone not currently charged with having a genie probably has a genie protecting them from being charged & should be arrested immediately!
Aladdin (Arabic: علاء الدين, ʻAlāʼ ad-Dīn; literally, “nobility of the faith”) is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland (see sources and setting).[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin
Hmmm….I wonder if the previous name of the country was Persia…. now that would just be blasphemy…