Iran president's religious views arouse interest
Staff and agencies
17 November, 2005

By Paul Hughes 54 minutes ago

TEHRAN - His call for the destruction of Israel may have grabbed
headlines abroad, but it is President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's devotion
to a mystical religious figure that is arousing greater interest
inside Iran .

In a keynote speech on Wednesday to senior clerics, Ahmadinejad spoke
of his strong belief in the second coming of Shi'ite Muslims' "hidden"
12th Imam.

According to Shi'ite Muslim teaching, Abul-Qassem Mohammad, the 12th
leader whom Shi'ites consider descended from the Prophet Mohammed,
disappeared in 941 but will return at the end of time to lead an era
of Islamic justice.

"Our revolutionaes main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance
of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi," Ahmadinejad said in the speech to Friday
Prayers leaders from across the country.

"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," he added, newspapers and local news
agencies reported.

Ahmadinejad refers to the return of the 12th Imam, also known as 
the Mahdi, in almost all his major speeches since he took office 
in August.

[...]

But what really has tongues wagging is the possibility that
Ahmadinejad's belief in the 12th Imamaes return may be linked 
to the supposed growing influence of a secretive society devoted 
to the Mahdi which was banned in the early 1980s.

Founded in 1953 and used by the Shah of Iran to try to eradicate
followers of the Bahai faith, the Hojjatieh Society is governed 
by the conviction that the 12th Imam's return will be hastened 
by the creation of chaos on earth.

Ahmadinejad, who is only the second non-cleric to become president
since the revolution, has made clear his immense respect for Ayatollah
Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, a deeply conservative cleric with close
ties to the Hojjatieh-founded Haqqani theological school in Qom.

[...]

Full article at "Leading the Charge" ... Brisbane
http://www.leadingthecharge.com/stories/news-00101211.html

Cheers, Steve..

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