The Shiites counter that they do not believe the Imam is equal to God. But they do believe that, like Christian Saints, the Imam is above the rest of humanity and may even be prayed to. They believe the Imam's authority is derived from his connection to the Prophet Muhammad, and they believe the line of Imam's will ultimately culminate with the expected one who would be known as the Imam Mahdi. But they are wrong about all that as well, just as some Christians are wrong in praying to those regarded as saints. We should not pray for the ears of men, nor should we pray to men. As Jesus said, we should pray in secret to our God who hears us in secret.
Now, many Muslims believe the Imam Mahdi will be a messianic figure who will return at the "end times" after a "final war of good against evil" to usher in a time of peace and justice. Like many Christians who believe in the "second- coming" of Jesus, they believe it will be an apocalyptic event preceded by wars, earthquakes, famines, and false prophets.
The truth, however, is that while the terrible tribulation we are suffering through was foretold, and while wars and the seven plagues and many other terrible things have certainly occurred prior to the coming of this son of man, as was prophesied, the "Apocalypse" is misunderstood. As I've said, it is about the uncovering, revealing and unveiling of the real meaning of prophecy, and about the judgment from God and the Spirit of truth. But in spite of that, nearly all Muslims believe they can judge, and that there must be a "Great Jihad" and the utter destruction of their enemies. They believe that following the Jihad the Mahdi will be the harbinger of the return of Jesus, and that then both prophets will rule the world together. But they grossly misinterpret and misunderstand real prophecy, because God wants us all to love one another and share the throne in God's New World Kingdom, where only God in heaven reigns Supreme over heaven and earth.
It should be understood that the Christ and the Mahdi, like the Avatar and the Buddha, etc., are one with the Ancient One who is with God in heaven. Anyone on earth who claims to be the Christ or Mahdi or Avatar or Buddha or Saoshyant, etc., is a pretender, and anyone claiming to know where "He" is in this world has been misled and does not know the real truth. The Ancient One-Oversoul-Christ-Avatar-Buddha-Mahdi is in all of us, but we have to receive the ultimate gift from God to realize it.
That will happen very gradually, and more and more people will see the Light and realize what is within us. But, it happens when we least expect it, when the separate-self ego is transcended and the seven seals of revelation and the seven chakras are opened in us. Then our spirit-soul is drawn up to meet and be as one with the Ancient One, who was "before Abraham," who was in the beginning, who is now and shall always be in heaven with our spiritual Creator-Parent-God. And when we receive that gift, we are actually spiritually reborn.
Unfortunately, very few members of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have realized that. And the Sunnis and Shiites differ in their beliefs about the role of the Imam Mahdi. The biggest difference is that the Shiites believe that the Mahdi's role would be to avenge the unjust killing of Husayn and his followers by the Sunni authorities at Karbala. That is why the rebel Shiite warmonger Muqtada Sadr was able to gather his "Mahdi Army"after the fall of the tyrannical Sunni dictator, Saddam Hussein, and take control of the sacred cities of Kufa, Karbala, and Najaf in Iraq. Sadr exploited traditional Shiite beliefs by masquerading as the herald of the coming Mahdi, and by fighting the "prophesied Jihad" ("holy war") prior to that coming. But Sadr is in fact a false prophet, just as surely as certain people masquerading as "Christian Authorities" and "Jewish Rabbinical Authorities" are false prophets.
Unfortunately, Sadr's so-called Mahdi Army is capable of becoming more of a problem, and the conflict between those Sunnis and Shiites who are radical, arrogantly proud and militant could get worse. Their civil war is partly because of that history, and partly because the tyrannical dictator Saddam Hussein was a Sunni who oppressed, persecuted and even murdered many of the Shiites. Shiites want to take revenge, not only for Husayn's murder, but for Saddam Hussein's murderous tyranny.
Both the Sunni and Shiite factions need to realize the extent to which they have been misled, because they are both incorrect and wrong to a certain extent. They are both wrong particularly about killing, because Muhammad said killing is always evil, especially indiscriminate killing. Both Sunnis and Shiites misunderstand prophecy, just as many Jewish and Christian factions misunderstand prophecy. They all need to understand that the so-called "mantle of divine authority" did not pass from David or Jesus or Muhammad to anyone else by blood line or inheritance or discipleship. It just does not happen that way. It is not passed on or inherited from men. It's given as a gift from God only, given to individuals who are truly called and anointed by the Holy Spirit and then chosen by God when they have proven they are worthy. For while many are called, few are worthy to be chosen by God, who knows all.
The Shiites need to realize that their Imams and Ayatollahs are not "holy" men, just as no other religious clergy are "holy" men, and they are not authorized by God to dictate the affairs of their people. They should be modern servants of God/Allah, who desire that ALL men and women be equal partners, and that all human beings be united, empowered and liberated from the rule of self-important individuals. But they are not servants of God and the people. They are, in effect, dictators. For example, on June 13, 2009, the "Supreme Ayatollah" of Iran endorsed the re-election of President Ahmadinijad, validating it as a "divine assessment," in spite of the fact that the election results were unclear and questionable, and it is quite obvious that huge numbers of Iranians wanted change and freedom from suppressive rule. And it was shameful that the government immediately began to use violent force to squash dissent and protest, and sensor the news on television so that the country would not see the police riots in the streets, which injured many and even killed some demonstrators.
Now it should be understood that the roots of this conflict go back more than a half century. During the second world war, the pro-American Shah of Iran was able to maintain and expand his power with significant financial and military help from the U.S. But, many Iranians were negatively affected by the Shah's abuse of power and they resented U.S. support of the Shah. That resentment grew after the U.S. CIA engineered a kind of coup in 1953, playing a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister, Mohammed Massadegh. The U.S. Government's actions were mainly to protect the interests of American oil companies and to address other strategic concerns, but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it is very understandable that many Iranians continue to resent America's intervention and meddling in their internal affairs.
The Shah, with American support, enacted various controversial policies, including the banning and suppression of any dissent or opposition. By 1978 the Shah's forces had silenced as many as 2,200 political prisoners, many of whom were tortured. By 1979, political unrest became so great that it was transformed into an outright revolution which forced the Shah to leave Iran after 37 years of rule. Soon thereafter, the revolutionary forces led by Ayatollah Khomenei transformed the government into an Islamic republic.
According to a historian who was born and raised in Iran, Khomenei had been living in exile in Paris and had promised that if and when he could return as the Supreme Ayatollah in Iran it would be a democratic, parliamentary country, and that the job of clergy would not be theocratic but would merely provide counsel. But, after the revolution Khomenei betrayed his supporters and he ordered the killing of many of those who had started, fought and won the revolution for him. Thus by deception and then murder Khomenei established a Shiite theocracy with him as the "divine ruler" (Supreme Ayatollah). And the present one, Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Khomenei in 1989, has been spouting radical anti-American and anti-Israel rhetoric ever since.
Americans should now realize why, because his feelings about the U.S. are somewhat valid. He is well aware of the long history of self-interested U.S. meddling. He is well aware that the American media has been predicting the defeat of Ahmadinijad and was creating expectations of it before the election. And he is also well aware that the U.S. CIA has been working covertly in Iran to provide considerable support to radical Iranian groups that have been trying to bring about the downfall of Ahmadinijad and Ali Khamenei.
That's been documented. The renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed his findings on the Bush Regime's covert operations inside Iran, which were and still are waged by U.S. operatives in Iran to stir up foment and provide support for the anti-Iran terrorist organizations Jundallah and MKO. So Obama must stop such activity, if he means what he says about honesty and mutual respect.
However, even though there are some very valid reasons for Ali Khamenei's feelings because of troublesome U.S. and Israeli actions, the Shiite Supreme Ayatollah is not a true Muslim who understands the will of Allah. He wants to pontificate, impose his own will, and falsely assumes "divine" authority.
Of course, there are other Muslim sects that are far worse. The worst example is al Queda, whose members commit indiscriminate mass murder, beheadings, etc. And needless to say, their claim that they serve Allah is utterly false and hypocritical. Everyone in the world, except the next worst "Muslim" sect, can see that.
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