Hastening the Advent through Political Struggle
Throughout the tumultuous history of humanity, the two opposing forces of good and evil have constantly been in conflict. Evil is represented as “organized oppression,” while the good is the “innate desire for justice.” On the one hand, arrogant systems have sought to eradicate divine and human values with all their might. On the other hand, awakened societies and the righteous of the world have raised the flag of hope and resistance with all they have, including their lives and wealth. Within the Shia school of thought, this historical struggle is linked to the concept of awaiting the Promised Savior. Now, this major concept culminates in a fundamental issue: hastening the advent through political struggle. That is to say, is our duty limited to prayer and simply doing our individual act of worships, or must we actively pave the way for the end of the occultation era through constructive efforts?
Awaiting is not just a passive state, rather it is a philosophy of life: a practical philosophy. The political, social, and cultural struggles formed against global arrogance reveal the practical aspect of it. These struggles not only defend religious identity against the forces of evil, but also facilitate the key process of “global capacity development.” For the world to embrace absolute justice and feel the urgent need for the savior’s advent, it must first recognize that human ideologies have failed. Every act of resistance weakens Satan’s forces and moves humanity closer to intellective maturity and acceptance of a new global civilization. These struggles carry the flag of truth, preparing to hand it over to its rightful owner at the destined time. In fact, hastening the advent through political struggle is very important, to the point that without purposeful political struggles and divine revolutions waiting for the advent is a childish illusion. It is because these efforts destroy the myth of the invincibility of oppression and train righteous forces. Therefore, bringing about the advent through political action is not a promotional slogan, but a practical roadmap that moves believers from passive and fruitless patience into the arena of constructive jihad (struggle in the way of God) to realize a bright future. These divine endeavors and struggles cleanse the earth of impurities for the coming of the Savior. They also fulfill the will of God to elevate human beings to the status of God’s deputy on earth.
The Role of Active Awaiting in the Confrontation Between Good and Evil
When God created humans and made them the noblest of beings, Satan’s hidden arrogance and jealousy emerged. He disobeyed God’s command and refused to prostrate to the human. From that very day, two opposing fronts were formed in the universe. From that day until the promised day, all human beings are placed in one of these two fronts based on their choices, thoughts, beliefs, and lifestyles: the Front of Goodness, which is the army of the people of monotheism, and the Front of Evil, which is the army of Satan. This confrontation started with Satan’s rebellion and will continue until the establishment of the Noble Rule of the Righteous and the New Islamic Civilization in the world.
The key point is that no one can stand outside these two sides or occupy a neutral space because there simply is no middle ground. Human beings were created to flourish in the Noble Rule of the Righteous, under the guidance of an infallible mentor, so they could actualize their highest God-like potential. But Satan and his army use all their might to block this goal. This is where the importance of hastening the advent through political struggle is revealed. The confrontation between the army of monotheism and the army of Satan takes place in several dimensions: first, the confrontation of beliefs and thoughts, then the confrontation of lifestyles, relationships, and choices. But are these ideological and cultural confrontations enough against the multidimensional attacks and military equipment of Satan’s army? Is it possible to confront the enemy’s all-out invasion merely with discourse and speech? Of course not.
The warriors of divine unity must know the many dimensions and effectiveness of
hastening the advent through political struggle. That is because the righteous of the End Times in the divine army must arrange their battle formation according to the enemy’s battle formation. They should always be vigilant. “Active awaiting” entrusted to the righteous of the End Times requires acquiring ma’rifa. purifying beliefs, adopting a divine lifestyle, engaging in ideological and cultural struggles, military training and progression. They believe in the importance of speeding up the advent of Imam Mahdi (Peace be upon him) through political action and plan their lives around this goal.
The Role of Active Awaiting in the Globalization of the Advent
The perspective of “active and constructive awaiting” became prominent and recognized after the Islamic Revolution of Iran: a practical awaiting that highlights hastening the advent through political struggle and considers these struggles an absolute necessity for capacity building over the world, understanding the truth of the Savior, and paving the way for his advent. The global government of Imam Mahdi (May God hasten his advent) cannot occur without a proper political and social ground. He needs a military and ideological center to govern the world. One of the roles of political struggles is to provide the very base. Political struggles and divine revolutions challenge the global powers of Satan’s army. They create independent military and political structures, and provide the necessary infrastructure to support the Promised Savior’s global government. The faithful leaders of the Islamic Revolution of Iran have repeatedly pointed out the essence and outlook of the Iranian Revolution in providing the infrastructure for the New Islamic Civilization of Imam Mahdi (Peace be upon him) over the world. Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei introduced the Islamic Revolution of Iran as an ideological and political struggle to prepare the ground for the advent. This purpose was realized through the efforts of the righteous of the End Times and their awareness of the importance of hastening the advent through political struggle. Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran has found a distinguished and overriding position in the arena of military power.
Meanwhile, bringing about the advent through political action can create intellectual readiness in the people of the world to feel the need for a savior and the destruction of tyrants. Fighting corruption and arrogance under the flag of justice, the political movement directs world attention to the idea of a just global government: the very maturity that is essential for the universal acceptance of Imam Mahdi (Peace be upon him). This movement gained strength with the global support of the world’s free spirited people for the oppressed people of Palestine. Support for the oppressed Palestinians and confronting the fake state of Israel began from Islamic Iran. This movement spread globally through Iran’s consciousness raising and support. Gradually, the free spirited people of the world joined it. Today, this intellectual revolution has been created in the world, and the free spirited people of the world are working together to destroy tyrants and bring about the Savior’s advent.
The Role of Political Struggles in Shia History
In today’s world, where power belongs to the well-equipped fighters, the awaiting believers have no choice but to be equipped and strong. The advent of the Savior depends on the empowerment of the righteous of the End Times. Those awaiting people must be faithful, intelligent, aware, and brave. They need to be expert fighters capable of awakening the world through their faith, knowledge, writings, and weapons. Whenever this awakening is realized, the righteous of the world will join together and become an ocean that swallows Satan’s army like Pharaoh’s army. Then, the earth will be prepared for the advent of the Savior and his global rule.
During the 250 years of the Imamate of the Shia Imams (Peace be upon them), the main reason for their failure to form a government, or the instability of some of their short-lived governments, was not a lack of opportunity, but a shortage or absence of fighters who were truly faithful and obedient to the Imam’s command. Some of them were worshipers who preferred only to perform their outward religious acts like praying but did not consider the Imam’s command obligatory upon themselves. Some others were swordsmen who fought according to their own desires, not the Imam’s. For this reason, most of the infallible Imams (Peace be upon them) throughout their Imamate were constantly forced to hide their beliefs. They endured immense suffering, so that even if the advent of the Savior was not realized in that era, the initial stages of training and laying the foundations of his government would be accomplished.
The failure to understand the importance of hastening the advent through political struggle has always been a recurring dilemma historically. It has been a very major obstacle to the advent of the Imam of the Time (May God hasten his advent). Likewise, when Imam Khomeini intended to establish the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the two groups of extremists and passive individuals did not support him. With a deep understanding of the importance of hastening the advent through political struggle and with the knowledge of the great blows that Shia history has suffered from the very ignorance, he trained fighters to prepare the ground for the advent of the Imam. In this way, they could align the world with themselves using knowledge and faith, and pave the way for coming of the Imam.