Brought To You From Voice of Balatarin
For the past couple of weeks, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been struggling with a full-blown dilemma, forcing it into a spiral of reactions and additional problems. It all started when a recorded program on a CD, entitled “The Appearance Is Imminent,” surfaced and was widely distributed inside the country for a few months. The program concentrated on the re-appearance of the 12th Shiite Imam, Mahdi, who disappeared over a thousand years ago. Mahdi is promised to appear just before the Judgement Day, charged with the responsibility of saving the world from corruption, war, and calamities by offering it peace and justice. In a nutshell, the program suggested that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Nasrallah are three of Imam Mahdi’s close aides who are poised to help his imminent appearance. Balatarin users have been discussing the program for a couple of weeks, mostly opposing such superstitions, and some even ridiculing it.
Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, many superstitious tales claiming special attributes for the Iranian clerics have circulated among Iranians. The most prominent and memorable tale was the rumor in 1978, when some claimed that Ayatollah Khomeini’s picture could be seen in the full moon. Since then, numerous clerics have been said to be in touch with various deceased Imams; but it seems fewer and fewer people believe the tales or keep them alive through repeating them. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be the first non-cleric in the Iranian government to both directly claim to have special powers, and to be said by his supporters to have special relations with the 12th Imam. Immediately after his first trip to New York in September 2005 to attend a General Assembly meeting in which he delivered his first address, he visited Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli in Qom and a recorded video of the meeting shows him telling Amoli that he was told later [by other members of the Iranian delegation] that while at the podium, he seemed to be surrounded by a light, which he claimed kept the entire audience mesmerized and focused on his speech, without so much as blinking their eyes for the duration of his speech.
After the “The Appearance Is Imminent” video was widely criticized, Iranian officials and top clerics started reacting to it, admonishing the people who produced it, and distancing themselves from the program. While discussions about the issue continued on Balatarin, the fact was not lost on the site users that two important people did not react to the whole debacle–Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
To make matters even worse, the link to a video of Qom Friday Imam, Seyed Mohammad Saeedi, was posted on Balatarin, in which the prominent Qom cleric told the story of a miracle in which witnesses said that at the time of his birth, Ayatollah Khamenei uttered the name of Imam Ali. The discussions under the video link and all the subsequent material written about the “miracle” further demonstrate the deteriorating image of clerics who would resort to telling unfathomable stories in order to create an air of sanctity around Iran’s Supreme Leader, a man already bestowed with unlimited and unchecked power and control over the earthly affairs of Iran and Iranians.
Until next time, stay with us and let the dialogue grow!
Visit Voice of Balatarin @ en.balatarin.com
