27 July 2010

the doctrine of mahdism: how different religions view the idea of the messiah


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each religion has its own beliefs on what needs to be done to pave the way for the day the savior comes -- but are they that different from each other?

in spite of all the evil in the world, if you take even a quick look at the fundamentals of different religions you'll see a recurring theme. the messiah. the one who is anticipated as the savior and liberator can be found in islam, christianity, judaism and zoroastrianism as well as a host of other religions too.

shi'ite muslim

mohammad al-mahdi the twelfth shi'ite imam. also known as "the guided one." born in 869 ad, disappeared in 941.

shi'ite muslims believe his return from “occultation” will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny. they pray and wait for his return and the day he will spread justice and equality across all mankind.

they believe that he will return with jesus christ.

sunni muslims also believe in the mahdi but it is not important to them -- it's not central to their belief.

belief in the mahdi is central to the shi'ites. iran is shi'ite.

judaism

belief in the messiah is a fundamental part of judaism. like islam in judaism the messiah has the most important mission to bring the world back to god and make it a place of peace, justice and harmony.

the jews concept of a messiah to establish the kingdom of israel. somebody who is from the line of david. the idea is not very central. they do not know who he is, they do not know when he will come, they dont really know what he is going to do.

the belief is there but it is something on the side.

the ultra orthodox jews believe that nobody should establish the state of israel, that zionism is wrong because it is the messiah who will do it.

the only thing they do to prepare for messiah is when they have the seder meal at passover. they leave the door open because they believe the prophet elijah will come and he will herald the coming of the messiah.

christianity

believes that the jewish prophecies refer to the spiritual savior, jesus of nazareth. christians believe that all messianic prophecies concerning jesus' first coming to earth were fulfilled in the mission, death and resurrection of christ. they seek to spread throughout the world their interpretation that the messiah is the only savior and that jesus will return to fulfill his prophecy in human form.

zoroastrianism

their texts say, according to pedram soroushpour with the tehran zoroastrian council, "that the last soshians, is someone who will fight against a spiritual symbol. this symbol is ashmodi, which means innovations that surround the bright center of a religion and actually darken it for the world. soshians is the one who clears the trueness of religion with his emergence and causes the truth of religions to reappear. we will witness the development and the spread of righteousness in the world.

one thing that's common between all these faiths is the sense of obligation during your daily life or on a broader social level to pave the way for the return of the savior.
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Posted by wst... at 23:29