The “Mahdvī community” [i.e. the community which Imam Mahdī (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) is going to establish] is the same community which all the prophets (P.B.U.T.) were sent to ensure it. This means that all the prophets (P.B.U.T.) were the forerunners of that ideal human community which will be finally established by the Imam of Time–the Promised Mahdī (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) in this world. Just like constructing a tall building that one levels the ground and pulls out the weeds, the other one digs and excavates it for the foundation. Then, someone else comes and lays the foundation of the building. Another man builds the walls and hitherto, one after another–the authorities and high officials come so as to construct this lofty palace, this soaring foundation, gradually over the time. From the beginning of human history, the Divine prophets (P.B.U.T.), one after another, came to take the community and humanity one step closer to that ideal society and ultimate goal. All the prophets (P.B.U.T.) were successful. Even one of the messengers of Allah (P.B.U.T.) did not fail in this way and path. It was the burden put on the shoulders of these high-ranking officials. Each of them took this burden one step closer to the destination and the end. They made every endeavor. They did whatever they could. When their lives came to an end, this burden was handed over to another one and he took this burden some steps closer to the destination. The Imam of Time (P.B.U.H.), the inheritor of all the prophets (P.B.U.T.), will definitely come and take the last step for establishing that Divine community. I want to talk about some of the attributes of such community. Of course, if you look at the Islamic books and skim through main Islamic texts, all of the attributes of such community are obtained. The attributes of such community are mentioned in the supplication of Nudba–which you should recite on Fridays–God willing–and surly you recite it. As it says, “Where is the one ennobling the saints and humiliating the enemies?” For example, that community is the community where the friends of Allah are dear and the enemies of Allah are humiliated and disgraced; that means the values and standards of such community are so. “Where is the one expected to restore to life the Book and its provisions?” That community is the community where the Divine provisions are practiced; that means all the provisions that Allah and Islam have determined are observed in the community of the Imam of Time (P.B.U.H.). When the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) reappears, he will establish a community which will have the following features in the abstract that I will address and you–dear brothers and sisters–pay attention to the verses and recommended supplications whenever you recite them and open your mind on this matter. Indeed, only reciting Nudba supplication is not sufficient but learning and understanding it are also required.
The Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) will establish his community on these few bases. Firstly, [it will be established on the base of] destroying and eradicating the roots of oppression and tyranny. That means there should not be oppression and tyranny in the community which is going to be established at the time of the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake)–not just in Iran or Muslim communities but in the whole world. In such community, there will not be any economic oppression or political oppression and tyranny nor cultural oppression or any wrongdoing. The exploitation, class divisions, discrimination, inequality, violence, thuggery and bullying should be eradicated from the entire world. This is the first feature.
Secondly, of the features of the community which the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) will establish is to raise the level of human thought: both scientific and Islamic. That is at the time of the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) you should not be able to find any signs of ignorance, illiteracy, poverty of thought and culture in the world. At such a community, people can understand religion properly and–as we know–this was one of the objectives of the prophets (P.B.U.T.) which the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) has addressed in a sermon of the noble Nahj al-Balāgha as the following, “unveil before them the hidden virtues of wisdom”,. It is related in our narrations that once the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) reappears, if a woman reads the Qur’an at her home, she extracts the truths of religion from the scripture and understands them fully. What does this mean? This means that the Islamic and religious culture promotes to the extent that all the human beings, all the members of society and even women who do not participate in the social context and stay at home can be like a jurist or a theologian. They can open the Qur’an and understand the truths of religion from the Qur’an. You see that in such a community where all men and women from every walk of life have the ability to understand religion and draw inferences from the Holy Qur’an. This community is extremely luminous and there is no dark side. All these disagreements and disputes over the procedure are meaningless in such community.
The third feature of the community of the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake)–the Mahdvī community–is that, on that day, all the forces of the nature and human resources are extracted and indeed, nothing remains in the heart of the earth that human beings cannot use it: all these indefinite forces of nature, all these lands which could feed human beings, all these unknown forces such as the forces which had not been discovered for centuries in the history such as nuclear power, electric power and electricity; centuries had passed since the creation of universe and these forces were hidden at the heart of the nature yet the man did not recognize them and gradually after a time, they were dug out and extracted. All the myriad forces of this sort situated at the heart of the nature will be extracted at the time of the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
The other statement and feature is that the pivot point at the time of the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake) will be on the virtue and morality. In other words, whoever has higher moral virtues is the preferred and foremost.
In another narration, it is related as, “The up-riser from us will be supported by terror (in the hearts of enemies) and will be confirmed by the [Divine] assistance, the earth will fold up for him and the treasures will be exposed for him. His dominions will be in the east and the west”,. This means that our up-riser will be helped by (filling the hearts of the enemies with) horror and so the oppressive and tyrannical governments will be unnerved by him. This is what we see today in our society in a small sample. Today, our government, our society and our Islamic system which are only a drip of the Islamic state–a drop in the bucket of that Divine majesty and king of Allah–have struck fear in the hearts of the powerful and the oppressors of the world; and the same fear is the means of our victory. Today, the tyrants of the world are afraid of the Islamic Republic, our revolution, our nation and our system. That is for this very fear that they attempt to get rid of this annoying power of their oppressive power and despite this–as you see–their attempts have led more to the victory of Islam and Muslims in the global politics. On the time of the Imam of Time (May our souls be sacrificed for his sake), such cases will become so pervasive and common that a global government will be created of. “[He] will be confirmed by the [Divine] assistance” that is the Divine aid will admit him. That “the earth will fold up for him” means all the Earth will be subjected to his control and sovereignty. All the treasures will be exposed for him and his kingdom will be extended from the East to the West.
After a few more sentences, the narration adds, “Then no ruin will remain in the earth unless he will restore it.”, This means that this power will be spent for the development of the world not for the dominance on the human interests and the weakness of the humans. There will be no ruin and destruction in the entire field of the world unless they will be rebuilt; whether they are man-made or imposed on humans due to human ignorance. Another narration from Imam Bāqir (P.B.U.H.) indicates that, “When the up-riser makes his advent, at that time, friendship and unity will be established to such a degree that a person will be able to put his hand in his brother-in-faith’s pocket and take whatever he needs without his brother preventing him from doing so.”, This is a reference to the ethic of seeking equality and egalitarianism as well as the self-sacrifice and forgiveness in the human beings. It refers to the liberation of the hearts of the humans from the dominance of greed and gluttony which have been the main means of misery for the humans; it is the harbinger of such situation. A [religious] brother can put his hand in his brother-in-faith’s pocket and take whatever he needs without his brother preventing him from doing so. This fact indicates that the system will be a sound Islamic economic, ethical and social one on that very day. There will be no trace of coercion and force; the human beings will save themselves from avarice and greed and such a humane paradise will be born. Another narration says, “When our up-riser rises, the appropriations [of property] will lessen until there are no appropriations.”, That is the offerings, which the arrogant powers of the world offer to their friends and companions for all time–such acts of generosity through picking the nations’ pocket–will be all abolished from the world. The appropriations, which in the past were in the same way, will change. In the past, it was that like that a caliph or a sultan gave a piece of land, a desert, a village, a city or even sometimes a province to a person and told him, “Go there doing whatever you like, take taxes from the people, make use of the farms, use any of the profits for yourself.” The person might have to give a share of to the sultan too. Today, this exists in form of various oil, commercial, industrial, and technical monopolies; and these large industries and cartels, which make nations miserable, are indeed the same appropriations. Today’s monopolies are the same old appropriations too. That is because this is also caused by the wheeling and dealing of the governments, bribe giving and bribe taking. These political manipulations, which exterminate humans and destroy virtues, will be eliminated and the means of the exploitation and control of the humans will be available to all of them. In another narration, it is related about the economic situation as, “Wealth will be distributed among the people in such an equitable manner that not a single person will be seen in need of alms”,. The Imam will establish such equality between people in economic and financial affairs that you will not be able to find a poor person to whom you give your alms and these alms, for sure, will be spent for public purposes and will not be given to the poor as there will be no poor in the world on that day. Such narrations portray an Islamic paradise and a real world. Nay, it is not like the rest of the utopias imaginary and illusion. It is the same Islamic creeds and all are practical and we feel in the Islamic Republic that indeed a powerful hand, a heart and thought–which are connected to Divine revelation and approved–and an infallible person can certainly create such a situation in the world and humanity will welcome it as well. This will be the situation of the world.
