Friday, March 29, 2024 AD / Ramadan 18, 1445 AH
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani
 New saying: A significantly important and enlightening saying from His Eminence about the condition for the Mahdi’s advent. Click here to read it. New question: What does it mean that the Quran is extremely eloquent and rhetorical? It has been said that the Quran contains true reports about the future and hidden sciences at the time of completion. Please provide some examples of these reports and sciences. Click here to read the answer. New critique: Please mention the name of the university or religious school from which His Excellency Khorasani has graduated; because no matter how much I searched, I did not find his name nor his fame as a famous writer, researcher, or religious man in Afghanistan. Click here to read the response. Visit home to read the most important contents of the website. New letter: An excerpt from His Honor’s letter to one of his companions, in which he advises him and frightens him from God. Click here to read it. New lesson: Lessons from His Honor about the fact that the earth is not empty of a man knowledgeable about the entire religion, whom God has appointed as a Caliph, Imam, and guide on it with His command; Authentic Hadiths from the Prophet that indicate it; Hadith No. 11. Click here to read it. New remark: The remark “Inverted era” by “Elias Hakimi” has been published. Click here to read it. New video: A new video with the subject “The Call of Return to God” has been published. Click here to watch it. Visit home to read the most important contents of the website.
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About

Some Details about Return to Islam Movement

( 1 )

His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God help him, invites people toward monotheism in creation, legislation and sovereignty. Monotheism in creation means that God Almighty is the only Creator, Provider and Manager in the world, and none but He is worthy of worship, and monotheism in legislation means that God Almighty is the only Lawmaker in the world, and therefore, it is not permissible to consider someone else as a lawmaker, and it is not permissible to recognize any law other than His law, and it is not permissible to submit to any law other than His law, even though it is what most people submit to, and monotheism in sovereignty means that God Almighty is the only Ruler over the worlds, and therefore, it is not permissible to consider someone else as a ruler, and the government must be handed over to one whom He has appointed, and it is not permissible to submit to the government of one whom He has not appointed; as one of our companions informed us, he said:

«سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ الْهَاشِمِيَّ الْخُرَاسَانِيَّ يَقُولُ: مَنْ وَحَّدَ اللَّهَ فِي الْخَلْقِ وَالرَّزْقِ وَتَدْبِيرِ الْعَالَمِ وَشَهِدَ أَنَّ الرَّسُولَ حَقٌّ فَقَدْ أَسْلَمَ، وَلَكِنَّهُ لَيْسَ بِمُؤْمِنٍ حَتَّى يُقِرَّ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ وَاحِدٌ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ فِي الْحُكْمِ وَالْمُلْكِ، لَا يُصْدِرُ حُكْمًا وَلَا يَبْعَثُ مَلِكًا إِلَّا هُوَ، فَإِنْ جَهِلَ ذَلِكَ فَهُوَ ضَالٌّ، وَإِنْ جَحَدَهُ فَهُوَ مُشْرِكٌ»; “I heard Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani say: Whoever holds belief in the unity of God in creation, providing sustenance and management of the world, and bears witness that the Messenger is true, then he is a Muslim, but he will not be a believer until he acknowledges that God is one in authority and sovereignty as well, there is no partner for Him, none but He makes laws and appoints rulers; if he does not know these, then he has gone astray, and if he denies it, then he is a polytheist”.

And one of our companions informed us, he said:

«سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: مَنْ أَقَرَّ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ خَالِقُهُ وَرَازِقُهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ فَقَدْ أَسْلَمَ، وَلَا يُؤْمِنُ حَتَّى يُقِرَّ بِأَنَّ الْحَرَامَ مَا حَرَّمَهُ اللَّهُ، لَا حَرَامَ غَيْرُهُ، وَأَنَّ الْإِمَامَ مَنْ جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِمَامًا، لَا إِمَامَ غَيْرُهُ، فَإِنْ جَهِلَهُمَا فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا، وَإِنْ دُعِيَ إِلَيْهِمَا ثُمَّ أَنْكَرَهُمَا فَقَدْ أَشْرَكَ»; “I heard Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani say: Whoever acknowledges that God is his Creator and Provider, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God and the last of the Prophets, then he has embraced Islam, but he will not be a believer until he acknowledges that the forbidden is what God has made it forbidden, and there is no forbidden other than it, the Imam is one whom God has appointed as an Imam, and there is no Imam other than him; if he does not know these two, then he has gone astray far away, and if he is invited toward these two but denies them, then he has become a polytheist”.

And one of our companions informed us, he said:

«قَالَ الْمَنْصُورُ: مَنْ شَهِدَ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، وَأَنَّ الْجَنَّةَ حَقٌّ وَالنَّارَ حَقٌّ وَالسَّاعَةَ آتِيَةٌ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا، وَأَنَّ الصَّلَاةَ وَالزَّكَاةَ وَالصَّوْمَ وَالْحَجَّ وَالْجِهَادَ فَرِيضَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ، فَهُوَ مُسْلِمٌ حَرَامٌ دَمُهُ وَمَالُهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ، وَلَكِنَّهُ لَيْسَ بِمُؤْمِنٍ حَتَّى يَشْهَدَ أَنْ لَا حُكْمَ إِلَّا مَا أَنْزَلَهُ اللَّهُ، وَلَا حَاكِمَ إِلَّا مَنِ اخْتَارَهُ اللَّهُ بِآيَةٍ مِنْ عِنْدِهِ أَوْ وَصِيَّةٍ مِنْ رَسُولِهِ، فَإِنْ جَهِلَ ذَلِكَ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ وَخَسِرَ، وَإِنْ أُلْقِيَ إِلَيْهِ فَأَبَى فَلَيْسَ مِنَ اللَّهِ فِي شَيْءٍ، وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ»; “I heard Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani say: Whoever bears witness that there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, Heaven is true, Hell is true, the Day of judgment will undoubtedly arrive, and prayer and Zakat and fasting and Hajj and jihad are divine obligations, then he is a Muslim and his life and belongings are inviolable except by right, but he will not be a believer until he bears witness that there is no ruling other than what God has sent down, and there is no ruler other than one whom God has selected by a miracle from Himself or a testament by His Messenger; if he does not know these, then he has gone astray and a loser, and if he is informed of them and turns away from them, then he has nothing to do with God, and they are indeed disbelievers”.

And one of our companions informed us, he said:

«سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: إِنَّمَا يَسْتَقْبِلُ هَذِهِ الْقِبْلَةَ ثَلَاثَةٌ: مَنْ سَمِعَ دَعْوَتِي إِلَى تَوْحِيدِ اللَّهِ فِي الشَّرْعِ وَالْمُلْكِ فَأَجَابَهَا وَاجْتَنَبَ الْجِبْتَ وَالطَّاغُوتَ فَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ، وَمَنْ سَمِعَهَا فَلَمْ يُجِبْهَا فَهُوَ مُنَافِقٌ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْمَعْهَا وَلَمْ يَعْرِفْ ذَلِكَ فَهُوَ مُسْلِمٌ ضَالٌّ حَتَّى يَسْمَعَهَا أَوْ يَقْبِضَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ، قُلْتُ: جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ، أَلَيْسَ هَذَا مُسْتَضْعَفًا؟ قَالَ: إِنْ أَخْلَدَ فِي الْجِبَالِ وَالْأَوْدِيَةِ فَهُوَ مُسْتَضْعَفٌ، وَإِنْ دَخَلَ السُّوقَ وَجَالَسَ النَّاسَ وَأَحَسَّ الْإِخْتِلَافَ فَلَيْسَ بِمُسْتَضْعَفٍ، ثُمَّ رَفَعَ صَوْتَهُ فَنَادَى: أَلَا إِنَّ دَعْوَتِي هَذِهِ لَبَيَانٌ، فَلَا تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ رَبَّنَا لَمْ يَأْتِنَا بَيَانٌ»; “I heard Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani say: Indeed, those who face this Qiblah are three: one who has heard my invitation toward the unity of God in legislation and sovereignty and accepted it and turned away from ungodly lawmakers and rulers, then he is a believer, and one who has heard it but not accepted it, then he is a hypocrite, and one who has not heard it, nor is he aware of (this fact), then he is a misguided Muslim until he hears it or dies. I said: May I be sacrificed for you, is he not a deprived person? He said: If he always lives in the mountains and valleys, then he is a deprived person, but if he comes to the markets and associates with people and notices disagreements, then he is not a deprived person. Then he raised his voice and called out: Be aware that my invitation is indeed a declaration, so do not say on the Day of Judgment, O Lord! No declaration were brought to us”.

(See: Twelve important sayings from His Honor in explaining polytheism, monotheism, Islam and faith.)

( 2 )

The fundamental and important issue that Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has addressed in his distinct and controversial book Return to Islam, is the issue of Islamic government. In his point of view, the rule over people is only for God, and no one but Him has the right to rule over them, and He performs His government by appointing a deputy or the so-called “Caliph”. Therefore, the basis for the formation of the Islamic government and its political legitimacy is God’s specific and definite permission, which does not exist for any of the current rulers in the Islamic world, and therefore, none of their governments is currently an Islamic government. He states that Islamic government needs a ruler who is specifically and definitely appointed by God, and considers this need as one of the obvious and essentials in Islam and other Abrahamic religions, and believes that there is no room for debate about it. Of course, unlike all Muslim scholars of all Islamic sects, the author believes that it possible for people to have access to such a ruler and the reason for their lack of access to such a ruler, contrary to their popular belief, is not God’s wisdom, but their fault in providing the necessary conditions for access to him, and whenever they meet these conditions in a completely normal and conventional process, their access to him will be realized. Accordingly, their lack of access to him is not an excuse for them to choose a ruler other than him; because on the one hand, considering the possibility of their access to the ruler appointed by God, there is no need to choose another ruler, and on the other hand, their lack of access to this ruler is due to their own fault, and therefore, it cannot be justified as an excuse for them to choose another ruler, even though they seem to have no choice. Based on this, Islamic government is possible only with the sovereignty of God’s Caliph on the earth, and the sovereignty of God’s Caliph on the earth is possible only with the free will and actions of people. [An excerpt from the article “A review of the book Return to Islam by Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani” by Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Javadian]

( 3 )

His Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani believes that the main problem in the Islamic world is lack of God’s sovereignty over it, which has been manifested in lack of His Caliph’s sovereignty over it; because lack of God’s sovereignty over the world entails not knowing nor applying His rulings, and not knowing nor applying His rulings entails the emergence of corruption on land and sea; as He has said: ﴿ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُمْ بَعْضَ الَّذِي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ[1]; “Corruption has emerged on land and sea because of what the hands of people have earned, so He may let them taste some of what they have done that perhaps they will return”; especially considering that lack of God’s sovereignty over the world correlates with sovereignty of people other than Him over it; because the world is a human society, and human society needs a ruler, and because of this need it does not remain empty of a ruler, and therefore, if God does not rule over it, then someone other than Him will inevitably rule over it, while sovereignty of people other than Him over it leads to the spread of corruption on the earth and the destruction of nature and generations; as He has said: ﴿وَإِذَا تَوَلَّى سَعَى فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ[2]; “And when he achieves sovereignty, he tries on the earth to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and lives, while God does not like corruption”.

The is the situation today; those other than God who rule over the world do everything they can to cause corruption in it, and commit genocide and destroy prosperous lands. How many innocent women and men burn in the fire of their wars, and how many inhabited cities and villages are laid waste by their invasions! The is the coercive consequence of sovereignty of other than God over the world; because the world that God does not rule over is the territory of Satan, and there is nothing in it except for ignorance, unbelief, corruption and oppression. The is the fate of the human being who submits to the sovereignty of other than God, and whoever submits to the sovereignty of other than God is doomed. The is why the fire of their wars does not go out, nor do their ignominy and misery diminish; because God does not govern them, and their government is in the hands of others; rather their wars will continue to intensify, and their ignominy and misery will increase every day; because God is not their ruler, and their ruler is devil; as the servant of God, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, says:

“How will they see days without the sun and plants of the earth without water?! Rather their nights will last forever, and their earth will be like a wasteland; because God’s Caliph is not governing them and His rulings are not applied among them. Let those who do not believe in God and those who associate partners with Him mock my words and plunge in their (vain) games; because they will regret it like one who kills himself, and vomit like one who eats filth! At that time, they will rush into the seas and cross steep passes in order to find me, rather they will search for me in crevices of the rocks and ask about me from the shepherds in the plains, so that I repeat them the words that they do not hear from me today, and show them the path that they do not accept from me now!”[3]

The words that they do not hear from him today are what he tells them in the book Return to Islam, and the path that they do not accept from him now is the preparation of the ground for the advent of God’s Caliph, Mahdi. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 15]

↑[1] . Ar-Rum/ 41
↑[2] . Al-Baqarah/ 205
( 4 )

Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani believes that the biggest mistake in the current world is handing over the government of countries to all those whom the Creator of the world has not deemed worthy of governing; considering that the Creator of the world is the Most Deserving for its administration, and He does so by introducing “the perfect human” as His Caliph.

Yes, of course if you do not believe in the existence of God, then you must believe in His existence in view of His signs in the heaven and the earth and the order that has encompassed everything and the rhythmic movements that govern the nature. However, if you believe in His existence, then you must concede this inevitable fact that the rule over the world belongs to Him alone, and humans do not deserve to rule over humans. The realization of justice in the world is contingent upon the realization of God’s sovereignty over it, and God’s sovereignty over it will be realized when His Caliph takes over the government in it, and His Caliph takes over the government in it when people like you abandon religious leaders and non-religious leaders, and stop moving back and forth between the two, between jibt and taghut, and turn away from both of them toward “the perfect human”, the Caliph of God on the earth, and stretch out the hand of need to his doorstep, and submit to him conceding their inability, and ask him a favor to grant them pardon for the mistake they insisted on for more than a thousand years, and to accept the rule over them in order to free them from humiliation and misery, and lead them to dignity and contentment.

The is the only path for your salvation, and any other path leads to perdition, whether you call it religion or disbelief; because without God and His Caliph on the earth, there is no noticeable difference between religion and disbelief, and whoever does not pledge allegiance to God and His Caliph on the earth, he may pledge allegiance to religious people if he wants or to non-religious people if he wants, rather to a stone if he wants or to a wood if he wants; because it is equal for him in either case! [An excerpt from Critique and Response 12]

( 5 )

It is obligatory for all Muslims to on the one hand, prepare the ground for the correct understanding and perfect implementation of the Quran through using “the intellect” as the criterion of cognition and purifying themselves from ignorance, imitation, passions, worldliness, fanaticism, arrogance and superstitionism, and on the other hand, know the Caliph of God on the earth and make him appear with sufficient support, so that he resolves their disagreements and corrects their deviations. The is the door to happiness and the rope of salvation, toward which Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani invites. (Questions and Answers)

( 6 )

His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him, considers the basis of “Islamic government” to be the permission of God and the appointment of the ruler by Him, and he has explained about it in important topics of the invaluable book Return to Islam, such as “Disagreement among Muslims”[1], “Sovereignty of other than God”[2], “God is One in legislation”[3]; as for example, he has said:

“The return of sovereignty in Islam is to the permission of God; rather, no affair from the affairs has legitimacy unless it ends in His permission, and the is one of the most important fundamental rules in Islam; as He has said repeatedly and emphatically: ﴿أَلَا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَصِيرُ الْأُمُورُ﴾[4]; ‘Be aware that all affairs return to God’ ... It is hereby understood that the government in Islam is legitimate only for the one whom God has selected and appointed as His vicegerent in it, and the is not a strange or new thing, but rather it is one of His traditions that took place in the previous nations, and it will continue as long as the world exists; as He has said: ﴿سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ فِي الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّةِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًا﴾[5]; ‘The tradition of God was the same for those who were before, and you will never find any change in the tradition of God’. Yes, the truth is that the necessity of the ruler being appointed by God and introduced by His Prophet or through a clear sign has been one of the obvious matters and essentials of all divine religions and has not been subject to doubt and dispute in any of the previous nations, and therefore, only in this nation has it been subject to doubt and dispute!”[6]

And has said in another part of this book:

“The government in Islam is of two types and there is no third type: one is the government of God and the other is the government of taghut. As for the government of God, it is the government of one who rules by the command of God; such as the government of the House of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, about whom God has said: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا﴾[7]; ‘And We made them leaders who guide by Our command’, and as for the government of taghut, it is the government of one who rules without the command of God; such as the government of the House of Pharaoh, about whom God has said: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ ۖ﴾[8]; ‘And we made them leaders who invite to the fire’. Based on this, the government of one whom God has appointed for it is the government of God, and the government of one whom God has not appointed for it is the government of taghut, and the is a very simple and clear rule”[9].

Based on this, the government that should be formed in the world to be considered Islamic is only the government of one whom God has authorized and appointed for it, and at the present time, he is Mahdi according to definite intellectual and religious reasons, and the is considered the official opinion of Islam. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 24]

↑[4] . Ash-Shura/ 53
↑[5] . Al-Ahzab/ 62
↑[7] . Al-Anbiya/ 73
↑[8] . Al-Qasas/ 41
( 7 )

Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, according to the mutawatir Hadith from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, is the Caliph of God on the earth, and accordingly is the only means for the realization of God’s government and the establishment of the pure religion in the world, and there is no alternative that can fill the void left by him. Therefore, it is obligatory for all Muslims to take him as a means, even though it entails preparing the ground for his advent. The is the point that His Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him, has explained in detail in the topic “Incumbency of appearing Mahdi on people” of the invaluable book Return to Islam[1]. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 25]

( 8 )

The purpose of the Quran is to explain the principles and rules; because it is like the law in contemporary terminology, and the explanation of ancillaries and details has been delegated to the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family; as He has said: ﴿وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ[1]; “We sent down the Quran to you so that you explain to people what was sent down to them, perhaps they ponder”, and therefore, He commanded to perform prayer but did not specify the number of its rak‘ats and the order of its acts until the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, specified them; then He commanded to pay Zakat but did not specify its items and amounts until the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, specified them; then He commanded to perform Hajj but did specify many of its details until the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, specified them; then He commanded to obey those in authority but did not specify who they are until the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, specified it; then He said: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَنْ يَرْتَدَّ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ ۚ[2]; “O you who believed! Whoever from among you abandons his religion, God will bring people whom He loves and they love Him; they are humble toward believers and stern toward disbelievers; they fight in the way of God and do not fear the blame of those who blame”, and said: ﴿وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا ۚ[3]; “God has promised those of you who believed and did righteous deeds that He will surely appoint them as Caliphs on the earth, as He appointed some people before them as Caliphs, and He will surely establish the religion which He has approved for them and change their fear into security, they worship Me and do not associate anything with Me”, and said: ﴿وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ[4]; “Indeed, We have written in the Psalms after the Torah that My righteous servants will inherit the earth”, but He did not specify who they are until the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, specified it and said: «لَوْ لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنَ الدَّهْرِ إِلَّا يَوْمٌ لَبَعَثَ اللَّهُ رَجُلًا مِنْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِي يَمْلَؤُهَا عَدْلًا كَمَا مُلِئَتْ جَوْرًا»[5]; “If only one day of this time (world) remained, God would raise up a man from my Ahl al-Bayt, who would fill this earth with justice as it has been filled with oppression”, and said: «يَخْرُجُ رَجُلٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِي يُوَاطِئُ اسْمُهُ اسْمِي، وَخُلُقُهُ خُلُقِي، يَمْلَأُهَا عَدْلًا وَقِسْطًا كَمَا مُلِئَتْ ظُلْمًا وَجَوْرًا»[6]; “A man from my Ahl al-Bayt will rise up, his name is the same as my name, his morality is the same as my morality, he will fill the earth with equity and justice as it has been filled with oppression and cruelty”, and said: «يَخْرُجُ فِي آخِرِ أُمَّتِي الْمَهْدِيُّ، يَسْقِيهِ اللَّهُ الْغَيْثَ، وَتُخْرِجُ الْأَرْضُ نَبَاتَهَا، وَيُعْطِي الْمَالَ صِحَاحًا، وَتَكْثُرُ الْمَاشِيَةُ، وَتَعْظُمُ الْأُمَّةُ»[7]; “Mahdi will rise up in the latter part of my Ummah. God will grant him rain to bring produce from the earth. He will give out wealth appropriately, cattle will be plentiful, and the Ummah will become great”, and said: «أُبَشِّرُكُمْ بِالْمَهْدِيِّ يُبْعَثُ فِي أُمَّتِي، عَلَى اخْتِلَافٍ مِنَ النَّاسِ، وَزَلَازِلَ، فَيَمْلَأُ الْأَرْضَ قِسْطًا وَعَدْلًا كَمَا مُلِئَتْ جَوْرًا وَظُلْمًا، وَيَرْضَى عَنْهُ سَاكِنُ السَّمَاءِ وَسَاكِنُ الْأَرْضِ، وَيَمْلَأُ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَ أُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ غِنًى، فَلَا يَحْتَاجُ أَحَدٌ إِلَى أَحَدٍ، فَيُنَادِي مُنَادٍ: مَنْ لَهُ فِي الْمَالِ حَاجَةٌ؟ قَالَ: فَيَقُومُ رَجُلٌ، فَيَقُولُ: أَنَا، فَيُقَالُ لَهُ: إِيتِ السَّادِنَ يَعْنِي الْخَازِنَ، فَقُلْ لَهُ: قَالَ لَكَ الْمَهْدِيُّ: أَعْطِنِي، قَالَ: فَيَأْتِي السَّادِنَ فَيَقُولُ لَهُ، فَيُقَالُ لَهُ: احْتَثِي، فَيَحْتَثِي، فَإِذَا أَحْرَزَهُ قَالَ: كُنْتُ أَجْشَعَ أُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ نَفْسًا أَوَ عَجَزَ عَنِّي مَا وَسِعَهُمْ؟! فَيَنْدَمُ، فَيَأْتِي بِهِ السَّادِنَ، فَيَقُولُ لَهُ: لَا نَقْبَلُ شَيْئًا أَعْطَيْنَاهُ»[8]; “I give you the good tidings of Mahdi who, when people suffer conflicts and earthquakes, will rise up among my Ummah and fill the earth with equity and justice as it is filled with oppression and cruelty; the inhabitants of the skies and the earth will be satisfied with him, and he will fill the hearts of the Ummah of Muhammad with contentment, then no one will need the help of others; then someone will call out: Who is in need of money? A man will come and say: Me; then they will say to him: Go to the treasurer and tell him: Mahdi told you to give me something. So he will go to the treasurer and convey the message to him; then the treasurer will say to him: Take as much as you need; then he will do so, and when he is finished, he will say to himself: Am I the most greedy person among the Ummah, or am I incapable of doing what they do to earn money?! So he will regret it and return the money to the treasurer, but the treasurer will say to him: We do not take back what we have given”. The is a mutawatir Hadith whose content has been narrated by more than forty companions such as Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, Talha ibn Ubaydullah, Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, Ammar ibn Yasir, Anas ibn Malik, Imran ibn Husain, ‘Awf ibn Malik, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, Salman al-Farsi, Jabir al-Sadafi, Abu Huraira, Abu Umamah, Thawban, Umm Salamah and Aisha; as its authenticity and tawatur were declared by many of the Imams of Hadith such as al-Tirmidhi, al-Aburri, Hakim, al-Bayhaqi, al-Baghawi, ibn al-Athir, al-Qurtubi, al-Mizzi, al-Dhahabi, al-Haythami, al-Sakhawi, al-Suyuti, ibn Hajar, al-Katani and al-Albani. Therefore, no one doubts that the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, has stated it, except for one who has abandoned knowledge and fallen into illusions and distrust.

Based on this, every Muslim who performs prayer, pays Zakat, performs Hajj and obeys the Ahl al-Bayt in the manner specified by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, in mutawatir Hadiths, he must also believe in the advent of Mahdi, his government and the fact that he will fill the earth with equity and justice as it is filled with oppression and cruelty; because the one who has informed about it is the one who has informed about the number of rak‘ats of prayer and the order of its acts, the items of Zakat and its amounts, the details of Hajj, and the examples of those in authority, and if he do not believe in them, he will be one of those whom God has reprimanded; as He has said: ﴿أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ ۚ فَمَا جَزَاءُ مَنْ يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَى أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ ۗ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ[9]; “Do you then believe in some parts of the Book and disbelieve in some others?! Then what is the punishment of those of you who do so except for disgrace in the worldly life and that they will be sent to the severest punishment on the Day of Judgment?! And God is aware of what you do”; unless he is one of those who do not perform prayer or pay Zakat or perform Hajj in the manner specified by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, in mutawatir Hadiths; such as Quranists who deny the authority of the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and consider acting against it to be permissible, contrary to the Quran that has said to them: ﴿أَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ[10]; “Obey the Messenger, so that you may receive mercy”, and said to them: ﴿وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ[11]; “And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you from, leave it, and fear God, for God is surely severe in punishment”, and said to them: ﴿فَلْيَحْذَرِ الَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ أَنْ تُصِيبَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ أَوْ يُصِيبَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ[12]; “So let those who disobey his commands beware, for a fitnah may befall them, or a painful punishment may overtake them”. So if he is one of these people, then we do not expect him to believe in the advent of Mahdi, his government and the fact that he will fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and cruelty, rather we do not speak a word to him in this respect; because in our opinion, he is a hypocrite who will never return toward good; as Mansoor, may God protect him, informed us about this, when he said:

«إِذَا حَدَّثْتَ الرَّجُلَ بِسُنَّةٍ مُتَوَاتِرَةٍ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَقَالَ لَكَ: دَعْنَا مِنْ هَذِهِ وَآتِنَا آيَةً مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ، فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ مُنَافِقٌ لَا يَرْجِعُ إِلَى خَيْرٍ أَبَدًا»[13]; “Whenever you inform someone about the mutawatir Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and he says, ‘Leave me alone and bring me a verse from the Quran’, know that he is a hypocrite who will never return toward good”.

And the is not his opinion, but what he has deduced from the Quran, when God exposed hypocrites and said: ﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَإِلَى الرَّسُولِ رَأَيْتَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنْكَ صُدُودًا[14]; “And if they are told to come toward that which God sent down and toward the Prophet, you see hypocrites deterring from you strongly”, then He set their deterrence from the Prophet and their saying about the sufficiency of what God sent down, meaning the Quran, as the signs of their hypocrisy; as one of our companions informed us, he said:

«سَأَلْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَإِلَى الرَّسُولِ رَأَيْتَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنْكَ صُدُودًا، قَالَ: إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَإِلَى سُنَّةِ الرَّسُولِ، رَأَيْتَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنْ سُنَّةِ الرَّسُولِ صُدُودًا، يَقُولُونَ: حَسْبُنَا كِتَابُ اللَّهِ»[15]; “I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that has said: ‘And if they are told to come toward that which God sent down and toward the Prophet, you see hypocrites deterring from you strongly’, so he said: When they are told to come toward the Book of God and the Sunnah of the Prophet, you will see hypocrites deterring from the Sunnah of the Prophet strongly, saying: The Book of God is sufficient for us”. (Questions and Answers)

↑[1] . An-Nahl/ 44
↑[2] . Al-Ma’idah/ 54
↑[3] . An-Nur/ 55
↑[4] . Al-Anbiya/ 105
↑[5] . Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 8, p. 679; Sunan of Abi Dawud, vol. 2, p. 310
↑[6] . Sahih of ibn Hibban, vol. 5, p. 238; al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir by al-Tabarani, vol. 10, p. 137
↑[7] . Al-Mustadrak Ala al-Sahihayn by Hakim, vol. 4, p. 558
↑[8] . Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 3, p. 37
↑[9] . Al-Baqarah/ 85
↑[10] . An-Nur/ 56
↑[11] . Al-Hashr/ 7
↑[12] . An-Nur/ 63
↑[13] . Saying 39, article 6
↑[14] . An-Nisa/ 61
↑[15] . Saying 39, article 7
( 9 )

The intellect and religion do not allow complete and unconditional obedience to a non-infallible person ... and does not invite, in any way, to his ruling sovereignty, but only invites to ruling sovereignty of whom God has cleansed him with His will from all impurities and has made his ruling sovereignty possible at all time. Once again, the impossibility of ruling sovereignty of such a person whose ruling sovereignty is considered the foundation of legitimacy of other ruling sovereignties is purely an illusion; because it is only caused due to the failure of Muslims in preparing the grounds for it and can be simply resolved by eliminating this failure. However, it is not possible to eliminate this failure through other ruling sovereignties; because it introduces a loophole and a contradiction; given that other ruling sovereignties themselves are the effect of this very cause and in this respect, they cannot be the cause for its elimination. Moreover, Mahdi’s ruling sovereignty, from the perspective that itself is considered a ruling sovereignty, is not different from other ruling sovereignties and therefore, if establishing and maintaining other ruling sovereignties is possible, then establishing and maintaining Mahdi’s ruling sovereignty is also possible, and if establishing and maintaining Mahdi’s ruling sovereignty is not possible, then establishing and maintaining other ruling sovereignties is not possible either. This means an “impasse in legitimacy” for other ruling sovereignties and their only resolution to overcome this impasse is to respond to invitation of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani and gradually withdraw from power in favor of Mahdi and start the process for transferring the power to his excellency which certainly can be the preparation for his advent and realization of his ruling sovereignty. Because his excellency due to his cleanness from all impurities and his desire to establish the pure and complete Islam, is waiting for his own reappearance and ruling sovereignty and if the grounds for it is prepared by readiness of one of the Muslim rulers by withdrawing from power and transferring it to him, he will certainly do it, but the fact of the matter is that none of the Muslim rulers have ever had this readiness yet and none of them have been ready to leave the sweet position of power so far; rather they have been protecting their ruling sovereignty with all their political, cultural and economic might and have never tolerated any eye on it from anyone, even if he be the Mahdi. It is clear that, their ruling sovereignty, as long as they are attached to it in this manner and have not made any plans to transfer it to Mahdi, is an obstacle to advent of his excellency; Whereas, whenever they let go of their ruling sovereignty by heart and offer it to Mahdi persistently and seriously like Ansar with respect to the Messenger of God (PBUH), and not in deception and allegedly like Ma’mun Abbasid with respect to Ali ibn Musa al-Reza, Mahdi will accept from them and rise to rule over them like Ali ibn Abi Talib did after the murder of Uthman, and then in the light of this ruling sovereignty, he will fill the earth with justice, as it is filled with oppression.

Therefore, gradual withdrawal from power in favor of Mahdi and beginning the process of transferring power to him, can lead to his reappearance and realization of his ruling sovereignty; and the is a process that can start in any of the Islamic countries. Because all of them has the option, should they do this process, to turn into a host for Mahdi and a center for his ruling sovereignty, but naturally whoever accomplishes this process earlier, will precede in beneficence and will own the honor and get many worldly and heavenly privileges after the realization of Mahdi’s ruling sovereignty.

All in all, the withdrawal from power by Muslim rulers and transferring the ruling sovereignty to Mahdi is inevitable anyways and must be done sooner or later. Hence, his Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani recommends them to take this action peacefully and under his guidance as an impartial and visionary supervisor as soon as possible; because they themselves are in one side of a conflict that Mahdi is on the other side and in this regard, they are considered beneficiaries and are deemed untrustworthy and one cannot sit and wait for another thousand years with fingers crossed in hope for their independent and voluntary action; The is while his Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is neither in possession of any sovereignty nor is seeking nor accepting any, and therefore he can play an effective and catalytic role as a mediator and coordinator in transferring the power to Mahdi. Given all this, if Muslim rulers truly want Mahdi’s ruling sovereignty, they must set aside their pride and arrogance, and fearlessly and unconcernedly utilize his counsel in this realm as an advisor, expert and a guide toward advent of Mahdi and put their trust in God and proceed along the course of the meanders in this tedious path which ultimately leads to salvation in this world and hereafter. The is a perspective of the horizon that one can depict for Muslim rulers with respect to Mahdi and it seems that any other perspective except for the is nothing but a dream and illusion.

It is hoped that with the blessing of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s movement, Muslims’ view about Mahdi and his ruling sovereignty becomes an open and realistic view; as he is trying to correct their attitude about his Excellency and bring about his reappearance and sovereignty out of the darkness of illusion and fantasy to the light of reality and objectivity and the is the very practical preparation of the grounds for reappearance and ruling sovereignty of Mahdi and it is not just allegedly, which is being done only by him if you see it fairly and inductively and it is not done anywhere else other than before him. May God grants all Muslims the success of comprehending these profound teachings and privilege them to join the true ground preparers of reappearance of Mahdi and protects them from the deception of the devils who use all their capabilities to prevent them from doing this obligatory and vital task [Question and Answer 9].

( 10 )

The preparation for the reappearance of Mahdi peace be upon him is not an undetermined and ambiguous subject, but it has a specific and definite meaning and that is the invitation of people to obey Mahdi Peace be upon him instead of obeying others and to encourage them to establish and maintain his sovereignty instead of establishing and maintaining the sovereignty of others. With this description, a person who does the opposite action, meaning that he invites people to obey himself the way they should obey Mahdi Peace be upon him and encourage them to establish and maintain sovereignty of others rather than establishing and maintaining his sovereignty, is not the preparer of the grounds for reappearance of Mahdi, but clearly, he is an obstacle for his reappearance, even though in an impudently and demagoguery way, he names himself as a preparer of the grounds for his reappearance. Like some of rulers in the region (middle east) who believe that obeying themselves is as obligatory as obeying Mahdi Peace be upon him, and do not have any concern other than maintaining their sovereignty in any way possible, to the extent that they believe maintaining their sovereignty “is more important than protecting a human being’s life even if that human being be Mahdi” (Sahifeye Noor; Vol. 15, p. 221). In this way, they disagree with Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s invitation toward sovereignty of his excellency Mahdi Peace be upon him...

Any Muslim ruler, who repents to God, can be the preparer of the grounds for reappearance of Mahdi Peace be upon him and that is when he declares:

1 . He accepts the invitation of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani May God protect him and support it without any expectations.

2 . He does not task people to obey him but tasks them to obey Mahdi Peace be upon him and does not consider any right of sovereignty for himself.

3 . He becomes committed to leave power and pass it unconditionally to Mahdi Peace be upon him and accepts his decree upon himself.

4 . He establishes the bases for transferring the sovereignty to Mahdi Peace be upon him practically and provides operational platforms and legal capacities for it.

5 . He presents guarantee to provide enough security and freedom for Mahdi peace be upon him in his homeland and makes effort to gain his trust.

6 . He organizes and makes the army forces ready, in order to protect Mahdi Peace be upon him anywhere in the world.

7 . He takes pledge of allegiance from people for Mahdi Peace be upon him and trains them and organizes them to support him.

It is obvious that if one of the Muslim rulers does all of these seven tasks with faith and sincerity, in a way that, it will be convenient and satisfactory in the opinion of a just and independent scholar such as Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him, the bases for reappearance of Mahdi Peace be upon him will be prepared and his reappearance after preparation of its bases is certain. Then he will decide about such a Muslim ruler justly, and surely, he will consider his repentance and reformation, and with considering that, he may pardon him and maintain him in his current position or will do something else that he himself is more aware of ...

Any Muslim ruler who does not repent to the God, in the sense that after hearing the invitation of Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him, follows his previous approach and does not take any action to do the seven tasks mentioned above, will be the enemy of God and His Prophet peace be upon him and his family and is considered as a corruptor on the earth and accordingly it is obligatory for any Muslim to counteract him in accordance with the commands of promotion of good and demotion of evil. Since, Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani May God protect him has said about such a ruler that: “Anyone except Mahdi, who invites Muslims to pledge allegiance to him, is an Imam who invites toward the fire; as God has said: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ ۖ[1]; “We made them the Imams of those who call to hell”, even he is a Taughut which is worshiped instead of God and takes his followers from light toward darkness; as God has said: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَوْلِيَاؤُهُمُ الطَّاغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُمْ مِنَ النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَاتِ ۗ أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ[2]; “And those who disbelieved, their guardians are Taughut, they take them out from light toward darkness, they are the companions of the fire and will be inside it forever”, But anyone except Mahdi, who beats Muslims with his weapon, in order to force them to pledge allegiance to him, has risen in armed revolt against God and His Caliph and has provoked corruption on earth and punishment for those who rise in armed revolt against God and His Caliph and provoke corruption on earth, is in fact to be killed or to be hanged or to get their hands and legs cross amputated or to be driven from earth; as God has said: ﴿إِنَّمَا جَزَاءُ الَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا أَنْ يُقَتَّلُوا أَوْ يُصَلَّبُوا أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُمْ مِنْ خِلَافٍ أَوْ يُنْفَوْا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ ۚ ذَلِكَ لَهُمْ خِزْيٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ[3]; “The punishment for those who rise in armed revolt against God and His prophet and provoke corruption on the earth, is in fact to be killed or to be hanged or to get their hands and legs cross amputated or to be driven from earth; that would be a humiliation for them in this world life and they will have a great punishment in Hereafter” And if ever I have capability on the earth, I will punish them for their deeds; since removing them from the path of Mahdi, is obligatory for every Muslim who is capable of doing that.” (Return to Islam, p. 314).

Therefore, duty of Muslims in any Islamic country is to invite their ruler to the above seven tasks with soft speech. Then, if he accepts their invitation, they cooperate with him in doing the above seven tasks, and if he does not accept their invitation, they will invite him with tough speech to the above seven tasks so that he accepts their invitation, and if he still does not accept their invitation, they will put him under pressure with civil and political and economic activities for him to accept their invitation, and if he still does not accept their invitation, they will dismiss him and put someone else in his place who will do the above seven tasks, and if he is not willing to withdraw, they may fight him until he accepts to withdraw or accepts to perform the above seven tasks, and if anyone gets killed in the war with him, he is indeed a martyr, and is like someone who is killed in the service for Mahdi Peace be upon him.

The is the meaning of preparation for reappearance of Mahdi Peace be upon him, which Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani May God protect him has founded and is designing and implementing it, while some rulers in the region fear about it and try to prevent it from happening. Therefore, anyone who wills can join Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani May God protect him in order to help the establishment of the sovereignty of Mahdi Peace be upon him and anyone who wills can join some rulers of the region to help for maintaining their sovereignty; As God has said: ﴿قُلْ كُلٌّ يَعْمَلُ عَلَى شَاكِلَتِهِ فَرَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْ هُوَ أَهْدَى سَبِيلًا[4] “Say everybody may act based on their own principles, Therefore your Lord is more knowing to those who are more guided”! [Question and Answer 164].

↑[1] . Al-Qasas/ 41
↑[2] . Al-Baqara/ 257
↑[3] . Al-Ma’ida/ 33
↑[4] . Al-Isra/ 84
( 11 )

Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is the Imam of all Muslims and does not belong to a particular madhhab, but some Islamic madhhabs may have more knowledge about him. In fact, his relationship to Muslims is like that of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, to them; all of them accept him as a Caliph, but some of them consider him as the fourth Caliph and some of them as the first Caliph. But there are less disagreements among them about Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him; because they all consider him to be the twelfth Caliph and appointed by God and His Prophet. They only disagree about the name of his father and the time of his birth, and this disagreement does not harm the necessity of preparing the ground for his advent; because the necessity of preparing the ground for his advent does not stem from the name of his father or the time of his birth, but from the necessity of his advent as the Caliph of God and His Prophet, whether the name of his father is Abdullah or Hasan, and whether he was born before or will be born later. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 22]

( 12 )

Preparing the ground for the advent of Mahdi means inviting people toward obedience to him instead of obedience to others, and urging them to establish and maintain his government instead of establishing and maintaining the government of others. (Questions and Answers)

( 13 )

The clear and important message of this great book, in contrast to your incomplete conception, is not only “negation of others”, but it is “proof of Mahdi” as well as “negation of others”, and the is the manifestation of «لا إله إلا الله» which means “There is no God, but Allah” and the interpretation of «البیعة لله» which means “allegiance is for God” which is the slogan of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, and the basis of his invitation. The entire speech of this reformer and warrior scholar is that there is no sovereignty except for God, and his concept of sovereignty for God, contrary to the despicable and false concept of the Khawarij, is not non-sovereignty of all humans, but it is the sovereignty of a human whom God has appointed, and He has announced his appointment through His book and the Mutawatir Sunnah of His Prophet or through a clear sign, and he is “Mahdi” who exists on earth now but he is absent, and the reason for his absence, contrary to the imagination of the most of the people, is not the will and initial act of God, but it is the will and initial act of people who have not prepared the necessary conditions for his advent and hence, they are responsible for all the consequences and impacts of his absence, although these consequences and impacts are considered as “dead end for the nation of the end of times”; because such “dead end” is not attributed to “Islam” so that it would be in contrast with its “perfection”, but it is attributed to the people who have been the reason and cause for it; ﴿فَاعْتَبِرُوا يَا أُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ[1]; “So learn the lesson. O ye endued with insight”!...

The strategy of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani for advent and sovereignty of Mahdi, is a comprehensive strategy which includes security, cultural and political dimensions; Because he considers the existence of a sufficient number of strong and reliable Muslims necessary for advent of Mahdi in a sense of the possibility of having access to him in order to protect him from possible threats; with regards to the fact that the only reason for his absence in a sense of not having access to him is his fear from being killed or captured and he believes if his security becomes guaranteed by this number of Muslims, his advent in a sense of having access to him will be certain. Therefore, due to the rational and religious obligation in preparing grounds for his advent, he is gathering a sufficient number of strong and reliable Muslims in order to protect him from possible threats and he asks for help for this purpose from all of them including you; because this honest scholar believes that Mahdi’s reappearance is certain, in case his security becomes guaranteed, even in case of impossibility for his sovereignty; considering the fact that his reappearance is not concomitant with his sovereignty and his reappearance without his sovereignty is still beneficial; rather his advent is outset for his sovereignty; because sovereignty of someone who is not present is difficult and therefore, preparing grounds for reappearance of Mahdi is outset for preparing the grounds of his sovereignty.

But Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani considers that the prerequisites for Mahdi’s sovereignty is the gathering of sufficient number of people in order to support and obey him, and believes that whenever such a number of people take the responsibility to support and obey him, Mahdi’s rise for sovereignty will be certain; since sovereignty is not only a right for him, but also it is considered as a duty for him, to the extent that, if he does not rise after accomplishment of all the required conditions for it, it is deserved for him to be beheaded; because there will be no one responsible for all the wickedness and oppressions on earth, except for him. Therefore, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani as well as trying to gather enough Muslims to protect Mahdi, is also gathering enough of them to help and obey him and he asks for help from all of them like you in this regard. Because in the opinion of this prodigy of the era, the Mahdi’s sovereignty is certain, in case of the guarantee of help and obedience for him and this guarantee is called “allegiance” in Islam. Accordingly, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani takes pledge of allegiance from the Muslims of the world for Mahdi, in the sense that he takes from them the commitment that whenever Mahdi appears to them, they help and obey him, and do not avoid helping and break promise similar to the people who treated the Caliphs who preceded him, and with this statement, if a sufficient number of Muslims pledge allegiance to him for helping and obeying Mahdi, his sovereignty will be fulfilled for them, just as if a sufficient number of them pledge allegiance to him for protecting Mahdi, his reappearance will happen for them.

The is a complete and precise program that is issued from the intellect and is in line with the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Prophet, and whoever refuses it, is far away from Islam. “For him there will be humility in the world, and severe retribution in Hereafter, because he has refused to accept the right, and has prevented from right path, so that there be oppression instead of justice on earth, and ruin instead of prosperity, such that those who rule and are rulers other than God, continue their ruling and God’s ruling, like a fictitious imagination, does not go out of the human mind forever, and whoever God does not guide him, there will not be a guidance for him” [Critique and Response 25].

↑[1] . Hashr/ 2
( 14 )

Unfortunately, these days, we are observing many signs of division and tension among the Muslims ... It seems that the foundation of these disputes is the subject of “Caliphate” ... To explain the fundamental subject of the Caliphate in Islam, we need to know that the basis of political sovereignty, in general, cannot be outside of two territories, and therefore all sects, groups, parties, and Islamic schools of thought, despite all dissents, will inevitably return to one of these two bases:

The first basis is that appointing a ruler and a Caliph for Muslims is the responsibility of they themselves ... There is no doubt that the official version of the Muslims understanding about Caliphate has been this, and what has casted shadow on the Islamic world today is the result of this approach... The explanation for the is that we have clearly seen the consequences and corruption and evil sequences of such a version over the years from the very early decades of Islamic history until today. From the very beginning, the ruthless dynasties and regimes such as Bani Umayyad and Bani Abbas came to rule with this very justification and in recent centuries, the autocratic and dictatorial regimes of the Islamic countries were dominant over the Muslims by enforcement and pressure and used the power of spear, to the extent that, it can be definitely said that the individualism and the authoritarian tyranny in many Islamic countries can be clearly attributed to the consequences and outcomes of such a version. However, all the current known groups in the world of Islam, such as the ISIS, Taliban, al-Qaeda ... (and the so-called Al-Tahrir group and the followers of Wali-Faqih or authority of jurisprudent) follow this approach.

But the second approach which has been recently raised in the Islamic nation, or to put it in a more precise way, has been revived and reminded of, has fundamental and substantial differences with the first approach, and is considered as a developing and decisive foundation for Muslims in the world. An approach that is stemmed from the Islamic certainties and decisive evidences and is in full harmony with its deep and genuine foundations. In this approach, it is appropriately explained that the determination of the legitimate ruler and the appointment of a Caliph for Muslims is exclusively from the acts of the wise God and it is only He who is entitled to choose a Caliph as His deputy for ruling over the world. Because God is the only real owner and ruler of this world and has genuine sovereignty and absolute authority over His creations, therefore it is natural that He grants His sovereignty to whoever from His servants that He wills, so that in this way, the affairs of the world will proceed in the way that He has willed. Without a doubt, the is a profound and deep-rooted Islamic foundation, which is based on the monotheistic worldview and a profound cognition about God and His divine traits. According to this version, it is the duty of people to obey the Caliph appointed by God and pledge allegiance to him and nobody else as well as to support him by all possible means and they must not leave the appointed Caliph of God alone and turn to the rulers appointed by themselves or others! Indeed, the fulfillment of ruling sovereignty for the Caliph of God will not be possible without the support and obedience of people; because this has been the tradition of God among the predecessors and the tradition of God does not change.

The is the deep and moving foundation that has been presented and explained by righteous and warrior scholar “Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani” in the east part of Islamic world and is pursued by his followers and disciples in the Islamic world, especially in central Asia... Therefore, based on this, it is very necessary for all the groups who have the quest for Mahdi, declare their solidarity and companionship to this movement which is preparing the grounds for reappearance of Mahdi and is also very necessary for those groups who oppose Mahdi and his Caliphate to express their opposition explicitly and announce their stance in this regard clearly. Because it is time for these two fronts to be completely separated from each other and friends and enemies of the true Caliph of God on earth become recognized. The is an event which will happen whether they want it or not; because the distinction between these two approaches and their opposition to each other is the inevitable result and a natural and consequential effect of the mere existence and nature of the two. Therefore, the movement which is based on the first approach that appears to be based in the area of Sham (current Syria), in a completely predestine process attracts all sects, groups, parties, and Islamic schools of thought that possess the same principles and places them in one front, and the other movement based on the second approach that has a base in the region of Khorasan (parts of the central Asia), in a completely predestine process attracts all sects, groups, parties, and Islamic schools of thought that possess the same principles, and this provides the foundation for bipolarization in the world of Islam over the subject of Caliphate. In a manner that gradually, all supporters of the first type of caliphate will gather in Sham (Current Syria), and all the supporters of the second type of caliphate will gather in Khorasan, so that after this purification and separation, the grounds for reappearance of Mahdi will be prepared... According to what has been said so far, we clearly see that two major and substantial fronts have been formed in the world of Islam now; one is the truth front around the axis of Hashemi’s school that only considers Mahdi worthy of caliphate and invites toward him and only him, and the other is the false front around the axis of Umayyad school that is in fact a movement to confront and fight with Mahdi and to prevent him from reaching ruling sovereignty. There is no doubt that those true Muslims who are loyal to the Messenger of God Peace be upon him are in the front among Mahdi’s supporters, but unfortunately, it must be noted that their numbers are still too small and at present most of the Islamic groups, if not all of them, knowingly or unknowingly, are supporting and maintaining the front with Mahdi’s enemies and by their indifference and negligence, willingly or unwillingly are weakening the front with Mahdi’s supporters. However, it is hoped that at least a number of these groups that have truly goodwill and whose purpose is to serve Islam sincerely, after hearing the message of the movement “return to Islam” and its enormous reminder about Mahdi, wake up and become aware of the truth about Caliphate and transfer their ranks to the front with Mahdi’s supporters [The article of the “Islamic world in the process of bipolarization” by Yousef Javanbakht].

( 15 )

Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani studies the position of Mahdi and his role in the realization of the ideal of Islam, which is global justice, and in this regard, he brings up some accurate and profound details that are completely novel and unprecedented. For example, unlike others who believe that the creation and advent of Mahdi depends first on the will and action of God and subject to His wisdom and expediency, he believes that it depends first on the will and action of people and subject to their free will and readiness, and explicitly and decisively asserts that their access to Mahdi is possible, and therefore, they should only think of protecting, supporting and obeying him, and should not make themselves busy protecting, supporting and obeying people other than him, whoever they are. [An excerpt from the article “A review of the book Return to Islam by Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani” by Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Javadian]

( 16 )

One of the most important facts explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam, which can be considered the theoretical basis for Mahdi’s global revolution and the starting point toward his advent, is the possibility of his advent if a sufficient number of Muslims gather to protect and support him. Based on this, the purpose of His Excellency Mansoor is to form this gathering and deliver it to Mahdi so that he can appear with its help. Therefore, the government that His Excellency Mansoor intends to form is the government of Mahdi, which, like any other government, can be formed by preparing the ground for it, and the legitimacy of preparing the ground for it through the formation of the aforementioned gathering is subject to the legitimacy of the government of Mahdi; in the sense that when the government of Mahdi is legitimate, preparing the ground for it is legitimate as well, and the is due to achieving the preliminaries to what is obligatory, which is rationally considered obligatory, to the extent that it is not possible that the Legislator prohibits it; because the prohibition of a rational obligation is abhorrent, like the prohibition of preparing water for ghusl and traveling for Hajj, and the is regardless of whether a specific permission has been given to His Excellency Mansoor or not...

The formation of Islamic government in the absence of Mahdi, if it means the formation of his government by preparing the ground for it, in the order explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam, is possible; except that in this case it is not considered the formation of Islamic government in the absence of Mahdi, but its formation by putting an end to his absence; but if it means the formation of a government other than the government of Mahdi, then is not possible, and this impossibility is one of the consequences of people’s fault in protecting and supporting him, which has caused his absence, and therefore, the responsibility for its consequences lies with them. The result is that the formation of Islamic government is possible at any time by making Mahdi appear, and therefore, the formation of Islamic government in his absence is meaningless. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 24]

( 17 )

Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not take allegiance from any Muslim for himself; Since he considers the allegiance only belongs to God, and his meaning by that is to pledge allegiance to someone whom God has commanded to pledge allegiance to and he is nobody except Mahdi that pledging allegiance to him is obligtory upon every Muslim. Accordingly, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani takes allegiance from Muslims of this world for Mahdi; In the meaning that he takes promise and oath from them that if Mahdi appears to them, they protect, support and obey him and do not leave him alone like those who were before them. The is the context of the allegiance which Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani takes from every Muslim, and if sufficient number of Muslims pledge such allegiance to him, the grounds for the advent of Mahdi will be prepared [Critique and Response 14].

( 18 )

There is no doubt that the most knowledgeable person of this Ummah in every era is its Imam in it, who is from the household of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and in this era he is Mahdi about whom the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, has said: «الْمَهْدِيُّ مِنْ عِتْرَتِي»[1]; “Mahdi is from my household”, but he is unknown and in hiding; because he fears for his life from oppressors, and he continues to do so until he feels safe as a result of the gathering of hearts, tongues and hands in order to help him; as Mansoor has explained about it in his enlightening books and pure sayings. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 56]

↑[1] . Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 2, p. 1368; Sunan of Abi Dawud, vol. 2, p. 310; Tarikh of ibn Abi Khaythamah (the third book), vol. 2, p. 118; al-Mustadrak Ala al-Sahihain by Hakim, vol. 4, p. 557; Sharh al-Sunnah by Al-Baghawi, vol. 15, p. 86; al-Sunan al-Waridah Fi al-Fitnah by al-Dani, vol. 5, p. 1061
( 19 )

All Muslims know that Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is the one who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it has been filled with oppression and cruelty, and the is a correct belief for them, stemmed from the mutawatir Hadiths from the Prophet; however, correct beliefs do not save the human being from loss if they are not accompanied with correct actions; as God Almighty has said: ﴿وَالْعَصْرِ ۝ إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ ۝ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ [1]; “By time; indeed, the human being is in loss; except for those who have faith, do righteous deeds, enjoin each other to the truth, and enjoin each other to patience”. Knowledge without action is useless and a proof against its owner; that is why the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, sought refuge in God from it and said: «اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ لَا يَنْفَعُ»[2]; “O God! I seek refuge in You from knowledge that is of no benefit”. Indeed, the owner of such knowledge is like a patient who knows the medicine that cures him, but despite his knowledge about it, he neither seeks it nor takes it, rather he resorts to other things that he imagines are healing, due to his ignorance or imitation; so he is like someone who does not know the medicine at all, and they all will perish!

Muslims in this era are like that patient; because they have no doubt that Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is the only one who establishes the pure religion and spreads justice in the world; however, they make no effort to prepare the ground for his government by providing the necessary number and equipment for it; rather they strive to form and maintain the government of others by offering their wealth and lives, and the is what caused them to fall into ignominy and wretchedness, and will lead to their doom if not stopped immediately; as His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him, said to Ahamd ibn Abd al-Rahman, one of his helpers:

«يَا أَحْمَدُ! أَتَعْرِفُ إِمَامَ زَمَانِكَ؟ قُلْتُ: نَعَمْ، كَمَا أَعْرِفُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ! قَالَ: اعْرِفْهُ! فَإِنَّ الْحَيْرَةَ وَالذِّلَّةَ وَالْمَسْكَنَةَ وَالْخِزْيَ وَالضَّلَالَةَ وَالْهَلَاكَ لِمَنْ لَا يَعْرِفُ إِمَامَ زَمَانِهِ! ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا أَحْمَدُ! أَتُطِيعُ إِمَامَ زَمَانِكَ؟ قُلْتُ: رُبَّمَا وَلَعَلَّ! قَالَ: أَطِعْهُ! فَإِنَّ مَنْ يَعْرِفُ الْإِمَامَ وَلَا يُطِيعُهُ كَمَنْ يَعْرِفُ السَّبِيلَ وَلَا يَسْلُكُهُ، فَمَا أَحْرَى بِهِ أَنْ يَكُونَ هَالِكًا! ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا أَحْمَدُ! إِنَّ النَّاسَ أَمْوَاتٌ وَمَا حَيَاتُهُمْ إِلَّا الْمَعْرِفَةُ، وَالطَّاعَةُ مِيزَانُ الْمَعْرِفَةِ! يَا أَحْمَدُ! أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ مَنْ لَمْ يَعْرِفْ إِمَامَ زَمَانِهِ كُتِبَ فِي قَلْبِهِ: آيِسٌ مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ، وَأَنَّ مَنْ عَرَفَهُ وَلَمْ يُطِعْهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ؟! يَا أَحْمَدُ! إِنَّ مَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ إِمَامِ زَمَانِهِ وَكَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى مَنْ رَغِبَ إِلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ لَا يُبَالِي فِي أَيِّ وَادٍ هَلَكَ! يَا أَحْمَدُ! إِنَّ مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ إِمَامَ زَمَانِهِ فِي غَيْبَتِهِ كَمَنْ يُجَاهِدُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ عِنْدَ ظُهُورِهِ، بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ! يَا أَحْمَدُ! أَتَدْرِي كَيْفَ انْتِظَارُهُ؟! قُلْتُ: ذِكْرُهُ كَثِيرًا وَالدُّعَاءُ لَهُ! قَالَ: إِنَّ هَذَا لَصَالِحٌ، وَلَكِنَّ انْتِظَارَهُ الدَّعْوَةُ إِلَيْهِ وَالتَّمْكِينُ لَهُ فِي غَيْبَتِهِ! إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى يَقُولُ: ﴿وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ وَرُسُلَهُ بِالْغَيْبِ ۚ[3]، أَيْ فِي غَيْبَتِهِمْ؛ كَمَا قَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ الْعَزِيزِ إِذَا حَصْحَصَ الْحَقُّ وَيُوسُفُ غَائِبٌ: ﴿ذَلِكَ لِيَعْلَمَ أَنِّي لَمْ أَخُنْهُ بِالْغَيْبِ[4] أَيْ فِي غَيْبَةِ يُوسُفَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ»[5]; “O Ahmad! Do you know the Imam of your time? I said: Yes, as I know the night and the day! He said: Know him; because bewilderment, ignominy, wretchedness, disgrace, misguidance and doom are for one who does not know the Imam of his time! Then he said: O Ahmad! Do you obey the Imam of your time? I said: Perhaps and maybe! He said: Obey him; because one who knows the Imam but does not obey him is like one who knows the path but does not take it, so how much he deserves to perish! Then he said: O Ahmad! Indeed, people are the dead, and their survival is nothing but knowledge, and obedience is the scale for (assessing) knowledge! O Ahmad! Do you not know that one who does not know the Imam of his time, it is written in his heart: “despair of the mercy of God”, and one who knows him but does not obey him is among the losers?! O Ahmad! Indeed, one who turns away from the Imam of his time, God leaves him to one whom he has turned to, then He does not care in which valley he perishes! O Ahmad! Indeed, one who waits for the Imam of his time in his absence is like even better than one who fights for him in his presence! O Ahmad! Do you know what it is like to wait for him? I said: Remembering him so much and praying for him! He said: Indeed, these are good, but waiting for him is inviting toward him and preparing the ground for him in his absence! Indeed, God Almighty says: ‘And so that God knows who will help Him and His Prophets in absence’, meaning in their absence; as the wife of Potiphar, when the truth was revealed in the absence of Yusuf, said: ‘(I did) this so that he knows I did not betray him in his absence’, meaning in the absence of Yusuf, peace be upon him”.

Yes, Muslims know the imam of their time, Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him; but they neglect him and are preoccupied with rulers, jurists and liars who cannot fill the void left by him; so their end will be like that of a patient who knows the medicine but neither seeks it nor takes it; as Mansoor, may God protect him, has warned them against it and said:

«إِنَّمَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ خَلِيفَةً فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُظْفَرَ بِهِ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَظْفَرْ بِهِ كَانَ كَمَنْ أَصَابَهُ الْعَطَشُ وَلَمْ يَظْفَرْ بِالْمَاءِ، أَرَأَيْتَ الرَّمْلَ وَالْحَصَاةَ يُغْنِيَانِ عَنْهُ شَيْئًا؟! لَا وَاللَّهِ، بَلْ يَمُوتُ عَطَشًا وَلَا يَنْتَطِحُ فِيهِ عَنْزَانِ» [6]; “Indeed, God has appointed a Caliph on the earth to be accessible, and whoever does not have access to him is like one who suffers thirst and does not have access to water; Do you think that pebbles and sand would quench his thirst?! No, I swear to God, rather he will die of thirst, and not even two rams would butt each other because of him”.

For this reason, Muslims have no choice but to abandon following rulers, jurists and liars, and turn to following the Caliph of God, Mahdi; because he is the only path that leads them to salvation from loss; as Mansoor, may God protect him, has said:

«الْمَهْدِيُّ سَبِيلٌ مَنْ سَلَكَ غَيْرَهُ هَلَكَ، وَذَلِكَ مِنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ ۚ ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ﴾[7]»[8]; “Mahdi is a path that whoever steps in other than it will perish, and the is the words of God Almighty that said: ‘And indeed, the is My path that is straight, so follow it, and do not follow other paths lest they scatter you from His path, the is what He enjoins upon you, may you become pious’”.

Yes, Muslims have no choice but to prepare the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, by providing the necessary number and equipment for him, and the is what Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him, invites to day and night in the light of the certain reasons from the Holy Quran, the mutawatir Sunnah of the Propeht, and the intellect which is free of the impediments to cognition of the truth, and undoubtedly, everyone whose heart belongs to Islam and is faithful to it and hopes for its victory over disbelief and hypocrisy, hastens to answer this blessed invitation, and helps it with everything he has, ﴿وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ﴾[9]; “and there is no help except from God, the Exalted, the Wise”. [Articles and Remarks]

↑[1] . Al-Asr/ 1-3
↑[2] . Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 2, p. 167; Sahih of Muslim, vol. 8, p. 82; Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 1, p. 92; Sunan of Abi Dawud, vol. 1, p. 345; Sunan of al-Tirmidhi, vol. 5, p. 181; Sunan of al-Nasa‘i, vol. 8, p. 255
↑[3] . Al-Hadid/ 25
↑[4] . Yusuf/ 52
↑[5] . Saying 7, article 4
↑[6] . Saying 9, article 1
↑[7] . Al-An‘am/ 153
↑[8] . Saying 22, article 3
↑[9] . Al Imran/ 126
( 20 )

All problems of the world are rooted in the lack of God’s sovereignty over it, and God’s sovereignty over it will be established by Mahdi’s sovereignty over it, and Mahdi’s sovereignty over it will become possible by making preparations for it, and making preparations for it is contingent upon the gathering of a sufficient number of people to help him. Therefore, His Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is creating this gathering, and whoever does not help him as much as he can is contributing to problems of the world, whether he is a ruler or a subject. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 57]

( 21 )

The main solution is to have access to the Caliph of God on the earth, which is an obligation above all else, and it will become possible by preparing the ground for his advent, and preparing the ground for his advent is contingent upon gathering around Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, who invites Muslims to gather in order to help Mahdi; because when a sufficient number of Muslims gather in order to help Mahdi, his advent is inevitable according to the promise and tradition of God Almighty. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 23]

( 22 )

What is certain and you must believe in it is that Mahdi, peace be upon him, is absent at the present time, and his absence is due to your fault in demanding, helping and obeying him, and when this fault is removed with a sufficient change in your beliefs and actions, his absence will end as an inevitable result, and the is an example for the words of God Almighty that has said: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ ۗ[1]; “Indeed, God does not change what is in a people until they change what is in themselves” ; as you must know that Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not claim to be the successor to Mahdi or to have continuous communication with him, rather he is just preparing the ground for his advent based on the Book of God and the certain Sunnah of His Prophet, and the is not considered a claim on his part, but a concrete reality on the earth perceived by common sense; considering that his invitation toward Mahdi, peace be upon him, in a manner that results in his advent, can be seen and heard; therefore, in order to acknowledge it, there is no need for anything more than to pay attention to it. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 16]

↑[1] . Ar-Ra‘d/ 11
( 23 )

The narrations indicating the emergence of a man from the Greater Khorasan with black flags called “Mansoor” who invites toward Mahdi and prepares the ground for his government, are not limited to this one, and some people believe that he is His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him; because he has emerged from the Greater Khorasan with black flags, invites toward Mahdi, peace be upon him, and prepares the ground for his government, just as it has been stated in the narration; but the fact is that he does not claim it, and perhaps he is, but he does not delve into it, because he hates being pretentious or speaking about things he does not care about[1], and God Almighty has undoubtedly made him not need it; because his movement is not an illusory and factitious movement that needs such claims, but it is a movement based on objective and real facts; as his emergence from the Greater Khorasan is perceptible, his black flags are perceptible, his invitation toward Mahdi and the preparation of the ground for his government are perceptible, and his great book Return to Islam is the cultural and ideological engineering of the global revolution. Therefore, how short-sighted are those who want to open the way for such claims toward this objective and real movement, in order to harm its soundness and calmness through this ill-considered method, make the anxious and pessimistic servants of God doubt it, and set those who always rant and find fault against it. While if they had searched for the truth, they would see it with their eyes, if they had searched for facts, they would hear them with their ears, and then they would not leave what is absolutely clear for the sake of what is ambiguous! As some of our helpers informed us, they said: A man came from a distant land to Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, and after a conversation that took place between them, he held his hand and said: “I bear witness that you are the promised one who will prepare the ground for the advent of Mahdi, the one whom the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, commanded us to help”! When Mansoor heard this, he immediately withdrew his hand from his, rebuked him, and said to him:

“Leave me alone, brother! Have you come all this way from your land to deceive me about my religion?! I swear to God, I am going to prepare the ground for the advent of Mahdi, but I do not care what you call me; for I have not made the blue sky my roof and the earth my carpet, nor have I thrown myself like a piece of stone into the ocean of calamities so that you would come from your land and call me the promised one! Am I not a ‘son of man’?! Then call me the ‘son of man’, and accompany me in the path I have taken; because I am going toward Mahdi, and I will unite with him with you or without you.”

Then he got up to leave, and said in a loud voice:

“I am a caller ahead of Mahdi calling: Open the way!”[2] [An excerpt from Question and Answer 12]

↑[1] . See: Saying 10 from his pure sayings.
( 24 )

Although some Muslims from among people of knowledge consider him the promised person who will prepare the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, and believe that it is obvious in view of his intellectual, practical and outward characteristics, and there is no need for doubt and dispute in this regard, but he does not direct his concern to such a claim, and only strives to prepare the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, in a practical and realistic manner, and believes that the intellectual and religious necessity to accompany him in this regard is dependent on this practical and realistic preparation, not on his claim that he is the promised person; because there are many who claim that they are promised people, but there is not a single person who prepares the ground for his advent in a practical and realistic manner! Considering that claimants have no concern but to prove their claim, and do nothing but dispute about who they are and what their status and virtue are, while clearly, the stature of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is beyond such selfish acts, and he is busy with more important works than them, which is teaching the pure and perfect Islam to Muslims of the world and training a sufficient number of them in order to help Mahdi, peace be upon him; the works that if accomplished by him, the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, will be realized, even though no one considers him the promised person who will prepare the ground for it.

The is a mercy from God Almighty to lighten the burden of those who wish to help Mahdi, peace be upon him, and prepare the ground for his advent but fear that they may accompany claimants due to the predominance of lies over them; because Satan supposed that he would be able to prevent the emergence of the truthful and Muslims knowing them through the proliferation of false claimants; but God the Most High put an end to his plot, and made the truthful emerge without any claim so that it would be easy for Muslims to know them and the liar claimants would be exposed; as He has said: ﴿وَقَدْ مَكَرُوا مَكْرَهُمْ وَعِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَكْرُهُمْ وَإِنْ كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ[1]; “They planned their plot, but their plots were within the sight of God, even though their plot was such that it could move the mountains”, and said: ﴿وَمَكَرُوا مَكْرًا وَمَكَرْنَا مَكْرًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ[2]; “And they planned a plot, and We planned a plot as well, while they were not aware”. Likewise, God guided by His permission those who believed regarding the truth about which they disputed; as He has said: ﴿فَهَدَى اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَا اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ مِنَ الْحَقِّ بِإِذْنِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ[3]; “So God guided by His permission those who believed regarding the truth about which they disputed, and God guides whomever He wills to the right path”. The is a wise measure from the one who prepares the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, so that there is no hardship in the religion for those who wish to help Mahdi, peace be upon him, but are afraid of fitnah, and the path of the preparation of the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, is not narrow for them, and the share of those who claim falsely will be disgrace in the life of this world and a severe punishment in the Hereafter. Based on this, it can be said that all those who now consider themselves to be promised people and invite Muslims toward themselves with this claim are liars, Dajjals, and there is not a truthful person among them, and if there is a truthful person, he is among those who do not have any claim. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 12]

↑[1] . Ibrahim/ 46
↑[2] . An-Naml/ 50
↑[3] . Al-Baqarah/ 213
( 25 )

Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is just a Muslim scholar who has risen up with the purpose of making Mahdi, peace be upon him, appear and bringing him to power, and invites Muslims to pledge allegiance to him instead of pledging allegiance to others, and in this way, he prepares the ground for the establishment of the pure and perfect Islam in this world, and for this reason, it is obligatory for every Muslim to support him. However, if it has been made clear to you and to some other Muslims, for whatever reason, that in addition to this objective and evident character, he is also a promised person, supporting him is a fortiori obligatory for you; as supporting him is also obligatory for Muslims to whom this matter has not been made clear; because this Muslim scholar invites toward Mahdi, peace be upon him, and prepares the ground for his advent in a perceptible and evident manner, and the is sufficient for every Muslim to support him; as God Almighty has said: ﴿وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى ۖ [1]; “And help one another in goodness and piety”. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 14]

↑[1] . Al-Ma’idah/ 2
( 26 )

His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God help him, is the preparer of the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, and has no other claim. The preparation of the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is not a privilege for him either, rather it is a good deed from him, which is being carried out in the form of gathering and training a sufficient number of Muslims in order to protect and support Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, and the is a perceptible reality on the earth. Therefore, it is obligatory to help him by virtue of the commandment ﴿وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى ۖ [1]; “And help one another in goodness and piety”, and abandoning what is obligatory is a sin that will undoubtedly result in punishment.

We ask God Almighty to grant you success in performing this obligation, and to not make you one of the disobedient. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 29]

↑[1] . Al-Ma’idah/ 2
( 27 )

Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not invite toward “himself”, but rather invites toward “Mahdi” in the clearest way possible; because his invitation toward solidarity in order to protect, help and obey “Mahdi” is by no means considered an invitation toward “oneself”, and calling it “an invitation toward oneself” is like calling “night” as “day”, which is nothing but to act autocratically and despotically in naming. Undoubtedly, those who recognize a right to govern for “themselves”, oblige others to protect, help and obey “themselves”, and have no concern but to maintain the government of “themselves” are inviting toward “themselves”; or the selfish who are sunk in the mire of claims and have nothing to say but “I am this” and “I am that”, and care about nothing but to prove their so-called positions; those who associate themselves with God’s Caliphs and call themselves by their names, while they are of less account with God than beetles! [An excerpt from Critique and Response 15]

( 28 )

The true ground preparers for the advent of Mahdi are a group of people from Khorasan, who have risen with the black flags in order to search for Mahdi and invite people toward him with a pure invitation, without any polytheism and Shubha, and their leader, Mansoor, is a righteous scholar who does not say anything undue about himself. He does not claim to be Mahdi nor his child nor his successor nor his messenger, but he practically invites people toward him, and actually prepares the ground for his advent, and Whoever God has wanted good for him will rush toward him, even though by crawling on snow. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 4, appendix 1]

( 29 )

That the rightfulness of this truthful caller is not based on his name, age, nationality and physical appearance, but rather on his pure and perfect ideas, teachings and goals, and the is what makes him distinct from others; otherwise, he does not claim that he is a ruler, nor does he claim that he is distinct from others, but he is just an inviter toward the household of Muhammad and a preparer of the ground for the advent of Mahdi, and if someone follows him, then it should be in view of this reality, not in view of his name, age, nationality and physical appearance, even though they are in accordance with Islamic prophecies. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 19]

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What is useful for you to know is not the lineage of His Excellency Mansoor, may God protect him, but rather his thoughts, sayings and actions; because they show you whether he is right or wrong without any doubt, even though you do not know his lineage. The is true in regard to the names of his companions as well; considering that the existence of a man among his companions whose name or title is Shu‘ayb does not indicate that he is the promised one who will prepare the ground for the advent Mahdi, peace be upon him; because many are called by this name, but not all of them are promised people; as the lack of existence of a man among his companions whose name or title is Shu‘ayb does not indicate that he is not the promised one who will prepare the ground for the advent Mahdi, peace be upon him; because what has been narrated in this regard does not reach the level of tawatur, and if it is true, he may join him later.

Based on this, we advise you to not delve into such issues, and to read the published works of His Excellency Mansoor, may God protect him, on this website in order to become familiar with his thoughts, sayings and righteous actions that are focused on preparing the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, in accordance with the intellect and the religion, far from any claim about himself; because he is not a pretender and hates to be like false claimants; he moves forward on his straight path without any superfluous saying, carries out his intellectual and religious obligation, teaches the true Islam and reforms the beliefs and deeds of Muslims with reliance on the Book of God, the mutawatir Sunnah of His Prophet and what is required by the sound intellect, and he does so practically and without any claim; because he does not need to make any claim while he takes action, and leaves claims for those who do not take action; although he hopes for God’s grace on himself and does not despair of His mercy; because God is the Owner of great grace and singles out for His mercy whomever He wills, and no one despairs of His mercy but those who have gone astray, but he does not delve into it[1]; contrary to those whose drum of claims has deafened the ears of the worlds, yet they do not practically prepare the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, and are nothing but wandering entertainers who gather some ignorant and superstitious people around themselves and spend their lives, wealth and reputation on their illusions and falsehoods; those who, with their excessive claims, strange titles, illusory dignity, dictated dreams and fabricated narrations, have broken the back of Mahdi, peace be upon him, and turned the day of Mansoor, may God protect him, this true preparer of the ground for his advent, into a cold and dark night; as he has described them in one of his sermons, and said:

“They inform about above the seventh heaven and below the fourth earth, but they do not have correct knowledge about the beliefs of Islam, nor do they know appropriately what is lawful and what is forbidden in it, and their best words are meaningless and incomprehensible like the caws of crows! They have neither a root in the ground of knowledge nor a star in the sky of piety! They mislead one with an unseen dream, and another one with an unheard call! They throw one into the well with an unrevealed verse, and another one with an unsaid narration! They deceive one with a vain saying, and another one with a complicated spell! Thus, they do not leave any open door to Mahdi unless they close it, nor do they leave any short path for his companions unless they block it, nor do they leave any untamed and clean house for those who love him unless they pollute it! Every day they change color, make new claims about themselves, and make new discoveries; because there is no end to their ambitions and exaggerations. They combine the truth with falsehood, and taint facts with lies, to the extent that there remains no sacredness for the truth, and no value for facts! When the banner of the truth is raised, who is he that knows it?! And when true words are spoken, who is he that accepts them?! The eyes are blind, the ears are deaf, the hands are exhausted, and there is no longer patience to assess and examine; because claimants have sown the seeds of ill suspicion everywhere, stirred up the dust of pessimism in the earth and time, and caused the life to reach the throat, and the knife to reach the bone.”[2] [An excerpt from Question and Answer 11]

↑[1] . See: Sayings 3 and 10 from his pure sayings.
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May God kill the false claimants who are the greatest enemies of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, and the greatest enemies of his true helpers who invite people toward him without any claim or false saying; because these evildoers, by calling themselves with their names, playing with their key words and creating apparent similarities with them to deceive the public, trivialize their discourse, make people hate their invitation, and make it extremely difficult for them to reform the affairs of Muslims and establish the pure and perfect Islam; like the story of the lying shepherd who made a false claim to people many times and repeated a false invitation for them, until they became insensitive to such a claim and lost faith in such an invitation; to the extent that they no longer pay any attention to the cry of any shepherd, even if he is truthful!

So may God curse the false claimants and repel their evil from His religion and His Caliph, Mahdi, and the ground preparer for the advent of His Caliph, Mansoor, who invites people toward him without any claim or false saying, and may He grant all Muslims success in knowing the truth from falsehood, right from wrong, facts from lies, and wisdom from foolishness; for He is the Most Merciful. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 4]

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The secret of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flag is four things:

Firstly, it is Sunnah; because the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was black; as ibn Abbas and Buraydah and Jabir and Aisha and others have narrated it, and Yunus ibn Ubayd Mawla Muhammad ibn Qasim has said: «بَعَثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ إِلَى الْبَرَاءِ بْنِ عَازِبٍ أَسْأَلُهُ عَنْ رَايَةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَقَالَ: كَانَتْ سَوْدَاءَ مُرَبَّعَةً مِنْ نَمِرَةٍ»[1]; “Muhammad ibn Qasim sent me to Bara’ ibn Azib to ask him about the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, so he said: It was black and square, being made of a woolen rug”, and it has been narrated from Abu Huraira that said: «كَانَتْ رَايَةُ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ قِطْعَةٌ قَطِيفَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ كَانَتْ لِعَائِشَةَ»[2]; “The flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was a black velvet cloth belonging to Aisha”, and Amrah, daughter of Abd al-Rahman, has narrated: «كَانَتْ رَايَةُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ سَوْدَاءَ مِنْ مِرْطٍ لِعَائِشَةَ مُرَحَّلٍ»[3]; “The flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was an unsewn and painted black cloth belonging to Aisha”, and Sa’id ibn Musayyib has also narrated something similar to it[4], and Harith ibn Hassan has narrated: «قَدِمْتُ الْمَدِينَةَ فَإِذَا النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ وَبِلَالٌ قَائِمٌ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مُتَقَلِّدًا سَيْفًا وَإِذَا رَايَاتٌ سُودٌ فَقُلْتُ: مَا هَذِهِ الرَّايَاتُ؟ قَالُوا: هَذَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَبْعَثَ عَمْرَو بْنَ الْعَاصِ وَجْهًا»; “I came to Medina, so I saw that the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was on the pulpit, while Bilal was holding a sword in front of him, and some black flags were raised high, so I said: What are these flags? They said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, wants to send Amr ibn al-As to somewhere”, and it has been said in another narration: «عَمْرُو بْنُ الْعَاصِ قَدِمَ مِنْ غَزَاةٍ»[5]; “Amr ibn al-As has returned from a war”, and ibn Sa’d has narrated from his men that said: «بَعَثَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلِيَّ بْنَ أَبِي طَالِبٍ فِي خَمْسِينَ وَمِائَةِ رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْأَنْصَارِ عَلَى مِائَةِ بَعِيرٍ وَخَمْسِينَ فَرَسًا وَمَعَهُ رَايَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ»[6]; “The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, sent Ali ibn Abi Talib to war with one hundred and fifty men from helpers riding a hundred camels and fifty horses, while he was carrying a black flag”, and Qatada has narrated from Anas that said: «إِنَّ ابْنَ أُمِّ مَكْتُومٍ كَانَتْ مَعَهُ رَايَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي بَعْضِ مَشَاهِدِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ»[7]; “Ibn Umm Maktum had a black flag with himself in some of the wars of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, which was for the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family”. Also it has been narrated that Zubayr ibn al-Awwam entered Mecca on the day of the conquest with five hundred Arab emigrants and tribes, while he was carrying a black flag[8], and Yazid ibn Abi Habib has said: «كَانَتْ رَايَاتُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ سُودًا»[9]; “The flags of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, were black”, and Hasan has said: «كَانَتْ رَايَةُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ سَوْدَاءَ تُسَمَّى الْعُقَابَ»[10]; “The flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was black and called the Eagle”, and this has been narrated from Abu Huraira too[11], and it has been narrated from Urwah ibn Zubayr that said: «كَانَتْ رَايَةُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ سَوْدَاءَ مِنْ بُرْدٍ لِعَائِشَةَ تُدْعَى الْعُقَابَ»[12]; “The flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was black from a cloth belonging to Aisha, which was called the Eagle”, and it has been narrated from Umm Husain, daughter of Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Husain, who said in a narration: «قَالَ لِي عَمِّي جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ: يَا بُنَيَّةُ! هَذِهِ رَايَةُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْعُقَابُ، ثُمَّ أَخْرَجَ خِرْقَةً سَوْدَاءَ، ثُمَّ وَضَعَهَا عَلَى عَيْنَيْهِ، ثُمَّ أَعْطَانِيهَا فَوَضَعْتُهَا عَلَى عَيْنَيَّ وَوَجْهِي»[13]; “My uncle Ja’far ibn Muhammad said to me: O my daughter! The is the Eagle, the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family. Then he took out a black cloth and put it on his eyes and then gave it to me, and I, too, put it on my eyes and on my face”. Moreover, the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib in his wars was also black; as Hurayth ibn Makhsh has narrated: «إِنَّ رَايَةَ عَلِيٍّ كَانَتْ يَوْمَ الْجَمَلِ سَوْدَاءَ»[14]; “Indeed, the flag of Ali on the day of Jamal was black”, and it has been narrated form Ali, peace be upon him, that on the day of Siffin, pointing at the owner of his flag, Abu Sasan Hudhayn ibn Munzar al-Raqashi, he said:

«لِمَنْ رَايَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ يَخْفِقُ ظِلُّهَا ... إِذَا قِيلَ قَدِّمْهَا حُضَيْنُ تَقَدَّمَا

يُقَدِّمُهَا لِلْمَوْتِ حَتَّى يُزِيرَهَا ... حِيَاضَ الْمَنَايَا يَقْطُرُ الْمَوْتَ وَالدَّمَا

أَذَقْنَا ابْنَ حَرْبٍ طَعْنَنَا وَضَِرَابَنَا ... بِأَسْيَافِنَا حَتَّى تَوَلَّى وَأَحْجَمَا

جَزَى اللَّهُ قَوْمًا قَاتَلُوا عَنْ إِمَامِهِمْ ... لَدَى الْمَوْتِ قُدْمًا مَا أَعَفَّ وَأَكْرَمَا»[15]

“For whom is the black flag whose shadow is casted? When it is said, O Hudhain, bring it forth, it is brought forth. So he sends it toward death to bring it to the wells of death, from which destruction and blood drip. We had ibn Harb taste our spears and blows, with our swords, until he turned away and fled. May God reward the group who fought alongside their Imam to the death, how honorable and noble they were”.

Some scholars have considered it probable that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, liked the black flag because he took it as a good omen; as they have said: «إِنَّ الْحِكْمَةَ فِي إِيثَارِ الْأَسْوَدَ يَوْمَ الْفَتْحِ الْإِشَارَةُ إِلَى مَا مَنَحَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِهِ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ مِنَ السُّؤْدُدِ الَّذِي لَمْ يَتَّفِقْ لِأَحَدٍ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ قَبْلَهُ، وَإِلَى سُؤْدُدِ الْإِسْلَامِ وَأَهْلِهِ»[16]; “The wise reason for preferring the color black (سود) on the day of the conquest of Mecca was to refer to «سؤود», meaning victory and dignity, which was not achieved for any of the previous Prophets, as well as the victory and dignity of Islam and its people”, and it is not unlikely; because«السّؤدد» means greatness, glory and honor, and «الْمُسَوَّدُ» means “Sayyid” in the sense of master and leader; as it has been said in the narration of Qays ibn Asim: «اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَسَوِّدُوا أَكْبَرَكُمْ»[17]; “Fear God and make the greater one among you as the master”, and it has been said in the narration of ibn Umar: «مَا رَأَيْتُ بَعْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَسْوَدَ مِنْ فُلَانٍ»[18]; “After the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, I did not see anyone to be more Sayyid than such and such ”, and it has been narrated that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, liked to take things as good omens, and took good names as good omens[19]. Therefore, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flags is based on the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the Sunnah of his guided Caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and the is not strange; because he follows their Sunnah in everything and continues their blessed movement in order to establish the pure religion and fill the earth with justice, and there is no doubt that the most proper flag for the one who does so and invites people to “Return to Islam” and prepares the ground for Mahdi to come to power, is the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him.

Secondly, the use of the black flag is more beneficial to believers on the day they gather and fight in the way of God; as al-Sarakhsi has said in Sharh al-Sair al-Kabir: «إِنَّمَا اسْتُحِبَّ فِي الرَّايَاتِ السَّوَادُ لِأَنَّهُ عَلَمٌ لِأَصْحَابِ الْقِتَالِ، وَكُلُّ قَوْمٍ يُقَاتِلُونَ عِنْدَ رَايَتِهِمْ، وَإِذَا تَفَرَّقُوا فِي حَالِ الْقِتَالِ يَتَمَكَّنُونَ مِنَ الرُّجُوعِ إِلَى رَايَتِهِمْ، وَالسَّوَادُ فِي ضَوْءِ النَّهَارِ أَبْيَنُ وَأَشْهَرُ مِنْ غَيْرِهِ خُصُوصًا فِي الْغُبَارِ، فَلِهَذَا اسْتُحِبَّ ذَلِكَ»[20]; “The color black on flags is recommended because it is a symbol for warriors, and each group fights under their own flag and can return to it whenever they are scattered during the war, and black is brighter and more visible in daylight than other colors, especially in dust, and is therefore recommended”.

Thirdly, the use of the black flag is a common and conventional work among those who have been afflicted with a great tragedy; to the extent that it conventionally indicates the occurrence of an important and unfortunate event, and is considered a kind of announcement of calamity, and it is probably one of the things that have encouraged Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani to use the black flags; because he has been afflicted with a great tragedy that has never happened since God made the children of Adam dwell on the earth, and it is the absence of the Caliph of God on the earth, which has led to the filling of the earth with ignorance, disbelief, oppression and sins, and the is the tragedy that people are unaware of, despite its extensiveness and greatness, and for this very reason, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has used the black flags to draw people’s attention to it, and therefore, he will not lower these flags until this tragedy ends, Insha’Allah.

Fourthly, the use of the black flag is a clear opposition to an oppressive and corrupt group called “ISIS”; because they emerged in the Levant and Iraq shortly before the emergence of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani in Khorasan, and used the black flags to invite toward the government of a misguided and misleading man called Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. So when Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani noticed it, he used the black flags to invite toward the government of Mahdi in order to stand against this great and dangerous deviation from the path of Islam; as he himself has said in a part of his honorable book Return to Islam, referring to this wicked group:

“I heard that a voice of the wrong is rising from the west, therefore I wanted that a voice of the truth also be heard from the east so that only one voice is not heard in the world, lest Muslims gather around the wrong and God’s wrath falls down on them. Because sovereign ruling only belongs to God and He will bestow that to anyone of His servants who He wills, and He has not willed anybody other than Mahdi Fatimid with whom household of Prophet Mohammad and all Muslims are content”[21].

The is the secret of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flags. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 9]

↑[1] . Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 30, p. 589; al-Tarikh al-Kabir by al-Bukhari, vol. 8, p. 403; Sunan of Abi Dawud, vol. 3, p. 32; Sunan of al-Tirmidhi, vol. 4, p. 196; al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Nasa’i, vol. 8, p. 19; Musnad of Abi Ya’la, vol. 3, p. 255; Musnad of al-Ruyani, vol. 1, p. 273; Akhlaq al-Nabi by Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani, vol. 2, p. 413; al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 6, p. 589
↑[2] . Al-Kamil by ibn Adi, vol. 3, p. 457; History of Damascus by ibn Asakir, vol. 4, p. 225
↑[3] . Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 6, p. 532; Akhlaq al-Nabi by Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani, vol. 2, p. 418; Sharh al-Sunnah by al-Baghawi, vol. 10, p. 404
↑[4] . Taikh of Khalifhah ibn Khayyat, p. 67; History of Damascus by ibn Asakir, vol. 42, p. 73
↑[5] . Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 6, p. 532; History of Medina by ibn Shabah, vol. 1, p. 301; Sunan of al-Tirmidhi, vol. 5, p. 245; Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 1, p. 217; al-Mu’jam al-Kabir by al-Tabarani, vol. 3, p. 255; al-Azimah by Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani, vol. 4, p. 320; Ma’rifat al-Sahabah by Abu Na’im al-Asbahani, vol. 2, p. 791; al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 6, p. 590
↑[6] . Maghazi al-Waqidi, vol. 3, p. 984; al-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 2, p. 164
↑[7] . Al-Nasa’i has narrated it in al-Sunan al-Kubra (vol. 8, p. 19) with these words.
↑[8] . Maghazi al-Waqidi, vol. 2, p. 819
↑[9] . Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 1, p. 352
↑[10] . Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 1, p. 352; Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 6, p. 533; al-Anwar Fi Shama’il al-Nabi al-Mukhtar by al-Baghawi, p. 592
↑[11] . Ibn Adi has narrated it in al-Kamil (vol. 5, p. 475).
↑[12] . Sharh al-Sair al-Kabir by al-Sarakhsi, p. 71, and a similar one in Maghazi al-Waqidi (vol. 2, p. 649).
↑[13] . Basa’ir al-Darajat by al-Saffar, p. 207
↑[14] . Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 6, p. 533; al-Mu’talif wal-Mukhtalif by al-Daraqutni, vol. 4, p. 2807
↑[15] . Ansab al-Ashraf by al-Baladhuri, vol. 2, p. 270; Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 5, p. 37; al-Futuh by ibn A’tham, vol. 3, p. 28; Muruj al-Dhahab by al-Mas’udi, vol. 3, p. 48; Tajarib al-Umam by ibn Miskawayh, vol. 1, p. 532; al-Kamel fil-Tarikh by ibn al-Athir, vol. 2, p. 650; Bughyat al-Talab Fi Tarikh Halab by ibn al-Adim, vol. 6, p. 2834
↑[16] . Muntaha sl-Su’l Ala Wasa’il al-Wusul Ila Shama’il al-Rasul by al-Hajji, and he has attributed it to the scholars.
↑[17] . Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 34, p. 217; al-Adab al-Mufrad by al-Bukhari, p. 188; Shu’ab al-Iman by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 5, p. 41
↑[18] . Al-Ahad wal-Mathani by ibn Abi Aasim, vol. 1, p. 379; al-Sunnah by abu Bakr ibn al-Khalal, vol. 2, p. 442; al-Mu’jam al-Kabir by al-Tabarani, vol. 12, p. 387; Ma’rifat al-Sahabah by Abu Na’im al-Asbahani, vol. 5, p. 2496
↑[19] . See: Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 2, p. 170; Sharh Mushkil al-Athar by al-Tahawi, vol. 5, p. 99; Sahih of ibn Hibban, vol. 13, p. 493.
↑[20] . Sharh al-Sair al-Kabir by al-Sarakhsi, p. 72
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The truth is that “gathering people and facilities” to protect and support Imam Mahdi peace be upon him, does not lead to the success of Allamah Khorasani may God protect him efforts, but it will result in revealing God’s help, and it is God’s help which will lead to the success of this great man’s efforts ... This means that whenever the believers accept the invitation of Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him toward the true Islam, and fulfill their duty for progeny of Muhammad peace be upon him and his family, and get together to protect and support Imam Mahdi peace be upon him, God will send His help to them, and will comfort their ways, and will supply them by whatever method and tool He wills, to have them reach their great ideal which is the realization of His sovereignty over the world [Critique and Response 67].

( 34 )

His honor Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him has propounded a plan to form a union of Islamic countries, similar to the European Union, as the introduction and foundation for formation of the united Islamic sovereignty in the world by Mahdi, and has considered the solution to the is the will and joint action of a sufficient number of Muslims in the Islamic countries, which first of all, is contingent on their public knowledge and awareness on one hand, and closeness of their thoughts and ideals to each other on the other hand. Therefore, his honor has begun an extended intellectual movement to form a cultural revolution in the world of Islam, and is increasing the level of knowledge and awareness among Muslims on one hand, and is gathering them around a common axis on the other hand and whenever a sufficient number of them in Islamic countries accept it, it can lead to appearance of public movements in these countries and social pressures on their rulers, and eventually lead to formation of this mentioned union and its delivery to Mahdi. It is hereby understood that everything depends on acceptance of this Islamic invitation by Muslims of the world, and the is while the ignorant and ambitious rulers of the region, are preventing it by all sorts of conspiracies and evil propagandas, political and intelligence activities. it is based on this foundation that welcoming such a movement is obligatory for every Muslim per Islamic Mutawatir narrations [Critique and Response 57].

( 35 )

Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is one of the Muslim scholars himself, and accordingly, he believes that they have the same role and duty that he has, and it is the preparation of the ground for the establishment of the pure and perfect Islam in the world through the establishment and maintenance of the government of God’s Caliph on the earth, as explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam. Therefore, in his opinion, Muslim scholars must invite toward the Caliph of God on the earth instead of inviting toward themselves, and establish and maintain his government instead of establishing and maintaining their own government; because this work is possible if Muslims provide its preconditions, and its preconditions are to a large extent the same as the preconditions necessary for the establishment and maintenance of other governments. Therefore, any Muslim scholar who orders Muslims to pledge allegiance to Mahdi and prohibits them from pledging allegiance to anyone other than him, performs his Islamic duty, and it is obligatory for Muslims to respond to his invitation and help him in this work, but Muslim scholars who do not order Muslims to pledge allegiance to Mahdi, nor do they prohibit them from pledging allegiance to anyone other than him, do not perform their Islamic duty, and it is obligatory for Muslims to stay away from them. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 7]

( 36 )

Undoubtedly, the movement “Return to Islam” is the most pure and beneficial movement that has emerged among Muslims since the Ashura movement, and its authenticity, dignity and legitimacy is obvious and undeniable for every wise and fair Muslim who sees it without judging and religious or political prejudice; because this blessed movement -contrary to other intellectual and political trends in the world of Islam- is based on the most certain Islamic fundamentals, and calls toward the most certain Islamic beliefs and practices, and prepares the grounds for the most certain Islamic ideal which is the sovereignty of Imam Mahdi peace be upon him and therefore, except the most blind-hearted and the most unrighteous people, nobody else will reject it and deny to accompany with it. Meanwhile, it is surprising that Muslim rulers and groups, despite all their intellectual and political differences, have agreed on boycotting this liberating and justice-making movement, and they are cooperating with each other to not say or write anything about it, so that per their mindset, prevent its publication among the Muslims (see: Saying 63); because they all have understood that this Islamic movement does not provide any of their one-sided and baseless benefits, and is moving against the general orientation of all of them; regarding that whenever one of them pulls the sovereignty to itself and tries to get more share of power, this blessed movement drives the sovereignty toward Mahdi and tries to bring him to power, whereas none of them considers any share of power for Mahdi, and they do not want to give him the sovereignty, rather most of them do not believe in him or do not take his existence seriously and do not consider him important! It is clear that in such circumstances, a few free noble people who have not traded their religion with the world and fear God and the day of judgment, have found a greater responsibility; because they must try to break this oppressive boycott and cancel this evil plot and do not allow the rightful invitation of Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him toward Imam Mahdi peace be upon him become spoiled during political games and religious controversies; given that all these political games and religious controversies are Satan’s plot to entertain the people and prevent them from paying attention to Imam Mahdi peace be upon him, and the is a plot which unfortunately has been effective until today and has worked, but it is hoped that by the sense of responsibility and more efforts of the few free noble people -especially in seminaries and universities- this plot become ineffective and inconclusive, Insha’Allah (for more information about this subject, see articles 1, 22 and 38) [Question and Answer 309].

( 37 )

In the opinion of this great scholar, ijtihad is obligatory for all Muslims, in the sense of “certain cognition of the beliefs and rulings of Islam”, not in the sense of “conjectural cognition of them, even by relying on ahad narrations and illusions such as consensus”, and it is clear that “certain cognition of the beliefs and rulings of Islam” can only be achieved by referring directly to sources that certainly belong to Islam, and they are the Book of God, mutawatir Hadiths of His Prophet, and his living Caliph on the earth, referring directly to which is easier than referring directly to ahad and contradictory narrations in scattered books; because the Book of God is accessible to everyone, mutawatir Hadiths of His Prophet are few and well-known, and his living Caliph on the earth is a human being like other people, and one can naturally go to him and take the beliefs and rulings of the religion from him, although the is not practical at the moment due to the fault of people in protecting him, and it needs his security to be ensured by them. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 16]

( 38 )

Inviting toward God requires “patience”, “resistance” and “persistence” and is not compatible with “hastiness”, “tiredness” and “hopelessness”; as the Prophet of God peace be upon him and his family spent 13 years of “patience”, “resistance” and “persistence” in Mecca until God finally helped him, and there is a very good role model in him for us. These are God’s advices to him that has said: ﴿وَاتَّبِعْ مَا يُوحَى إِلَيْكَ وَاصْبِرْ حَتَّى يَحْكُمَ اللَّهُ ۚ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الْحَاكِمِينَ[1]; “And follow what is revealed to you, and be patient until God issues judgment, and He is the best of judges”, and has said: ﴿فَاصْبِرْ ۖ إِنَّ الْعَاقِبَةَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ[2]; “So be patient, indeed future belongs to the pious”, and has said: ﴿وَاصْبِرْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ[3]; “And be patient; indeed God does not waste the reward of the virtuous” and has said: ﴿وَاصْبِرْ وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ ۚ وَلَا تَحْزَنْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا تَكُ فِي ضَيْقٍ مِمَّا يَمْكُرُونَ[4]; “So be patient, and your patience is solely from God, and do not grieve over them, and do not be stressed by their schemes” and has said: ﴿فَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ[5]; “So be patient with what they say” and has said: ﴿فَاصْبِرْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ ۖ وَلَا يَسْتَخِفَّنَّكَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُوقِنُونَ[6]; “So be patient, God’s promise is undoubtedly true, and do not let those who lack certainty bore you”, and has said: ﴿فَاصْبِرْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ ۚ فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعْضَ الَّذِي نَعِدُهُمْ أَوْ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ[7]; “So be patient, God’s promise is undoubtedly true, so if We show you what We promise them, or take you away from this world, they will return to Us” and has said: ﴿فَاصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُولُو الْعَزْمِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ وَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلْ لَهُمْ ۚ كَأَنَّهُمْ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَ مَا يُوعَدُونَ لَمْ يَلْبَثُوا إِلَّا سَاعَةً مِنْ نَهَارٍ ۚ بَلَاغٌ ۚ فَهَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ[8]; “So be patient, as were those of determination among messengers, and do not be hasty regarding them, on the day when they witness what they are promised, it will seem as if they had lasted only for an hour of a day. A proclamation: Will any be destroyed except the sinful people?” and has said: ﴿وَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا ۖ[9]; “So patiently await the decision of your Lord, for you are before Our Eyes” and has said: ﴿فَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ وَلَا تَكُنْ كَصَاحِبِ الْحُوتِ إِذْ نَادَى وَهُوَ مَكْظُومٌ[10]; “So wait patiently for the decision of your Lord, and do not be like the man of the fish when he cried out while he was extremely sad” and has said: ﴿فَاصْبِرْ صَبْرًا جَمِيلًا[11]; “So preserve with a beautiful patience” and has said: ﴿فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ وَمَنْ تَابَ مَعَكَ وَلَا تَطْغَوْا ۚ إِنَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ[12]; “So resist, just as you have been commanded, and also whoever repented with you, and do not transgress, indeed God sees the things you do” and has said: ﴿فَلِذَلِكَ فَادْعُ ۖ وَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ ۖ[13]; “So invite to it, and resist, just as you have been commanded, and do not follow their desires”; just as the prophets before him, and also their helpers benefited from “patience”, “resistance” and “persistence” and they never felt “hastiness”, “tiredness” and “hopelessness” because of all the hardships and difficulties of invitation toward God, until they received God’s help, and the is God’s tradition with the predecessors, which will also apply to us; as He has said: ﴿وَكَأَيِّنْ مِنْ نَبِيٍّ قَاتَلَ مَعَهُ رِبِّيُّونَ كَثِيرٌ فَمَا وَهَنُوا لِمَا أَصَابَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَمَا ضَعُفُوا وَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا ۗ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الصَّابِرِينَ[14]; “Many were the prophets on whose side a large number of God-devoted men fought, so they neither lost heart for all they had to suffer in the way of God nor did they weaken nor did they grieve, and God loves the patient ones” and has said: ﴿أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُمْ مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ ۖ مَسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّى يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَى نَصْرُ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ[15]; “Did you think that you enter the Paradise, without being encountered by what your predecessors have been encountered?! Stress and distress befell them and they were convulsed until the Prophet and the faithful who were with him said: When will God’s help come?! Beware that God’s help is indeed near!”; especially considering that God’s basis is examining the servants with hardships and difficulties, until the real believers become distinguished from the false claimers of faith; as He has said: ﴿أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ ۝ وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ ۖ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ[16]; “Do people suppose that they will be let off just because they said: ‘we have faith’ and they will not be examined?! And indeed we examined those who were before them, so God shall surely reveal those who are truthful, and He shall surely reveal the liars”!

With this description, those who fight along with Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him for realization of the sovereignty of God and His Caliph on earth, must not expect anything other than this or lose their hearts and show weakness and grieve because of hardships and harms and long waits, rather they must make themselves ready for God’s tests, and similar to their good predecessors from the prophets, the truthful, the witnesses and the righteous, practice “patience”, “resistance” and “persistence”, until they receive God’s help and reach their ideal or return to Him before that and receive their reward in paradise, and indeed paradise is enough as the reward (See: Saying 21).

Anyways, it must be noted that a world which has been sunk and trapped hard in ignorance, imitation, worldliness, passions, fanaticism, arrogance and superstition, will not be reformed easily and quickly, but it requires an extraordinary and long-term effort. Therefore, it can be said that “hastiness”, “tiredness” and “hopelessness”, are consequences of weakness in faith, and only overcome those who do not enjoy intelligence and sufficient knowledge. They are the only ones who are very “impatient” and “exigent”, and as it has been famously said, they are late and they want to leave early, and they are surprised by observing the difficulties and harms of invitation toward God, and they get tired and disappointed as time goes by, and they stop trying; similar to the fools who lived in illusions due to weakness in their intelligence, and expected Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him to suddenly emerge with a huge army and quickly passes over the oppressors of the region and prepares the grounds for Mahdi’s advent while they are sitting and watching, whereas this was a childish and baseless illusion; because it is obvious that a huge army does not get provided suddenly and the oppressors of the region do not sit and watch Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him quickly pass over them and prepare the grounds for Mahdi’s advent!

His honor, similar to all good people who were living before him, must also naturally start his invitation from a place and expand it gradually and by bearing difficulties, dangers, harassments insults and God knows when, develop it into perfection; in the meantime, the believers must be patient and strong, and do not be captivated by illusions, conjectures and assumptions, and do not get influenced by events and seditions, and only insist on doing their duty, and of course be sure that their efforts will not be fruitless and will leave its influence on the world; just as it has not been fruitless by now, and has left apparent influences on the world; as for example, under his honor’s leadership in some Islamic countries, it has changed Mahdi’s advent from a personal belief into a social action, and has also changed the preparation for his advent from an ambiguous concept into a clear and objective reality, and it is including his sovereignty into the public demands and political deals of Muslims, and gathering a sufficient number of them for protecting and supporting him and in one word, it is changing the situation to his benefit, and the is in addition to the fact that it has extended and deepened the cognition of people from Islam, and has made troubles for the deviant trends, and has made the oppressive rulers anxious and frantic, and it is expanding and progressing every day.

To conclude, the invitation of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him toward the sovereignty of God and His Caliph on earth, is still at the starting point of its path, and it yet has many works to be done, and believers must practice “patience”, “resistance” and “persistence” and avoid “hastiness”, “tiredness” and “hopelessness” because of hardships, harms, and long waits; because God’s promise is right and future belongs to the pious people; ﴿قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ اسْتَعِينُوا بِاللَّهِ وَاصْبِرُوا ۖ إِنَّ الْأَرْضَ لِلَّهِ يُورِثُهَا مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ۖ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ[17]; “Moses said to his people: Ask help from God and be patient, indeed earth is for God, He bestows it to any one of His servants He wills and the future eventually belongs to the pious people” [Question and Answer 258].

↑[1] . Yunus/ 109
↑[2] . Hud/ 49
↑[3] . Hud/ 115
↑[4] . An-Nahl/ 127
↑[5] . Taha/ 130
↑[6] . Ar-Rum/ 60
↑[7] . Qafir/ 77
↑[8] . Al-Ahqaf/ 35
↑[9] . At-Tur/ 48
↑[10] . Al-Qalam/ 48
↑[11] . Al-Ma’arij/ 5
↑[12] . Hud/ 112
↑[13] . Ash-Shuraa/ 15
↑[14] . Aal-i Imran/ 146
↑[15] . Al-Baqarah/ 214
↑[16] . Al-‘Ankabut/ 2, 3
↑[17] . Al-A‘raf/ 128
( 39 )

Fortunately, many of the essential and fundamental laws of Islam, such as the pillars of the prayer, fasting, Zakat and Hajj, as explained by Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani in a part of his book, are known through the Book of God and the mutawatir narrations from His Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family; therefore, acting on them is possible and sufficient, but in order to be certain of the rest of the laws of Islam and be free from liability for them, there is no way but to refer to the Caliph of God on the earth, which is possible in the opinion of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani; because the impediment to referring to him is nothing but the fault of people in providing its prerequisites, and therefore, removing this impediment in the sense of providing the prerequisites for referring to him is possible for them, and if it requires the gathering of a sufficient number of them but a sufficient number of them do not gather, then it is not the sin of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, but the sin of people themselves and those who prevent them from doing so. With this description, this situation that “does not make sense at all” and you are wondering about, is a situation brought forth by people themselves, ﴿وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ[1]; “and God is no oppressor of His servants”; like thieves who have entered a house and have to perform the prayer at the ending time, whereas their prayer in it is void, and this situation that “does not make sense at all” is a situation that they have got themselves into by making a poor choice, and therefore, it does not make their prayers in people’s house valid; as Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has explained this bitter and unfortunate reality in detail in the section “Consequences of non-advent of Mahdi for people” in his book Return to Islam[2]; may Muslims realize their misery and ignominy in the absence of Mahdi, and return to him as soon as possible.

Yes, this preparer of the ground for the advent of Mahdi warns Muslims of the world that they are in a “tremendous predicament” and calls them to get out of it by providing clear and practical solutions, but most of them do not hear his call, or hear but do not understand, except for a few of them whose hearts God has tested for faith, and indeed, they will be sufficient, Insha’Allah. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 1]

↑[1] . Al Imran/ 182
( 40 )

Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani considers the tendency to Hadiths as one of the impediments to knowing the pure and perfect Islam and its establishment by Muslims; because in his opinion, Hadiths, in the sense of conjectural narrations from the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, have no validity due to the invalidity of conjecture in Islam, and it is not sufficient to rely on them in order to deduce a belief or a law. He believes that there is no reason to exclude the conjecture arising from Hadiths from other conjectures; because the invalidity of conjecture is one of the rulings of the intellect which do not accept exceptions. Therefore, only a mutawatir Hadith whose narrators are numerous and leads to certainty is valid, while such Hadiths are very few and are not available enough. However, from the author’s point of view, the solution to this predicament is not to refer to non-mutawatir Hadiths, but to refer to the Caliph of God on the earth, and if it is not possible to refer to him at the present time, it is because of the fault of people for not making its arrangements, and therefore, there is no excuse for them to refer to non-mutawatir Hadiths. Hashemi Khorasani believes that people have put themselves in a desperate situation by their own fault for not making the necessary arrangements to access the Caliph of God on the earth, and that this situation is not imposed upon us from God to be in conflict with His grace. However, he believes that it is possible for them to get out of this desperation; because their access to the Caliph of God on the earth is possible when his security is guaranteed by them; as his sovereignty over them is possible when their demand, support and obedience to him are guaranteed by them. [An excerpt from the article “A review of the book Return to Islam by Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani” by Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Javadian]

( 41 )

Khorasani considers the establishment of Islam to be useful and effective only in its pure and perfect form, and believes that establishing a part of it alone or mixed with something outside of it, not only is it not useful and effective, but can be harmful and dangerous, and the is contrary to the belief of most Muslims who think that establishing a part of Islam is also desirable and effective. He likens Islam to a single system with interconnected components that if one component does not work, the other components will also lose their efficiency and the whole system will fail. Therefore, Muslims have no choice but to establish the entire Islam in its purest form, and the is possible only if the Caliph of God on the earth teaches it. [An excerpt from the article “A review of the book Return to Islam by Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani” by Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Javadian]

( 42 )

Without appointing a Caliph on the earth, who knows the entire Islam and can teach it to Muslims, it is not possible for them to establish the entire Islam, and therefore, obligating them to do so is in conflict with justice. Hence, God has never obligated Muslims to establish the entire Islam unless after He has appointed among them a man who knows all of it in order to teach and guide them; as He has said as a rule: ﴿وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ[1]; “And there is a guide for every nation”. (Critiques and Responses)

↑[1] . Ar-Ra‘d/ 7
( 43 )

There is no disagreement among Muslims that the establishment of hudud is dependent on some conditions, and it is not permissible unless its conditions are met. One of its conditions in the opinion of His Excellency Mansoor, may God protect him, is the existence of a religious ruler, and he is the Caliph of God who rules justly among people, and he does not push them by his oppression to commit sins and then punish them for doing so; like a ruler who prevents people from having the necessary livelihoods and makes life hard for them by his oppression until they commit theft, then he arrests them and cuts off their hands, while he claims that he establishes hudud of God! The is what His Excellency Mansoor, may God protect him, prohibits and believes that it is oppression; because hudud of God have not been legislated to be established by an oppressive ruler so that he makes it easy for people to commit sins and makes it difficult for them to avoid doing so. Rather, they have been legislated to be established by a just ruler selected by God and His Prophet so that he gives people their rights, and in our time, he is Mahdi, peace be upon him, whom His Excellency Mansoor, may God protect him, believes is alive and exists, although he is absent and does not appear due to his fear for his life. Therefore, people must support him sufficiently so that he feels secure for his life, appears to them, and establishes hudud of God in a just and appropriate manner. [An excerpt from explanation of the Saying 37]

( 44 )

It is obligatory for Muslims to establish Islamic hudud by making Mahdi, peace be upon him, appear and bringing him to the government, and if they do not do so, then the establishment of Islamic hudud by them is like performing prayer without wudu’. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 8]

( 45 )

The manner of Imam Mahdi for introducing Islam to people of the world is the manner of his ancestor, the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, which is to invite them to one of the three:

1. Converting to true Islam and abandoning false religions

2. Submitting to rulings of the true Islam while remaining true to their religions

3. Fighting

Of course, it is clear that because of his perfect knowledge about what God has sent down by virtue of him being God’s Caliph on the earth, and his complete purity from all impurity by virtue of him being a member of the Ahl al-Bayt, he will invite with wisdom and good advice as long as he is an inviter, rule justly as long as he is a ruler, and observe all rulings of God regarding fighting, peace, the promise of security, prisoners and spoils as long as he fights, and will not oppress anyone in any of these three. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 65]

( 46 )

The analogy between the movement of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani and the movements of the past is a false and misplaced analogy; because this movement, unlike the movements of the past, in its most fundamental infrastructure, is based on the oneness of God in sovereignty, in the sense that sovereignty is exclusive to Him; rather, it has no nature other than invitation toward the sovereignty of God’s Caliph on earth, and therefore, combining it with the sovereignty of other than God is like combining something with its opposite, which is impossible; as its end in the sovereignty of anyone other than God’s Caliph on the earth is its end in that which it neither corresponds with nor results in, and therefore, this movement will either end in the realization of the sovereignty of God’s Caliph on the earth, or will be destroyed completely, and in either case, it is not possible for it to end in the sovereignty of anyone other than God’s Caliph on the earth. This means that Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani and his helpers either will achieve their goal by realizing the sovereignty of Mahdi, or will be martyred to the last one of them, just as Husain ibn Ali and his helpers were martyred in Karbala. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 14, appendix 1]

( 47 )

Know that Mansoor attempts to gather Muslims of the world altogether around Mahdi, peace be upon him, by relying on Islamic certainties, and you must cooperate with him in this good and blessed work, not make it more difficult for him by beating the drum for accusations of disbelief and blowing into the fire of division. We invite you and other Muslims of the world to “return to the pure and perfect Islam”; because it is the preparation of the ground for the advent of Mahdi, and the advent of Mahdi is the preparation of the ground for the earth to be filled with justice and equity after it has been filled with oppression and cruelty, and the is a happiness that there is no happiness greater than that. So join Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, support him in this great Islamic movement, and allow him to change your old disagreements into a union in the light of the government of Mahdi, peace be upon him. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 11]

( 48 )

God Almighty has clarified the duties of the human being toward the truth in one surah of His Book, and said: ﴿بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ۝ وَالْعَصْرِ ۝ إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ ۝ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ[1]; “In the name of God, the most Gracious, the Most Merciful; by time; Indeed, the human being is in loss; except for those who have faith, do righteous deeds, enjoin to the truth, and enjoin to patience”. This means that every human being has four duties toward the truth: the first is to know and accept it theoretically, and the is “faith” which is considered an individual duty; the second is to adhere to it and apply it practically, and the is a “righteous deed” which is considered an individual duty; the third is to invite others toward “faith”, in the sense of inviting them to know and accept the truth theoretically, and the is “enjoining to the truth” which is considered a social duty; the fourth is to invite others toward “righteous deeds”, in the sense of inviting them to adhere to the truth and apply it practically, and the is “enjoining to patience” which is considered a social duty. Based on this, your individual and social duty according to the Book of God Almighty is to know “the pure and perfect Islam”, toward which Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani invites, by studying in the school of this reforming scholar, believe in it with insight and sincerity and then apply it in your personal life, and inform others about it, so that it gradually becomes the thought, concern and ultimate goal of most Muslims, overshadows the worldview of worshippers of taghut, and prepares the ground for the advent of God’s Caliph on the earth and the supremacy of the Word of God over the word of others. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 14, appendix 1]

↑[1] . Al-Asr/ 1 to 3
( 49 )

Look around you; how many people you see that waste their best years of youth supporting stupid political games or insane false claims, but do not devote an hour to knowing the rational and Quranic movement “Return to Islam” and supporting its knowledgeable leader who does not make any claim about himself! Look around you again; how many people you see that pour a huge amount of wealth into the sea of their illusions and desires in the hope of gaining a reward and serving Islam, but do not spend a penny on supporting the preparation of the ground for the realization of the government of Mahdi, peace be upon him, and the earth to be filled with justice! They are the ones about whom God has informed, and said: ﴿قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا ۝ الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا[1]; “Say: Shall We inform you of the greatest losers in deeds?! They are the ones whose striving in the life of the world went astray, while they assumed they were doing good”.

Of course, there is no doubt that this office, in order to continue its intellectual and religious mission, does not depend on the support of anyone in the world except for its Lord, and it will continue on its straight path despite all conceivable troubles and difficulties until it reaches its sacred goal, which is to make Mahdi, peace be upon him, appear and bring him to power. Let those who have the power and wealth of the world but do not spend them in the way of God be deceived by their power and wealth; for we do not need them, and their power and wealth are of less value to us than the carcass of a dog. ﴿إِنَّ الْعَاقِبَةَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ[2]; “The good end belongs to the pious”, not to those with power and wealth, ﴿وَسَيَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا أَيَّ مُنْقَلَبٍ يَنْقَلِبُونَ[3]; “and those who have wronged will soon know to what end they will return”. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 13]

↑[1] . Al-Kahf/ 103 to 104
↑[2] . Hud/ 49
↑[3] . Ash-Shu‘ara/ 227
( 50 )

May God grant all Muslims success in knowing the truth with certainty and then being patient with it; because certainty and patience prepare the ground for the advent of Imams among them; as God Almighty has said: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا لَمَّا صَبَرُوا ۖ وَكَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يُوقِنُونَ[1]; “And We appointed of them Imams to guide with Our command when they were patient and certain of Our signs”, and it is clear that Mahdi, peace be upon him, is one of the greatest Imams, and praise be to God Who guided us to this, His peace and mercy be upon Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani who acted as an intermediary in this guidance. [An excerpt from Critique and Response 10]

↑[1] . As-Sajdah/ 24
( 51 )

It is hoped that Muslims’ view about Mahdi, his advent and his government will become an open and realistic view by the blessing of the movement of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani; because he is trying to correct their view about Mahdi and bring his advent and his government out of the darkness of illusions into the light of reality and objectivity. The is the practical preparation of the ground for the advent of Mahdi and his government, which is being carried out by only Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, and there is no mention of that anywhere but in his presence.

May God grant all Muslims success in understanding these profound teachings and joining the true preparers of the ground for the advent of Mahdi, and protect them from the plots of devils who are trying with all their means to prevent them from carrying out this obligatory and vital work. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 9]

( 52 )

We ask God to grant you and all Muslims success in protecting Mahdi, peace be upon him, instead of protecting others; because protecting others is a hardship that does not result in any good, but protecting Mahdi, peace be upon him, is a hardship in which there is the good of this world and the Hereafter, but where can be found a wise man who desires the good of this world and the Hereafter?! [An excerpt from Question and Answer 14]

( 53 )

We ask God to grant all Muslims the ability to understand these wisdom and invaluable facts, and soften the hearts of Muslim rulers to accept them, so that the ground for the advent of our master Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is prepared, and calamities and problems of the Islamic world end as soon as possible; because He has power over all things, and He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. [An excerpt from Question and Answer 10]