The Most Important Characteristics of the Mahdist Society Are the Establishment of Justice, Intellectual Growth, and Moral Perfection: Remarks of Professor Sayyid Mujtaba Nur Mufidi on the Occasion of the Birth Anniversary of Hazrat Wali al-Asr (May Allah Hasten His Return)
The most important characteristics of the Mahdist society are the establishment of justice, intellectual growth, and moral perfection.
Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) states: Idha qama Qa’imuna wada’a yadahu ‘ala ru’usi al-‘ibadi fa-jama’a bihi ‘uqulahum wa akmala bihi akhlaqahum;
“When our Qa’im rises, he will place his hand upon the heads of the servants, gathering thereby their intellects and perfecting thereby their morals.”
This points to a highly critical matter regarding the era of reappearance and the Mahdist society. That Hazrat Wali al-Asr (may our souls be sacrificed for him) upon his reappearance fights against tyrants and oppressors—those who trampled upon the rights of the people and demonstrated pride and arrogance in this world—and hastens to the aid of the oppressed, the deprived, and those whose rights have been trampled, is one of the most prominent aspects of the Mahdist society. Imam al-Mahdi (peace be upon him) is responsible for such an important task. However, one of the crucial characteristics of the Mahdist society observed during the era of reappearance is intellectual growth and moral perfection.
That Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) states: “The Hazrat places his hand upon the heads of the servants, and morals are perfected, and intellects reach actualization and are gathered—meaning they reach their highest peak”—is certainly not meant as an ontological intervention (tasarruf al-takwini). It is not that the Hazrat physically and ontologically perfects the morals of society by placing his hand, or ontologically causes the intellects of the people to grow through a guardianship-based intervention (tasarruf al-wilayi). Rather, the meaning of the narration is that during the reign of the Imam of the Time (peace be upon him), conditions are prepared where morals and intellect grow. The ruler and the government exert all their power for the intellectual and moral growth, welfare, security, prosperity, and perfection of the people of that society.
If this were to occur through ontological intervention, what virtue would remain for the Imam and the people? The Imam reappears under conditions in which society suffers from problems in both of these aspects—both intellectually and morally; both in terms of theoretical wisdom (al-hikmah al-nazariyyah) and in terms of practical wisdom (al-hikmah al-amaliyyah).
Unknowns are unveiled, both in the domain of legislation (tashri’) and in the ontological world (takwin); many of the unknowns of this world become known, because he himself is the embodiment of all knowledge, possesses divinely inspired knowledge (al-ilm al-ladunni), and explains the realities—explaining many realities of the Sharia.
If you recall, in the discussion of principles, we mentioned that Imam Khomeini believed that the promulgated ruling (hukm al-insha’i)—meaning a ruling whose prerequisites of actualization (fi’liyyah) have not been prepared—reaches actualization during the era of reappearance; meaning, promulgated rulings are rulings that remain in the stage of promulgation (insha’) until the reappearance of Hazrat Wali al-Asr (may Allah hasten his return).
Naturally, in that stage of human life, human potentials, both morally and spiritually, must manifest collectively; otherwise, individuals separately—saints, believers, the pious, the Infallibles, and the prophets—have all strived in these two directions. Human beings individually throughout history, both chosen and non-chosen, strived to actualize these potentials, achieved intellectual growth, acquired precise and correct cognition of the universe of existence, and in terms of moral virtues and practical wisdom, placed all their rebellious inner faculties—encompassing both the irascible faculty (al-quwwah al-ghadabiyyah) and the concupiscible faculty (al-quwwah al-shahwiyyah)—under the dominion of their intellect and cognition.
However, on that day, the perfection of an individual or individuals alone is no longer the objective; rather, society and human assembly—meaning human beings collectively—reach intellectual perfection and moral growth, and one of the important responsibilities and missions of Imam al-Mahdi (peace be upon him) is bringing the Islamic and Mahdist society to perfection. This is one of the most important characteristics of the Mahdist society.
The Mahdist society is a society in which performing rituals and adhering to the rulings of the Sharia flows, but this adherence stems from within moral and intellectual perfections. That society is one in which all human individuals live in accordance with the standard of intellect in the true sense of the word—not deficient human intellect and empirical intellect. They interact with one another, have relations, and judge and evaluate one another; they live and interact with one another in accordance with the standard of divine moral virtues. This is the Mahdist society.
To what extent are we close to this society, and to what extent do we possess cognition of this society? We, who claim expectation (intizar) and consider ourselves waiting, to what extent do we move on this scale?
I must state that we are very far from this important standard of the Mahdist society, and it is a source of regret that in our society—a society that celebrates the birth anniversary of the Imam of the Time on Mid-Sha’ban, a society that claims dedication and devotion to Hazrat Wali al-Asr—is distant from moral perfections. That feelings, illusions, and excitements rule over us is distant from the Mahdist society.
We seminary students, we who are in the seminary, if we wish to help the people in their dedication to that ideal society and strengthen this spirit, the path is—alongside that primary mission, namely standing against oppression and the oppressor and defending the oppressed, which is in itself the greatest virtue—to commit ourselves to these moral perfections. This strengthens the dedication of the people; meaning, if one who claims to be a soldier of the Imam of the Time is a symbol of moral perfections, a symbol of honesty, sincerity, and purity, a symbol of affection, kindness to others, and benevolence, this practically steers the people toward the ideal of Mahdism.
This is not merely by tongue and slogans. Truly, to what extent are we committed to the issue of honesty and truthfulness as opposed to lying and falsehood? How much do we pay attention to this subject, to not lie to one another? It is indeed strange; indeed, one occasionally sees that those who bear the banner of being the soldiers of the Imam of the Time—these are trials and tests—and who bear this medal upon their chest and this sign upon their forehead to be recognized as soldiers of the Imam of the Time, are severely estranged from these matters. What expectation is this, in which lies, accusations, and insults stand at the top of all affairs? Truly, where are we going and what are we doing? We unintentionally strike at the roots of the people’s beliefs.
The ideal society is a society in which justice, intellectual growth, and moral perfection surge, and these are not realized ontologically with a single glance or a placement of the hand, all at once, in a single moment, and overnight, such that society is turned upside down and all human beings who were full of pollution, loaded with defect and ignorance, and polluted with moral vices suddenly become good people. No; the pillars of society and the Imam of the Time himself direct all their efforts toward these matters: establishing justice, intellectual growth, and perfecting moral virtues—these are the features and characteristics of the Mahdist society.
Expectation and preparing the ground for the reappearance of the Hazrat depend on these very matters. How can we direct the people toward the Imam of the Time (PBUH) through lying? How can we direct the people toward the Imam through these behaviors? Therefore, our responsibility is exceptionally heavy, and I hope that God the Almighty grants us this success so that we can prepare the grounds for that ideal society, upon which the eyes of hope of all people are set.