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The 12th Imam The Mahdi and Iran Today

Iran is a fervently Shiite Islamic Republic with a 98 percent Muslim population and 89 percent of those Muslims identifying as Shiite according to the CIA World Factbook. Twelver Shiism is the largest branch of Shiite Islam, with about 85 percent of Shiite adhering to the belief in the 12th Imam. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, was a Twelver. So is the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Now, what does this mean? They believe that a series of Imams was appointed to carry on the Prophet Muhammads message and that these Imam rank above all other prophets except for Muhammad himself. The 12th, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is believed by these Shiites to have been born in present-day Iraq in 869 and never to have died, only gone into hiding. Twelvers—not other Shiites or Sunni Muslims—believe that al-Mahdi will return as a messiah with Jesus to bring peace to the world and establish Islam as the ruling faith across the globe. The apocalyptic catch? The Mahdi is expected to appear when the world is wracked by utter chaos and war. Many Sunnis also believe that the Mahdi will come in such a judgment day scenario, but believe that he has not been born yet. The Twelver beliefs have raised concern in conjunction with Irans steeped interest in furiously pressing forward with its nuclear program, combined with threats against Israel and the West. Critics of the Islamic Republic allege that Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader would even go so far as to hasten a nuclear showdown and cataclysmic strike—perhaps an attack on Israel and inevitable retaliation—to hasten the arrival of the 12th Imam. Ahmadinejad has even called for the reappearance of the 12th Imam from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly. During his speeches within Iran, Ahmadinejad has said that the main mission of the Islamic Revolution is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam. When NBC News Ann Curry interviewed Ahmadinejad in Tehran in September 2009, she asked him about the Mahdi: Curry: In your speeches, you pray for God to hasten the arrival of the hidden Imam, the Muslim messiah. Would you tell us, as I know you will speak about this at the general assembly, as well: What is your relationship with the hidden Imam, and how soon do you think before the second coming? Ahmadinejad: Yes, that’s true. I prayed for the arrival of the 12th Imam. The owner of the age, as we call him. Because the owner of the age is the symbol of the—justice and brotherly love prevailing around the world. When the Imam arrives, all of these problems will be resolved. And a prayer for the owner of the age is nothing but a wish for justice and brotherly love to prevail around the world. And it’s an obligation a person takes upon himself to always think about brotherly love. And also to treat others as equals. All people can establish such a connection with the Imam of the age. It’s roughly the same as the relationship which exists between Christians and the Christ. They speak with Jesus Christ and they are sure that Christ hears them and responds. Therefore, this is not limited to us only. Any person can talk with the Imam. Curry: You’ve said that you believe that his arrival, the apocalypse, would happen in your own lifetime. What do you believe that you should do to hasten his arrival? Ahmadinejad: I have never said such a thing. Curry: Ah, forgive me. Ahmadinejad: I—I—I was talking about peace. Curry: Forgive me. Ahmadinejad: What is being said about an apocalyptic war and—global war, things of that nature. This is what the Zionists are claiming. Imam†¦will come with logic, with culture, with science. He will come so that there is no more war. No more enmity, hatred. No more conflict. He will call on everyone to enter a brotherly love. Of course, he will return with Jesus Christ. The two will come back together. And working together, they would fill this world with love. The stories that have been disseminated around the world about extensive war, apocalyptic wars, so on and so forth—these are false.

My life after five years from now Free Essays

I am an adolescent who have just completed high school and has started attending college. My academic progress is satisfactory and I am getting good grades. By nature I may be considered a shallow person who takes things rather lightly. We will write a custom essay sample on My life after five years from now or any similar topic only for you Order Now I don’t go much deeper into any problem to really comprehend it. Although, I am gregarious and fun loving, basically I am an introvert and I keep my personal life sheltered as I don’t take people into confidence easily. I have a weak personality and lack self confidence. To camouflage this, I always try to be over friendly and talkative with my friends. But deep down, I don’t trust my friends and never share my innermost thoughts with them. If things don’t work out according to my expectations, I become a recluse, and refuse to discuss it with anyone. My outlook is conservative and can not accept any open show of affection easily. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure has totally blinded my vision and obstructed my rational thinking capacity. Although I am well aware of my drawbacks, I am unable to change for the better. Currently my vision about life is blurred by my short sightedness and lack of wisdom and experience. I would like to change these negative attributes and enhance my personality. The vision of my life five years from now is a complete transformation of my personality. I’ll accept my friends as they are and respect them as an individual. I’ll take some of my friends into confidence and share my problems and successes with them. I’ll always listen to their point of view before taking any difficult decision. I’ll shed my pessimistic and gloomy attitude and encounter any problem with a positive mind. I’ll acknowledge my fear, will analyse it and make a conscious effort to eliminate it from my system, in a slow but determined way. This negative personality trait affected me greatly and prevented me from taking right kind of decisions at the right moment. I’ll overcome fear with double determination and become a person with an independent personality, who can take right kind of decision at the right moment, and can dream, believe and act towards realising his cherished goal. Career-wise I have not thought of any particular profession which I would like to pursue within the course of next five years. While I’ll concentrate on my studies to ensure good grades, on spare times I would do odd jobs to earn some extra money. Since travelling excites me a lot, I would take up part time job in travel agencies such as tourist guide or interpreter which will take me to exotic tourist places. While accompanying the tourists, I’ll visit beautiful islands, see exotic landscapes of steep mountains, and lush green vegetations. Sometimes I’ll lie down in solitude on a sandy beach, and gaze at the blue azure sky. Associating with nature will give me a clear perspective on life and what it holds. I’ll shed my superficial self and emerge a more genuine person who will appreciate anything from beauty of nature to the beauty of a girl from aesthetic sense. This will help me to get into a permanent relationship, which till now is eluding me. I want to confidently go in the direction of my goal of transforming my personality within five years from now. Only time will tell how far I’ll be successful in changing my negative personality traits and become a person who is honest with himself and with others and have emotional strength, integrity of character, clarity of mind and confidence in others. If I fit the personality mentioned above within five years from now, my goal of personal transition will become a reality. Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   How to cite My life after five years from now, Essay examples

Visual Impairment Essay Example For Students

Visual Impairment Essay Vision ImpairmentsPeople catergorized as visually impaired range from individuals with mild visual losses to those with low vision to those who are totally blind (Winzer,370). Vision impairments does not necessarily mean a total loss of sight. Some visually impaired person can detect light, others can see shapes and forms, and others can see nothing at all. Generally, many different problems that interfere the retina to form image or the transmission of retinal images to the brain can cause blindness or vision impairment. It can be heredity or caused by disease or damage after birth. In some cases a specific reason cannot be determined. There are four major types of vision impairments. The first type are refractive errors. It is cause by the change of shape or size of the eyeball, conera or the lens. Myopia (short-sighted) and hyperopia (long-sighted) are two common examples. People with myopia or hyperopia cannot focus image accurately on the retina. Another example is astigmatism, it is caused by the abnormal curve shape of the cornera or the lens. And it can cause distorted or blurred vision. The second type are ocular motor problems. It is caused by irregular movement of the ocular muscles that control the movement of the eyeballs. It leads to the inability for the eyes to control focusing objects. Strasbismus is an example. This condition effects about 2 percent (2 out of 100) of all young children. Strabismus is a lack of coordinated muscle movement or focusing ability between the eyes, causing the eyes to point in different directions. One or both eyes may turn inward (crossed eyes) or outward (walleye). The eyes, the brain area that controls vision, and the muscles attached to the eyeball are involved. It result in the child that looks in certain directions, double vision (sometimes), vision in one eye only, with loss of depth perception. Strabismus can affect both sexes, all ages, but it usually begins during early childhood, frequently before age 5. If not corrected through therapy or surgery, crossed eyes can result in permanent loss of vision. The third type are eye diseases, it is caused by damage or disease before or after birth to one or more structure of the eye (Winzer, 374). One off the most common causes of blindness is cataracts. Cataracts are a clouding of the lens of the eye that keeps light from reaching retina. Resulting in badly blurred vision, double vision, sensitivity to bright lights and change in color vision. One eye is often more seriously affected than the other. It may be cause by chemical change in the lens. The exact cause is still unknown, but there are many factors that can accelerate cataract formation.These include an injury, either from a blow to the head or direct eye injury, other diseases exposure to radiation of any kind (x-rays, microwaves, or infrared rays) long-term use of a corticosteroid drug. A child may be born with cataracts or develop them at an early age. These cataracts, called congenital cataracts, may be caused by a genetic disorder such as down syndrome or from a condition the mother had during pregnancy such as German measles. The fourth type are other defects such as color blindness, photophobia or albinism. Color blindness is a inherited vision disorder which is often found in male rather than in female. Persons who have color blindness do not have one of the three cone cells which are responsible for receiving either blue, green and red. Therefore, people with color blindness are likely to confuse with red and green. But the condition is not serious enough to connect with visual impairments. Albinism is a hereditary disease. It must be pass thorugh from both parents, each of whom either has albinism or is a carrier of that trait. Albinism affects the production of melanin(Winzer,379). A lack of melanin in the retina, iris and choroid will cause the pupil to become in deep red color, the iris will become in grey, light blue or pink. A person with albinism will also suffer from photophobia, which is the extreme sensitivity to light. Bright light may decreases the persons visual acuity and may blinds the p ersons with albinism.