You invite people toward the Mahdi, while they do not feel the need for him. Some believe the world will be reformed if people are reformed scientifically and culturally, without the need for the Mahdi. They cite as evidence the situation of advanced countries such as Japan and European countries; because these countries have advanced to this extent without having a Mahdi. The problems exist only in the Middle East and third-world countries that are scientifically and culturally backward, indicating that the problems may have other causes and have nothing to do with the Mahdi’s non-advent.
This is a doubt held by people who do not know the meaning of advancement or the situation of the countries they consider advanced; because advancement does not mean only material comfort in the life of the world, and these countries are not without problems! To understand this, the following points must be noted:
Firstly, whoever believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment knows that the human being has not been created to live in luxury and eat like animals. Rather, he has been created to achieve the perfection that Allah has made possible for him in both the material and spiritual aspects. This is the advancement that befits humanity. There are many wealthy and self-indulgent humans who enjoy all kinds of amenities, yet have no share in knowledge and morals, and there are many poor and weak humans who suffer from hunger and cold, yet possess a great deal of knowledge and morals! Clearly, it is impossible to consider the former as advanced and the latter as backward in an absolute manner; because if the former is advanced in one aspect, it is backward in another, and if the latter is backward in one aspect, it is advanced in another, while the advancement of the latter is better than the advancement of the former, and the backwardness of the former is worse than the backwardness of the latter, contrary to the perception of the ignorant. In other words, people have not been created solely for eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse so that the most advanced among them would be those who eat, drink, and have sexual intercourse the most. Rather, they have been created to achieve comprehensive perfection in every aspect of life. This is the “justice” that is not found in these materially advanced countries; because while they may have advanced in the material aspect, they have fallen behind in the spiritual aspect, to the point of becoming centers of disbelief and sin, and this is sufficient as backwardness. Similarly, this justice is not found in weak countries either; because while they may have advanced relatively in the spiritual aspect, they have fallen behind in the material aspect, to the point of becoming places of suffering for their inhabitants. This means that all countries share the need for a reformer to reform them.
Secondly, anyone with knowledge of history and politics knows that the advancement of advanced countries in the material aspect has been derived from their oppression and plunder of weak countries over the past two centuries. Clearly, advancement built on oppression and plunder is not considered true advancement; as His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, has eloquently explained in the book Return to Islam and said:
Undoubtedly, the strength of disbelievers in recent centuries, on the one hand, has become possible by the exploitation of the weak and the plunder of their lands, and on the other hand, it has been formed based on materialism and separation of religion and the world, and therefore, although it has strengthened them materially, it has weakened them spiritually; to the extent that most of them have lost their individual, familial, and social health, destroyed the foundations of morality and the infrastructures of culture, and left no possibility for human development in intellectual and ethical aspects. In addition, since they have become arrogant and self-absorbed because of their exclusive and one-dimensional strength, they have been increasingly hated by oppressed and poor nations of the world and have sown the seeds of enmity and hatred in deprived lands, especially in Africa and the Middle East. It is clear that this situation, although in the short run creates some limited benefits for some people, in the long run, it will cause unlimited losses for the global community including those people; to the extent that in general estimation, it cannot be considered useful to anyone; as it can be seen that their material strength has not reduced their problems overall, but rather it has increased them in various fields and created new and greater dangers for them; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَلَا يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا سَبَقُوا ۚ إِنَّهُمْ لَا يُعْجِزُونَ﴾[1]; “And those who disbelieve must not think that they have surpassed; they will not be able to cause failure” ... Based on this, the fascination with their material strength is neither justified nor rational; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَلَا تَمُدَّنَّ عَيْنَيْكَ إِلَى مَا مَتَّعْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجًا مِنْهُمْ زَهْرَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا لِنَفْتِنَهُمْ فِيهِ ۚ وَرِزْقُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى﴾[2]; “And do not gaze toward what We have given some couples of them to enjoy, the splendor of the life of the world by which We test them, and the provision of your Lord is better and more enduring,” and said: ﴿لَا يَغُرَّنَّكَ تَقَلُّبُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي الْبِلَادِ مَتَاعٌ قَلِيلٌ ثُمَّ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ ۚ وَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ﴾[3]; “Do not be deceived by the movement of disbelievers throughout the lands; it is a brief enjoyment, then their abode is Hell, which is an evil resting place.”[4]
He has also said in another place:
It is evident that most of the disbelievers, especially in Western countries, due to being away from the centers of civilization, are culturally in a state close to savagery and have not grown sufficiently humanely, and therefore, they need to be educated and trained by Muslims. As before, on the sidelines of the nine crusades, after regretting their foolish act of burning Muslims’ libraries, they learned their experimental and mathematical sciences, brought them into their dark and ruined lands, and set them as the foundation of the industrial development of Europe; but they were not smart enough to learn the humanities of Muslims, and for this reason, their culture did not develop in proportion to their economy and remained at the same low and primary level; to the extent that the culture that governs the world of disbelief today, especially in Europe and North America, is a perfect example of modern barbarism, formed based on unbridled animal instincts and in conflict with natural and human rules, and can be compared with the wild culture of some primitive tribes. The mainstay of this culture, if it can be called culture, is hedonism and debauchery, formed by a fusion of Roman nobility and Greek anthropocentrism and in stark contrast to Eastern spirituality and Islamic rationality. Therefore, it is very strange and unfortunate that some Muslims, disillusioned with their own divine culture, which has all the means necessary for their development, have turned to following a group of thugs who, for example, consider abandoning chastity a right and leaving protective jealousy a duty, have no pride other than drinking, dancing, and nudity, and defend the rights of prostitutes and homosexuals while ignoring the rights of the hungry and the homeless; while, as a rule, primitive people like them deserve to be educated and trained by Muslims in order to get free of animalism and learn the manners of human life![5]
Thirdly, the material advancement of some countries while most of the countries around them suffer from poverty and destitution is not true advancement, but rather it is the ultimate backwardness; like a wealthy, self-indulgent man who enjoys all kinds of amenities, while he has neighbors who die of hunger! It is clear that intellectuals do not praise such a man, nor do they consider him free from the need for one who advises and reforms him. Rather, they reproach him severely and consider him more in need of an adviser and reformer than his neighbors! True advancement includes all people, and all of them can benefit from it without discrimination. This is the advancement that the Mahdi will establish.
Fourthly, the backwardness of weak countries is not just their problem; because it directly or indirectly affects materially advanced countries, inevitably creating numerous problems for them; considering that the separation of countries from each other is not a real and complete separation, but rather a nominal and incomplete separation that does not prevent them from influencing and being influenced by each other.
This means that materially advanced countries will not achieve the advancement they hope for as long as there are weak countries around them; as His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, has explained in the book Geometry of Justice and said:
Real justice is fundamentally and necessarily “global”; in the sense that it cannot be created in one part of the world apart from the other parts, because on the one hand, the fragmentation of the world is nominal and what is real is “the unified global system”, and on the other hand, none of the so-called parts of the world is separate from the other parts; rather within a system of influencing and being influenced, they are interconnected and dependent on each other. Therefore, real justice is “absolute global justice.”[6]
These important points leave no room for doubt that all people need a reformer to set their affairs right, and he is the Mahdi whom Allah has promised them through the tongues of His Prophets[7].