Question 100 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

My name is Ahmed. I used to live in the city of Basra in southern Iraq. I completed my academic studies and received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. I then moved to the holy city of Najaf and lived there to study the religious sciences. After examining the study circles and curriculum in the seminary of Najaf, I found the teaching to be poor-at least for me, or in my view-and also found a major defect in the curriculum. They study Arabic, logic, philosophy, principles of jurisprudence, theology-beliefs-and jurisprudence-religious rulings-but they never study the Noble Quran or the noble Sunna, meaning the narrations of the Messenger Muhammad (s) and the Imams (a). Nor do they study the divine character with which a believer must be adorned. I therefore decided to seclude myself in my house and study their sciences on my own without anyone’s assistance. I was merely among them, maintaining contact with some of them while they maintained contact with me. The reason I joined the religious seminary in Najaf was that I saw Imam al-Mahdi (a) in a vision. He commanded me in it to go to the religious seminary in Najaf and told me in the vision what would happen to me. Everything he told me in the vision did in fact occur. Q2: What are the principal goals of your call? A: The goal of the call is the goal of the prophets (a)-Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad: that the true divine unity pleasing to Allah spread, and that the earth be filled with equity and justice after it has been filled with oppression and injustice. Q3: When and where did you begin the call, and what were the circumstances at the time? A: The call began at the end of 1999 CE in the religious seminary in Najaf. It began spreading publicly about ten months before the tyrant fell. The tyrant Saddam tried to arrest and kill me, but Allah, through His bounty and favor upon me, protected me (^[192]). Q4: You stated that you studied in the religious seminary in Najaf. Which scholars taught you, and did you complete the studies? A: I was in the religious seminary in Najaf and among its scholars as Saint Mary (a) was in the Temple and among the Jewish scholars. Q5: What steps did you follow in reforming the religious seminary, and did they succeed? A: My attempt to reform the religious seminary was at the beginning of the call, before it became public, and focused upon three areas: 1. Scholarly reform, for which I used two means: The first was writing a book entitled The Path to Allah. It had a good effect. Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi was influenced by it, admired it, and wanted to republish it, as some sheikhs and Sayyids among his followers told me at the time. The second was speaking and discussing with students and scholars the scholarly defect that existed. Those who believed in me, and some who were influenced by my words and the truth I was saying, assisted me in this. 2. Practical reform, concerning enjoining good and forbidding evil. I will give you an example: when the tyrant Saddam defiled the Quran by writing it in his impure blood-while Muslims agree that blood is impure and the Quran prohibits its defilement-I called at the time for the scholars to take a position, at least by issuing a statement. They excused themselves on grounds of dissimulation, for their own lives were dearer to them than the Quran. Had they believed that there is no power except through Allah, they would have taken a position and been certain that Allah would defend them. I personally took a position. I denounced this malicious deed by the tyrant Saddam and said repeatedly in my sermons at gatherings that Saddam wrote his own death with his hand when he wrote the Quran in his impure blood. Instead of assisting me, they began distancing themselves from me, and one of them expelled me politely! He feared that if Saddam seized me to execute me, he would execute him with me because he had heard what I said against the tyrant Saddam! In any event, in this area-practical reform-I found no response from them. 3. Financial reform, concerning spending charitable funds on the poor. This was the final stage before the call became public. I found very many students of the religious seminary who supported me in this: very few for the sake of the poor, and most because they themselves suffered from discrimination in financial disbursements practiced in the religious seminary. Some small results were achieved in this area after I personally, or some of my Supporters among the seminary students, engaged in bitter negotiations with the religious authorities in Najaf, including Sayyid al-Sistani, Sayyid Muhammad Said al-Hakim, and Sheikh Muhammad Ishaq al-Fayyad. The most verbally responsive was Sheikh al-Yaqoubi. He did not argue, but acknowledged the error and said, ‘We need financial reform,’ when one of those who believed in me at that time reminded him of the financial policy of the Commander of the Believers, Ali (a). In any event, the immediate results in all these areas were slight, and the people did not wish to take steps forward (^[193]). Q6: What was your relationship with some of the well-known religious authorities in Najaf and elsewhere, and what is it now? A: It was not bad. Now most of them call for my arrest or killing, and some have publicly ruled that my blood may be shed, such as al-Haeri in Iran (^[194]). Q7: Did Saddam’s regime attempt to pursue you? Please mention this briefly. A: Yes. They arrested some who had a connection with me even though they did not believe in me. After the call was announced, they even arrested a number of seminary students who had no connection to me; they were merely interrogating them in an effort to reach and arrest me. Praise be to Allah, who disgraced Saddam and his soldiers and sent them back disappointed. Q8: What is your view of the war that brought down Saddam’s regime, the American occupation, and the current political process? A: In a divine narration from Allah, Glorious is He: ‘The oppressor is a sword through whom I take vengeance and upon whom I take vengeance’ (^[195]). Saddam was a tyrant and received his recompense from Allah by the sword. As for appointment by the people, I do not believe in it. Rather, I believe that Allah, Glorious and Exalted, appoints the prophets and vicegerents (a), even if the people dislike it (^[196]). Q9: Did you participate in the elections or government in any way, and what is your relationship with the government? A: We did not participate in the elections or government in any way. From time to time the government demolishes one of the Supporters’ places of worship and arrests some of them. Most recently, the Supporters’ office in Najaf was closed and dozens of Supporters in Najaf were arrested before the events of al-Zarka. Among the arrested Supporters was Sayyid Hasan al-Hammami, one of Najaf’s senior scholars and son of the late religious authority Sayyid Muhammad Ali al-Hammami. Q10: What is your relationship with the parties and political movements present in the Iraqi arena-the Supreme Council, Dawa, the Sadrist movement, Fadila, and others? A: Like all other people, they are invited to believe in this call. Q11: Do you have followers in other countries? A: Yes: in Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco, Najd and the Hijaz-the Arabian Peninsula-Lebanon, China, Australia, Canada, England, Sweden, the United States of America, and other countries. Q12: I heard that you have followers from the Sunnis, Christians, and other religions. Please explain how this occurred and give examples if there are any. A: Most of these people believed after meeting Supporters abroad who explained the call to them, or after viewing the website. Many of them saw visions in their sleep and believed, or they had evidence from the unseen. As an example, this is a message from a Christian person in Egypt who believed in the call and sent it to the Supporter brothers over the Internet: Name: Emmanuel Raphael. Country: Egypt. Message: ‘Your Excellency, the envoy of the Savior, I have a letter for you written 322 years ago by Bishop Sarkis Mikha the Baptist, preserved and sealed. Although I have been unable to solve its riddles, Your Excellency’s name is clear in it. Please inform me of the appropriate address. With my respects.’ Emmanuel. Age: 71. Q13: What is your view of what is called the resistance and similar groups, and of sectarian violence and displacement? A: Is there a rational person who respects his own mind and calls the killing of people on roads, in schools, universities, and marketplaces resistance? Q14: Why did some political bodies accuse your movement of being behind the events of al-Zarka? What were their motives? A: When they demolished the Supporters’ places of worship in Karbala and Najaf and closed the office in Najaf, they prevented the media from filming or reporting the event. When the tribulation of al-Zarka occurred and some media reported the demolition, closing of the office, and arrest of the Supporters, they tried to cover up their crimes by blaming the events of al-Zarka on the Supporters, so they could say, ‘The Supporters deserved what we had already done to them.’ Praise be to Allah, the truth was exposed and their crimes became clear. Nevertheless, to this day the government arrests some Supporters, the office in Najaf remains closed, and the Supporters are not permitted to reopen it (^[197]). Q15: Some accuse the Supreme Council, the Badr Organization, and even the Iranian regime of attempting to suppress opposing Shia movements. What is your view? A: Concerning this council and its branches, I will mention an incident so the account is documented. In the previous month of Dhu al-Hijja, about two months ago, a conference was held in Najaf. At this conference, some representatives of the religious authorities demanded that this call be fought. This statement was broadcast on satellite channels. A few days after this demand, the oppressive authorities in Najaf attacked and arrested the Supporters and closed the office. Q16: Some claim that the ‘Mahdist movement’ engages in misguided and deviant acts. What is your answer? A: If by the Mahdist movement you mean the Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (a), I personally have seen nothing but good from them. Many are devout worshippers who enliven the night with prayer and the day with fasting. They do not disobey Allah or commit indecencies. They enjoin good and forbid evil. They believe in Allah; in all His prophets and messengers (a); in the heavenly books brought by the prophets (a)-the Quran, Torah, and Gospel; in the angels and the unseen; and in the Lesser and Greater Resurrections. If the people regard this as misguidance and deviation, then what are guidance and the straight path? Most of them formerly followed the scholars; some were from the Badr Corps, the Dawa Party, or the Sadrist movement; and some are well-known scholars. The truth then became clear to them and they followed it. Merely because they entered the truth through evidence pleasing to Allah, do they deserve to be defamed through lies, slander, and falsehood? I will give you an example of this falsehood and lying to which I was personally subjected. Several months ago, on the Iranian Al-Kawthar satellite channel’s program The Promised Mahdi, they hosted Sheikh Ali al-Korani. Almost the entire episode was devoted to speaking about me and distorting the image of the call. Among the things Sheikh Ali al-Korani said was, ‘Ahmed Alhasan says that he married his sister to Imam al-Mahdi.’ He knows with certainty that I never said this, and he knows that he is lying, but despite his old age and the turban he wears upon his head, he is not ashamed to lie and speak falsehood (^[198]). Q17: Several movements claim Mahdism, such as the groups of al-Hasani, al-Marsoumi, the Soldiers of Heaven, and others. Is there something that unites them? A: Like all other people, they are invited to believe in this call. A group of followers of Mahmoud al-Sarkhi al-Hasani joined this call after the truth became clear to them. The existence of these movements alongside the truth is like the existence of the Samaritan and Balaam ibn Baura alongside Allah’s messenger Moses (a), and the existence of Musaylima the Liar, al-Aswad, and Sajah alongside Allah’s messenger Muhammad (s). All of these were paths of Satan for misleading people away from the truth represented by the vicegerents and messengers (a). Q18: What is your view of Sayyid al-Sistani? A: Like all other people, he is invited to believe in this call. Many of those who emulated him believed in this call after the truth became clear to them. Q19: What is the story behind your choosing the Star of David as the movement’s symbol? A: It was Allah’s choice, not mine. The six-pointed star is the Star of David (a), who was a prophet sent by Allah, and we are the inheritors of the prophets (^[199]). Q20: Have your followers carried weapons, even in self-defense? A: Until now, no, despite the fact that forces affiliated with the Iraqi government stormed and demolished their places of worship in Najaf and Karbala, closed the office in Najaf, and arrested-and continue to arrest-some of them. Q21: How do you fund your activities, publications, and the like? A: Through donations from the Supporters. Their number is not small inside and outside Iraq, praise be to Allah. Q22: Where are your Supporters concentrated? A: In Iraq, some Gulf states, and Iran. Q23: What are the next steps? Do you fear arrest or assassination by the Iraqi government or other parties? A: On Al-Iraqiya satellite channel-a media channel funded by the Iraqi government that presents and defends the government’s position-during a news program a few days after the events of al-Zarka, after it had become clear that I had no connection to them, they telephoned a person who ruled that I must be killed. Neither the program’s presenter nor the government-affiliated channel denounced this statement. This indicates their approval of it, and I think it clearly declares their intentions. Q24: Where is Your Eminence now? A: In Iraq. Q25: Is there anything else you would like to discuss? A: I would like to address the Christian people in America and the West: You who await Jesus (a), have you read in the Gospel the words of Jesus (a): ‘But now I am going to Him who sent me, and none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” Yet because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When that one comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Concerning sin: “because they do not believe in me”; concerning righteousness: “because I am going to my Father and you will see me no more”; and concerning judgment: “because the ruler of this world” has been judged. I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. But when that one-the Spirit of Truth-comes, he will guide you into all truth, because he will not speak from himself; rather, whatever he hears, he will speak’ (^[200]). Thus Jesus (a) gives glad tidings of me in the Gospel that you acknowledge and read. I am the messenger, the Comforter of Allah’s prophets and messengers. If you are searching for the truth, this is the truth, and it has come.