December 5, 2018 -- Salman Masalha on Iran's Messianic War and the Temple Mount

Salman Masalha

I came across an opinion article entitled, “Iran’s Messianic War,” written by Salman Masalha dated January 6, 2018.

According to Salman Masalha, the Iranian religious leaders believe that the founding of the Islamic revolution and the establishment of the Iranian-Islamic state (1979) prepares the way for the appearance of Mahdi.  The Islamic revolution brought the ayatollahs to power and awakened their messianic hopes, or as Masalha calls them “messianic demons from their sleep.”  These leaders dreamed of extending the greatness of the Iranian revolution and to this end conducted their forgien affairs to “export the revolution beyond their borders.”

For this purpose, according to Masalha, the leaders took up the cause of “Palestine and Al-Quds [Temple Mount].”  The name “Palestine” was turned into a hammer with which “to bash the incompetent Arab leaders.”  The ayatollahs used the cause of Palestine to gain support from surrounding Arabs, who are sympathetic to the aspirations of the Palestinians. 

Masalha argues that Syria is important to Iran for messianic reasons because according to Shi’ite thought, Mahdi’s return is associated with a civil war that will take place in Syria and will result in hundreds of thousands of deaths.  It stars off small and then widens and intensifies.  Each time it appears to be ending in one location, it breaks out in another.  This takes place until Mahdi appears.

According to Masalha, Shi’ite traditions (associated with Ali the fourth caliph) refer to those who carry the yellow-flag, who come from the west and join in the war in Syria.  Some associate this tradition with the color of the Hezbollah’s flag.  Thus when the yellow-flag carrying fighters are joined by Iranian forces against the Shi’ite enemies in Damascus, this is a sign of Mahdi’s appearance. 

Masalha argues that Islamic Shi’ites could not care less about Palestine and Jerusalem from a religious point of view.  Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (المسجد الاقصى‎) on the Temple Mount carry “no religious significance to the Shi’ites.”  For them Al-Aqsa means “a mosque of above” that is located in the sky and not in Jerusalem.  For the Shi’ites, the Great Mosque of Al-Kufa, associated with Ali, is holier and more important than the one on the Temple Mount. 

The Shi’ite end of days scenario has a catch says Masalha.  Arabs will not enjoy the appearance of Mahdi.  When he comes only the sword will speak to the Arabs.  Masalha questions,

Can these religious traditions explain the atrocities committed by the Alawi/Alawite regime (Bashar al-Assad?), supported by Iran and Hezbollah, against the Syrian “Arabs,” who belong to the Sunni faction?

According to Masalha,

When the Shi’ite Mahdi appears, he will bear God’s explicit name in Hebrew. He will also hold Moses’ staff, wear Solomon’s seal and carry the Israelites’ Ark of the Covenant, in which the Divine Presence (shekhina) dwells. With the ark with the Divine Presence he will conquer cities and countries and impose law and justice in the world.

If this is the state of affairs in the end of days, it seems all the commotion between the Tehran regime and the Jerusalem regime is over nothing. All that remains is to call for an Israeli-Iranian messianic convention to sort out the dispute between the Shi’ite messiah and the Jewish one.

It appears the disagreements are not significant and the gaps can easily be bridged. Surely the Jewish messiah’s followers can explain to the Shi'ite Messiah's followers that they came to the wrong address.