In a meeting with the director and a number of students of the Academy of Islamic Sciences in Germany, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi expressed his satisfaction with the emergence and spread of Islam in the West and stated: “It is quite pleasing to know that such a center is active in Germany, that is to say at the heart of Europe, and a number of our brothers and sisters are busy there studying Islamic sciences. We hope that such centers are also established in other areas and they expand their activities in scope’.
His eminence, then, referred to the auspicious birthday anniversary of Imam Mahdi (ʿa) and continued: ‘some assume that by Imam Mahdi (ʿa)'s arrival, the world will regress to the state of thousands of years before that time, and that the Imam will combat the disbelievers using a sword and riding a horse; these people believe that all modern weapons of the time will cease to function by the Imam’s arrival. Contrary to these false ideas, there are traditions which indicate that by the Imam’s arrival, human sciences will develop and grow significantly’.
He further added: “according to our traditions, postal service and paper mails will no longer be used in that time and the people on the east and the west of the world will be able to contact each other without these means. The judicial system will also be strengthened in that time in a way that all people’s deeds will be openly known and there will be no need for a system based on judges and trials’.
His eminence then referred to a tradition which indicates that only 2 of the 27 parts of knowledge is known by mankind and the other 25 parts will be taught to them after the advent of Imam Mahdi (ʿa); based on this tradition, human sciences will advance to a point in that time where very high-tech and advanced vehicles will be available for people to travel around the world very rapidly and the Imam himself will help to develop human science.
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi also asserted: “after the arrival of the Imam, the people of the world will have a very good and felicitous life because of the rapid progress of human sciences; we also hope that we will be alive in that time in order to serve the Imam (ʿa)’.
In the end, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi noted: ‘you are doing an important job in Germany in promoting the Islamic sciences and culture; I advise you to vigorously pursue your goals in this regard in the west by, first protecting the Shia youth from going astray, and second, by attracting other people to the Shia school of Islam’.
