Iran's President Ahmadinejad, a veteran of the Islamic Republic's repressive Revolutionary Guard, took office 3 August 2005, after a surprise win in a June sham presidential election -- there are no democratic elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran. All candidates are prescreened by the Guardian Council before they are allowed to run for office. In practice, a president of Iran is already chosen through a farce process of giving the voters a chance to elect one of the men hand-picked from the regime's functionaries, as was the case with President Ahmadinejad. No sooner did President Ahmadinejad emerge from obscurity and assumed his new role as the head of the Executive Branch of the Islamic regime in Iran than he unleashed a torrent of venomous rhetoric against the United States and Israel. {C}

He proclaimed, "Israel must be wiped off the map," and that the Holocaust was a fabricated myth. He went a step farther and threatened Muslim leaders with consequences if they appeased Israel, "Any leader in the Islamic umma (community) who recognizes Israel faces the wrath of his own people." His hateful rhetoric aside, President Ahmadinejad has reported on events that are terribly strange, to say the least: Behaviors and statements that raise serious questions about his mental state. During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September of 2005, for instance, he claimed to have been enveloped by a light that made the entire audience focused on him for the duration without anyone blinking. More recently, during his visit to Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah was unable to move away, because of the strength of force emanated from Iran's president, so he contends.

President Ahmadinejad's repeated claims to his special connection with the supernatural forces, specifically those of the Shiite theology, need to be scrutinized with added concerns. Most recently, President Ahmadinejad has baffled the world by his 18-page letter addressed to President George W Bush. Lay people and experts alike are at a loss in their attempt to understand and decipher the significance, if any, of the letter -- a hodgepodge of religious, philosophical, historical and victimization phraseology that seem to bear very little relation to the present difficulties confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran on one side and the United States of America and much of the free world on the other. The enigma is not hidden in the letter. It’s in the act of writing it. The mere sending of the letter--to the most powerful man on earth (President Bush) has epochal historical precedence. In my view, President Ahmadinejad’s letter can be better understood when examined within his frame of mind and system of belief. The letter constitutes another exercise in a series of summons, invitations or ultimatums from a person who considers himself a spokesman for Islam to a wayward ruler...in this instance President Bush. This approach dates back to Prophet Muhammad himself who first called upon the infidels to embrace his faith or face his violent wrath.

President Ahmadinejad believes he is doing what the Prophet Mohammad commands him to do. He also revered point of emulation, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, also addressed a similar letter to another infidel, contemporary ruler, of his time; the former Secretary General of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Khomeini suggested that Gorbachev embrace Islam. The founder of Islam Muhammad has ordained; "Invite them to embrace Islam. If they refuse, then war upon them." Employing this practice, Islam subdued Persia and other parts of the world by the force of the sword. Perhaps Iran’s new presidential letter to President Bush follows the same strategy where he challenges him and the people of the United States to renounce the Christian faith and attain salvation by embracing Islam. "Will you not accept this invitation?" asks President Ahmadinejad in the letter. President Bush has repeatedly called Islam a “religion of peace.” Has this mistaken idea emboldened Mr. Ahmadinejad? Has this acknowledgement by President Bush caused Iran's president to issue his summons?. Is history repeating itself? Is a summon of convert ideology a prelude to use of force, as has been the case in numerous Islamic conquests? What makes matters terribly dangerous are the modern instruments of force and the willingness to use them. Centuries ago, the sword in the hand of the Islamists carved a huge empire. Now, with the weapons of mass destruction, the entire world is at peril.

If we dig a little deeper into the history books, we observe such an invitation was also sent (at the time considered to be a powerful man) the King of Kings, the Light of Aryans, Yazdgird the III, King of Persia. Perhaps that was the defining moment for Islam and its conquest of the world. It is said nearly 1,400 years ago that Umar Ibn Al Khattab, the second of four Islamic Caliphs sent a letter to King Yazdgird III of Persia to commit Bei'at (Joining with caliph and accepting Islam.) Umar wrote, "Once upon a time your land ruled half the known world but what has it come down to now? Your troops are defeated on all fronts and your nation is bound to collapse. I offer you a way to rescue yourself. Start praying to Allah, a single union God, the only God who created everything in the universe. We bring you and the world his message. Worship, Allah the only true God." If we replace King Yazdgird III, with President Bush, Persia with the United States, and Persians with United States citizens, and the signature of Umar with Ahmadinejad, the new president of the Islamic Republic, the outcome could look horrific. But there was also King Yazdgird III response to Umar. Mentally replace Yazdgird's name with President Bush and Ahura Mazda with Jesus Christ, and then you'll get the picture: "In the name of Ahura Mazda, creator of Life and Intelligence: You, in your letter wrote that you want to direct us towards your God, Allah without having the true knowledge of who we are and who we worship.

It is amazing that you occupy the position of Caliph (Ruler) of Arabs, yet your knowledge is the same as a lowly Arab rambler, roaming in deserts of Arabia, and the same as a desert tribal man! "You suggest we worship a united and single God without knowing that for thousands of years Persians have worshiped the mono God and they pray to him five times a day! "When we established the tradition of hospitality and good deeds in the world and we waved the flag of Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, in our hands, you and your ancestors were roaming the deserts, eating lizards, for you had nothing else to feed yourselves and burying your innocent daughters alive." (An old Arab tradition, because they preferred male children to female) "You behead God's children, even the prisoners of war, rape women, attack the caravans, mass murder, kidnap people's wives and steal their property! Your hearts are made of stone; we condemn all these evils which you do. How can you teach us Godly Ways when you commit these actions”? "Is it Allah who commands you to murder, pillage and to destroy? Is it you the followers of Allah who do this in his name? Or is it both”? ”Tell us. With all your military campaigns, barbarianism, murder and pillage in the name of Allah O Akbar, what have you taught to this Muslim Army? What knowledge have you taught the Muslims that you also insist on teaching it to non-Muslims? What cultures have you learned from your Allah, now that you want to force teach it to others?" "I beg you to remain with your Allah O Akbar in your deserts and do not move close to our civilized cities, for your beliefs are 'much fearful' and your behavior is 'Most Barbaric'!" Thus the war began and the Arab army under its ruthless commander, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas approached. The Persian Army was defeated in the decisive “Battle of Qadisiyah”. Rostam Farokhzad, the courageous Iranian general was murdered and Yazdgird's last attempt to gather forces to counter attack fell short, hence Islam's defining moment was born.

The Arabs had come to convert the Persians by hook or by crook. "La ilah ilallah Mohammed ur Rasulallah" (There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet.) Those who resisted uttering those words were faced with death or burdened with heavy taxes and other unjust punishments. It is the belief in the same 'Allah' that brought upon the Iranian people the greatest catastrophe of the Islamic revolution. This is also the same belief that brought the twin towers down in the United States of America. This belief in this Allah will not stop until the entire world bows to its will. Will America follow Persia?

In many ways, America resembles the great, ancient Persian Empire. Like the ancient Persian Empire once was, the United States is now the greatest government in the world. Like the Persians who were the first world managers and the most tolerant empire-builders, America, with its rich constitution, is also the most tolerant and benevolent nation in the world. Ancient Persian kings released the Jews from Babylonian captivity, financed the reestablishment of their nation, and restored their national religion. (Zionists, they were!) The United States has basically done the same. The United States is the reincarnation of Persia, an extension of the Achaemenid Empire. Tyrannical Islam eviscerated the spiritual life of tolerant old Persia. Is history going to repeat itself? It has taken decades for the Persians (modern Iranians) to recover their spirit. Zoroastrianism, the original Iranian religion, was not an effective barrier against the radical religion from the Arabian Desert.

Is Christianity going to withstand Islam on its second rush of world conquest? The United States as it stands for democracy is the last haven of hope for which humanity can flourish. Today, after 1,400 years, Islam is again the greatest threat to the existence of the free world and the civilization of Christianity. Persians underestimated the destructive power of Islam; let us hope and pray that the United States does NOT underestimate the destructive power of Islam the second time.

 

Amil Imani is an Iranian-born American Citizen and pro- democracy activist living in the United States of America. Imani is a columnist, literary translator, poet, and novelist, who speaks out for the struggling people of his native land, Iran.

2006-05-15 16:50:34
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