The 15th of Sha’ban, the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, marks the birthday of Imam Mahdi, the 12th Shi’a Imam who is believed to reappear along with Prophet Isa (Jesus) in the end times to fill the world with justice.

This day is celebrated by millions in the Muslim world who eagerly await the return of the savior of humanity. 

The advent of a promised savior is a universal belief that is not exclusive to Muslims. Almost all religions have prophesied the arrival of a savior who will rescue humanity from injustice and oppression. 

What makes the 15th of Sha’ban different from other religious occasions is the fact that this auspicious day is concerned with the ultimate destination of humankind’s trajectory.

It revives hope in the hearts of the believers and reminds them of the bright future humanity has been promised through the reappearance of a divine savior who will fill the world with justice when it is brimming with injustice.

Global Injustice in the Modern Era

Throughout most of human history, those in power have oppressed the weak in various ways and deprived them of their legitimate rights. However, oppression and injustice have reached their peaks during modern history.

Despite the fact that the modern world’s political landscape has experienced the domination of various schools of thought with different philosophical bases, such as communism and Western liberal democracy, the scale of human suffering in the modern era due to prevalent injustice is unprecedented.

Today, people around the world struggle with war, hunger, poverty, moral corruption, disease, and much more.

One of the most striking examples of global injustice is the hunger crisis. The United Nations (UN) describes the scale of the current global hunger and malnutrition crisis as “enormous,” as a total of 1.9 million people face catastrophic hunger. About 343 million people are facing acute hunger in 74 countries across the world.

The reasons behind these food crises involve “multiple overlapping issues that are building year on year,” such as conflict, displacement, slow economic growth due to war, and climate crisis: all consequences of warmongering and the greed of a few superpowers.

Whereas an annual donation of $37 billion over the next five years can eradicate both extreme and chronic hunger worldwide, the global military expenditure reached $2443 billion in 2023, with the U.S. government’s military spending ranking the highest out of all countries. Billions of dollars are spent on launching wars and funding armed conflicts, leading to even greater destruction as millions starve.  

War and conflicts in the modern era (1900-present) have resulted in an estimated 187 million deaths, with the actual figures likely being much higher. Israel’s most recent war in Gaza left over 48,000 innocent people dead, and the resulting scale of destruction has been compared to that caused by the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.    

Another manifestation of injustice today is disparities in the global wealth distribution. According to the UBS Global Wealth Report, the world’s richest 1 percent owned nearly half of all the world’s wealth in 2023. 

The Role of American Imperialism

The root of all the injustice and oppression today, however, can be traced back to a single source: American imperialism and the establishment of a unipolar world order.

For decades, the U.S. government has committed all sorts of crimes for expanding its military, economic, and political hegemony in the world.

Powerful business companies, influential American capitalists, and Zionist groups have had a significant role in shaping the government’s imperialistic policies. 

Since 1776, the U.S. has carried out nearly 400 military interventions in foreign countries to secure its interests. These interventions have led to numerous casualties, civil wars, massacres, displacement, and domestic instability in target nations.

For example, the death toll of the U.S. ‘War on Terror’ is estimated to be between 4.5-4.7 million, and more than 7.6 million children aged under five are suffering from acute malnutrition in the areas affected by this war.

The CIA involvement in covert and overt regime change operations around the world, including overthrowing democratically elected governments, is not hidden. Countries like Cuba, Iran, Guatemala, Congo, Afghanistan, and Iraq have been a target of direct U.S. intervention in the past.

Currently, the U.S. has around 750 military bases in at least 80 countries across the globe that play an important role in securing American interests abroad.

The U.S. is also the world’s largest arms exporter. Between 2019-2023, the government’s share of total global arms exports stood at a staggering 42 percent. Israel’s recent genocidal war against Gaza was only possible with the U.S. government’s military support, as most of the Zionist regime’s arms supplies come from America.  

In order to carry out its sinister goals without significant opposition, the U.S. and its allies have relied on propaganda and crafted media narratives to keep the masses ignorant–which itself is a kind of intellectual oppression. 

The recent Gaza War has shown how helpless humanity is against these powers as they pursue their interests. With the UN veto power at its disposal, for example, the U.S. blocked four ceasefire resolutions calling for an end to Israeli bombing against civilians in Gaza.

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that the need for a new world order that is based on justice and equity has never been felt as intensely as it is felt today. To challenge this unjust unipolar world order requires an uprising that knows no geographical boundaries.

The battle between the fronts of truth and falsehood, which seeks to eradicate tyranny, is global and cannot be limited to a certain part of the world. Therefore, the promised savior will establish a universal rule based on justice. 

Justice: the Main Slogan of the Mahdi

Justice is the main slogan of the movement that will be led by Imam Mahdi against tyranny. In fact, Prophet Muhammad introduces the Mahdi as someone from his progeny who will “fill the earth with justice and equity as it is filled with tyranny and injustice.”

The goal of Imam Mahdi’s global government in the end times is to establish justice in all arenas of human life and in every part of the world. 

Justice has been humanity’s most important and primary demand from the beginning. The prophets were sent to uphold justice, as described in the Holy Qur’an: “So that mankind may maintain justice” (Qur’an, 57:25).

Each prophet was sent as a savior in his time to liberate his people from the oppression of the tyrant rulers of society, and his struggle centered around the establishment of justice. Some prophets, like David and Moses, were successful in defeating the tyrants of their time, while others were not. 

The theme of humanity afflicted with disastrous circumstances in the end times, and the arrival of a savior to establish justice is present in almost every religion. Prophets worked to uphold the banner of justice in their respective societies and heralded the formation of a global divine order at the hands of a savior in the end times.

Christianity, for example, talks about the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ, while Judaism also speaks of a Mashiach, or Messiah, who will rule the world and bring peace and prosperity. 

The belief in a savior gives rise to a powerful idea that every dark period and every oppressive and unjust rule of falsehood will come to an end. When this belief becomes rooted in one’s mind, it becomes the driving force behind activism.

It leads to the idea that not only are tyrannical powers temporary, but that their fall is inevitable too. 

Our Responsibility

The uprising led by the promised Mahdi against tyrannical powers is the final and ultimate battle between the fronts of falsehood and truth in history. For truth to emerge victorious against the forces of oppression, the boundary between the two fronts must be clear for the masses to identify. 

Therefore, the main factor that guarantees the victory of truth and the defeat of tyrannical powers, and the eventual successful establishment of the divine government of Imam Mahdi, is collective awareness and insight. The masses must challenge the unjust rulers and come to the aid of the savior.   

Therefore, our responsibility today as those awaiting the return of Imam Mahdi is to raise collective awareness and help people identify the front of tyranny in the world.