Discussed at the House of Literati:
History of civilization initiated by prophets
6 Mar 2012 15:58
During the critical session on 'History of Civilization and Mahdavi Dominion' held on May 4 at the House of Literati, Hojatoleslam Mansoorian Dominiond that history of civilization, as defined in the west, relies on a secular society and therefore the prophets have played no role in its development. From this point of view, the renaissance is the turning point of civilization whereas according to the Holy Quran, prophets are initiators of civilizations.
IBNA: The critical session on 'History of civilization and Mahdavi Dominion' was held on Sunday evening (May 4) at the House of Literati with the presence of Hojatoleslam Mohammad-Ali Mansoorian and author Mohammad-Hadi Homayun.
At the beginning of the session, Mansoorian said: "The structure and overall atmosphere of the book shows that the author has worked on the idea of the book for years, as compilation of such books entails a large amount of studies in history. On the other hand, it needs deep insight as it proves to be a good analysis that goes beyond some collections of information."
He continued: "History of civilization and Mahdavi Dominion beautifully unites historical events and shows us the coherence of historical movement from the time of Prophet Adam to the emergence of Mahdi (AS)."
Mansoorian added: "The history of civilization, as difined in the west, relies on a secular society and therefore the prophets have played no role in its development. From this point of view, the renaissance is the turning point of civilization whereas according to the Holy Quran, prophets are initiators of civilizations. Therefore, the author of the present book begins his study with Adam as the first prophet and pays particular attention to the role of prophets in building civilizations."
The author's emphasis on cultural invasion and the role of Hollywood is, according to Mansoorian, another positive characteristic of the book. "The author mentions the battle between Hezb-Allah (army of God) and Hezb-Al-Shaitan (army of Satan) that is the same as what is known as Armageddon in the western world, although he does not elaborate on the characteristics of the army of Satan."
Highlighting the insightful descriptions of the history of Islamic Revolution and the role of guardianship, Mansoorian stated: "The author shows that all problems in the beginning of Islam were caused by the Jews and their mischief will be continued until the emergence of Imam Mahdi (AS)."
Then the next speaker Dr Goudarzi referred to 'Civilization', 'Dominion' and 'Mahdavism' as three key words of the book and added: "The dominion is a very important term. In Quran, the first temptation or dissension ignites with this word and the final battle will also be over the dominion; as it is said in Quran: Whose will be the dominion that day? that of Allah, the one the irresistible! And Mahdavism is also a significant matter in our society today."
Goudarzi added: "Mahdavi books have usually ignored two approaches: one is civilization as a movement commanded by Allah. The other approach less discussed in this book is strategic approach to Mahdavism. That is, having recognized historical movements and solidarity of all prophets, we should plan for the future of the world of Islam."
The last speaker in the session was the author of 'History of Civilization and Mahdavi Dominion' who said: "In this book I have suggested the word 'dominion' instead of 'civilizaiton; 'Civilization' is a 19th-century colonialist word that I have intentionally tried to avoid using it. On the other hand, I have attempted to place Islamic Revolution equal to the Renaissance in the history of western civilization."
"I have also attempted to highlight the central role of the Islamic Revolution in the development of Mahdavism as I feel that we have paid enough attention to the Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini when discussing Mahdavism."
