The Shi'a Islam Doctrinal Series is an attempt at a comprehensive treatment of Shi'a Islam from an emic or inside perspective from within Shi'a Islam itself, as opposed to the perspective of orientalism, or of comparative religion, or sociology, or some other branch of the humanities with its modern Western perspectives, all of which are philosophical approaches (in the sense that they have philosophical rather than religious underpinnings and bearings) and therefore do not, strictly speaking, deal with the religion itself ...
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The Shi'a Islam Doctrinal Series is an attempt at a comprehensive treatment of Shi'a Islam from an emic or inside perspective from within Shi'a Islam itself, as opposed to the perspective of orientalism, or of comparative religion, or sociology, or some other branch of the humanities with its modern Western perspectives, all of which are philosophical approaches (in the sense that they have philosophical rather than religious underpinnings and bearings) and therefore do not, strictly speaking, deal with the religion itself as it is understood by the clerisy of its practitioners, but do so from a perspective and ideological framework that is alien and indeed antithetical and at times hostile to it. There is a severe dearth of source material which the English-speaking reader can rely on to provide him or her with the proper understanding of Shi'a Islam based on the self-understanding of the religion itself. The Shi'a Islam Doctrinal Series (as well as other series) of the Lion of Najaf Publications hopes to do its part in filling the lacunae that exist, thereby firstly providing Moslems who have emigrated to or have been born outside of the Islamic heartland with reliable material for them to gain a better understanding of their religion; and secondly, to provide non-Moslems who are interested in learning more about Islam, and about Shi'a Islam in particular, with first-hand and dependable resources which are sourced from the heart of Islamic civilization. The outline for the present book, Ayatollah Motahhari on Mahdism, is as follows: Chapter One: The concept of a Universal Savior and its bases in the Qoran and the Sonna Chapter Two: The Idea of Mahdism and the Philosophy of History Chapter Three: The Era of the Occultation (the order of the imamate and the occultation, awaiting the advent and constructive responsibilities during the era of occultation; the longevity of the life of the Imam al-Mahdi from both empirical and logical vantages) Chapter Four: Preludes to and Signs of the Advent Chapter Five: The Uprising (the necessity of the advent; the advent and the question of free will; timing of the advent; the advent of the savior and assistance from the world of the unseen) Chapter Six: The Just Order of Post-Adventist Society and the Attributes of the Post-Adventist Era (a critique of the theorizing for the ideal city; the virtuous city of the society of the Mahdi; the fulfillment of the mission of the prophets; religion in the era of the advent; the perfection of human society; unicity and integrality; the dawn of the life of humanity; universal peace and security; the progress of material and industrial society)
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