What is the significance of August 22 in Islam, and why did the President of Iran choose that day to respond to UN demands that Iran curtail their nuclear program?
The president of Iran has said that August 22 will be the date when all will know. He was not talking to the Western world, but to Moslem believers, making reference to the midnight ride of the prophet Mohammad who traveled on his winged steed to Heaven and the Furthest Mosque, now claimed by Moslems to be Jerusalem.
According to Islamic history, this event took place on the 27th of the Moslem month of Rajab. This year, that date falls on the 22nd of August. It’s been called the time of “the great light in the sky”. Ahmadinejad is informing the Moslem world that, this year also, an event of significance will happen on that date. He has promised that this event will change their destiny.
Several experts in Islamic history and thinking have suggested that a nuclear event or other significant terrorist attack against Israel, the West, or both, might be deliberately timed for August 22 to take advantage of the mythical power surrounding this date. From reading these expert opinions you can see that the possibility of something like this happening is very real.
The fact that such a thing would bring a massive response from those targeted is of no consequence in the world of radical Islam. In fact it fits right in with Ahmadinejad’s belief that the 12th Imam, or Mahdi, (sometimes called the Moslem Messiah) will not return to Earth until a time of great crisis and bloodshed. He believes that he’s been called to create such a time and pave the way for the Mahdi’s appearance. The governments of the west have yet to learn that you can’t negotiate with a man who believes that if you kill him, he’s won.