Mahdi rises in southern Bashriyya (MT/OPEN)

[New Aeyariss]

OOC: This RP is open, but only members of Kali Yuga region can involve themselves in a direct military intervention. If you want to do more than reactions and indirect intervention, PM me.

This RP is MT, human only. You are required to write at least 200 words in a post.

Tuarega, 27.03.2024

After the congress of Ishikawa had concluded, the old state of Bashriyya was split in two. The northern half remained under control of the Shiia, albeit was placed under new government made of former navy officers. The southern part, however, was forcefully separated and turned into it's own state.

Much of 2023 was a time of relative peace. But as much as the global opinion saw reconstruction efforts, tensions were running underneath. Attempts to form an unitary government failed and eventually two factions arose. On one hand, there was a party ran by the Ag Habi clan, the Tuareg Shiias; on the other hand, there was a party ran by Mohammad Idris Sayyid, a renowned cleric from the Idrisiyya order of Sufis. The two factions secretely manouevered to gain best possible position.

It was in the mid march when things begun breaking down. The tensions escalated. Threats were issued. Ever since mid morning, Mohammedi's men were infiltrating the capital of El Kulb, bringing in with themselves weapons and explosives.

At wednsday 27th the hell broke loose. The citizens of the town were awakened to sound of explosions caused by dozens of suicide bombers detonating themselves all over the city. Shortly after, cells of Mohammed's men emerged from their hiding and begun attacking the government posts. The terrifying warriors had their entire faces covered with enormous shawls, and carried old Kalashnikov rifles in their hands. Some wore military uniforms, some were in civilian clothing. The forces loyal to Saddam Ag Habi were routed, and the current interim head of the government was forced to run away from the capital.

In the middle of the capital, on the city's main square, a massive rally was held. The square became full of armed and uniformed men, with green and black shawls covering their faces. Behind them stood intrigued onlookers, curious about the whole affair.

Opposite to them were was a massive podium. On it stood many masked men. On some shahid vests could be seen. Above them waved black flags filled with inscriptions from Qur'an.

Then a man had entered the podium. He was a short, plump male in his early fifties. His head was covered by massive multi layered turban; from which emerged black skin of the local tuaregs. His eyes were small, and the nose large, with narrow lips underneath. On the bottom of his face grew a lengthy black beard. He wore white robe, with golden bracelets on his hands.

"Oh, Umma!" he begun "Many of you know me. My name is Mohammad Idris Sayiid, and I have come here to bring you a new revelation.

Long long ago, the ummah was glorious, because Muslims were what they were supposed to be. Qur'an was followed, and the societies were ruled according to shariyya. But that all changed when the accursed rafidis spread their teachings here. Our rulers embraced them, and look at the result! During the last war, Bashriyyans have displayed standard of morality lower than animals. Is this what we want to be?

The radifis from the North thought they can subjugate us, Tuaregs. For centuries they leeched on our hard labour. As we subjugated desert, they grew fat. As we dug canals, they commited acts so vile it is wrong to even speak of them. Can we be surprised that Allah brought kuffar as a judgement on them?"

The crowd went silent. Most of the assembled were tuaregs, who felt betrayed by the government in tripoli. The local arabs belonged to a tribe that had much darker skin than arabs from the North, and hated the settlers that Al-Nasheed brought into the region with a passion. Now that they were stripped free from the control of Tripoli, the feelings of hatred started to grow again. They eagerly bought the words of this man.

"I will tell you bout the dream I have had last night." the man spoke "In the dream, Archangel Gabriel came and took me out of my body. He lifted me up to heaven and lo, I saw the hadra sitting on silver thrones. Prophet Idris as there, as was prophet Musa. Then prophet Muhammad stood up and asked them who shall be sent to fight the radifis? The prophet Idris replied, that Muhammad Idris shall go! He is a descendant for Mohammad by Fatima, and the Mahdi that was supposed to come to herald the return of Isa! He will face the djallal of Isfashan, and send him back to helll where he belongs! For he is the greatest propher since Muhammad, peace be upon his name, sent to earth to defeat tyranny!

At those sounds the heavens trembled, and I woke up. I knew what I had to do. Thus, I announce this. I am the Al-Qaim! I am the final Imam who is supposed to come! All of Ummah shall accept my authority, or face judgement of Allah! I will lead the armies of the faithful against the rafidis, and break their yoke!

Those who follow me, will follow me into the paradise! Those who will disobey, will go straight to hell! For my mission is authorised by Allah himself and no man will stand in my path!"

The crowd listened to those words with attention. Many felt disbelief, which then turned to anger. But to many, the fiery speech spoke into the the deepest desires of their heart.

They have been left alone. Left alone by the world at large. Left alone by Tripoli. The Palmyris did not invest much in the region. Now, in front of them stood hope. Most of them yearned for any kind of hope of their lives being better. And most of them accepted this chance.

Instantly rows upon rows of men fell on their faces, and started prosttrating themselves in front of the wannabee messiah.

"Mahdi!" they shouted "Oh Allah is great! Mahdi! Mahdi! ALLAHU AKBAR!"

The frenzy soon came over the entire populace of the city. Armed militants ran through out the streets, shooting their guns and shouting "Mahdi!". Thousands assembled for corporate prayer under the new prophet's guidance.

And as they prayed together, a new religious movement was born.

[The Neo-Minoan League]

The Chapterhouse, Mount Ida, Krete, 27.3.2024 CE

"Is this one of ours?" The question made by the mother superior hung over the heads of the assembling coven of her Council of Reverend Mothers. Each took their seats at a grand ebony table beneath the dais on which Mother Superior Cicero Irene Berhane sat. Nine represented the various aspects of both their order and the governance of the Island of Krete. Five administered the various offices of state, four were governors of the largest cities on the island and over saw jointly the various other monasteries and settlements with the previous five.

All had been called to the subterranean monastery, a palatial chapterhouse carved from what was once the Cave of Zeus into Mount Ida itself, when news of this so-called Mahdi reached their contacts in Bashriyya. This potentially new religious movement posed to the Motherhood both a danger and an opportunity, so thought the mother superior, and she called them to her. All appeared in their ceremonial Minoan dresses, and all bowed formally before the head of their order and took a seat.

"It is not, Mother Superior." replied Marius Theodora Synesia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. "This seems to be a natural religious movement."

"Fascinating." The mother superior said, tapping her fingers on her own desk in thought. "Analysis."

A reverend mother stood, Gnaeus Selene Smith (originally an American), the current administrator of the Motherhood's Bibliotheca. Her eyes rolled back into her head as he recalled the analysis she'd performed on the various news articles about the movement.

"An Islamic movement, by our earliest analyses, rooted in Maliki Sunni and Tuareg religious developments. The penchant for violence and radicalism indicates a deeply fundamentalist and reactionary bent against perceived oppressors. If uncontrolled or not exterminated, they will unleash dangerous forces throughout the world. There is also a Sufi mystic element as well. This can be exploited."

"Troubling, but not without hope." Mother Superior replied as Smith sat back down. "Draft a message. We will try our to work ourselves among them. If only to mitigate the worst of their masculine impulses."

A video recording was dispatched directly to Mohammad Idris Sayiid. In it, Reverend Mother Marius Theodora Synesia was seated. She had changed her clothing to something reminiscent of Tin Hinan, albeit her face was barely visible beneath a veil of jeweled chains.

"Mohammad Idris Sayiid, we are immensely happy to have heard that you have arisen against your oppressors. Strike down the infidel and the rafidi, such is the will of the Holy One. We are the Motherhood of the True Faith. Our order has for some time been receiving visions from on high, heralding your arrival. Fatimah and Maryam bint Imran have appeared in our visions. They have told us of your coming. That you shall lead the world into light and peace under Allah. Thus we hail you. Hail you as Al-Qaim! The Mahdi!

For the holy one we offer our aid in the great Jihad. Our expertise, should you so accept, will guide the righteous towards the path of freedom and goodness. Though we are but frail and weak women, we will whisper of your coming in all the mosques, and all the temples, and all the places we live and breathe. Please. Accept a delegation."

[Great Khavar]

TEHRAN
GREAT KHAVAR

---

Technically speaking, Great Khavar was part of the islamic world. Of course, the social, cultural, and political influence of islam had been on the decline arguably since the reign of Naser al-Din Shah and his chief minister Amir Kabir back in the 19th century, and the mid-20th century Stalinist government and the later communist revolution had greatly accelerated that process. By the 21st century, Great Khavar was largely atheistic, religious elements having either been crushed as reactionary or simply withered away in the face of the new socioeconomic paradigm. Yet despite the lack of islam within the Revolutionary Organism itself, it nevertheless kept a close eye on relevant politico-religious developments, always assessing the shifting alliances between religious and secular elements and the ways in which they influence the political and economic evolution of the region. So it was that when a local religious leader in southern Bashriyya declared himself to be the Mahdi, it swiftly came to the attention of the Directorate for International Revolution, the foreign intelligence arm of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation.

While lone sectarians declaring themselves to be the messiah was certainly nothing new, and rarely amounted to much in the long run, the case of Mohammad Idris was somewhat more intriguing. For one, he had already demonstrated that he had the backing of armed fanatics willing to go to extreme lengths in the service of their new prophet, and this force had already begun to grow with the capture of Tuarega. For another, this Mahdist movement had emerged in the historically volatile region of Bashriyya, and in the midst of a bitter ethnopolitical conflict between the northern Arabs and southern Tuaregs. An escalation was all but certain, and had the potential to unleash widespread destabilisation should this supposed Mahdi continue to gain ground. Of course, the potential of this new movement would depend on how much support it could garner, for not even religious fanatics could effectively operate in the modern world without access to capital.

For the time being, Great Khavar was content to simply watch and wait. Fundamentalist islamic movements were necessarily of a reactionary bent, and thus natural enemies of the Revolutionary Organism and international communism. Stymying their development was therefore in the interests of the revolution, annihilating the opiate before it could spread its insidious tentacles too far. Yet direct action was, at least at this stage, far too extreme to be a viable option, particularly considering that it was presently unclear whether or not this new Mahdi would even remotely pose a threat to the progress of the revolution in the region. No, prudence would be key here. Only if the movement continued to grow in domestic and especially foreign support would it be necessary to take more drastic action. Nevertheless, the gaze of the Directorate remained fixed on Tuarega. If it became necessary to act, they would do so swiftly.