The ayatollahs told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stop talking theology because he's not qualified for ijtihad, which is the independent reasoning necessary for interpreting Islam for the people.
Ahmadinejad stepped over the line when he started receiving direct messages from the Imam Mahdi, or Hidden Imam, who appeared to die in the 8th century but actually went into "occultation" in the spiritual realm, with his body waiting in a cave somewhere (the location varies, but Ahmadinejad says it's near Qum) so that he can return as the Islamic messiah, reigning with Jesus to fight the anti-Christ and seeking vengeance for the massacre of Husayn's army at Karbala in 680. (Islamic end times theology is almost as bizarre as Tim LaHaye's.) At any rate, the Hidden Imam has been sending messages lately, according to Ahmadinejad, directing the policies of the current Iranian government. This went far beyond Ahmadinejad's previous remarks about wanting to "hasten the emergence" of the Imam and made all the ayatollahs pucker as one in their hidden places.
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