i didn't understand sayyidi Abu Hasan's statement like that. what i got was that we don't need to look at the shi'ah past for examples of what we should be doing, now, a time when we are close to the qiyamah (hence, 'at the close'). it's very possible i couldn't have missed the point entirely, so forgive me.
i am still kind of hoping that a sunni khomeini-like figure might rise out of the current arab spring or in pakistan...oh if only ameer e ahle sunnat went into politics but a wali knows best...maybe sayyid zaid hamid?
:s1: an interesting concise biography of ayatollah khomeini by prof. hamid algar --a british convert to islam. despite our theological differences with him it is undeniable that khomeini's achievement in forming an islamic -albeit shia--state in the twentieth century is one of the most important geopolitical events of the twentieth century and which is having a deep impact even now. iran is the only muslim country with an independent policies which are not dictated by washington. i am not posting this to praise khomeini but to use it to ask this pertinent question: the interesting thing from a sunni POV is --can the sunni world produce a khomeini-like figure to lead a sunni islamic revolution in any of the 50 odd sunni states?