*Imam Al-Mahdi (as): The Awaited Hope for Humanity

The belief in the Mahdi is not only an essential doctrine deep-rooted
in Islamic faith; it is rather an embodiment of human nature
regardless of one's religious affiliations. For it is the universal
desire of humans as a whole to try to achieve or at least witness the
realisation ofthe ultimate objective of their existence, through which
they will achieve perfection and social happiness in its entirety.
Therefore, by reason of inner necessity and inspiration, humans will
see a day when society will be replete with justice.
More importantly, from a religious perspective the concept of the
Mahdi is the culmination of human struggle in their path towards Allah
the Almighty. It is when true Justice will be establishedthrough human
hands but with Divine succour resulting in the prevalence of truth
over falsehood and all its offshoots.
And say: "Truth has (now)arrived, and Falsehood perished: for
Falsehood is(by its nature) bound to perish." (Holy Qur'an, 17:81)
Having identified that the need for the Mahdi is a subject of inner
necessity that is instilled into the hearts of humans, it is essential
to outline the duties of the human race as a whole intrying to achieve
a purgatory state of social felicity in the outward absence of the
Mahdi that would lay a foundation for his imminent reappearance.
However, in the case of such a state being reached, it prompts one to
question the fundamental motive behind the concealment of the Mahdi
despite when the social and political factors are welcoming to his
presence and his precepts. To this we say; Yes Indeed, this is exactly
where the problem lies! The principle reason that is delaying the
reappearance of the Mahdi is that the people aren't ready to
acknowledge the perfect leader and the perfect ideology that is to be
established by him, as clearly mentioned by the Mahdi himself in one
of his narrations;
'If our Shi'a (followers), may Allah help and succeed them to His
obedience, were united in wholeheartedly honouring the promise and
obligation that is upon them, there would have been no delay in
meeting us (i.e. in our reappearance), and bliss and felicity for them
would have hastened by seeing us with full knowledge and certainty of
testifying to our (leadership)'
Therefore, each and every one of us has to be very cognisant of their
acts, in relation to the part we play during the occultation of the
Mahdi. This period has been like none other before nor is the test set
upon the Muslim Ummah and humanity at large like any before. With lack
of direct contact with the divine leader of the time and the many
injustices that have overwhelmed today's society resulting in moral
demise on another side, many seek the help of Allah (SWT) and pray for
the hasty reappearance of the Mahdi and his promised victory. Strong
faith in the promised triumph in the midst of injustice anddarkness is
a means of separating the true believers from the rest. A brief look
into history shows endless of these so-called followers who eventually
betrayed theirleaders and thus put eternal shame and disgrace on
themselves. Aperfect example being the story of the inhabitants of
Kufah in Iraq at the time of the great ancestor of the Mahdi, Imam
Husayn son of Imam Ali (as), for whom he weeps blood each day until
the day of his reappearance.
Certainly those fortunate and blessed individuals who will take part
in this grand culmination of servitude, which will result in the
prevalence of Truth over all forms of falsehood, will be those whose
conviction in the Mahdi and the promised day is resolute. The
believers will be constantly tested by those whose aim is staunchly
fixed in denying the Mahdi, by using arguments such as his age, for
the Mahdi's age is now 1176 years. Many find it difficult to believe
that a human canlive for a period of this length, however, the
impossibility in this objection is relative and its relation is to
some person, place and time. What is impossibility to one person, time
or placemay be very possible to another, as we well know. Moreover, it
should be said that living for such a length of time is neither a
scientific nor a logical impossibility. Today scientists have
succeeded in prolonging the life of certain animals, hundreds of times
beyond their normal life spans by artificially creating conditions
that delay the degeneration of their tissues and cells. The failure of
this being effectively carried out on humans is merely due to the
increased difficulties involved, however, it is inno way an
impossibility, from a scientific point of view, to achieve this in the
future.
Imam Mahdi (as) was born on the fifteenth of Sha'ban in the year two
hundred and fifty five (255) after Hijrah. His birth was kept secret
since the authorities of the time were actively seeking to execute him
should he be found alive.The circumstances of his birth were
therefore, very similar to that of theProphet Moses (as) who was also
been searched for by the authorities of his time, for the Pharaoh was
well aware of the prophecy that a child would grow up to prevailover
him and his evil ruleand would replace this with the belief in the
true One God whose Power, Might and Wisdom is Absolute.
Similarly, the Abbasid Caliphate was well awareof Imam Mahdi (as) and
of how he would fill the world with justice and truth after it had
been filled with injustice and falsehood, from several traditions
originating from Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw). These narrations are
present to date in both Shi'a and Sunni books.
"The world will not come to an end until a man from the descendants of
Husayn takes charge of the affairs of the world and fills it with
justice and equity as it is filled with injustice and tyranny."
At the age of five, after the tragic martyrdom of his father, the
eleventh divine successor of Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) - Hassan son
of Ali , Imam Mahdi went into a minor occultation. Duringthis period,
Imam Mahdi (as) was in contact with his followers through appointed
deputies. This lasted for a period of about sixty nine years. A few
days before the death of his fourth and final deputy Imam Mahdi (as)
informed his followers, through his deputy, that there would be no
more deputies after the death of the current one and after thisperiod
Imam Mahdi (as) would go into a Major Occultation, which wouldcontinue
until the day Allah (SWT) grants permission to the Imam Mahdi (as) to
manifest himself. During this period, none would be able to approach
Imam Mahdi (as) through deputies or through direct contact. In regards
to the duration and the importance of this period, Holy Prophet
Muhammad (saw) was once asked about the nature of the reappearance of
Imam Mahdi. In his reply Holy Prophet likened the time of the
Reappearance of Imam Mahdi to that of the Hour of Resurrection and
then narrated the Quranic verse;
"He alone will manifest it at its proper time. It is heavy in the
heavens andthe earth. It cometh not to you save unawares" (Holy
Qur'an, 7:187)
An important question is raised in relation to this specific period,
by those who doubt or question the existence of Imam Mahdi (as). What
is the benefit of divine Imam tohis followers during his occultation?
In order to answer this question, one should realise that the position
and the role of an Imam is not only to administer the affairs and the
needs of Muslim Ummah, rather he is the link between man and God, the
link between the material and the spiritual worlds. Moreover, his
physical presence or absence has no bearing on his position in regards
to this role. This can be derived from one of the sayings narrated by
Imam Mahdi (as) himself;
'My benefit (to the people) during my occultation is similar to that
of the sun when it disappears from sight behind the clouds.'
Examining the above saying from a scientific approach, we understand
that just like how the Earth is sustained with the Sun's energy and
light irrespective of whether itis behind clouds, similarly, we derive
immense spiritual benefitfrom our Imam regardless of whether he is
physically with us or not. Furthermore, one can also obtain another
important role of Imamate from the saying above. Today, we know that
the Sun is the centre of the solar system and its existence nourishes
and nurtures for the planetary objects around it, similarly Imam's
sole presence, whether active or not, is of paramount importance as it
is the source of life for all as without the existence of God's proof
on Earth the world is tantamount to complete annihilation.
We therefore have to be mindful of what we do and should endeavour in
making our souls pure bynourishing them with theDivine light thus
making our souls the abode for Allah (SWT) and his beloved angels.
Spiritual perfection should be our goal and if there is any doubt as
to whether Imam is aware of our actsand is overlooking the welfare of
his followers, a saying by Imam Mahdi (as) should suffice;
'We have not ignored your consideration, and have not forgotten your
mention; otherwise hardship would have descended upon you andyour
enemies would have exterminated you.'
Imam Mahdi (as) is therefore watching over our affairs and is
patiently awaiting our response to his call. The matter regarding the
return of Imam is not onesimply related to awaiting a time frame
chosen by the Almighty Allah (SWT), rather in accordance to the
narration from Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) , it has a direct
relationship with our own actions, as he says;
'The best of actions is awaiting Al-Faraj (the return)'
The emphasis in this saying is on the word 'actions', because it is in
reference to participating in an actionin order to bring about that
awaited time. From this narration stems the School of Awaiting whichis
a comprehensive study into the necessary approaches and actions of the
Muslim community in order to hasten the appearance of the return.
It is therefore necessary for everyone to work tirelessly for this
objective and to remember that this mission is the only legitimate
solution to theproblems faced by mankind at large. It is
theresponsibility of everyone to remind those around them of this
sacred mission and it is likewise their responsibility to sacrifice
their time, efforts and even their finances for the cause of the
awaited Imam.
It is a frequent saying amongst many Muslims, when they remember
themartyrs of Karbala to chant: "If only we were with you, for surely
we would have been victorious." We today have that option, we have an
Imam in occultation waiting for us to reach out towards him. He is
patiently waiting for that time to come where a small group of people
would truly be of his followers such that he may appear and lead this
Muslim Ummah towards salvation, and yet we as apeople sit and do
nothing.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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