«questions about mahdi's fear»

with regards to mahdi's fear and occultation and in the light of what we have mentioned before, there remain a few questions which is worth mentioning:

first question: why allah, the powerful doesn't hinder hazrat's enemies from killing him!?
reply: god has commanded the creation of hindrance which is not incompatible with duty and responsibility i.e. the commandment for obedience, assistance and submissiveness and forbiddance from disobedience and enmity of hazrat mahdi. however not forming any hindrance between mahdi and his enemies is because it is incompatible with duty and renders the reward and punishment as null and void. rather, such a hindrance will give rise to mischief and this cannot be the consequence of god.

second question: why is mahdi (a.s.) absent amongst the people and why has he isolated himself from them considering that his great fathers were present amongst the people!?
reply: mahdi's very foundation is based on emerging with the sword and revolting for god's sake but such was not so in the case of his great fathers. presence of mahdi would expose him to danger especially when it is well-known and famous that hazrat is waiting for an opportunity. also it is a well-known fact that whenever mahdi passed away there was another to succeed him as against mahdi who if killed there would be no one to succeed him.

third question: i f mahdi's occultation is due to fear of his enemies, then why has he concealed himself from his friends!?
reply: if there existed for hazrat's friends and companions a channel to meet and visit him then, as a rule it was certain for his whereabouts to be discovered.

fourth question: reply to the third question is true only if the entire shias are successful in meeting hazrat. however if such a meeting is possible for only a particular group amongst imam's friends, then his whereabout will not be discovered.
reply: any secret which becomes known to more than two will no longer remain a secret.

fifth question: why didn't hazrat's minor occultation continue in the very manner in which the special deputies used to serve him!?
reply: the non-continuation of hazrat's minor occultation may have been for two reasons:
firstly that deputyship from imam's side is especially the post of special deputyship is a very high and lofty position. since a group amongst the power-seekers falsely claimed the position of deputyship during the last days of hazrat's occultation, the door of special deputyship was hence closed.
secondly the special deputyship too at that time was kept secret and hidden and except for some specific people, none were aware of it. if the minor occultation had continued and the position of special deputyship would become known, hazrat's deputies too would have been exposed to danger.

«mahdi's minor and major
occultation»

for our master, mahdi - the expected one, there has been two occultations: the minor occultation and the major occultation.
the minor occultation started from the time of hazrat's birth and continued till the end of the special deputyship which lasted for seventy-four years.

the major occultation commenced after the minor occultation and will continue as long as god wills hazrat to emerge and revolt with his might.

in the book of «esbath-ul-wasiyah», ali-ibn-hussein-ibn-ali masoudi says:
'it is narrated that imam ali an-naqi (a.s.) disappeared from the shias' views but for a small group of his special shias. when the affairs of imamate were entrusted to imam hassan askari, he used to converse with his special circle of shias and others from behind the curtain except when he was mounted and would travel towards the kings house.
imam askari (a.s.) and his father were acting in this manner so as to prepare the ground for hazrat mahdi's concealment. this was so that the shias would become familiar with the matter of occultation and would not deny it and would become habituated with imam's absence and concealment.

verily, right from the time of amir-ul-mumineen ali (a.s.) till the period of imam ali an-naqi (a.s.) and imam hassan askari (a.s.) it was customary for the shias to meet their imam whenever they wished. if they were deprived of this bounty all at once then doubt and hesitation would have overtaken them. rather the faith of some of them would have become shaky. thus imam ali an-naqi (a.s.) and imam askari (a.s.) adopted this path as mentioned by masoudi so that the shias would gradually and gradually become

 acquainted with imam's concealment.

imam ali an-naqi (a.s.) and imam hassan askari (a.s.) took up this excellent path for this very reason. strict alertness of the rulers who were contemporary to the afore-mentioned two imams confirm this matter. this resulted in fewer meetings and contacts with them especially so in the case of well-known shii'tes.

the apparent glory and magnificience of the afore-said two imams (a.s.) and the great number of servants and slaves and their greatness and eminence (which would naturally become the cause of fewer meetings of the common shias and rather their special shias except at fixed and special times) too confirms the matter of occultation.

later on, the policy of bani-abbass changed with regards to the twelve imams and their policy demanded respect and honour of the imams and this path was first put into practice by ma'mun abbassid.

those who cast a glance over history of hazrat ali-ibn-musa ar-ridha imam muhammad taqi, imam ali an-naqi and imam hassan askari will realize the way of association of the caliphs with imams. this is because they believed in the greatness and magnificience of imams (a.s.) and had kept at their disposal house, goods, feather, dress, servants, slaves and wealth for such motives which they had in mind. the main motive of the caliphs, as per their own imagination was to receive more ease and attention when in the company of the the imam especially so in the case of the afore-said two imams.

the reason why imam ali an-naqi concealed himself from the views of the shias on much lesser occasions than imam hassan askari (a.s.) was that there was to be two occultation for our master mahdi - one was the minor occultation during which period the deputies and special representatives of mahdi (a.s.) were having access to hazrat until the time when the shias became familiar with the absence and concealment of imam (a.s.) and the period of major occultation started wherein the special deputyship was cut off and unlike the shias who had the privilege of meeting hazrat's great fathers, none have the opportunity of meeting the imam officially.

«how people benefit from the
hidden imam»

the benefits of imam-e-zaman's existence from our view-point (i.e. shi'ite view-point) are of two types:
firstly, hazrat like other people is alive and the common people derive benefit from his existence whether present or absent and whether apparent or concealed.
secondly, the benefits which is derived from hazrat's occupation (of the earth) was previously reasoned that due to fear and insecurity it is not obligatory for hazrat to carry out the second type. however benefits of the first type will necessarily be derived from hazrat's existence.

the simile which has come in the tradition of jabir-ibn-abdullah ansari is as follows:
'imam is like a sun hidden behind the clouds'
this simile is one of the most elegant and beautiful kinds of simile.

various benefits and effects are derived from the sun's existence even though it may be covered by a cloud. moreover, other benefits are derived from its rays if it is not covered by a cloud or rather anything else. imam too is the same.

i believe, this comparison has been made from two aspects and there exists two reasons for this (one aspect when the sun is covered by clouds and the other aspect when the sun is not covered by any object and its light glimmers) deriving benefit from the sun and making use of it by the living and rather the non-living creatures is something prevalent whether it is manifest or concealed under the clouds. every creature derives its own pleasure and share from it with the difference that when it is manifest and glimmering, the benefit derived is more than when it is covered and concealed. imam (a.s.) too is like the sun in these two afore-said cases.

this is the view of the shia-imamiyahs about imam (a.s.). however the sunnis believe that the benefits and effects derived from imam's existence is confined to the second type (i.e. non-absence of imam).
to this, we reply as such:
some of the sunnis reckon mahdi's occultation to mean that he is invisible and cannot be seen. however, just as mentioned before, their reckoning is far from truth. rather, his occultation means that he cannot be individually recognized and seen.
thus, it has come down in some traditions that after mahdi's emergence people will say:- 'we used to see him before too.'

verily mahdi is absent (amongst us) but attends the gatherings and meetings. he also speaks to the travellers and other people. rather, very often he presents himself during the haj season.

he wears the 'ehram' (pilgrim's garb), recites the call of 'labbaik', performs the 'tawaaf' (circumbulation) and concludes his haj by visiting his honoured grand-father and great fathers' shrines especially at times of special 'ziarats'. thus mahdi is present amongst the islamic community but is not physically recognized.

one the contrary, we say: who can dare say that during the major occultation it is not possible to come in contact with mahdi (a.s.) whereas historical and other books provide us with evidences that a section of people have received the honour of seeing and meeting him. this matter is not inconsistent with the tradition which says: 'if anyone claims that he has seen mahdi, they reject his saying'.

this is because by context of the first part of the tradition it only means that anyone who claims the special deputyship should be denied.

rather we can say: mahdi is one of the members of society and rather the most important member. it is possible that he acts upon his responsibility even though it may not be obligatory for him.

verily, it is possible that mahdi may come in contact with the kings, rulers, princes and ministers and make some recommendations to them about reforms, maintenence of order and running of the affairs whether they follow his recommendation or not.

he sits with the jurists, scholars, writers and the learned people and discusses with them such topics as divine theology, moral rectifications and literary matters. in every field, he guides them towards the truth and right way irrespective of whether they act upon his sayings or not. he meets the traditionists, historians, gene and scholars of 'rijal' and guides them to the true saying, truthfulness of the concerned matter, authenticity of relation (of narration) and their incorrectness irrespective of whether they approve his sayings or not.

talks takes place with the preachers, inviters (towards the divine path), clergymen and guides too and he reveals to them the way of reaching their objective in an easier way be it they act upon it or not.

he visits the helpless, needy, sick and afflicted people and fulfills the wishes of the needy and cures the sick. mahdi (a.s.) strives for all these affairs without being recognized and he is never stingy in doing good to others. so it's absurd to say: how people benefit from the hidden imam!?

verily, very often mahdi (a.s.) replies to matters having to do with principles and other secondary matters; very often he solves the religious or worldly affairs; very often he cures the sick; how often he delivers the poor; very often he helps the helpless; very often he quenches the thirsty and very often he holds the hands of the disabled.

this book and other books which have been written by reliable scholars (who were not recognizing each other and were living in different places and different times) contain such evidences which bear testimony to the truthfulness of what we have written. a person, after going through the particulars and contexts of these kind of evidences will gain certainty in the veracity of some of them.