«mahdi's deputies during the
period of his occultation»


mahdi (a.s.) has disappeared from the views of the people - even from the views of his shias and friends - due to fear from his enemies and in order to safeguard himself for achieving the objective(s) decreed by god. mahdi (a.s.) is awaiting the divine command just as the shias are awaiting hazrat. i can say: if it was not that mahdi would submit to the divine command and would not have been satisfied with the divine destiny, he would have perished out of grief and sorrow. however mahdi is from ahl-e-bayt who does not outstrip the divine command but rather acts upon it. his honoured grand-father would say. 'our satisfaction is the satisfaction of allah'.

mahdi is concealed from the views of the people, even his shias but his pure heart is filled with grief and sorrow. mahdi (a.s.) shows the true path to the muslims particularly the shias and sets before them the clear path towards the truth which, if they were to follow that path, they would achieve salvation in this world as well as the hereafter. quran says: 'if they had gone the true (islamic) way, we would have quenched their thirst with plenty of water.'

with regards to 'saqalain' (i.e. the quran and ahl-e-bayt) the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) has recommended us to stick to them. thus quran and ahl-e-bayt of the holy prophet are the gates of salvation and the keys to guidance and holding fast to them would become a source of guidance for everything.

as far as the holy quran is concerned, by the grace of allah it is available amongst us. even though we have not held fast to the ahl-e-bayt, yet they have so set knowledge and insight amongst us and left them behind as a souvenir that it is possible for each and every person to achieve them. if you do not believe in this matter, you may refer to the books on traditions especially the four-fold and the recent three-fold books.(101)

rather, you may refer to the prayers and benedictions which have come down from ahl-e-bayt especially sahifa - sajjadia which has been narrated from imam zain-ul-abedeen (as.) and is supposed to be the 'zabur' of aal-e-muhammad since it contains numerous knowledge and insight.

although, we have desisted from holding fast to the ahl-e-bayt, yet their sciences, gnosis, ethics and manners have been written and protected in the books. so, like the holy quran, it is necessary for us to hold fast to them too.

holding fast to them does not mean that we have to catch hold of their hands. rather it means that we have to act upon their sayings and follow their path. this too is possible and feasible for each and every person. therefore, there cannot remain any excuse for any muslim with regards to 'holding fast to ahl-e-bayt' and none can say. the twelfth imam was hidden and so we could not hold on to him.

verily, the reference of these prayers, their narrators, their denotations, their manifestation, common, special, compendious, explanatory, all that which is opposite to them and such other matters should be considered.

our master mahdi (a.s.) has left behind amongst the people various traditions from his father and fore-fathers. in addition to this, various correspondences and epistles have come down from his holiness. moreover, since hazrat had appointed deputies and representatives out of grace and compassion for the people during the period of minor occultation so it was necessary for the people to refer to them. (in affairs related to spiritual materials, this world and the. hereafter). in the period of major occultation too, it is necessary to trust and follow them.


«mahdi's deputies during minor
occultation»


during the period of minor occultation, the deputies of mahdi who were allowed to visit hazrat and for whom special epistles were issued were only four:
(1) shaikh abu amr uthman ibne saeed amir:

he was first appointed to the post of deputyship by imam ali an-naqi and then retained to the same post by imam hassan askari (a.s.). still later on, uthman ibne saeed stood up for hazrat saheb-uz-zaman's affairs. various replies to various problems and signed letters (from imam) were issued through uthman ibne saeed.

(2) when uthman ibne saeed passed away his son abu jafar muhammad-ibn-uthman succeeded him and he become his father's vicegerent in imam's affairs.

(3) when muhammad-ibn-uthman passed away, this lofty position was transfered to abul-qasim husseinibn-ruh. he was from the family of bani-nawbakht.

(4) when hussein-ibn-ruh passed away, abul-hassan ali-ibn-muhammad seymouri succeeded him. none of these four deputies revolted for the post of special deputyship but was given to them by imam of the age himself. the shias would not have accepted the sayings of these four deputies but for the various evidences which each of them had at hand which substantiated their sayings.

when muhammad-ibn-ali seymouri's death approached he was asked about his immediate successor.

in this regard, a «tawqee» (signed letter) written by mahdi (a.s.) himself was given out as a reply. the contents of this «tawqee» are as follows:-

in the name of god
the beneficient, the merciful

o ali ibn muhammad seymouri! may allah increase the reward of your brothers on account of the difficulties born by you. you will die within six days. so prepare yourself for the inevitable. do not appoint anyone as your successor because your demise will mark the beginning of the major occultation. i will not emerge but after a long time when the hearts of the people will become hardened and the world will become full of injustice, tyranny and oppression.
it will not for too long that some men will claim to have seen me. anyone who makes such a claim before the coming out of sufyeni and the sound from heaven announcing my reappearance, is a liar and an imposter. there is no might nor strength except that of allah, the al-mighty, the high.'
mahdi (a.s.) had other deputies too (other than the afore-said four deputies) in such places as baghdad, kufa, ahwaz, hamadan, qum, rai, azaibaijan and naishabour.

signed letters (from imam of the age) would be sent to them and they in turn would transfer wealth to his eminence. these deputies were many in number perhaps hundred, but they could not visit hazrat. as a matter of fact, the four afore-said deputies acted as the mediators between them and imam (a.s.).


«mahdi's deputies during major
occultation»


the afore-said minor occultation has come to an end and the second occultation i.e. the major occultation has started and nobody but allah knows its termination. the special deputyship has been changed to general deputyship but with specific conditions and stipulations. it is not out of place to mention here some of the traditions which have come down from the imam of the age and his honoured fathers in this regard.

kashi narrates: a 'tawqee' (signed letter) was sent for qasim-ibn-ala with such contents: whatever is narrated by the learned scholars upon whom we are having trust should never be doubted by our friends. this is because we have made them partners in our secret and we have entrusted our secrets to them....

shaikh tusi in 'ghaibat', shaikh saduq in 'kamaluddin' and tabarsi in 'ehtejaj' have narrated from ishaaq-ibn-ammar that mahdi (a.s.) has said: 'but as for the problems which will arise in the future, you should refer to the narrators of our traditions for their verdicts as they are my proofs to you, and i am allah's proof to them....

tabarsi in his book 'ehtejaj' has narrated from sadeq aal-e-muhammad (a.s.) a lengthy tradition a part of which is as follows:
'if there is anyone among the 'fuqaha' (jurists) who is in control over his own self, protects his religion, suppresses his evil desires and is obedient to the commands of his master, it is then obligatory upon the people to follow him and these qualities are present only in few of the shia jurists and not in all of them....

besides these, there are other traditions which have been mentioned in their appropriate places. all these reveal that mahdi (a.s.) has not left the muslims, particulary the shias, without a religious authority and support. in this regard, he has followed the path of his fathers and (if you have doubt) you may refer to the comprehensive books written on this subject.