The will of the Almighty Allah is the basis of ‘Be and It is’. The will manifests itself with an objective, shines its light upon a complete and firm system, and emerges into visibility. Secrets and mysteries are revealed when man lights up the windows of his intellect and reasoning. This is the reason of man’s superiority and nobility, due to which, a relationship is established between the Creator and the created. Man ponders over his creation, not perplexed, rather gaining the certainty of heart through recognition.
The knowledge and recognition of Imam (peace be upon him)
The word ‘Imam’ embraces the universe in its authority by its meaning and connotation, where ‘Imamat’ means leadership bestowed by Allah, the position conferred by the Omnipotent to an infallible. He is a human, a man like other men but with an overview of all the portions and sections of humanity and thus is placed on such a great rank where he is titled as the ‘Representative and Caliph of Allah’. This introduction rests upon the reality that just as the cloud rains over the world making it fertile, so does he bring springtime to everything that comes under the cover of religion and society, without exception. Surely this is the divine system, which the pure divine essence has instituted among the followers of His beloved religion. But man, desirous of government, politics, and military, forgetting this great blessing of his Beloved Creator the Almighty God, despite being in the Islamic fold, is afflicted by a delusion in his ignorance. Rather, it is not completely true that he does not know the successor of this Leadership. A group is devoted to the door of Ahle Bait (peace be upon them) and the people of this group have been citing through the centuries that Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) in his final moments had called for a pen and paper to write a document, so that the nation would not be deviated after him. The point was not to write the document or otherwise, but the completion of proof, the leadership that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) had reiterated continually from Ghadeer-e-Khum to his last breath. The foretelling spoke of the announcement from the beginning of Divine leadership to the last successor that would reach all the parts of the universe in the last age and it was finalized in ‘the completion of my favors’.
The tragic consequence before us is that the foretelling of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) about the twelve successors, right down to the present Imam, who is in occultation while the people of this nation don’t know him or know him but do not fulfill the rights of his recognition.
Is anyone who believes in mastership and is unaware of his Twelve Imams (peace be upon them)? It would be indeed rare to find a person who is unaware of the twelve successors. Centuries have progressed witnessing that we have twelve Imams and the twelfth is the one who will free the world from oppression and tyranny and fill it with justice and equity.
The perplexed human intellect should not be intrigued on how a single man will fill the entire world with justice after reappearance. For he, the heir to messengers, the center of guidance, has made the evidences of God reach their perfection and is adorned with the attributes of divine legacy. Hence, for him to fill the world with justice and equity is not impossible.
Scholars, guides, and preachers from thousands of pulpits give advices and guidance to the people of the nation regarding the morality of the Pure Household (peace be upon them). The people of this nation, under the context of an occult Imam (peace be upon him), have the opinion that due to their role (good actions), proximity is no longer in the circle of impossible. Is it not a question mark (that there is no proximity to the Imam)?
The need of our nation is to tread the meaningful and bright guiding path of Mastership of Ahle Bait (peace be upon them) with co-operation and attachment, a sympathetic approach to each other, psychologically, economically, socially, traditionally and on the milestones and signs fixed by our Imams (peace be upon them) for (guidance to) our last Imam (may Allah hasten his reappearance). If we follow it, our Imam (may Allah hasten his reappearance) need not say: ‘we are not inattentive towards you, else the enemy would grind your bones to dust’. The wave of happiness would not traverse through our worn-out bones, had it not been for Imam’s mercy (may Allah hasten his reappearance).
Considering these factors, if our negligence, divisions, differences, politics and groupism had not separated us, the Lord had (already) merited the people under the rule of His Caliph with wisdom, consciousness, courage and patience more than any other nation. In the words of a scholar, we have not created an empire, nor a government, were no good at politics, nor attacked a nation with any army, yet today we exist all over the world. This strength, this support, this motivation, is destined due to the Son of Janabe Zahra (s.a). All of it is from the Master of Wilayat, from the Caliph of God.
Oppressions upon Imam-e-Asr (may Allah hasten his reappearance)
This is a divine law that opens the path of wisdom and intellect that Divinity is a Necessary Being, otherwise it is an incontrovertible fact that the oppressor is a coward, weak, stupid and dull. The oppressed is powerful, patient, steadfast and courageous. The person who gifted ultimate credence to this truth is the personality of Imam Husain (peace be upon him). Shimr (l.a) happily announced after Husain’s (peace be upon him) killing, that – I have beheaded Husain (peace be upon him), I have killed him. The helplessness was like the silence and the darkness that the poet has thus described:
The silence is like the stillness of the desert
The darkness is such that sight has lodged a grievance
It was thus after the killing of Husain (peace be upon him) but
Oppression is oppression, it chokes when it increases
Blood is blood, it congeals when it falls
The power of the oppressed shone forth like a sun and turned the darkness to light and the silence of the desert broke out in form of narrations across the world with even the enemies chanting – Husain, Husain. The oppressed mirrors his power after taking a brief break and with patience over time. The darkness is done away with and the oppressor is subdued. Today we are surprised, amazed and wonder where our Imam (peace be upon him) is? Where is his tent? How is he? How much has he suffered? When we realize the oppression he has suffered, in the form of a ray of light in our thoughts and mind, we see that our Imam (peace be upon him) is so powerful that after his birth till his appointment to Imamat, until today, he has decimated the great mountains of oppression, shattered the centuries and has lead his nation while saying that ‘we are not inattentive about you’. This is the power of his helplessness.
How beautiful is your morning that the heart says
That this light is something remarkable.
I wish every person of our nation would think about the oppression upon Imam-e-Zamana (may Allah hasten his reappearance). It began from his birth until the minor occultation and then to the major occultation wherein he has guided us while oppression also has increased with time. None except the Almighty knows its measure. After your birth, until the age of five, you spent your life with your esteemed father in such critical conditions. You could not even meet your people. It was a house-arrest, in a military cantonment, Ja’far Kazzab always entering the house as a spy, a plot of conspiracy by the government against Imamat. Readers may refer Kamaaluddin for details. When you were appointed to Imamat and the manner in which you performed the funeral rites of your esteemed father, and after the burial, the way you answered the queries in the letters brought by Ahmad bin Ishaq that have been penned down as narratives, so that history does not remain silent and no disobedient Muslim can deny your pure existence.
God’s Proof is the source of existence of the heavens and earth. Therefore, and so it is necessary for strong and reliable traditions about him to be available in history. The government in its full glory was ready to counter him. The pens of selfish and corrupt historians were with them. Wittingly or unwittingly, the mole in the house supported the rulers. In this period, we call the ‘minor occultation’, Imam (peace be upon him) was passing through a difficult transition. The special deputies, the links between the Imam and the people, passed themselves off as oil traders. The history was anyhow recorded, the ray of veracity bearing the message of truth covered the world and tore apart the curtain of darkness. History recorded all the events of the ‘minor occultation’. Till ‘Tawqee’ reached the last special deputy, Ali ibn Muhammad Seymouri (mercy of Allah upon him) with the message that the ‘major occultation’ was beginning. Moreover, Ali ibn Muhammad Seymouri (mercy of Allah upon him) was given only six days’ respite to conclude his affairs, a pause here to elucidate a point that our Imam (peace be upon him) is aware of both (time of) death and life. How is such a powerful Imam so beleaguered?
The Completion of Minor Occultation and the beginning of Major Occultation
On one hand, the government’s heavy majority, its conspiracy, its scheming and plots, its unethical scholars, its crooked scribes and historians were trying their utmost to cover up the birth of the Twelfth Imam (may Allah hasten his reappearance). But, could it happen? The reality and truth came forth like daylight. Great scholars like Shaykh Murtaza Ansari, Allamah Hilli, Ibn Taoos (mercy of Allah upon them), are some of the many examples who, also as historians, tore apart the veils of false beliefs covering reality. For evidence, it is narrated by Iqbal the sentence ‘when Mahdi reappears’, to which bigoted ones like Israr Ahmad claimed – it is a Shi’a belief that we are quoting from the opposing faith.
So many difficulties encountered in the passing of nearly twelve hundred years. So many opponents to face, the pen of the erudite, the sword of royalty, plotting of devious minds, immorality of western powers. With all these innumerable factors considered, the oppressed Imam has clashed with them, has broken the backs of these persecutions and is continuing to fight the ever-newer corruptions (which include both our people and others). In the end of this era of Major Occultation, an event of evolution lead to the increasing propagation of untruth. Nevertheless, when blood dripped from the jugular vein of Islamic enmity, a voice cried out: O Mahdi! A group said – our troubles would end were he born, another group voiced ‘May Allah hasten his noble reappearance’.
Times are changing; the voices professing the advent of the Son of Zahra (s.a) are being raised. Each person should pause and consider with impartiality, who are we calling? Why are we calling? What has happened? Are we calling him whose eyes have darkened due to weeping? Are we calling him who laments his ancestor day and night, and whose eyes shed drops of blood instead of tears? The one who is placating Zulfiqar? The restless Zulfiqar, the impatient Zulfiqar waiting for revenge? The one who is consoling his people that the promise of God will be fulfilled? However, if not for the unexpected news that reach us regarding you there would have been no delay in our arrival.