(5) HOW CAN WE BELIEVE IN THE
EXISTENCE OF AL-MAHDI?
Now we have reached the fourth question which is:
Supposing that the hypothesis of the Expected Leader and
all that it comprehends of prolonged life, early
leadership and a silent absence, is possible, that would
not be enough proof for his existence, thus, how can we
indeed believe in the existence of al-Mahdi? Would some
narratives related in books on the Great Messenger (peace
and blessing of Allah be upon him and his progeny) be
enough for perfect conviction in the existence of the
Twelfth Imam, in spite of what this supposition bears of
peculiarity and deviation from the norms? Or rather, how
can we prove that al-Mahdi had a true historical
existence and that he is not only an assumption, for
which psychological circumstances have been combined to
confirm his existence in many people's minds?
The answer is:
That the idea of al- Mahdi, as
the Expected Leader, who will change the world for the
best, has been already mentioned in several of the
narratives (ahadith) related from the Great
Messenger in general, and the Imams of Ahlu'l-bayt
in particular. Moreover, it has been reconfirmed, with a
degree beyond doubt, in many texts. I could count up to
four hundred narratives of the Prophet (peace be upon him
and his progeny) which reached us through our brothers,
the Sunnis, (e.g., the book al-Mahdi written by my
uncle as-Sayyid Sadru'd-Din as-Sadr, may Allah bless his
noble soul), as well as a great number of reports about
al- Imam al- Mahdi through both the Shi'ites and the
Sunnis - nearly more than six thousand narratives, (e.g.,
the book entitled Muntakhab al-athar fi al-Imam
aththani 'ashar [Selection of traditions concerning
the Twelfth Imam] by ash-Shaykh Lutfu'llah as-Safi),
which is very high statistical number, not found in many
of the self-evident Islamic issues.
As regards the materialization of this idea in the
Twelfth Imam (peace be upon him) we do possess enough
justifications to be convinced that he is the one They
can be summed up into two groups of evidence - the first
Islamic, and the other scientific.
By the Islamic evidence we confirm the existence of
the Expected Leader.
By the scientific evidence, we can prove that al-Mahdi
is not just a myth or a supposition but a reality which
has been confirmed by historical experience The Islamic
evidence appears in the hundreds of narratives related
from Allah's Messenger (peace and blessing of Allah be
upon him and his progeny) and the Imams of Ahlu'l-bayt
(peace be upon them), which prove that al- Mahdi will be
appointed as Imam, that he is from the descendants of the
Prophet and Fatimah and the ninth descendants from
al-Husayn, that the caliphs (Prophet's successors) are
twelve.
All of these narratives limited that universal idea by
personifying it in al-Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam of Ahlu'l-bayt.
Moreover they reached a great number and diffusion,
although the Imams took a great precaution and care,
fearing their exposure on a general level, in order to
protect the righteous descendants against assassination
or an unpredicted assault on his life.
However, the numerical abundance of these narratives
is not the only reason for their validity, for in
addition to this, there are certain virtues and
coherences to be taken into account for proving their
validity.
The Prophet's narratives (ahadith) about the
fact that the Imams, caliphs, or amirs - depending
on the style of the narrative in its different ways are
twelve Some writers counted up to more than two hundred
and seventy narratives taken from the most well-known
books of Sunni and Shi'ah traditions such as al-Bukhari,
al-Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and the collection of
Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the Rectification of the Judge on
the Two Sahihs (al- Hakim, Mustadrak 'ala
s-sahihayn).
We should bear in mind here that al- Bukhari who had
compiled these narratives, was a contemporary to both
al-Imam al-Hadi and al-Imam al-'Askari which means quite
a lot, since it proves that the narratives were recorded
from the Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him
and his progeny) before that the realization of their
contents and the idea of the Twelfth Imam had
materialized.
This means, therefore, that there is no room left for
doubt, that the recording of the narratives was not
influenced by the fact of the Twelfth Imam, or that it
might have been a reflection of it, because the false
narratives (ahadith) that are related from the
Prophet ( peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his
progeny) are either a reflection or a justification for a
fact occurring later in time. Now, they did not precede
in their appearance and recording in the books, that fact
which they came to reflect, therefore, as long as we
possess the material evidence, which is that the
mentioned narrative had already preceded the historical
sequence of the twelve Imams, and that it had been
recorded in the books of ahadith (books of
traditions) before that the event took place, we can be
sure that this narrative is not a reflection of an event
but an expression to a truth from Allah, uttered by the
one who did not speak out of fancy (the Holy Prophet)
when he said: "Surely the caliphs after me are
twelve". So, the event of the twelve Imams was
fulfilled, starting with al-Imam 'Ali and ending in
al-Mahdi, this way being the only rational interpretation
to that noble narrative of the Prophet.
As far as the scientific evidence is concerned, it is
formed out an experience, lived by a community of people,
lasting nearly seventy years, which we call the period of
the minor occultation (ghaybah as-sughra) To
elucidate this point, we will pave the way by giving a
brief description
This minor occultation marks the first phase in the
Imamate of the Expected Leader (peace be upon him) From
the time that had been predestined, from the time he
assumed the role, he remained hidden from the outside
world, distant from all the events that were taking place
although being at the same time proximate to them in his
mind and heart
We should bear in mind that had this occultation
occurred suddenly, the result would have been a great
shock among the popular masses, who believed in the
Imamate since they were used to contacting their Imam in
every period, to consulting him for solutions to their
various problems. Thus, had he suddenly vanished, his
supporters would have felt cut off from spiritual and
intellectual leadership Such an event would have created
an enormous gap which would have thoroughly shaken the
whole structure and undermined its unity. Therefore, it
proved necessary that the way should be paved to this
occultation, so that these bases might get used to it and
gradually adapt themselves to the new situation
So the plan was this minor occultation, during which
al- Imam al-Mahdi vanished from the universal scene,
while keeping in touch with his popular bases and
supporters through his delegates or representatives and
the most reliable among his companions, who acted as a
link between the Imam and those who believed in his line.
The position of representative of the Imam was held in
those times, by four personalities, whom the popular
bases agreed as to their fear of Allah, piety and
integrity. They were:
1) 'Uthman ibn Sa'id al-'Amri;
2) Muhammad ibn 'Uthman ibn Sa'id al-'Amri;
3) Abu'l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh; and
4) Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad as-Samuri.
These four individuals assumed the role of
representative of the Imam (al-Mahdi) according to the
above classification. So whenever one of them died, the
other succeeded him, after being designated by al- Imam
al-Mahdi (peace be upon him).
The representative of the Imam used to get in touch
with the Shi'ahs and submit their questions and problems
to the Imam and return to them with his answers.
Sometimes orally and very often in a written form. So
these masses who lacked the vision of their Imam, found
some comfort and consolation in these indirect
communications.
Moreover they could notice that the signatures and the
letters were all written in the same way, during the time
of the four representatives that lasted nearly seventy
years The last representative, as-Samuri, declared that
the period of the minor occultation, which was
characterized by the designated delegates, was over; that
the period of the major occultation, in which there would
be no designated individuals to mediate between the Imam
and the Shi'ites, had began This transition meant that
the minor occultation had already accomplished its
mission and achieved its goal, since it immunized the
Shi'ites against the great shock and the feeling of the
profound gap caused by the Imam's occultation. In that
way, it enabled them to adapt themselves to the situation
and gradually prepared them to accept the idea of general
representation on behalf of the Imam. By this token the
latter changed from a representation by a designated
individual to a more general line manifested in the just mujtahid
(a legalist who arrives at an independent judgement), who
has a keen insight into the religious and worldly issues
of the Muslims, in view of the transition from the minor
to the major occultation
Now you can have an idea about the situation, in the
light of what has been discussed up to now, so you can
clearly realize that al- Mahdi is a reality that a
community of people has lived and which has been
expressed for seventy years, by the representatives and
the mediators of the Imam, whom no one could suspect of
cheating nor of playing on words
For can you imagine - by your Lord - that a lie could
survive for nearly seventy years, which four individuals
would successively assume and agree upon and continue to
interact with others on its basis as if it were a reality
that they lived; that nothing would escape their control,
which would cause a doubt in people's minds; that there
would be no particular relation between the four through
which they could gain the trust of everyone and their
belief in the truth of the matter, which they pretend to
live and feel?
An old proverb said, "The rope of lies is
short". also logic in life confirms the fact that it
is impossible that a lie could survive in this way and
for all time through these relations and still wins
everyone's confidence.
Thus, the phenomenon of the minor occultation can be
considered as a scientific experiment which has confirmed
the factual objectivity of the Imam's existence, his
birth, life and occultation, on account of which he has
been hidden from the world and has not revealed himself
to anyone ever since.