Ethical Discourses: Volume 1

Discourse 6: If Sahib Al-Zaman Were To Come (Right Now)…

Speaking about our living Imam is both enlightening and one which spiritually trains and educates all of us. The late 'Allamah Majlisi  has narrated a tradition in relation to Imam al-Mahdi (as) which states:

إِذَا قَامَ الْقَائِمُ حَكَمَ بِالْعَدْلِ وَ ارْتَفَعَ فِي أَيَّامِهِ الْجَوْرَ وَ امْنَتِ بِهِ السُّبُلَ وَ أَخْرَجَتِ الأَرْضُ بَرَكَاتِـهَا وَ رَدَّ كُلَّ حَقٍّ إِلـى أَهْلِهِ وَ لَمْ يَبْقَ أَهْلَ دِيْنٍ حَتّى يُظْهِرُ الإِسْلاَمَ وَ يَعْتَرِفُوا بِالإِيْمَانِ.

“When al-Qaim makes his advent, he will judge with justice and during the time of his advent, all forms of tyranny will be removed and the paths (towards him) will be made safe. The Earth will bring forth Her blessings and the rights of each and every person will be given to them and no person who follows any other religion (din) will remain except that they will accept al-Islam and will come towards true faith.”[^1]
 
In this tradition, there are seven tasks which have been mentioned that the Imam will accomplish:

1 and 2: The government of justice and the removal of all forms of tyranny: The opposite of justice (عدل) is oppression (ظلم) - not tyranny (جور) - whereas equality (قسط) is the opposite of tyranny (جور) (according to the 'Arabic definition and the Islamic understanding of these words and their meanings).

The difference between justice (عدل) and equality (قسط) is that as justice refers to not taking away the rights of another person, equality means that there is no differentiation between people. Therefore, oppression means that you take something from another for your own self, where as tyranny means that you take something from a person and give it to somebody else.

For example, if I forcefully take away Zaid's house from him for my own personal use - this act is oppression. But if I take Zaid's house and give it to another person - this is tyranny. The exact opposite of this is that I do not take Zaid's house for my own personal use - and this is justice, and if I do not take it for the use of another person - then this is equality. Therefore, equality means that differentiation does not exist where as justice means that oppression does not exist.

  1. The paths will be made safe: The paths towards the Imam will be made safe and secure.

  2. Natural Blessings: The Earth will bring forth her blessings, now whether these are the blessings that come about through farming, blessing of the minerals from the Earth or other types of powers and energies that are presently hidden from us - these may all be correct.

  3. Responsibilities will be returned to their rightful holder: The rights and responsibilities will be given back to those who have lost them, and this is completely opposite to our present day and age in which a great number of jobs and occupations are in the hands of those who have no knowledge of them, because the issue of who they know has taken precedence over what they know.

  4. The Ruling of al-Islam: No other religion will remain on the Earth except for Islam and thus all other religions will fuse into one Religion and that will be al-Islam.

  5. Sincere attraction to al-Islam: This part of the tradition has two meanings to it. It is possible that it refers to the point that everyone will become followers of the teachings of the Ahlul Bait, or it could mean that in addition to people showing an outward form of true faith, they will also have the inner belief to make them true believers.

There is a difference that has been mentioned in the traditions in relation to the terms Islam and Iman. Some of the traditions state that Islam is what a person verbally declares and through this declaration, his life is protected and the meat which he slaughters is made permissible to eat. However Iman is that thing which is the true essence (of servitude to Allah (SwT)) which will act as salvation for a person on the Day of Judgement.

In other traditions, it is mentioned that Islam is equivalent to the Masjidul Haram, whereas Iman is (like) the Ka'bah (general and specific). There is a possibility that this explanation could be in reference to the verse of the Qur`an which states:

قَالَتِ الأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا…

“The desert 'Arabs say to you (O' Muhammad) that we believe…”[^2]

At the head of all the things that the Imam will perform, we see in the tradition that there are four major things which he will do which we summarize as being:

  1. Correcting the Theological Beliefs:

مَا عَلى ظَهْرِ الأَرْضَ بَيْتِ حَجَرٍ وَ مَدَرٍ إِلاَّ أَدْخَلَهُ اللٌّهُ كَلِمَةُ الإِسْلاَمِ.

“There will not remain a single stone house, mud house, nor a tent upon the entire Earth except the word (teachings) of Islam will be in that place (and thus, polytheism will no longer exist).”[^3]

  1. Completion of the Intelligence:

The advancement of knowledge and intelligence will also take place (at this time), just as the late 'Allamah Majlisi  makes clear by quoting a tradition from the Infallibles in relation to this point:

إِذَا قَامَ قَائِمَنَا وَضَعَ يَدَهُ عَلى رُئُوسِ الْعِبَادِ…

“When our Qaim makes his advent, he will place his hand over the heads of the servants…”
It is possible that this means that people will be under the direction and guidance of the Imam.

فَجَمَعَ بِهَا عُقُولِهِمْ وَ كَمُلَتْ بِهَا أَحْلاَمَهُمْ.

“…so then (through this act), he will gather together their intelligence and complete their knowledge.”[^4]

  1. Justice and Equality:

In the various traditions, it has been mentioned that:

يَمْلَأُ الأَرْضَ عَدْلاً وَ قِسْطاً كَمَا مُلِئَتْ ظُلْماً وَ جَوْراً.

“He (the Imam) will fill the Earth with justice and equality just as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny.”[^5]

  1. Correction of the Moral Ethical Traits:

From the traditions which speak about the signs at the end of time, we can deduce that removing all of the corrupt ethical traits and bringing back the moral values of Islam back to life will be the duty of the Imam.

There are also traditions which state that before the advent of Imam al-Qaim (as), many corrupt ethical traits such as: adultery, theft, bribery, selling less that what one paid for, the drinking of alcohol, murdering of countless innocent people and other such sins will be very common.

Thus, the meaning of this tradition is that when Imam al-Mahdi (as) rises up to remove and eradicate all of these things, the entire valued and cherished system of moral ethics would already be completely destroyed and it is Imam al-Mahdi (as) who will restore it.

Imam al-Mahdi (as) will possess an army, military and many helpers and supporters, just as we recite in the Ziyarat of Ale Yasin:

وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنْ شِيعَتِهِ وَ أَتْـبَاعِهِ وَ أَنْصَارِهِ.

“So then place me (O' Allah) amongst his followers, supporters and helpers.”
Or as it can be seen in some traditions that:

وَالْمُجَاهِدِينَ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ.

”(And place us) among those who struggle and fight in his way.”

That person who wishes to be a helper of the Imam must work tirelessly in these four points mentioned and the one who does not possess any of these four points within himself, however prays to Allah (SwT) to make him of the helpers of the Imam (as) will see that his prayers will be far from being answered.

If the scholars take it upon themselves to introduce this sort of ethical program (in the community) then without doubt, we will see one large class of preparation and upbringing take form among the community members.

Tawassul (to the Imam) is a good thing and it has its own place - however:

وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنْ شِيعَتِهِ وَ أَتْـبَاعِهِ وَ أَنْصَارِهِ.

“So then place me (O' Allah) amongst his followers, supporters and helpers.”

This request will never be achieved simply through Tawassul and prayer - rather, our belief and acceptance of the Tawhid of Allah (SwT) must be one of sincerity and thus, we must remove all forms and effects of polytheism from our hearts, lives and from the society.

We must practically implement justice and equality in relation to the people and our family and those who are around us and we must make the valuable ethical traits apparent within ourselves.
If it was made completely clear for what reasons the Imam would make his advent, then this would definitely change the face of the society.

One who does not possess any of these traits can not expect to stand in the ranks with the Imam. Therefore, it is very good that we actively do something to call the attention of the people towards the goals and objectives of the Imam so that all of us can mound ourselves to becoming better human beings.

We must know that there are hidden hands at work which are striving to pollute the gatherings (majalis) that we hold for Imam al-Mahdi (as) by introducing despicable forms of singing and playing of music as well as breaking other limits of the Shari'ah. Sometimes, the enemy will use such religious gatherings and programs to reach their evil goals, just as the story of Masjid Dhirar through which the enemies wanted to build a Masjid to actually destroy the roots and symbol of what a Masjid stands for!

Thus, the goals and values must be manifested in the correct manner, lest the enemies who are trying to remove the value and worth of such programs become successful in their goals.

We hope that Allah (SwT) accepts this supplication in relation to us:

أَللٌّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنِي مِنْ أَعْوَانِهِ وَ أَنْصَارِهِ وَ أَتْـَاعِهِ وَ شِيعَتِهِ وَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ بَيْنَ يَدَيهِ.

“O' Allah!  Place me from amongst his helpers, assistants, followers and supporters and of those who fight in his ranks.” !
 

[^1]: Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 52, pg. 338

[^2]: Surat al-Hujurat (4ا), Verse 14

[^3]: Tafsir al-Qurtubi [Imam Abu `Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abu Bakr al-Ansari al-Qurtubi], vol. 12, pg. 300

[^4]: Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 52, pg. 338

[^5]: Ibid., vol. 14, pg. 33