The Promised Mahdi (part One)

10

Chapter Ten: Narrations from Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.)

1- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from Ibne Mutawakkil from Ali from his father from Abdullah bin Hammad and Muhammad bin Sinan together from Abul Jarud that he said:

Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said to me “O Abu Jarud, when ages pass and people say the Qaim has died or perished or gone to some valley, and the seeker says,When is this going to happen while his bones have decayed? At that time expect him. And when you hear from him, come to him even if you have to crawl on ice.”

2- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Ibne Walid from Saffar from Muhammad bin Isa and Ibne Abil Khattab and Haitham Nahdi together from Ibne Mahbub from Ibne Raab from Abu Hamza Thumali that he said:

I heard Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) say, “The nearest of the people to Allah, the Exalted, and their most knowledgeable and their most compassionate to the populace is Muhammad and the Imams, bliss of Allah be for them all. Enter where they enter and separate whoever they separate from. I mean Husain and his progeny by that. Righteousness is in them and they are the successors and from them are the Imams.

Wherever you see them, follow them. If a time comes one day that you do not see anyone of them, seek help from Allah and contemplate on the tradition you are on and follow it, and love whom you love, and disdain whom you disdain. How soon is the relief coming to you!”

3- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Abdul Wahid bin Muhammad from Abu Amr Laithi from Muhammad bin Masud from Jibraeel bin Ahmad from Musa bin Ja’far bin Wahab Baghdadi and Yaqub Bin Yazid from Sulaiman bin Hasan from Saad bin Abi Khalaf from Maruf bin Kharbudh that he said:

I said to Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.): “Tell me about yourselves.” He said: “We are the like of stars. When star sets, another star of peace and security, harmony and tranquility, leisure and openings rises. So until the Children of Abdul Muttalib are equal and distinction remains amongst them, Allah, the Exalted, will manifest your Patron. So praise Allah, the Exalted. And He will give him a choice between the easy and the difficult.” I asked, “May I be your ransom, which will he choose?” He sat, “He will choose the difficult over the easy.”

The author says: Sa’b wa al-Dhahul (Humble and intractable) are qualities of riding beasts.

4- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated through the same chains of narrators from Muhammad bin Masud from Nasr bin Sabbah from Ja’far bin Sahal from Abu Abdullah brother of Abdullah Kabuli from Qabusi from Nadhr bin Sindi from Khalil bin Amr from Ali bin Husain Fazari from Ibrahim bin Atiyya from Umme Hani Thaqafiyya that she says:

I came in a morning to my master Muhammad Ibne Ali Imam Baqir (a.s.) and said to him, “My master, a verse from the Book of Allah, the Exalted, has struck my heart and has troubled me and taken away my nights’ sleep.”

He said: “Ask O Umme Hani.” I said: “The saying of Allah, the Exalted:

“But nay! I swear by the stars, that run their course (and) hide themselves…” (Surah Takwir 81:15-16)

He said: “Yes, the subject you asked me about, O Umme Hani, is someone who will be born in the last period of time and he is the Mahdi and from this House. There will be a perplexity and occultation about him in which nations will go astray and nations will remain on guidance. Blessed be you if you see his time! Blessed be anyone who sees his time!”

5- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Muzaffar Alawi from Ibne Ayyashi from his father from Abul Qasim from Ahmad Dahan from Qasim bin Hamza from Ibne Abu Umair from Abu Ismail Sarraj from Khaithama Jofi from Abu Ayyub Makhzumi that he said:

Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) mentioned the conduct of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and when he reached their last one he said: “The Twelfth is the one behind whom Isa Ibne Maryam (a.s.) will pray. You must uphold his conduct and the Noble Quran.”

6- Ghaibat Nomani: It is narrated from Salama bin Muhammad from Ahmad bin Dawood from Ahmad bin Hasan from Imran bin Hajjaj from Ibne Abi Najran from Ibne Abu Umair from Muhammad bin Ishaq from Usaid bin Thalaba from Umme Hani that she says:

I asked Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.), “What is the meaning of Allah’s word,Nay. I swear by the Star?” He said: “O Umme Hani, an Imam who on the year two hundred and sixty hides himself until his whereabouts is not known to the people. Then he will appear like a blazing meteor in a dark night. If you should see that time, your heart will find solace.”

7- Ghaibat Nomani: Kulaini has narrated from Ali from his father from Hannan bin Sudair from Maruf bin Kharbudh that he said: Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said:

“Your stars are like the stars of the heavens. Whenever a star sets, another star rises. So when you point with your fingers and make gestures with your eyebrows, Allah will hide your stars from you. Bani Hashim will be equal without any distinction amongst them from one another. Then your star will rise, so praise your Lord.”

8- Ghaibat Nomani: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Hamam through his chains from Abdullah Ibne Ata that he said:

I asked Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.), “Your Shia are many in Iraq and there is no one, by Allah, in your household like you. So why do not you uprise?” He said: “O Abdullah Ibne Ata’, you have began lending your ears to the fools. No, by Allah, I am not your Awaited Patron.” I asked him, “Then who is our Awaited Patron?” He said: “Look who does Allah hide his birth from the people, he is your Awaited Patron. There is no one of us who is pointed at with fingers or hinted by tongues except that he dies because of being under wrath or because of other causes.”

9- Ghaibat Nomani: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Hamam from Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Malik from Ibad bin Yaqub from Yahya bin Yala from Abu Maryam Ansari from Abdullah Ibne Ata that he said:

I said to Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.), “Tell me about the Qaim.” He said: “By Allah, he is neither me, nor the one towards whom you stretch your necks. His birth will not be known.” “What is his conduct according to?” I asked. He said: “He will act according to what the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) has acted, invalidating the past and looking forward.”

10- Ghaibat Nomani: It is narrated from Ali bin Ahmad from Abdullah bin Musa from Ibne Abil Khattab from Muhammad bin Sinan from Abul Jarud that he said:

I heard Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) say, “Times shall come and go until Allah sends for this enterprise someone you do not know that he has been created.”

11- Ghaibat Nomani: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Hamam from Fazari from Ibne Abil Khattab from Himyari from Ibne Isa together from Muhammad bin Sinan from Abul Jarud that Abu Ja’far (a.s.) said:

“You will continue to stretch your necks to a man of ours, sayingHe is the one, and Allah takes him away; until Allah sends a man for this affair whom you do not know if he is born or not, has he been created or not.”

12- Ghaibat Nomani: It is narrated from Ali bin Husain from Muhammad Attar from Muhammad bin Hasan Raazi from Muhammad bin Ali Kufi from Muhammad bin Sinan from Yahya bin Muthanna from Ibne Bukair from Hakam from Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) that he said:

“As if I see you, you climb up and do not find anyone and return and do not find anyone.”

13- Ghaibat Nomani: Shaykh Mufeed has narrated from Ali bin Husain from Muhammad bin Yahya from Muhammad bin Hasan from Muhammad bin Ali from Ibrahim bin Muhammad from Muhammad bin Isa from Abdur Razzaq from Muhammad bin Sinan from Fudhail Rassan from Abu Hamzah Thumali that he said:

I was with Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) one day. When everyone had dispersed, he said to me, “O Abu Hamzah, one of the destined events that must happen is the rise of our Qaim. Whoever doubts in what I say, will meet Allah disbelieving in Him.” Then he said: “My parents be the ransom of the one who is named by my name and bears my patronymic, the seventh after me. My father be the ransom of the one who will fill the earth with equity and justice, as it will be replete with oppression and injustice.

O Abu Hamzah, whoever sees him and submits to him through the submission for Muhammad and Ali, I give him a solemn promise of Paradise. And whoever does not submit,verily Allah has made Paradise forbidden for him and his abode is the Fire and bad a place it is for the oppressors.

Then he said: The following verse of Quran clarifies our stand:

“Surely the number of months with Allah is twelve months in Allah’s ordinance…” (Surah Taubah 9:36)

14- Al-Kafi : It is narrated from some persons from Ibne Isa from Ali bin Hakam from Zaid Abul Hasan from Hakam bin Abu Naeem that he said:

I came to Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) when he was in Medina. I said to him, “I have taken a vow between theRukn and theMaqam that when I meet you, I will not go away from Medina until I know whether you are the Qaim of Aale Muhammad (a.s.) or not.” He did not answer me anything. I stayed for thirty days. Then he met me on a road and said: “O Hakam, you are still here?” I said: “I told you about the vow I have taken by Allah and you did not order me to do anything, nor did you forbid me from anything. And you did not give me an answer.” He said: “Come to me in the morning at my house.” I went to him in the morning. He said: “Ask what you need.” I said: “I have vowed with Allah of alms and fasting and charity between theRukn and theMaqam, that if I meet you I will not exit Medina until I know whether you are the Qaim (Establisher) of Aale Muhammad (a.s.). If you are, I will stay and be at your guard; and if you are not, I would go in the lands in search of livelihood.” He said: “O Hakam, we are all Establishers of the Order of Allah.” I said: “Then are you the Mahdi (the Guide)’?” He said: “We all guide to Allah.” “Are you the one with the sword’?” “Each one of us is with the sword and heir of the sword.” “Then are you the one who will kill the enemies of God, and is it through you that the friends of Allah will be victorious, and is it through you that the religion of Allah will manifest’?” “O Hakam,” he said: “how can I be that and I have reached forty-five years of age. The awaited Patron of that Enterprise is closer to breastfeeding than me and lighter on the back of a courser.”