The Promised Mahdi (part One)

18

Chapter Eighteen: Occultations of the Prophets and Imam Zamana (a.s.)

1- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from Ibne Walid from Saffar from Saad and Himyari together from Ibne Abil Khattab from Ibne Asbat from Ibne Amira from Zaid Shahham that Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) said:

“Salih disappeared from his nation from a long time and the day he disappeared from them, he was an aged man of open stomach, beautiful body, dense beard, delicate abdomen, small cheeks, and when he returned to his people, they did not recognize him with the appearance he had.

When he came back, they were of three categories: One category rejected him saying, ‘Do not ever come back.’ One category doubted in him. And the last group of people was on certainty. When he came back, he began with the doubting congregation and said to them, ‘I am Salih’; they belied,

cursed, and turned him down and said to him, ‘Allah has turned away from you. Salih was in a figure other than yours.’” The Imam said:

“He then came to the rejecters, but they did not listen to his word and dispersed from him in a very cruel manner. Then he walked to the third category, which were people of certainty about him, and said to them, ‘I am Salih.’ They said: ‘Give us a word with which we will not doubt you are Salih, for we do not doubt that Allah, the Exalted, is the Creator and He transfers and transforms His servants into any figure He desires. Salih had informed us and taught us when he was amongst us the sign of the Qaim when he comes. A word is true before us when it comes from the heavens.’ Salih said: ‘I am the Salih who brought you the calf.’

“They said: ‘You spoke the truth. This is what we have been studying. What are its signs?’ “He said: ‘There is a drink for the calf, and a drink for you on a known day.’ “They said: ‘We believe in Allah and in what you have brought to us,’ At that time, did Allah, the Exalted, say, Salih is a messenger from his Lord. The people of certainty said: We believe what he has been sent with; and said the people who were haughty, who were the doubters and the rejecters, We disbelieve in that which you believe in.”

Zaid Shahham says, I asked, “Was there at that day a scholar amongst them?” The Imam said: “Allah, the Exalted, is more just than to leave the earth without a scholar who would guide to Allah, the Exalted.

The nation waited seven days after the exit of Salih, a period in which they did not know any Imam, except the Divine religion they had at their hands and their word was one. When Salih (a.s.) came back, they united around him. Verily, the example of Ali and the Qaim is like Salih.”

2- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his father from Saad from Mualla bin Muhammad from Muhammad bin Jamhur etc. from Ibne Abi Umair from Abdullah bin Sinan from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) that he said:

“In the Qaim there is a tradition from Musa Ibne Imran (a.s.).” I asked, “What is the tradition of Musa Ibne Imran?”

He said: “The secrecy of his birth and his disappearance from his people.” I asked, “How long did Musa disappear from his family and people?” He said: “Twenty-eight years.”

3- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his father and Ibne Walid together from Himyari from Muhammad bin Isa from Sulaiman bin Dawood from Abu Basir that he said:

I heard Abu Ja’far (a.s.) say, “There are four traditions in the Master of this Affair from four apostles: a tradition from Musa, a tradition from Isa, a tradition from Yusuf and a tradition from Muhammad, bliss be for them all. The tradition from Musa is that he is fearful and vigilant; the tradition from Yusuf is the prison; the tradition from Isa is that it is said that he is dead, while he has not died; and the tradition from Muhammad (a.s.) is the sword.”

4- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Ali bin Musa bin Ahmad Alawi from Muhammad bin Hamam from Ahmad bin Muhammad Naufili from Ahmad bin Hilal from Uthman bin Isa from Khalid bin Najih from Hamza bin Humran from his father from Saeed Ibne Jubair that he said:

I heard the ornament of worshipers, Ali Ibne Husain (a.s.) say, “In the Qaim of ours there are traditions from the traditions of the apostles, peace be with them. A tradition from Adam, a tradition from Nuh, a tradition from Ibrahim, a tradition from Musa, a tradition from Isa, a tradition from Ayyub and a tradition from Muhammad (a.s.). The tradition from Adam and Nuh is the length of his life; the tradition from Ibrahim is the secrecy of his birth and the desertion of the people; the tradition from Musa is the fear and the disappearance; the tradition from Isa is the dispute of the people about him; the tradition from Ayyub is relief after the trials; and the tradition from Muhammad (a.s.) is his rise with the sword.” ­

5- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Ibne Bishar from Muzaffar bin Ahmad from Asadi from Nakhai from Naufili from Hamza bin Humran from his father from Saeed Ibne Jubair that he said:

I heard the chief of worshipers, Ali Ibne Husain (a.s.) say, “There is a tradition from Nuh in the Qaim and that is the length of his life.”

6- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Hamadani from Ali bin Ibrahim from Muhammad bin Isa from Sulaiman bin Dawood from Abu Basir and he has narrated from Ibne Isaam from Kulaini from Asim bin Alaa from Ismail bin Ali from Ali bin Ismail from Asim bin Hamid from Muhammad Ibne Muslim that he said:

I came to Abu Ja’far (a.s.) intending to ask him about the Qaim of Aale Muhammad (a.s.). He began the conversation first, “O Muhammad Ibne Muslim, there are similarities in the Qaim from Aale Muhammad (a.s.) to five apostles, Yunus the son of Mata, Yusuf the son of Yaqub, Musa, Isa and Muhammad, bliss be for them all. As for his similarity to Yunus, it is his return from his occultation while he is young after an old age.

As for his similarity to Yusuf the son of Yaqub, it is his disappearance from everyone he had in the world and his vanishing from his brothers and the confusion of his situation to his father Yaqub (a.s.) despite the proximity of the distance between him and his father, his family and his followers.

As for his similarity to Musa, it is the continuity of his fear, the length of his occultation, the secrecy of his birth, the weariness of his followers from the pains and disregard they saw after him until Allah, the Exalted, allowed him to rise and helped him and consented him over his enemies.

As for his similarity with Isa, it is the disagreement of the disputers about him, so much so that one congregation said: He was not born; another said: He is dead; another said: He was killed and crucified.

As for his similarity to his grandfather Mustafa (a.s.), it is his rise with the sword, his massacre of the enemies of Allah and the enemies of His Messenger (a.s.) and his massacre of the tyrants and the oppressors; and that he will be succored through the sword and fright; and that no standard of his will come back in defeat. From the signs of his rise is the rise of the Sufyani

from Syria; the rise of the Yemeni; a call from the sky in the month of Ramadan and a caller who will call his and his father’s names.”

7- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Ali bin Musa from Asadi from Nakhai from Naufili from Hasan Ibne Ali bin Abi Hamza from Abu Basir that he said:

I heard Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) say: “In the Master of the Affair there is a tradition from Musa, a tradition from Isa, a tradition from Yusuf and a tradition from Muhammad (a.s.). As for the tradition from Musa, he is fearful, vigilant; as for the tradition from Isa, it is that the same that was said about Isa will be said about him; as for the tradition from Yusuf, it is the prison and the Taqayyah; as for the tradition from Muhammad (a.s.), it is his rise in his grandfather’s style and illustration of his sayings. Then he will put his sword over his shoulder for eight months, continuously massacring the enemies of Allah, until Allah is pleased.” I asked, “How would he know that Allah, the Exalted, has been pleased?” He said: “He will cast compassion into his heart.”

8- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Abdul Wahid bin Muhammad from Abu Umair Laithi from Muhammad bin Masud from Muhammad bin Ali Qummi from Muhammad bin Yahya from Ibrahim bin Hashim from Abu Ahmad Azdi from Dharis Kannasi that he said:

I heard Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) say, “In the Patron of this Age there is a tradition from Yusuf. The boy of a black slave girl. Allah will restitute his affair in one night.”

The author says: “The boy of a black slave girl” is contrary to the many other traditions that have come about his mother. However, this can be interpreted as someone who is like the mother or a maid.

9- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Ali bin Hatim from Ahmad bin Isa Washa Baghdadi from Ahmad bin Tahir from Muhammad bin Yahya bin Sahal from Ali bin Harith from Saad bin Mansur Jawashini from Ahmad bin Ali Budaili from his father from Sudair Sairafi that he said:

I along with Mufaddal Ibne Umar, Abu Basir, Aban Ibne Taghlib entered upon our master Abu Abdullah Ja’far Ibne Muhammad (a.s.). We saw him sitting on bare earth. He had a Khaibari woolen cloak that was ringed at the neck, did not have any pockets and had short sleeves. He was crying like a deeply afflicted and bereaved mother of a child from the depths of a heart that was full of mourning. Grief had appeared in the sides of his face and the change had spread on to both of his cheeks and tears were rolling on the sides of his visage, as he was saying:

“My master, your occultation has taken away my night’s sleep, it has narrowed my bed for me and has snatched away the solace from my heart.

My master, your occultation has turned my tragedies into the atrocities of eternity! The loss of one after the other perishes a crowd and a multitude. No more I feel the tear that drops from my eye and the moan that faintly leaves my chest from the places of tragedies and past calamities except that it exemplifies before my eye the greatest and cruelest of catastrophes, the

most dismal and disdainful mishaps, mixed with your wrath and calamities coupled with your anger.”

Sudair says, Our hearts and minds were overwhelmed by that terrifying scene and mortifying view. We thought that it is the sign of a dreadful shattering or times have brought him a calamity. So we said: “May Allah, O son of the best of the creation, never bring tears into your eyes. For what incidents are your eyes pouring and your tears raining and what situation has led you to this mourning?”

Sudair says: Imam Sadiq (a.s.) took a deep sigh that his chest expanded and his fright enhanced and he said: “O you, I looked at the Book of Jafr this morning, and that is the book that encompasses the knowledge of deaths, trials and tribulations and the knowledge of all that has been and all that will be until Judgment Day, which Allah, glory to His name, has exclusively imparted to Muhammad and the Imams after him, peace be unto him and them. I viewed therein the birth of our Qaim and his disappearance and its protraction and the length of his lifespan and the trials of the believers through him after him in that period and the generation of doubts in their hearts from the length of his disappearance and the apostasy of most of them from their religion and their removing the cord of Islam from their necks, about which Allah, glory to His name, has said:

“And We have made every man’s actions to cling to his neck…” (Surah Isra 17:13)

…which is the Wilayah. So emotions overpowered me and griefs overwhelmed me.”

We said: “O son of Allah’s Messenger, dignify us and bestow honor upon us by sharing some of what you know from the knowledge.”

He said: “Allah, the Exalted, has consigned three qualities in the Qaim of ours, which He had consigned to three of the apostles. He foreordained his birth like the birth of Musa (a.s.); his disappearance like the disappearance of Isa (a.s.); and his longevity like the longevity of Nuh (a.s.). Moreover, He made the lifespan of His virtuous servant Khizr a proof of his lifespan.”

I said: “Remove the curtains for us, O son of Allah’s Messenger, from the faces of these concepts.”

Birth of His Eminence, Musa (a.s.)

He said: “As for the birth of Musa: When the Firon discerned that the demise of his kingdom is on his hands, he ordered the soothsayers be called, who foretold him about his lineage and that he will be from the Children of Israel. Firon did not cease to have his men rip open the abdomens of the pregnant women of the Children of Israel, until he killed in the pursuit of Musa twenty and some odd thousand babies. He was unable to murder Musa, for Allah, the Exalted, protected him.

Likewise, when the Umayyads and the Abbasids discovered that the demise of their kingdom and that of their kings and tyrants will be at the hands of the Qaim from us, they showed enmity towards us and took their swords out for the murder of the House of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) and to cut off his progeny in order to make certain they have killed the Qaim

(a.s.). However, Allah dislikes not revealing His Command for one of the oppressors until His light is full, even if the pagans may dislike this.

Disappearance of Isa (a.s.)

As for the disappearance of Isa: The Jews and the Christians formed unanimity that he has been killed; whereas Allah belied them in His verse:

“and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa)…” (Surah Nisa 4:157)

Likewise is the disappearance of the Qaim (a.s.) since one congregation denies it for its length-ranging from one misguided person who says, ‘He was never born’; to another who says, ‘He was born and he died’; to another who rejects faith by saying that our Eleventh was issue-less; to another who deviates by saying, ‘This will increase to thirteen and upwards’, and another who sins against God, the Exalted, by saying, ‘The spirit of the Qaim speaks through the body of someone else’.

Longevity of Nuh (a.s.)

“As for the longevity of Nuh: When he prayed for the descent of punishment against his people from the heavens, Allah, the Exalted, sent Jibraeel, the Trusted Spirit, with seven kernels, and said: ‘O Apostle of Allah, Allah, the Exalted, says to you, ‘They are My creation and My servants. I will not perish them with a lightening from My thunderbolts until the call has been stressed upon and the proof has become binding. Retain your hard labor in making the call to your people, for I will reward you for that. Plant these kernels, because your relief and liberation will be at its plantation, outgrowth, and fruition when it reaches fruition. Give this glad tiding to your believing followers.’ When the trees grew and thrived and their trunks and branches developed and spread out and their fruits grew big, he asked Allah, the Exalted, for the fulfillment of the promise. Allah, the Exalted, ordered him to plant the seeds of those trees and retain patience and hard work and make the call to his people. He informed the nations that believed in him; three hundred men of them turned away from him and said: ‘If what Nuh is claiming were true, the promise of his Lord would not have been violated.’

Then Allah, the Exalted, continued to order him every time to plant the seeds until they had been planted seven times. Nations of believers continued to lose congregations until they were left only seventy and some odd men. At that time, did Allah, the Exalted, sent a message to him and said: ‘O Nuh, now the dawn on your eyes has broken the night as the truth has manifested with clarity and the order of belief has become pure from impurity by the apostasy of everyone who had a wicked disposition.

If I had destroyed the disbelievers and kept those who have apostatized from amongst the believers in you, I had not fulfilled My early promise to the believers from your people who were sincere in their belief in Me and had adhered to the rope of your Prophethood that I would make them heirs in earth and empower for them their religion and replace their fear with

security, so that worship be pure for Me by the departure of doubts from their hearts.

How could I provide heirship and empowerment and replacement of fear with security while I know the weakness of certainty of the people who apostatized and their wicked dispositions and their evil insides, which were the outcomes of hypocrisy and the initiation of misguidance. If they had procured from Me the kingdom that will be given to the believers at the time of heirship when I will have killed their enemies, they would have sniffed the smells of its attractions, and it would have strengthened the inner secrets of their hypocrisy, and eternalized the strings of misguidance in their hearts, and they would have faced their brothers with enmity and would have battled them in pursuit of chiefdom and the distinction of commanding and forbidding. And how can the religion’s empowerment and the command’s spread amongst the believers coexist with rise of mischief and occurrence of wars? Never. Build the ark under Our eyes and as We reveal.’”

Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: “Likewise is the Qaim (a.s.). The days of his occultation will be lengthy so truth may become clear and belief may become pure from impurity by the apostasy of everyone from the Shia with a wicked disposition, who are feared they are hypocrites when they expect heirship and empowerment and a vast security in the reign of the Qaim (a.s.).”

Mufaddal says, I asked, “O son of the Messenger of Allah, the Nawasib believe this verse has been revealed about Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.” He said: “May Allah not guide the hearts of the Nawasib. When was the religion which Allah and His Messenger pleased with empowered through spread of security in the Ummah and departure of fear from their hearts and doubts from breasts during the reign of anyone of them? And in the reign of Ali (a.s.) specially with the apostasy of Muslims and mischief, which were occurring in their days and the wars that were breaking out between the disbelievers and between themselves.”

Then Imam Sadiq (a.s.) recited this verse:

“Until when the apostles despaired and the people became sure that they were indeed told a lie, Our help came to them…” (Surah Yusuf 12:110)

“As for the virtuous servant of Allah, Khizr: Allah, the Exalted, did not lengthen his lifespan for the sake of an apostleship ordained to him, nor for a book sent to him, nor for a code of law replacing the previous codes from other messengers before him, nor for an Imamate obliging His servants to follow him, nor any obedience mandated with respect to him. Instead, since Allah, the Exalted, knew how lengthy He would make the life of the Qaim (a.s.) in the days of his disappearance and He knew the rejection of His servants with respect to the length of that life, He lengthened the lifespan of the Virtuous Servant for no other reason but to argue on its basis for the lifespan of the Qaim (a.s.) and so that the argument of the adversaries may cease and people may not have any proofs against Allah.”

InGhaibat Tusi a similar report is quoted from Ali bin Harth.

10- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Muzaffar Alawi from Ibne Ayyashi from his father from Ali bin Muhammad bin Shaja from Muhammad bin Isa from Yunus from Ali bin Abi Hamza from Abu Basir that he said: Said Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.):

“There are many prophetic customs in the Master of this Affair: a custom from Musa Ibne Imran, a custom from Isa, a custom from Yusuf and a custom from Muhammad (a.s.). As for his custom from Musa, he is fearful, vigilant.

As for his custom from Isa, it is said about him what was said about Isa,

As for his custom from Yusuf, it is the veil. Allah will put a curtain between him and the people; they see him but they do not recognize him. As for his custom from Muhammad (a.s.), he strides with guidance on the Prophet’s guidance and behaves according to his conduct.”

11- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Ali bin Bishar from Muzaffar bin Ahmad from Asadi from Barmaki from Hasan bin Muhammad bin Salih Bazzaz that he said:

I heard Hasan Ibne Ali Askari (a.s.) say, “My son is the Qaim after me and he is the one in whom the traditions of lengthy lives and disappearance of the apostles, peace be with them, will run, until hearts will turn like stones for the length of the promised time and no one will stay in the belief in him except the one that Allah, the Exalted, has inscribed faith in his heart and has succored him with a Spirit from Him.”

12- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from Abu Basir that Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said:

“There is a similarity with Yusuf in the Qaim.” I asked, “And what is that?” He said: “Perplexity and disappearance.”

13- Ghaibat Tusi: Shaykh Tusi writes:

There are traditions which include the news that the Master of the Age dies and then lives or is killed and then lives. View the following traditions for instance: Abu Saeed Khurasani says: I said to Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.), “Why has he been named the Qaim?” He said: “Because he will rise after he dies. He will rise with the Order of Allah.”

Like this report Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Abdullah Ja’far Himyari through his chains has narrated from Abu Basir that: I heard Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) say, “The similitude of our Order in the Divine Book is the similitude of the owner of the donkey, Allah made him die for a hundred a years and then raised him up again.”

A similar report is narrated by Himyari from Ali bin Khattab on the authority of the Muezzin of the red mosque: I asked Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.), “Is there in the Book of Allah a similitude for the Qaim?” He said: “Yes, the verse of the owner of the donkey, Allah made him die for a hundred years, and then He raised him up again.”

Similarly Fadhal bin Shazan has narrated from Himad Ibne Abdul Karim that: Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) said: “When the Qaim rises, people will say, ‘How this can be? His bones have decayed since a long time ago.”

These traditions and the like have to be interpreted on the grounds that “his name will die” and many people and not all will believe that “his bones have decayed,” and then Allah will raise him as He raised the owner of the donkey after his real death. This is the sound interpretation of these narrations.

Moreover, singularly narrated traditions, which do not convey certitude, are not trusted with respect to something that is rationally known and reasoning has led it to and is supported by inordinate number of traditions. It is necessary not to rule anything on such an occasion and adherence to what is already known.

We interpreted these traditions, while setting aside the disputability of their authenticity, as is done in similar situations.