Belief in the Appearance of the Mahdi and Savior and the Appearance of False Mahdis | |||||
QUESTION: Belief in the appearance of the Mahdi and savior has caused the appearance of false Mahdis throughout history, and some make this circumstance a justification for setting aside this idea. To what extent can this viewpoint be accepted? ANSWER: This viewpoint is absolutely unacceptable, or else humanity must set aside all positive viewpoints. This is because all of them have more or less been subject to misuse. All of the individuals who claimed to be God or regarded themselves the manifestation of God, united with God, or regarded God to have taken abode in them have all misused the principle of belief in Allah. This action in no way harms the issue of belief in Allah. Similarly, all of the false prophets who claimed prophecy and misled a people do not transmit any damage to the correctness of the principle of prophecy. This issue arises in more or less every field and industry, but that incident brings no harm to that field itself. In short, if any name or word that has a good and attractive meaning has been used for its opposite, this does not damage these values and good affairs themselves, such as if a betrayer has been called trustworthy, an oppressor called just, an ignorant person called learned, a sinner called God-fearing, or if all treacheries and oppressions have been committed in the name of well-wishing and seeking reform. The Effect of Social, Economic, and Political Factors in Religious Thought QUESTION: What effect have social, economic, and political factors had on religious thoughts and creeds and on belief in the appearance of the Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return)? ANSWER: From the viewpoint of the godless worldview, all affairs must be attributed to historical and material causes. However, from the viewpoint of the religious worldview, the source of that which is genuine and true from among various ideas and creeds is revelation, the call of the prophets, and the inborn comprehension of humanity, which is referred to as the guidance of reason, natural disposition, revelation, and prophecy. In the eyes of this viewpoint, all of the devious courses and harmful thoughts are the effect of material and historical causes, personal goals, and deficiency of culture of society and its upbringing. Religious creeds taken from revelation and prophecy are all genuine and actual and have a place in humanity’s nature. History, the passage of time, human knowledge, and material causes do not bring them into existence. Rather, the source of conviction about matters such as the principle of the messengership of the prophets and Imamah of the Imams (peace be upon them) and all true creeds is reason, human disposition, and revelation from Allah. On this basis, no social, economical, or political factor has had or has an effect even in the appearance of belief in the appearance of Mahdi the Savior (may Allah hasten his return). The beginning and source of it is the narrations of the prophets, the celestial books, and the guidance, narrations, and words of the person of the Final Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), Imam Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him), and the remaining Imams (peace be upon them). Though there have been false claims regarding being the Mahdi based on seeking rank and political aims, by analysis and recognition the original source of the appearance of these claims and the appearance of false claimants we reach the reality that an uncontested reality has been involved around which these claims and distortions have come about and been made tools by individuals. In the same way, regarding belief in Allah, revelation, and prophecy itself we see that some realities exist and there is a ground for its acceptance in people’s harts, and opportunistic individuals, abusing this fact, have throughout history made claims of Godhead or prophecy. And the issue of the Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return) as well—since it was raised by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) himself and the companions have heard and related it from him—is a reality which has been accepted by all. For this reason it has been abused and individuals have made it means for differing objectives, most of which have been political. If the issue of the Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return) did not have reality, individuals would not have resorted to such distortion with regard to it. Thus, these abuses themselves confirm the fact that this issue has been accepted as a reality by all. It is possible for events to guide humanity to realities, just as Ibrahim (peace be upon him), the great monotheist, taught recognition of Allah to people by use of events. When night set, that personage saw a star. In the beginning, he said, “This is my Lord.” But when the star set he said; áÇó ÃõÍøöÈõ ÇáÂóÝöáöíäó “I love not those that set.”[60] By making use of the incident of the rising and setting of the star, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) taught people that the star cannot be God. After that, the moon also rises and sets, and from this incident as well he concludes that the moon, too, cannot be God. Then, the sun rises and sets and, in the same way, he reaches the same conclusion about it. In this way he seeks aversion to all polytheistic beliefs and guides the people to the Creator of all the world’s inhabitants. Thus, events can lead people to realities, but credal realities cannot be considered the effects of events. Yes, it can be said that the passage of time caused a strengthening of people’s belief in the family of ‘Ali (peace be upon him) and deepening of Shi‘a thought in their hearts. But if someone says that Shiaism and the occultation of the Imam (peace be upon him) were originated and completed by the passage of time, this is false, since many proofs, which have been pointed out in the previous discussions, belie this view. No one can say that the traditions of the Imams (peace be upon them), all of which they have related from the tongue of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), are all forged, since all off them, in addition to consecutive narration, have external contexts with themselves. In reality, they are like the news of the martyrdom of ‘Ammar, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said, ÊóÞúÊõáõßó ÇáúÝöÆóÉó ÇáúÈóÇÛöíóÉõ." “The oppressive party will kill you.”[61] No one said that after ‘Ammar was martyred by Mu`awiyah and his army, this tradition was forged, i.e. the tradition is an effect of that event. This is because before this event, the companions would relate this tradition. The issue of the Imamah of the Imams (peace be upon them) is the same way, regarding which it has been related from three of them, that is ‘Ali and Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn, that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said, “The number of Imams is twelve, the last of whom shares my name.” And it transpired exactly in this way in the external world. In this situation, none can claim that these traditions are spurious and were forged after the occurrence of these events. “Mahdi” in a Special Meaning and Technical Usage QUESTION: Is “Mahdi” a specific label and title referring to a particular person with particular qualities and distinctions or a general concept and title applied to everyone Allah has guided? In other words, is the Mahdi and belief in Mahdawiyyat related to person or a category? ANSWER: The concept of the word “Mahdi” is a general concept that is permissible to use, according to the language and common usage, for anyone that Allah has guided. With this concept, all of the prophets and legatees (awsiya’) are “Mahdi” (guided) and using this word for the person of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), Amir al-Mu’minin, Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn, and the remaining Imams (peace be upon them) is permissible since all of them were “Mahdi” and guided. Rather, using this word to refer to other individuals were raised and attained guidance in the school of those personages is permissible. For example, the companions of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) were all guided. Similarly, using the word for eminent Shi‘a, or rather all Shi‘a or all who have been guided to the truth and are on guidance is permissible. However, everyone knows that the purport of “Mahdi” which the Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) said was a particular label and title reserved for a specific and unusually mighty person about whose appearance the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) has given tidings and has invited his Ahl al-Bait (peace be upon them) and all the Muslims to be among those awaiting his appearance. Some of these prophetic traditions are: ÇóáúãóåúÏöí ãöäú æõáúÏöí “The Mahdi is from my descendants.”[62] ÇóáúãóåúÏöí ãöäú ÚöÊúÑóÊöí ãöäú æõáúÏö ÝóÇØöãóÉó “The Mahdi is from my family, from the descendants of Fatimah.”[63] ÇóáúãóåúÏöí ãöäú æõáúÏößó “The Mahdi is from your descendants.”[64] “Mahdi” in the meaning of “guided”, as per the various meanings of “guidance”, such as “showing the way,” “conveying to the desired object,” and other instances is also used for non-humans, and the verse: ÑóÈøóäóÇ ÇáøóÐöí ÃóÚúØóì ßõáøó ÔóíúÁò ÎóáóÞóåõ Ëõãøó åóÏì “He said, Our Lord is the One Gave every existent what is necessary for its creation, then guided.”[65] indicates this fact. In spite of all this, it appears that by studying the instances in which this word has been used, the conclusion is reached that “guidance” is generally used for individuals in whom Allah’s guidance has had an effect. On this basis, it must be said: ÇóáúãóåúÏöíøõ ãóäú åóÏóÇåõ Çááåõ æóÞóÈúáó åóÏóÇíúÊóåõ æóÇåúÊóÏóì ÈöåóÇ ÈöÚöäóÇíóÉö ãöäúåõ æóÊóæúÝöíÞóåõ That is, one who has received Allah’s guidance is “Mahdi.” In other words, guidance in the meaning of “showing the path” has been directed at him and though the special attention and tawfiq of Allah, it has born fruit in him, for which the loftiest examples are the prophets and Imams (peace be upon them). According to reliable traditions, “Mahdi” is the title of the same promised personage of the end of time whose genealogy and qualities have even been pointed to in reliable traditions, which cannot be applied to anyone except the twelfth Imam, the son of Imam Hasan al-‘Askari (peace be upon him). The title “Mahdi” in the meaning of the receiver of Allah’s guidance, reviver of Islam, one who will fill the world with equity and justice, and possessor of distinguished qualities, was first used with regard to that personage and this took place in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) himself through his person, and the Mahdi in the sense of savior and redeemer—and other synonymous words like this from Allah—are solely his titles. And mahdawiyyat as a concept of a category is not understood from any of the narrations related from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) or Imams (peace be upon them). Controversy Regarding the Date of Birth of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return) QUESTION: How can the controversy about the date of birth of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return), which some say corresponds to the number of the letters of the word äæÑ (“nur,” light) – 256 – while according to some traditions, it took place in the year 255 A.H., be explained. In what year did the occultation of that personage take place? ANSWER: Dispute about such matters does not harm the basic topic or cause an enigma. Such disagreement exists with regard to the date of birth of most historical personalities; in fact in many cases their dates of birth and death are unknown. The disagreement about the date of birth of Imam Sahib al-‘Amr (may Allah hasten his return) is less than the disagreement existing about the date of birth of some of the Imams and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) himself. The reliable opinion is 255 A.H., which Fadl ibn Sha¤han al-Nayshapuri—who is one of the major traditionists and a contemporary of Imam Hasan al-‘Askari (peace be upon him) - has related, and his intermediary is a person like Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hamza ibn Husayn ibn ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Abbas ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). As for the occultation of Imam Sahib al-‘Amr (may Allah hasten his return): From the very time of birth the public did not have permission to visit him in the usual manner, and his venerable father would only grant special companions and Shi‘a the felicity of visiting his peerless son and ßáãÉ Çááå ÈÇÞíÉ(Allah’s remaining word). The commencement of the minor occultation, which was also the beginning of that personage’s Imamah, took place on the day of martyrdom of Imam Hasan al-‘Askari (peace be upon him), that is in the year 260 A.H. A point which must be mentioned here is that the coming up of the issue of the occultation of the Imam was not unexpected for the Shi‘a and believers in Imamah when it occurred, since it had been referred to before that time in many traditions, and the people knew that Imam Sahib al-‘Amr (may Allah hasten his return) will have to occultations—a short occultation called “sughra” and “qusra” and a long occultation called “kubra” and “tula”. The detailed report of that has been mentioned completely in the books and usul (books of principles) of the Shi‘a which were written before the birth of Imam Sahib al-Zaman (may Allah hasten his return). |