Question 6

Question: To the highly respected, Sayyed Ahmad Al-Hassan. Greetings. What are the characteristics that qualify you for this mission? To be clearer, what are the characteristics which distinguish you from the rest of the Shia, in order for your Mahdi to choose you for his succession? Thank you, Rita.

Rita George

A Christian Woman (2005)

Answer: When Allah spoke to Moses pbuh, He said to him, “If you come to the prayer, bring with you one whom you are better than.” So whenever Moses pbuh encountered anyone, he would not dare say, “I am better than him.” So he passed people and started considering species of animals until he passed by a mangy dog, so he said, “This is what I take.” He tied a rope around its neck and walked with it. As he crossed a distance, Moses pbuh looked at the dog and said to him, “I do not know by which tongue you praise Allah, so how am I to be better than you?” Then Moses pbuh freed the dog and went to the prayer.

The Lord said, “O Moses, where is that which I commanded you [to bring]?” So Moses pbuh said, “O Lord, I did not find it.” So the Lord said, “O Son of Imran, if you had not freed the dog, I would have erased your name from the record of prophecy.”^[1]

And I, the insignificant servant, it does not cross my mind that I am better than a mangy dog. I rather see myself as a great guilt that stands between the Hands of an Intensely Merciful, Compassionate Lord.

Ahmad Al-Hassan

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