Question 51 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 1

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. This call is supported by much evidence. I-and I seek refuge in Allah from the ‘I’-have not told anyone to follow me blindly. Rather, I say: open your eyes, distinguish the evidence, and know the possessor of the truth so that you may save yourself from the Fire. A true call is accompanied by false calls, as happened with the Messenger of Allah (s), whose call was accompanied by that of Musaylima the Liar-may Allah curse him-and those like him. Al-Mufaddal ibn Umar said: ‘I heard Abu Abdullah (a) say: “Beware of publicizing it. By Allah, your Imam will surely be absent for years of your lifetime, and you will surely be tested and sifted until it is said: He died, was killed, perished-which valley did he take? The eyes of the believers will surely shed tears over him, and you will surely be overturned as ships are overturned in the waves of the sea. None will be saved except one whose covenant Allah has taken, in whose heart He has written faith, and whom He has supported with a Spirit from Him. Twelve ambiguous banners will surely be raised, and it will not be known which is which.”’ He said: ‘I wept, then said, “What are we to do?” He looked toward sunlight entering the portico and said, “O Abu Abdullah, do you see this sun?” I said, “Yes.” He (a) said: “By Allah, our matter is clearer than this sun”’ (^[121]). The Imam (a) thus explained that the true call is clearer than the sun. It is clearer than the sun because its evidence is the evidence of the prophets, messengers, the Messenger Muhammad (s), and the Imams (a). Attend to the evidence of this call and compare it with the evidence of the Messenger Muhammad (s). Read some of the evidence of the call in Professor Diya al-Zaydi’s book The Clear Light and Sheikh Nazim al-Uqayli’s book The Clear Proclamation. You will find very abundant evidence, including the testament of the Messenger of Allah (s), narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt (a), knowledge, truth, guidance, mutual imprecation, the oath of disavowal, unveiling, visions of the Messenger, the Imams, and the prophets (a) seen by the believers, miracles, and reports of the unseen. If all this evidence does not benefit you, then ‘watch for the day when the sky will bring a visible smoke, enveloping the people. This is a painful punishment’ (^[122]). Then say with those who say: ‘Our Lord, remove the punishment from us; indeed, we are believers’ (^[123]). The answer will come to you: ‘How will there be a reminder for them when a manifest messenger had already come to them? Then they turned away from him and said, “One taught by others, a madman”’ (^[124]). Glory be to Allah. Have you not taken heed from the condition of the nations that preceded you? Your condition today is like that of the Jews with their prophets. Have you not taken heed from the words of Allah and the narratives in the Quran? Look at your condition. Is it not the condition of the Jewish scholars and their followers when they mocked Zechariah (a), Yahya (a), and Jesus (a)? By Allah, what distinguishes you from them? If you are one who lends an ear while witnessing, you will burst into tears and say: By Allah, we are worse than the Jews and their scholars, who devoted themselves to this world and fought the prophets and their supporters who journeyed toward the Hereafter and believed in it, in the Kingdom of the Heavens, and in the unseen. What drives you to mock me and the believers in this true call? Ask yourself, return to your Lord, and ‘Read your book; today your own self is sufficient as an accountant against you’ (^[125]). Throughout the ages, who are the mockers? Have you heard or read that the prophets, messengers (a), and believers mock? Rather, you always find that mockery and ridicule are the habitual practice of those who deny and disbelieve in the calls of the prophets and messengers. What an evil people you have been to me, O people of Iraq. You followed your leaders, who followed America, made peace with it, and accepted its democracy. Finally you approved the Saqifa of the oppressors, excused those who removed the Commander of the Faithful Ali (a), and turned back on your heels, disbelieving in Allah’s appointment and His sovereignty, Glorious and Exalted, and fighting this true call in pursuit of the putrid world. You followed one whose wealth and worldly life only increased him in loss, just as the people of Mecca followed Abu Sufyan and fought my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s). What do you resent in me when I call you to the Book of Allah, to Allah’s Greatest Guardian Imam al-Mahdi (a), and to reject falsehood and its people? I came forth only to seek reform in the nation of my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (s), and by the command of my father Imam al-Mahdi (a), just as my grandfather al-Husayn (a) came forth. If you follow the imams of misguidance, your fathers did so long ago: they followed the jurists of misguidance-Shabath ibn Ribi, Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan, and Shurayh the judge-and helped Ibn Ziyad and Yazid-may Allah curse them-to kill al-Husayn ibn Ali (a). There is a mote in the eye and a choking grief in the throat. We belong to Allah and to Him we return. Those who wronged will know to what return they will return. There is no power or strength except through Allah, the Most High, the Almighty. Reflect upon His words, the Exalted: ‘Indeed, a group of My servants used to say: Our Lord, we believe, so forgive us and have mercy on us, and You are the best of those who show mercy. But you took them in mockery until they made you forget My remembrance, and you used to laugh at them. Indeed, today I have rewarded them for their patience; they are the triumphant’ (^[126]). Then mock and laugh greatly. You will not depart from the practice of your predecessors, and you will milk it as fresh blood. Those who come later will curse you just as those who fought Muhammad (s) and mocked him are cursed today. You will know tomorrow who has won, when knowledge will benefit you nothing. I-and I seek refuge in Allah from the ‘I’-will relate this vision to you and others so that perhaps you will take heed: ‘I saw in a dream that one of the sheikhs in the Najaf seminary, whom I know, was standing near me. Near us was a group of angels in human form. They asked that sheikh about me and presented the evidence of the call to him, but he denied the call. Then a person of awe and immense stature came, as though he held sway over the angels, the vision, and everything in it. The angels said to the sheikh, “This person also has a call, and these are its proofs.” They presented the evidence of this person of immense stature’s call to him. He said, “This person’s call is like the evidence of Ahmed Alhasan’s call.” The angels said to the sheikh, “Do you know who this is? This is Muhammad ibn Abdullah, possessor of the cutting sword and penetrating arrow, the Messenger of Allah (s).” The sheikh said, “I do not believe in Muhammad or Ahmed,” and turned his face away.’ I swear by Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, that I saw this vision and that the Messenger Muhammad (s) was in it. I have not related this vision to you as evidence by which I establish the rightfulness of this call, although a vision is evidence. I related it because I regard it as a message from Allah, so that perhaps Allah may benefit you and others through the meanings within it and you and those like you may take heed. Allah is the Guardian of success. Praise be to Allah, who made us believers in the Kingdom of the Heavens, the unseen, and the Hereafter-which is part of the unseen. Praise be to Allah alone, and may Allah curse every disbeliever who denies the Kingdom of the Heavens and the unseen. Ahmed Alhasan Jumada al-Awwal 1426 AH