Question 280 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 3

Supporters Response:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Intensely Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send His prayers upon Muhammad and his family, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them abundant peace. Concealment and precaution against the wrongdoers and the enemies of the Imams (a) were practiced by one better than Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan. Do the narrations not state that Imam al-Mahdi (a) went into occultation for fear of being killed, and that even publicizing his noble name was forbidden?! If you have not learned of this, then here it is: From Zurarah, who said: Abu Abdullah (a) said: “O Zurarah, the Qa’im (a) must have an occultation.” I said, “Why?” He said: “He fears for himself,” and he gestured with his hand toward his abdomen (^[243]). From Abu Abdullah al-Salihi, who said: Our companions asked me, after Abu Muhammad passed away, to ask about the name and the place. The answer came: “If you point them to the name, they will publicize it; and if they know the place, they will point it out” (^[244]). Will you also object to Imam al-Mahdi (a) and tell him, “One such as you does not fear the consequences”?! Then why do you forsake Allah’s allies and stand in the ranks of their enemies, and then say, “Why do they not appear to us?” Were they not displaced and compelled to conceal themselves because you forsook them? What is the matter with you? How do you judge?! Would it not have been more appropriate for you to devote yourself to studying the proofs of Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan, that Allah Most High might guide you to the straight path, and to abandon the way of those who sow doubt and uncertainty, before you say, “If only I had taken a path with the Messenger,” as Allah Most High related the condition of those who denied the messengers (a): “On the day the wrongdoer bites his hands, he will say, ‘If only I had taken a path with the Messenger’” (^[245]). The Exalted said: “Say, ‘Have you considered: if it is from Allah and then you disbelieve in it, who is more astray than one who is in far dissension?’” (^[246]). The Exalted said: “He said, ‘O my people, have you considered: if I stand upon clear proof from my Lord and He has given me mercy from Himself, but it has been obscured from you, shall we compel you to accept it while you are averse to it?’” (^[247]). Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Scientific Committee Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah establish him upon the earth) Sheikh Nazim al-Uqayli