Question 287 - 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. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. To proceed: The call of Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan is famous and known, especially in Iraq. Approximately six years have passed since it began. He had offices and Husayniyyahs in most Iraqi provinces, but after the crime of the government of the Abbasids in the previous year, they left no Husayniyyah or office without burning and demolishing it. The supporters became displaced people, prisoners, and slain martyrs. Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan used to meet people openly and travel through Iraq's provinces. He has hundreds of supporters whose trustworthiness is attested by enemy and friend alike. His existence is not unknown, as you may imagine. You can correspond with him or with his supporters and representatives through the official website or the forum of the Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (a). We are at your service in providing any explanation or clarification. As for the possibility of tribulation you raised, it is refuted by the guidance to which Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan calls and from which the jurists of the end time have departed. His call, like that of his purified forefathers, is supported by the Quran and the purified Sunnah. He calls to Imam al-Mahdi (a), to the Book of Allah Most High as constitution and method, to rejecting the governance of the people-America's democracy-and to striving against belligerent disbelievers. He has brought what all the scholars have been unable to refute. You can read and study his proofs recorded in the publications of the Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (a), available on their website, such as The Clear Proclamation, The Will and the Successor, The Promised Yamani Is Allah's Proof, and dozens of other books. Tribulation is opposing the Two Weighty Things, the Quran and the progeny. You can determine for yourself who opposed the Quran and the progeny: Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan or the jurists of the end time?! Allah Most High is the refuge in confusion and tribulation, so return to Allah Most High. The paths to Allah are as numerous as the breaths of creation. He, Glorious is He, does not disappoint one who seeks Him, misguide one who seeks His guidance, or reject one who asks Him. Exalted is He, far above what the wrongdoers describe. This is what Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan taught us. He always says: if Allah Most High guides you, none can misguide you; but if you confine guidance to a created being or to Ahmad al-Hasan, someone other than Ahmad al-Hasan may also misguide you. The Exalted said: “Whomever Allah guides has no one to misguide him. Is Allah not Mighty, Possessor of retribution?” (^[314]). We seek refuge in Allah Most High from the tribulations of the end time, which the Ahl al-Bayt (a) described as pieces of dark night. The Messenger (s) explained the way out of such tribulations in the following narration: From Abu Abdullah, from his forefathers (a), who said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: “O people, you are in an abode of truce, upon a journey, and you are being taken along swiftly. You have seen night and day, and sun and moon, wear out everything new, bring near everything distant, and bring every promised thing. Prepare your provisions for the long passage.” Al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad stood and said: “O Messenger of Allah, what is the abode of truce?” He said: “An abode of passage and cessation. When tribulations become confused for you like pieces of dark night, adhere to the Quran. It is an intercessor whose intercession is accepted and an accuser whose word is believed. Whoever places it before him, it leads him to Paradise; whoever places it behind him, it drives him to the Fire. It is the guide pointing to the best path, a Book containing detail, exposition, and attainment. It is the decisive word, not jest. It has an outward and an inward dimension: its outward dimension is judgment and its inward dimension is knowledge. Its outward dimension is elegant and its inward dimension deep. It has stars, and upon its stars are stars. Its wonders cannot be counted and its marvels do not wear out. In it are lamps of guidance, beacons of wisdom, and a guide to knowledge for one who knows the description. Let an observer roam with his sight and let his gaze reach the description: he will escape destruction and free himself from entanglement. Reflection is the life of the discerning person's heart, just as one possessing light walks through darkness by that light. Attend, then, to escaping well and tarrying little” (^[315]). As for your suggestion that we might be Wahhabis-Allah forbid-it is astonishing. Do Wahhabis call to the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and to rejecting and cursing everyone who usurped their rights, from the earliest to the latest? Do they call to the absent Mahdi of the family of Muhammad (a)? Leave that aside: Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan is among the strongest opponents of the impure Wahhabis. He issued a statement permitting the shedding of their blood after they targeted the shrines of the Imams (a) and the blood of innocent Shia. Do not seek a trace after seeing the thing itself. As for the scholars of the end time and their hostility toward Imam al-Mahdi (a), do not ask me about them; ask Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (s), for they are the most truthful of the truthful: From Malik ibn Damrah, who said: “The Commander of the Believers (a) said: O Malik ibn Damrah, how will you be when the Shia differ like this?”-and he interlaced his fingers, inserting some among others. “I said: O Commander of the Believers, what good is there in that? He said: All good is at that time, O Malik. At that time our Qa'im rises, brings forward seventy men who lie against Allah and His Messenger (s), and kills them. Then Allah unites them upon one matter” (^[316]). It is clear that these seventy whom the Qa'im (a) kills are Shia jurists, and that the Shia became divided because of them, as the preceding narration indicates: when they are killed, the Shia unite upon one matter. The narration also indicates this through his words (a), “who lie against Allah and His Messenger.” Lying against Allah and His Messenger (s) occurs through altering religion and issuing misguided rulings that they claim belong to Allah's law and His Messenger's Sunnah (s). Ordinary people, by contrast, are far removed from issuing rulings. From the Messenger of Allah (s): “A time will come upon my nation when nothing remains of the Quran except its script, or of Islam except its name. They are named by it while being the people farthest from it. Their mosques are flourishing but ruined of guidance. The jurists of that time are the worst jurists beneath the shade of heaven. From them tribulation emerged, and to them it returns” (^[317]). The Exalted said in the hadith of the Ascension concerning the scholars of the end time: “… I said: My God, when will that be?”-meaning the uprising of the Qa'im (a)-“He, Mighty and Majestic, revealed to me: That will be when knowledge is lifted away, ignorance appears, reciters increase, action diminishes, violent killing increases, guiding jurists become few, and treacherous jurists of misguidance become numerous …” (^[318]). Imam Ali (a) said of them in a sermon: “… Jurists incline toward lying and scholars toward doubt. Then the covering is removed from the veils and the sun rises from the west. There a caller from heaven calls: Appear, O ally of Allah, to the living. The people of the east and west hear him, and our concealed Qa'im appears … Then afterward he returns to this nation, intense in disagreement and scant in agreement. He will summon from all lands those who thought themselves scholars of religion, jurists of certainty, sages, astrologers, philosophizers, misguided physicians, and professing Shia. He judges between them in truth concerning that over which they differed and, after establishing justice among the people, recites to them: ‘We did not wrong them, but they were wronging themselves’” (^[319]). From Imam al-Baqir (a): “At the end of time there will be a people followed by another people: ostentatious people who act as reciters and ascetics, immature and foolish. They do not regard commanding right or forbidding wrong as obligatory unless they are safe from harm. They seek licenses and excuses for themselves, following the scholars' slips and the corruption of their knowledge …” (^[320]). From the Messenger of Allah (s): “At the end of time there will be men who seek to obtain this world by deception through religion. They wear sheepskins before the people. Their tongues are sweeter than honey, while their hearts are wolves' hearts. Allah Most High says: Are you deceived concerning Me, or do you dare against Me? By Myself I have sworn that I will send upon those among them a tribulation that leaves the forbearing among them bewildered” (^[321]). From Abu Abdullah (a): “… You see the jurist study jurisprudence for something other than religion, seeking this world and leadership … You see the pulpits upon which God-fearingness is commanded, while the speaker does not act according to what he commands …” (^[322]). From the Commander of the Believers, Ali ibn Abi Talib (a): “… At that time rulers take up sayings, judges bribes, jurists what they judge through interpretation, and the righteous consume this world through religion …” (^[323]). From the Messenger of Allah (s): “… It”-meaning the Hour-“will occur when rulers are wicked, reciters flatter, and scholars are hypocritical …” (^[324]). From him (s): “A time will come upon people when their bellies are their gods, their women their qiblah, their dinars their religion, and their possessions their honor. Nothing remains of faith except its name, of Islam except its form, or of the Quran except its study. Their mosques are flourishing in construction, while their hearts are ruined of guidance. Their scholars are the worst of Allah's creation upon the face of the earth …” (^[325]). From him (s): “A time will come upon my nation when their rulers are upon injustice, their scholars upon greed, and their worshippers upon ostentation …” (^[326]). From Imam al-Hasan al-Askari (a), who said to Abu Hashim al-Jafari: “O Abu Hashim, a time will come upon people when their faces are laughing and cheerful while their hearts are dark and troubled. The Sunnah among them is innovation, and innovation among them is Sunnah. The believer among them is despised and the transgressor honored. Their rulers are ignorant and unjust, and their scholars proceed to the doors of wrongdoers … Their scholars are the worst of Allah's creation upon the face of the earth, because they incline toward philosophy and Sufism. By Allah, they are people of deviation and distortion. They exaggerate in loving our opponents and misguide our Shia and those loyal to us. If they attain a position, they are never satiated with bribes; if they are forsaken, they worship Allah ostentatiously. Indeed, they are the highway robbers of the believers and callers to the creed of the heretics. Whoever encounters them should beware of them and protect his religion and faith.” Then he said: “O Abu Hashim, this is what my father narrated to me from his forefathers, Jafar ibn Muhammad (a). It is among our secrets, so conceal it from everyone except its people” (^[327]). From him (s): “At the end of time scholars will come who urge detachment from this world but do not detach themselves, encourage desire for the Hereafter but do not desire it, and forbid entering upon governors but do not refrain. They distance the poor and bring the wealthy near. Those are the tyrants, Allah's enemies” (^[328]). From him (s): “Woe to my nation from evil scholars. They make this knowledge a trade, selling it to the rulers of their time for their own profit. May Allah not make their trade profitable” (^[329]). From him (s): “The Hour will not rise until Allah sends forth lying rulers, wicked ministers, treacherous trustees, and transgressing reciters. Their appearance is that of monks, but they have no care”-or he said, “restraint.” “Allah will clothe them in a dusty, dark tribulation in which they stumble blindly as the Jews stumbled in darkness” (^[330]). From the Commander of the Believers (a): “We were sitting with the Prophet (s) while he slept with his head in my lap. We discussed the Dajjal. The Prophet (s) awakened with his face reddened and said: I fear for you something other than the Dajjal more than I fear the Dajjal: misleading leaders …” (^[331]). From him (s): “… O Ibn Masud, their scholars and jurists are treacherous and wicked. Indeed, they are the worst of Allah's creation. Likewise their followers, those who come to them, take from them, love them, sit with them, and consult them are the worst of Allah's creation. He admits them into the Fire of Hell: ‘Deaf, mute, blind, so they do not return’ (^[332]). ‘We shall gather them on the Day of Resurrection upon their faces, blind, mute, and deaf. Their refuge is Hell. Whenever it subsides, We increase its blaze for them’ (^[333]). ‘Whenever their skins are roasted, We replace them with other skins so that they may taste the punishment’ (^[334]). ‘When they are cast into it, they hear it inhaling as it boils, almost bursting with rage’ (^[335]). ‘Whenever they desire to leave it out of anguish, they are returned to it: Taste the punishment of burning’ (^[336]). ‘For them in it is exhaling, and in it they do not hear’ (^[337]). O Ibn Masud, they claim to follow my religion, Sunnah, method, and laws. They are disassociated from me and I am disassociated from them. O Ibn Masud, what my nation suffers from them is hostility, hatred, and contention. Those are the abased of this nation in their worldly life. By the One who sent me with truth, Allah will surely cause the earth to swallow them and transform them into apes and pigs.” He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) wept and we wept at his weeping. We said: “O Messenger of Allah, what makes you weep?” He said: “Mercy for the wretched. Allah Most High says: ‘If only you could see when they are terrified, with no escape, and are seized from a nearby place’ (^[338])”-meaning the scholars and jurists … (^[339]). In a sermon of the Commander of the Believers (a): “He”-meaning the Qa'im-“takes vengeance upon those who issue religious rulings concerning what they do not know. Perdition to them and their followers! Was religion deficient, so they completed it? Was there crookedness in it, so they straightened it? Did the people intend disagreement, so they obeyed it? Did He command them to what is right, so they disobeyed Him? Did the Chosen One err in what was revealed to him, so they reminded him? Was religion not completed in his time, so they perfected and completed it? Did a prophet come after him, so they followed him? Were the people silent in his time, and when he died they rose, belittling themselves with what they possessed? Far from it! By Allah, no ambiguous or detailed matter remained without his clarifying and explaining it, so that there would be no tribulation for those who believed. Only people of understanding take heed. How many allies they denied, successors they neglected, rights they rejected, and believers they displaced, and how many a hadith …” (^[340]). From the Messenger of Allah (s): “There will be a calamity among my nation. People will go to their scholars and find them apes and pigs” (^[341]). From Ibn Abbas: “A red wind will rage in al-Zawra that people find unfamiliar. They will take refuge with their scholars and find that they have been transformed into apes and pigs, their faces blackened and their eyes blue” (^[342]). Abu Abdullah (a) was asked about the uprising of the Qa'im (a): “When misguidance becomes abundant and guidance scarce, injustice and corruption increase and righteousness and right direction diminish, men suffice with men and women with women, jurists incline toward this world, most people toward poems and poets, a group of innovators is transformed into apes and pigs, the Sufyani is killed, and then the Dajjal emerges and goes to extremes in seduction and misguidance: at that time the name of the Qa'im (a) will be called out on the twenty-third night of Ramadan. He rises on the day of Ashura. It is as though I see him standing between the Corner and the Station while Gabriel calls out before him: Allegiance belongs to Allah. His Shia then approach him” (^[343]). I have given you many narrations so that you may clearly understand the gravity of the matter and why the people of the east and west curse Imam al-Mahdi's banner (a) when it appears, as the Ahl al-Bayt (a) reported: From Abu Abdullah Jafar ibn Muhammad (a): “When the banner of truth appears, the people of the east and west curse it. Do you know why?” I said: “No.” He said: “Because of what the people encounter from his household before his emergence” (^[344]). From Abu Jafar (a): “If the companion of this matter were to appear, he would encounter from the people what the Messenger of Allah (s) encountered, and more” (^[345]). Whoever reflects upon the following hadith knows the extent of the oppression that true believers face at the end of time and the Messenger's distress (s) for their sake: From Umar ibn Nufayl, who said: I heard the Prophet (s) say, turning toward Usamah ibn Zayd: “O Usamah …”-and he continued the narration until he said: “Then the Messenger of Allah (s) wept until his weeping grew loud and his sobbing, exhaling, and inhaling intensified. The people feared to speak to him, thinking that something had occurred in heaven. Then he raised his head, sighed deeply, and said: Ah, ah! Wretchedness for this nation! What those who obey Allah will encounter from them! They are beaten and called liars because they obey Allah, and they abase them because of their obedience to Allah. Indeed, the Hour will not rise until people hate those who obey Allah and love those who disobey Allah.” Umar said: “O Messenger of Allah, will people be upon Islam that day?” He said: “Where is Islam, O Umar? A Muslim will be like a displaced stranger. That is a time when Islam departs and only its name remains; the Quran is effaced and only its script remains.” Umar said: “O Messenger of Allah, why do they call those who obey Allah liars, expel them, and torture them?” He said: “O Umar, the people abandoned the path, inclined toward this world, rejected the Hereafter, ate good things, wore adorned clothes, and were served by the sons of Persia and Rome … Allah's allies are wasting away, their complexions sorrowful from wakefulness and their backs bent from standing … If one of them speaks truthfully or utters the truth, he is told: Be silent, for you are Satan's companion and the head of misguidance …” (^[346]). As for directing questions to Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan, the door is open. After you send your questions, an answer will come to you, Allah Most High willing-if the evidence recorded in the books of the Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (a), available on their website, does not suffice for you. I will now mention one of Sayyed Ahmad al-Hasan's proofs with a brief explanation and argument: the proof of the will. I say: the first proof is the will of the Messenger Muhammad (s) on the night of his death. The rest of the discussion has been mentioned previously. The Scientific Committee Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah establish him upon the earth) Sheikh Nazim al-Uqayli