Question 511 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 5

Supporters Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send abundant prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. It is reported from the Messenger of Allah (s), in meaning: ‘Marriage is my tradition; whoever turns away from my tradition is not of me’ (^[84]). You can infer from the narrations I will now set before you-and they are only a little from an abundance-that the Imam is married, for how could he have descendants without marriage? Here are the narrations: The first proof: Sheikh al-Nu‘mani-the student of Thiqat al-Islam al-Kulayni-narrated in the Book of Occultation, and Sheikh al-Tusi in the Book of Occultation, through two authoritative chains, from al-Mufaddal ibn Umar, who said: ‘I heard Abu Abdullah say: The holder of this matter has two occultations. One of them will last so long that some will say he died, some will say he was killed, and some will say he departed, until only a small group of his companions remains upon his matter. No one among his children or anyone else will be informed of his location, except the servant who attends to his affairs.’ The second proof: Sheikh al-Tusi and a group narrated through multiple chains from Ya‘qub ibn al-Darrab al-Isfahani that he performed Hajj in the year 281 AH and stayed in Mecca, in Suq al-Layl, in a house called the House of Khadija. In it was an elderly woman who was an intermediary between the Shia and the Imam of the age (a)-and the account is long. At its end he mentioned that a notebook was sent to her in which prayers upon the Messenger of Allah and the remaining Imams, and upon him-may Allah’s prayers be upon him-were written. He instructed him: ‘When you wish to pray upon them, pray upon them in this manner.’ It is long, and in one passage it says: ‘O Allah, give him, in himself, his descendants, his Shia, his subjects, his elite, the generality, his enemy, and all the people of the world, that by which his eye is comforted.’ At its end it says: ‘O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad the Chosen, Ali the Approved, Fatima al-Zahra, al-Hasan al-Rida, al-Husayn al-Musaffa, and all the successors-the lamps of darkness, standards of guidance, beacons of God-consciousness, the firmest handle, the strong rope, and the straight path. Send prayers upon Your guardian, the holders of his covenant, and the Imams from his descendants. Prolong their lives, increase their spans, and bring them to the furthest of their hopes in this world, religion, and the Hereafter. Indeed, You have power over all things.’ The third proof: In his particular visitation recited on Friday, which Sayyed Radi al-Din Ali ibn Tawus transmitted in the book Jamal al-Usbu‘, it says: ‘May Allah send prayers upon you and upon your good and pure household.’ In another place it says: ‘The prayers of Allah be upon you and your household; this is Friday.’ At its end it says: ‘The prayers of Allah be upon you and your pure household.’ The fourth proof: At the end of the book Mazar in Bihar al-Anwar, from the book Majmu‘ al-Da‘awat of Harun Musa al-Talla‘ukbari, it transmits a lengthy greeting and prayer from the Messenger of Allah and each one of the Imams. After mentioning the greeting and prayer upon the Proof (a), it mentions a particular greeting and prayer upon the holders of the covenant of the Proof (a) and upon the Imams from his descendants, and it supplicates for them: ‘Peace be upon the holders of his covenant and the Imams from his descendants. O Allah, send prayers upon them, bring them to their hopes, increase their spans, make their victory mighty, complete for them what You have entrusted of their matter, make us their helpers and supporters of Your religion. Indeed, they are the mines of Your words, treasurers of Your knowledge, pillars of Your oneness, supports of Your religion, holders of Your command, Your chosen servants, Your select from Your creation, Your guardians and the progeny of Your guardians, and the choice children of Your chosen ones. Convey to them our greeting and peace, return to us their greeting, and peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon them.’ The fifth proof: Sayyed Ibn Tawus-may Allah have mercy upon him-transmitted in Jamal al-Usbu‘, page 306, and elsewhere, a visitation for him. Among its passages was this supplication after the prayer of that visitation: ‘O Allah, give him, in himself, his descendants, his Shia, his subjects, his elite, the generality, his enemy, and all the people of the world, that by which his eye is comforted and his soul is gladdened …’ The sixth proof: The account of the Green Island, transmitted by Allama al-Majlisi in Bihar al-Anwar, contains: ‘I asked him where the provisions of the people of his town come to them from, for I saw no cultivated land belonging to them. He said, “Their provisions come to them from the Green Island in the White Sea, from the islands of the children of the Imam, the Holder of the Matter (a).” I said to him, “How many times do your provisions come to you each year?” He said, “Twice. They have come once, and the other remains.” I said, “How long remains until they come to you?” He said, “Four months.”’ The seventh proof: The eminent Sayyed Ali ibn Tawus narrated in the book The Deeds of the Month of Ramadan, from Abu Qurra, a supplication that must be recited on every day for the preservation of the existence of Imam al-Hujja (a). Among its passages is: ‘And make him and his descendants among the inheriting Imams.’ The eighth proof: The narration of the will related by Sheikh al-Tusi, previously mentioned among the narrations of the Mahdis, in which it says: ‘When death comes to him, let him deliver it to his son, the first of the close ones …’-that is, when death comes to Imam al-Mahdi (a), let him deliver it to his son, the First of the Mahdis. The ninth proof: It is narrated in the Mazar of Muhammad ibn al-Mashhadi from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that he said to Abu Basir: ‘It is as though I see the Qa’im (a) descending at the Mosque of al-Sahla with his family and dependents …’ (^[85]). The tenth proof: Allama al-Majlisi transmitted, in the volume on prayer from Bihar, among the deeds of Friday morning, from an ancient work by our early scholars, a lengthy supplication recited after the dawn prayer. Among its passages supplicating for Imam al-Hujja (a) is: ‘O Allah, be for Your guardian among Your creation a guardian, protector, leader, and helper, until You cause him to dwell willingly upon Your earth, grant him long enjoyment therein, and make him and his descendants therein the inheriting Imams …’ The eleventh proof: Sheikh Abbas al-Qummi-may Allah have mercy upon him-mentioned in Mafatih al-Jinan the supplication for the Master of the Age (a), placed after the noble Supplication of the Covenant. In one of its passages it says: ‘O Allah, give him, in himself, his family, his child, his descendants, his nation, and all his subjects, that by which his eye is comforted and his soul is gladdened …’ This supplication takes care to mention one child of Imam al-Mahdi (a), and then mentions the descendants, which indicates that this child has a particular station. The twelfth proof: The saying of Imam al-Mahdi (a) in his sermon between the Corner and the Station at his rising: ‘… We have been made afraid, wronged, and driven from our homes and our sons; transgression was committed against us, and we were driven away from our right …’ (^[86]). This is a proclamation and declaration by Imam al-Mahdi (a), at the beginning of his rising, that he was driven from his home and his sons because of the wrongdoers’ pursuit of him and their search for his traces (a) in every place and age. The thirteenth proof: From Abu al-Hasan al-Rida: ‘It is as though I see banners coming from Egypt, dyed green, until they reach the regions of Syria and are presented to the son of the holder of the wills’ (^[87]). The indication of this narration is clear: before the Qa’im rises, the banners are presented-that is, allegiance is pledged-to the son of the holder of the wills. The holder of the wills is the heir of the infallible Imams, their Seal, the one to whom the will ultimately passed: Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Askari, the Holder of the Age (a), who is the entrusted keeper from the family of Muhammad. The narration states that the banners are presented to the son of the holder of the wills-that is, the son of Imam al-Mahdi (a). The fourteenth proof: The descendants of Imam al-Mahdi (a) are mentioned in the ‘Supplication for the Third Day of Sha‘ban,’ the birthday of Imam al-Husayn (a). From Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Ala al-Hamadani, the representative of Imam al-Askari (a): al-Husayn (a) was born on Thursday, three days into Sha‘ban, so fast it and supplicate with this supplication: ‘O Allah, I ask You by the right of the one born on this day … the one slain for whom tears are shed, the master of the family, the one extended victory on the Day of Return; the one compensated for his being slain by the Imams being from his progeny, healing being in his soil, triumph being with him upon his return, and the successors from his progeny after their Qa’im and his occultation, until they exact the blood debts, take vengeance, please the Compeller, and become the best supporters. May Allah send prayers upon them with the succession of night and day …’ (^[88]). The fifteenth proof: Imam al-Hasan al-Askari’s (a) praise of his grandsons from the descendants of the Qa’im: It is narrated from al-Majlisi that there was found, in the handwriting of Imam Abu Muhammad al-Askari (a) on the back of the document: ‘We have ascended the summits of realities with the feet of prophethood and guardianship and traversed seven paths with the standards of chivalry and guidance. We are the lions of battle and the succor of generosity. Among us are the sword and pen in the immediate world, and the banner of praise in the world to come. Our grandsons are the successors of the upright religion, the lamps of the nations, and the keys of generosity …’ (^[89]). Here Imam al-Hasan al-Askari pointed to his grandsons-‘Our grandsons are the successors of the upright religion.’ A grandson is the son of one’s son, and Imam al-Hasan al-Askari (a) has no son other than Imam al-Mahdi (a). It is therefore established that these grandsons are from the descendants of Imam al-Mahdi and are his successors over the nation. This report likewise supports the narrations concerning the descendants of Imam al-Mahdi who rule after him. The Scientific Committee Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah establish him upon the earth) Mr. Abu Muhammad al-Ansari 20 Rajab 1431 AH