Question 646 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 6

Supporters Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah for His trial and His immense blessings, and may Allah send abundant prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. The sayyid (a) is the promised Yamani. As related, the Yamani calls to Imam al-Mahdi, so he is therefore a messenger from him, just as he is his successor. This is the matter in summary. Its detail follows: The narration of the sacred Will states: ‘… O Abu al-Hasan, bring a sheet and an inkwell.’ The Messenger of Allah (s) dictated his will until he reached this point, then said, ‘O Ali, after me there will be twelve Imams, and after them twelve Mahdis. You, O Ali, are the first of the twelve Imams …’ The narration continues until he said, ‘Al-Hasan (a) is to hand it over to his son M H M D, the Preserver from the family of Muhammad (a). Those are twelve Imams. Then after him there will be twelve Mahdis. When death comes to him, he is to hand it over to his son, the first of the Mahdis. He has three names: a name like my name and my father’s name, Abdullah and Ahmed; and the third name is al-Mahdi. He is the first of the believers.’ Ahmed, then, is the son of Imam al-Mahdi (a), his successor, and the first to believe in him. His being the first to believe in him requires that he be present at the time of the Appearance and that his belief in Imam al-Mahdi precede that of the 313 companions. Imam al-Baqir (a) said: ‘The rise of the Sufyani, the Yamani, and the Khurasani will be in one year, one month, and one day, in an order like a string of beads, one following another. Hardship will come from every direction. Woe to those who oppose them. Among the banners there is no banner more guided than the Yamani’s. It is a banner of guidance because he calls to your Companion. When the Yamani rises, the sale of weapons to the people and every Muslim will be forbidden. When the Yamani rises, advance toward him, for his banner is a banner of guidance. It is not permissible for a Muslim to turn away from him; whoever does so is among the people of the Fire, because he calls to the truth and to a straight path’ (^[118]). Reflect upon the following: ‘It is not permissible for a Muslim to turn away from him; whoever does so is among the people of the Fire.’ This means that the Yamani possesses divine authority. A person cannot be a proof over the people such that turning away from him causes them to enter Hell, even if they pray and fast, unless he is one of Allah’s vicegerents on His earth, who possess divine authority among the prophets, messengers, Imams, and Mahdis. Abu Abdullah (a) said: ‘Allah is not ashamed to punish a nation that professes obedience to an imam who is not from Allah, even if in its deeds it is righteous and mindful; and Allah is ashamed to punish a nation that professes obedience to an Imam from Allah, even if in its deeds it is unjust and sinful’ (^[119]). There are other narrations on the same page of Al-Kafi. Since disobeying the Yamani necessitates the Fire, he is therefore a just Imam from Allah, the Exalted. ‘Because he calls to the truth and to a straight path.’ Calling to the truth and the straight path means that this person does not err, thereby bringing people into falsehood or taking them out of truth; that is, he is infallible and his infallibility is explicitly designated. With this meaning, this qualification or limit serves to identify the Yamani’s character. Assuming any other meaning for their words, ‘He calls to the truth and to a straight path,’ would render those words useless, providing neither qualification nor limit for the Yamani’s character-and far above that are they. The Noble Quran confirms this: ‘They said, “O our people, we have heard a Book sent down after Moses, confirming what came before it. It guides to the truth and to a straight path. O our people, respond to Allah’s caller and believe in him; He will forgive you some of your sins and protect you from a painful punishment”’ (^[120]). It has now become clear that the Yamani is a proof whose infallibility is explicitly designated. The sacred Will above acquaints us with the proofs: the twelve Imams and twelve Mahdis. The Yamani prepares the way for Imam al-Mahdi, so he must be his son Ahmed. Other proofs of this reality are found in the books of the Supporters-may Allah preserve them. To be reassured that Sayyid Ahmed Alhasan (a) is the Yamani, the successor and messenger of Imam al-Mahdi, reflect upon this narration: Muhammad ibn al-Fadl narrated from al-Rida (a), in a long narration, that he attended a great gathering in Basra including scholars, the Christian Catholicos, and the Exilarch. Al-Rida (a) asked the Catholicos, ‘Does the Gospel indicate Muhammad’s prophethood?’ He said, ‘Had it done so, we would not have denied it.’ He (a) said, ‘Tell me about the pause in your third Book.’ The Catholicos said, ‘It is a name of Allah which we may not disclose.’ Al-Rida (a) said, ‘What if I establish that it is Muhammad’s name …’ After the Imam (a) mentioned what the Gospel and Torah contained regarding the Messenger (s), they said: ‘By Allah, he has brought what we cannot refute except by denying the Gospel, Torah, and Psalms. Moses and Jesus both gave glad tidings of him. But it is not established for us that he is this Muhammad, and his name being Muhammad does not permit us to acknowledge his prophethood while doubting that he is your Muhammad.’ Al-Rida (a) said, ‘You have argued with doubt. Has Allah sent, before or after, from Adam to this day, a prophet named Muhammad?’ They refrained from answering … etc. (^[121]). The point of inference: Imam al-Rida (a) establishes Muhammad’s prophethood for the Christian Catholicos and Jewish Exilarch because his noble name appeared in their books. They acknowledge that they cannot deny the advent of an End-Times prophet named Muhammad except by denying the Gospel, Torah, and Psalms, yet doubt that the intended person is Islam’s Prophet (s). They accept the concept but doubt the referent, saying that the mere name Muhammad does not enable them to acknowledge his prophethood. The Imam answers, ‘You have argued with doubt’: they have no positive proof, only a negative argument. He cuts it off by asking whether Allah had ever sent from Adam until their day a prophet named Muhammad. They refrain, and their feeble doubts are severed. In other words, survey history from Adam (a) until today: if no other man named Muhammad claimed to be sent by Allah-and none did-you must acknowledge that our Prophet (s) is the one intended by your books. The previous divine books mentioned Allah’s Messenger by explicit designation and testamentary appointment. The proof of the claimant’s truthfulness is history’s testimony that none claimed the testament except its rightful possessor. We know al-Rida’s argument is complete and true, the argument of one who speaks not from desire but by revelation. Suppose the Catholicos and Exilarch had replied: ‘No one previously claimed to be intended by our books, but someone might do so in the future.’ Would this invalidate al-Rida’s inference? No one doubts the completeness of his argument except one ignorant of al-Rida (a) and the Imamate. His argument establishes that the testament can never be claimed by other than its possessor. The hypothetical reply would merely continue empty doubt unsupported by real positive proof. Sound minds perceive the necessity of preserving prophetic testaments and divine designations from falsifiers and false claimants. If a falsifier could usurp them, doubt would spread through minds and hearts, no one could trust a claimant to prophethood or succession, and their first and strongest proof would collapse, contrary to the premise. Here are these narrations: The Commander of the Believers (a) said: ‘… Before the Mahdi, a man from his Household will rise from the East, carrying the sword upon his shoulder for eight months. He will kill and be killed, and will head toward Jerusalem but die before reaching it’ (^[122]). Thus a man from the Mahdi’s Household rises before the Imam. Hudhayfah said: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (s)-mentioning the Mahdi-say: “He will receive the pledge between the Corner and the Station. His name is Ahmed, Abdullah, and al-Mahdi; these are his three names”’ (^[123]). Compare this narration with the Will. As for the rise, it is the armed movement, which must be preceded by a Call so that whoever lives may live by clear proof and whoever perishes may perish by clear proof. Know that the rise is before the Call, not after it. The Yamani rises to fight the Sufyani, and the Sufyani rises in Rajab, before the Ramadan in which the Call occurs. Moreover, bada may occur regarding the Call, and it may not occur. It is stated in Basair al-Darajat by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Saffar, p. 542: Muhammad ibn Isa narrated to us from Muhammad ibn Sinan, from Ammar ibn Marwan, from Durays, who said: ‘Abu Jafar (a) said, “Tell me: if the sound we told you would occur does not occur, what will you do?” I said, “By Allah, I will stop at your command concerning it.” He said, “By Allah, that is submission; otherwise, it is slaughter,” and he gestured with his hand toward his throat.’ Abu Muhammad al-Ansari 5/4/2010