Question 648 - 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, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and his family, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. This is the text of an answer I previously wrote to one of the brothers concerning this narration: My dear brother, irrespective of the weakness of this narration’s chain of transmission, and irrespective of obliging the people by what they oblige themselves to accept, the Imam’s words concern those who deny Imam al-Mahdi’s existence, Imamate, and continued life. His words, ‘… One who departs from the religion by saying that it passes to a thirteenth and onward …,’ mean someone who affirms a thirteenth and onward while saying that Imam al-Mahdi (a) died during the Minor or Major Occultation. They do not mean merely affirming offspring and successors of Imam al-Mahdi (a) who will succeed him after his sacred rising, the first of whom prepares the way for him (a). The evidence is that the Imam (a) is speaking about Imam al-Mahdi’s Occultation and the people’s apostasy and deviation from him. What is prohibited here is saying that Imam al-Mahdi (a) died during the Occultation and appointing a thirteenth proof after him. This statement means Imam al-Mahdi (a) did not remain until he would appear and rise to fill the earth with equity and justice after it had been filled with oppression and tyranny, as tens or hundreds of narrations state. As for saying that Imam al-Mahdi has successors while believing Imam al-Mahdi exists and remains alive until he establishes the state of divine justice, this narration does not deny it. Rather, dozens of narrations explicitly state and indicate this meaning: the existence of the Mahdis from the offspring of Imam al-Mahdi (a). If you wish, consult The Decisive Response to Those Who Deny the Offspring of the Qa’im (a), one of the publications of the Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (a). Thus, the narration addresses a subject other than the successors of Imam al-Mahdi (a). It addresses the creed of those who say Imam al-Mahdi (a) died during his Occultation and believe in a thirteenth Imam. The false belief is not faith in the existence of successors of Imam al-Mahdi (a); rather, it is faith in successors plus the claim that Imam al-Mahdi (a) died during his Occultation. This lies outside, by specialization-that is, by subject matter-the belief in the twelve successors from Imam al-Mahdi’s offspring. We believe in them, but we also believe in Imam al-Mahdi’s Imamate during the Major Occultation and that he is the original proof until he rises and fills the earth with equity and justice. We do not say Imam al-Mahdi (a) died during his Occultation, so this narration does not apply to us. How far one is from the other! In truth, those who object to us with this narration are in the utmost ignorance and delusion. What I have said is also shown by the fact that all the false statements Imam al-Sadiq (a) mentioned mean claiming Imam al-Mahdi (a) does not exist or has died. Examine the statements in the narration: ‘One who says without guidance that he was not born’: they say Imam al-Mahdi (a) was never born. ‘One who says he was born and died’: these people also say Imam al-Mahdi (a) does not exist during his Occultation. ‘One who disbelieves by saying that our eleventh was sterile’: meaning that Imam al-Hasan al-Askari was sterile and did not beget Imam al-Mahdi (a); again, the result is that Imam al-Mahdi (a) does not exist during his Occultation. ‘One who departs from the religion by saying it passes to a thirteenth and onward’: this also means that the Imamate passed to a thirteenth and so forth; again, the result is denial of Imam al-Mahdi’s existence and Imamate during his Occultation. The whole narration concerns those who deny Imam al-Mahdi (a) during his Occultation. ‘One who disobeys Allah by saying that the spirit of the Qa’im (a) speaks through the form of another’: this also means that the Qa’im’s spirit indwells or speaks in another person’s body. This statement is also false and means that the proof is someone other than Imam al-Mahdi (a), namely the one through whom the Qa’im’s spirit speaks. Furthermore, in some books this narration reads: ‘One who departs from the religion by saying that it passes to a thirteenth, but it has not passed.’ This means that during the Occultation of the Qa’im (a), the Imamate did not transfer from him and pass to a thirteenth. Certainly, whoever says the Imamate passed to someone other than Imam al-Mahdi (a) and that he died during his Occultation has departed from the religion. His words, ‘but it has not passed,’ mean the Imamate remains entrusted to Imam al-Mahdi (a) during his Occultation and he is the original proof over creation. Naturally, this does not mean he has no deputy or successor, because affirming a successor does not mean the Imamate has transferred or passed from him to his successor. Ali ibn Abi Talib (a) was the successor of the Messenger Muhammad (s) during the Messenger’s lifetime, but no one said authority over creation passed to Imam Ali (a) until after the Messenger of Allah’s death. Likewise, al-Hasan and al-Husayn were Ali’s successors during his lifetime, but this did not mean the Imamate passed from Imam Ali (a) to them until after Imam Ali’s death. The same applies to the remaining Imams (a): their successors existed, but this did not mean the Imamate and authority passed from the predecessor to the successor until after the predecessor’s death. I believe this is among the self-evident matters needing no explanation or detail. Today, we do not say the Imamate has transferred or passed from Imam al-Mahdi (a) to his successor Sayyid Ahmed Alhasan (a). Rather, we say the proof over Sayyid Ahmed Alhasan and all creation is Imam al-Mahdi, the Proof ibn al-Hasan (a). Sayyid Ahmed Alhasan’s authority is due to his being the messenger and successor of Imam al-Mahdi (a), sent by him (a). Sayyid Ahmed Alhasan can never oppose any command or prohibition of Imam al-Mahdi (a). Indeed, Sayyid Ahmed Alhasan explicitly stated that he transmits from Imam al-Mahdi (a), calls the people to him, and prepares the way for his sacred rising. It is known that al-Husayn (a) was a successor and Imam during the time of the Messenger Muhammad (s), Imam Ali (a), and Imam al-Hasan (a), because the Messenger Muhammad (s) said, in meaning: ‘Al-Hasan and al-Husayn are two Imams whether they rise or remain seated’ (^[136]). But affirming al-Husayn’s Imamate does not mean authority over creation passed from the Messenger Muhammad, Imam Ali, or Imam al-Hasan (a) to Imam al-Husayn (a). Authority passed only in two cases: either after their deaths (a), or when Imam al-Husayn (a) was charged as a deputy and messenger of the Messenger Muhammad (s), Imam Ali (a), or Imam al-Hasan (a). It is also known that Ali ibn Abi Talib (a) was a proof during the lifetime of the Messenger Muhammad (s), when the Messenger (s) was absent or when he assigned Ali a particular matter, such as sending him to the people of Yemen. But this does not mean authority wholly passed or transferred from the Messenger Muhammad (s) to Imam Ali (a). Rather, it was by way of deputyship, and it transferred wholly only after the death of the Messenger Muhammad (s). Moreover, the sect which claimed Imam al-Mahdi (a) died and that the Imamate passed to his son became extinct long ago, approximately immediately after the Minor Occultation. Sheikh al-Tusi explicitly stated in his book Al-Ghaybah, p. 228, that this sect became extinct and ended. Thus, Imam al-Sadiq’s words (a) were fulfilled and concerned this sect, which believed in Imam al-Mahdi’s death and the transfer of the Imamate to his son during the era of Occultation. Imam al-Sadiq’s words have no connection to denying the offspring or successors of Imam al-Mahdi (a). To this extent, I believe the matter has become as clear as the sun in the brilliant sky. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send abundant prayers upon Muhammad and his family, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. The Scientific Committee Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah establish him on earth) Sheikh Nazim al-Uqayli Muharram al-Haram, 1432 AH