The Mahdi
Page 4
Second, you cannot present a short passage of the supplication and use it to make a generazliation about its entire content. The supplication does teach us to express our love for the Prophet (s) and his Household (a), but it also teaches about the importance of good work and uprightness. For example, one passage reads,
Help us to fulfill our obligations to Him and endeavor to obey Him and to refrain from sinning against Him… Turn toward us in Your magnanimity. Accept our effort to attain Your proximity [through this supplication]. Gaze upon us with mercy….[61]
This is the advantage of Shia heritage over others. It emphasizes both aspects – love and deeds. It does not simply speak of deeds as if we were emotionless automatons, the sole purpose of which is to obey. Shia heritage combines actions and emotions. Actions cannot be pursued without emotion. Emotions cannot be expressed without action.
Let us be fair to the reality of the world that we live in. If we truly loved the Prophet (s) and his Household (a), we would celebrate the anniversaries of the Household (a) just as we celebrate New Year’s Eve. If celebrating the anniversaries of the Household (a) is a heresy, so is celebrating New Year’s Day. Frankly, no one claims that merely celebrating New Year’s Eve has driven us away from the traditions of the Prophet (s) and his companions.
After all, who ever heard of the companions exchanging New Year’s greetings?
From the Prophet to the Savior
In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
We did not send you but as a mercy to all the worlds.[62]
With this holy verse as our starting point, we will address three primary issues.
The Muhammadan Truth
Many of us may have heard of or read this term, but what does it really mean? In order for us to understand this term more fully, let us examine three points.
Firstly, philosophers say that everything that exists passes through two stages of existence: definite and indefinite.
For example, a fruit tree has a definite existence – it has roots, branches, and fruits. It also had a previous existence that was indefinite when it existed as a mere seed. Similarly, the human before his definite existence had existed in an indefinite form within an embryo. The human being then took on a definite form and became a body with reason and emotion.
It is true that even the Holy Quran passed through these two stages of existence. The Quran we read today is in its definite form, with its chapters and verses, and its commands and admonishments. Yet it had a prior indefinite form within the “Guarded Book.”
The Holy Quran itself declares this truth when it states, “[This is] a Book, whose signs have been made definitive and then elaborated, from One [who is] all-wise, all-aware.”[63] It also states, “This is indeed a noble Quran in a Guarded Book. No one touches it except the pure ones.”[64]
So everything passes through two phases of existence – an indefinite existence and a definite existence. The Quran expressed this as well, stating, “There is not a thing but that its sources are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure.”[65] In another verse, it states, “Indeed We have created everything in a measure”[66] – meaning that everything is given a boundary when it is brought into the world of material existence.
Everything within this world, from its smallest atoms to the greatest of galaxies – planets, stars, and all – existed once in an indefinite form before it took its definite form. They passed through the two stages. The universe was once existent in an indefinite, cursory form which the philosophers call “Al-Faid Al-Aqdas.” It then transformed into a definite form of existence, with the Earth, sky, sun, moon, man, animals, plants, and inanimate objects – what the philosophers call “Al-Faid Al-Muqaddas.” This definite existence will once again assume its indefinite form on the Day of Judgment. God says, “The day We shall roll up the heaven, like rolling of the scrolls [meant] for writings.”[67]
Secondly, in our Islamic heritage we find mentions of something called “the World of Lights.” It refers to the fact that God created Prophet Muhammad (s) and his Holy Household (a) from light before creating the universe. It is related that Imam Baqir (a) said,
Did you not know that Muhammad (s) and Ali (a), God’s blessings be upon them, were a single [ray of] light before the hands of God before the making of creation by two thousand years?[68]
We also read in Al-Ziyara Al-Jami’a, “God created you as lights and made you circulate His throne.”[69] In the visitation of Imam Hussain (a) we say, “I bear witness that you were a light in the lofty loins and the purified wombs.”[70]
This world of light is what we were describing as Al-Fayd Al-Aqdas and as the indefinite existence. The indefinite existence of the universe is the light of Muhammad (s) and his Household (a). God first created the luminous material that is called the light of Muhammad (s) and his Household (a) – which is also called the indefinite existence and Al-Fayd Al-Aqdas. He then poured out all existence from it, and thus existence transformed through this luminous material into definite existence. This is the Muhammadan Truth.
Al-Muhaqiq Al-Asfahani, a professor of our teacher Imam Khoei (may they both rest in peace), says the following verse about the Prophet(s), “Greatness has manifested from the heavens; from the World of Names, the greatest of names.”
So we know that the Muhammadan Truth is the indefinite existence. And as indefinite existence is mercy – all existence being mercy – God the Almighty says “He who gave everything its creation and then guided it.”[71] Therefore, the Muhammadan Truth is the universal mercy. This is one of the meanings of the verse “We did not send you but as a mercy to all the worlds.”[72]
What is the connection between Prophet Muhammad (s) and the worlds? What is his connection with the worlds of the heavens, earth, jinn, angels, plants, inanimate objects, and animals? Is the Prophet (s) not a man created on earth and sent to human society? So what is his relation to the worlds?
The answer is clear in light of the concept that we have explained – the Muhammadan Truth. The Prophet (s) is a light created before the universe. He is the indefinite existence and Al-Fayd Al-Aqdas created before the universe. From him, the universe was brought into existence and was sustained. That is why the Prophet (s) is “a mercy to all the worlds.”[73]
Thirdly, the scholars of monasticism maintain that every truth has a means of sustenance. To illustrate the point, think of a lamp. The lamp is a truth, but it must be sustained by an electrical source for it to be luminescent. Thus, every truth needs a form of sustenance.
God says, “The parable of His Light is a niche wherein is a lamp – the lamp is in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star.” This is all truth. Its sustenance is “lit from a blessed olive tree.” This tree is the sustenance. “Neither eastern nor western, whose oil almost lights up, though fire should not touch it. Light upon light. God guides to His Light whomever He wishes.”[74]
The Messenger of God (s) is the sustenance to all truth. He is the blessed tree. Prophet Muhammad (s) is the mercy that encompasses all of creation. Prophet Muhammad (s) is an existence and Al-Fayd Al-Aqdas that preceded this universe and was the medium of its making. This is the truth, but who really feels the sustenance of this truth? Who really feels the sweetness of the Muhammadan Truth? Those who feel it are select people who are the “good-doers.” The holy verse reads, “Indeed God’s mercy is close to the good-doers.”[75] God also says, “My mercy embraces all things. Soon I shall appoint it for those who are Godwary.”[76]
There is a well-known tradition that is noteworthy. It is narrated that the Prophet (s) said, “The first amongst us is Muhammad. The intermediate amongst us is Muhammad. The last amongst us is Muhammad.”[77] Some may think that the Prophet (s) is speaking simply of names. In fact, the tradition is setting out the stages of the Muhammadan Truth. The Muhammadan Truth is a light that passes through three stages. The beginning stage of this luminescence was the one that ascended to the heavens, the Chosen Prophet
(s) who was the one to plant the seeds of faith. The intermediate stage is Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a) who encompassed knowledge in its expanse and at whose hands the foundation of the school of thought were laid. The end stage is the one who is to establish the ideal state and apply complete justice. He is the one whose hands will reap the efforts of the prophets and the sacrifices of the vicegerents. The Almighty has said, “We desired to show favor to those who were abased in the land, and to make them imams, and to make them the heirs.”[78] Therefore, the last is the one who will reap the desired fruit.
We realize that the Awaited Imam (a) is the extension of his grandfather, the Prophet (s). So as the Prophet (s) was a mercy to all the realms, so is the Awaited Imam (a) a mercy to all the realms. And as the Prophet (s) was a piece of mercy, the Awaited Imam (a) is a piece of mercy.
Reflections of Muhammadan Mercy
The Awaited Imam (a) reflects the mercy of his grandfather the Prophet (s) in three ways.
Merciful Character
The character of the Prophet (s) was one of mercy. As the Holy Quran tells us, “It is by God’s mercy that you [O Prophet (s)] are gentle to them; had you been harsh and hardhearted, they would have surely scattered from around you.”[79] The character of the Prophet (s) was one of humility, affection, and love. That is why the Holy Quran describes him by saying, “Indeed, you possess a great character.”[80] This same image of a great and magnanimous leader is replicated in the Awaited Imam (a).
Some may think of the Imam (a) as an unsociable and violent man. This could not be further from the truth, as the Imam (a) is just like his grandfather the Prophet (s). The Imam (a) will have the Prophet’s (s) smile and will exhibit the same humble, tranquil, and serene character. In a narration attributed to Imam Sadiq (a), he says, “[The Awaited Imam (a)] would be amongst people as his grandfather [the Prophet (s)].”[81] In another narration, Imam Sadiq (a) commented on the following verse,
O you who have faith! Should any of you desert his religion, God will soon bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, who will be humble towards the faithful, stern towards the faithless, waging jihad in the way of God, not fearing the blame of any blamer.[82]
The Imam (a) said, “[The verse] was revealed in respect to Al-Qa’im (a) and his companions.”[83]
Fraternal Community
If one were to review the books of orientalists, they would quickly conclude that these authors made every effort to criticize and deride the Prophet (s). The one thing that none of them could disparage was the Prophet’s (s) ability to change the community in Medina into a fraternal community in a short period of a time. This was no easy task. The community of Medina – a city of persistently contending and belligerent tribes – was transformed by the Prophet (s) into a community of fraternity, love, and loyalty. The Holy Quran praised this community in saying,
[The spoils are also] for the poor Emigrants [i.e. the Muhajiroon] who have been expelled from their homes and [wrested of] their possessions, who seek grace from God and [His] pleasure and help God and His Apostle. It is they who are the truthful. [They are as well] for those who were settled in the land [i.e. the Ansar] and [abided] in faith before them, who love those who migrate toward them, and do not find in their chests any privation for that which is given to them, but prefer [the Emigrants] to themselves, though poverty be their own lot. And those who are saved from their own greed—it is they who are the felicitous.[84]
The Holy Quran paints a beautiful picture in these verses. The Ansar had lovingly embraced their Muhajiroon brothers, caring for the poor and affording them work opportunities within their newly shared city. Would this ever happen in this day and age? For one community to embrace another and provide it with free shelter and work opportunities – and not do it out of guilt or shame, but out of love and bonhomie – is simply remarkable.
Imam Mahdi (a) will create a fraternal community as did the Prophet (s). Such a community is built on two principles – love and social solidarity.
We all long to live in such a community. We pray to God to make us of the aids and supporters of our Awaited Imam (a) and to hasten his reappearance. However, Imam Mahdi (a) expects us to take the initiative and prepare ourselves to live as a fraternal community. We cannot be his aides and supporters until we become a loving and caring fraternal community. We will not see that day until we, in spite of our differences, create a community that is characterized by social solidarity. It is when we reach that state that we become qualified to be his aides and supporters.
In one narration a man came to Imam Sadiq (a) and informed him that there are many Shia in his hometown. The Imam (a) asked the man, “Do the wealthy amongst them act kindly toward their poor? Does the well-doer forgive the ill-doer? Do they sympathize with one another?” The man acknowledged that this was not the case. The Imam (a) said, “Then these are not Shia. The Shia are the ones that do [as I’ve described].”[85] In another narration, the Imam (a) asks, “Can one of you come to his brother and put his hand in his brother’s [wallet] and take what he needs without being asked?”[86]
The aides and supporters of the Awaited Imam (a) are the ones that always interact with others on the basis of love and social solidarity. We will not be of his supporters unless we rid ourselves of disputes and enmity to become a fraternal community. God says, “Indeed God does not change a people’s lot, unless they change what is in their souls.”[87] He also says, “You will never attain piety until you spend out of what you hold dear.”[88]
General Mercy
One of the Muhammadan qualities that manifest in the Awaited Imam (a) is the general scope of mercy.
The Prophet (s) was merciful with both the obedient and the disobedient. Imam Mahdi (a) is the same as his grandfather; his mercy with the disobedient is no less than his mercy for the obedient believers. It is narrated that Imam Ali (a) said,
Muhammad (s) was patient in the way of God such that he left no excuse for his people for distrusting him, expelling him from his home, and pelting him with stones, and for Abu Lahab to heave the innards of camels and sheep on him. God then instructed Jabeel, the Angel of the Mountains, to sunder the mountains and take care of the case of Muhammad (s). He came to [the Prophet (s)] and said, ‘I have been commanded to obey your commands so that if you ordered me to [strike them with the adjacent mountains], I would doom them so.’ [The Prophet (s)] said, ‘Rather, I have been sent as a mercy. My Lord, guide my people, for they do not know.’[89]
The Prophet (s) was merciful with the disbelievers. And Imam Mahdi (a) will exhibit the same traits as his grandfather. And this is recorded in the books of all Islamic sects. In Musnad Ahmad, there is a narration by Saeed Al-Khidri stating that the Prophet (s) once said,
I give you glad tidings of the Mahdi (a). He will be brought forth within my nation while men are in dispute and earthquakes [are wreaking havoc]. Surely, he will fill the earth with equity and justice after it is filled with inequity and injustice. The dweller of the heavens and the dweller of the earth will be pleased with him. He will allocate wealth correctly.
A man asked him, “What do you mean by ‘correctly’?” The Prophet (s) said, “In equity amongst people. He will fill the hearts of the nation of Muhammad (s) with sufficiency and they will be encompassed by his justice.”[90]
In another narration, the Prophet (s) said, “My nation will flourish during his time in a way they have never experienced, both the righteous amongst them and the corrupt.”[91]
Imam Mahdi (a) is a glad tiding. He is mercy. He is ethics. He is compassion and empathy for the disobedient and the corrupt as well as the obedient and the believing.
A State of Mercy
There is a misconception that is proposed by some individuals. They claim is that the Shia believe in the Mahdi (a) as an individual who is different from the one that the rest of the Muslims adopt. They claim that the Shia narrations give an image of the Mahdi (a) as a violent dictator that will brutally persecute the nation of the Prophet (s). They
claim that Shia narrations speak of a state that is established on violence, persecution, and brutality. There are numerous problems with this claim.
First, this description of the Mahdi (a) contradicts the spirit of mercy that is characteristic of Islam. God said in the Holy Quran, “We did not send you [O Prophet Muhammad (s)] but as a mercy to all the worlds.”[92] The Shia belief in the Mahdi (a) is in complete contradiction under the facets of this claim because it is based on brutality and violence.
Second, is it truly possible that humanity wait all this time for the Imam to be finally surprised to find a state based on brutality, persecution, and violence which would be their bane? In other words, the hope of humanity would not be achieved. Humanity would only face disappointment and desolation.
The claim is that the Shia believe in the Mahdi (a) as an individual who will use brutality to institute his state, while others believe in a savior who comes with mercy and love. The proponents of these claims use a number of narrations as evidence that are found in the Shia books of narration.
The first narration is relayed in the book of Bihar Al-Anwar, where Imam Baqir (a) is reported to have said,
If people only knew what Al-Qa’im (a) would do! Once he emerges, most people would wish that they did not see him due to how many people he would kill. Surely, he will not start with anyone other than Quraysh. He will not take anything from it but the sword and he will not give it anything but the sword. This will be until many would say, ‘This man is not from the Progeny of Muhammad (s)! If he were from the Progeny of Muhammad (s), he would have had mercy.’[93]