Indeed God has bought from the faithful their souls and their possessions for paradise to be theirs: they fight in the way of God, kill, and are killed. A promise binding upon Him in the Torah and the Evangel and the Quran. And who is truer to his promise than God? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him, and that is the great success.[306]
Who are these faithful whom God has bought?
[The faithful are] penitent, devout, celebrators of God’s praise, wayfarers, who bow [and] prostrate [in prayer], bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and keep God’s bounds—and give good news to the faithful.[307]
These are the individuals who have taken on the responsibility of practically protecting the faith and its adherents.
The religious scripture, the Holy Quran, is protected from all distortion by our Twelfth Holy Imam (a). The religion of Islam is also safeguarded through our jurists and the process of learning and teaching that continues in the seminaries under the watchful eye of the Imam (a). Finally, every community of believers practically protects the faith through their practice and adherence and with the support of our Imam (a). God says, “He has written faith into their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him.”[308] The spirit with which God has supported the believers is the Master of Our Time Imam Mahdi (a).
He protects the faith in its text, its teachings, and its practice. This has been the mission of our Immaculate Imams. It was the mission of Imam Ali (a) after the passing of the Holy Prophet (s). It was the mission of Imam Hassan (a) after the martyrdom of Imam Ali (a). It was also the mission of Imam Hussain (a) that drove him towards Karbala. He spoke of his mission and said,
I have not set out due to discontent, nor out of arrogance, nor as a corruptor, nor as an oppressor. Rather, I wish to call for reform in the nation of my grandfather. I wish to call for what is good, and to forbid what is evil.[309]
Occultation and Hope
In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
They desire to put out the light of God with their mouths, but God will perfect His light though the faithless should be averse.[310]
What is the light that the faithless wished to extinguish but which God perfected despite their attempts?
A companion once asked Imam Muhammad al-Jawad (a) about the verse. The Imam (a) replied,
They desire to put out the allegiance of the Commander of the Faithful (a) with their mouths… and God will complete the Imamah. [God] says, ‘So have faith in God and His Apostle and the light, which We have sent down.’[311] The light is the Imam.
The companion then asked about the next verse, “It is He who has sent His Apostle with guidance and the true religion.”[312] The Imam replied, “It is He who commanded His messenger to call for allegiance for his successor, and this allegiance is the true religion.”
The companion asked about the continuation of the verse, “It is He who has sent His Apostle with guidance and the true religion that He may make it prevail over all religions.”[313] The Imam (a) replied,
He will make it prevail over all religions at with the emergence of Al-Qa’im (a). God says, ‘God will perfect His light,’ which is allegiance to Al-Qa’im (a), ‘though the faithless should be averse’ to giving allegiance to Ali (a).[314]
God says, “So have faith in God and His Apostle and the light, which We have sent down.”[315] Having faith in this ‘light’ is different than having faith in God and His Messenger (s). It is the light of Imammah which God will perfect with the Imam Mahdi (a). There is a supplication by the name of Dua Al-Ahad – the Supplication of the Covenant – which Imam Sadiq (a) tells us,
Whoever supplicates to God with this covenant for forty days will be of the companions of our Al-Qa’im (a). If he were to pass away before [the emergence], God will bring him out of his grave and give him for every word a thousand rewards and erase a thousand sins.
The supplication begins, “O God, Lord of the Great Light and Lord of the Great Throne….” What is the Great Light? It is our Twelfth Holy Imam (a). In another verse of the supplication we read, “O God, I beseech You by Your Noble Name and by the Light of Your Luminous Face.”[316] It is the light of the Master of our Time (a).
The Luminous Persona
The luminous persona of an Imam or prophet is integral to the issue of miracles. They are individuals of light as described in the Holy Quran. “Is someone whose chest God has opened to Islam so that he follows a light from His Lord…?”[317] God also says,
Is he who was lifeless, then We gave him life and provided him with a light by which he walks among the people, like one who dwells in a manifold darkness which he cannot leave?[318]
So what does this luminous personality have to do with the ability to perform miracles? The ability to perform miracles relies on two factors.
Knowledge
The Immaculate prophet or Imam is not a mere vessel for the miracle. Some may say that, for example, the body of Jesus (a) was a vessel through which God cured the leper and revived the dead. Jesus (a) thus did not have much to do with the miracle. This view is mistaken.
The Holy Quran is clear in that the miracles are a product of the individual performing them, and not that they are mere conduits for the miracle. Of course, all human actions are contingent on the will of God. When I walk, the action is my own despite the fact that God is the one who gave me the ability to do so. The same applies to a miracle. It is the action of an Immaculate individual, albeit it is contingent on the will and empowerment of God. God says in the Holy Quran,
And [Jesus the son of Mary will be] an apostle to the Children of Israel [and he will declare], ‘I have certainly brought you a sign from your Lord: I will create for you the form of a bird out of clay, then I will breathe into it, and it will become a bird by God’s leave. I heal the blind and the leper and I revive the dead by God’s leave.[319]
Thus the individual who is performing the miracle is not a simple vessel that has no other role in the miracle. Rather, it is an action, like any other, in its contingency on the will and empowerment of God.
The Immaculate individual is thus the actor who is undertaking the task of performing the miracle. As we said, the performance of a miracle relies on two factors. The first is knowledge of secrets and true causes. After all, a miracle is an effect and like all effects it must have a cause. Muslim philosophers also say that this cause must be of the same type as the effect. For example, when we see an apple tree we know it was caused by the planting of an apple seed and not an orange seed. The same applies to miracles; a physical miracle must have a physical cause.
God alluded to this in the verse, “There is not a thing but that its sources are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure.”[320] Everything in this material world is sent down in a known measure in accordance to the system of cause and effect. God also says, “Celebrate the Name of your Lord, the Most Exalted, who created and proportioned, and who determined and guided.”[321] Everything is apportioned and determined, which includes having a cause. If the thing is material, then its cause is also material. Because the curing of the blind and the leper and the reviving of the dead are material actions, they must have a material cause.
The crux of the matter is that things have true causes and apparent causes. Mankind usually does not fathom the true causes of events but only their apparent causes. The Immaculate individual, on the other hand, knows the secrets of the universe and understands the true causes of events. As such, they can use this knowledge to perform things that are miraculous to the ordinary individual.
Divine Will
Some may say that if knowledge was the only factor affecting miracles, such events would lose their miraculous nature over time as mankind advanced further in science and discovery. Miracles would become relative. Reviving the dead may be a miracle during the time of Jesus (a), but science may one day advance enough to discover the secret of life and revive the dead through technology. The miracle at that point would los
e its miraculous nature. What then differentiates a miracle from scientific endeavors?
A miracle requires another factor, which is divine will. Due to the fact that Immaculate individuals are in such proximity to God, the divine will is a factor supporting their miracles. That is the meaning of the narration attributed to Imam Baqir (a), “We do, by His permission, whatever we wish. However, we do not wish anything except what He wishes. Thus, if we will something, so too does God will it.”[322] Or take, for example, the narration of the Holy Prophet (s) in regards to his daughter Lady Fatima (a), “Surely, God is angered for the anger of Fatima (a) and is pleased by her contentment.”[323] In other words, her will is a reflection of the will of God.
The role of this divine will in the performance of miracles is that it substitutes for the normal system of causes. This is part of what our scholars refer to as Wilaya Takwiniyya, or Cosmological Authority, by which God’s closest servants have authority over creation. For example, science may one day advance enough in its understanding of the human genome that doctors can change the genetic makeup of a fetus to cure diseases or change physical attributes. While this would be highly beneficial, it would not be a miracle. Such advancement would rely on the normal course of cause and effect. Scientists must continue to study the topic and conduct experiments before coming to a reliable result.
The Immaculate individual, on the other hand, may substitute divine will for this gradual progression. A miracle reaches a result quickly without the need for experimentation and scientific processes. God says, “All His command, when He wills something, is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is.”[324] The will of the Immaculate prophet or Imam is a reflection of the will of God, and can thus be manifested instantaneously.
This is the difference between empirical sciences and the Cosmological Authority of God’s closest servants. This is clearly outlines in the Holy Quran, such as in the verse,
Whoever is wary of God, He shall make for him a way out [of the adversities of the world and the Hereafter] and provide for him from whence he does not count upon. And whoever puts his trust in God, He will suffice him.[325]
In another verse the Quran says “God has ordained: ‘I shall surely prevail, I and My apostles.’”[326] God also says, “Indeed We shall help Our apostles and those who have faith in the life of the world and on the day when the witnesses rise up.”[327] God’s aid comes in the form of His divine will. We see that Cosmological Authority and the ability to undertake miracles are based on two factors: divine knowledge and divine will.
The Occultation
There are a number of questions that can be asked about the occultation of our Twelfth Holy Imam (a).
A Miracle?
Is the occultation of Imam Mahdi (a) a miraculous phenomenon? Or is it a natural phenomenon? We know that his existence is in complete reliance on God’s will and sustenance. God says, “He has written faith into their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him.”[328] But is his occultation completely miraculous such that he does not need to rely on natural causes for his survival? Is he liable to illness and danger? Or is he completely and miraculously protected from all harm?
The occultation of the Imam (a) is a natural phenomenon. As we discussed in earlier chapters, the Imam’s (a) occultation is not in his person but in his apparent persona. He lives amongst us. He eats and drinks as we do. He may become ill and be cured. He is amongst us, but we do not recognize his immaculate persona. As one of his Ambassadors is reported to have said, “By God, the master of this matter comes in the season [of Hajj] every year. He sees people and knows them, yet they see him and do not know him.”[329]
A Divine Plan?
If the occultation is a natural phenomenon, is it due to manmade causes or is it the culmination of a divine plan?
There are two phases to our Imam’s (a) occultation. The minor occultation took place over the span of sixty-nine years (260-329 AH / 873-940 CE). The minor occultation was the result of human choices. When the authorities of the time attacked his home and were intent on killing him, he disappeared in order to evade their oppressive grasp. However, he continued to communicate with his followers through his four Ambassadors.
At the passing of the fourth Ambassador, the major occultation began. This was not just the result of human actions, but the culmination of a divine plan guided by divine will. The Imam (a) could have continued to communicate to the world through a succession of ambassadors. He instead began the major occultation where he did not communicate through any ambassador. This was not a personal choice, but the culmination of a divine plan and the operation of divine will.
The Imam (a) wrote to his fourth and last ambassador,
O, Ali ibn Muhammad Al-Samri, may God increase the rewards of your brothers for the tragedy of your loss as you [will]pass within six days. Organize your affairs and do not appoint someone to take your position after your death. The complete occultation has begun and there will be no emergence until God wills. That will be after a lengthy duration, the hardening of hearts, and the spread of injustice throughout the earth.[330]
Thus, it is the culmination of a divine plan.
A Role?
Does the Imam (a) play a role during his occultation? Is he like a prisoner that is simply waiting for his release? Or does he play a role which we are unaware of?
The Imam (a) plays a critical role during the occultation as he prepares the world for his emergence. We discussed in a previous chapter the role of the Muslim nation during the occultation. We said that the concept of ‘awaiting his appearance’ means that we must prepare the world for that day. He is also engaged in the process of preparing the earth for that day.
A Manifestation of Compassion
Theologians say that God is compassionate with his creations. This means that He would doubtlessly bring mankind closer to His service and away from sin. Because guidance is a form of compassion, God would surely select the best of individuals to lead mankind as prophets and Imams. Some people may ask, ‘Why does God not allow the Imam (a) to live amongst us openly, in the same way that Noah (a) lived amongst his people for a thousand years? People would come to know him and believe in his message. If God can protect him while he is in occultation, God can also protect him if he lives openly amongst us. So what is the point behind the occultation?
A Disputation
The argument presented above can be taken to its next logical conclusion. Namely, if God can make an individual to live for thousands of years while protecting him from the dangers and treachery of deviant forces and oppressive regimes, why did He not do so for our Holy Prophet Muhammad (s)?
God’s wisdom has dictated that religion should spread and take hold within humanity through natural means and not through a supernatural imposition on mankind. Faith is a spiritual state which cannot be reached except through personal conviction and choice. If a belief system was imposed on an individual, he would not fully believe in it.
Divine wisdom has dictated that religion should not spread through supernatural means. Instead, it should come through a process of conflict between good and evil and between right and wrong. Only then would people be able to see both side and choose faith over evil and oppression by their own conviction. Otherwise, people would not come to fully believe in a creed that was imposed on them. God says in the Holy Quran, “Had your Lord wished, all those who are on earth would have believed. Would you then force people until they become faithful?”[331] In another verse God says, “There is no compulsion in religion: rectitude has become distinct from error.”[332]
God’s wisdom dictated that the Imam (a) should be hidden from the people during a time of occultation. If the Imam (a) were allowed to live openly amongst us without aging and with absolute protection from all harm, that would advance his cause through miraculous means and not through the natural causes explained above. If God were to support the Imam (a) in this way, people would not react with his movement and would not come to true faith. There need
ed to be a struggle just like the struggle of any other prophet or Imam. God says,
Do you suppose that you will enter paradise though there has not yet come to you the like of [what befell] those who went before you? Stress and distress befell them and they were convulsed until the apostle and the faithful who were with him said, ‘When will God’s help [come]?’[333]
God Almighty also says, “So that he who perishes might perish by a manifest proof, and he who lives may live on by a manifest proof.”[334]
Divine Wisdom
There is wisdom behind the occultation which our Twelfth Imam (a) hinted to. He said in a signed letter,
As for the reason behind the occultation, God says ‘O you who have faith! Do not ask about things, which, if they are disclosed to you, will upset you.’[335] Surely, each of my forefathers had carried on his shoulders an oath to the tyrant of his time. I will emerge whenever I emerge without an oath to any tyrant on my shoulders.[336]
His role is different than the roles of his forefathers. The Imams (a) before him were tasked with the duty of clarifying the teachings of the faith and educating the believers as a means of preparing for both the occultation and the emergence. It was their role to endure having to swear their oaths to the tyrants under duress and coercion. As for the Twelfth Imam (a) whose role is to establish a government of justice and equity, he could not be hindered with such an oath.
In other words, the role of the first eleven Imams (a) was to prepare for the state of justice and equity that Imam Mahdi (a) would establish.
As for our Awaited Imam (a), his role is to establish the state of justice and equity and to abolish injustice and inequity. He cannot be hindered by an oath to a tyrant or oppressor.
Practical Benefits
Some may say that the occultation is an ill and misfortune that has struck the nation without any apparent benefits. The occultation allowed for competing factions that have clashed throughout history. During the occultation many people have turned away from faith. So it is a misfortune and not an overall good.
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