Mahdism

Establishing a spiritual, heartfelt connection with the Imam of our Time (AJ) requires developing our inner capacity by fulfilling our religious obligations and avoiding what is forbidden. This connection must be constant, because neglecting the Imam hinders our spiritual progress. Through seeking God’s special grace and striving with love, we can attain such a degree of absorption that we become immersed in the being of the Imam (AJ).

To increase our capacity to help bring about the Reappearance, we need to know ourselves and know the Imam. The Imam is the perfect model for attaining human perfection. By managing our personal affairs and lives well, we can better support the Imam of Our Time, and our shortcomings in management need not prevent us from helping him.

We can bear the wait for the Reappearance by striving to know God’s Proof, purifying our inner selves, and seeking God’s help. Self-watchfulness and self-examination, fostering the practice of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, and offering spiritual gifts to the Imam can also help us along the way.

According to narrations, after the advent of Imam Mahdi (AJ), Iblis will kneel in the Mosque of Kufa and be killed. This event, described in some narrations as occurring on the appointed day, will lead to his final execution at the end of time by the Noble Prophet (PBUH) in Jerusalem. Once Iblis has been executed, seeking refuge from his evil will no longer make sense; seeking refuge in God from the temptations of the lower self, however, will still be necessary.

It is the duty of all people to follow God’s proof in every circumstance, whether during the Occultation or after the ظهور. The belief that the earth endures is conditional on the presence and existence of God’s proof, and the duties of each particular era are specific to that time.

Descriptions of the Age of Aquarius and predictions based on it have no scientific validity and are considered a form of shirk (associating partners with God). We are now approaching the end of time and the appearance of the Saviour. With his appearance, human intellect will advance, and knowledge and spirituality will flourish.

Spiritual presence with and visitation of the Imam of the Age (AJ) take place beyond the material realm, in the realm of meaning and spirits; physical presence is therefore not a condition. The Infallible Imams (peace be upon them) are witnesses to creation both during their material lives and after them. Meeting them is not confined to the material realm or to what lies beyond it.

In Islamic thought, time is the measure of successive creations, and the Imam of the Age (AJ), as the “Master of Time,” is regarded as the locus of merciful creation and the divine clock. God is the creator and annihilator of time, with absolute power over its expansion and contraction. The effect of human actions on the entire universe—and the possibility of living longer—also depend on this divine power.

A report attributed to Imam al-Sadiq (AS) says that the Imam of the Age (AJ) will not appear until two-thirds of the people have perished. According to this report, the remaining one-third will be the sincere believers and true Shi‘a, who will be among those saved.

The image of Islam as an overturned vessel, with everything inside spilling out, refers to the period of the Greater Occultation and the present age—an age of immense trial for people everywhere, especially the Muslim community and the faithful. God will not wrong you, but He has not spared you from being tested.

The perfection of intellect in the era of the advent means that the divine proof will be fully established over creation, leaving no excuse or pretext. When the beauty of the Real and the truth become manifest, everyone will be bound to follow them—and this will be made possible through the perfection of intellect. This perfection means attaining certain knowledge; those who deny the truths will be disbelievers after having attained faith.

Before they begin to speak, children are connected to the Imam of Our Time if they enter this world with pure hearts and with love for and devotion to the Household of the Prophet (AS). This connection is not limited by the home, family, environment, or circumstances of their birth; it belongs to the lineage of the Companions of the Right in the primordial world.

The reappearance of the Imam of Our Time (AJ) does not depend on governments accepting his rule. Rather, he awaits the awakening and renewal of the community of hearts. When hearts become worthy of welcoming him, his reappearance will come to pass. He is not afraid to appear among a people who are unwilling to welcome him.

Repentance will no longer be accepted at the time of the Imam of the Age’s (AJ) appearance, because the era of his appearance is a distinct, end-times state of being, and repentance then will be like repentance in the intermediate realm (barzakh), when it is no longer of any benefit. Repentance must take place before punishment comes and while there is still an opportunity to do so. This means that one must not treat repentance as license to sin recklessly; rather, one should turn to God while sin is still possible and before punishment arrives.

It is possible that the Imam of Our Time (AJ) joins the Shi‘a in their devotions, but the Supplication of Lamentation is, in essence, offered by the Shi‘a on his behalf. He too laments in response to the estrangement of the divine faith and his followers’ separation from him. The Muslim community’s lament for him will surely receive a fitting response from him.

In the Occultation, unity of hearts is achieved by remaining faithful to religion, putting it into practice in every aspect of individual and social life, and establishing a religious government. Keeping one’s covenant includes working together to implement religious laws; any accommodation with a non-religious government amounts to opposing the Imam of Our Time.

The appearance of Imam Mahdi (AJ) and his rule on earth are a definitive promise from God that will not fail. His being taken back to God, however, is conditional on the presence of fully faithful believers; if such believers are absent, he may be taken back to God. Divine promises are sometimes conditional, so their qualifications and conditions must be taken into account.

A hadith in al-Kāfī, transmitted from Imam al-Sadiq (AS), refers to a “boy” being killed in Medina before the Appearance. The usual meaning of *ghulām* is a child or young man who has only recently begun to grow facial hair. It is not correct to identify this event with the child recently killed in Medina, though those awaiting the Appearance should remain attentive to the events of that era.

The world is ripe for a composite divine punishment, as humanity’s transgressions and audacity in sin have reached their limit. This punishment will combine the chastisements visited upon the peoples of ʿĀd and Thamūd, Pharaoh, and Lot. It is unclear what lies ahead for Iran and how the country will be affected by these events.