notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
What was the purpose of the Minor Occultation? Why did the Major Occultation not begin immediately? Was one of the most important purposes of the Minor Occultation to test whether the pious would remain steadfast after the occultation of the Imam of the Age, peace be upon him?
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ
The purpose of the Minor Occultation was to prepare people to know and follow the Imam. Failing to know the Imam is, in truth, the Imam’s major occultation. The Major Occultation was not something the community had to endure; rather, through betraying itself, the community brought it upon itself. The Minor Occultation was a warning, urging the community to come to its senses and accept the Imam’s authority—but it did not. The Minor and Major Occultations are among the tests to which humanity is put.
Recognizing the Imam is a prerequisite for following him—in other words, معرفة الامام مقدمه ائتمام است. When people failed to recognize the Imam, before the Imams’ outward withdrawal from the community, they were already estranged from him inwardly: he was absent from their minds and understanding, and they did not know him. Likewise, failing to follow the Imam amounts to separation from him and distance from him.
In truth, failing to recognize the Imam is the Imam’s Greater Occultation. And failing to follow him amounts to disavowing him. Had the community truly come to recognize the Imam and resolved to follow him, no form of Occultation would ever have occurred!
The character, standing and exalted stature of each of the Pure Imams, peace be upon them, were veiled from the community during their own lifetimes, though neither the community nor the wider world understood this. The Imam’s physical withdrawal from the world’s sight was, in reality, like a shock meant to awaken the world to this truth, since his outward presence had in a sense kept people heedless of it.
It is not right to say that the Minor Occultation was a prelude to the Greater Occultation, even though it did become one.
We should not suppose that the Greater Occultation was necessary for the community. Rather, by betraying themselves, they brought it upon themselves. Had they come to their senses during the Minor Occultation, the Occultation would have ended while it was still minor.
Of course, the Minor Occultation was not brief. It lasted longer than the period of any individual Imam’s Imamate. Let us bear this in mind.
The Minor Occultation was, in reality, a warning meant to bring the community to its senses and draw it into the embrace of wilayah—yet they did not heed it.
The tests to which human beings are subject take many forms. The Minor and Greater Occultations are among them; after the Appearance, the test will take another form.