Dear Professor, this text says that Shiites will make their way to Mecca before the Appearance, booking accommodation and hotels so they can be there when it happens. Is this account reliable?
How should women act in this regard? How many days in advance should they stay in Mecca for the Appearance to take place?
**The “Iran–Saudi Arabia” agreement and that long-awaited dream**
**Some of the Imam of the Age’s companions will reach Mecca by way of the sky**
▪ Some of the Imam’s companions will travel through the clouds. This may be an allusion to air travel. They will make their way to Mecca, their names, their fathers’ names, their appearance and their lineage all being known. In today’s terms, their identity and passports will indicate who they are and what nationality they hold:
▪ «منهم من یری یسیر فی السحاب نهارا یعرف باسمه و اسم أبیه و حلیته و نسبه»[1]
▪ Saudi officials will know that these Shiites do not have Saudi passports and are not from that country:
▪ «یعلم أهل مکه أنهم لم یولدوا من آبائهم و لا أجدادهم»[2]
**The Saudis’ surprise at the Shiites’ presence in Arabia**
▪ They will wonder: now that the Hajj season has ended, why are some Shiites from various countries still staying in Mecca and Medina? This will cause the Saudi authorities even greater astonishment.
▪ Even before that, the Imam of the Age’s closest companions will be looking for places to stay in Mecca’s hotels, waiting for that “promised day.” The people of Mecca will not know them, because at that time they will not be accustomed to caravans arriving from cities for Hajj, Umrah or trade. Some of the companions will not have entered Arabia as part of an official delegation or caravan. The people of Mecca will say to one another: “These Shiites and strangers we see in Mecca today—we have never seen them here before. Nor do they come from a single region”:
▪ «فینتشرون بمکه فی أزقتها و یطلبون منازل یسکنونها فینکرهم أهل مکه و ذلک لم یعلموا بقافله قد دخلت من بلده من البلدان لحج و لا لعمره و لا تجاره فیقول من یقول من أهل مکه بعضهم لبعض: أ ما ترون قوما من الغرباء فی یومنا هذا لم یکونوا قبل هذا؟»[3] «لیسوا من بلد واحد»[4]
**The gradual arrival of Shiites in Arabia in the year of the Appearance**
▪ The Shiites’ presence and arrival in Arabia will take place gradually, over a period of time—including during “Rajab, Sha‘ban and Ramadan”—and will continue beyond the Hajj season and into Muharram of the year of the Appearance:
▪ «بنو فاطمه معه فو الله ما صاحبکم إلا من اجتمعوا علیه إذا کان رجب فأقبلوا علی اسم الله عز و جل و إن أحببتم أن تتأخروا إلی شعبان فلا ضیر و إن أحببتم أن تصوموا فی أهالیکم فلعل ذلک أن یکون أقوی لکم و کفاکم بالسفیانی علامه»[5]
▪ ... To be continued.
▪ Imagine that relations with Saudi Arabia were still severed, Hajj had been suspended as it was during the COVID years, and the arrangements for sending pilgrims had been closed.
▪ If the “Iran–Saudi Arabia” agreement had not been reached, would Shiites from across the “geography of the Appearance” have been able to travel safely to Mecca and Medina on that promised day?
**Sources:**
1. al-Ayyashi, *Tafsir*, vol. 1, p. 67; al-Nu‘mani, *al-Ghayba*, p. 313.
2. al-Nu‘mani, *al-Ghayba*, p. 315.
3. Ibn Tawus, *al-Malahim wa al-Fitan*, p. 379.
4. al-Tabari, *Dala’il al-Imama*, p. 560.
5. al-Kulayni, *al-Kafi*, vol. 8, p. 264.
**May the Appearance be hastened:**
#اللهم_صل_علی_محمد_و_آل_محمد_و_عجل_فرجهم
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