Traditions of the Holy Imams on the occultation of Imam Mahdi

Also, a proof of the Imamate of Ibn Hasan (a.s) and his occultation are the widespread and well-known traditions and sayings from his forefathers, peace be on them, which were uttered long before these times. These traditions state that the Master of the Age will have occultations and they describe its qualities and the disputes and events that will take place during it. They state that he will have two occultations, one of which will be longer than the other, and that in the first one communication will be open with him and in the second, his news will not be coming. The later events unfolded as predicted by the traditions. Had they not been correct, and had his Imamate not been valid, they had not corresponded with events, which happened later, because that cannot happen, but through God’s delivery through the tongue of His Messenger. This path of reasoning is also a measure on the basis of which scholars have previously argued.

We only mention a few narrations that carry this meaning, to indicate the veracity of our claim, because complete incorporation of all narrations in this regard will be long and they are present in books of traditions and can be referred there.

Know that by Allah, this verse has not been actualized as yet and it will be actualized in the future.

“But nay! I swear by the stars that run their course (and) hide themselves.” (81:15-16) He replied: “An Imam who will go into hiding, when all who know him will be gone, in the year two hundred and sixty and then he will appear like a blazing meteor in the darkness of the night. If one lives till that time, he would find solace.”

with regard to the verse: “Say: Have you considered if your water should go down, who is it then that will bring you flowing water?” (67:30) He asked: “What are you going to do when you lose your Imam and don’t see him?”

Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s) said: “If you hear of a disappearance with regard to your Master, do not reject it.”

I heard Abi Abdullah (a.s) say: “The Imam will be unseen by the people. Then he will witness those who come for Hajj pilgrimage. He will see them, but they will not see him.”

“The man of this matter disappears twice. The first occultation lasts long until some people say that he has died, some say that he has been killed and others say that he has gone. Till only a few of his companions will remain. None of his children and others would know his location, except a servant, who manages his affairs.”

“The man of this matter must disappear and he is to be in isolation during his disappearance. There is in no loneliness among the thirty and how good an abode ‘Tayba’ is!”

The passing away of Imam Ali Naqi (a.s) was mentioned before Imam Hasan Askari (a.s). He said: “That is so long as I am alive and remaining. However, how would it be like when they miss the one after me?”

I once traveled with Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s) [from Medina] and when we reached the Rauha station, Imam (a.s) looked at the huge mountain over there for some time and asked: “Can you see this mountain? It is called Mt. Razva and it a mountain of Fars. When it expressed excessive love for us, Ahle Bayt (a.s), the Almighty Allah transferred it to us. See, every tree growing upon is fruitful and he said twice: It will be a refuge to one who is in fear. Know that the master of this affair will have two occultations: one is a shorter occultation (Ghaibat Sughra) and the other, a longer occultation (Ghaibat Kubra).”

“When His Eminence, Salman Farsi entered Kufa, he glanced at it and mentioned all the troubles and events that were to occur in it till he mentioned about Bani Umayyah rulers and the period after them. After that he said: ‘When all this is over, you must remain confined to your houses till the reappearance of the master of the affair, the pure one, son of the pure and purifying. The one who has occultation and who is the ‘Shareed’ and ‘Tareed’

“There is a similarity with Yusuf in the Qaim.” I asked, “And what is that?” He said: “Perplexity and disappearance.”

Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s) about the Quranic interpretation of Jabir and he said: “Do not mention the interpretation of these verses to those with decadent thinking as they would publicize it. Have you not seen the following verse in Quran? “For when the trumpet is sounded…” (74:8) Indeed one of us Imams will be in occultation and when the Almighty Allah wants to show His matter, He will inspire the Imam and he will reappear and stage an uprising by the permission of Allah.”

I came to Amirul Momineen Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s) and found him thoughtful. He was drawing lines on the ground. I said: “O Chief of believers, why do I see you thoughtful and you are making lines on the earth? Is it out of desire for the earth?” He said: “No, by Allah, I have never desired it, nor for what is in the world even for one day. I was thinking about the son, who will be born from my seed – the eleventh from my sons. He is the Mahdi and he would fill up the earth with equity as it will be fraught with oppression and injustice. There will be a perplexity and occultation related to him, in which communities will go astray and communities will be guided.” I asked: “O Chief of believers, how long would this perplexity and occultation last?” He said: Six days, six months or six years. I asked: “Would this really come to pass?” He replied: Yes, he has been created. How would you know this, Asbagh! They are the best of this Ummah and companions of the righteous of this Household. I asked: “What will happen after that?” He said: “Allah will do what He desires, for He has wills, purposes and outcomes.”

My father [Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s)] said: “My son, when the fifth descendant of the seventh Imam disappears, then by Allah, by Allah, be cautious about your faith, because definitely there such is a occultation for this Patron until many who believe in this matter turn away from their beliefs. My son, his occultation would be a trial from Allah, by which He will try His creation. If your fathers and grandfathers knew a creed better than this, they would have followed it.” Ali bin Ja’far said: Abul Hasan [Imam Musa Kadhim (a.s)] asked: “My master, who is the fifth descendant of the seventh?” He said: “My son, your intellects are deficient to understand him and you cannot bear it, but if you live, you will see that matter.”

I, along with Mufaddal Ibn Umar, Abu Basir, Aban Ibn Taghlib came to our master, Abu Abdullah Ja’far Ibn Muhammad (a.s) and found him sitting on bare earth. He had a Khaibari woolen cloak ringed at the neck, did not have any pockets and had short sleeves. He was crying like a deeply afflicted and bereaved mother of a child from the depths of a heart that was full of mourning. Grief had appeared in the sides of his face and the change had spread on both his cheeks and tears were rolling on the sides of his visage, as he was saying: “My master, your occultation has taken away my night’s sleep; it has narrowed my bed for me and has snatched away solace from my heart. My master, your occultation has turned my tragedies into the atrocities of eternity! The loss of one after the other perishes a crowd and a multitude. No more I feel the tear that drops from my eye and the moan that faintly leaves my chest from the places of tragedies and past calamities, except that it exemplifies before my eye the greatest and cruelest of catastrophes, the most dismal and disdainful mishaps, mixed with your wrath and calamities coupled with your anger.” Sudair says: Our hearts and minds were overwhelmed by that terrifying scene. We thought that it was a sign of a dreadful shattering or times have brought him a calamity. So we said: “May Allah, O son of the best of the creation, never bring tears into your eyes. Why are you weeping and what has caused this mourning?” Sudair says: Imam Sadiq (a.s) took a deep sigh that his chest expanded and his grief enhanced and he said: “I looked at the Book of Jafr this morning, and that is the book that encompasses the knowledge of deaths, trials and tribulations and the knowledge of all that has been and all that will be until Judgment Day, which Allah, glory to His name, has exclusively imparted to Muhammad and the Imams after him, peace be unto him and them. I saw therein the birth of our Qaim and his occultation and its protraction and the length of his lifespan and the trials of the believers through him after him in that period and the generation of doubts in their hearts due to the length of his disappearance and apostasy of most of them from their religion and their desertion of Islam, about which Allah, glory to His name, has said: “And We have made every man’s actions to cling to his neck…” (17:13) …which is Mastership (Wilayah); so emotions overpowered me and grief overwhelmed me.” We said: “O son of Allah’s Messenger, dignify us and bestow honor upon us by sharing some of what you know from the knowledge.” He said: “Allah, the Exalted, has bestowed three qualities to the Qaim of ours, which He gave to three of the apostles. He foreordained his birth like the birth of Musa (a.s); his disappearance like the disappearance of Isa (a.s); and his longevity like the longevity of Nuh (a.s). Moreover, He made the lifespan of His virtuous servant Khizr, a proof of his lifespan.” I said: “Remove the curtains for us, O son of Allah’s Messenger, from the faces of these concepts.” He said: “As for the birth of Musa: When the Firon discerned that the demise of his kingdom is near, he summoned the soothsayers, who foretold him about his lineage and that he will be from the Children of Israel. Firon did not cease to have his men rip open the abdomens of pregnant ladies from Bani Israel, until he killed in the pursuit of Musa, twenty and some odd thousand babies. He was unable to murder Musa, for Allah, the Exalted, protected him. Likewise, when the Umayyads and the Abbasids discovered that the demise of their kingdom and that of their kings and tyrants will be at the hands of the Qaim from us, they showed enmity to us and took their swords out for the murder of the House of the Messenger of Allah (s) and to cut off his progeny in order to make certain they have killed the Qaim (a.s). However, Allah dislikes not revealing His Command for one of the oppressors until His light is full, even if the pagans may dislike this. As for the disappearance of Isa: The Jews and the Christians formed unanimity that he has been killed; whereas Allah belied them in His verse: “and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa)…” (4:157) Likewise is the disappearance of the Qaim (a.s), since one community denies it for its length - ranging from one misguided person who says, ‘He was never born’; to another who says, ‘He was born and he died’; to another who rejects faith by saying that our Eleventh was childless; to another who deviates by saying, ‘This will increase to thirteen and upwards’, and another who sins against God, the Exalted, by saying, ‘The spirit of the Qaim speaks through the body of someone else’. “As for the longevity of Nuh: When he prayed for the descent of punishment against his people from the heavens, Allah, the Exalted, sent Jibraeel, the Trusted Spirit, with seven kernels, and he said: ‘O Apostle of Allah, Allah, the Exalted, says to you, ‘They are My creation and My servants. I will not destroy them with a lightning from My thunderbolts until the call has been stressed upon and the proof has become binding. Continue your hard labor in calling your people, for I will reward you for that. Plant these kernels, because your relief and liberation will be at its plantation, outgrowth, and fruition when it reaches fruition. Give this glad tiding to your believing followers.’ When the trees grew and thrived and their trunks and branches developed and spread out and their fruits grew big, he asked Allah, the Exalted, for the fulfillment of the promise. Allah, the Exalted, ordered him to plant the seeds of those trees and retain patience and hard work and continue calling the people. He informed the nations that believed in him; three hundred men of them turned away from him and said: ‘If what Nuh is claiming were true, the promise of his Lord would not have been violated.’ Then Allah, the Exalted, continued to order him every time to plant the seeds until they had been planted seven times. Nations of believers continued to lose congregations until there were left only seventy and some odd men. At that time, did Allah, the Exalted, sent a message to him and said: ‘O Nuh, now the dawn on your eyes has broken the night as the truth has manifested with clarity and the order of belief has become pure from impurity by the apostasy of everyone who had a wicked disposition. If I had destroyed the disbelievers and kept those who have apostatized from amongst the believers in you, I would not have fulfilled My early promise to the believers from your people, who were sincere in their belief in Me and had adhered to the rope of your Prophethood that I would make them heirs in earth and empower for them their religion and replace their fear with security, so that worship be pure for Me by the departure of doubts from their hearts. How could I provide heirship and empowerment and replacement of fear with security, while I know the weakness of belief of the people who apostatized and their wicked dispositions and their evil insides, which were the outcomes of hypocrisy and the initiation of misguidance? If they had procured from Me the kingdom that will be given to the believers at the time of heirship when I will have killed their enemies, they would have sniffed the smells of its attractions, and it would have strengthened the inner secrets of their hypocrisy, and eternalized the strings of misguidance in their hearts, and they would have faced their brothers with enmity and would have battled them in pursuit of chiefdom and the distinction of commanding and forbidding. And how can the religion’s empowerment and commands spread amongst the believers coexist with rise of mischief and occurrence of wars? Never! Build the ark under Our eyes and as We reveal.’” Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “Likewise is the Qaim (a.s). The days of his occultation will be prolonged, so truth may become clear and belief may become pure from impurity by the apostasy of everyone from the Shia with a wicked disposition, who are feared they are hypocrites when they expect heirship and empowerment and a vast security in the reign of the Qaim (a.s).” Mufaddal says, I asked, “O son of the Messenger of Allah, the Nawasib believe this verse: “Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make them rulers in the earth…” (24:55) has been revealed about Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.” He said: “May Allah not guide the hearts of the Nawasib. When was the religion, which Allah and His Messenger are pleased with, empowered through spread of security in the Ummah and departure of fear from their hearts and doubts from breasts during the reign of anyone of them? And in the reign of Ali (a.s) especially with the apostasy of Muslims and mischiefs, which were occurring in their days and the wars that were breaking out between the disbelievers and between themselves?” Then Imam Sadiq (a.s) recited this verse: “Until when the apostles despaired and the people became sure that they were indeed told a lie, Our help came to them…” (12:110) “As for the virtuous servant of Allah, Khizr: Allah, the Exalted, neither lengthened his lifespan because of apostleship ordained to him, nor for a book sent to him, or for a code of law replacing the previous codes from other messengers before him, or for an Imamate obliging His servants to follow him, or any obedience mandated with respect to him. Instead, since Allah, the Exalted, knew how lengthy He would make the life of the Qaim (a.s) in the days of his occultation and He knew the rejection of His servants with respect to lifespan, He lengthened the lifespan of the Virtuous Servant for no other reason, but to argue on its basis for the lifespan of the Qaim (a.s) and so that the argument of the opponents may cease and people may not have any proofs against Allah.” There are a large number of reports of the same connotation, but we have mentioned only some of them to avoid prolonging our book. If it is said: All these narrations are singularly narrated traditions, which cannot be conclusive in a subject as this, as it requires certainty. We will reply: Our argument is based on the portion of these narrations, which predict an event before its happening and then that event happens as predicted. This is the proof of the Imamate of Ibn Hasan, because the knowledge of an event before it happens cannot be known, but through Almighty God. Even if there were not but one tradition and its content corresponded to events later on, that is sufficient. That is why the predictions of the Quran about future events are the proofs of the truthfulness of the Messenger (a.s) and that Quran is from God, the Almighty, inasmuch as it is heard from a single narrator, but it does prove this single narrator’s truth on the basis of this argument. Besides, reports in this regard are narrated in inordinate numbers (Mutawatir) both by the same words and recounting the same concepts. As for the inordinate number of traditions carrying the same wordings, the Shia have narrated each such narration by Mutawatir measures. And this concept has been narrated in inordinate numbers through different words, because the great number of narrations, their different occasions, and their distinct chains, and the remote narrators thereof, prove their veracity, because not all of them can be false. That is why on many occasions the miracles of the Prophet (s) other than the Quran, and many other themes in the Shariah are proved through Tawatur, though the wordings may be singularly narrated. This is an accepted measure before our opponents in this question. Therefore, they should not abandon and forget it when we come to discuss Imamate. It is not worthy that close-mindedness leads one to reject self-evident things. This measure is accepted in praising or denouncing men. Therefore, they have argued for the generosity of Hatim and bravery of Amr and other things in the same way, though every instance of Hatim’s generosity and Amr’s stance in the battles is a singularly narrated incident. This is abundantly clear.