Introduction

Discussion on occultation of Imam Mahdi(a.s)

First Principle: Necessity of Imamate

Second Principle: Infallibility of Imam

Third Principle: Truth will never leave the Islamic Ummah

Invalidity of Kaisaniyya creed

Refutation of Nawusiyya belief

Refutation of Waqifiya belief

Traditional reports about the martyrdom of Imam Kadhim

Clear declaration of Imam Kadhim about the Imamate of Imam Ridha

Evidence of the Imamate of Imam Musa Kadhim (a.s) and refutation of Waqifiya

Factors of appearance of Waqifi sect

Traditional reports in condemnation of Waqifites

Some miracles of Imam Ali Ibn Musa Ridha

Objections of the opponents with regard to the birth of Imam Mahdi (a.s)

Refutation of all sects, which believed in Imamate of someone other than Master of the Age (a.s)

Philosophy and wisdom of Occultation

What is the difference between a hidden Imam and an Imam who does not exist or one that exists in the heavens?

Application of Divine Penalties during the Occultation of Imam Mahdi (a.s)

Discerning truth during occultation of the Imam

Statement of Sayyid Murtadha (r.a)

Reason of occultation of the Imam from his followers

Concealed Birth of the Imam of the Time (a.s) was not an extraordinary event

Stories of people with long lifespans from Arabs and non-Arabs are famous and chronicled in books and history.

Reports of Ahle Sunnat that Imams are twelve in number

Shia traditional reports on the topic that Imams are twelve in number

Traditions of the Holy Imams on the occultation of Imam Mahdi

Traditional reports that confirm the uprising of Imam Mahdi

Mahdi is from the progeny of Ali and Fatima (a.s)

Mahdi is from the progeny of Imam Husain (a.s)

Refutation of Kaisaniya belief and account of the demise of Muhammad bin Hanfiyyah

Refutation of those who stopped at the Imamate of Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s) and said that he is the Promised Mahdi

Imamate of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s)

Evidence of the Birth of the Master of the Age

Reports of those who saw the Imam of the Time (a.s)

Miracles of the Master of the time during his Occultation

Epistles issued from Imam Mahdi (a.s)

Causes of delay in reappearance of the Master of the Affair

Test of Shia during the period of occultation of the Imam

Reports of the Emissaries of Imam (a.s) during the period of occultation

Approved Emissaries

Emissaries condemned by the Imam

Special Emissaries of the Imam during the Occultation

Questions of Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Ja’far Himyari

Excellence of Husain bin Rauh continued

Abul Hasan Ali bin Muhammad Saymoori

False claimants of deputyship of Imam who are also clearly condemned by the Imams

Appointees of the four special deputies of the Imam

Long lifespan of the Imam (a.s)

Time of reappearance of the Imam (a.s)

Signs preceding the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a.s)

Some Qualities, practices and manners of the Master of the Age (a.s)

144- ما أخبرني جماعة عن أبي جعفر محمد بن سفيان البزوفري عن أحمد بن إدريس عن علي بن محمد بن قتيبة النيشابوري عن الفضل بن شاذان عن نصر بن مزاحم عن ابن لهيعة عن أبي قبيل عن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص قال:قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم في حديث طويل: … فعند ذلك خروج المهدي،وهو رجل من ولد هذا-وأشار بيده إلى علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام- . به يمحق الله الكذب ويذهب الزمان الكلب،وبه يخرج ذل الرق من أعناقكم. ثم قال: أنا أول هذه الأمة، والمهدي أوسطها،وعيسى آخرها. وبين ذلك شيخ أعوج.

H 144- It is narrated from a group from Abi Ja’far Muhammad Ibn Abu Sufyan Bazufari from Ahmad bin Idris from Ali bin Muhammad Ibn Qutaibah Nishapuri from Fadhl bin Shazan from Nasr bin Muzahim from Abu Lahia from Abu Qabil from Abdullah bin Amr Ibn Aas that he narrated a long tradition, in which the Messenger of Allah (s) says: “...And then will be the rise of the Mahdi, and he is a man from the offspring of this one,” pointing to Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s). “Through him, Allah will take away lies. Through him time will take away severity. He will remove the disgrace of slavery from your necks.” Then he said: “I am the first of this Ummah, Mahdi is the middle of it, and Isa is the last of it. And in between there are calamities and tyrant rulers.”

145- محمد بن علي عن عثمان بن أحمد السماك عن إبراهيم بن عبد الله الهاشمي عن إبراهيم بن هانئ عن نعيم بن حماد المروزي عن بقية بن الوليد عن أبي بكر بن أبي مريم عن الفضل بن يعقوب الرخامي عن عبد الله بن جعفر عن أبي المليح عن زياد بن بيان عن علي بن نفيل عن سعيد بن المسيب عن أم سلمة قالت: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم يقول: المهدي من عترتي من ولد فاطمة.

H 145 - It is narrated from Muhammad bin Ali from Uthman bin Ahmad Sammak from Ibrahim bin Abdullah Hashmi from Ibrahim bin Hani from Naeem bin Hammad Maruzi from Baqiya bin Walid from Abu Bakr bin Abu Maryam from Fadhl bin Yaqub Rakhami from Abdullah bin Ja’far from Abu Malih from Ziyad bin Bayan from Ali bin Nufayl from Saeed bin Musayyab that Umme Salama, wife of the Prophet said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (s) say: “Mahdi is from my progeny, from the descendants of Fatima.”

146- أحمد بن إدريس عن علي بن محمد بن قتيبة عن الفضل بن شاذان عن مصبح عن أبي عبد الرحمن عمن سمع وهب بن منبه يقول عن ابن عباس في حديث طويل أنه قال: … يا وهب،ثم يخرج المهدي. قلت: من ولدك؟قال: لا والله، ما هو من ولدي،ولكن من ولد علي. وطوبى لمن أدرك زمانه. وبه يفرج الله عن الأمة حتى يملأها قسطاً وعدلاً… إلى آخر الخبر.

H 146 - It is narrated from Ahmad bin Idris from Ali bin Muhammad Ibn Qutaibah from Fadhl bin Shazan from Misbah from Abu Abdur Rahman from one who says that it is narrated from Ibn Abbas that Wahab bin Munabbah asked him in a lengthy report: “Is he from your progeny?” He said: “No, by Allah, he is not from my progeny. He is from the progeny of Ali (a.s). Bliss be for the one who reaches his time. Through him, Allah will relieve the Ummah’s stress, until he makes the earth full of equity and justice...”

147- أحمد بن إدريس عن علي بن محمد بن قتيبة عن الفضل بن شاذان عن محمد بن سنان عن عمار بن مروان عن المنخل بن جميل عن جابر الجعفي عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: المهدي رجل من ولد فاطمة، وهو رجل ادم.

H 147 - It is narrated from Ahmad bin Idris from Ali bin Muhammad Ibn Qutaibah from Fadhl bin Shazan from Muhammad bin Sinan from Ammar bin Marwan from Munakhal bin Jamil from Jabir Jofi from Imam Baqir (a.s) that he said: “Mahdi is a man from the progeny of Fatima. He is of wheaten complexion.”

148- أخبرنا جماعة عن التلعكبري عن أحمد بن علي الرازي عن محمد بن علي عن عثمان بن أحمد السماك عن إبراهيم بن العلاء الهاشمي عن أبي المليح عن زياد بن بيان عن علي بن نفيل عن سعيد بن المسيب عن أم سلمة قالت: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم يقول: المهدي من عترتي من ولد فاطمة.

H 148 - Informed me a group of scholars from Talakbari from Ahmad bin Ali Raazi from Muhammad bin Ali from Uthman bin Ahmad Samat from Ibrahim bin Alaa Hashimi from Abi Malih from Ziyad bin Bayan from Ali bin Nufayl from Saeed bin Musayyab from Umme Salma that she said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (s) say: The Mahdi is from my progeny from the children of Fatima.

149- أحمد بن إدريس عن علي بن الفضل عن أحمد بن عثمان عن أحمد بن رزق عن يحيى بن العلاء الرازي قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: ينتج الله تعالى في هذه الأمة رجلاًمني وأنا منه. يسوق الله تعالى به بركات السماوات والأرض فينزل السماء قطرها ويخرج الأرض بذرها وتأمن وحوشها وسباعها، ويملأ الأرض قسطاً وعدلاً كما ملئت ظلماً وجوراً. ويقتل حتى يقول الجاهل: لو كان هذا من ذرية محمد لرحم!

H 149 - It is narrated from Ahmad bin Idris from Ali bin Fadhl from Ahmad bin Uthman from Ahmad bin Rizq from Yahya bin Alaa Raazi that he said: I heard Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s) say: “Allah will bring forth in this Ummah, a man who belongs to me and I belong to him. Allah will send the blessings of the heavens and the earth through him. The heavens will rain down its drops; and the earth will grow out its seeds: and its beasts and brutes will live in harmony; and it will be full of equity and justice, as it had been replete with oppression and injustice. He will put so many on the sword that the ignorant will say, ‘If he were from the progeny of Muhammad, he would have been merciful.”

Kitāb al-Ghayba

Book 1, Chapter 29