The elements of social maturity are meaningful and fruitful when they are manifested in common social ground, as is said in the 12th Imam’s holy letter to Sheik Mofid:
“If our Shi’ahs who I hope Allah helps to worship and serve Him were united and concerted in fulfilling the divine promise and covenant and respected it, the happiness of visiting me would not be delayed and as soon as possible they would succeed in visiting me, on the condition that they were with us according to real knowledge and truthfulness…[1]”
According to this, what delays the happiness of visiting him and his coming is the lack of sincere union of people, which is based on their knowledge and truthfulness.
In this case what is important is achievement via social maturity and its elements. In this field, we have no alternative but to achieve the architecture of social maturity so that we prepare the grounds for the appearance of ‘that abundant bliss’. This important matter does not take place unless the vanguard of this field and great Islamic jurisprudences participate in it and lead social thought and people’s hearts and, by their guidance, take them to the banks of development and maturity. As Imam Hadi (as) says:
“If in the time of our Qua'im’s (Al-Mahdi) (as) occultation there are no religious learned persons to remind people about his appearance and relief, and lead people to him and defend his religion by strong argument, freeing those of weak belief and faith from Satan’s net, and the traps of enemies of the Ahl-ul-Bait, no one would remain who didn’t take on the path of apostasy, but the learned one’s guide and lead the Shi’ahs’ hearts, as the captain of a ship controls it. They are the best of people before Allah, Almighty.[2]”
Society, therefore, needs jurisprudential thinkers and elite so that they carry the responsibility of social maturity and save and protect the Imamate and the realm of religion by their four duties; call, guidance (advice), defense (protection), and relief (rescue)
First, Calling:
During the time of occultation, religious and cultural activities of religious learned individuals and great religious jurists consist, in the main, of waiting. The pivot of their cultural development and structure is calling people to the religion of the Qua’im of Muhammad’s [saw] family. Thus the foundation of the purpose of religious learned persons at the time of occultation is management of minds and wills, and guiding people to Allah’s authority and successor. For:
“What Allah wills begins in you and whoever starts monotheistic teachings asks them from you and whoever seeks Allah turns to you.[3]”
Second, Guidance:
In addition to calling, learned religious persons guide and advise people. It means that in addition to a Mahdi-believing thought and mentality, they make relationship with hearts. Those learned persons always pay attention to three realms, knowledge, affection, and Mahdi-believing behavior, so that when desires and confusions invade someone, the person is not grabbed by the satanic poisonous mouth. According to their capacity and mental agility, they become knowledgeable about them and speak in a manner they understand so that they can guide them. They make people become fond of the Imam (as) and manage people’s religion by providing the required systems and divine methods.
Third, Defense:
At the time of occultation, the religious learned persons, in addition to the duty of call and guiding people to Allah’s authority, are obliged to defend the boundaries of their Imam’s religion so that it is saved from continuous confusions, sedition andthe thorns of its enemies do not mar or damage the person’s belief in the Mahdi (as). They can detect the waves of seditions and find solutions for them by active participation in all levels of society and by learning the languages of their time and knowing the world of their time.
Forth, Relief and Rescue:
As much as human societies deviate from divine culture, they fall into dangerous problems and seditions and stagger in the resulting waves. The religious learned persons always help and rescue them, and by this they infuriate the devils. Thus whenever a learned person dies, devils rejoice.
The Challenges of the Occultation Era
Man’s fiasco has resulted from his immaturity and ‘people did not obey the Prophet’s order about his successors, one after the other one’, but ‘people insisted on standing against them’, and ‘they united to cut his kinship and to disrespect his offspring.’
With this immaturity, they created their own disaster and deprivation and they fell into estrangement of the time of occultation. Thus by the disappearance of that exquisite heavenly element, the distance from Divine authority takes place. This interval will be followed with perplexity and people will wander in such whirlpools of confusion that vast numbers of seditions will encircle him until, if he doesn’t become engulfed in darkness and moonless nights of disappointment, nothing suffices to calm him.
Looking at the collection of narrations, we can study four challenges pertinent to the time of occultation; ‘interval, ’‘perplexity,’ ‘sedition,’ and ‘disappointment.’ Thus the religious learned persons with the four approaches found in the time of occultation can struggle with the four challenges of the time and can find a way toward the architecture of social maturity.
The learned religious persons struggle with ‘interval’ with their ‘call’ and cover it as much as they can, and with ‘guidance and advice’ they fight ‘perplexity’ and with ‘defense’ they struggle with ‘seditions’ and untie hard knots from people’s minds, hearts and feet so that the waves of the typhoon of sedition do not lead people into desires and confusion. They fight ‘disappointment’ with ‘rescue’ and relief so that they save people from destruction.
Therefore, the religious learned persons’ strategic system in the occultation time is based on religious jurisprudence and the matter of legal knowledge and jurisprudence can be understood from the content of this word ‘Fegh’ which means understanding, paying attention, pondering. Imam Ali (as) says:
“I swear to Allah that I do not consider any of my Shi’ahs religious jurists unless he can decipher the secret words that are told to him[4].”
Religious jurists, with delicacy and potential, create cultural approaches in all levels and layers of society so that they struggle against the mentioned challenges and proceed to the architecture of social maturity and in this way they prepare the grounds for Mahdi’s (as) appearance.
So, all attempts of the learned religious persons have the hue and fragrance of preparation and arrangement and are intended to increase the level of understanding and maturity related to the emergence of the appearance of Authority. This is the permanent ideal that religious jurists and the great architect of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the late Imam Khomeini, share, so that, by establishing the Islamic system, active and developing grounds for the maturity of society are prepared all over the world and with regard to man’s eternal ideals (Peace be on you who is offered and is hoped for), blossoms of the elements of social maturity (inclination, compliance, communal cooperation) will become evident and “Is not He (best) who answers the wronged one when he cries to Him and removes the evil…” and ‘where is 'Baquiyat ul-Allah' who is from the leading family?[5]’ are whispered.
