Who is He (a.t.f.s) waiting for?

The system of Imamat and Ummah (nation)

The question is that what was the reason and cause behind this occultation? To get apt

information and to understand the philosophy of occultation we have to search history .You

can see that Allah has established a system of human beings guidance through Prophets

and Imams (Leaders), it is a complete system with Imam (Leader) and Ummah (nation).

What it means is that Imamat (leadership) is not alone, there is no such concept of Imamat

(leadership) without Ummah (nation). It is a system of Imamat (Leadership) with Ummah

(nation) or followers. This Imamat Ummah (Leadership Nation) is the name of the Islamic

system of religion and politics (also known as the system of Wilayah). At least in shiaism this

is the concept. Imamat is only one part of it , the system will remain incomplete, until and

unless the second part interconnects with it. And this second part as mentioned earlier is

called the Ummah (nation). An Imam s duty is to guide, and Ummah s duty is to take the

guidance. An Ummah (nation) is the most essential part to complete this system of Imamat.

With this system, Allah has accomplished the arrangements for man s guidance by sending

Imam s. The Imams performed their duty of guidance, but the second part of this system,

which is the Ummah that did not moved ahead to accept the guidance. To understand this

factor, we need to refer to history.

Ali (a.s)- The most severely oppressed Imam

After the Death of Prophet (s.w.s), let us first observe the life of his immediate successor, the

first Imam [Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s)] . Though he is an Imam, but he was waiting for his

Ummah, his followers. . Hazrat Ali (a.s) is a Leader without followers (Imam-Bi la Ummah).

Evidence to this is Nahj-ul-Balagha. These are his own words, his own complaint that he is a

Leader without nation. Allah bears witness, that even if the entire humanity weeps on this

person till the day of resurrection it would be a justified act. Ali (a.s) has left such proof

through his historical encounters. Ali (a.s) is the most oppressed Imam (Leader), some old

Scholars and Marajae (Jurists) have even narrated that Ali (a.s) is more oppressed person

than Imam Hussain (a.s)).

What is his oppression? , His oppression is this, that Ali (a.s) selected a Well to talk .He

explained his grief, his heart secrets to a well. If a person has to talk to a well to express his

grief, what could be the reason? Either the water of a well or its mud understands and

acknowledges his grief? No, but that is not the case, than why does he talks to a well?

Because he wants to tell the history that I am a Leader without followers, I am a speaker

without listeners. He is in fact a speaker without listeners. Who is saying this? Today a person

named Abu moyama a Christian, said that Nahj-ul-Balagha is not the sayings/word/speech of

Ali (a.s)), he denies it .Why he denies it? Because these are the sermons narrated by Ali (a.s)

1400 years before between the Arabs (the desert nomads), while these are the sermons that

are so difficult to understand even in today s developed scientific era when man's wisdom has

reached so high, so how is it possible for Arabs to understand it .We asked him than whose

sermons are these? He say s I don t know. He said Sayyed Razi must have written himself.

This shows that Ali (a.s) knowledge is so awesome and great and whereas his listeners are so

less in numbers that they even doubt whether they are Ali's sermons or not .Ali (a.s) is a

speaker without listeners. It has many aspects. Ali (a.s) is a commander without army. You

can examine it in War of Siffeen, that how he is a commander without an army. Ali (a.s) is

Ameer without subjects. He himself said this in Nahjul Balagha, It is a common logic that it

in this world the subjects are afraid of their Ruler, but in my time, I the Ruler is afraid of my

subjects. Because it is observed that always Rulers are ruthless and cruel traitors, but Ali (a.s)

is the one Ruler on him his subjects are doing cruelty and oppression.

Imam Hasan(a.s) The Loneliest Commander

Now come to his son. Hazrat Imam Mujtaba (a.s) he is also a Leader (Imam), but a lonely

Leader .He is alone in rows, alone in wars, alone at home, alone before his rule, alone during

his rule. How much is his loneliness, that even his wife poisoned him. You can imagine his

loneliness. He is even alone in home and betrayed by his own wife.

Imam Hussain(a.s) Witrul Mautoor

We read about the solidarity of Imam Hussain (a.s) in ziyarats (testimonies of pledge). We

read one sentence that is truly heart rendering Assalam-o-alaika aiyyohal witrul mautoor ,

What is it s meaning? It means the Most Loneliest one .We are sending salutations to the

person who is the loneliest. Hussain (a.s) is a lonely Leader.

Imam Sajjad s (a.s) Grievances

Than Imam Sajjad (a.s) who is the reminder of Karbala, he is the legacy of Karbala. The

event of Karbala is such an event that it is intolerable for us, who just listen to it, whereas,

Imam Sajjad (a.s) is the one who has seen every incident in front of his eyes .Not only the

incident of Karbala but also of Kufa and Sham. And still he passed his life like a soldier, like a

son of soldier, like a bearer of hardships, like a prisoner. After facing so many atrocities and

hardships, whom did he expressed his grief to? Look at his Sahifa e Sajjadia (the Psalms of

Imam Sajjad). Allah is the one whom Imam expressed his grief; he could not even express

his grief openly and hence selected the methods of supplications.

The Imam s with thousands of Students

We will find the same issue with each and every Imam (Leader). The era of Imam Baqir

(a.s) and Imam Sadiq (a.s) which is considered as a golden era. An Imam who is your

guardian, Hakim (Governor), and Wali, is so compelled that he has to take one book in his

hands to teach some students. Is there is no difference between Leaders and Teachers? We

consider this as a golden period, but in fact it is the saddest period. It is a surprising period,

when two governments of Banu Ummaiya and Banu Abbass were not in power, both were

weak because one is going and the other is coming. Meaning, thereby they both are going

weak and are involved in fighting with each other, and those who have the actual rights to

rule are teaching some students in Madina. Why? Is Leadership only to tell the laws of

Shariah? On one side we always claim that ruling is our right that has been snatched and

usurped from our Imams (a.s), and now when they have a chance to take it, because both

the governments are weak but they are not moving, why? Because both the Imams were

alone, though people came to them to solve their personal problems and get answers to

shariah questions, but the same so called followers were not ready to help them.

Once Imam Sadiq (a.s) passed from some place, a man saw him and he said Mashallah how

many people and students come to meet you or come to take your help, how many admirers

you have, then why don t you start an uprising. But Imam (a. s) said it's not worth, then

Imam (a.s) pointed to a flock of sheep and said that if people in this much quantity as the

number of sheep s were sincere enough to be called my followers, than I would be in a

position to start an uprising. One historian reported that when that person counted the

sheep s they were only thirty. A Leader, who has four thousand students with him, is saying

that if only thirty of them are with me I can take an active stance against the tyrants. These

are our lonely Imam s.

Imam Kazim (a.s) is the Leader whose father had four thousand students, and now his son s

(Imam Kazim s) body is lying on the bridge of Baghdad. And it was reported that Imam Kazim

(a.s) died in the prison. Everybody asked about Imam Kazim (a.s) and the enemies said that

we haven't killed him, his body is on the bridge, you can check his body, there are no signs of

any killing, the followers went and checked his body and then left. This is the oppression on

the Imam by his Ummah.

Imam Raza(a.s) Azadari before martyrdom

Imam Raza (a.s), we send salutations to him as Ghareeb-ul-Ghuraba, when he was leaving

Madina, he asked people to do his Azadari (mourning session), not for the sake of earning

reward, the Azadari for earning rewards can be done anytime after my Martyrdom or any

other time later, but Imam asked to do his Azadari before leaving Madina, Why? Because

Imam wants to tell that Madina is filled with Muslims who pretend to be true followers, true

admirers. , Imam wants these Muslims to listen to the cries of his daughters, so that they can

understand that there is some incident happening in Imam s home. They will come to ask me

what is the reason of this mourning? And I can tell them that from Khurasan, some hijackers

have come to arrest me. May be! Any one would stand for my rescue, may be they become

an Ummah after listening to these cries But the mourning went on and on in Imam s home

but no one came to ask him. Mamoon s soldiers took Imam to Khurasan.

Imam Jawwad (a.s) The denied Imam

What was the difficulty of Imam Jawad (a.s), people refused to accept him as an Imam .The

first accusation he had to face from the followers was that he is not an Imam. Whose father

was accepted as Imam, the Shia denied his Imamat. There is another accusation recorded in

history, and it was an enormous accusation, it is narrated in history that Imam Raza (a.s)

didn t forget it till his death. People accused him that Imam Jawad (a.s) is not the son of

Imam Raza (a.s). There was a reason quoted to justify this accusation, that Imam Jawad's

(a.s) skin colour was brown, and Imam Raza s skin colour was white. So they accused that he

cannot be your son. His uncle became the claimant of Imamat. Just like today the way people

decide the names of their Leaders based on their own criteria s and wishes, similar was the

case in that era also and similar type of people were there. Please note that I am not

discussing about martyrdoms of the Imam s, that how and by whose hands it was conspired,

and how it all happened. We are just looking briefly into the physical and the psychological

oppressions done on these divinely appointed leaders by their own followers.

Allahs(s.w.t) completes his Hujjat

Now let us come to the period of Imam Naqi (a.s), how brutally he was martyred. And when

the period of Imam Askari (a.s) came, these similar betrayal and treacherous circumstances

of the Ummah was at its peak. This is where the crucial point comes. Eleven Imams passed

away without an Ummah, without those sincere followers who could form a nation. Now the

time came when Allah completed his Hujjat (argument). No one s Hujjat can work in front of

Allah s. And this is Allah's Hujjat. Even at that time the people used to say, if any Leader

would have been send to us by Allah(s), we would have shown what we can do. Just like

today we say, if we have a Leader, the Lebanese would have been ashamed in front of us. It

is also stated in the Holy Quran that When Moosa the Prophet died, after his death people

met each other in grief and went to the Prophet of that time and said "There should be a

Leader for us , the Prophet said you are not that kind of people, you are not eligible to have

someone leading you, but they denied it and even started a propaganda against their

Prophet. And they said Prophets of today like you, are not concerned towards their nation.

But the Prophet still denied their request. And they kept on insisting that we just want a

Leader, than you see what we can do. Allah selected Taloot as their Leader. When they heard

about Taloot they became very angry, that how can this young boy who doesn t have wealth

nor he possesses any family background can lead us, we want any one from amongst us to

hold the position of Leader. They left Taloot accept some people. Taloot said now we have to

face Jaloot. They passed from a river in their journey and Taloot said that we are not allowed

to drink it s water, it is public property, you can only take a sip if you are in a dying situation,

not more than that. They said how is it possible when we are thirsty and its water is so

sweet, how can we leave it. At this juncture again some of his followers left Taloot. Now

some reached at the last stage where they met Jaloot. But when they saw his might and

power they became nervous. They said to Taloot, why haven t you informed us about his

power? We thought we are going to face a small group. Why did you keep us in the dark?

Here again we can see how many more left Taloot and at last some old and some children

were left with him. And there Taloot raised their spirits he said that don t be afraid it happens

most of the time that small groups fight over big ones. After saying their slogans, one small

kid not a young boy, but a small soldier of Taloot's army moved ahead and he cut down

Jaloot's head. All big unanimous personalities of Bani Israel were sitting and who

accomplished this mighty task, a small boy.

Al-Ghaibah The Philosophy

At certain times, there is a need to accomplish the Hujjat (the argument). If Allah had not

sent Taloot, people of Bani Israel would have said that if we would have had a Leader than

we would have shown what we could do. That is why Allah sent Taloot to reveal their

hypocrisy. That is why their Prophet was denying their demand of Leader. Similarly

completion of Hujjat is necessary in the case of our Imam s also. Eleven Leaders came one

after another and Allah completed his Hujjat

All his Leaders were left alone with out an Ummah and followers. Now Allah has put up one

condition, for his last Leader. What is the epithet of Hazrat Hujjat in Quran? Baqiyat-ullah

(the remainder of Allah) .It is Allah s treasure and Allah wont let his treasure to be wasted.

Allah has preserved his treasure for that day when we, the followers, the believers will

become one Ummah (nation).Because if Allah sends him he will be alone like other Imam s so

now Allah(s) says, first you become an Ummah (nation) than your Imam will appear. Than he

will expose his treasure. This is the condition of the appearance of Imam Al-Hujjat (a.t.f.s).

This is the Philosophy of Gaibah (Occultation).

Now ask yourself?

1. Who is in Gaibah (Occultation). Our Imam (a.t.f.s) or We?

2. Our Imam (a.t.f.s) is waiting for us to be prepared, but do we know what kind of

preparation is required?

3. Imam (a.s) was and is always prepared for the final revolution, but are we his

followers, the Ummah need to be a part of his final revolution?

4. Imam (a.s) needs followers having the Character of Companions of Karbala? But do

we know what is meant by the Character of Karbala (Kirdar-e-Karbalae)?

5. We are running after signs of appearance, are we really concerned about his

condition of appearance?

6. Are we ready to accept this fact, that the biggest cause behind his delay in

reappearance is we, his followers?

7. If He(a.t.f.s) comes today, are we in a position to sacrifice everything to protect him,

to give him our full support to the extent of the last drop of blood in our body ?

Everyone should prepare for the final uprising of Hujjat Al-Qaem (a.t.f.s), even if

it is limited to a single arrow Imam Sadiq (a.s)

Based on the Lecture By Hujjatul Islam Sayed Jawwad Naqvi

Translated By : Baabeilm Islamic Institute