If our shia were successful in their obedience to Allah and united themselves....

Feb 26, '13 11:29 AM for everyone

We, his Shia (i.e. followers), if we had managed to assemble the number of the true and faithful believers, 313, he would have been ready to appear and fulfil his mission. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: ”If our shia were successful in their obedience to Allah and united themselves on the aim to keep their covenant with us, the glorious news of our appearance would not have been long. Their bliss will be achieved when they meet us.” Tahtheeb Al Ahkam by Sheikh Al Toosi vol 1, page 40. The fact that our Imam (peace be upon him) had not appeared until this day in time is an evidence of our catastrophic, shameful and awful reality. We do not engage ourselves in a true, sincere, constant and serious thinking of how to hasten the appearance of the Imam (peace be upon him). When it comes to all our daily issues, we employ high degrees of urgency to achieve our aims. We do that just to fulfil our life/ worldly needs. Do we address the issue of appearance of our Imam (peace be upon him) with the same high degree of urgency? Certainly, No! We do not take a serious step towards building the platform for our Imam (peace be upon him) to appear. We typically use wishful thinking level of urgency. We have to stop wishing, as wishing on its own will lead no where! The tragic and dreadful reality of the Shia Umma reveals that we cannot assemble the necessary number required to support the Imam (peace be upon him) in his appearance. This small number, 313, of true, loyal and brave supporters required to be next to the Imam (peace be upon him) in his appearance is not available. We do not have 313 heroic, distinguished, pious, devout and daring leaders for the path of AhlulBayt (peace be upon them), despite our hundreds of millions. All those payments of allegiance or pledges by thousands+ of Shias around the world that take place every morning in the form of Duaa Al A’ahad are nothing but lip service or false piety. Alas! It is scandalous indeed! The Imam (peace be upon him) is only in need of 313 genuine, faithful, reliable, committed and unswerving payments of allegiance/ pledges/ Baya’a by steadfast, devout and resolute believing Shia men and women. Where are they? Imam Al Jawad (peace be upon him) said: “313 people will gather to Him from all over the world, the same number of the people who fought at Badir. This is confirmed in the Quran: (Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you forth [for judgement] all together. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent). When that number of faithful people is assembled for his cause, Allah will make the appearance take place”. Kamal Al Deen and Tamam Al Ni’amah by Al Sadooq page 378. Is there a far greater embarrassment than that? What can we say to justify the non-availability of the required number of faithful people? We ask him daily to save us. We do not understand until now that our salvation is conditional. We need to reform ourselves first and foremost. If we agreed truly to sacrifice our souls for the sake of his awaited emergence, and that was not just sheer talk, rather talk that is transformed into action, he will not be delayed. He will unveil himself and emerge to the whole world. Could anyone tolerate the criticism if he was blamed of being the reason behind the delay of the appearance of the Imam (peace be upon him)? Can anyone take it if he was told it was you who keep the Imam (peace be upon him) out of sight? None of us will tolerate those accusations! Although if you pause for a second and really think of the matter and ponder over it, you will know deep down that such accusations are not baseless. How? Let us go back in time to the report of Ali Bin Mahzayar (may Allah be pleased with him). He met Imam Al Zaman (peace be upon him) during Hajj season. It is a renowned story. The Imam (peace be upon him) sends one of his helpers to fetch Ali Bin Mahzayar to the Imam (peace be upon him). He was beside the Ka’aba door praying that Allah will make his wish come true. When the helper came by, he told him: “How can I help you”? He turned anxiously and replied: “help me meet the hidden Imam”? The helper said: “he is not hidden; your misdeeds and sins obstructed you from seeing him”. Al Bihar vol 53, page 321. Therefore, had it not been for our misdeeds and sins, the Imam (peace be upon him) would not have been out of our sight. He is not hidden, we are not able to recognise him due to our actions, otherwise, the Imam (peace be upon him) is present, but he is out of our vision. He performs Hajj every year, he attends Arafat and we cannot identify him. He performs Ziarat and stands before the Holy Shrines, he attends our Majalis and he walks with us in processions, yet we have been unable to identify him due to our disobedience. Our sins deprived us of viewing him. His actual presence became veiled or concealed. As for those among us who feared Allah, performed good deeds and truly struggled for the sake of Allah in person and against evil, oppression and deviation; those among us who took refuge in Allah not to slip into the traps of Satan; those among us who turned their daily payments of allegiance/ pledges to the Imam (peace be upon him) into practical terms and actions, those among us who reformed themselves and their surroundings and invited people to the way of Allah prudently and discreetly, those are the ones who can meet the Imam (peace be upon him) in such places and locations, whereas the rest of us cannot and will not unless we make drastic changes! There are many reports on people who had the privilege to see and speak to the Imam (peace be upon him and may Allah hasten his reappearance); whereas, there were others with them and around them who had no sight of the Imam (peace be upon him) as if they were blind. Take the famous incident of Ayatollah Mohammed Mahdi Bahir Al Uloom. He stood on the side of the road with a group of his staff. Shia masses were performing the annual ritual of (Twowayreach) Run into Karbala. This is an extraordinary ritual whereby Shia masses spontaneously run and scream in agony towards the shrine of Imam Al Hussain (peace be upon him). Previous scholars did not take part in this ritual as it might infringe their image and social status. However, Sayed Bahir Al Uloom suddenly went out of his way, joined the Shia massive procession, ran and screamed in agony. His staff tried to dissuade or discourage him, but they failed. When the ritual Run was over, he was asked why he joined in. He replied after many persistent questions: “You have not seen him, I have seen him. My Master Imam Al Zaman (peace be upon him) have taken part in that massive procession screaming in agony over his grandfather Imam Al Hussain (peace be upon him), how do you expect me not to take part”? Refer to History of Niaha by Sayed Al Shahristani Saleh vol 2, page 73. All those huge numbers of Shia performing the run could not view the Imam (peace be upon him), but one honourable Sayed did. They have made themselves unaware of the sight of the Imam (peace be upon him). A true, faithful, uncorrupted and devout Shia can notice and catch the sight of the Imam (peace be upon him and may Allah hasten his reappearance) even if he had been literally blind. However, if a Shia person had the capacity to set his eyes literally beyond the sun, he will never be able to observe the Imam (peace be upon him) even if he was beside him. If he had been uncommitted to his faith, he could not recognise the Imam (peace be upon him). Imam Al Baqir (peace be upon him) accompanied Abu Baseer (may Allah be pleased with him) to the Prophet’s mosque in Medina. He asked Abu Baseer: “ask the people around, can they notice me”? Abu Baseer asked everyone he passed by in the Mosque while walking beside Imam Al Baqir (peace be upon him): “Has anyone seen Abu Jaffar (peace be upon him)”? Everyone’s reply said: “No”! Imam Al Baqir (peace be upon him) was there and then inside the Mosque beside them all. After a short period of time, Abu Haroon, a blind man came to the Mosque. Imam Al Baqir (peace be upon him) ordered Abu Baseer to go to him and ask him the same question. Abu Haroon the blind man replied: “isn’t he the one standing whilst the rest inside are sitting”? Abu Baseer was amazed. He asked him: “how could you tell”? He replied: “how can I not tell when he was a glowing light”? Ref: Khrai’j and Jaraia’h vol 2, page 596. A blind man, but with acute insight can see the Imam; whereas, a sighted man with blind insight and sightless perception can never notice the Imam. So, of which kind of those people are you? We have to review our position towards the concealment of the Imam (peace be upon him). He is not out of sight. He is present. He knows all about our affairs. We are incapable of noticing him as we are keeping ourselves in a big distance away from him. We do not think of him and about him in the same degree and intensity like we do of and about our daily affairs and worries. Is there anyone among us who set himself the aim or target to meet Imam Al Zaman (peace be upon him) before death comes by? If such an idea or aim had ever been contemplated by one Shia person, how serious will he take such a thought into accomplishment like he does with the case of daily affairs? If a Shia person wanted to be a successful businessman, you would find him relentlessly pursuing his ambition. He would not settle until he achieved his goal. He would work day and night to reach that aim. Who among us is relentlessly and uncompromisingly pursuing his wish of meeting the Imam (peace be upon him)? There is a letter with an official seal of the Imam (peace be upon him) given to Sheikh Al Mufeed (may Allah be pleased with him). In that letter, the Imam (peace be upon him) confirmed: “We are aware off all your matters, none of your troubles and concerns are absent form us, we have been aware of all your issues ever since contemporary generations departed from the good heritage of the elder ones. They have accordingly broken their covenant and pledge with us as though they have been oblivious”. Tahtheeb Al Ahkam vol 1, page 38 It is hereby that the Imam (peace be upon him) exposes our misfortunes. We have broken our pledge with AhlulBayt (peace be upon them) and drove ourselves towards the fulfilment of our desires. Such approach was not present with our pious forefathers. How shameful is our status quo? Now that the matter has become clear. We have blocked our own sight from meeting the Imam (peace be upon him). We are the reason behind his delay in appearance. We have broken our pledge; and we have moved away from the path of our forefathers. How can we fix the situation? What can we do to get closer to the Imam (peace be upon him)? What can we do to enlist in his task force? What can we do to save ourselves? The answer is found in the same letter sent to Sheikh Al Mufeed. “Let each one of you do his utmost to get closer to us and let each one of you do his utmost to avoid our displeasure as our Matter could become alive all of a sudden. At that point, no amount of regret will be of any good and no escape will be offered from punishment.” So strive to carry out good deeds that will bring the pleasure of AhlulBayt (peace be upon them) and avoid corrupt deeds that will bring about their displeasure before it is too late to regret. Let us contemplate, let us wake up and let us carry out good deeds, perhaps then, we could be successful in receiving the pleasure of our Master (peace be upon him), our souls are ransom for his arrival!