Posted on 11/16/2001 1:13:32 PM PST by Sabertooth
In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful.
Peace and Blessings be on our Master Muhammad, his progeny, and his chosen companions and all of Allah’s messengers.
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "Allah's wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, O Members of the Household, and cleanse you with a through cleansing". One of those Members and one of the Infallible Imams is Imam Al-Mahdi whom Allah has prepared to fill the earth with justice, by means of Islam, having been filled with oppression, falsehood and unbelief.
We celebrate the birth of this Imam who was born on the 15th of Sha'ban, by learning about, and following the lead of, his movement, revolution and victories.
His Temporary absence and His Appearance Are only known to Allah
The Imam's absence, being unfamiliar since it involves, among other things, a very long period, is possible, being an implementation of Allah's wish. Allah's (SAW) will has many a time created things, events or miracles that are considered extraordinary in the worldly sphere.
The Prophets' miracles are a case in point. Musa was given the ability to change the cane into a serpent; Allah had also created a road in the middle of the sea to enable Musa and his people to migrate safely.
Jesus (A.) was given the ability to heal the blind and return the death to life by Allah's permission. Muhammad (P) was given the greatest miracle of the Holy Quran.
On another level, the Quran gave several other examples concerning the concept of time. Noah (A.) lived for about a thousand years among his people before the flood, and we do not know how many years he had lived afterwards. Moreover, Allah has told us that the day in the hereafter is equivalent to thousand years of those on earth ... etc.
Therefore, Allah, who gives man a short life, could also give him a longer one. It is his decision, and when He decides no one can protest. For Allah is capable of everything and no one can change what He has ordained.
The Completion of the Message Thus, it was decided that all the caliphs should be Quraishites, and Hashimites in particular.
Of these caliphs, who are twelve in number according to the messenger, is the Imam who was graced with certain elements and characteristics that made him qualified to reappear in the much anticipated day when the weakened will obtain their rights and live their freedom in accordance with the Holy Ayah that although talking about Musa's era, describes the norms of the universe from the beginning to the appointed day:
"And We desired to show favor unto those who were oppressed in the earth, and to make them Imams and to make them the inheritors. And to establish them in the earth, and to show Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts that which they feared from them."
Prophetic Traditions Concerning the Mahdi
The reappearance of the Mahdi is an Islamic doctrine that all Muslims (Sunni and Shiite alike) believe in and the prophet's traditions that refer to him have been authenticated by several scholars, academics and researchers who have established that the prophetic traditions concerning the Imam are authentic beyond any doubt.
Zaid bin Arqam cities the messenger as saying: I am leaving among you two great weights: Allah's Book and the Members of my house who would not be parted until they meet me in Heaven. This means, that according to the Messenger that there would be an Imam as long as Allah's book is present.
As for the Sunni traditions, Ibn Mas'ud says that the Messenger said: "This world will not end until a man from my family called Al-Mahdi would run the affairs of my nation."
Um salma, the Messenger's wife said that she heard the Messenger say: "Al -Mahdi would be a descendent of Fatima"...etc.
The Messenger also said that the Mahdi would have his name (Muhammad) and that his manners would be most resembling those of the Messenger.
Our Responsibility in the Time of His Absence
The Imam has answered this question when he told us to refer to those who collected the traditions of the Messenger and the Imams to determine our attitude towards any new development. For you will not be living in vacuum, since you have these traditions that consist the "evidence" that you have been guided.
A:Religious Scholars
Thus, we ought to go back to the religious scholars who have studied Islam and who are faithful to Allah and His Messenger, and who have never been associated with an oppressive ruler, or succumbed to one of them, and who have never put their religious rulings or judgments, in their services whether on the political level or the economic and social levels.
Since it has been narrated that the Messenger described those scholars as the keepers of the prophets, provided that they do not enter into this world. He further explained that entering this world is by becoming followers of the unjust ruler, and provide him with the fatwas he asks for, whether to wage a war or to conclude a peace.
The Prophet ended his saying by advising us not to follow such scholars who care only about their own desires and welfare, even if it means to stand with the oppressors against the oppressed.
B: Supporting the Oppressed
Secondly, we have to remain with the oppressed whom the arrogant usurp their rights, prosecute them and deny them their basic freedoms. We have to stand with the oppressed even it they were non-believers. It is true that we have to confront unbelief, but we also have to be with the oppressed even if he were an unbeliever while the oppressor was a Muslim. For Allah (s.w.t) wants us to give everyone his right, regardless of whether he is a Muslim or not. It is unlawful to deny a non-Muslim his right, just as it is unlawful to deny a Muslim his right. For Allah wants Justice for all. Therefore, we have to stand with the oppressed against the oppressor, since Allah does not accept oppression and arrogance from any human being.
C: Establishing Justice
The Third task we ought to perform in the absence of the Imam is establishing justice on earth. For this is the Message of Islam "O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or (your) parents or (your) Kindred, whether (the case be of) a rich man or a poor man."
Whoever wants to follow the Imam, who would fill the earth with justice, should not be unjust to anybody that lives with him, whether a member of his family, one of his neighbors or one of his subjects if he were a ruler. It you are unjust to your wife or if you wrong your children or neighbors how could you be one of the Imam's followers?
His followers are -by definition- the just who follow the path of the right. May Allah guide us to be one of his true followers and of those who martyr for his cause.
Total blasphemy! To the Islamics, Jesus was ONLY a prophet.
That would be tomorrow.
Yeah. I'd like to see the peer review that those "scholars, academics and researchers" went through to establish that "authenticity beyond any doubt."
Oooo... and that's the first day of Ramadan too.
You should check out the "Osama Appears in Pakistan" pool.
See post #12 and #23-#26. Tomorrow looks like it might be a good call.
I've got November 23rd, harpseal has the 27th, and Victoria Delsoul has the 25th.
We celebrate the birth of this Imam who was born on the 15th of Sha'ban, by learning about, and following the lead of, his movement, revolution and victories.
Hey folks, according to abner at post #10...
Tomorrow is the Imam Al-Mahdi's birthday!
First day of Ramadan too.
I would put a couple of bucks on either choice.
There's a circle of us that's been rattling to ourselves that it could be both nearly simultaneously.
Here are three VERY imoportant link on this subject...
Will Osama Appear In Pakistan?
Mohammed's Prophecies
of the Imam al-Mahdi
The flag reads: "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the messenger of God."
Muhammad said: "If you see the black flags coming from Khurasan (Afghanistan),
join that army, even if you have to crawl over ice,
for that is the army of the Imam al-Mahdi
and no one can stop that army until it reaches Jerusalem."
Black Flags of Islam
They have one wierd calendar.
October 31 - November 1 is the 15 of Sha'aban this year.
Check out Gregorian-Hijri Dates Converter
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