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Al-Imam al-Mahdi
“The most enlightening
and eye opening section of the book deals with the question of the
achievements of the twelfth Imam when he appears (Chapter 14 of the
translation). Here the information regarding the 'The Freshness of the
Explanations offered by the Mahdi,' covers a critical assessment of how
we, as the followers of the twelfth Imam, have ignored the true meaning
of Islam in our lives and have attached importance to the rituals
without realizing the true moral and ethical content of these religious
devotions.
Thus, Ayatollah Amini
writes:
People, having
abandoned the absolute principles and fundamental teachings of Islam,
merely follow the outward forms of religion, and regard those to be
sufficient. These are the people who, besides the five daily
obligatory prayers, the fasting of Ramadan, and the avoidance of
external pollution (najasat), know nothing of Islam. Besides,
some of them have limited religion to the mosque, and, hence, its
reality has very little impact upon their actions and behavior. In the
life outside the mosque, that is, in the market place or at work,
there is no trace of their Islam. They do not regard ethical behavior
and moral precepts to be part of Islam. They give no importance to
eschewing immoral conduct and make an excuse of not following moral
guidelines since there is dispute about the obligatoriness and the
prohibitions of certain requirements. They go as far as turning the
prohibitions of the law, through trickery, into something permissible.
They also shun their responsibility for paying the dues that are
imposed by the law on them. In other words, they are engaged in
observing the religion according to their desires.
When it comes to the
Qur'an, they think it sufficient to pay attention to its formal
recitation and to respect the conventions in that connection. Hence,
when the twelfth Imam appears it is obvious that he will ask them as to
why they have abandoned the essence of religion and have interpreted the
Qur'an and the hadith to fit their own preferred meanings. Why
have they left the truth of Islam while being satisfied with mere
outward adherence to it? Why have they not sought to conform their
character and their actions with the true spirit of Islam? Why have they
twisted the meanings of the religion to accord with their own personal
avarice? Since they pay so much attention to the proper recitation of
the Qur'an, they should also put its directives into action. The twelfth
Imam has the right to ask: "My grandfather, Imam Husayn did not get
killed for the sake of mourning. Why have you forsaken my grandfather's
goal and destroyed it?"
The Imam will ask
them to learn the Islamic social and moral teachings and apply them in
their everyday lives. They should avoid the forbidden acts, and take
care of their financial obligations, without making flimsy excuses. They
should also keep in mind that remembering the merits of the ahl al-bayt
and weeping for their suffering can never substitute for the paying of
the zakat and khums and taking care of one's debts. Nor
can they substitute for such sinful behavior as taking interest and
bribes, cheating others and treating them with dishonesty. They should
recognize that weeping and sighing for Imam Husayn can never substitute
for having ill-treated orphans and widows. More importantly, they should
not limit piety to the mosque; rather, they should seek participation in
the society and carry out the duty of commanding the good and forbidding
the evil and fight the innovations that have crept into Islam.
Certainly, such a
religion would seem new and difficult to these people, and they might
not even consider it to be Islam, because they have imagined Islam to be
something else. These people used to think that the progress and
greatness of Islam lay in decorating the mosques and in constructing
tall minarets. If the twelfth Imam says: "The greatness of Islam is in
righteous action, honesty, trustworthiness, keeping promises, avoiding
forbidden acts," this would appear to them altogether new! They used to
assume that when the Imam appears he will make amends for all the
actions of the Muslims and will retire with them in the corner of a
mosque. But if they witness that blood is dripping from the Imam's sword
and that he is calling people to jihad and to command the good
and forbid the evil, and that he is killing the unjust worshippers and
returning the goods they have stolen to their rightful owners, such
actions of the Imam they will indeed find new!
This honest and frank
assessment of the Umma and the responsibility that the followers
have towards the twelfth Imam is rare in the literature on the subject.
It is time for us to take stock of our commitment to the goals of Islam
and work sincerely towards self-reform in order to fulfill our
obligations to the Muslims and non-Muslims around us.”
Abdulaziz Sachedina
London, England
18 Dhul-Hijja, 1416
May 6,1996
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