Someone asked Prophet Muhammad (s),
‘Imam Mehdi shall be from your lineage,
so will He adopt Occultation?’
The Messenger of God (s) said,
‘Yes, and I swear by my Lord, it shall definitely happen’...
The Occultation of Imam Mehdi: Proven by the Ahadith
The Messenger of God (s) replied, ‘Yes,
and I swear by my Lord, it shall definitely happen.
And in this period of occultation,
God shall make the momineen sincere and shall rid of the infidels’.
During the period of occultation - the momineen shall be made sincere.
‘O Jabir, this is one of the greatest divine secrets’.
The reference for this is Faraidh ul Samteen.
There is another narration from Ghayat ul Maqsood.
Prophet Muhammad (s) declared,
‘Imam Mehdi shall remain in occultation for a long period of time, and then His advent shall take place’.
There is a saying of Maula Ali quoted In Bahar ul Anwar:
The leader of the momineen, Maula Ali states,
‘’Greater than all other forms of worship
is to await Imam Mehdi (a)’’.
Greater than all other forms of worship is to await Imam Mehdi (a).
Now, this [reference] is from the book Akmaal ud-Deen,
in which there is a quote from Imam Hussain (s).
This is the narration of Imam Hussain (s).
He said, ‘In the era of Imam Mehdi (a), the one who forbears the oppression and opposition from the enemies,
and deals with courage and does not become prey to worry,
is equivalent to battling alongside Prophet Muhammad (s) and he shall be rewarded for this’.
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (r) states, ‘I swear to God, your Imam shall go into occult-hiding in the future
and you shall be tested.
People will begin to say that either He has passed away or has gone somewhere far away.
Be aware: the eyes of the momineen shall be teary upon this [matter]’.
There is yet another quotation from Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (r).
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (r) said, ‘The occultation of the Master of the Command shall be as such,
that all materialistic humans shall be inflicted by doubt.
This occultation is the command of God and it is one of the divine secrets’.
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq narrates, ‘In the era of Imam Mehdi’s occultation,
the followers of Imam Mehdi shall face tumultuous times
and they shall continue to be tested’
- and we are.
‘And they shall continue to be tested.
Their hearts shall fill with doubts due to the delay [in the emergence of Imam Mehdi]’.
There is another narration by Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (r),
‘Imam Mehdi shall disappear for the purpose of testing God’s creation,
to distinguish between the pious people and those who are internally dark’.
Another narration by Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (r):
do not be afraid of the one who affixes a particular time [for Imam Mehdi’s advent],
reject what they say because we have not affixed a particular time for anyone’.
This is from the book Yahful Aqool and Imam Muhammad Taki (a) has been quoted:
‘Our Master is the Mehdi and to await Imam Mehdi while He is in occultation is obligatory’.
To await Him is obligatory.
There is another book called Alaam ul Wara,
‘alaam’ means dreams and ‘wara’ means distance.
He had distant dreams.
So the books are called Alaam ul Wara, Majalis ul Momineen & Kashf ul Na’mah.
These are the titles of the books.
‘The similitude of Imam Mehdi in Occultation is the sun being covered by the clouds’.
It’s just like the clouds covering the sun.
Now, this is a hadith from Sahih Bukhari.
Abdur Rehman narrates from Shau’ba:
‘The foundation of the advent of Imam Mehdi shall not be established until the Hajj of Bait Allah cease.
Another hadith states: la yukhrij ul Mehdi hatta tatla’a ma’a shams aayatihu.
This means: ‘Imam Mehdi’s advent will not take place until His signs appear on the Sun’.
And you can very clearly see the image of His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi on the Sun here.
And the hadith states: la yukhrij ul Mehdi hatta tatla’a ma’a shams aayatihu.
‘Imam Mehdi’s advent will not take place until
the Sun rises with His signs’.
As you can see here the countenance of HDE Gohar Shahi [on the Sun] is visibly clear.