A-THE BIRTH OF THE MAHDI
The historical evidence admits that what is apparent as regards the life of Imam Askari, and his life history, demise and his having a son. It asserts: The political circumstances were such that could not allow Hassan Askari to declare the existence of a son for him, and the fear from the Abbasid authorities who believed earlier that he was the Mahdi, that will overthrow their rule, all these force the Imam to keep secret the issue of the birth of his son (the Awaited Mahdi). The evidence further mentions the details of the birth of Muhammad bin Hassan Askari and the circumstances surrounding it; so also the stories of those who witnessed it and met the Mahdi in the different stages of his life, during the life of his father and after him.
THE MOTHER OF THE MAHDI
Reports have not agreed on the name of the mother of Mahdi. While Sheikh al- Aqdam Ibn Abi al- Thalj al- Baghdadi in ‘ Tarikh al-A’imah’, and Masudi in ‘Ithbat al- Wasiyyah’ and Tusi in ‘ Al- Ghaybah’, and Majlisi in ‘ Bihar al- Anwar’ declare that her name was ‘ Narjis’. Muhammad bin Ali Saduq in ‘Ikmal al-Din’ says that her name was ‘ Malikah’, the daughter of Yashu’, bin Qaysar, the king of Rome at that time. And that she saw Imam Hassan Askari in her dream and she loved him and married him. She fled from her father who wanted to give her hand in marriage to his nephew. She was captured, and Imam Hadi sent a coppersmith to buy her from the slave market in Baghdad. (1)
Mas’udi on the other hand says: She was a slave girl born in the house of one of the sisters of Abu Hassan Ali bin Muhammad. She brought her up in her house. When she grew up and her structure was complete, Abu Muhammad came to her and admired her and then sought from her uncle to seek the permission of her father that she would go to him, and she did. (2)
Saduq said in another narration that: The name of the mother of the Mahdi was Saqil and that she died during the life of Hassan Askari. (3)
There were several other names mentioned by Majlisi like ‘ Susan’ and ‘ Rayhanah’ and ‘ Khamt’. It was transmitted from Al- Shahid al- Awwal in ‘al- Durus’ that she was a free woman and that her name was ‘Maryam bint Zayd al- Alawiyyah’. (4)
THE DATE OF HIS BIRTH
The reports are not in agreement on the date of the birth of Imam Muhammad bin Hassan Askari. Some of the early Shiites accepted the claim of the slave girl ‘Narjis’ of being pregnant, after the death of Imam Askari. They said she gave birth to the Mahdi after eight month of the claim. (5)
Sheikh Mufid said in ‘ Risalah Maulid al- A’imah’ that he was born on the 8th of Dhu al- Qi’dah, 207 or 208 A.H. He also added: “At the time of the death of his father, he was two years and four month of age”. He says in ‘Al- Fusul al-Mukhtarah’: He was born in the middle of Sha’ban, 255 A.H (6). He says in another narration: He was born in the year 252 A.H and his age at the time of the death of his father was eight years.(7)
Sheikh Saduq, however, said in ‘Ikmal al- Din’: His birth was on 8th Sha’ban 256 A. H. (8)
Sheikh Tusi on his part says in ‘Al- Ghaybah’ that: He was born in the middle of Ramadan. (9) without specifying the year. In another report he agrees with Sheikh Mufid that he was born in the middle of Sha’ban 255 A. H. (10)
It was normal for these reports to contradict each other in specifying the date of the birth of a person said to have been delivered in a secret manner, and whose affairs remained hidden.
THE WAY OF HIS DELIVERY
All of Saduq, Tusi, Mas’udi and Khusaibi reported the story of the delivery of Imam Mahdi depending on one report attributed to ‘Hakimah’ the aunt of Imam Askari. She said in that report.
“Abu Muhammad Hassan bin Ali has sent to me saying: “O Aunty take your iftar (Breaking the fast) for this evening with me, as it is the might of mid-Sha’ban and Allah the Exalted will make manifest His evidence this night.” I said, I said to him: “Who will be his mother ?” He said to me: “From Narjis.” I then said to him “ May I be ransom for you, there are no signs on her.” He then said: “ It will be just as I said to you.”
She said: I then came to him. When I greeted ( him) and sat down, she came removing my Khuff and said to me: “O my mistress and the mistress of my family, good evening”. I said to her, “You are rather, my mistress and the mistress of my family”. She said: She denied my statement and said: “ What is this, O Aunty?” I then said to her: “O my daughter, Allah will bestow you in this night a son and a leader (Master) in this world and in the hereafter.”
She
said she became shy. After I have finished my ‘Isha (Night) prayer, I broke my
fast and then lied down and slept. In the late part of the night I woke up for
prayer… when I finished my prayer, she was still sleeping with no any sign on
her. I sat down observing. Then
I lied down. I then woke up again
and she was still asleep. Then she woke up and prayed and then slept.
Hakimah then added: I then went out trying to confirm the
appearance of the twilight of dawn. I saw the first twilight like the tail of a
wolf, and she was still sleeping. I doubted (the affair). Then Abu Muhammad
(peace be upon him) shouted from his seat saying: “Don’t be in a haste O Aunty,
the affair is nigh”.
She said: While I was in that state I became aware immediately, and rose up to her, I said: “May Allah’s name be with you”. Then I said to her: “Do you feel anything?’ She said: “ yes O Aunty. I then said to her: Put yourself together and hold your heart, it is as I told you.”
She then said: She took hold of me for some time; I then felt my master’s presence. I remove the dress Alas, He was prostrating coming to the world in prostrating position. I then put him close to myself, and I found him clean and cleansing. Then Abu Muhammad shouted to me, “Bring to me my son, O Aunty!” I brought him to him, and he placed his hand under his buttocks and his back, and put his feet on his chest, and then put his tongue in his mouth. He also passed his hand over his eyes, his ears and his joints. Then he said: “Speak, my son!” He said: “I testify that there is no god except Allah alone with no associate, and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”, he then praised Ali, Amir al-Muminin, and the Imams till he reached his father then he stopped. Then Abu Muhammad said: “O Aunty take him to his mother, so that he will say salam to her, and then bring him back to me”. I took him to her and he said Salam to her, and she responded. I then brought him to the seat (of the Imam). He (the Imam) then said: O Aunty, you come to us on the seventh day.”
Hakimah said: “The following day I came to say salam to Abu Muhammad, and I removed the curtain to look closely to my master but I did not see him. I then said: “ May I be your ransom, what happen to my master?” He said: “ O aunty we have given him to the custody of the one to whom the mother of Musa gave the custody (of her son)”.
Hakimah
said: “ On the seventh day I came, greeted (the people) and then sat down. He
then said: “Bring me my son”. I
then brought my master to him, in a piece of cloth. He did with him as did the
first time, and he put his tongue in his mouth, as if he was providing him
nourishment of milk or honey. Then he said: “ Speak my son!” He said: “I
testify that there is no god except Allah and then said salat (blessings) on
Muhammad (peace be upon him), and on Amir al- Muminin and the pious Imams till
he stops on (the name) of his father. Then he recited the following verse: “ In
the name of Allah, the Most gracious, the Most Merciful. And we wished to do a
favor to those who were weak (and oppressed) in the land, and to make them
rulers and to make them the inheritors. And to establish them in the land and
we let Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts receive from them that which they feared.”
(11)
Hakimah says in another report mentioned by Saduq: Narjis was not having any signs of pregnancy on her, and she was not aware of that. When Hakimah said to her that she will give birth that same night, she was surprised and then said: “ My mistress I don’t see anything of that.” (12) Till at the end part of the night, at the time of the break of dawn, she rose frightened and then said: “ The affair has appeared to me, has my master told you?” The report said that: Hakimah came reciting the Qur'an on Narjis, and the child from the womb responded reciting as she was reciting and he said salam to her, which increased her fear. The report however, said that Narjis was concealed from the sight of Hakimah, as if a veil was put between her and Narjis. This increased her astonishment. She cried and took refuge with Abu Muhammad, who then said to her: “Go back, O Aunty, and you will find her in her place”.
Hakimah said: I then returned.. It was not long that the veil was removed, and she appeared before me. She was covered with signs of light, which my eyes cannot withstand, and the child before her was on his face in prostrating position. (13)
This report also adds another issue i.e. the flying of a number of birds over the head of the child, and that Hassan talked to one of them saying: “Take him and protect him, and bring him to us after every forty days”. This made the bird to take him and fly away with him, leaving his mother weeping due to the separation.
Hakimah said: I said: “Which bird is that?” He replied: “ This is the Holy Spirit attached to the Imams, helping them attaining success, and guiding and educating them. After forty days the child was brought back and he has started walking on his feet, as if he was two years of age, which made her to inquire surprisingly. Her brother Hassan said: “The children of the Prophets (peace be upon them), and the inheritors of the will, if they are Imams, they grow up differently from the way others grow up. A child among us, if he lives for one month it will be as if he has lived for one year. A child among us can speak in his mother’s womb, and can recite the Qur'an and worship his Lord, the Most High. At the time of suckling, the angels used to give him feeding. They descended in the morning and in the evening on him.
The report from Hakimah continues, with her stating that she never cease seeing that child, every forty days, till the time he became an adult and few days before the passing away of Abu Muhammad, but she did not recognize him. She said to her nephew: “ Who is this that you commanded me to sit before him?” He said to her: “This is the son of Narjis, and he is my successor after me. After little time I will go, listen to him and obey him.
Hakimah further said: “ After few days, Abu Muhammad passed away and the people became divided as you saw. By Allah I used to see him morning and evening, and he used to inform me of what you are asking, and I then tell you of that. By Allah I intend to ask him of something, and he will tell me of it before I ask him. And an affair may come to my mind, and a reply to that will come to me from him at that moment, without me asking him…” (14)
TUSI’S REPORT OF THE STORY
OF MAHDI’S BIRTH
Tusi reports in his Al-Ghaybah the story of the delivery of the Mahdi, but he never mentions the story of the birds, the Holy Spirit or the taking of the child (Mahdi). He rather says that: ‘Hakimah bade farewell to Abu Muhammad and went away to her house after the birth of the Mahdi. At the time she longed for him the Mahdi after three days, she returned and searched for him in his room, but could not find any traces of him, and did not hear any mention of him, she did not like inquiring. She then went to Abu Muhammad and he talked to her first, saying: “ He is O Aunty in the canopy of Allah, He has concealed him till the time He wished. When Allah will take me away and I am dead and you saw my followers divided, tell the reliable among them. Let him be covered for you, and concealed for them. Because the friend of Allah will be taken away by Him from His creation, and veil him from His servants. No one will see him, till the time when Jibril (peace be upon him) will present to him his horse, ‘that Allah might accomplish a matter already ordained.’ “ (15)
Tusi adds in another report a statement of Hassan to his aunt: “ We have given him to the custody of the one to whom the mother of Musa has given the custody (of her child)”. What was requested from her was to come on the seventh day, when the Mahdi will return and Hakimah will be able to see him. (16)
He says in a third report: That Hakimah went back after three (3) days, and she saw the Mahdi in the cradle and a green piece of cloth was on his body. He was sleeping on the back of his head (facing the heavens), uncovered and untied. He opened his eyes and started laughing to her, and calling her with his finger. He then disappeared after that. (17)
He says in a fourth report that: Hakimah found written on the arm of the Mahdi at the time of his birth “ The truth has come and falsehood has vanished, surely falsehood is ever bound to vanish”, as she also saw that he was circumcised, and a sort of veil was put between her and the father of the Mahdi on the one hand, and the Mahdi himself, and she could not see anyone. She then said: “Where is my master?” Hassan replied her: “The one with more right (on him) than you and us has taken him”. When she retuned after forty days she found the Mahdi walking on his feet in the house. She has never seen a face as beautiful as his, nor speech as eloquent as his. When she was amazed by all that and said. “ I saw of his affair what I saw while he was only forty days old.” Abu Muhammad smiled and said: “O my aunt don’t you know that we the Imams grow in a day like the growth of all others in one year. “ She stood up and went away, and she never saw him after that. (18)
Tusi
reports from the two housemaids of Imam Askari (Nasim and Mariyah) that they
said: “ When Sahib al-Zaman (Mahdi) appeared from the womb of his mother he
feel down on his knees, raising his second finger to the leavens, and then he
sneezed and said.
”All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. May the peace and
blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad and his family? I am submitting (myself) to
Allah, not being proud or arrogant. He then added,” The oppressors thought that
the evidence of Allah (Hujjah) has been obliterated. If He has allowed us to
speak, the doubts would have been dispelled. (19)
Mas’udi as well as Khusaibi added another aspect to the story of the birth of the Mahdi saying: “ The Mahdi was born from the thigh of his mother” And they reported from Imam Askari, his statement to his aunt Hakimah: “ The Imams were not carried in the wombs, but were carried in the sides.” (20)
Mas’udi agreed with Saduq and Tusi in that Hakimah slept at those moments, while sitting down as she was overpowered by sleep, and was awaken only by the cry of the child from Narjis, and the voice of his father calling her: “ O my aunt bring my son!” He also said: The Mahdi went into hiding on that day, and returned after one week. Hakimah saw him then, for the second time and then he went into hiding, and she did not see him again, till after forty (40) days when she saw him walking (on his feet). (21)
Mas’udi however disagreed with Saduq who mentioned in his report that: “ The Imam grows in a month like the growth of others in one year.” He also disagreed with Tusi who said that, “The Imam develops in one day like the development of others in one year”. Mas’udi did not value much those to whom (such reports) were attributed. He reports the statement of Askari to Hakimah, “Didn’t you know, O Aunty that we, the inheritors of the will, grow in a day like the growth of others in a week? And we develop in one week like the development of others in one year?”(22)
Finally Mas’udi also reports from Abu Muhammad Askari, who said: “When the Sahib (Mahdi) was born Allah sent two angels which took him to the canopy of al-Arsh (The Throne), till he stood before Allah and He said to him. “Welcome, for your sake I will give, forgive and punish.” (23)
THE SECRECY OF THE
DELIVERY
Despite the fact that the above report of Hakimah has indicated that the birth remained a conceal secret, and that Imam Hassan requested her to mention it when divisions appear, and only to the (reliable) leaders, Saduq mentions in ‘Ikmal al-Din’ that Imam Hassan Askari has informed the leading figure of the Shiites in Qum, Ahmad bin Ishaq, and that he wrote to him. ‘That a child has been delivered for me let him be a secret for you and concealed for the rest of the people. For we would not tell anyone about him, except very close relations, and those who will give their loyalty to him. I had loved to inform you so that you will be pleased with that, as we are pleased. Salam’. (24)
In another report Saduq says that: Ahmad bin Ishaq went to Imam Askari one day and asked him about the Imam and Caliph after him. He got up hastily and entered the house and then came out with a child of 3 years of age on his shoulder, and then said to him: “ O Ahmad, if not because of your position (virtue) with Allah, the Most High and with Allah’s evidences (Imams), I would not have presented this my son to you.” (25)
Al-Fadl bin Shadhan says in ‘Kashf al-Haq’ that Hassan said: “The friend of Allah and His evidence on His creation and my successor (caliph) after me, was born in the night of the middle of Sha’aban, and the first to wash him was Ridwan, the custodian of paradise, then Hakimah.”
Saduq says that: “ Of those who knew of the news of the birth was Abu al-Fadl Hassan bin Hussain Al-Alawi, who used to say that he went to Abu Muhammad at ‘Surr Man Ra’a’ and congratulated him on the birth of his child. Abu Harun was with them also and he said that he saw Sahib al-Zaman and removed his dress and he found him circumcised. (26)
Tusi emphasized these two reports in ‘Al-Ghaybah’.(27)Sheikh Mufid says that Hassan Askari used to present him (the Mahdi) to some individuals when they visited him like Amr al-Ahwazi. (27)In another narration: Imam Askari sent money to some Shiites and instructed them to slaughter the Aqiqah for his son.(29)
SIGHTING THE MAHDI DURING
THE LIFE- TIME OF
HIS FATHER
Anyhow the Shiites historians have transmitted a number of stories on sighting the twelfth Imam Muhammad bin Hassan Askari during the lifetime of his father, and at the time of his death. For Kulayni, Saduq and Tusi have reported that a man from the people of Persia who was serving in the house of Imam Askari told that, he one day saw a housemaid carrying a white child, and the statement of the Imam to him, that: “ This is your companion (Imam).” And that he never saw him after that. (30)
Saduq and Tusi also transmitted from a group of the companions of Imam Askari, among them was Uthman bin Said al-Umari that he presented to them his son and said to them: “ This is your Imam after me and my successor (caliph) on you. Obey him and be not divided after me in your religion, lest you perish. However, you will not see him after this day.” They said: We came out from him, and after few days, Abu Muhammad (Askari) passed away. (31)
Likewise Saduq reported in ‘Ikmal al- Din’ stories of a man called Yaqub bin Manqush that one day he went to Imam Askari and asked him: “ Who is the owner of this affair?” He lifted the curtain of the house, and a child of five years of age came out and sat on the thigh of Abu Muhammad. He said to Yaqub “ This is your companion.” Then he said to the child: “ O my son, enter till the appointed time.” He went inside the house and hid himself.
It was reported from Nasim, the housemaid of Imam Askari that she went to the ‘Owner of the affair’ (Mahdi) one night after his birth, she sneezed in front of him and he replied her saying: “Yarhamuki Allah (May Allah have mercy on you).”
It was narrated of another servant called Tarif Abu Nasr that he went to the Sahib al-Zaman, and he requested from him to bring him red sandals, and then added: “I am the last of the inheritors of the will and through me Allah will repulse calamity on my family and followers.”
It was reported from a Syrian man called Abdullah that he went to the garden of Banu Amir, and he saw a young man sitting on a prayer rug, putting the side of his dress in his mouth. He asked: “Who was that?” And it was said to him: “(MHMD) son of Hassan”. (32)
Saduq has reported a long narration from Sa’ad bin Abdullah al-Qummi: That he went together with Ahmad bin Ishaq to Imam Askari and he saw a child on his thigh, holding and playing with golden pomegranate. Hassan was holding a pen. Whenever he wants to write with it, the child used to hold his hand, and put the pomegranate in front of him. So he gives it back to him, so as not to prevent him from writing what he wanted. Ahmad bin Ishaq had with him a bag, in it were some gifts from the Shiites and the servants to the Imam, so he placed it before him. He said to the child: “ Unseal it.” He refused and said: “ Is it permissible for me to take with my pure hands, impure gifts and wealth, its pure has been mixed with the impure?” Ahmad bin Ishaq took the bag to separate the two. The child explained the story of the wealth and gifts one by one…(33)
In another narration reported also by Saduq from Ahmad bin Ishaq, he says that he asked the Imam on the successor (caliph) after him, and that he brought his son and presented him to him. But he was not satisfied, therefore he asked him: “ O my master is there any sign that will satisfy my heart?” The child spoke in a very eloquent Arabic and said: “I am the Baqiyyah of Allah on His earth, the one to avenge his enemies. Don’t look for a sign after the eye (what you have seen).” Imam Askari then said, “This is one of the secrets of Allah. Take what I gave you, conceal his (story) and be of the thankful”. (34)
Tusi reports in his ‘Al-Ghaybah’ from Kamil bin Ibrahim al- Madani that he went to Imam Askari to ask him on some issues. As he was sitting in the house, the wind took the lowered curtain of the door, and behold there was a young man as bright as the moon. He said to him: “ O Kamil bin Ibrahim you have come to the friend of Allah, His evidence and His door, asking him such and such? He replied: “ Yes, by Allah!” Then the curtain rolled back to its position. He could not remove it and did not see him after that”. (35)
It was reported also from Isma’il bin Ali Nubakhti that he went to Imam Askari one hour before his death. He demanded from his servant ‘Aqid’ to go inside the house and bring out the child. Abu Muhammad said to him “ Have glad tidings my son, for you are the ‘Sahib al-Zaman’, the Mahdi, the evidence of Allah on His earth. You are my son the inheritor of my will, I gave birth to you. You are Muhammad bin Hassan. You are the seal of the pure Imams. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has foretold about you, and has nicknamed you so. My father has given this covenant to me from your pure fore- fathers. (36)
SIGHTING HIM AT THE TIME
OF THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER
Of all the early historians, it was only Muhammad bin Ali Saduq who mentioned other stories like the story of Abu al-Adyan al-Basri who said:
‘I was serving Hassan Bin Ali, carrying his letters to the cities. One day I went to him during his illness that led to his death. He wrote some letters, and said: “ Go with it to the cities, for you will be away for fifteen days and you will go to Surr Man Raa on the 15th day. And you will hear the wailer in my house, and you find me where people are washed (after my death).
I said to him: “O master if that happens, then who?”
He replied: “Any one who demands from you the reply of my letters he will be the Qa’im after me.”
I said to him: “ Tell me more!”
He said: “Anyone who prays for me, he will be the Qa’im after me.”
I said: “ Tell me more!”
He said: “ Anyone who tells of what is in ‘al-Hamyan’(a kind of bag) he will be the Qa’im after me.”
I left him, with the letters in my hands, to the cities, and received the replies to them, and then I proceeded to Surr Man Raa on the fifteenth day, as he said. Behold! I heard the wailer in his house, and he was at the washing place. And behold Ja’far bin Ali his brother, was at the door of the house and the Shiites were surrounding him, saying their condolences and congratulating him. I said to myself, if this will become the Imam, then the Imamate is invalidated, for I know him drinking ‘Nabidh’ (a kind of wine), and he gambles in al-Jawsaq and he plays with Tamborine. I went forward, gave my condolence (to him), congratulated (him) and then sat down. He did not ask me about anything. Aqid then came out and said: “O master your brother has been shrouded come and pray on him.” Ja’far bin Ali went in together with the Shiites around him, with Al-Samman (Uthman bin Sa’id al-Umari) at the forefront. When we entered the house behold, Hassan was on the carrier in his shroud. Ja’far then went forward to pray on him. As he was about to say the takbir (start the prayer), a child- of some brownish face, with some curls on his hair, and an opening in his incisors- came out pulling the dress of Ja’far and said “ Go back my uncle, I have more right of praying on my father.” Ja’far went back. His face showed sign of fury. The child went forward and prayed on him, and (Hassan) was buried near the grave of his father. He (the child) then said: “O Basri! Bring the replies of the letters that were with you.” I gave them to him. I said to myself: ‘ These are two evidences, al-Hamyan remains.’ Then I went to Ja’far who was sighing. And the gatekeeper said to him: “O master! Who was that child, so that we establish our evidence against him.” He replied “By Allah! I have never seen him before, and I do not know him.” We were sitting down when a group of people from Qum arrived, and asked of Hassan bin Ali. They were told of his death. They then said, “To whom should we give condolence?” Some pointed to Ja’far. They said salam to him, and gave their condolences and congratulated him. They then said: “ We have with us letters and wealth,will you tell us from whom were the letters.” He stood up dusting his clothes, and said: “You want us to know the Unseen?” He said: The servant came out and said: “ With you were the letters of so and so and so and so and the Hamyan has 1000 (one thousand) and ten dinars inside it. They then gave him the letters and the money. They said: “ The one who directed you to take that us, is the Imam.” (37)
Saduq narrates this story in another way from Sinan al-Mausili.He stated that when Askari died, delegations from the mountains and from Qum came with money. They were not aware of the death of Hassan. They asked about his heir, and it was said to them: It is his brother Ja’far; he has gone for entertainment with some dancers in the dark. They wanted to go back but Abu Abbas Muhammad bin Ja’far al-Himyari al-Qummi said to them: “Stay with us till this man comes and we will test him on the veracity of his claim. They demanded from him to talk on the Unseen (al-Ghayb) as regards the details of the money and their owners. He denied having the knowledge of the Unseen.
At the time they were leaving the city a servant came calling: “ O so and so, respond to your master”. They said, we went with him till we entered the house of our master Hassan bin Ali, behold his son, the Qa’im our leader, was sitting on a bed, like the brightness of the moon wearing a green dress. We said ‘Salam’ to him and he responded, and then he said: “The total amount of money was so and so. So and so carries such amount, and so and so carries such amount”.
He kept on explaining till he described the whole amount. He also described our means of transportation, our clothes and the animals with us. We fell down prostrating to Allah the Most High, as a sigh of gratitude for what he has informed us, and we asked him what we wanted and he replied. We delivered the money to him. He ordered us not to bring money to Surr Man Raa after that, and that he will appoint a man in Baghdad for us, who will bring the money to him, and get his signatures. (38)
THE ATTEMPT TO ARREST THE
MAHDI
There was an historical account transmitted by a number of writers about a policeman called Rashiq, explaining an attempt by the Abbasid Al- Mu’tadid to arrest the Mahdi. And that he sent three policemen for that, who went to the house of Imam Hassan Askari in Samirra’; and that they saw the house turning to a sea of water, and they saw also a man standing and praying on a prayer-mat, and were certain of drowning if they attempt moving forward towards him, and their subsequent apology and return. (39)
Majlisi and Sadr both reported another story similar to the above, on the preparations of Al-Mu’tadid for a wider war and raiding the house, and the hearing of the soldiers of recitation of (the Qur’an) from the canopy, and their gathering at the entrance so as to arrest the owner of sound, and his coming out before them. (40)
B:
THE
TESTIMONY OF THE FOUR DEPUTIES
Perhaps the most important historical evidence on the birth and existence of Imam Muhammad bin Hassan Askari is the testimony of the four special deputies who claimed representing him, in the period of the minor occultation, from 260 A.H to 329 A.H. As these four deputies were claiming seeing, meeting and submitting money to him, as well as receiving his letters and getting his signatures from him for those who believe in him.
The first generations of the representatives or ambassadors or deputies were men from the companions of the two Imams Ali bin Muhammad Hadi and Hassan bin Ali Askari (peace be upon them). Their leader was Uthman bin Sa’id al-Umari who was the deputy of the two Imams in the collection of funds from the Shiites and bringing it to them during their lifetimes. Sheikh Tusi described him as “ the Sheikh relied upon, and of the emissaries praised by the Imams.” (41)
It
was said that he had the confidence of the two Askari Imams. He was not only
their deputy in the collection of funds, but he was playing an even more
important role of taking the letters of the (two) Imams to the Shiite
community. He was enjoying a lot of respect among them. Sheikh Tusi reported in
‘al-Ghaybah’, a narration from Ahmad bin Ishaq al-Qummi who said: “ I went to Abu
Hassan Ali bin Muhammad one day and said to him: “ O Master! I used to be
absent and then present and I may not be chanced whenever I am present, to see
you, so whose statement are we to accept, and whose instructions are we to
obey?” He said to me: “ This is Abu Amr the trusted and the reliable whatever
he told you, is from me, and whatever he gave to you, it is from me.” When Abu
Hassan Passed away, I one day went to Abu Muhammad Hassan Askari, I told him
similar to what I said to his father. He replied, “This is Abu Amr, the
reliable the honest, the reliable of the past (Imam) and my reliable (man)
in my life and my death . Whatever
He told you is from me, and whatever he gave to you, it is from me. “(42)
This narration discloses that al- Umari was not only the deputy in collecting funds, but was also playing other roles greater than that in taking the messages of the two Imams Hadi and Askari to the Shiites, and was enjoying a lot of respect with the people.
Tusi
also reports from Ahmad bin Ali bin Nuh Abu Abbas al-Sirafi who said: “Abu Nasr Abdullah bin Muhammad bin
Ahmad, known as Ibn Barniyyah al-Katib told them that: Some nobles from the
Hadith scholars of Imamate Shiites told him that: Abu Muhammad Abbas bin Ahmad
al-Sa’igh said: “ Hussain bin Ahmad al-Khusaibi, said: Muhammad bin Ismail and
Ali bin Abdullah al-Husnayan told me that: “We went to Abu Muhammad Hassan at
‘Surr Man Ra’a, and with him were a group of his devoted companions and
supporters. Badr, his servant came and said: “ O Master, there were some people
at the gate, they are strangers and travelers.” He said to them: “ These are
our supporters in Yemen ( as part of a long tradition cited) till he ended with
the statement of Hassan to Badr: “ Go and bring us Uthman bin Sa’id al-Umari.”
After a little while Uthman arrived. Abu Muhammad said to him: “ Go O Uthman
you are the deputy, the reliable and trusted on the funds of Allah, and collect
from those people from Yemen, what fund they have carried with them (he cited
the remaining part of the tradition) till he said, then all of us said: “O
master! By Allah, Uthman is among the best of your supporters and we have
learnt more of his position in your service. He is your deputy and reliable man
on the wealth of Allah,” He said: “Yes do testify that Uthman bin Sa’id
al-Umari is my deputy. His son Muhammad is the deputy of my son, your Mahdi.”
(43)
It should be noticed that this report, in addition to his reliability and deputyship it also confirms the reliability and deputyship of his son.
Tusi
reports from Abu Muhammad Harun bin Musa, who said: Jafar bin Muhammad bin
Malik al-Fazari narrated from a group of Shiites, among them were: Ali bin
Bilal, Ahmad bin Hilal, Muhammad bin Mu’awiyah bin Hakim and Hassan bin Ayyub
bin Nuh (in a long and famous tradition) that they all said: “We gathered at
the place of Abu Muhammad Hassan bin Ali, asking him about the Hujjah after
him; There were forty people with him. Uthman bin Sa’id al-Umari stood up and
said to him. “O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) I want to ask
you on a matter which you know better than me.” He said to him: “Sit down O
Uthman.” He stood angrily in order to go out. He said: “No one of you should go
out.” None of us went out, till after one hour. He (the Imam) shouted to
Uthman. He stood up. He then said: “Should I tell you what brought you? You
came in order to ask me of the Hujjah after me.”They replied:”Yes,” Behold a
child like a piece of the moon resembling, more than anyone else, Abu Muhammad,
came in. He then said: “This is your Imam after me and my successor on you, the
affair will be with him.” (44)
Tusi says- from the grandson of Al-Umari, Hibat al-Lah: that when Hassan bin Ali died, Uthman bin Sa’id attended his washing,and supervised over his funeral like the shroud, putting perfume on him and the burial as instructed and dictated by the circumstances….. The (documents containing) signatures of the Sahib al-Amr (Mahdi) were coming from Uthman bin Sa’id, and his son Abu Jafar, to his supporters and the sincere companions of his father on all commands and prohibitions, as well as the answers to what the Shiites used to asked when there was any need to ask, and in the same handwriting as the time of Hassan. So the Shiites never ceased relying and reposing confidence in both of them, till the death of Uthman bin Sa’id. (45)
In this manner Al-Umari became a special deputy of Imam Mahdi, after he claimed his existence and birth and his representing him. Ahmad bin Ishaq once asked him and he said to him: “ You are now one whose statements and truthfullness cannot be doubted. I ask you by Allah, and by the truth of the two Imams who relied on you, have you seen the son of Abu Muhammad who is the Sahib al-Zaman? He wept then he said: “On condition that you will not tell that to anyone, so long I am alive.” He said: “Yes.” He then said: “I have seen him, and his neck was like this ( he means, it is the best in beauty and perfection)”. He said: “ What of the name?” He replied, “You have prohibited from that.” (46)
Uthman bin Sa’id al-Umari died two years after the death of Imam Askari, and his son, Muhammad succeeded him as the emissary between Imam Mahdi and the Shiites.
Kulayni and Tusi have reported the (documents with) signatures from the Imam with his endorsement and recommendation, and also on his, appointment as the special deputy. (47)
Abdullah bin Ja’far Al-Himyari al-Qummi, the leader of the Shiites in Qum, says that: “ The Mahdi has sent to Al-Umari, the junior a signed (document) in which he said: “Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return, in submission to His command and acceptance of His decree. Your father has lived a happy life and died a praiseworthy man. May Allah have mercy on him, and join him with his friends and beloved ones. He has been unceasingly striving to serve them, which brought him closer to Allah. May Allah forgive and have mercy on him. Of his perfect happiness and success, Allah has bestowed on him a son like you, who will succeed him after him, and be in his place in his affairs, who will seek mercy for him. I say: All praise be to Allah, may He help, strengthen and empower you and grant you success. He is your friend, protector, and sufficient.” (48)
Al- Himyari said: “ When Abu Amr (Uthman bin Sa’id) Passed away, letters in the same handwriting as we were used to, came to us, (instructing) that we place Abu Ja’far in his place. (49)
Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Mahziyar al-Ahwazi said that the following came to him after the death of Abu Amr: “ The son, may Allah protect him, he never ceased being trusted by us in the life of the father, may Allah be pleased with him, he will be with us as his father, doing what he did. The son will perform and carry out our orders. May Allah be with him. Listen to him and explain this our conduct.” (50)
Tusi
has reported from Ishaq bin Yaqub that he said: ‘I asked Muhammad bin Uthman
al-Umari to pass my letter, in which I asked about some issues not clear to me
(to the Mahdi). He signed it with the same handwriting of our master, the owner
of the house’: “Muhammad bin Uthman al-Umari, (may Allah be pleased with him)
and his father before him. He is my trusted one and his letter is my letter. “
(51)
Whenever
Al-Umari was asked: Have you seen the Mahdi. He used to answer: “Yes, the last
time I saw him was at the Haram in Makkah, and he was saying: “ O Allah fulfill
what you have promised me.” And I saw him holding to the curtains of the Ka’bah
in the Mustajar, and he was saying: “O Allah, avenge for me against my
enemies.” By Allah, the owner of this affair attends the occasion (of Hajj)
every year, and he will see people and identify them.” (52)
Tusi says that: “The signatures issued from Al-Umari throughout his life were in the same handwriting as the time of his father. The Shiites do not know anything other than this in this matter.” (53)
Al-Umari, the junior continued on the same post for about fifty (50) years, when he died in the beginning of the fourth century of Hijrah (305 A.H), he gave his will to Hussain bin Ruh al-Nubakhti, who was one of his ten deputies in Baghdad. Nubakhti, who died in the year 325 A.H., gave his will to the fourth deputy, Ali bin Muhammad Al-Samri (Al-Saimiri) as his successor after him, and as a deputy of Imam Mahdi, the Occult. (54)
Besides these four deputies, about twenty four (24) other people of the companions of the two Imams Hadi and Askari or their followers claimed being deputies, like Hassan Al-Shari’I, Muhammad bin Nasir Al-Namiri, Abu Hashim Dawud bin Qasim, Al-Jafari, Ahmad bin Hilal Al-Ibrata’i, Muhammad bin Ali bin Bilal, Ishaq Al-Ahmar, Hajiz bin Yazid, Muhammad bin Salih Al-Hamdani, Muhammad bin Ja’far bin Aun Al-Asadi Al-Razi, Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Mahziyar, Hussain bin Mansour Al-Hallaj, Ja’far bin Suhail Al-Saiqil, Muhammad bin Ghalib Al-Isfahani, Ahmad bin Ishaq Ash’ari Al-Qummi, Qasim bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Hamdani, Muhammad bin Salih Al-Qummi, Qasim bin Al-Ala and his son Hassan, Muhammad bin Ali Al-Shalmaghani bin Abi Al-Azaqir and finally Abu Dalf al-Katib.
Many of these people claimed a special relationship between them and the two Imams Hadi and Askari, and hence with Imam Mahdi. As many of them also claimed the ability to produce miracles, and the possessing of the knowledge of the Unseen (Ghayb) and they present secret letters claiming that they came with them from the Occult Imam, and they collect funds and other legal rights from the people.
The Imamate Shiites who believed in the existence of the twelfth Imam have differed among themselves on the truth of the claims of these deputies, and the validity of such claims. Some of them accepted and believed in the claims of the four early deputies. Another group like the Nusayriyyah believed the claims of Shari’i and Namiri. Some others believed in the claims of other groups.
Anyhow, some regarded the existence of the four deputies and others as a historical testimony to the existence of a son for Imam Hassan Askari, being the Imam Mahdi, in addition to those historical narrations that discussed his birth, and his being seen during the life of his father and the meeting with him after that.
Syed Muhammad Baqir Sadr says in his book ‘Bahth hawl al-Mahdi,’ “It is not rational that all these just, trusted and reliable deputies will lie in their claim of being deputies or in the existence of Imam Mahdi, after the consensus of the Shiites on their truthfulness, piety and God- fearing.
Some of the earlier scholars of Hadith, like Nu’mani Muhammad bin Abi Zaynab considered the existence of these four special deputies, in the period of the minor Occultation and their absence in the period of the major Occultation, which extends from that time to the day of the Appearance, and the conformity of the two periods with the reports on the existence of the two Occultations the minor and the major,for Imam Mahdi, as evidence on the existence of Muhammad bin Hassan Askari, and the validity of his Occultation.
A- THE LETTERS OF MAHDI
Saduq Tusi, Ibn Shahra’ashub, Tabrisi have mentioned a number of letters which they claimed to have been sent by Imam Muhammad bin Hassan Askari, to a number of his deputies in the period of the minor Occultation. Among these was what Tusi reported in ‘Al-Ghaybah’ from Ahmad bin Ishaq Ash’ari al-Qummi, who says that he has written to Ibn Hassan a letter on the claim of Ja’far bin Ali Hadi, for the people of Qum to follow him after the death of his brother. He said in it: ‘ The Sahib al-Zaman has written a letter to him, containing his blaming and suspecting of Ja’far of ignorance of religion and of disobedience, drinking wine and disobedience to Allah, and of possessing no any evidence, and the call to test him and confirming the impermissibility of the Imamate going to two brothers after Hassan and Hussain’. (55)
As Tusi also reports a second narration from Ibn Abi Ghanim Al-Qazwini that he, and a group of Shiites differed on the existence of the successor (Imam Askari) and they quarreled among themselves. They then wrote on that a letter and sent it to Al-Nahiyah, and informed him of their querrel on that. The response to their letter came in the handwriting of (the Mahdi) and it contained words of pity and sadness on them, and a call to submission and the not attempting to uncover the secrecy of the Occultation. (56)
There was a third letter reported by Saduq in ‘Ikmal al-Din’ from Ishaq bin Yaqub who said: “ I asked Muhammad bin Uthman al-Umari to take a letter for me in which I have enquired on some issues that have confused me (to the Mahdi). The response came in the handwriting of our master ‘Sahib al-Dar’ (the Mahdi) and in it was the following words: “ As for the events that took place, refer to our reporters of traditions regarding them. They are my evidence upon you and I am the evidence of Allah on them.” It contains the recommendation (of the Mahdi) and his confidence in Al-Umari, as well as the legalization of Khums during the occultation, and prohibition on asking the causes and reasons for the Occultation. (57)
Saduq transmitted another letter in ‘Ikmal al-Din’, from Imam Mahdi to the first deputy: Uthman bin Sa’id Al-Umari and his son, Muhammad-the second deputy. He mentioned in it the stories of the conflict between Shiites on the successor, and the saying of some of them that none exist except Ja’far bin Ali. He demands (in it) from the Shiites not to look for anything concealed to them, so as not to commit sin, and not to uncover what Allah has concealed lest they regret it, and to stick only to a general mention, indirect statements, without explanation and disclosure. (58)
Ibn shahra’ashub in ‘Al-Manaqib’ and Tabrisi in ‘Al-Ihtijaj’ have further mentioned that: Mufid has brought out or published copies of the letters said to have been sent by Imam Mahdi to him, through a village Arab, and in the handwriting of another man. The Mahdi was calling Mufid in them-the righteous brother, the guided- master and the helping savior, the one inspired by the truth and its evidence, the good servant, helper of the truth who calls to it, with the word of truth. (59)
These are the most important stories reported on the sightings of Imam Muhammad bin Hassan Askari, at the time of his birth, in the lifetime of his father, and at the time of his death and just before that. There were other stories reported on sighting him in the Grand Mosque (Makkah) in ‘Tawaf” or in a valley of the villages of Taif, or in Madinah or here or there, and these were of less importance and weaker as regards their transmission.
Perhaps the story of Hakimah and Abu Al-Adyan al-Basri are the two most well known stories reported on the birth and the existence of the twelfth Imam.
REFERENCES
1. Ikmal Al-Din P. 417
2. Ithbat al-Wasiyyah, p. 195
3. Ikmal al-Din, p. 431
4. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 51, p. 432
5. Nubakhti: Firaq al-Shiah, p. 103, Ash’ari: Al-Maqalat wa al-Firaq, p. 114
6. Al-Fusul al-Mukhtarah,p. 114
7. ibid. p. 258
8. ibid. p. 432
9. ibid. p. 143
10. Al-Ghaybah, p. 141
11. Saduq: Ikmal al-Din, p. 424
12. ibid. p. 428
13. ibid. p. 426
14. ibid. p. 430
15. Tusi: Al-Ghaybah, p. 141
16. ibid.,p.142
17. ibid. p. 143
18. ibid. p. 145
19. ibid.
20. Mas’udi: Ithbat al-Wasiyyah,p.196,Khusaibi: Al-Hidayah al-Kubra
21. Mas’udi: op. cit. p. 197
22. ibid, p. 197
23. ibid
24. ibid. p. 434
25. ibid. p. 384
26. ibid.p. 435
27. p. 151
28. ibid, p. 392
29. Ikmal al-Din, p. 432
30. Al-Kafi, vol. 1 p. 329, Ikmal al-Din,p, 435 and Al-Ghaybah, p. 140
31. Ikmal al-Din. P. 435, al-Ghaybah p. 217
32. Ikmal al-Din. P. 436
33. ibid. pp. 454-456
34. ibid. p. 384
35. ibid. pp. 148-149
36. ibid. p. 165
37. Saduq: Ikmal al-Din. Pp. 475-476
38. ibid. pp. 476-479
39. Tusi: Al-Ghaybah p. 149, Al-Rawandi: Al-Kharayij wa al-Jarayih, p.67, Al-Majlisi: Bihar Al-Anwar, vol.13, p.118,Sadr. Muhammad: Al-Ghaybah al-Sughra,p. 577
40. Sadr: Al-Ghaybah Al-Sughra p. 560, Al-Majlisi: Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 13, p. 118
41. Al-Ghaybah. Pp. 209 and 214
42. ibid. p. 215
43. ibid. pp. 215-216
44. ibid. p. 217
45. ibid. p. 216
46. ibid. p. 215
47. ibid. p. 218
48. ibid. p. 230
49. ibid.
50. ibid
51. ibid.
52. ibid. p. 222
53. ibid. p. 221
54. Saduq: Ikmal al-Din, p. 503
55. Tusi: Al-Ghaybah, pp. 174-176
56. ibid. p. 172-174
57. Saduq: Ikmal al-Din, p. 483 Tusi, Al-Ghaybah, pp. 186-188
58. Saduq: Ikmal al-Din p. 510
59. Refer also to Al-Nuri al-Tabrisi: Khatimah al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p. 518, Al-Jaza’iri: Al-Anwar al-Nu’maniyyah vol. 2 p. 21, Ibn Bitriq al-Hilli: Risalah Nahj al-Ulum, Al-Tankabani: Qasas al-Ulama’, p. 399