Al-Mahdi (a.s.)

we shias believe that our master, Mahdi (a.s.) is a living being who receives his sustenance and hears words and answers.

Mahdi is the same imam through whose obedience we should be 'upright' in the divine religion. Mahdi is the one who is the channel between us and god. his 'ziarat' (visitation) is correct; focusing (our attention) on him is permissible; conversing with him in every place and time and in any language is permissible. in this regard the holy 'sardab' possesses no special specifications except what we have mentioned before. similarly, the ziarats (visitations)which have come are not possessing any specification even though are preferable.

the houses over which tens of years have passed; the place where god has been worshipped; the place where god has been remembered; the place where prayers have been performed for days and nights and the place where the sound of recitation of quran has been raised are worthy enough to be honoured and visited and at the time when a pilgrim enters them, he remembers its dwellers.

one of the main reasons as to why such holy houses and especially 'sardab' (cellar) are visited is this that its owners are alive - the owners who cannot reside in them and have in fact deserted them out of fear of enemies. besides, we are in need of Mahdi (a.s.) and are deprived of his favours.

visitation of these houses with such reminiscences will naturally move a pilgrim's heart who happens to be a shia. how often a pilgrim weeps, sends out a shriek, implores involuntarily and requests god to hasten the emergence of hazrat. verily, factors of intimacy and heartly - relation greatly influence a man's nature.

«philosophy and reason behind
occultation»

discussion on occultation is a vast topic and traditions in this regard are many. what is necessary for us to know is the following:
is there anyone to ask about the philosophy behind occultation and is there anyone who can say: since i do not know the reason behind occultation, i do not believe as you do in the existence of Mahdi and i further say: if as per what you say, Mahdi is the imam, then it is necessary for him to appear amongst the people and walk in the market-places!

we say: concerning the numerous 'mustafiza' traditions which we previously mentioned and few more of which we shall inform you about later on, Mahdi the expected one is abul-qasim muhammad-ibn-hassan askari who was born on 15th shaban 256 a.h. besides, we have also mentioned to you the names of those learned scholars who have approved the above point.

since Allah is all-wise, he would never command nor forbid any matter or action except out of prudent knowledge. the same is true for this particular matter. all that prudent knowledge is referred to those charged with a duty because, in the holy presence of god, there exists no want and his holy self is needless and all-sufficient. thus every action of god is in conformity with prudent interests whether we realize those interests or not and whether we perceive those reasons or not.

from the known affairs where not even a single person dispute is this that every voluntarily and in-voluntarily incidents and affairs which occur in this world should be as per the divine prudency and rather as per the divine will. amongst these affairs, the most important of them is the occultation of Mahdi (a.s.). based on this principle, the occultation of Mahdi must be as per prudency and wisdom, whether we perceive it or not and whether we understand its reason or not.