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appearance of Al Mahdi be known to our Shi’a.”
Mufaddel asked: “Why is that, Master?”
Imam a.s replied: “Because he is the Hour that
Allah Almighty was referring to when He said:
“They ask you about the Hour: When will it come?
Say: The knowledge of it is only with my Lord;
none but He shall manifest it at its time; it will be
momentous in Heavens and on Earth; it will not
come on you but of a sudden. They ask you as if
you were solicitous about it.
Say: Its knowledge is with Allah alone, but most
people do not know.}
Al-A’raf (The Heights): 187
He is also the Hour that Allah Almighty mentioned:
“They ask you about the Hour: When will it
come?”
An-Nazi’at (Those Who Drag Forth): 42.
He said: “The knowledge of the Hour is only with
Him.”
Thus, He did not say that someone else has the
knowledge of the Hour, but He said: “They wait not
but for the Hour, that it should come upon them
suddenly. The signs thereof have already come.
But of what avail will their admonition be to them
when it has actually come upon them?”
Muhammad (Muhammad): 18
He said as well: “The Hour drew nigh and the
moon cleft in twain.”
- Al-Qamar (The Moon): 1.
And said: “And what will make you understand?
Perchance the Hour is nigh!” Al-Ahzab (The
Clans): 63
“Those who do not believe in it would hasten it
on, and those who believe are in fear of it, and
they know that it is the Truth. Now most surely
those who dispute obstinately concerning the
Hour are far astray.”
Ash-Shura (Consultation): 18.
- Bihar Al-Anwar, by Ulemah Al-Majlisi, vol. 53, p.
1.
Hour = Saa’at.
Dua for Imam Mahdi (a.s) also has that word which
is significant.
And what has the Messenger of Allah (swt) said
about the Hour (The Hour that is Imam Mahdi (a.s),
told to us by Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s)) The Messenger
of Allah (swt) said:
“The Hour shall not come until the one who shall
rise with the Truth appears, when Allah the Great
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and Almighty permits so. He who follows him
shall survive and he who does not shall perish. O
servants of Allah, rush to him even if you have to
crawl over the snow, for he is the vicegerent of
Allah AlMighty and my successor.”
Dala’il Al-Imamat, by At-Tabari, p. 452; Bihar AlAnwar, vol. 51, p. 65.
So Imam Mahdi (a.s) will arrive after the man who
shall rise with the Truth appears. The successor of
the Prophet s.a.w will be that man. What else do we
know about the Yamani (a.s)?
Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said:
“There shall be a man from the offspring of this
man (Abbas) who shall fill the earth with injustice
and tyranny, and there shall be from this man (Ali)
who shall spread the earth with justice and
tranquility, so if you see this happening, on you is
to go with the man who is a Yemeni for he shall
come from the East and he is the one with the flag
of the Mahdi."
(-Mahdi Al-Muntather Al-Maw'ood door#2/p.207)
So he comes before Imam Mahdi (a.s) and calls to
him, as in he guides and calls, besides fighting the
Sufyani.
“...However, the most guiding among them shall
be Al Yamani, for he calls for the Truth.”
(As-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem (the Right Path), vol. 2, by
An-Nibaty Al-Amili, p. 250.)
Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) said: “…The most
guiding of flag is Al Yamani’s. It is a flag of
guidance because he calls for Imam Al Mahdi.
Should Al Yamani appear arms dealing will be
forbidden to people and to every Muslim. Yes,
should he appear, rush to him, because his flag is a
flag of guidance. No Muslim is entitled to revolt
against him and whoever does so shall be cast into
the Fire, because he calls for the Truth and the
right path.”
(Al-Ghaybah (Occultation) by An-Nu'mani, p. 264.)
Imam Al Sadiq (a.s): "Before the Sufyani is an
Egyptian a