I said to Imam al-Jawad (AS), "Does Allah make Badaa in the definite matters?

I said to Imam al-Jawad (AS), "Does Allah make Badaa in the definite matters?" He (AS) replied, "Yes." I said, "Then, we have a fear that Allah makes Badaa in (the rising of) al-Qa'im." The Imam replied, "al-Qa'im is of the promises, and Allah does not break His promises (referring to verses 3:9 and 13:31)."[^5] In other words, Allah will not fail in any of His promises including the annihilation of injustice and the establishment of the government of justice on the earth by Imam al-Mahdi (AS).

This was Allah's testimony in verses of Quran that we quoted in previous section. However, Allah may make Badaa on the time of reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (AS) and may advance or postpone it. Moreover, He may cancel the occurrence of the definite signs that were supposed to take place before the Imam's (AS) advent, as the above tradition explained. The question that may arise here is that what the significance of canceling a sign by Allah is.

To answer this, let us first discuss the notion of al-Badaa. This is one of the complex issues that has confused many people's minds, and consequently the enemies of the Ahl al-Bait (AS) have taken the advantage of this confusion to attack our faith. The Badaa and its significance There are many pieces of evidence in the Quran and the traditions expressing that Allah may change what He has already willed and He may initiate a new will.

However, as we discussed earlier, there is an exception for His Sunan and His promises that He has chosen not to change at all. The will of Allah is the creation of Allah. Thus, this change only occurs to the created information and does not imply a change in His Eternal Knowledge/His Essence. In other words, the novelty occurs in Allah's action, and not in Allah's Essence. Allah eternally knew what He would change later.

By al-Badaa, only the created information that has been visible (al-Shahada) for the vice-regents of Allah becomes invisible (al-Ghaib) and vice versa. The visible information is about what Allah has willed to happen in the past and in the future (Ilm Ma Kan wa Ma Yakun), and the invisible information is about all other infinite possibilities that Allah has not willed to happen (Ilm Ma Lam Yakon).

There are numerous verses in Quran that prove Allah's hands are open to originate or change anything in His creation. For instance: "And the Jews said, 'The hand of Allah is tied up'. Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for what they uttered. Nay, His hands are outstretched.