Some religious laws have been announced in particular...

Some religious laws have been announced in particular situations and in emergencies and have not been in their true form due to dissimulation ( taqiyyah ).[^5] During the period of the Imam ( ‘atfs ) there will be no more taqiyyah and the true rulings shall be expressed.

Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) said: “During the uprising of our Qa’im, there will be no more taqiyyah and the Imam will unsheathe his sword; he will neither take anything from the people but the sword nor give anything to them but the sword.”[^6] Regarding the abovementioned cases, it shall suffice to quote some hadith s: In a lengthy hadith Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) said: “It is (incumbent) upon you (Muslims) to submit (to our command), to entrust affairs to us, to wait for our and your government, and to wait for our and your relief and deliverance.

When our Qa’im rises up, and our speaker speaks and teaches you anew the Qur’anic instructions, and the religious precepts and laws—in the same form that they have been revealed to Muhammad (S)—your scholars will reject his style and protest against him while you will not remain steadfast and firm in the religion of God and His path unless under the sword—the sword which is over your head.

“God has given the tradition of the previous communities to these people but they changed the traditions and distorted the religion. No law exists among the people but that which is distorted from its revealed form. May God have mercy on you!

Accept whatever has been asked from you so that the one who will revive the religion would come.”[^7] Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) said: “During the advent of Hadrat al-Qa’im, he will invite the people to Islam anew and guide them toward it (Islam) when Islam had faded and become antiquated and the people had drifted away from it.”[^8] It can be deduced from these hadith s that Imam al-Mahdi ( ‘atfs ) will not present a new religion in the world.

Instead, since the people would have drifted away from the true Islam, he will invite them again to the religion just as the Prophet (S) invited them to it. Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) said to Barid: “O Barid! By God! In this world no sanctuary for God would be left without being violated and the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Prophet would not be implemented.

From the day the Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ) passed away, the legal punishments ( hudud ) of God have never been observed among the people.” Then he said: “By God!