During the last ten days of the month of Ramadan or days...

During the last ten days of the month of Ramadan or days that are better off than these days they turn their faces towards the east asking him earnestly to reappear. Obviously, if there is a Mahdi and Allah orders him to reappear he will reappear, whether or not the Shias make any requests. [And if there is a Mahdi but] Allah does not allow him to reappear he will not reappear whether or not they make any request. In either case, what Shias do is futile.

In addition, if he reappears, Allah will help him, providing him with vehicle and supporters. Thus it is not necessary for some misguided people who are struggling in vain, thinking they are doing something good, to keep waiting for him. In the Holy Quran , Allah reproaches those who address in their prayers people and things that do not respond them… In the age of ignorance, they worshiped idols that were accessible to them and that sometimes contained evils that talked to them.

Obviously, the condition of those who communicate with a none-existing thing is far worse than that of those who communicate with an existing thing – though it is not alive. Shias may possibly say, in response, that they believe in the existence of Mahdi, but they have to be reminded that their word is similar to that of idol worshipers. This is because they were also of the view that the idols they worshiped were able to intercede for them with Allah.

Addressing them, Allah the Almighty says: وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنفَعُهُمْ وَلَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَكَانَ الْكَافِرُ عَلَى رَبِّهِ ظَهِيرًا[^2] And they serve besides Allah that which neither profits them nor causes them harm; and the unbeliever is a partisan against his Lord. In short, both idol worshipers and Shias ask for assistance from those who are unable to help them. There is however a minor difference between the two.

Idol worshipers regard idols as their intercessors and their objects of worship. Shias however believe that Mahdi is an infallible imam. They go so far that they regard their Mahdi as the standard of love and hatred just as idol worshipers deem their idols as such.

Just as some polytheists consider believing in gods as a basic article of their faith, Shias regard believing in Mahdi as a basic article of their faith, assuming that without such a belief no one's religion is perfect".[^3] Elsewhere he states: "Similarly it is not possible for anyone to know about the commandments and prohibitions of the Mahdi whom we should obey according to them.

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