The period of waiting for the Imam’s advent will not earn us...

The period of waiting for the Imam’s advent will not earn us a Divine reward (thawab) unless it coupled with the intention of seeking nearness to Allah and conforming to His commandments, just as the performance of prayers, fasting and Hajj all necessitate a Divine reward from Allah when performed with the intention of seeking nearness to Him.

Of course the intention of seeking nearness to Allah has limits and can be realized in different forms and be achieved in various ways the best form being that a believer performs these acts simply to follow the commandments of Allah and in His obedience.

It goes without saying that He is the most worthy of being worshipped and obeyed and therefore our worshipping of Him should not be done for the love which one has for Him, nor for Paradise, nor to earn His pleasure and definitely not due to the fear of the fire of Hell and the punishment and chastisement! All of these are simply forms of seeking nearness to Him and therefore, it is best that a true believer stays away from these sorts of intentions (in his acts).

If what we have just stated is correct, then what would be the state of a person if his intention for the advent of the Imam is his own material gains and pleasures in this world?? We must also realize that awaiting the advent is not limited to a particular time or place or only in certain circumstances. Rather, a true believer must always be in a state of anticipation and awaiting the Imam.

One must never go into a state of hopelessness or despair since this is forbidden and most definitely, a person who falls into a state of despair will never be able to patiently wait for the advent of the Imam. Having even ‘partial despair’ in his advent is not correct, and this too is forbidden!

By a ‘partial despair’ we mean that one must not lose hope in the return of Imam al-Hujjah (ajtf), the minor or major occultation, or other things related to him based on his own feelings and way of thinking.

For example it should not be said that: “The Imam will not make his advent for another fifty years” or that “He will not make his advent today since it is a Saturday” or that “It is such and such time of the day or night and thus, he will not make his return since the traditions tell us something different.” It is clear that no matter what level of despair we fall into, the spiritual state of anticipation for the advent of the Imam will be taken away from us in that same amount.