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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Last Luminary and Ways to Delve Into the Light Responsibility 67: Not Uprising Another responsibility during the period of occultation is that we must not rise up in revolt or wage war against the people of falsehood, oppressive governments and super-powers of our time.

During this era, we must seek to safeguard our faith and religion and must work for the betterment of ourselves in this life and the next and this is something which has been mentioned in numerous traditions. This issue has been emphasized many times in the words of the Ahlul Bayt (as), and from the narrations we can deduce that to rise up and fight against the governments of our time is not correct and does not lead to the pleasure of the Ahlul Bayt (as).

In Sahifatul Sajjadiyah, it has been narrated from Imam ‘Ali b. al-Husain as-Sajjad (as) that: مَا خَرَجَ وَ لاَ يَخْرُجُ مِنَّا أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِلـى قِيَامِ قَائِمِنَا أَحَدٌ لِيَدْفَعَ ظُلْماً أَوْ يَنْعَشَ حَقًّا إِلاٌّ اصْطَلَمَتْهُ الْبَلِيَّةُ وَ كَانَ قِيَامُهُ زِيَادَةً فِي مَكْرُوهِنَا وَ شِيعَتِنَا “None of us, the Ahlul Bayt (as), have risen or will rise until the advent of the Awaited Imam (ajtf), to repel oppression or revive the truth except that he shall definitely be overcome by misfortunes and his revolt shall result in more adversity of us and our Shi’ah.”[^1] However supposing that this tradition or other traditions such as this (which are many) are all correct, and if we suppose that the chain of narrators are correct and there is no issue of taqiyyah (dissimulation) and that there is no other impediment in the traditions (which would prevent us from understanding them).

Then we understand that what has been prohibited in this and other traditions is not that we are not permitted to rise up against an oppressor or oppressive government, rather, it means that we are not permitted to fight against them with force and weapons and this is what has been prohibited. From another point of view, the task of understanding the meaning of this tradition is not the job of just anyone.

Rather, the responsibility of analyzing this (and other such) traditions and bringing forth its correct understanding is the duty of the prominent ‘Ulama, Fuqaha and the learned ones who possess the ability to carry out this task.

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