They reminded them that the mere act of awaiting for...

They reminded them that the mere act of awaiting for deliverance is a kind of emancipation. The one who awaits is like the one who fights against the disbelievers on the battlefield and has rolled in his own blood. As such, there is no doubt that the weightiest obligation for Muslims during the occultation is to anticipate deliverance. In the next few paragraphs we would like to expound on the meaning of this awaiting or anticipating deliverance.

How can a person who anticipates deliverance acquire the greatest reward that accrues to the one who does good? It is not sufficient for the one awaiting the deliverance to materialize to just say with their tongue that they are awaiting the appearance of the Imam of the Age.

An individual cannot escape every kind of social responsibility, and stay away, from the moral responsibility of commanding the good and forbidding the evil; from taking a stance against corrupt and sinful behaviour; from not stopping injustice, and simply say: "O God, let the deliverance through the Imam of the Age be imminent so that he can prevent this corrupt behaviour!" This is not awaiting the appearance of the 12th Imam (AS).

This person's status cannot be the comparable to the status of the one who is killed defending his religion. His status cannot be equal to the one who has sacrificed all his wealth, his family, and his comfort and security in the way of God and attained the status of a martyr. There is a deeper meaning and significance to the act of awaiting the appearance of the Imam.

Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq (AS) has said: "Surely the possessor of this command (Imam al-Mahdi) will go into an occultation. So the servant should have consciousness (Taqwa) of Allah during the period of the occultation and should hold firm to his religion." Therefore firstly, as Muslims, we need to work diligently at reforming ourselves from within and with all the necessary seriousness.

We should adorn ourselves with Islamic virtues, perform all the duties that are obligatory on us, and apply the directives provided by the Quran in our daily lives. We should endeavour to attain Taqwa and hold firm to the teachings of Islam. Second, we should extract the social teachings of Islam from the Holy Quran, the Prophet (SAW) and the (AS), in order to execute those perfectly in our societies.