It was naturally that Imam Abu Muhammad (a.

It was naturally that Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.) suffered the bitterest distresses from the Abbasids because he was the master and chief of the Alawids and the imam of Muslim at that time. Now, let us come back to the last days of Imam Abu Muhammad (a.s.). Appointing Imam Al-Mahdi as the Next Imam Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.) is the hope, not only for Muslims, but for all oppressed human beings who suffer slavery, oppression, and subjection.

He is the Savior who will free the will of man and save peoples and nations from the oppression of the corruptive regimes who have turned this world into unbearable hell. Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.) was and is a great miracle in Islam.

Allah concealed his birth, as he had concealed the birth of Prophet Moses (a.s.), because the Abbasid government looked for him… and in his remaining alive (in occultation) throughout the long stages of life is also a miracle for Islam, and in his reappearance and announcing the pure principles of Islam is another miracle too. The following are some of the traditions transmitted from Imam Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Askari (a.s.) concerning the Imamate of his son al-Mahdi (a.s.).

Ahmad bin Isaaq bin Sa’eed al-Ash’ari said, “Once, I went to Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Ali (a.s.) intending to ask him about the successor after him. He said to me before I asked him, ‘O Ahmad bin Isaaq, Allah the Almighty did not deprive the earth since He created Adam, and He will not deprive it until the Day of Resurrection, of an authority over His people.

By him (the authority) distresses are pushed away from the people of the earth, by him rain falls down, and by him the blessings of the earth are emitted.’ I said to him, ‘O son of the messenger of Allah, who is the imam and successor after you?’ He got up hastily and went in the house.

Then, he came out holding a three-year-old boy, whose face was (bright) like a full moon, on his shoulder and said, ‘O Ahmad, were it not for your honor near Allah the Almighty and near His authorities, I would not show you my this son. He was named and surnamed like the messenger of Allah (a.s.). He will fill the earth with justice and fairness after it has been filled with injustice and oppression. O Ahmad, he, in this nation, is like al-Khidhr (Elijah) and Thul Qarnayn.