Islam Guidance

Undergoing hardships for achieving success

Undergoing hardships for achieving success

It must be understood that success will not be gained easily. It will be achieved only after undergoing a lot of trouble and discomfort.

 Mufazzal, one of the companions of Imam Ja'far al Sadiq (P) says: "Once we were talking about the Mahdi in the presence of the Imam. I said that I hoped that he would succeed easily. The Imam said:

 "No, it will not be so. Success will not be attained except through sweat and blood".

 In other words success will be attained after making great efforts and undergoing heavy losses.

 A companion of Imam Muhammad al Baqir (P) says:

 "I told the Imam that it was said that the Mahdi would have a smooth sailing and would not have to shed a single drop of blood". The Imam said: "No, it will not be so. If the things could run so smoothly, by Him in whose hands my life is, the Prophet of Islam would not have been wounded and his teeth would not have been broken in a battle. No, that's not possible. By Allah! there is no way out, but that you and we are submerged in our own sweat and blood".

 This means that the leaders as well as their supporters have to make sacrifices before they are successful.

 Imam ja'far al Sadiq (P) is also reported to have said:

 "I see the Mahdi and his companions as if they are threatened by danger from all sides: their supplies have exhausted; their clothes have worn out; their foreheads bear the mark of prostration; during the day they are as courageous as a lion and during the night they are busy in the adoration of Allah; and their hearts are like solid pieces of iron".

 Anyhow, all these sacrifices and hardships will have a happy end.

 Imam ja'far al Sadiq (P) has said:

 "It is true that the righteous always lead a hard life. But the end of their hardship is not far off".

 Nevertheless the success of the Mahdi will be largely due to invisible Divine help. Many traditions bear witness to that.

 As a result of these sacrifices and the Divine help real Islamic rule will be established. These are some of the reports which throw light on the doctrinal and social system which will follow.

 Explaining the Qur'anic verse, It is Allah who sent His Messenger with guidance and true religion that He might make it victorious over all religions, howsoever the unbelievers might be averse, Imam al Sadiq (P) said: "This verse will come true only during the time of the Mahdi, when the unbelievers will no longer exist".

 At present Islam has been surrounded by some people with so many myths and doubts that it appears to be some different religion. This position will continue till the Mahdi rises.

 Imam ja'far al Sadiq (P) has said:

 "As soon as the Mahdi rises, he will introduce a new system as the Prophet had done in the beginning of Islam".

 Imam ja'far al Sadiq (P) is also reported to have said:

 "The Mahdi will do what the holy Prophet had done. He will smash the existing system in the same way as the holy Prophet had shattered the pre‑Islamic pagan system, and replaced it by Islam".

 The new system introduced by the Mahdi will be so queer to some of those who claim to be the champions of religion and to be having full knowledge of it, that they will pick up a row against him, but they will not be able to resist the divine world movement and will be annihilated.

 At the end of a detailed talk, Imam Baqir (P) said:

 "On an occasion when the Mahdi will be busy narrating Divine commands and speaking about the practice of the holy Prophet and the Imams, an attack on him will be arranged from within the places of worship. The Imam will order his followers to arrest the insurgents and put them to death. This will be the last hostile action against the Mahdi".

 When the evil‑doers will have been crushed and the correct Islamic attitude popularised, the atmosphere will become conducive to intellectual growth and expansion of knowledge.

 Imam Ali (P) is reported to have said:

"I see a large number of tents pitched, and people under them being taught the Qur'an in the same order in which it was revealed".

 In the course of a talk about that period Imam Muhammad al Baqir (P) said:

 "Knowledge will become so common that even women will give decisions on the basis of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the holy Prophet".

 Knowledge in various fields will expand. The total of the discoveries of the past will bear no comparison to the discoveries made during that period. According to a report, Imam Ja'far al Sadiq (P) explained the position allegorically. He said: "If the total of possible human knowledge is supposed to be seventy two letters, two letters will have been known up to that time and the remaining seventy will be discovered gradually during that period".

 In respect of the intellectual and moral development of the people, Imam Muhammad al Baqir (P) has said:

 "When our Qaim will rise and the people will come under his protection, their intellectual faculties will bloom and their human qualities will be perfected and will bear fruit".

 During that period the under‑privileged masses will be the masters of the power and wealth of the world. Many reports say that the following verse relates to that period: "We willed to show favor to those who were persecuted in the land and make them rulers and heirs o f the land, and give them power and wealth of the earth ". (Surah al‑Qasas, 28:5).

Thus the power and authority of the tyrants and the self‑seekers will come to an end and justice will be restored everywhere under a new system.

 "He will fill the earth with justice after it had been filled with injustice and tyranny".

 "The Qaim will enjoin justice. During his time injustice will be done away with. Roads will be safe. Rights will be restored".

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