It also seems that the continuation of the house arrest encouraged the
Imams to find a means which might release them from its
restrictions. From the years 245‑250/859‑64 onwards
statements related on the authority of al‑Hadi and
al‑`Askari, indicating that an unnamed Twelfth Imam
would go into concealment, were circulating amongst the
Imamites. Furthermore al‑Hadi and al‑`Askari ordered
their close agents to follow the instructions of `Uthman
b. Said al`Umari and his son Abu Ja`far (i.e. the first
and the second safrs). It appears therefore that
outwardly and historically the Imam's first concealment
grew from the desire of his fathers to evade the
surveillance of the government of the day, so that he
could safely perform the duties of the Imama.
E) An attempt has been made in‑this study to prove that the eleventh
Imam, al‑`Askari, left a single male successor, whose
name was Muhammad and who was smuggled by his father
from Samarra to Medina in 259/873. He was the Twelfth
Imam and his concealment began during the years
260‑329/874‑941. This was regarded as his first
occultation, during which he continued to carry out his
activities without disclosing his identity or his
whereabouts, except to his four Saf’irs and certain
select followers.
The first occultation was distinguished by the widening of the role of
the Wikala. Throughout this period the four safrs
directed the Imamites' activities. Their names were
`Uthman b. Said al‑`Umari, Abu Ja’far Muhammad b.
`Uthman, al‑Husayn b. Ruh al-Nawbakhti and 'Ali b.
Muhammad al‑Sammari. Baghdad was the centre of
activities for the saf r, who had agents in other
provinces, beneath whom were many local agents.
A critical study of this period reveals that the main function of the
Saf’irs was to perform certain tasks previously
undertaken by the Imams so as to save the Imam from the
political pressure of the `Abbasids, which had been
directed toward his predecessors from the time of
al‑Ma'mun. The split amongst the Imamites after the
death of al‑ `Askari in 260/8741ed the first and the
second Saf’irs to concentrate their efforts upon
re‑uniting the Imamite ranks by proving the existence of
the Twelfth Imam and emphasizing that he was al-Qa’im
al‑Mahdi; that is, he who would undertake the
elimination of oppressive government by militant means.
While the Imam was in hiding the role of the Saf’ir continued to increase
so that by the time of the fourth Saf’ir, his statements
began to be regarded as the statements of the Imam
himself. It seems that the increased role of the Saf’ir
was the result of the instructions of the Imam himself,
who wanted his followers to accept the leadership of the
jurists until the. moment of his reappearance.
F) On the death of the fourth Saf’ir in 329/941 no further Saf’ir was
appointed and all direct communications with the Imam
came to an end, which meant the end of the Imamite
Wikala. This was also considered the beginning of the
second occultation. At this stage the Imamites expected
the Imam's reappearance in the near future, and as a
result none of the jurists dared to act on behalf of the
Imam.
However the prolongation of the occultation led them to attempt to fill
the vacuum left by the death of the fourth Saf’ir. They
turned their attention to theological matters and became
the leaders of the Imamites in this field. Gradually
they came to be seen as the hidden Imam's indirect
deputies, who were leading the community and instructing
in the law during his occultation.
Finally the concealment of the Twelfth Imam seems to have been closely
connected with two important phenomena:
Firstly, with the occurrence of the second occultation, most of the
Shiite revolts, particularly those of the Zaydite and
the Imamites, gradually disappeared.
Secondly, when the Imams were openly living amongst their followers, they
suffered along with them from the oppression of the
government, which was suspicious of their ambitions. But
after the second occultation this oppression all but
disappeared, and the Imamite jurists (Fuqaha) began to
carry out their activities without encountering the
difficult conditions faced by their predecessors. This
encouraged one to put forward the idea that Imams were
throughout their lives trying to recover their usurped
right, the political leadership of the Islamic state, by
means which they believed to be correct and legal, while
after the second occultation this task fell upon the
Imamites themselves under the leadership of the Fuqaha;
a situation which has continued until the present day.
In other words, as long as the Muslims are not ready for such political
transformation the rise of the hidden Imam, the expected
Mahdi, will be far. During his occultation it is the
task of his followers in particular the Fuqaha' to make
Muslims ready for this transformation. They should
struggle to make them true committed Muslims practicing
the shari`a in its true sense in their daily life and in
all aspects of society. The Fuqaha 'should convince the
Muslims that their rightful leader is the hidden Imam,
the expected Mahdi, who was divinely appointed and that
he acquired this title, the Mahdi, because he will be
`guided' by Allah and will guide men to undertake a
spiritual and political transformation of society.
Before the reappearance of the hidden Imam, the Fuqaha’ can assume
political authority in order to disseminate the above
tasks and to implement the rules of the shari `a.
Chapter 9:
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