Essentials of Constructive Waiting

Question: What is the right and constructive waiting?

Answer: The right and constructive waiting is “the best act before Allah”[1] and “the most virtuous worship”.[2] A waiting man “is more virtuous than the people of any time”[3].

The right and constructive waiting is of many kinds few examples of which we will cite below:

1. Motivation for Movement

[Terminologically] waiting means hoping and desiring.[4] No doubt, hope and desire are among the most influential causes of movement. The substantial element of hope is ‘optimism’ concerning man’s future and the power that backs it. It is based on Allah’s giving a tiding about the final victory of the oppressed and good doers. The holy Quran says: "And we desired to bestow a favor upon those who were deemed weak in the land and to make them the imams and to make them the heirs"[5]. Also it says: "And surely we wrote in the Book after the reminder that as for the land, My righteous servants shall inherit it."[6]

The infallible Imams have also encouraged men to exercise waiting and hoping avoiding despondency and disappointment. Imam Ali (a.s.) says: “Wait for the reappearance [of Imam Mahdi (a.s.)] and do not despair of Allah’s blessing”. [7]

If monotheist and anti-oppression fighters remove the mighty element of ‘hope’ from their life, they will lack motivation to go ahead with their holy war, as they will find their resistance on a path, that leads to uncertainty, as irrational[8].

The holy Quran says: And despair not of Allah’s mercy; surely none despairs of Allah’s mercy except the unbelievers[9].

Disappointment is the most specious slaughterhouse Satan has setup in the way of man to slaughter all human values and virtues. Disappointment is equal to bidding farewell with the most secret of secrets of man’s creation that is covering the cycle of evolution.

Constructive waiting is a chandelier that enlightens and decorates dark corridors of the heart of a waiting man making it a pathway of sensation, jihad, movement, resistance, sacrifice and martyrdom. Thus waiting has a close tie with movement, as movement is the output of waiting and waiting a guide for movement[10].

2. Seeking Reform and Rejecting Oppression

A waiting man must strive to reform himself and his society, establishing justice and fighting against oppression and infringement. A person, who waits for the reappearance of a global reformist, must be himself reformed and reformist.

Religious doctrines lay great stress on the necessity of struggle against any kind of moral, political and social corruption in the form of commanding of good and forbidding of evil.

From the view point of jurisprudence, commanding of good and forbidding of evil is a general religious duty. The implementation of this duty ends directly in reform. The one who does the act of reform is called a reformist.

The Quran says: "You are the best of the nations raised up for men; you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in Allah"[11].

The Messenger of Allah said: “You must command good and forbid evils. Otherwise the worst and the most wicked of you will rule over the benevolent and pious. As a result, the supplication of your good doers will not get accepted[12].

The satisfaction of Hazrat Mahdi (may Allah quicken his reappearance) also lies in the implementation of good and prevention of evil. Thus a waiting man, especially Muslim youths, must not be indifferent towards this duty. After reappearing, Imam Mahdi himself will be the first among those who command good and forbid evil. Needless to say a waiting society does want the satisfaction of Mahdi. It follows him, implementing divine laws without any lethargy or indifference.

3. Guardian of faith

One of the great duties of the age of waiting is to guard Islam and protect its ideological borders. The light of faith and certainty must be kept alive in the hearts of people. The hearts of youngsters must be set against the rays of right beliefs. Faith must constitute a part of their existence warming up, like blood, their bodies and keeping up their lives.

During the age of waiting, one must be tough in the face of skepticisms raised by overt and covert satans and remove them from one’s mind [if they happen to enter it]. The protection and spread of religious faith and knowing it is more necessary in the age of occultation [than in the age of the Imam’s presence], as during the time connected to the time of reappearance all those who are pious and faithful get lost in the events that precede reappearance. Right beliefs and actions must continue among those who wait until Imam Mahdi reappears. Traditions have also attached importance to faith at the time of occultation.

The holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “You are my companions, though my brothers are those who will come during the last time. They believe in my prophecy and religion though they have not seen me… Each one of them keeps his faith with as much difficulty as one peels off a thorny branch at night or keeps a burning wood in his hand. They serve as burning torches in the darkness. Allah will save them from the chaotic situation of the last time[13].

 Addressing Abu Khalid Kabuli, Imam Zain al-Ubidin said: “Oh Abu Khalid, those who live during the time of occultation while waiting and believing, are better than the people of all times. They are given so much knowledge by Allah, that the absence of the Imam is like his presence before them. Allah has equalized between these people and those who fought along with the holy prophet at the advent of Islam. They are really sincere and are real Shiites. They are those who invite people to Allah’s religion (overtly and covertly)”[14]. This strong faith must continue to remain alive in societies until the time of reappearance.

4. The Reason behind Shiites’ Resistance and Survival

Constructive waiting is one of the most important factors behind resistance and patience. It supports Muslims, especially Shiites in the face of oppressions and corruptions so that they can resist the enemies of Islam and remain firm in their beliefs. This is an invaluable psychological wealth for the awaiters[15]. 

 Considering waiting as an important factor behind Shiites’ resistance and survival, James Darmister, a French orientlist said: “After offering afternoon prayer at Hilla, a place near Baghdad, every day one hundred persons used to visit the governor with barren swards taking a saddled horse from him crying 'O Imam Mahdi, come out”. He says: “One can kill such groups but one cannot rule them[16]”.

In the glorious history of Shiites, the most important factor behind Shiites’ resistance against oppressive governments was waiting and believing in the reappearance of Imam Mahdi. Ayatollah Saafi says: “Ever since the death of the prophet of Islam and the martyrdom of Imam Ali and Imam Husain until now the root cause of all Shiite movements against falsehood and colonizers has been the social philosophy of waiting and believing in struggle against falsehood till absolute victory.”[17]

5. Adornment with justice

  Awaiters must adorn themselves with the ornament of justice and piety. Professor Hakimi says: “Those who await the Mahdi await the advent of a universal just government. They must be constantly the examples of justice and justice seeking”[18]. Quran says: Act equitably, that is nearer to piety and be careful of your duty to Allah…[19]

If a person inculcates the habit of justice in himself through avoiding sin and observing piety, institutionalizing this moral wont through adjusting his psychological powers he can harmonize himself with modern monotheist civilization that will be created by Mahdi during the age of reappearance and establishment of absolute justice.

Further Reading

1.      Dr. Ali Qaemi, Waiting, the Cause of Resistance and Movement, Qom, Shafaq.

2.      Co-authors: Waiting in the Mirror of Thoughts, Qom, Bunyad Fahangi Hazrat Mahdi.

3.      Mahdaviyat and Waiting for Mahdi’s Reappearance (especially intended for preachers), Sazman e Tablighat e Islami, Nima e Sha’aban, 1416 AH.

A Closing Hadith

The holy prophet of Islam says: “Any one who dies while not knowing his Imam has died as an ignorant”.[20]