Commencement of Imam Mahdi’s Imamate (Part 4)

After this followed a dark period because no safeer was left to directly approach the Imam Mahdi (A.S). It is also related that Imam himself told his last Safeer that there will not be any more appointments of Sofara.

 In answering those who question the usefulness of the Imam in concealment, there are numerous occasions mentioned in books of many Ulemas, such as Shaikh Mufid (d413 Hijri) Allama Hilli (d. 726) /shahid Thalith Noorullah Shoostry (d.1019). They have mentioned in their own period as to how the 12th Imam was approached and gave help.

All these stories are mentioned in their own books. Here in this book I would like to mention two such occurrences that happened to those who have told their experiences to me personally. Both of them are now dead and it is important for me to tell these happenings before my own death. I lived in Najaf in the fifties and during my stay there I used to visit Karbala nearly every week. In the town of Karbala there was a Dispensary run by the Pakistan Government. The Pharmacist there was one Mr.Rizvi who not only distributed medicine to the poor of Karbala but also looked after the patients and sometimes even prescribed medicine for them. There was no qualified doctor to attend to the patient. Mr.Rizvi used to go to Baghdad on Friday to get stocks from the Hospital there. On one such occasion when he was coming back by Minibus, the Bus driver stopped at Mehmudiya, half way Karbala. It was late in the evening. The Bus Driver told the passenger’s that there was something wrong with the Bus engine and he could not proceed until next morning. The passengers would have to provide for their own Board and lodging themselves for the night. Mr.Rizvi was very upset. He had a box load of medicine with him and if he would not be in Karbala, the next morning his patients would be disappointed and some of them might have to go without any medicine. He was standing by the Road side, in this little town Mehmudiya, some 40 miles from Karbala. Night was getting darker. People were sitting in dark coffee houses drinking coffee or playing card games etc. As time passed his worries increased. He realized that if he does not move from there soon, some youngsters might come and vandalize his goods and stocks of medicine. So he prayed to God and the words uttered were “Ya Sahebuz Zaman Adrikny” O’ Imam of the Time, help me. Moments later, he saw a jeep car stopped right there where he was standing and a very good looking young Arab gentleman got out of the Jeep and told him, “Do you want to go to Karbala”? He was astonished at this help and said yes; of course I want to go to Karbala. He said, “Put your box in the car and sit beside me”. The man drove the car and arrived in Karbala an hour later. Without asking him the address of his destination he took him straight to the door of the Dispensary and stopped. Mr.Rizvi got down, brought his box of medicine down and started to look for some money in his pocket to give something to the Driver of the Jeep. When he turned to look for him, there was nothing there. There was no jeep car, no man, nothing. The road was completely empty. He bowed down on the dust of Karbala to thank God for sending the help through the Imam of the Time. He told me this story personally and he had no doubt in his mind that the help came from the 12th Imam. From that time onward his devotion towards helping the people of Karbala had increased a hundred fold. He died some years later while still helping his patients in that little Dispensary in Karbala.

Source: coiradio.com

Other links:

Imam Al-Mahdi: The Awaited Hope for Humanity: Part 1

Imam Al-Mahdi: The Awaited Hope for Humanity: Part 2

The significance and the purpose of specifying the signs

The sudden nature of the advent of al-Qaim (A.S)

The signs before reappearance of al-Mahdi (A.S)