Say, “None in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except Allah, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected.” (Qur’an 27:65)
A Shia scholar from the 12er Shi’i of Islam (as opposed to the Zaydi Shia or Ismaili Shia) has made an interesting observation about the so called ‘Mahdi’.
Mash’Allah look at this man. He certainly has the passage of time on his face. You know as people get older they often say things that they wanted to say before but didn’t. As each of us approaches death, we become more concerned with what Allah (swt) thinks of us and less concerned with what people think of us.
Imam Muhammad Asif Muhsini said in his book “Mashra`at Bihar al-Anwar”,volume 1 page 408:
الغيبة التي امتدت أكثر من ألف سنة وربما تمتد إلى آلاف أو ملايين السنين. فإن المؤمنين لم ينتفعوا ولا ينتفعون من إمامهم الغائب – عجل الله تعالى فرجه – في الأصول والفروع ، وما يقال بخلاف ذلك فهو تخيل وتوهم ولعب بالعقول
[This Ghaybah that has taken more than a thousand years and maybe it shall keep going for thousands or millions of years. The believers living in it did not and do not benefit from their hidden Imam(may Allah hasten his appearance) in Usool or Furu`, and all else which is said is nothing but illusions and imaginations and playing with people’s minds.]
Muhammad Asif Muhsini said in the same book volume 2 page 223:
ولا يمكن القول بانتفاعنا منه عليه السلام في زمن الغيبة في الأمور الدينية إلا ممن سلب الله عقله
[It is not possible for us to say that we benefit from him (peace be upon him) in religious matters during his Ghaybah, except those whom Allah has robbed them of intellect.]
Finally, Muhammad Asif Muhsini said in footnote #1, in volume 1 page 82:
وأي فائدة لهذه الأحكام المخزونة عند الأئمة: والمكلفون يحرمون منها في أكثر من ألف سنة ولعله في ألف مليون سنة
[And what benefit does this knowledge stored with Imams hold: when the Mukallafoun (Shia) are deprived of it for more than a thousand years, and maybe it’ll last for a billion years.]So yes you can imagine as women get raped and murdered and children become fatherless, and mosque becomes decimated and the landfills the cup with the injustice that this so-called ‘hidden Imam’ is somewhere waiting for just the right moment………getting ready and prepared…………some time……….any time…..or maybe waiting for the Mahdi is just a waste of time.
Prima Quran 
Great find, brother. When I was introduced to many of these Shi`a concepts, back in my LiveJournal days (throwback!), I remember wondering how this made sense to my brothers and sisters in the Shi`a persuasion. How could Allah swt put in place an infallible imam system and then the final imam would be occulted for a thousand plus years… It pointed to some hasty story-writing, IMO.
What I discovered during Covid-19 craziness is that many, many, MANY ancient religious traditions use this deus ex machina approach to eschatology. Christians, of course, and Muslims of most persuasions, but they aren’t the first and they aren’t the last. Assume nobody is coming, and that the world is not ending during your lifetime, and continue planting that tree. Just as our beloved prophet (saaws) instructs us to do. Live each day as though it is your last. Make it count. And Allah swt knows best.
“What I discovered during Covid-19 craziness is that many, many, MANY ancient religious traditions use this deus ex machina approach to eschatology. ”
“Assume nobody is coming, and that the world is not ending during your lifetime, and continue planting that tree. Just as our beloved prophet (saaws) instructs us to do. Live each day as though it is your last.”
Yess mashAllah. That is it exactly.
Love the deux ex machina example. Brilliant!