Peace be upon you, our honorable Sayed
What are the rational proofs for establishing the Occultation?
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In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings
Regarding what you asked about the rational proofs for establishing the Occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (aj)..
The rational proof for establishing that can be conceived in two ways:
The first: the proof that examines the rational possibility of the Occultation occurring.
The second matter: relying on reason to establish the Occultation itself. This must be preceded by faith in the first doctrinal premises.. for what comes later cannot be established except after faith in what comes before.
As for the first—establishing possibility—it is of three kinds:
1/ Reason and science do not preclude the human species being kept alive for a very long time, if the suitable conditions for that are available.. Humanity has passed through historical eras in which a human being lived for hundreds of years, reaching a thousand years..
The Holy Qurʾan spoke about Noah and how long he lived among his people, in the verse “Certainly We sent Noah to his people, and he remained with them for a thousand-less-fifty years. Then the flood overtook them while they were wrongdoers.” (Qurʾan 29:14)
Here we take a Qurʾanic passage not to argue for the occurrence, but as a historical account proving that, for man as a species, remaining for a long time is not impossible..
So there is no rational impediment to that.. This is first..
2/ If we add the absence of an impediment to the power of Allah the Exalted to raise a human being up and preserve him throughout long years, this course will be strengthened..
For Allah has power over all things.. and we should not forget this. And if He has power over all things from a rational standpoint, then we must search for reliable transmitted reports in order to establish by them the occurrence of the Occultation.. So the inquiry after that becomes a transmitted (naqlī) inquiry, but it is among what reason puts forward.
3/ Has that happened before? This is a question that strengthens faith in the Occultation, places it within the scope of rational possibility, and makes accepting it easier.
We find that Allah the Exalted said about Jesus son of Mary: “When Allah said, ‘O Jesus, I shall take you[r soul], and I shall raise you up toward Myself, and I shall clear you of [the calumnies of] the faithless...’” (Qurʾan 3:55). The scholars, Sunni and Shiʿi, are unanimous that Allah the Exalted took Jesus without death and raised him to Himself.. and he is alive and provided for to this day.. so his presumed age is longer than the presumed age of Imam al-Mahdi..
Reliable reports from both sides have informed us that Jesus son of Mary is the one promised to appear at the end of time..
Here several matters have been established for us concerning the Occultation itself:
1/ It is not rationally impossible, 2/ it is within the power of Allah the Exalted, 3/ and its like has occurred before.
As for the second matter that we mentioned at the beginning, it is that beliefs are rationally sequential.. and one must have faith in what comes before in order to believe in what comes after..
For example, we believe in Allah the Exalted through reason as an existent, because every existence has a bringer-into-existence and every created thing has a creator; and we believe that the Creator is one, rationally, because the cosmic order is in complete harmony,
After this faith, Allah sent us the Prophet (s), and we believed in him because of the proofs of truthfulness he brought. Then he designated the Imams after him by choice from Allah. Just as Allah chose the religion for us and chose the prophets, likewise He chose the successors (awṣiyāʾ) for His religion, so that (the religion would have infallible pillars and fixed foundations) that do not swerve from the truth; and these pillars and fixed foundations—namely (the religion, the Prophet, the successor (the Imam)—are the guides to the truth, and by them things are measured..
Once faith in that is complete, we then believe the Prophet (s), because he is the truthful and trustworthy one from Allah the Exalted, and “Nor does he speak out of [his own] desire: it is just a revelation that is revealed [to him],” (Qurʾan 53:3–4) as the Qurʾan said.. So we must look into what the Prophet (s) said about Imam al-Mahdi (aj) so that the picture may be complete..
And if we believe in the successors after him—they are the twelve Infallibles, about whom the Prophet (s) said: (The caliphs after me are twelve, all of them from Quraysh), according to what has come in al-Bukhari as well.. then we must believe in their sayings..
So here the rational proof came at the beginning, then proceeded in sequence to the transmitted proof—but it is among what reason puts forward—because reason holds that if you want to climb a ladder, you must take the first step..