Why do we pray for the Awaited Imam, and does he benefit from our supplication?

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful

All the supplications for the Relief (al-faraj) contain a supplication for the Imam, the Master of the Affair (Sahib al-Amr) (aj), whether for relief, for victory, for protection, or otherwise. The narrations have explicitly stated the necessity of praying for him for relief, victory and the like; indeed, they have called for doing so abundantly, as in the noble rescript (tawqīʿ): (And pray abundantly for the hastening of the Relief, for that is your own relief), and as is the text of the transmitted supplications.

Praying for the Imam involves an exchange of benefit. An objection may be raised against benefit returning to the Infallible from the one who prays, on the grounds that the Infallible has reached the utmost limit of bestowal, so there is no sense in praying for him. However, this objection is refuted by the fact that the benefit comes only from Allah the Exalted, and the one who prays is an intermediary—not for the origin of the benefit but for its increase. Indeed, if we reflected, we would know that this benefit is only due to (the Infallible’s striving and efforts). The claim that he has reached its ultimate limit is precisely where the problem lies, for Allah’s bestowal is unlimited, and whoever holds that the Infallible does not benefit from Allah’s bestowal will fall into the problem of limiting Allah’s power and limiting His dominion—exalted is Allah greatly above that!

Thus the matter of supplication is like the matter of supporting the Infallibles and serving them in this world.

From another angle, the one who prays undoubtedly benefits greatly from praying for the Infallible, in several respects, among them:

1- The one who prays chooses his position with regard to supporting the Imam, allegiance to him, and serving him. We know that Allah the Exalted supports the Imam and protects him, and that even if only one day remained of the world, Allah would prolong that day so that the Imam would reappear and fill it with equity and justice; but the one who prays aspires to be among those honored to be of the people who support the Imam.

2- Supplication, in the religious concept, does not mean merely asking, as may be understood from the language; rather, it is an asking that includes affirmation. The one who prays supplicates with contents he regards as important within the system of his faith. So if he says, as in Duʿaʾ al-Iftitah: (O Allah, make him mighty and grant might through him; help him and grant victory through him; and help him with a mighty help), he is affirming what he believes: that the Imam is granted victory and that Allah the Exalted will grant him victory, and he looks forward to that day.

3- Supplication, for the believer, is not confined to being a request for the fulfillment of a need; rather, its benefit is connected with the Hereafter, because it is one of the acts of worship, as the Exalted has said: “Your Lord has said, ‘Call Me, and I will hear you!’ Indeed those who are disdainful of My worship will enter hell in utter humiliation.” (Qurʾan 40:60). The believer needs his Lord and must acknowledge that need, and even if the supplication is not answered for him for some wisdom, its reward is stored up for him in the Hereafter.

He is rewarded for praying for himself, and he is rewarded more for praying for others; as for his praying for his Imam, its reward is greater and greater still.

4- Praying for the Imam, al-Hujjah, the Awaited (aj), for relief, protection and the like, has one of the greatest benefits in this world, namely the preservation of faith and belief: Allah the Exalted keeps [the one who prays] firm in his faith in his Imam, so that he does not deviate from him toward false claimants and the people of deviation. It has been narrated from Imam al-ʿAskari (a): (By Allah, he will surely go into an occultation in which none will be saved from perdition except one whom Allah Almighty keeps firm in professing his Imamate and grants success in praying for the hastening of his relief).

There are many benefits that may become apparent to one who reflects on the contents of the supplications and the noble narrations; we shall confine ourselves to this. We ask Allah the Exalted to hasten the relief of our master, al-Hujjah ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi—may our souls be his ransom.

Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi