In the previous chapters we talked about Occultation and its philosophy. Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.) will come back when we are ready and he will fill the world with justice when his path is paved. People could prepare the world for his deliverance but since they follow the Devil and so not obey Koran and Guardianship of Imams, Crimes and evil have filled the world. Now we live in a world full of crimes and corruptions, far away from humanity and morality, and everyday the situation gets worse. This dark time which is the result of our deeds during the Occultation has been previously informed by Imams. Imam Sadeq (p.b.u.h.) says:
“[A time comes] when you see cruelty is widespread, Koran is neglected and interpreted by temptations and desires, followers of evil pass the faithful, the faithful keep silent, the ties of kinship are torn, flattering words are a lot, no one takes the roads of good but take the evil roads, permitted things become forbidden and forbidden things become permitted, a lot of money is spent on things which God has forbidden, bribery has become prevalent among people, bad entertainments are widespread that no one dares to stop them, hearing the truth of Koran is difficult for people but the wrong ideas are popular, people go to Hajj but hot for God’s sake, they become merciless, if one tries to promote the good and admonish the evil, others advise him that is not his duty, and every year a new heresy and corruption appears. [When you see that time] be careful and ask God to help you get out of this situation [because your relief and his deliverance are near].
However, this is a portrait which shows dominant atmosphere of those days, but there are still real faithful who do not surrender to the circumstances and stay loyal to their vow with Allah. They not only avoid the corruption in the society, but also ask other to do so and since they believe with distribution of good. We shall have a pure society which is ready for Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.)’s deliverance, they make all efforts to prepare the situation for that auspicious event. They are the best of Muslims who are referred to in many Hadiths as the best followers of Imam (p.b.u.h.). There is a wrong idea which says if we let the world to be full of cruelty and corruption, Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.) will come sooner. However this is not acceptable, for Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.) reappears, when he has some true followers, and if we let the world to be corrupted. How can we expect faithful followers of Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.) to appear in the world? On the other hand keeping silent when we see evil is completely rejected in Islam and it is naive to think that promoting the evil helps more than promoting the good to make the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.) closer. Ordering to good and admonishing from the evil is an absolute duty for all Muslims which shall not be forgotten what so ever. There fore, we cannot conclude that to hasten Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.) we can promote evil.
The holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) says:
“There shall be some among my people [at the end of days] who will be rewarded like pioneers of my time. They order to good and admonish from evil, and fight with followers of evil deeds.”
Another point is the emphasis on “The world, being full of cruelty and injustice”, which is mentioned in many Hadiths. But it does not mean that all the people should be cruel for reappearance of Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.). There should be still faithful who stay steadfast in the path of truth. The world on the threshold of Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.)’s reappearance will be dark and full of evil but when he comes back all difficulties shall be finished. Being pure and faithful is one of absolute duties which real expectants should consider, because it hastens his reappearance. For the last words let us narrate a Hadith of Imam Mahdi (p.b.u.h.):
“Nothing separates our Shiites from us except those deeds which we do not like and do not expect them to do such things.”