The Imams of the Prophet’s Household invalidate and demolish the doctrine of occultation—from within Imāmī heritage itself Part 2
After you have learned how the reports of the Sharīʿa demolish and oppose the doctrine of occultation, and after you have seen—within Imāmī heritage itself, through narrations deemed authentic by their own standards—how Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) declared that it is not permissible for the earth to be without an Imam from the Household for even a single day, to whom the Ummah turns in distress—something that contradicts and undermines occultation—here Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) returns to further clarify its demolition and refutation, again from within Imāmī heritage.
Al-Ṣaffār narrates, with an authentic chain according to Imāmī criteria, from Yaʿqūb al-Sarrāj, who said:
I said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him): “Can the earth be without a living, manifest scholar from among you, to whom people turn in distress concerning what is lawful and unlawful?”
He replied:
“O Abū Yūsuf! No. Indeed, that is clear in the Book of God, the Exalted, where He says: ‘O you who believe, be patient and vie in patience … and remain stationed (rābiṭū) with your Imam …’”
[Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt: 507]
Again, pardon us, O Abū ʿAbd Allāh—may God’s blessings be upon you in all the worlds—for the Imāmīs rebut your own words:
For the earth has indeed been without a manifest Imam-scholar, with whom the Shiʿa keep station, not for a single day but for twelve centuries—approximately 421,438 days.
The report is authentic—by Imāmī standards.
If someone says: There are other reports that establish occultation among the Imāmīs.
We reply: There are many reports that establish this report both in wording and meaning within Imāmī heritage; indeed, there are nearly a thousand narrations concerning deficiency and alteration of the Qur’an—a dark heritage upon which no sound, knowledge-producing scholarly conclusion can be built.
If someone says: We turn in distress to Imāmī jurists, and that suffices.
We reply: That suffices you in terms of your sectarian claim, but it contradicts the words of Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him). You are followers of Zurārah, al-Mufīd, and al-Ṣadūq—not followers of al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him). He says: a manifest scholar-Imam with whom people remain stationed; while you say: rather, he is absent. He further affirms (peace be upon him) that people turn to him in matters of lawful and unlawful; while you say: rather, turning in distress is to the jurists. So which following of the Household have you followed?!
When some people become accustomed to twisting the clear meaning of speech away from its path and indication toward meanings that serve the sect rather than the truth, that person is one who has “absorbed the calf into his heart”; “They are nothing but like cattle; rather, they are even further astray in way.” At that point he becomes an example of lack of scholarly maturity, lack of responsibility, and lack of scrupulousness before God. Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) used to complain about the early Imāmīs who would enter upon him, hear his words, then distort them from their proper meaning; for that reason he cursed the likes of Zurārah, Muʾmin al-Ṭāq, Burayd al-ʿIjlī, and others. An example of this is how one hears all kinds of distortions and irresponsibility—and lack of scrupulousness—in explaining Imam al-Ṣādiq’s (peace be upon him) emphatic affirmation of the doctrine that the earth does not lack a manifest Imam (claiming that this does not contradict the earth being without a manifest Imam for twelve centuries!!). And his affirmation (peace be upon him), together with the attribute of manifestness, that the Ummah turns to him in distress is itself distorted into saying that turning in distress is to the jurists—as if the reader is being taken for a fool by this distortion and this repugnant partisanship!
May God grant you success.
O God, send prayers and peace upon Muḥammad and upon the family of Muḥammad.
Translation of Ustadh Kadhim Al Zaydi (May Allah reward him)