Philosophy Of Ghaybah 1/14 - Learning From The Mistakes Of The Jews Of Madina

A'uzubillahi minash shaytanir rajeem. Bismillahir Rahmanin Rahim. Alhamdu lillaahi Rabbil 'aalameen, Al-Hamdulillahil lazee hadaanaa lihaaza wa maa kunna linahtadiya law laa ann hadaanal laahu, wassalaato wassalamo 'ala ashrafil ambiyai wal mursaleen, khaatimin nabiyeen, sayedinil mumajjad, basheerinil musaddaq, al-mustafal amjad mahmudil ahmad, abil Qasimi Muhammad (Allahumma Salle Alaa Muhammadin wa Aale Muhammad). Wa 'ala ahle bayte at-tayyibeen at-tahireenal ma'soomeen wa la'natullahi 'ala al-zalimeen minal-awwaleena wal akhireen. Amma baad, faqad qaalallahu subhanahu wa ta'ala fi Kitabihil Majeed wa Furqanihil Hameed wa qawlohul haq, Bismillahir Rahmanin Raheem. Wa lammaa jaaa'ahum Kitaabum min 'indil laahi musaddiqul limaa ma'ahum wa kaanoo min qablu yastaftihoona 'alal lazeena kafaroo falam maa jaaa'ahum maa 'arafoo kafaroo bih; fala' natul laahi 'alal kaafireen' (2:89). Aamanallah billah. Sadaqallahul Aliyul-Azeem. Salawat ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]

Awaited saviour of humanity, Imam Mahdi (as)[Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] my respected elders, brothers and sisters, Salam 'alaikum jamee'un wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. [wa aleykum assalam, warahmatullahi, wa barakatu] The verse that we have recited from Suratul Baqara, chapter number two of the Holy Quran, verse number 89, will be, InshaAllah, the archetype verse for the entirety of our series. This verse specifically relates to the Jewish community of the city of Medina at the time of the coming and the heralding of Rasul Allah Muhammad -Sallal-lahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]

In it is a very deep lesson that can be juxtaposed with the coming of the master and lord of our age, the awaited savior of humanity, Imam al-Mahdi 'ajjarallaho ta'ala wa faraja shareef [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] . Our series, inshaAllah, over these next 15 nights will be to look at the philosophy of the ghayba of the awaited savior of humanity in light of the ayaat of the Holy Qur'an and what our ahadeeth tell us.

Why does Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala choose this system of ghayba? How is this system the only and best system to ensure humanity's guidance? Tangibly and realistically speaking, how does one man who his name has generally not been heard around this world, whose religion of Islam is not accepted, whose madhhab of the school of Ahlul Bayt is very unknown. How does one man change this entire world?

How does he guide seven and a half billion people from every culture, every faith, every corner of this world in the realest sense? Does he do it with the sword? Does he sprinkle fairy dust over everybody and people just start reciting Dua Kumail on a Thursday night and start to do the ziyarat of Karbala? How does he really do it?

And so our discussions will be around the awaited savior and trying to ensure that he becomes a very real Imam for you and I. I use that word very specifically because, of course, I think all of us believe in the Imam, alayhis salaam. We do not doubt him. We do not doubt his existence or that he has been present for almost 1200 years. But when we speak of the Imam, it is very cloudy. There is a great deal of mist surrounding the realist actions.

What does he do on a week to week basis? Do we think that he spends his time going from ziyarah of Kufa to Karbala and back again and this is his week only? How do we make his presence come alive in our hearts? And how do we truly understand the responsibilities of this individual in this period that we live in? When he comes, what will be the relationships that he forges? What tools will he use to bring around this global shift in thinking? What are the events that must take place in order for the Imam to come?

When I say events, I do not mean those events that have been listed in the ahadeeth. We will not be discussing these sorts of events. We want to understand the philosophy of the ghayba itself and to understand how seven billion people of every denomination within this world, every individual thought process, will one day come to the realization that this human being is what is best for you and I.

The way in which we will do this, our methodology will be one, and that will be to analyze the methodology of Rasul Allah Mohammed - Sallal-lahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] And the reason for this is the most beautiful narration which comes to us from our sixth Imam, Imam Ja'far Al-Sadiq - salawatullah wa salamuhu 'alaih [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. He says: 'Al-Mahdi yasna'u kama san'a Rasul Allah - sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam'- Al-Mahdi acts just as Rasul Allah acted. If I understand the methodology that Rasul Allah used to liberate the people of his time, I will correctly understand the way in which Mahdi salamullah 'alaih will liberate the people of his time.

You see, if I was to say that Rasul Allah used the sword, primarily as some people in this world do say don't they? They will say that our Prophet used the sword and that's how he converted Arabia to Islam. Of course, this is incorrect. But if I was to say that, then I would translate that hadeeth, that al-Mahdi acts just as Rasul Allah acted, then Mahdi salamullah 'alaih will also use the sword to liberate this world. But if I was to bring the sword to you and say, convert, it's not a very long term solution, you are not convinced in your heart of the truth of Islam itself. Therefore, we have to understand the way in which Rasul Allah himself liberated communities, liberated minds.

What does the Quran say about how he began his movement? What were the differences between a Meccan community that was pagan, that was burying its daughters alive, different to a Medinan community that was very plural in its outlook. It had Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, Muslims and hypocrites all alike within its city. You cannot deal with the pagans the same way you do with Jews because their mindset is very different. If we correctly understand the way in which our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, achieved the liberation of so many minds, we will also understand the way in which the Imam of our time is going to do it.

Before we go into the verse and discuss the verse at hand, i want to leave you with a very small homework - to think about for this evening for yourselves and then inshaAllah, as we begin to discuss the real world that we live in today, when we talk about ISIS, Syria and Iraq, when we talk about what is happening in the world in Greece, when we understand Mahdi salamullah 'alaih, in light of modern events, we'll begin to understand how the Imam may begin to make his global Mahdian revolution.

I ask you to ponder upon this question: how does a human being liberate seven and a half billion minds? In the realest sense. You see, if an individual was to walk in here now, and give you any wisdom, you and I in our uniqueness, the way in which we interpret, the way in which we understand, how we have grown up, will impact the way you and I understand what that individual says.

How now does one individual convince and liberate a world so vast and different in their outlook? Think about the countries in South America, think about the people in the continent of Africa, think about people in China. How does this man do it? That one task - I want you for yourselves to ponder upon this evening inshaAllah when you have a chance today, tomorrow, and as we digest that question, you will begin to see how difficult a challenge the Imam - 'alaihissalam, has.

It's difficult enough for you and I to be convinced on this. What about a group of people that when they hear the word Islam or Sharia, they are so off-put by that notion. Yet you and I believe that the Imam will come, liberate minds and make seven and a half billion people welcome his version of Sharia. Did the whole of Arabia accept the Sharia of Rasul Allah? Why should seven and a half billion people accept the Sharia of his inheritor and grandson? Think about these questions tangibly for yourselves and then inshaAllah, we will begin to have this discussion in some depth under the guise of the philosophy of ghayba itself.

The verse that we have quoted is a very important verse for you and I to think about as the archetype for our series over these next two weeks inshaAllah. The verse comes to us from Suratul Baqarah verse number 89: Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala speaks to us about the Jews of Medina. Now, two points need to be made as we enter into the verse. The first one is that whenever you read any verse in the Quran about Banu Israel or the Jews of Medina, one of the reasons why Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has revealed that verse is to give an insight to the Muslim Ummah that you will, by and large, copy what the Jews of Banu Israel have done to Prophet Musa, alayhi assalam, and to the Prophets of their own community.

Why? So that we as a Muslim community may learn the lessons and the mistakes and the pitfalls that Banu Israel fell into so that you and I as a Muslim community do not fall into those very same pitfalls of the previous communities. Therefore, whenever you read any verse about Banu Israel, pause for a moment and ask yourself how it juxtaposes itself to the Muslim community, whether we have fallen foul of that same issue or whether we have not either as a Muslim community or as a Shia community in the global sense.

There is a very famous tradition that comes from the books of our brothers, the Ahlul Sunnah wal jama'a. And this comes to us from Rasul Allah Mohammad salallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] . It gives the most darkest of warnings. He says, 'You know what I fear for you most, Muslim community, that you will end up following the Jews and the Christians'. He says, 'I fear for you so much that you will follow the Jews and the Christians like animals follow each other into the burrows of their own little hives''.

You know, sometimes an animal will dig a hole and then jump into that hole. He says, 'I fear for you that you will follow the Jews and the Christians the same way animals follow each other and jump into their holes'. Like a rabbit or something of that kind. I fear that for you. It's very interesting. And so, so many of our ahadeeth tell us specifically that the examples of Banu Israel are like that of the Muslim community. This is the first thing.

The second thing is that when we quote this verse and we speak specifically about the Jews of Medina, this in no way is trying to be racist or prejudiced to the Jewish community. We're talking about what the Quran says about a historical event describing the Jews of that time. So it's not pointing fingers, as per point one, it is supposed to be you and I extracting a lesson from this particular verse. You find, for example, in Suratul Jum'a where Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says: مَثَلُ الَّذِيۡنَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوۡرٰٮةَ ثُمَّ لَمۡ يَحۡمِلُوۡهَا كَمَثَلِ الۡحِمَارِ يَحۡمِلُ اَسۡفَارًا​ ؕ بِئۡسَ مَثَلُ الۡقَوۡمِ الَّذِيۡنَ كَذَّبُوۡا بِاٰيٰتِ اللّٰهِ ​ؕ 'Mathalul ladheena hum milut tawraata thumma lam yahmiloonhaa kamathalil himaari yah milu asfaaraa; bi'sa mathalul qawmil lazeena kaadhdhaboo bi aayaatil laah', (62:5) - the similitude of those who have been given the Taurat are like that of donkeys. At one level, yes, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is lambasting those individuals from Banu Israel and the Jewish community, that you have forgotten the weight of your Book, the value of the book, just like the donkey that if it were to carry feathers one day to the market, and the next day the donkey was to carry jewels and diamonds on its back, the donkey would have no way to distinguish the value between day one and day two. The lesson is, O Muslims, don't become like those Jews from Banu Israel and also forget the value of your own Book.

So here, this verse is speaking about a historical context, but the lesson in which there is, is specifically for you and I in regards to the Imam of our time. What does the verse say? The verse says:

​وَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ كِتٰبٌ مِّنۡ عِنۡدِ اللّٰهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَهُمۡۙ وَكَانُوۡا مِنۡ قَبۡلُ يَسۡتَفۡتِحُوۡنَ عَلَى الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا

فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ مَّا عَرَفُوۡا کَفَرُوۡا بِهٖ​ فَلَعۡنَةُ اللّٰهِ عَلَى الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ‏ 

'Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Wa lammaa jaaa'ahum Kitaabum min 'indil laahi musaddiqul limaa ma'ahum' (2:89), - "and when there came to them" - who is them? The Jewish community of Madina. When there came to them their Prophet 'Wa lammaa jaaa'ahum Kitaabum min 'indil laahi (2:89), "when it came to them, the Book from Allah, verifying that which they already had with them", meaning when the Qur'an came to the Jews of Medina verifying what was in the Taurat, what did they do?

'Wa kaanoo min qablu yastaftihoona 'alal lazeena kafaroo,' (2:89)- "and remember O Jews from a long time ago, you used to seek a victory over the disbelievers". 'falammaa jaaa'ahum maa 'arafoo kafaroo bih,' (2:89) - and when Rasul Allah came to you in the city of Madina, you rejected him, you belied him completely. You did not recognize that your Prophet had come to you. What is the outcome? 'Fala 'natul laahi 'alal kaafireen,'(2:89)- the curse of Allah falls upon those disbelievers. What is this verse speak about? What is the commentary of this verse and how does it juxtapose itself in regards to the awaited savior of humanity? And what is the lesson inherent therein for you and I?

The verse says, 'Wa lammaa jaaa'ahum Kitaabum min 'indil laahi musaddiqul limaa ma'ahum ,'(2:89) - when there came to you, O Jews of Medina, the Book verifying that which you have with you; Qur'an came to you, you were reading the Taurat and you knew what was inherent, the lessons that were therein within the Taurat, predicting a Prophet would come, telling you that you had to leave and come to this area of Medina, live there in order to await the coming of your Prophet.

There is a great deal of history that speaks about this. And in fact, hadeeth come to us from our sixth Imam Ja'far Al-Sadiq - Salawaatullahi wa salaamuhu wa Alayh [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad], he says the following: in the book of Taurat and in the Scriptures of Banu Israel, they knew that the Prophet was going to come in the city of Medina and within that region of Hejaz. And so they left the Holy Land in their thousands and migrated to Hejaz, the area of Hejaz, specifically to await their Prophet, Rasul Allah.

Now, this, as we stated, isn't racism, we're going to say what our history, what the Imams tell us about that Jewish community that migrated. Many of them went to the city of Medina itself in order to await for Rasul Allah. However, unfortunately, the majority of the Jewish community came and decided to situate themselves not in Medina but in the outskirts of Medina. Why? Because those lands were better producing lands.

It was easier for them to live, to farm, to bring out palm trees, date trees in other surrounding areas, more oasis-like areas than actually in the city in which Rasul Allah was predicted to come to. They would argue amongst themselves, why are you waiting on the outskirts? Cities a 100 miles away, 200 miles away? Why don't you come to the actual city where your Prophet is predicted to come? Some Jews responded by saying. 'he will come, when he comes, we'll leave those cities and will come to the city of Medina for him'.

But in the meantime, these cities produce for us better wealth. It is easier for us to live in. And so we will take the easy route; we will produce here. When our Prophet comes, we will come to the city of Medina. And here it was, of course, about wealth and money and ease; not preparation for the coming of Rasul Allah. A shortcoming in the preparation of Rasul Allah. We've come so far from the holy lands of Jerusalem, but we won't come the last 50 miles - why? Money, ease, wealth.

And so the verse continues, 'Wa lammaa jaaa'ahum Kitaabum min 'indil laahi musaddiqul limaa ma'ahum' (2:89), - the Qur'an, the Book came to you, verifying that which you have with you already within the Taurat. The Qur'an isn't saying anything new to you. You already know what's already in there. 'Wa kaanoo min qablu yastaftihoona 'alal lazeena kafaroo', (2:89) - this part of the verse is very important. Please pay attention to this part of the verse in regards to you and I being Shia of the awaited savior of humanity.

The verse says, 'and from a long time ago, you, the Jewish community of Medina, you used to pray for victory over those who disbelieve'. What's this part of the verse referring to? Again, our 6th Imam (Alayhis salaam) in the tafseer of this verse exposes what is being said in this particular verse. He says that the Jews, having migrated so many hundreds of miles and now in a mass community migrating to Hejaz, they being believers in God and having their own legal system, Sharia, trade, they went to war with the pagans of Hejaz. For years, century after century, whilst waiting for their awaited Prophet, they would go to war with the pagan community, in Mecca and elsewhere. So the verse says you used to pray for victory over the disbelievers.

What were they doing? Because they knew Rasul Allah was coming, because they knew him by name, they used to say, 'Oh, God, we are at war with the pagans. We are your chosen community. We are here in Medina, in the outskirts awaiting Your chosen Prophet. We ask You, in the name of Muhammad, the awaited Prophet, to give us victory over those kuffaar who disbelieve'. Listen to that statement. Pay very close attention. The Jews of Medina migrated to that area in order to await their awaited Prophet. They went to war with the disbelievers. When they went to war, they used the waseela of their awaited Prophet, 'O Allah, bahaqqi Muhammadin, give us victory over those people who disbelieve'.

The next part of the verse is the kicker. It says, 'falammaa jaaa'ahum maa 'arafoo kafaroo bih,' (2:89) - and when Rasul Allah Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his noble family came: 'maa 'arafoo kafaroo bih' - you didn't have ma'rifa of him; you rejected your Prophet. You moved for him. You used to call him by name, you used to study the book of Taurat describing him, and when he came, what was the first problem? 'Maa 'arafoo' - you didn't have ma'rifa, cognizance, insight, recognition of him. The outcome: 'kafaroo bih', you belied him, you rejected him, you did kufr of him. 'Fala' natul laahi 'alal kaafireen,'- the la'na of Allah descends upon the disbelievers.

Why is this verse so important to you and I? You and I, as we stated, are supposed to learn from the Jewish community. We are not supposed to fall into the traps that have been set, that have already gone by that the Qur'an gave to us as examples so that we learn from them.

The Jewish community of Medina knew their Prophet was coming. We know our Imam is coming. The Jewish community prepared for their awaited Prophet. You and I prepare for our awaited savior of humanity. The Jewish community, when they used to go to war or when there were problems within their community, they used to call by the name of their awaited Prophet. You and I do exactly the same thing with the Imam of our time. When something happens what do we say? 'Ya Mahdi adrikna'. When there is war with ISIS, we say, 'Ya Mahdi, grant us victory, ask Allah on our behalf - grant victory for us'. We call upon the awaited saviour, don't we?

Especially in a few minutes time, after the Maghreb sets in, we will recite Dua Iftitah. The second half of Dua Iftitah is dedicated to the awaited saviour, correct or not? 'Allahumma wa salli `ala waliyyi amrikal qa'imil mu'ammal, wal`adlil muntadhar, wa huf fahu bimalaa'ikatikal muqarrabina, wa ayyid-hu biruhil qudusi, ya rabbal`Aalamin.' 'Allahumma inna narghabu ilayka fi dawlatin karimah' - 'my Lord, we ardently desire an honorable state in this world'. What are we asking for? The victory of the awaited saviour to come.

The Jewish community here and the Shia community is identical at that point: we prepare, they prepare, we call, they call. The lesson inherent in the verse is not to be like the next part of the verse: 'falammaa jaaa'ahum maa 'arafoo kafaroo bih', (2:89) - and when Rasul Allah came to Medina, you didn't recognize your Prophet. And because you didn't have ma'rifa of him, you rejected him. You belied him. You went to war with him.

The lesson inherent in this ayah for us is that when we call upon the awaited saviour, when we prepare for him, we prepare for him correctly, that we have genuine, true ma'rifa of the Imam of our time so that when he comes, we do not become like the Jewish community of Medina and reject him the way they rejected him. Otherwise, what does the verse conclude with? 'Fala 'natul laahi 'alal kaafireen' (2:89)- Subhanallah. Look at that.

At the beginning of the verse, they are believers, they migrate from Jerusalem to Medina, believers, they are reading the book, they are believers, they call God through Rasul Allah, they're believers. By the outcome of the verse, they are kuffar - 'fala 'natul laahi 'alal kaafireen'.

The verse is a lesson for you and I. That it hinges, the axis of this verse is ma'rifa of the Imam of our time. This is why we have so many narrations about the importance of cognizance of the Imams, genuine insight in towards the Imams - who they are, what they did, why we are told, come to the mosque, come to the Imambargah, learn correctly who your Imam is and not what he is not, so that you understand his true personality when he comes.

This is why we come here so often so that we do not fall into that trap. We have that famous hadeeth from our sixth Imam Ja'far Al-Sadiq - salawatullah wa salamuhu 'alaih [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] that says: 'man maata wa lam ya'rif Imame zamanihi, maata meetatan jahiliyya', - he who dies without having cognizance, ma'rifa, same word is used in the aya: falammaa jaaa'ahum maa 'arafoo kafaroo bih, 'he who dies without ma'rifa of the Imam of his time, dies the death of jahiliyya'. Becomes so evident why ma'rifa is so important. Hence, our series is based on this.

It will be a very contemporary discussion. We will analyze what the ayaat of the Qur'an say about the coming of the Imam's time. We will look at him through a paradigm of modernity. We will try to understand him in light of what is occurring today in the world. We will talk about what's happening in Australia. We will talk about what's happening in Brazil. We will talk about what's happening in China. We will talk about what's happening in the world in the modern sense and try to interpret and understand the Imam of our time in light of today.

Why? Because often we box him without understanding truly who he is. We have pigeonholed him, thinking he is something without understanding him in light of the world that we live in today. When the Imam comes, he will not be coming fourteen hundred years ago on a horse, he will come in light of the world that is present today. And so you and I are required to understand him in light of today - will he use social media to spread his message? Will he use the United Nations to spread his message? Will he allow for these very arbitrary lines and countries and states to remain? What cultures will there be?

How will he implement a system globally to eradicate poverty and bring about liberation for seven billion people, the like of which, when you go to India, live at a certain level and think in a certain way and have experienced it in a certain way, but a community such as here or in New York or in London have their own level of thinking and their own aspirations.

How does the Imam treat those communities? We want to understand what is going on today and the Imam of our time. Here we will conclude with one last comment about Ma'rifa, for you and I to think about to try to understand what it means to have ma'rifa of an individual. We will conclude with this and pick up tomorrow at this point. InshaAllah.

What does it really mean to have ma'rifa and cognizance of an Imam? Can you and I ever truly have cognizance of an Imam? Can we really understand an Imam?

There is a very interesting tradition from Rasul Allah Muhammad - sallal-lahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] when he says, 'None have cognizance of Allah but me and Ali, none have cognizance of me but Allah and Ali and none have cognizance of Ali except Allah and me.' If you and I don't have cognizance of Allah, Rasul Allah and Ali ibn abi Talib, how is it that I can have cognizance of the Imam of my time? How? How do I begin to understand him? What does he do? What does he wear? How does he think? How does he act? Where does he go? How would he discuss something with you and I? Is that really what ma'rifa is or is ma'rifa greater than that?

We'll leave it with this last point and we'll pick up tomorrow inshaAllah with this. Think about this. Imagine, God forbid, may Allah protect all of you, you have a disease, any particular disease. I'm going to pick one that maybe a lot of us can relate to and say cancer. Imagine now I have cancer. And I say, I was diagnosed with cancer. What will your immediate reaction be? You will empathize, you will say, 'I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you? Can I be there for you? Can I help you with anything? Do you want to talk? Can I take you to the hospital? Can I be there to look after your children? How will it be when you undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy?'

But that doesn't mean that you have insight, ma'rifa of what I'm actually going through. Does it? You're asking me, how's it going? What am I going to go through, but you can never truly fathom the pain I'm feeling emotionally or what physical pain I will undergo in chemotherapy and in radiotherapy. True or not? You will never truly understand it unless and until you have also, unfortunately, had cancer. True or not? You will never truly be at that same level of understanding because you can empathize in your own way, but you will never have ma'rifa, cognizance and true insight as to what I am going through.

And it goes for all things. If I say to you now, here as brothers, try for a second, to have cognizance of what your mothers or your wives went through when they were in labor and gave birth. No matter what you saw, no matter what you were present to and partisan to, you can never truly understand what they went through. The fear, especially for the first time, undergoing that; the questions that they were going through in their minds, the anxiety, the pain and what it was like the moment the child was passed into their hands.As men, you can never have ma'rifa of that moment, ever, ever.

How then can you have ma'rifa of the Imam and what he goes through and what he truly is in the eyes of Allah Subhanah wa Ta'ala? There is only one way. As we stated with the example of cancer, the only way if I say to you, I have cancer, for you to truly have ma'rifa of what I have gone through, is if you have gone through the same thing as me.

Therefore, in order for me to have a glimpse of who the Imam is, I need to go through what he goes through on a daily basis. The hunger, the prayers, being awake at night, crying for those people who have been murdered, visiting the poor. Spending time with the elderly, visiting the sick. That is what the Imam is. That is what he does.

When I am a person who can emulate the imam to the best of my ability, I have then gained a glimpse of who that Imam truly is and only then can I begin to traverse the path of having ma'rifa of the Imam of our time. If I don't do those things and he comes, I cannot truly recognize him because I don't truly have ma'rifa of him. When I begin to take those steps of what he does when he comes, there will not be a chance to miss who truly he is, because I will recognize him immediately, not by his face, but by his characteristics because I'm living those characteristics myself.

I am with him. That is why I have ma'rifa of him. The homework, brothers and sisters, as you may remember, was what? We want to understand how the Imam will liberate seven and a half billion people in the realest sense? Will he sprinkle magic dust? Will he raise the sword? Will he walk into the United Nations? How will he do it? Your homework this evening, inshaAllah, is to ponder upon that question and inshaAllah in our series analyzing the philosophy of the ghayba, in light of the ayaat of Qur'an and modern events we'll begin to, inshaAllah, increase our ma'rifa of the Imam of our time and ensure that he lives in our hearts and that when he comes, we do not fall into the traps like the Jews of Medina and miss the chance of being alongside him inshaAllah.

Walhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen Fasalli ala Ya Rabbi 'ala Muhammad wa alehi at-tahireen. Can I ask you to conclude this discussion with three loud salawaats in honor of the awaited saviour of humanity Imam al Mahdi 'ajjarallaho ta'ala faraja shareef [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad, Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad, Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]