Why Are Empathy and Loyalty the Two Conditions for the Advent of Imam Mahdi and the Establishment of the Noble Rule of the Righteous?

In the ultimate future of the earth and humanity, the global government of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) or the Noble Rule of the Righteous will be established. As the establishment of any organization, institution, government, and state requires the realization of certain conditions, the first step in establishing this noble government is the realization of the conditions for the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH). A thousand years ago, Imam Mahdi (PBUH) wrote a letter to Shaykh Mufid and emphasized empathy and loyalty as the conditions for his advent.[1]

Empathy and loyalty have different meanings, but we must understand their specific meanings as the conditions for the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH). Loyalty means sacrificing our lower existential dimensions for our supra-rational or human dimension. A loyal person stands by the Imam and prioritizes the Imam over other aspects of his life.

As one of the conditions of the advent, empathy means that scholars and elites of the society gather together to think about and plan for solving problems such as the homelessness and oppression of Imam Mahdi’s children.[2] But why has Imam Mahdi (PBUH) mentioned only empathy and loyalty as the conditions for his advent, while there are other important conditions like military and cultural power? What is the important and fundamental feature of these traits? How can we build a civilization by motivating people to have empathy with each other and prove their loyalty?

In this article, we will mention several manifestations of the conditions for his advent, namely empathy and loyalty, and discuss their role in removing obstacles to the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH).

The Establishment of the Noble Rule of the Righteous: The Deepest Aspiration of People through History

We stated that the ultimate goal of all prophets has been to establish a government and to form an Islamic society. Prophet Muhammad and the infallible Imams (PBUT), more than anyone else, made a lot of effort to realize this goal. The Ahl al-Bayt’s main concern has been to establish an Islamic government, so that with the realization of this goal, the infallible Imam can rule over society, and as a result, he can help people fully actualize their human potentials.

The infallible Imams repeatedly showed this concern in many hadiths by expressing their love to serve the Imam of the Time and be soldiers in his army,[3] as he is the very Promised Savior who will fulfill this goal. As we discussed in the previous articles, the infallible Imams did their utmost to have an effect on the realization of this goal;[4] we also examined numerous examples of this long-term strategy in the lives of the Imams. These strategies include sending Imam Ali (PBUH) to Yemen, choosing Kufa as the capital of his caliphate, educating and sending Islamic jurists and scholars to Iran and other neighboring countries of the Islamic state, creating a network of representatives, ordering their followers to leave their homeland and migrate to Iran, establishing and equipping the seminary in Qom, and other initiatives that were planned in order to lay the groundwork for the establishment of the new Islamic civilization during their 250-year-old leadership until the time of the occultation of the Imam of the Time. However, what is the relationship between these political strategies and developing empathy and loyalty? How can these political strategies lead to build empathy and loyalty to fulfill the conditions for the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH).

 Loyalty: The First Condition for the Advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH)

After the short-term government of Imam Ali, no infallible expert has been in power, so the opportunity for the proper education of religious teachings has never been provided. Consequently, most individuals do not define themselves based on their human dimension, but rather based on their four lower levels. In other words, it is their wealth, gender, occupation, and knowledge that determine who they are. So it is natural that defining oneself by what one is not leads to misunderstanding oneself, the world, God, and the purpose of creation. Another false teaching which results from the absence of the infallible Imam in society relates to the Principles of religion[5] and Branches of religion;[6] that is, in a wrong categorization, tawalla and tabarra[7] have been introduced as Branches of religion, while tawalla and tabarra mean accepting the guardianship of the infallible Imams, and according to the teachings of self-knowledge, accepting the guardianship of the infallible Imams is considered the whole of religion.

The human is an infinite being that has come to the earth to actualize his infinite potentials, and for this purpose, he needs to follow a perfect and infallible guide and mentor. In fact, tawalla and tabarra mean choosing friendships and enmities based on the mathematics presented by the Imam. The neglect of tawalla and tabarra lies at the heart of the abandonment, martyrdom, isolation, loneliness, and ignorance inflicted upon the Imams by the Muslim community.

One of the reasons for the occultation of the Imam of the Time (PBUH) is this very issue. The Imam’s life was in danger, and it was highly probable that the society that had martyred thirteen Infallibles before him and still claimed to be Muslim, would not react to his martyrdom. So one of the reasons for the Imam’s occultation was that he was in danger of being killed; consequently, one of the conditions for the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) is loyalty; it means before his advent, people must prove they can protect the Imam’s life.

Empathy: The Second Condition for the Advent of Imam Mahdi

According to the Quran, human willpower is God’s unchangeable law. It means it is impossible to guide human beings by force. Some verses of the Quran that have addressed this issue are: “You cannot guide whomever you like [O Prophet].”[8] “You are not over them a controller.”[9] “We already showed them the Way, whether they [choose to] be grateful or ungrateful.”[10] “There shall be no compulsion in religion.”[11] “Allah would never change a people’s state until they change their own state.”[12] From God’s perspective, every individual and group must seek guidance and strive for human growth because if willpower is taken away from humans, their humanity will become absurd and meaningless. People’s ignorance and the power and jealousy of tyrants have always been obstacles to the establishment of the promised divine government throughout human history. Here the second condition for the advent, i.e., empathy and love become meaningful. Empathy and love mean being committed, making heartfelt effort, and being a friend in need. This empathy and love will ultimately lead to the destruction of tyrants and the establishment of a righteous civilization.

As we stated before, human beings must establish the new Islamic civilization of their own free will. People must also choose their Imam of their own free will. This means that we must come to understand the necessity and the importance of Imam’s presence in our lives. We will find empathy and loyalty if we understand the purpose of our creation through self-knowledge, and plan and engineer our lives to achieve this purpose. In that case, we will no longer care about our personal problems, and we will strive to overcome obstacles to our own and others’ human growth.

In the government of the Imam of the Time (PBUH), there is no disagreement, division, anger, stubbornness, oversensitivity, comparison, and competition. People dedicate their lives to each other and create an atmosphere of kindness similar to what we see in the Arbaeen Walk. When people reach this level of humanity and no longer prefer themselves over others, loving humans dominates people’s hearts, so they even love people of different faiths.

This is the very manifestation of empathy and loyalty that people show to one another. It means that we will reach a point in our lives where we understand that the absence of the Imam and the infallible expert is the only problem in the world. We must realize that we can achieve human growth so that our human dimension overcomes other existential dimensions only under the rule of the infallible Imam. If we understand this, we will strive together to remove the obstacles to the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH), and this collective effort will be a manifestation of the fulfillment of the conditions for the advent.

One of the prerequisites for the advent of the Imam of the Time (PBUH) and the establishment of the Noble Rule of the Righteous is the existence of a global culture that thirsts for the presence of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) and desires his advent. Cultural poverty is one of the most important factors that causes the occultation of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) to be prolonged. This poverty means that most people in the world do not have a proper understanding of their human dimension and the meaning of life. If we want to witness the glorious return of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) and play a role in establishing the promised government of the righteous, we must first have empathy with and loyalty to the Imam, and after that, we must feel a sense of responsibility towards the lives of all people in the world.

As we discussed in this article, empathy and loyalty are the only conditions for the Imam’s advent, and the people of the world must cultivate these two virtues among themselves to facilitate the advent of Imam Mahdi because living under his Noble Rule will not be possible without being compatible with the living conditions and mathematical structure of his government.

[1] . If my Shias, may Allah help them in His obedience, would have fulfilled their covenant with united hearts then there would have been no delay in our meeting, and they would have been blessed with our visitation at the earliest, along with the recognition of truth and confirmation of our rights (Al-Ihtijaj vol.2, p. 602).

[2] . Since we are created of the light of the Ahl al-Bayt, we are considered their real children.

[3] . Imam Sadiq (PBUH): “If I happen to live at the time of Mahdi’s advent, I will serve him till the end of my life.”

[4] . Imam Reza (PBUH): “Oh, my God, do not replace others with us regarding serving Imam Mahdi (PBUH) because it is easy for you, but hard for us.”

[5]. Usul al-deen

[6]. Furu al-deen  

[7] . Tawalla means love, while Tabarra means hate. Thus, we love some and hate some others. We must love the allies of Allah, seekers of truth, the righteous, and advocates of truth and justice. Conversely, we must hate evildoers, oppressors, as well as enemies of Allah, His Prophet, and humanity.

[8]. Quran, 28:56

[9]. Quran, 88:22

[10] . Quran, 76:3

[11]. Quran 2:256

[12]. Quran, 13:11