 والله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين وحبيبي إله العالمين أب القاسم المصطفى محمد وعلى أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين الهدات المهديين واللعنة الدائمة على أعدائهم ومعينة إلى يوم الدين قال الله تعالى في كتابه الكريم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ونريد أن منا على الذين استبعفوا في الأرض ونجع لهم أمة ونجع لهم الوارثين صدق الله العلي والعظيم ever since رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم the Shia of Ahl al-Bayt for 250 years after رسول الله they were used to having the imams of Ahl al-Bayt at their presence and benefiting from their guidance so if anyone had a question from the imam the imam was accessible they could access the imam they could discuss the religious affairs with the imam they could ask the imams about any matters of faith about the verses of the holy Quran about the laws of Halal and Haram they could go and have a one-on-one conversation with the imam speak to the imam meet the imam they could ask them about their عقيد about their beliefs they could ask them about personal matters and they could request the help and guidance of the imam in their personal life whether it's financial problems that they have whether it's social problems family problems with their wife and husband children with their partner with their brother with another family member with their neighbor they could access the imam and the imams were there to help them for this 250-year period after رسول الله in addition to that many of the companions of the imams they had the honor of studying at the hands of the imams Imam Al-Baqar Imam Al-Sadiq Al-Salam they had a house a seminary thousands of students would study there what an honor it is that Imam Al-Sadiq is my direct teacher I would go every day sitting in class the imam would give a hadith and he would teach me فقه عقيد so many of the Shi'a they had this honor being this close to Imam Al-Sadiq Imam Al-Baqar and the other imams and nonetheless at least during this 250-year period at least the Shi'a they could just go and see the imam they could be at his presence do you know what an honor it is just to look at the beautiful shining face illuminating face of the imam do you know what an effect that has on my heart and on my soul and on my spirit sometimes we go and we see our مراجق and نجف and قوم we see them I hear some brothers they say for weeks this leaves a mark on my soul I feel I'm closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى I'm more humble in front of Allah سبحانه وتعالى I receive a God conscious state just because I see this merger and remember this merger is what is only a servant of the imam of the 12th imam of the اهل البيت عليهم السلام so how great would it be to see the imams themselves they had this honor this was from Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib all the way to the time all the way to the time of Imam Al-Asqari 250 years all the sudden Imam Al-Asqari عليه السلام dies passes away and the 12th imam is Imam Al-Mahdi he's a successor but all the sudden everything changes because Imam Al-Mahdi is no longer available the Imam Al-Mahdi is no longer at the disposal of the Shi'a he's not there for them to meet him they can no longer meet him they can no longer speak to him they can no longer see him do you know how difficult this was for the Shi'a for 250 years we're so used to going to the Imam yes maybe at times it was difficult Imam Al-Kalam was in prison a few years but that was only a few years maybe when the later Imam Al-Hadi Imam Al-Asqari and Samara it was more difficult to go there but if you made that extra effort you could still go and see him right now it's impossible I can no longer see the Imam this was a very difficult time for the Shi'a of Ahlul-Bayt because their Imam was away from them and the Imam of Ahlul-Bayt رسول الله Imam Ali all the Imams they knew of this time and they knew this will come the day that the Imam Imam Al-Mahdi will come he'll go into Ghaibah and they knew this will be a very difficult time for the Shi'a and that's why they had to prepare the Shi'a for that time they were aware of this and they took many steps in order to prepare the Shi'a for the Ghaibah so that when that time comes the Shi'a aren't stunned and shocked and alarmed what is this Ghaibah what's this concept of Ghaibah the Imams and Rasool Allah started from the time of Rasool Allah he wanted to prepare the Shi'a for the time of the Ghaibah of the 12th Imam so what did the Imams do to prepare the Shi'a four things the four things Rasool Allah and the Imams did in order to prepare the Shi'a for this critical time Ghaibah that we live in today number one the first things Rasool Allah and the Imams did they prepared the Shi'a for the concept of Ghaibah psychologically like I said 250 years 250 years the Imam is there he's present all of a sudden my Imam the 12th Imam is my Imam he's alive but he's in a state of Ghaibah occultation what is this so this concept the Imams they concentrated on they made sure that look one day when one of the Imams will come and go into the Ghaibah don't be alarmed this is normal many prophets before Islam they went into Ghaibah so this is not something unusual you might ask why did the Imam go into Ghaibah I will tell you because the Imam is in Ghaibah such and such reasons so they prepared them psychologically do not disbelieve in the Imam just because he is in a state of Ghaibah we have a hadith from Rasool Allah speaking about the Ghaibah Imam Mehdi and he tells his companions if you hear that the Imam goes into Ghaibah do not disbelieve in him just because he is in a state of Ghaibah just because he's in occultation and go back and read the book of Bihar Al-Anwar Bihar Al-Anwar has a chapter 2 or 3 volumes all on Imam Al-Mahdi a hadith of Imam Al-Mahdi in one area of it he mentions the a hadith of Rasool Allah and the Imam is about the Ghaibah of Imam Mehdi so he mentions 5,6 then a hadith from Rasool Allah Rasool Allah on all these a hadith he's telling his a sahab of the Ghaibah of Imam Al-Mahdi so that what so that they're ready so it's not a new notion to them likewise أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام he tells his companions one of my descendants one of my children he will go in a state of Ghaibah do not disbelieve in him for example حسن Imam الحسين Imam زين العابدين all the way to Imam عسكري they all spoke of the Ghaibah of Imam Mehdi so all of a sudden the Shi'a don't wake up one day and they say your Imam is in Ghaibah no you know about this ever since the time of Rasool Allah this was made clear the 12th Imam or one of the Imam he will go in a state of Ghaibah do not disbelieve in him and say this is not true just because he's in a state of Ghaibah because the Imam and Rasool Allah they informed of this so this was number one the first thing they did the Shi'a psychologically for the state of Ghaibah number two the second thing Rasool Allah and the Imams did is that this began during the time of Imam الباق the fifth Imam they began to appoint representatives on their behalf they told their Shi'a look if you cannot access us because your house is far I live in Medina you live in another city and it's difficult to travel back then there's no TV there's no telephone there's no social media so if you have a question of the Imam or you can't just what's happened you can't call his office you have to what you have to make a one month trip if you live in a different country just to ask the Imam a question so the Imams they told their Shi'a if you cannot access us it's difficult you're sick or maybe the Imam is sick it's difficult for him to answer the questions or maybe there is a state of تقيا فيه then we will appoint representatives وكلا go to the wakil you ask them your questions you give them the khumus you do whatever you want they represent us they began during the time of Imam Al-Baqar why did they do this not only to help the Shi'a during their time but to prepare the Shi'a for the time of the غaybah they want to tell the Shi'a of the غaybah look you can access the Imam because in a state of غaybah then you access the representatives of the Imam Imam Al-Mahdi عجل الله فرجوه شريف during غaybah الصغرا he had specific ambassadors and وكلا that we'll speak about in a few minutes and in غaybah that we live in today he has general ambassadors and general وكلا and that we'll speak about tomorrow insha'Allah so just because you cannot access the Imam doesn't mean you have no way no you have representatives they want the Shi'a to get used to the fact that if the Imam is not accessible go to the wakil go to whom go to the the representative and these representatives during the lives of the Imam they were like مراجع they would give فتوة they would collect khumus they would help just like our مراجع today there are some ignorant people my brothers and sisters today in community they will tell you this idea of مرجعية this is all innovation بدع this was never there now the problem is these people that claim such a thing they are ignorant they haven't read the history of the Imam what do you mean this is something new read the history of Imam باقر Imam صادق Imam الرضا Imam الهادي there's all wakala there are people مراجع you give فتوة you take khumus you help just like the Imam and I'll give you a few examples Imam الباقر عليه السلام one of his companions this is a hadith by the name of أباني بن تغلب أباني بن تغلب was very close to Imam الباقر and Imam الصادق that when he died Imam صادق عليه السلام he said when news of Imam says my heart has broken because أبان has died see how great he was أبان wasn't just great he was a علم he was a مشتهد he was a scholar he had attended all the classes and taken notes إمام الباقر tells أبان one day يا أبان اجلس في مسجد المدينة وقفت الناس he tells him sit in the مسجد of رسول الله المدينة because back then the Masjid of رسول الله المدينة it was like a you see a teacher with the students here there over there and if you have come if you've came to Iran and Qom if you go and visit say the معصومه عليه السلام you'll see the same thing in the mornings you'll see it's like a classroom it's a huge classroom but small different circles if you go to نجف same thing كربلا same thing so the مسجد of رسول الله was filled with classes every sect every school of thought had a teacher their teaching إمام الصادق tells أبان ما هذا وموعده للمستخدم وكوك إمام الصادق يدعم وكوك تصميم يمام الصادق يدعم مجموعة وكوك وكوك وكوك عالي وكوك وكوك وكوك وكوك وكوك وسأقوم وكوك قلت وكوك والنب والسلون والفتا كانoot كانع عبد الله ابن أبي يعفور .. he comes to him he tells him my house is far I live in a different city I can't always come and ask you sometimes people ask me questions and I don't know the answer what do I do? what's the solution? إمام الصادق عليه السلام he tells him he tells him there is one of my companions by the name of محمد ابن أبي محمد ابن مسلم محمد ابن مسلم was like a father he was a scholar he tells him go to محمد ابن مسلم and ask him and he will give you the فتواص and another situation another incident a man asked إمام الصادق I can't come to you who do I ask? he tells him go to أبو بصير الأسد and a third incident إمام الصادق عليه السلام he tells one of his companions his name was he tells him so the imams they spread this what they spread this belief or they spread this practice that once you are you have studied in our house once you have enough knowledge you can go and you can give فتواص based on the teachings of أهل البيت عليه السلام which is exactly what our مراجع do today they take the حديث of أهل البيت they are understanding they give فتواص to the people this is إمام الصادق and then إمام رضا عليه السلام إمام رضا there is a hadith from علي ابن مسيب he lived in the city of قوم إمام رضا is where in مدينة and then he went to خراسان so it's far between قوم مدينة and خراسان so he tells him that I can't always come and ask you who do I go to? he tells him in قوم he tells him علي he tells him زكري ابن آدم عليك خذ من زكري ابن آدم المأمون على الديني والدنيا زكري ابن آدم lived in قوم he tells him you can trust him with your faith and with your دنيا because he was a scholar go to him he's like the merger of your city and now زكري ابن آدم he has a shrine in the city of قوم so he went to him in another حديث إمام رضا عليه السلام he tells his companions to go to another person يونس ابن عبد الرحمة he tells them if you can't access me go to him so the imams they spread this custom across the globe across the Shi'a countries that if you can't access me go to the Waqeel and likewise إمام العسكري عليه السلام أحمد ابن أسحاق who we spoke about was a big alem himself he tells him sometimes I cannot access you who do I go to? he tells him go to العمري أثمان ابن سعيد العمري who was the first ambassador of the 12th إمام he tells him العمري يوثقتي فما أدى عليك عني فأدني أدني وما يقول لك فأدني يقول أي شيء يريد مني يذهب إلى العمري ربما العمري يستخدم ولكن أنا لا يستخدم فهذهب إلى العمري فهذا هو الثلاثة التي فعلت إمام وكلاء فهذا فقط إمام مهدي عجل الله فرجوه شريف يذهب إلى الثلاثة في غيبة يمكننا أن نذهب back to that وكلاء the representative of the imam this is number two number three the third thing they did the imams began to spread the knowledge of أهل البيت the knowledge of رسول الله through a hadith remember we said إمام الصادق الباقر like a house thousands of students the imams through these students they spread thousands of أحاديث about anything about salah about خمس about zakat about حاج about حقيد about the day of judgment about death about Allah about رسول الله anything you can imagine thousands of أحاديث these students would all write them down and then they would compile it into a book that during the time of إمام الرباق there were up to 400 books filled with أحاديث from أهل البيت from إمام باقر صادق كعظم رضا these four imams and these books were called الكتب الأربع مئة 400 books filled they would probably if you compile them now they would be 200 volumes filled with أحاديث why did the imams do that so that once the إمام المهدي goes into the state of maybe you can go back to that حاديث of إمام الباقر صادق and كعظم الرضا you don't have to necessarily directly ask when the imam has given us the fatwa the answer إمام الباقر because many of those أحاديث are available now in what they call الكتب الأربع the book of الكافي the book of التهديب الاستبصار الف من لا يحضره الفقية and other books they're all available we can go back to them so we cannot say where do we go there's no knowledge how do we how do we know how to pray no إمام الباقر إمام صادق علي بسلام their أحاديث are available with us today this is number three and finally the fourth thing that أهل البيت عليه مسلام did to prepare the Shi'a for this new event and phenomenon called الغيبة was that the غيبة as we know it today did not happen swiftly some people think all the Sari'a Imam عسكة لديد and this غيبة began no we have two غيبة we have the small غيبة الغيبة الصغرى you've heard of it and then we have الغيبة الكبرى the big غيبة the major غيبة that we live in today the small غيبة preceded the big غيبة why did it precede the big غيبة because during the small غيبة الغيبة الصغرى the Shi'a had some type of access to the Imam how? not directly indirectly the Imam's appointed four ambassadors you want to reach the Imam go through the ambassador write him a letter he'll answer you the Imam will directly answer you but this was only for what? 70 years غيبة الصغرى so this prepares them for the full occultation the full غيبة that there is absolutely no ambassador direct specific ambassador to Imam al-Bahdi so tonight Insha'Allah we'll speak about the first غيبة and tomorrow we'll speak about the second غيبة الغيبة الصغرى when did الغيبة الصغرى exactly begin الغيبة الصغرى there's two opinions between the علماء the first and major opinion that most believe is that الغيبة الصغرى began when Imam al-Asqari died Imam al-Mahdi remember we mentioned yesterday that after Imam al-Asqari died Imam Mahdi came and he prayed on his father and he told his uncle جعفر move away after the salah Imam al-Mahdi disappeared the Shi'a could no longer see him the غيبة began only the four ambassadors they could access the Imam so you want to access the Imam through the four ambassadors this is the major view the second view is no it began before that it began with the birth of the Imam some علماء believe the Imam was always in a state of data remember we mentioned yesterday Imam al-Mahdi where was he those five years during the life of Imam al-Asqari the first five years of his life we said we have a hadith from the answer of Imam al-Asqari حكيمة that Imam al-Asqari gave him to the angels and they took him to the heavens and he would come only once every 40 days or once every 7 days and it was not until a few months before Imam al-Asqari died that he came and he went with his grandmother to Hajj so throughout those years you could not see Imam al-Mahdi only it was once every only a few people got to see him he was in a small state of غيبة but most believe no the real غيبة the small غيبة began with the death of Imam al-Asqari and it was for up to 70 years it began the year 260 and it finished the year 329 after the غيبة now what happened during غيبة to Sughra why do we call it small غيبة big غيبة what's the difference now like I said during the small غيبة the Imam appointed 4 representatives there is a hadith that says after the Imam lad the Salah and his father Imam al-Asqari there was a group of people that came from Qom and they brought Qumus to give to Imam al-Asqari they were told Imam al-Asqari is dead they asked who is the Khalifa they said Ja'far they went to Ja'far they weren't convinced this is not the Khalifa so they were about to go to Qom all of a sudden Imam al-Mahdi he sent someone he told them come to me they came to Imam al-Mahdi and they went into his house they saw him a young boy they saw him and they tested him they saw this is the real Imam he knows who this money belongs to and how much it is they gave him the money and then the Imam he made an order he told them look thank you for bringing this Qumus and all this money but from now on I ask you do not come to Samara again do not bring any money to me because you can't see me and it's dangerous so they said what do we do with the Qumus then? the Imam told them I will appoint a representative and this is where the Imam appointed the first ambassador and he told them anytime you need anything from me go to the first ambassador he is my representative he represents me in anything so he told them from now on go back to the first representative and these four ambassadors they're called Sufara representatives ambassadors what did they do? they were basically the gateway of the Shi'a to Imam al-Mahdi so what did they do for things? number one the first thing they did they would answer the questions of the Shi'a sometimes the Shi'a between the علماء of the Shi'a there would be a disagreement a group of علماء say this is wajib a group of علماء says it's not wajib a group of علماء say the Rasool Allah did this and others says no so any debate they had any disagreement they had what did they do? they could not solve it they used to go to the ambassador they tell him please ask the Imam what's the right answer? the ambassador would meet the Imam and he then would bring the answer and a letter it would be typed it would be written with the handwriting of Imam al-Mahdi and these letters were called what? التوقيع توقيع and توقيع anytime you hear the word توقيع this means a letter from Imam al-Mahdi Imam al-Mahdi would issue he would release a letter give it to the ambassador the ambassador would give it to him and anytime they wanted to say a letter is released they wouldn't say from Imam al-Mahdi remember it was the time of تقية the authorities were looking for Imam al-Mahdi so they always had to what? they had to talk in a secretive way so they would say for example خرج توقيع من الناحية المقدسة التوقيع التوقيع meaning a letter has been issued has been released from الناحية المقدسة الناحية المقدسة means the sacred way from that sacred way and they mean by الناحية المقدسة what? Imam al-Mahdi this was what? a secretive kind of way to talk so that the government does not understand who they are speaking about so this was number one and that's why we have many حديث instances of the علماء they had this agreement they could go to the Imam to the ambassador he would ask the Imam and then the توقيع would come this is the answer this is number one number two these ambassadors they would collect any خمس or anything that's financial anything monetary that belongs to the Imam and they would deliver it to the Imam that's number two the third thing that these ambassadors would do is that they would solve the social and personal problems of the people for example someone wants a child they want the Imam to do دعاء for them they would go to the ambassador and that's why there is a حديث that says the father of a شيخ صدوق that we mentioned he wrote so many books lived a thousand years ago very very big the father of a شيخ صدوق had no children so what did he do? he went to the third ambassador he lived during the time of غيب الصغر he went and he told him please ask Imam al-Mahdi to do دعاء for me because I want children sometimes when we have children don't we go to the Imam's right now we go to Mashhad كربلا نجخ we ask the Imam's so this is what شيخ الصدوق did the father of a شيخ الصدوق his name was his name was محمد علي بن الحسين بن بابي القم and he's buried in Qum he told him ask the Imam to do دعاء for me the ambassador went he came back with a letter a توقيع the Imam is praying for him he's telling him إن شاء الله I will pray for you Allah will give you two sons that will be علماء سبحان الله الشيخ الصدوق was born through the dua of Imam al-Mahdi عد الله فرجو الشريف what great honor is this when Imam al-Mahdi does dua for someone to have a child you would expect that child to be someone great and his brother likewise was also علم but unfortunately because he did not write books we don't know too much about him and he's not always mentioned so this is one incident how the father of الشيخ الصدوق he wanted dua to have children Imam al-Mahdi helped him but through the ambassador another example it's mentioned that a man had some problems with his wife just like many of us we have problems with our wives many wives they have problems with their husbands so he went to one of the ambassadors of the Imam and he began to complain against his wife my wife is this my wife is that whatever so please tell the Imam to help me the ambassador told the Imam a توقيت came out he told him yes إن شاء الله I will do dua for you and everything will get better and سبحان الله the man says everything became better so this was another example this is number three number four the fourth thing Imam al-Mahdi would do through his ambassadors إن غيبة الصغرى he would guide the شيع and difficult situations like what? if there was any danger surrounding the شيع from the enemies from the governments he would inform them let me give you an example during غيبة الصغرى we said the government they would always put spies to spy on the شيع what are they doing who's their leader so these spies they understood and they found out that the شيع are giving their money to the ambassadors to the وكالاء and the وكالاء give it to the Imam or they give it to someone they informed the government the minister the wazir of the of the of the of the what did he say? he said look if we catch anyone giving a single dime a cent a dinar dirhem to those وكالاء then he will be arrested and killed so but he said but let's make a plan a very evil plan let's disguise some of our spies as being شيع as an innocent شيع let him go to that وكي and tell them وكيل I have some money خمس please can you take it and then once he takes it right away he arrest him so it was an evil plot إمام المهدي عليه السلام he is connected to Allah سبحانه وتعالى he knows the plot they plan Allah says ومكره ومكر الله they plan and Allah plans so إمام المهدي right away he wrote a توقيع he gave it to the سفير give it to all my وكالاء all my وكالاء right now tell them from now on you do not take any money from anyone stop until further notice why? he didn't say remember we have to submit to the إمام when the إمام says something of course there's wisdom behind it so the شيع right away the وكالاء they said we will not collect any money the spies when they want to give money to the وكيل he says no I don't know what you're talking about I'm not وكيل so the the plots and the agenda was foiled they were not able to arrest any person until the it finished the whole incident finished and then إمام المهدي said now you can collect so this is one example of how the إمام used to guide his شيع during غيبة الصغراء this is one thing the إمام would do guide them in these difficult situations on the enemies a second thing the إمام would do if there were any imposters who claim to be علماء or any scholars that deviated and turned into heretics the إمام would tell his شيع right away he would curse that person and he would tell the شيع to stay away from him and to this about unfortunately today we have so many people claimed to be علماء and they're علماء we don't have unfortunately someone to always tell us and to guide us who's the right علم who's the wrong علماء المهدي عليه السلام during the small غيبة he would do that and that's why we have so many people so many scholars they were scholars that deviated the إمام right away for example الشل مغاني there was a علم by the name of ابن عزاقر الشل مغاني he was a big علم he had written books his books were spread in the houses of the الشيعة until one day ستجير بالله one day this man he began began to deviate he began to say so much nonsense that أهل البيت are الله and that I don't know Allah went into the body of أهل البيت so much nonsense he began to deviate but الشيعة still some of them are naive they're gullible إمام المهدي right away he what he issues a توقي against him saying his name this man is what this man is saying many people they what they claim that they are سفير we have only four so far there's so many people they claim they are سفير إمام المهدي عليه سلام right away he would issue a توقي you'd imagine there was a man by the name of أبو بكر البغدادي we have who's the leader of ISIS right now أبو بكر البغدادي right during غيبة الصغر there was a man also by the name of أبو بكر البغدادي he was the nephew of the third سفير we'll get to him insha'Allah a few minutes what did he claim he claimed that I'm the fifth سفير I'm the fifth ambassador right away إمام المهدي issue is what توقي this man is a liar he's an imposter do not follow him we have one a man by the name of الحلاج النميري محمد ابن عليه ابن بلال and so on and so forth they would either claim false things or they would be heretics إمام المهدي he would right away issue a توقي against them another man by the name of علي أحمد ابن هلال أحمد ابن هلال he was a very good man he was a alem narrator but unfortunately he also deviated إمام المهدي 3 or 4 توقي أت against him he cursed him لعن الله أحمد ابن هلال this is how سفير the إمام was because this is فايف you don't play with the people's faith so this was a second thing the إمام that that the the إمام protected the school of thought of the of the of the anyone that wanted to infiltrate anyone wanted to play with the people's religion right away he would issue a توقي and he would tell the people this person is imposter الله الله الله الله الله الله الله and finally number 3 a ثلاث إمام would do any time the شيع I had to make a decisive important decision he would guide them for example there's two parties fighting in the government who do we side with because if we don't side there's ramifications if we side with this there's ramifications we have to what we have to be what إمام مهدي would help them for example there are certain times when we have to do تقية do we do do we stay silent do we speak توقيعات the letters of إمام المهدي عجر الله تعالى فرجه الشريف and that's why you see إمام المهدي he appointed four ambassadors and these four ambassadors they weren't public ambassadors remember we said if the authorities knew he's an ambassador of the إمام first of all which إمام you saying you have an إمام that's alive let's go and look for him second of all they'll go and kill that person so it was all secretive only the good the trust worthy this person is what this person is a سفير of the إمام most of the shea maybe they didn't know only the important trust worthy shea or else if you go and see that person he was just a normal man the سفراء the ambassadors they were merchants some of them they used to sell butter some of them they used to sell for example vinegar others they used to sell cloth they used to sell fabrics and in their private gatherings this is where they would tell the shea we are the ambassadors and this is where they would take care of the matters of the shea and what you find is that these why did إمام المهدي عجل الله فرجو الشريف choose these four out of everyone so much shea why did he choose these four now these four they weren't ambassadors at the same time when one would die the second would come so at at one given time there was only one ambassador why did the the Imam choose these four during the 70 year ambassador had two important criteria is number one complete submission to إمام المهدي never ask why when the إمام tells them to do something right away they do it right away without hesitating without asking without quarrelling and debating with the إمام just like a slave at the hand of his master the إمام says do this they do it right away this is number one complete submission to إمامامام number is because they were loyal to the إمام they were trustworthy reliable the إمام could entrust them with the secrets he could tell them anything and he knows that they will what they will save God these secrets they were they kept everything confidential they were wise they knew who to speak to they knew who to not speak to because what this is a time of تقية so based on these two criterias إمام المهدي عدل الله فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف فرجوه شريف أم only the four Sufaraa of Imam al-Mahdi before I begin to pray to Muhammad Who were the four Sufaraa of Imam al-Mahdi during the small forest The first of the four Sufaraa of Imam al-Mahdi was a man by the name of Uthman ibn Said al-Amri Uthman ibn Said al-Amri he was a representative of Imam al-Hadi as well of Imam al-Asqari and then of Imam al-Mahdi عدو الله فرجوه الشريب and it's written in his biography أنه يبدأ أن يعمل إمام المهدي في ماذا عالية؟ في عالية ١١٠ لذلك عالية كانت لأهل البيت عالية كانت لأهل البيت عليهم السلام لدينا الكثير من إمام هادي ومن إمام عسكري رائعاً رائعاً رائعاً وكذلك جيداً من أثمار ابن سعيد العمري وذلك why عند إمام عسكري عند إمام مهدي عند أثمار ابن سعيد لا شعر أنه يعمل إمام يعمل إمام عسكري لأنهم تعرفون أنه مهدي إمام عسكري إمام عسكري إمام هادي إمام مهدي كان already a representative of them فبقرًا أنه يقعد لهم لأنه يعمل a representative of them إمام مهدي لذلك كل one excepted him لأنه كانت جداً إمام عسكري جداً جداً إمام هادي يعلمون أن إمام المهدي بقرًا إمام إمامهدي لقد قلت سعيد يعمل لذلك فأل الآن و يخبره الشيعة ، أنا أول ، أنا أول أمباسر من إمام المهدي ترى أنه كانت تخصيصة جيدة ، لا يحدث أنك قلت ، لا ، maybe it's someone else لأنك كانت جيدة إلى إمام عسكري وإمام هادي هذا كانت أول أمباسر ، كيف أمام أنه يعمل؟ 5 ، من 260 ، عندما إمام عسكري قلت حتى 265 في 5 سنوات ، كانت أمباسر ومهدي إلى إمام المهدي بعد أنه قلت ، أمباسر الثاني Who was the second ambassador? The second ambassador was his son The son of Uthman ibn Sa'a'id His name was Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri was the longest serving of them He was the Safir of the Imam for 40 years 40 years, he was the gateway to Imam al-Mahdi Likewise, Muhammad ibn Uthman was highly praised by the imams By whom? Imam عسكري Many Ahadith Imam عسكري is speaking about Uthman ibn Sa'a'id Muhammad ibn Uthman And in one hadith Excuse me In one hadith Imam العسكري عليه السلام He told this Shi'a That Muhammad ibn Uthman, the first ambassador He is my Wakeel And his son Muhammad ibn Uthman Is the Wakeel of my son Al-Mahdi So he made it clear Muhammad ibn Uthman was appointed by Imam العسكري He told the Shi'a before even the Ghaibah began That amongst the wakala of my son Al-Mahdi Will be Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri And Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri He was a very very great alim He was a very very great personality of Ahlu al-Bayt عليه السلام Very trustworthy Very close to the Imam Ahmed ibn Ali ibn Ahmed al-Dallal He narrates the story He says one day I want to meet The second ambassador Uthman Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri He said I saw him He is writing something on a piece of wood Writing on a piece of wood So I asked him يا محمد What are you doing? What are you writing? He said I'm writing Some verses of the Qur'an Apparently on this wood For my grave Because when they When they bury him He needs this piece of wood In his grave So he says I'm preparing this For my grave And then he told me Do you see this All over here This is my grave He told them every night Every night This is why he's ambassador I go into my grave And I read one chapter Of the Qur'an In my grave SubhanAllah Do you see how great this man is? Do you think they get this easily? Just because his father was the waki Now I'm the waki Of course not Do you see how great this man was? Every night he goes in his grave For how many years Allah knows He reads an entire chapter Of the Qur'an In his grave My dear brothers and sisters How much Qur'an do we read throughout the year? Do we even touch the Qur'an? Or the piles And of dust Just keeps on piling over it At least I should read one page Every single day Be connected There has to be a bond Rasulullah says اني تايركم فيكم اتقلين One of them is Kitab Allah At least every day Read one page of the Qur'an If you can Two pages Five pages One juzah That's excellent But especially If you don't read throughout the year Especially Especially Especially Doing the month of Ramadhan The month of Ramadhan is called what? It's called One of the names of Ramadhan ربي القران It's the spring of Qur'an Meaning This is when you read Qur'an If you did not read Qur'an the entire This is when you start reading Qur'an The حديث of Rasulullah ﷺ Where he began Before Before Ramadhan came He spoke about Ramadhan He told his Ashab about Ramadhan Amongst the things that he said about Ramadhan He said whoever reads One verse of the Qur'an During Ramadhan Allah will give him The reward as if he read the entire Qur'an Just say قل هو الله أحد The angel here Alright You read the Qur'an once The whole Qur'an Allah has summed two Qur'ans لم يلد ولم يو Just read one verse Allah will give you the thawab Of reading the whole Qur'an So basically there's extra credit How much more? 6666 times more Because that's how many verses in the Qur'an Read one verse It says if you read the whole Qur'an 6000 verses Subhanallah How easy it is to what To achieve reward But unfortunately some of us we forget So during the month of Ramadhan Try to read at least one Juz'a 20 pages every day So that you finish the Qur'an at least once If you can twice 3 times Some people I know They finish the Qur'an 5 times 7 times 10 times A Juz'a takes an average person That can read Arabic 20 minutes If you're a slow reader 30 minutes Let's say 1 hour What's 1 hour? And remember there's no lunch So that hour you used to use To eat lunch Use it to read Qur'an So this brothers and sisters Highlights the importance of reading The Qur'an Now some of us unfortunately We never read the Qur'an Muhammad Ibn Uthman Not only he read one Juz'a every day Where did he read it? In his grave Can you imagine what a type of effect That leaves on me? I go inside my grave So that I am reminded that Look No matter how much wealth you have No matter how long you're going to live No matter what is in this world This is my end This is my true home And this huge life of mine That I am so happy about It could go all going one second One split second It could go away And this will be my new home So if I go in my grave And obviously not every night But if I try it once in a while You will see that this will always remind you of death Remind you of Allah When you want a sin When you want to go away from Allah You'll be reminded Wait It's not worth it Because this is where I'm going Every human being will go and be Placed in that grave And this is my next home So every night he would read One chapter of the Qur'an In the grave They say one of our علماء By the name of ألمير زمهدي شيرازي رحمه الله Every Thursday Or Wednesday He used to study in النجف or كربلا The students in the house They would go swim They would go spend some time on the weekend Either Wednesday night Or Thursday over there The weekend They would spend some time You know Away from the house To relax They say this young man He would spend his night You know the week night The weekend Where everyone's having Having fun And enjoying themselves This is how he used to spend his time He used to go He used to dig a grave And he used to go inside that grave And then he would speak to himself He would read this verse Allah says in the Holy Qur'an He says about every human being When we are placed into the grave What do we say? قال رب رجعوني لعلي أعمل صالحا فيما تركت What do we tell Allah When we are placed in the grave يا الله I beg you Please take me back even one hour So that I can pray one Salah I didn't pray enough Because in the grave I will see how important the A'mal are The only thing that will benefit me In the grave is my A'mal Salah Somme Charity Doing good to other people I tell Allah رب رجعوني Take me one minute One hour One day Just so I could pray Do some You know Give some charity Build some Masjid Give for the cause of Allah Respect my parents Whatever Read some Quran What does Allah say in this Quran? No way That's it You had your chance You're not going to have a chance No one No human being after dies Allah is going to give him a chance To come back So you have one chance Be careful Do not waste