What True Waiting For Imam Mehdi Really Means

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) As children, we hear about an Imam who lives in occultation, unseen but alive in history. We grow up believing that one day he will return.

When his name is mentioned, our heads bow almost on their own. And when his title is spoken, we say a prayer for his quick return, hoping the words keep the connection alive.

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This becomes a habit we carry through life. The years pass, but the waiting stays the same.

Twenty-five years have gone by since my childhood, and the waiting continues. Only God knows when it will end, when the Imam will appear, and when hearts tired by injustice, confusion, and loss will finally see him.
The present period is known as the period of occultation. During it, we see ourselves as the awaiters of Imam-e-Zaman (AS). This idea, however, needs a clear understanding from the start.

The hope for a saviour does not belong to Shia thought alone. Many divine religions and spiritual traditions carry the belief that a redeemer will appear at the end of history.

Islam reflects this shared hope as well.

Scholars from both Shia and Sunni traditions have written in detail about the Mahdi, his return, and the social and historical setting around his reappearance.

These discussions show that waiting goes beyond sectarian labels. It speaks to a wider human and religious longing for justice, renewal, and moral order.

The deeper question sits somewhere else. What does occultation really mean, and what does it ask of those who say they are waiting?

Reappearance is more than a future event that will change history. It is a moment that asks for awareness and makes history seem to halt and wait.

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In this sense, occultation holds meaning and purpose. It marks a long phase of intellectual, moral, and practical preparation. It works like a school, training people to carry justice with awareness and discipline, rather than through emotion or impulse.

The idea of occultation never meant that waiting should become passive or stuck in routine. Waiting was meant to stay active and alive. It was meant to mold and change the one who waits. It invites people to understand what reappearance asks of them and to turn belief into action.

A waiting that brings no growth or readiness loses its meaning and turns into delay presented as devotion.

The Imam looks for people who live their prayers, rather than those who only repeat words. Phrases like“O Allah, hasten the relief” gain meaning when they grow out of personal and social commitment.

What matters are people who have made sacrifice part of daily life.

Saying“my soul is sacrificed for you” holds meaning when a person's whole life is driven by that promise.

True waiting lives beyond supplication. It shows itself in character, ethical discipline, awareness, and the choice to give up comfort in the pursuit of truth.

History offers painful lessons in this regard.

The people of Kufa once wrote countless letters inviting Imam Hussain (AS), declaring loyalty and readiness. When the moment of trial came, many of them faltered. Fear, comfort, and the pull of safety outweighed their conviction.

This failure in history leads us to a basic question. It asks whether we have the moral strength to stand with the Imam if he were to appear, along with the desire for his arrival.
Beyond ceremonies or emotional displays, the Imam looks for people ready for deep inner change, and the story of Hurr offers a clear example.

He recognised the truth at the final moment and changed the direction of his entire life. People like him rise above habit, social pressure, and fear.

As truth becomes clear, they leave falsehood behind and give themselves fully to what is right.

This readiness grows through conscious self-change and consistent inner work. Over time, it takes form through daily choices and constant action.

This is what true waiting looks like. It drives people, builds character, and prepares the ground for reappearance.

But over time, a common misunderstanding has settled into our religious thinking. Many of us assume that the Imam only needs preachers, clerics, or people closely tied to religious spaces. This view misses the larger picture.

The Imam needs a whole society. He needs doctors who treat patients with honesty, teachers who teach with purpose, engineers who build with care, journalists who speak truth with courage, workers who labour with self-respect, and sanitation workers who see their service as a moral act.

The Imam needs people from every field who treat their work as a form of worship and a stand against injustice.

Alongside this sits another false idea.

Some imagine that the Imam will rely only on old methods, untouched by the realities of the present world. But history tells a different story.

The Imam will work with the tools, knowledge, and systems of his time. This brings us to a difficult but necessary question.

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