Written by Dr. Mawahib Saleh Mahdi – Faculty of Islamic Sciences, University of Karbala
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
(And Allah wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow desires want you to deviate [into] a great deviation) (Quran 4:27)
This research discusses the will of God and the will of others. What does God want?
He wants to accept your repentance (as stated in the verse above).
(Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship) (Quran 2:185)
God does as He wills (But Allah does what He wills) (Quran 2:253)
God does not wish injustice when He acts according to His will (And Allah does not want injustice to the worlds) (Quran 3:108)
So why does God give to disbelievers?
Answer: (Allah intends not to give them a share in the Hereafter) (Quran 3:176)
Therefore, if we are deprived of goodness, it is from Him because of our negligence in adhering to His guidance or the trial of our situation.
What are the divine laws and rulings?
(Allah intends to make clear to you and guide you to the ways of those before you, and He wants to accept your repentance. And Allah is All-Knowing, Wise) (Quran 4:26)
The beauty of this verse is that it comes after the verse we are analyzing, as if it is saying that those who do not adhere to the ruling will face the laws (sunans).
When God wants to prevent us from the desires that oppressors wish for us to fall into, He intends to show us that divine laws follow when desires are pursued. Among these laws are punishments and negative consequences.
Example: Desires related to women lead society to corruption. (If a woman adorns herself and young men do not want to marry because there is someone who satisfies them without any commitment, desires will take over).
The young man tilts
Until he pleases her, he abandons his work, chasing after her.
To please her, she asks for money.
To please her, he steals…
Sins spread, and goodness is obstructed. Among the good things is the presence of a guiding Imam, the Mahdi, who will fill the earth with justice after it has been filled with injustice.
We complain and say: (O Allah, we complain to You about the loss of our Prophet, the absence of our Imam, the abundance of trials upon us, and the apparent hardships of time upon us).
The question is: Why did Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance) disappear? Is this one of the divine laws?
When people do not care and tighten the noose around the appointed Imam, He disappears from them.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: (Indeed, the Imam has a necessary occultation, in which every falsehood-maker will doubt) (Al-‘Ilal al-Shara’i’ 1/245)
The absence is a law, as it happened with:
- Moses (peace be upon him), (And We appointed for Moses thirty nights…) *(And Moses said to his brother Aaron: “Take my place among my people…”)
- Jonah, who was absent in the belly of the whale.
- Joseph, who was absent and then returned, and so on.
Returning to our research, God’s will is always in our favor. So, is the occultation for our training, or is it a punishment for us because we did not appreciate the Imams who were martyred and had their blood shed?
But God’s will is related to the occultation of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return) for connected reasons:
- So that the earth is never without a proof.
- To test the believers.
- Then Allah wills to bless those who were oppressed on earth and make them leaders and inheritors.
The noble verse: (We intend to bestow favor upon those who were oppressed on the earth, and make them leaders, and make them inheritors.)
A message to the fragrant flower of our Islamic society:
Dear one, take your veil as a ladder for ascension, for you have a Lord who loves you and adorned you with hijab. He desires you to be a precious gem veiled with a cloak, hidden from the gaze of the wolves, so you may be among the inheritors of the earth. And know that you have a hidden Imam who is present, watching you. Ask yourself before you leave the house: If He saw you, would He choose you from His supporters?
Summary of the Research
There is the will of God and the will of those who follow desires.
If we follow God’s will, we will inherit the earth. But if we follow desires, there are rulings and there are laws.
If we follow the rulings, we will succeed; but if we disobey, the laws will apply to us. One of these laws is the absence of the guides.
The absence is a law with purposes and goals known only to Allah, and in the end, Allah’s will will happen, and He will grant victory to those who follow His rulings.
