OTHER ENCOUNTERS WITH SAHIBUL ASR WAZ ZAMAN (PBUH):
And you would hear different stories of seeing Sahibul Asr Waz Zaman (pbuh) in our generation. In previous generations, you would see that prior scholars have written books about their encounters with Sahibul Asr (pbuh).
I think in the Muqddimma (introduction) of Sheikh Saduq’s book, ‘Sawabul A’amal wa Iqbalul A’amal’. He said he was doing Tawaf (circumambulating the Ka’aba) when he suddenly saw Sahibul Asr Waz Zaman (pbuh) and he asked him to write a book. So he said I’ve written a lot of books (regarding you Sahibul Asr) already. So he said write another one besides those that you’ve written earlier. So he later wrote that book (Sawabul A’amal). So he mentioned that in the Muqddimma of the book.
And also if you notice, there are other (Shi’i) scholars that you would see them stating that so-so day is very important to them. Like Sayyid Ibn Ɗawus, there was a day that he said that day is a very important day to him and his offspring, they (his offspring) should thank Allah for that, because it was that day that he saw Sahibul Asr (pbuh).
You would see many people telling their stories, people in previous generations and in our generation. You would be surprised regarding this issue of encountering Sahibul Asr Waz Zaman (pbuh), because some people taunt us. Those that taunt us will not understand anything. They say you don’t have anything to say other than there is a Leader that is in occultation. Where is he? Everyday you say you have a leader but nobody sees him.
Even if you have a leader that is not in occultation, must you (always) be seeing him? Now this tall slim (person) how many people see him among his followers? To some, he’s their saint but they don’t see him. All they know is that Mr. Tall said this and that, Mr. Slim went for medical checkup, that’s all. But they don’t see him, and he’s still their saint, he’s their leader. So you see even them. What then do you expect of Allah’s proof on earth, how would you expect everyone to see him? It’s not everybody that must see him, but he exists.
But they still taunt us. They even ask where is the phone number of that leader of yours? His GSM, Mobile, we want to call him. Meaning they make fun of that. They continue taunting us.. (We would say to them) all the best, you are the ones in loss both here and hereafter insha Allah. But we are not just making assumptions, we certain (of our beliefs).
I know there are some stories I gave some years back, on a day like today. I once gave a story of Sheikh Isa Arrumany of Bahrain, I can still repeat it briefly. There was a man that went to the King’s palace with an apple with the inscription of ‘Muhammad Rasulullah, Fulan Khalifatu Rasulullah, Fulan this, Fulan that’ (Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah, so-so person is the caliph of Rasulullah, so-so person is that). All the names of their four rightly guided caliphs were inscribed on the apple, so he went to the palace with the apple. Sorry I meant to say pomegranate not apple. You know pomegranate has a hard skin. I said apple but it was a mistake, I meant to say pomegranate. It has hard skin, you have to break it before you eat what’s inside, but apple can be eaten without even peeling it. But pomegranate has a hard skin and it is not edible, it’s bitter, you have to break the skin and eat what’s inside. So the inscription was on the pomegranate.
He brought it to the palace and showed the King. So the king said where are Shi’a that say immediately after the Prophet, Ali is the leader, they should come and see that Allah has proved them wrong. Here’s the reality inscribed on a pomegranate, four rightly guided caliphs written.
You see this is something natural. Something inscribed on a pomegranate, how do you see it! It’s that something that will give certainty (to the belief of the Sunni Muslims)? So they called Shi’a scholars, they weren’t much at that time. They said what can you (Shi’a) say about this? The truth has been proven, Allah inscribed the names of the caliphs on a pomegranate. And you people say that after the Prophet is Ali, then Hassan, then Hussain, and then nine sons of Hussain. And now see the name of the true caliphs inscribed, what can you say?
So everybody was silent (to hear the response of the Shi’a). So the Shi’a scholars asked for a respite of three days to go and look for an answer. So they went and discuss among themselves. They said now here’s another test for us, and no one can solve this problem for us except Sahibul Asr, because they had faith in him. So they decided to choose who will go and meet Sahibul Asr Waz Zaman to solve that problem. They decided to make a vote and select the scholar they deem suitable for the job.