The Grand Day of Mab’ath

Today is the 27th of the sacred month of Rajab, the day on which darkness was dispelled and enlightenment took birth as the prime and pristine call of monotheism that had started with Adam the Father of the human race, once again started to reverberate in a world that had sunk into disbelief, polytheism, atheism, fire-worship, ancestor-worship, oppression, and all other forms of deviations.

To be more precise today is the day of Mab’ath, which means resurgence, since it is the day on which God Almighty entrusted the universal mission of Islam to His last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

"In the Prophet of Allah there is certainly for you the Excellent Exemplar, for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah greatly."

This is how the One and Only Creator of the universe introduces the Seal of Messengers in ayah 21 of Surah al-Ahzaab of the holy Qur’an, which is the final heavenly scripture for the guidance of all mankind, and whose first ayahs were revealed today on Mount Mercy at Cave Hera, outside Mecca, to the 40-year old son of Abdullah, whom the All-Merciful Lord calls “mercy unto the whole creation.” 

Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) was formally entrusted with the universal message of Islam today for the benefit of all humanity in order to enable them to promote peace, fraternity, and social justice in the transient life of the mortal world, and to achieve the bliss of paradise in afterlife. The person who had earned reputation in the society as Sadeq or the Truthful and as Amin or the Trustworthy, had his formal investiture by Archangel Gabriel at with the revelation of Surah Alaq, whose first seven ayahs read: “Read in the Name of your Lord Who created; Created man from a clinging mass; Read, and your Lord is the most generous; Who taught by the pen; Taught man what he did not know.”

When this was revealed Satan moaned in despair,  and no other human being was in sight, except the ten-year Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) who used to bring food and water for his meditating cousin. These are the points worth pondering upon for proper cognizance of the ethereal teachings of Islam and the liberating mission of the Messenger that was foretold by all prophets of yore, including Moses and Jesus.  As modern day Muslims, we ought to take stock our own selves, especially of our faith, to determine whether we really adhere to the letter and spirit of the holy Qur'an and the genuine Sunnah and Seerah of the Prophet of Islam, or are unwittingly following the hypocrites that claimed to be his political heirs and polluted the pristine message of Islam with discord, violence, brutality, bloodshed and terrorism.

 “Those who follow the Messenger-Prophet, the Ummi (not taught by any human), whose mention they find written with them in the Torah and the Evangel, who bids them to do what is right and forbids them from what is wrong, makes lawful to them all the good things and forbids them from all vicious things, and relieves them of their burdens and the shackles that were upon them —those who believe in him, honour him, and help him and follow the light that has been sent down with him, they are the felicitous.”

This is what God Almighty says in ayah 157 of Surah A’raaf of the Holy Qur’an. The event of Mab’ath occurred in the full limelight of recorded history, unlike the ordainment of the Prophets of the past, such as Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, and the countless others whom the One and Only Creator raised in different eras and different parts of the globe, with emphasis on preaching monotheism, virtue, social justice, and all humanitarian values, by desisting from idolatry, atheism, oppression, vices and indulgence in sins.

It was foretold in the Evangel, the Torah, and the previously revealed heavenly scriptures, as well as in the religious texts of the Zoroastrians, the Hindus, and others – parts of this prophecy is still preserved in spite of the tampering by interlopers that these books have gone through.  

 For instance, in Deuteronomy (18:15) we read the prophecy to Moses:      

 “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren (Ishmaelite Arabs), like unto thee, and will put My Words into his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My Words which he shall speak in My Name.”

In the Gospel of St. John (18:7-14) we find the following prophecy of Jesus:

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the Spirit of truth (the Comforter), is come, he will guide into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

In the Dasatir and Zend Avesta of the Zoroastrians, it is written:

“When they will commit such deeds, a man will appear from the Arabs before whose followers crown, throne, kingdom and religion shall be overthrown, and arrogant people will be subjugated. Instead of the house of idols and the temple of fire, they will look at the House of worship of Abraham without any idols in it and will make it their focal point of worship (Qibla).”

In the books of Hindus, such as Kalki Puran and Kalki Avatar, it is mentioned:

“His name will be 'Mahamat'. People will be astonished to see his style… … And he will not worship as the people of his tribe will be worshipping and he will tell the people that “I have been told by that Almighty and Only One (God) not to indulge in such senseless worship; and I am not turning but to the Lord Most High therefore, you should follow me.”

The most important point to note is that the event of Mab’ath took place in the presence of a witness, who has related it precisely in the most perfect manner in one of his flawlessly eloquent sermons which also inform us of the loud moan of Satan, who became dismayed forever of the total success of his deceit.

The witness is none other than the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), who as a 10-year boy used to take food and clothing to his 40-year cousin on Mount Noor during the days of solitude the latter would spend at the Cave of Hera.

The person whom the Prophet, by the express commandment of God, formally proclaimed as Vicegerent on the plain of Ghadeer-Khom on 18th Zilhijja in 10 AH, 23 years after Mab’ath, says in sermon 191 of Nahj al-Balagha: 

“When I was only a child he took charge of me… I used to follow him like a young camel following in the footprints of its mother. Every day he would show me some of his high traits and commanded me to follow it. Every year he used to go into seclusion to the Mount of Hera, where I saw him but no one else used to see him... I used to see and watch the effulgence of divine revelation and message, and breathe the scent of Prophethood.

 “When the revelation descended on the Prophet of Allah (SAWA), I heard the moan of Satan. I asked: O Prophet of Allah, what is this moan? He replied: This is Satan who has lost all hope of being worshipped. O Ali! You see all that I see and you hear all that I hear, except that you are not a Prophet, but you are a Vicegerent…”

Now we know that adherence to the path of the Seal of Messengers is not complete unless the believers follow the footsteps of his divinely-decreed Heir, Imam Ali (AS), and the Eleven other Infallible Imams of his progeny – the Last of whom is in occultation by the Will of God, and will reappear in the end times as Mahdi al-Qa’em to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice by ridding the planet of all vestiges of corruption and oppression.

That is the reason we have been advised to perform the special Ziyarah of Imam Ali (AS) in Najaf on the Grand Day of Mab’ath, and if travel is not possible, to recite it by turning towards the direction of Najaf, from wherever we happen to be.

"I was sent to complete the best of morals", had said the Seal of Messengers and during his 23-year prophetic mission he strove to build the model of the ideal state of social justice in the face of the most severe plots against him by the ever rebellious Israelites and the pagan Arabs, who at times jointly, imposed wars upon him. These facts warrant us to study the life and mission of the Mercy unto the creation from the proper perspective that is, through the words and statements of his Ahl al-Bayt, rather than the dubious chronicles compiled during the Omayyad and Abbasid caliphates, or the so-called hadith literature that needs to be scientifically scrutinized.

 And this is absolutely necessary in our days when the Godless Takfiri terrorists, created and funded by the heretical Wahhabi cult and armed by the Zionist-US nexus, are tarnishing the image of Islam through their savage and cannibalistic behaviour.

Imam Ali (AS), as the person most nearest and dearest to the Prophet, and regarding whom the Prophet had said that he embodies the characteristics of the prophets of the past, like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, says in Sermon 161 of Nahj al-Balagha:

“Allah deputed the Prophet with a sparkling light, a clear argument, an open path and a guiding book. His tribe is the best tribe and his lineal tree the best lineal tree whose branches are in good proportion and fruits hanging (in plenty). His birth-place was Mecca, and the place of his immigration Taybah (Medina), from where his name rose high and his voice spread far and wide. Allah sent him with a sufficing plea, a convincing discourse and a rectifying announcement. Through him Allah disclosed the ways that had been forsaken, and destroyed the innovations that had been introduced. Through him He explained the detailed commands.”

The Imam has also left us valuable guidelines in order to save us from the pitfalls of Takfirism and terrorism, as is evident by the following passages of the Sermons 97 and 86 respectively:

“Look towards the members of the Prophet's family. Adhere to their direction. Follow their footsteps because they would never let you out of guidance, and never throw you into destruction. If they sit down, you sit down, and if they rise up you rise up. Do not go ahead of them, as you would thereby go astray and do not lag behind of them as you would thereby be ruined." (Sermon 97)

 “Where are you being taken astray and how are you groping while you have among you the offspring of the Prophet? They are the Reins of Right, Ensigns of Faith and Tongues of truth. Accord to them the same good position as you accord to the Qur'an, and come to them (for quenching the thirst of guidance) as the thirsty camels approach the water spring.” (Sermon 86)

AS/SS