issue 8 june

When help arrives…Batool Hayda reflects on the concept of waiting for theMahdi (a) and the transformation it should bring withinourselvesSay, ‘Each [of us] is waiting. So wait! Soon you will know who the people of the right path are, and whois guided.’ (Qur’an 20:135)Wait (verb): to remain or stay in expectation of.Waiting is as intrinsic a part of human nature as breathing.From the very moment we gain consciousness, we are waiting.As children, we wait - or can’t wait - to grow up. As adults, wewait to move from one milestone of success to another - wewait to get our qualifications, to get a good job, hopefullybecome famous, to marry and have a family. Finally, as theyears pass us by, whether we accept it or not, we await theinevitable moment when we will cross the threshold of Deathand pass over to the other side.And it is not just about the big picture; waiting is a game weplay almost every day of our lives. We wait for meetings tostart... and then to end. We wait to keep appointments, tomeet friends or to carry out responsibilities. Once in a whilethough, something may happen that we say is ‘unexpected’.We were not consciously waiting for it and thus, when it doeshappen, it catches us unaware. If the occurring circumstanceis in harmony with our desire, we call it a ‘pleasant surprise’and if it disrupts our status quo, it becomes an obstacle or astumbling block that we wish had never happened.In the recent past, the human race has had to deal with many‘unexpected’ situations. We have watched as fellow men havestooped to sub-human levels of morality. We have witnessedinnocent people being tortured, oppressed and murdered. Wehave sat back and wondered, what is the world coming to?And how do we stop this madness?Every time these questions are asked, there is an unspokenhope that someone somewhere has the answer. There is theinner desire in every human being for some saving grace tobring salvation from a situation that is only going from badto worse at an escalating rate. We know that we can organiseprotests, write articles or declare a stand, but too often, thequestion remains; what can we possibly do to actually make adifference? How do we get all our good intentions to translateinto change? Who can gather all the individual pockets ofpositive uprising into a united active movement?It is in response to this need for leadership that God haspromised the world a Saviour - the Awaited Mahdi (a) - whowill bring together like-minded individuals and create acommunity out of separate entities in much the same wayas his forefather, the Holy Prophet (s) did. However, althoughwe have a Promise and Hope in abundance, we must realisethat the equation will always be incomplete without one moreessential element: effort.We speak of, yearn and even pray for the appearance of theMahdi, but how much effort are we investing in preparationwhile we wait? Will his coming be akin to a long anticipated‘pleasant surprise’ for us or will be caught unaware and unableto grasp the opportunities he will present to us?When children sit for an examination, we teach them torevise in the days leading up to it. When we go for a jobinterview, we study the organisation and try to understand itsphilosophy even before joining it. If a person decides to climba mountain, they are required to train in an environment thatemulates the expected circumstances of the climb in order toprepare themselves. Throughout life, for all important tasks -big or small - we prepare for the event in the period of waitingleading up to it. How much more does the task of helping aDivinely Appointed Leader to establish global justice amidstprevailing opposition, require?Imam al-Jawad (a) has stated that “The best act of our followersis to expect the relief”. We are not just passively waiting forrespite, but the implication here is to be in a pro-active state ofexpectation. This demands a lifetime of sincere commitmentand loyalty to a cause we must firmly believe in. It requires ofus that we be in a state of conscious anticipation and awarenessin all aspects of our life - career paths, work, socialisingand families.It is a fact that for some things we wait with eagerness andothers with perturbation, but regardless of our emotions, timepasses and the things that are meant to be, come to pass.Regardless of how the situation may seem at present, the Helpof God will be revealed to us at the appointed time. We cannotpredict when this will be or what our circumstances will belike. However, what we can do is ensure that in the period wespend from now until then, our everyday decisions - whetherprivate, personal or public - in some way positively influenceour principal wait for the establishment of absolute truth. •3435