Awaited Saviour - Imran Najafi

With the advent of social media major events become known fairly quickly. Whenever we read of the atrocities around the globe we (hopefully) begin to pray for peace. The only way peace can be achieved is to have a just leader. Therefore we pray for the re-appearance of the awaited saviour Imam Mahdi (as).

On social media sites there are many people showing that they are praying for the re-appearance of Imam Mahdi (as).

​So the question that gets put forward is why has his Eminence not returned?
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To answer that question we all have to look in to ourselves. It is all very good us posting many hadeeth on social media sites but how many of those do we practice? I am not condemning or insulting any one who posts or dosnt post hadeeth or other religious quotes. I am merely stating that until we begin improving on our own selves we can not say we have made an effort.

Making dua for his eminences return is very good. This has to be followed by positive actions. For example I make dua a sick person gets well, however I dont take them to a doctor and they die. This is an extreme case but I am just making a point. When we are ill we dont simply rely on dua alone but include action by visiting a doctor.

Imam Jafar As-Sadiq (a.s.) is quoted to have said,
"Dua & medicine together can be a cure for ailments/illness." ​

​The next question is how can we apply this to making dua for his eminences return? What positive action can we do to help speed up the process? The first thing we can all do is act upon what we already know. For example I keep posting messages about the importance of praying Salaat-ul-Fajr. Yet personally I do not even bother to pray Salaat-ul-Fajr. How can I expect another to act on my advice when I do not practice it myself?
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Imam Jafar As-Sadiq (a.s.) says, "Three things cause hatred, hypocrisy, self admiration and oppression."

The next question is I pray all my Salaats and make dua for his emminences return. Surely I need not do anymore?
That thinking in itself is a mistake. Shaytan (Satan) is famous for not doing one Sujood, not famous for the many many that he had previously done. There is always more that we all can do. No person can say that our character is immaculate we need not improve upon it. It is up to each of us to find what characteristic we lack in and act positively to improve ourselves.
For example, there is the incident in the time of our Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) where a man asked him to give him one thing he could do to avoid hell fire. Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) replied to the man do not lie. The man became very happy and promised the  Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) he would do that simple act. After leaving the man saw an empty house. He considered robbing the house, then he remember that he promised  Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) he would not lie. If some one asked him where he got those belongings from he would have to lie thus braking his promise. He pushed the robbing thought out of his mind and continued walking. Every time he thought of a negative action he remembered his promise and had to abandon it. When this man returned to see the  Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) he told him that telling the truth was a lot harder a thing to do than he first thought. 

The next question is character building is a continuous effort. One of the things that is part of building this is helping in your local community. For example your local Mosque or center needs maintenance of the garden. So if you have money you can help by getting the tools etc. If you have time you can donate that and help with the labour. Whatever helpful thing you can do try your best to do it.
In the building of the Masjid-e-Nabawe the  Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) himself assisting in construction.
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No one knows when his eminence will return. For this reason we should strive within ourselves to become better charactered people.
Its cliche but if his eminence returned tomorrow what would we do? That would be the time of action. In his eminences absence we should not sit idly but rather better ourselves in as many ways as we can. Obviously time is precious and people have to earn a living.
Earning a living is also a form of worship. Imam Mohammad Baqir (a.s.) was asked why do you work so hard? He replied that, "working is a form of worship." 

In this time we are very fortunate. Our religious materials are not only available in English but also electronically. For example Nahjul Balagha is available as an ebook.   There are many other books available out there that we all should read. I will only state a few, Nahjul Balagha, Risalatul Huquq and Sahifa Sajjadiya. I have only mentioned these three for a reason. Nahjul Balagha is normally quoted for its great sermons of Imam Ali (a.s.). In these sermons many pearls of wisdom can be found.

Risalatul Huquq is the treatise of human rights by Imam Zayn-ul-Abideen (a.s.). It is a very old treaty of human rights which covers many aspects. Sahifa Sajjadiya is a dua book by  Imam Zayn-ul-Abideen (a.s.). As the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) said, "the mumins (believer) weapon is their duas (prayers)."

I make dua after writing this that we all live to see the return of his eminence Imam Mahdi (as).