Grand Ayatollah Shirazi remarks on claims of seeing Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him
The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadiq al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Saturday, the 13th of Sha’ban. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various legal issues.
In relation to a passage from the last letter ascribed to the Imam of the Time, may Allah bring forward his blessed reappearance, (there will come forward some Shiites with claims to see [the Imam], be aware that anyone who claims as such before the uprising of Sufyani and the heavenly call is a reckless liar), Grand Ayatollah Shirazi said: The claim of visual contact in this letter means such meetings that come with claims of special representation and agency.
The Marja further elaborated on how these words came from our Master, Imam Sahib al-Asr, and said: When the first, second, and third Special Representatives of Imam Mahdi, but not the fourth and last of them, were about to depart from this world, they would bring a letter from Imam al-Hujjat, which stated they were about to pass away, and after them, the Shiites should refer to the next Special Representative identified in that letter.
He further said: This practice was carried out by Uthman ibn Saeed, Muhammad ibn Uthman, and Husayn ibn Rooh, the first, second, and third Special Representatives, and all three introduced the next Special Representative with this letter.
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi then said: But, when the death time of the fourth Special Representative Ali ibn Muhammad Samuri arrived, he received a letter from Imam Zaman, which emphasized that he would soon pass away, and that he was not to appoint anyone as a Special Representative, that is, he was to be the last in this line of Representation.
His Eminence continued: In that letter, Imam al-Hujjat had emphasized that the Minor Occultation ended and the Major Occultation began, and that whoever claims to see the Imam and have Special Representation and Agency of the Imam must be refuted, but not other instances of being honored by seeing the Imam.
