Criticism of the claim of

Zarnoosheh, Hasan; Rabiee, Ommolbanin

doi:10.22034/hsr.2025.51682.1046

Criticism of the claim of "Tariq al-Qahtani" About the conflict of Shiite traditions related to "Reason for Occultation of Imam Mahdi"

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Associate Professor in Department of Theology and Islamic Studies, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran.

² MA of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/hsr.2025.51682.1046

Abstract

The occultation of Imam al-Mahdī (AS) is a key issue in Mahdavi thought, for which various reasons have been stated in Shia narrative sources. In an article entitled "al-Ghaybah ʻinda al-Shīʻah al-Ithnā ʻAsharīyyah wa Asbābuhā; Dirāsatun Taḥlīlīyyatun Naqdīyyah" written by Ṭāriq ibn Saʻīd ibn ʻAbdullāh al-Qaḥṭānī," it is claimed, by adhering to these very narrations, that Shia narrations regarding the reason for the occultation are unreliable, contradictory, and irreconcilable. The present study, with the aim of responding to the doubts raised in the aforementioned article regarding the reason for the occultation of Imam al-Mahdī (AS) and using the descriptive-analytical method, first, while stating the claim made, examines the authenticity of the narrations' chains of transmission based on two approaches: "Narrator-centric and evidence-centric authentication." It demonstrates that, with the exception of one narration, the rest are capable of being considered authentic and sound. Then, by examining their implications, it concludes that since all the reasons for the occultation mentioned in the narrations are of the nature of incomplete causes (causa sine qua non) and not complete causes, therefore, a semantic reconciliation can be made between them, and there is no need to prioritize them over each other. In this way, we can consider some of them as the cause of the occurrence of the occultation and others as the cause of the continuation of the occultation, or consider one of the causes as the principle and the rest as its branches.

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