Therefore, it is obligatory upon the Mahdi to make access to himself possible for them after they have removed the obstacle, and this can be done by sending an envoy, writing a letter to them, or by some other means, depending on what is possible and appropriate. Based on this, it is obligatory upon people to remove the obstacle to access to the Mahdi—which is, first and foremost, the lack of necessary security for him—and once they do so, it becomes obligatory upon the Mahdi to facilitate access to himself for them, which he does by virtue of his purity from any form of rijs and his inseparability from the Book of Allah. The fact that he has not yet done so indicates that, until now, people have not removed the obstacle to access to him nor provided the necessary security for him.

This is while, without a doubt, people are in need of the Mahdi, not the Mahdi of people; because the Mahdi acquires knowledge of Allah’s rulings and their subjects without referring to people, but people do not acquire such knowledge without referring to the Mahdi. Accordingly, the Mahdi’s referring to people is not obligatory; rather, it is people’s referring to the Mahdi that is obligatory, in view of the fact that, based on intellect, it is obligatory upon the one in need to turn to the one who fulfills his need, not upon the one who is self-sufficient to turn to the one who needs him. Likewise, the hungry go in search of food, not food in search of the hungry; the thirsty go in search of water, not water in search of the thirsty; the sick go in search of a doctor, not the doctor in search of the sick; and the ignorant go in search of the learned, not the learned in search of the ignorant—this is what instinct and nature demand. Accordingly, the Mahdi coming to people before they come to him is unnatural and contrary to wisdom; thus, the wise do not expect it, even though the foolish do[1].

[How People Make the Mahdi Appear]

From this, it is understood that people’s assumption about the Mahdi’s appearance—that it is up to Allah and conditional on His initial will and action—is incorrect; because, as has become clear, the Mahdi’s appearance, meaning access to him and his authority over the Earth, is contingent upon sufficient support from people for him, and it is clear that such support does not occur through Allah’s coercive will and action, but rather through their own voluntary will and action. Allah’s will and action—although essential for the Mahdi’s creation and appearance—follow people’s initial will and action;

↑[1] . Likewise, it has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah that he said: «مَثَلُ الْإِمَامِ مَثَلُ الْكَعْبَةِ، إِذْ يُؤْتَى وَلَا يَأْتِي» (Kifayah al-Athar by al-Khazzaz al-Qummi, pp. 199 and 248); “The Imam is similar to the Kaaba; they go to him, and he does not go to anyone,” and he said to Ali ibn Abi Talib, by way of example: «أَنْتَ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْكَعْبَةِ، تُؤْتَى وَلَا تَأْتِي، فَإِنْ أَتَاكَ هَؤُلَاءِ الْقَوْمُ فَسَلَّمُوهَا إِلَيْكَ -يَعْنِي الْحُكُومَةَ- فَاقْبَلْهَا مِنْهُمْ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَأْتُوكَ فَلَا تَأْتِهِمْ حَتَّى يَأْتُوكَ» (al-Firdaws Bima’thur al-Khitab by al-Daylami, vol. 5, p. 315; Usd al-Ghabah by ibn al-Athir, vol. 4, p. 106; Zahr al-Firdaws by ibn Hajar, vol. 8, p. 84); “You are similar to the Kaaba; people go to it, and it does not go to anyone. So, if people come to you and hand it over to you—meaning authority—accept it from them, and if they do not come to you, do not go to them until they come to you.” Similarly, it has been narrated that Hasan ibn Ali said to his father after the killing of Uthman: “O father! Stay in your house until the Arabs recover their strayed senses; for even if you were in a lizard’s burrow, they would surely drive their camels at full speed to reach you and bring you out of your burrow” (Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 7, p. 478; History of Medina by ibn Shabbah, vol. 4, p. 1256), and in another narration, he said: “Leave the Arabs until their wandering minds return to them; for by Allah, if you were in a hyena’s den, they would surely pull you out of it” (History of Baghdad by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, vol. 8, p. 355). It has also been narrated that Abu Bakrah once met al-Mughirah ibn Shu‘bah in the Rahbah while al-Mughirah was the governor. Abu Bakrah said to him: “Where are you going?” He said: “To visit someone I hold dear.” Abu Bakrah said: “A governor is to be visited; he does not go out visiting” (Musannaf of ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 6, p. 190; Ansab al-Ashraf by al-Baladhuri, vol. 1, p. 490), and Abu Bakrah was a righteous man among the companions of the Prophet . It has also been narrated from Malik ibn Anas that he said: “Knowledge is visited and does not visit. It is sought out and does not seek” (al-Mujalasah Wa Jawahir al-Ilm by al-Dinawari, vol. 8, p. 321).