I agree with His Eminence Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani on most of his views, but I have some reservations about some of them. Can only those who agree with him on all his views join him in preparing the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi? There were individuals from different sects among the companions and helpers of the Ahl al-Bayt, which means they disagreed with them on some of their views, as you have explained in one of your answers. Can someone who does not agree with His Eminence Mansoor on some of his views be one of his companions and helpers if he agrees with him on the necessity of preparing the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi? Thank you for your answer.
Any Muslim who sincerely believes in and practically adheres to the following principles is considered one of the helpers of His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, even if he does not agree with him on the rest of his theological and juristic views:
1. Belief in the Oneness of Allah in creation, legislation, and sovereignty; as explained in saying 173 of his pure words.
2. Belief that any government or imamate other than the government and imamate of Allah’s Caliph, the Mahdi, is illegitimate at present; as explained in letter 14 of his letters and saying 22 of his words.
3. Belief that the advent and government of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, are inevitable according to the promise of Allah and His Messenger once suitable conditions for them are prepared by people; as explained in the book Return to Islam (p. 290) and the book Geometry of Justice.
4. Belief in the religious obligation or the rational necessity of preparing suitable conditions for the advent and government of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, through preparing sufficient men and equipment for them; as explained in the book Geometry of Justice.
5. Obeying His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, in terms of how to prepare the ground for the advent and government of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, considering his reasonable and legitimate invitation toward that and the necessity of unity and harmony among the preparers; as explained in the book Geometry of Justice.
Whoever believes in and adheres to these five principles is considered one of the helpers of His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, whether he agrees with him on the rest of his theological and juristic views that he has explained in the book Return to Islam and his other works, or disagrees with him. This is what gives all Muslims from every sect and nation the opportunity to join the preparers of the ground for the advent and government of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him. Although the special helpers of this truthful scholar are those who know that all of his theological and juristic views are correct, those who do not have such knowledge are also considered his helpers if they believe in and adhere to the five mentioned principles. This is why there are men from both Shias and Sunnis among his helpers; as one of his companions informed us, he said:
«أَدْخَلْتُ عَلَى الْمَنْصُورِ رَجُلَيْنِ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا، فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: هَذَا فُلَانٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِكَ وَهُوَ مِنَ الشِّيعَةِ، وَهَذَا فُلَانٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِكَ وَهُوَ مِنَ السُّنَّةِ، قَالَ: دَعْنَا -يَا فُلَانُ- مِنْ شِيعَتِكُمْ وَسُنَّتِكُمْ! إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ رَضِيَ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا، فَتَدَيَّنُوا بِهِ، ﴿مِلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ۚ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ قَبْلُ﴾[1]، فَلَا تَسَمُّوا إِلَّا بِالْمُسْلِمِينَ، ﴿وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِالْأَلْقَابِ﴾![2] ثُمَّ قَالَ: مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ وَلَمْ يُشْرِكْ بِهِ شَيْئًا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ»[3]; “I brought two of our companions to Mansoor, then I said to him: This is one of your companions and he is a Shia, and this is one of your companions and he is a Sunni, he said: Let us be free of your Shia and Sunni! Indeed, Allah has chosen Islam as religion for you, then take it as religion, for ‘it is the religion of your father, Ibrahim, he named you Muslims before’, so name yourselves nothing but Muslims, ‘and do not call each other by titles’! Then he said: Whoever comes to Allah while he has not associated anything with Him will enter Heaven.”
Based on this, His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, invites all Muslims in the world from every sect and nation to help him and provide him with their knowledge, abilities, and facilities, considering his rational and legitimate preparations for the advent and government of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him. He honestly and sincerely extends the hand of brotherhood to all of them and asks them to overlook their disagreements with him on some secondary issues and not give them importance if they agree with him on the five mentioned principles, and instead cooperate with him intellectually and practically to achieve the common goal in the light of the common principles. He invites all Muslim intellectuals to cooperate with him intellectually and practically to prepare a suitable time and place for the advent and government of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, complying with the command of Allah Almighty: ﴿وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى﴾[4]; “And help one another in goodness and piety.” He considers himself a friend to every Muslim who believes in and adheres to these five principles, even if he disagrees with him on the rest of his views; because all the things he has explained in his book Return to Islam and his other works, except for these five principles, are only lessons and instructions, and every Muslim is free to accept or reject them, considering that he will be held responsible before Allah for his choice. Even Muslim rulers whose governments are not legitimate in his view, if they acknowledge their oppression, accept these five principles, and honestly and sincerely support this inviter toward Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, will be given respite and treated with leniency and differently from other rulers. They will be like those who ﴿اعْتَرَفُوا بِذُنُوبِهِمْ خَلَطُوا عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَآخَرَ سَيِّئًا عَسَى اللَّهُ أَنْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ﴾[5]; “have confessed their sins; they have mixed a righteous deed with another that was evil. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgiveness. Indeed. Allah is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”
This is a unique opportunity that every Muslim must seize. Whoever misses it has surely suffered a manifest loss; because it is a gate of mercy that Allah has opened for all His servants, regardless of their beliefs and deeds. He has not provided any of them with an excuse to refrain from entering it; like the gate of forgiveness in the Children of Israel, when He said to them: ﴿ادْخُلُوا الْبَابَ سُجَّدًا وَقُولُوا حِطَّةٌ نَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطَايَاكُمْ ۚ وَسَنَزِيدُ الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾[6]; “Enter the gate prostrating and say: ‘(O Allah!) Forgive us our sins,’ so that We may forgive you your sins and increase for those who do good.” In other words, Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is the last chance for the Ummah to unite after centuries of division, and making preparations for his advent and government is the only movement that can unite them without them having to give up their sects; because it is in line with every Islamic sect. Therefore, the invitation of His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, toward him is the only invitation that can bring Muslims together. Any other invitation, because it is an invitation toward what they disagree on, divides Muslims and causes enmity and hatred among them, and therefore is not considered legitimate; because Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا ۚ وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا ۗ كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ﴾[7]; “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided, and remember the blessing of Allah upon you when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His blessing, brothers, and you were upon the brink of a pit of the fire, and He saved you from it. This is how Allah explains His signs to you so that you may be guided.” This is what His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, meant by his statement, when he said: «كُلُّ دُعَاءٍ غَيْرَ دُعَائِي هَذَا فَهُوَ كُفْرٌ وَضَلَالٌ وَتَفْرِيقٌ بَيْنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ»[8]; “Any invitation other than this invitation of mine (toward the Mahdi’s rule) is disbelief, misguidance, and division among Muslims.”
Based on this, any individual or group of Muslims who have pledged allegiance to someone other than Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, or made a covenant with him to support him, their pledge of allegiance is invalid and no covenant is on them if the invitation of His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, has reached them; similar to one who has performed tayammum assuming that there is no water, but then he has found water, and this nullifies his tayammum according to all scholars. Any individual or group of Muslims that desire to join His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, while submitting to the five principles, are welcome to do so, regardless of their previous beliefs and deeds, and no pressure will be put on them regarding their beliefs or deeds. Any individual or group of Muslims who have previously said or done something against this righteous servant out of ignorance but later believed in the five principles will not be held accountable or punished for their previous words or actions. As for one who persists in being hostile to or forsaking this inviter toward Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, he is one of those who have waged war against Allah and His Messenger and spread corruption on the earth, and he will be punished proportional to his oppression, ﴿وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُ ۚ أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِلْكَافِرِينَ﴾[9]; “and who is more unjust than one who fabricates lies against Allah or denies the truth when it comes to him?! Is there not a home in Hell for disbelievers?!”