(The 9th of Rabī' al-Awwal, 260 A.H. (The 6th January 874 A.D.)
In the lunar calendar, the ninth day of Rabī' al-Awwal is the anniversary of the beginning of the Imamate of the last Divine Savior (Imam Mahdi). It is also the day of renewing the covenant with him, and with his purposes and sacred ideals. For this reason, the Shias of this Imam and those who wait for his appearance consider this blessed day holy and celebrate it.
The ninth of Rabī' al-Awwal, as the anniversary of the beginning of the Imamate of the Promised Savior, is the beginning of the last Divine appointment which is along with prophetic missions and the appointment of Imam Ali as the successor of the Prophet on the day of Ghadir.
This day is important since it reminds us of the beginning of something that is considered to carry all the values of the previous sacred goals. If the prominent of the sacred beginnings in the past such as the beginning of Prophet’s mission [Bi'that] or the Ghadir day are the important religious Eves, the ninth of Rabī' al-Awwal is also the final beginning of another holy event. However, unfortunately, the value of this Eve has not been known in the Shia's community and is not as well-known as the Eve of the fifteenth of Sha’ban which is the day that Imam Mahdi was born.
On the other hand, the ninth of Rabī' al-Awwal deserves special attention in Shiites’ culture because historically, this day is the moment of being on the border of two important historical periods in the Shiite view; that is, being at the end of the period of the public presentation of the infallible Guides (the Prophets and the eleven Imams of the Shias) in human society, and the beginning of the disappearance of the last Divine proof (the twelfth Imam) from the society.
This is a beginning for the maturity of Shiites to comply with the guidance of worthy believers – who were the Imam Mahdi's special deputies during the period of minor occultation and are the Imam's General Deputies during the period of his major occultation – who undertake the responsibility of the Islamic community management until the advent of the Imam. Because no ordinary man saw Imam Mahdi after his funeral prayer over his father’s body anymore; it shows that the occultation of him began at the same time.
It should not be forgotten that not only the ninth of Rabī' al-Awwal is the first day of the Imamate of the Imam of the Age, the manifestation of the rule of the downtrodden people, a promising inspiration for the defeat of the tyrants, and the happy day for the Shias, but also it is the day of “renewing the allegiance” to the alive and present Imam; so that awaiting people of the last Savior’s advent should strengthen their attention in relation with their Imam.
In fact, this renewal of allegiance is one of the features of the Shiite culture and a kind of divine covenant as we read in the Āl-e Yāsīn supplication,
«السَّلامُ عَلَيكَ يا ميثاقَ اللهِ الَّذي أخَذَهُ وَ وَكَّدَهُ»
“Peace be upon you O, the covenant of Allah, that Allah has taken from people and made it firm.” (Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 53, p. 171; Mafātīh al-Jinān)
In fact, the Shias believe that there is a permanent link between Divine guardianship and the issue of Imamate; so real waiting people for the Imam of the Age have to always update their sincerity and allegiance with that Imam in accordance with the condition of their time.
The truth is that, as the Ghadir day is the renewal of allegiance to the first Imam (Imam Ali), so the ninth day of Rabī' al-Awwal is the continuous renewal of allegiance to the hidden Imam during his occultation. And this is the continued vitality and development for the Shiite community until the threshold of the Advent.
Source: The Final Hope, January 2021, Issue no. 4
