Is Imam al-Mahdi informed of the time of his appearance?
It is a matter of discussion whether Imam al-Mahdi is informed of the time of his appearance or not.
There are two opinions as response:
Some scholars believe that the Imam does not know the time of his appearance. Regarding this, they refer to some groups of authentic narrations:
In some of them, those who have set a time for the appearance are considered as the liars. For instance, Imam al-Bāqir says about these people,
«كَذِبَ الْوَقَّاتُونَ»
“Those who set a time for the appearance are the liars.”[1]
Also, it has been accentuated by the Imams to have said,
«...فَلَسْنَا نُوَقِّتُ لِأَحَدٍ وَقْتاً»
“For sure, we (the Ahl al-Bayt) do not set a certain time for the appearance at all for anyone.”[2]
Furthermore, there are some narrations declaring,
«مَثَلُهُ مَثَلُ السَّاعَةِ اَلَّتی لا یُجَلّیها لِوَقْتِها اِلاَّ هُوَ»
“The time of the appearance is likened to the time of Resurrection, so none but Allah can reveal its exact time.”[3]
From the other point of view, some scholars advocate the belief that Imam al-Mahdi is aware of the time of his advent.
According to this opinion, the abovementioned narrations are not going to express that the time of the appearance is unknown to the Imam, rather they want to declare that people are not aware of the time then no one would have the fortune to set a time in order to misuse it. Those who determine a time for the appearance are the liars since Allah and Ahl al-Bayt never made anyone aware of the time. Paying attention to the content of the mentioned narrations, we see that the Imams did not say, “We do not know the time of the appearance.” instead they say that they have not set a time for anyone.
Also, the narrations that liken the time of the appearance to the time of Resurrection are justifiable because, though the time of Resurrection will become manifest only by the will of Allah, it would be possible for some divinely appointed people to know its certain time as well. To prove this claim there are some narrations expressing that the knowledge of the Imams is connected to Allah’s knowledge, and this is why they are informed of the news of the past and the future. For instance, Sheikh al-Kulaynī in his noble book (al-Kāfī) mentions a particular chapter titled,
«أَنَّ الْأَئِمَّةَ ع يَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ مَا كَانَ وَ مَا يَكُونُ وَ أَنَّهُ لَا يَخْفَى عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْءُ»
“Indeed, the Imams’ knowledge includes the past and the future and there is not anything beyond their knowledge”[4].
This is what Allah says in the Quran,
عالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلا يُظْهِرُ عَلى غَيْبِهِ أَحَداً * إِلاَّ مَنِ ارْتَضى مِنْ رَسُولٍ
“Allah is the Knower of the unseen, and He does not let anyone be informed of His secrets, save a Messenger whom He has Chosen.”[5]
As a result, the time of the appearance like the time of the resurrection would be among those secrets that Allah would have revealed to the Prophet and his household.
However, besides being useless for the Imam’s followers to argue about the Imam’s knowing of the time of his advent, it is difficult to say something expressly in this regard and we do not know exactly if Imam al-Mahdi is informed of the exact time of his appearance or not and there is a serious debate between scholars. But it seems that the last viewpoint is more acceptable and in accordance to the majority of Shia scholars’ belief.
