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Our duties during occultation 

A painful reality every Shia Muslim lives through every day of their lives is the occultation of their twelfth Imam. They are filled with a burning desire to witness him build the promised just society every righteous human dreams of. This relationship with their master sparks questions, such as “What am I supposed to do during his occultation?”, “How can I become closer to him?”, and “Can I contribute to the hastening of his reappearance?”.

There are various acts that can answers these questions, but one of the most important is praying for the Imam especially praying for his “Faraj” or relief. The Imam (a.s) himself stated, “And increase your supplications to hasten Al-Faraj (relief), for that is your relief” (1).
The Dua of a believer should not be underestimated, as it can have an impact on fate and destiny, which means our supplications can be a cause to hasten the reappearance of the Imam. The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, “Nothing wards off fate except supplication.” (2), and Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s) stated, “When Bani Israel (the children of Israel) were tormented for a long time, they wept and cried to Allah for forty mornings. Thus Allah ordered Moses and Aaron to save them from Pharaoh, one hundred seventy years earlier than the destined date.”, He continued, “The same goes to you (our followers), if you do the same (pray and ask Allah) then Allah will relieve us (earlier), otherwise it will be happening on its destined date.” (3).
Since praying for the Imam (a.s) is considered a good turn, then that means a benefit that comes from praying for the Imam is that the Imam will keep that individual in his prayers as well. “Is the reward for good [anything] but good?” (4)


['(1) Bihar Al-Anwar v.52, p.92'
(2) Makarim Al- Akhlaq, v. 2, p. 7, no. 1978
(3) Bihar Al-Anwar v.52, p.132
(4) Al-Rahman, verse:60
 

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