Guardian of the Final Proof
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Opens 15 minutes before the session begins.
Imamah, Part 24 · Imam Hasan al-Askari, Part 2 of 2 The most closely guarded secret in Islamic history was hidden even from the women of the household until the very night it happened. Sayyedah Hakimah, daughter of Imam al-Jawad and aunt to Imam al-Askari, is the eyewitness the tradition relies on. On the night of the fifteenth of Sha'ban, 255 AH, the Imam summoned her and told her that a child would be born that night. Hakimah records that she saw no sign of a pregnancy at all — until, in the final hour of the night, the birth happened before her eyes, an account preserved by Shaykh al-Saduq in Kamal al-Din. The traditions about the mother's own origins differ sharply — some describe a Roman princess descended from a disciple of Jesus, others a noble woman brought from the Nuba region of Africa. The ambiguity itself is treated as instructive: what mattered to God was piety, not pedigree. The Imam's other legacy that night was practical: Ziyarat Aal-e-Yasin, a form of greeting addressed to the hidden Imam entirely in the present tense — "peace be upon you when you stand", "when you pray" — a covenant renewed, not a memorial recited. If we cannot see him, how do we actually speak to him? What the evening covers The witness. Sayyedah Hakimah's eyewitness account of a birth concealed until the last possible moment. The mother's mystery. Why her origin was left deliberately ambiguous across the traditions. The covenant. Ziyarat Aal-e-Yasin and its present-tense address to a leader still very much alive. Strategic prudence explained. Why concealment for the sake of the faith is not the same as staying silent for the sake of comfort.
In this session
السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا وَلِيَّ اللَّهِ أَنْتَ أَوَّلُ مَظْلُومٍ وَ أَوَّلُ مَنْ غُصِبَ حَقُّهُ صَبَرْتَ وَ احْتَسَبْتَ حَتَّى أَتَاكَ الْيَقِينُ فَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ لَقِيتَ اللَّهَ وَ أَنْتَ شَهِيدٌ عَذَّبَ اللَّهُ قَاتِلَكَ بِأَنْوَاعِ الْعَذَابِ وَ جَدَّدَ عَلَيْهِ الْعَذَابَ جِئْتُكَ عَارِفاً بِحَقِّكَ مُسْتَبْصِراً بِشَأْنِكَ مُعَادِياً لِأَعْدَائِكَ وَ مَنْ ظَلَمَكَ أَلْقَى عَلَى ذَلِكَ رَبِّي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ يَا وَلِيَّ اللَّهِ إِنَّ لِي ذُنُوباً كَثِيرَةً فَاشْفَعْ لِي إِلَى رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّ لَكَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَقَاماً مَعْلُوماً وَ إِنَّ لَكَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ جَاهاً وَ شَفَاعَةً وَ قَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَ لا يَشْفَعُونَ إِلا لِمَنِ ارْتَضَى)
Peace be upon you, O Guardian (Wali) of Allah. You were the first to be wronged, and the first whose right was usurped. You bore it with patience and entrusted your account to Allah until death came to you. I bear witness that you met Allah as a martyr. May Allah punish your killer with all manner of torment, and may He renew the punishment upon him. I have come to you, recognizing your right, aware of your station, hostile toward your enemies and toward those who wronged you. God willing, I shall meet my Lord upon this belief. O Guardian of Allah, I have many sins; intercede for me before your Lord, for you hold a known station before Allah, and you possess honor and the right of intercession in the sight of Allah. And Allah, the Most High, has said: 'And they do not intercede except for one whom He approves.'
Mafatih al-Jinan, Visitations (Ziyarat), Fifth Ziyarat, Line 1
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Youthful Authority and Eternal Clarity
The Theology of Her Ziyarah
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