There has been a misconception raised over the issue of this part of the hadeeth in the Prophet’s will:
These are the twelve Imams. Then there will be twelve Mahdi’s after them. then when Allah receiveth him, let him hand it over to his son, the first of the close ones, he has three names, one like mine and my Father’s: Abdollah (Servant of God), Ahmad and the third name is The Mahdi (the guided) and he is the first Believer”
The one with the confusion and misconception is saying that the 12th Imam pbuh didn’t appear yet so that Ahmed can be the first Mahdi and Masoom and the successor of Imam AlMahdi a.s.
Our answer:
The will of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w itself says the following:
: يا علي ، إنه سيكون بعدي اثنا عشر إماماً ، ومن بعدهم اثنا عشر مهدياً
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w said:”O Ali, there shall be after me 12 Imams and after them shall be 12 Mahdis” Gaibat AlToosi p.150-151
In here the Prophet s.a.w said that “there shall be after me 12 Imams” so we would ask this question to the one with the misconception/confusion: was Ali pbuh not a successor and Masoom during the Prophet’s time and during his Gaiba and after his Gaiba even after when the Prophet s.a.w said that there shall be 12 Imams are after him and Ali is the first Imam? If he was, then what is the problem if the first Mahdi is masoom and a successor during the lifetime of Imam AlMahdi a.s. and during the Gaiba of Imam AlMahdi a.s. and during the appearance of Imam AlMahdi a.s. and after the death of Imam AlMahdi a.s.? If Imam Ali a.s. was a successor and masoom during the Prophet’s lifetime and Gaiba and after his death, why doesn’t it apply according to your logic to Ahmed the first Mahdi??!!
Imam Ali pbuh said:O people!There was for me from the Messenger of Allah s.a.w 10 qualities it is more beloved to me then what the sun rises for:The Messenger of Allahs .a.w said to me:”O Ali, you are my brother in this world and the hereafter and you are the most closest of the creations to me on the Day of Judgement on the encounter between the hands of the Conqueror. And your dwelling place in paradise faces my dwelling place like how the dwelling places of the brothers in Allah the Exalted and Mighty. And you are the Waarith(inheritor)of me and you are my executor after me on my Idaati and affair and you are the preserver for me on my family during my OCCULTATION(GAIBA) and you are the Imam of my nation and the Riser with justice upon my people and my guardian is the guardian of Allah and your enemy is my enemy and my enemy is the enemy of Allah”v.8 p.212 Mawsooat AlImam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, Muhammad AlRayshahri
كان لي من رسول الله عشر خصال 3658 – الإمام علي (عليه السلام): أيها الناس! إنه كان لي من رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله) عشر خصال، هن أحب إلي مما طلعت عليه الشمس؛ قال لي رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله): يا علي، أنت أخي في الدنيا والآخرة، وأنت أقرب الخلائق إلي يوم القيامة في الموقف بين يدي الجبار، ومنزلك في الجنة مواجه منزلي كما يتواجه منازل الإخوان في الله عز وجل، وأنت الوارث مني، وأنت الوصي من بعدي في عداتي وأمري، وأنت الحافظ لي في أهلي عند غيبتي، وأنت الإمام لأمتي، والقائم بالقسط في رعيتي، وأنت وليي، ووليي ولي الله، وعدوك عدوي، وعدوي عدو الله
http://shiaonlinelibrary.com/%D8%A7%D9% … %D8%A9_208
So here Imam Ali a.s. has a task from the Prophet s.a.w even during his Gaiba and the Prophet’s will says:Prophet Muhammad s.a.w said:”O Ali, there shall be after me 12 Imams and after them shall be 12 Mahdis” Gaibat AlToosi p.150-151 So is Imam Ali a.s. not masoom and not infallible according to your logic? If he was masoom and infallible during the Gaiba of the Prophet s.a.w then rest your case for Ahmed is masoom and infallible during the Gaiba of Imam AlMahdi a.s. and the Prophet’s will said: “and after them shall be 12 Mahdis” so the first Mahdi is described as a first believer and first of the close ones, so he is the first of the 313 and there is no better to pave the way for Imam AlMahdi a.s. before he appears than this man “Ahmed” the son of Imam AlMahdi a.s., so he is the best of the companions and there are hadeeths which says خروج ناس من المشرق يوطئون للمهدي سلطانه. رووه في كتب أهل السنّة منها [1] «سنن ابن ماجة» ج9 ص915 “Emergence of the people from the East who will facilitate for the Mahdi his kingdom” so there are people who will facilitate for the Mahdi a.s. coming from the East and the man of the banners and the first of the close ones and the successor will be obligated with such a task.
And also there is a Mawla(Master)who will succeed the affair of Imam AlMahdi a.s as he knows the place of the Mahdi a.s.during the long occultation and someone to succeed or come after his affair is a masoom.
The Lafth(enunciation)that Sheikh AlToosi approved of in his Gaiba it does not proceed to a possibility of Tas’heef(something incorrectly written) or Tahreef(fabrication), contrary to the existent text right now in Gaibat AlSheikh AlNumani.
Narrated by Sheikh AlNumani the student of the Thiqa of Islam AlKulainy in the Book of AlGaiba and Sheikh AlToosi in his book AlGaiba with two reliable Sanads from AlMufathel son of Umar he said: I heard Aba Abdullah pbuh saying:”The companion of the affair has two occultations, one of them will be long until some of them say that he died and some of them will say he is still and some of them will say he left until nothing remains on his affair from his companions except a small part of his companions and no one will know about his place from his children and other than that except the Mawla that will succeed his affair.”Gaibat AlToosi p.160-161 h.120
Baha AlDeen AlNajaf said in Muntakhab AlAnwar AlMuthee’a when he said:”And what has been authentic to me is his narration from Sheikh AlSa’eed Abi Abdullah Muhammad AlMufeed(may Allah have mercy on him) raised to Mufathel son of Umar[thiqa according to Mufeed], he said: I heard Aba Abdullah pbuh saying:”The companion of the affair has two occultations, one of them will be long until some of them say that he died and some of them will say he is still and some of them will say he left until nothing remains on his affair from his
companions except a small part of his companions and no one will know about his place from his children and other than that except the Mawla that will succeed his affair.”Muntakhab AlAnwar AlMuthee’a p.155
One might say “no one will know about his place from his children” and you claim Ahmed is from his children. We will say that this confusion can be refuted quite easily because it says “except” the Mawla. So when someone says there is No God except Allah, does that mean No God is what Im declaring? Im declaring that there is No God except Allah so there is an Allah swt when I say”الا” (Ila) because “Ila” in arabic is an exception.
And praise due to Allah the Lord of the universe.