The opponents of the call often raise a misconception that if it’s mentioned in the Will of Prophet Muhammad that the 12th Imam pbuh passes it to his successor Ahmed pbuh, the first Mahdi from his progeny when the death comes to him. So how come the successor even appear before the return of 12th Imam? This is the part from the Will:
“So if God receives 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: Abdullah (servant of God), Ahmed, and the third name is al-Mahdi. He is the first of the believers.” Ghaybat Al Tousi (Occultation by Al Tousi) page 96, page 150
The response is simply that the original word used in the Will in Arabic is Wafah, and Wafah doesn’t always mean death. In fact, Wafah is derived from the word Istifaa which means ‘to take away‘. Hence, we find that Wafah in the Quran has been used for Allah SWT taking Jesus pbuh, and it is an established belief among Muslims that Jesus has not died yet.
[Mention] when Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself (Quran 3:55)
Ith qala Allahu yaAAeesa innee mutawaffeeka
Wafah has also been used for Allah SWT taking the souls of people during the sleep.
And it is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. (Quran 3:55)
Wahuwa allathee yatawaffakumbillayli wayaAAlamu ma jarahtum
So it is incorrect to restrict the meaning of Wafah to physical death. The truth is that the command to the successor Ahmed is passed during the longer occultation, as the Wafah of 12th Imam pbuh when passing command to his successor Ahmed is just like Wafah of Jesus mentioned in the Holy Quran. Both of them have not died yet and yet the command passed to their successors.
Also, since the 12th Imam pbuh is still living, he pbuh continues to be the Imam and the Hujjah (Proof) of Allah SWT, while the successor Ahmed is the Hujjah (proof) from the 12th Imam pbuh upon the people. He simply performs the tasks assigned by the 12th Imam pbuh.
This is the reason that the successor Ahmed is also called ‘First of the believers‘. It means that Ahmed will be the first to believe in the 12th Imam pbuh, and therefore, he must be present before the rise of 12th Imam pbuh. Because if he was going to be born after the rise of the 12th Imam pbuh, then the title “First of the Believers” would not apply to him!
This is also confirmed through various other hadiths from the Ahlulbayt pbut. For example, the following hadith shows that the successor of 12th Imam pbuh is present during the longer occultation:
Imam Al-Sadiq pbuh said: The companion of the affair has two occultations. One of them will be long until some of them will say that he was killed, and some of them will say that he left, until nothing is left from his affair from his companions except a few of his companions. And no one will know about his location from his children or other than that except the Mawla who will succeed his affair.
Gaibat AlToosi p.162
The following hadith from Kitab Sulaym Ibn Qays also shows that the father of Mahdi comes after him.
Prophet Muhammad pbuhap said after he placed his hand on Hussein pbuh: O Salman! Mahdi of my nation who will spread the world with justice and tranquility after it has been filled with oppression and inequality is from this son. Imam after Imam, a scholar son of a scholar, a successor son of a successor. His father who comes after him is an Imam and a successor and a scholar. Then it was asked, ‘O Prophet of Allah, is the Mahdi better or his father?’ He replied: ‘His father is better than him. The first one has all their rewards because Allah SWT guided them by him.” Kitab Sulaym Ibn Qais page 429
This Mahdi in the above hadith can’t be the 12th Imam, as his father Hasan Al-Askari had already achieved martyrdom and doesn’t come after him. This applies to none other than First Mahdi Ahmed who is present in longer occultation and his father, the 12th Imam pbuh comes after him.