The Night the Sign was Fulfilled

Special interview with Yahya Hashem, an early companion of Aba Al-Sadiq, and an eyewitness to the death of King Abdullah and the unfolding of prophecy.

Yahya is one of the brothers who has known Aba Al-Sadiq for a long time, since much before the appearance of the Black Banners. He lived with Aba Al-Sadiq since 2011. Yahya was among his first companions even before he received the title of Mahdi and successor to Ahmed Al-Hassan. He was part of that group gathered around Abdullah in Egypt to call to the Yamani Ahmed Al-Hassan and to Imam Al-Mahdi. 

There was a widespread belief that Imam Mahdi would appear on a day coinciding with the death of King Abdullah of Hijaz (today’s Saudi Arabia). Today, we are celebrating the 11th anniversary of the death of this king and the appearance of Imam Mahdi, which also corresponds to the first raising of the Black Banner and the appearance of the Qa’im, Abdullah Hashem.

Many people are intrigued by what happened on that famous night of January 23, 2015. Let us delve into the archives of a sacred night, into the company of the Qa'im's close friends during this special event with brother Yahya.

On January 23, 2015 you were with Abdullah Hashem and the brothers and sisters in Egypt - Cairo -  in a small apartment. Can you tell us about the environment, what the atmosphere of the evening was like, what do you remember of that day?

It was the night of 23 January 2015, the night that many had been waiting for, without knowing how history would actually unfold. The prophecy of the death of King Abdullah, which happened in 2015, was a sign that we were all waiting for. At the time, this prophecy was understood as one of the major signs for the appearance of Imam Mahdi, based on a narration that stated very clearly: When King Abdullah dies, Imam Mahdi, or the hujja, would appear.

For years, this sign had been discussed, analysed, anticipated by the Shi’a population, by the Muslims. It was not sudden. It was expected.

So you are saying that long before 2015, the group had already been living with this expectation, with this specific prophecy in mind, waiting for that very special day?

Yes, we were waiting for it. And from a long time. The prophecy was publicly discussed as early as 2010–2011. You can even find videos on YouTube of Aba Al-Sadiq, making videos in his “Arrivals” series... where he specifically mentioned this hadith.

It was part of a broader framework: He was basically proving through his series that we are living in the end times. The signs were many:  there were the non working scholars, the appearance of the Antichrist, which we know is America, and many other signs. Everything pointed toward the same conclusion; all of it was already pointing to the time that we were living in which was being fulfilled.

So what happened on this actual day? You're spending your evening together and suddenly in the middle of the night you hear the news of the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. What happens at that moment in the apartment?

It happened in the middle of the night. I remember it was nighttime when it took place. At the time, we were in Egypt, gathered around Aba Al-Sadiq. I remember being with Aba Al-Sadiq, and I remember several of the brothers coming over to his house. The reaction was immediate and emotional. We were basically being happy because of this news. We had gathered that night, basically to congratulate one another. The atmosphere was joyful, but also heavy with meaning.

On that specific night, the brothers gathered, all the brothers came down. We hugged Aba Al-Sadiq. There was joy, but also uncertainty. I was excited, but there was still a lot to know, a lot to understand. We did not yet know everything. We didn’t know that the Imam had actually appeared to the 12 men on that specific night. It only happened maybe a week or two afterwards. We just had faith and we knew that the sign was fulfilled. The King was dead, therefore the Imam had to appear.

Afterwards, everything accelerated. Everything started after that event, shortly after. Aba Al-Sadiq would tell us about prophecies that would happen in the future, even our exile was foretold. He told us that we’re going to be in Europe. At the time, this seemed impossible. This whole time we were thinking that we were staying in Egypt.

Picture of Yahya with Abdullah Hashem and the brothers in Egypt at the time

And finally, the decisive moment came. Maybe a month maximum after the death of King Abdullah is when Ahmed al-Hassan made the statement. The words were unmistakable: I appoint you, my son, as the responsible over the whole world. And with that, the prophecy was complete.

The Facebook post made by Yahya to point out the death of King Abdullah and its relation with the appearance of Imam Al-Mahdi

Yet, something unexpected happened. It was also a strange phenomenon to complete, because the office in Najaf was not recognizing this sign as something important. Their silence was deafening. They kind of ignored it, and they pushed it aside. This was shocking, because it’s the major sign that all the Shias had talked about for years right before it took place, including the office of Najaf and the ansar of Ahmed Al-Hassan in Iraq. And yet, all of a sudden, when this sign happened, nobody was talking about it anymore. This silence revealed something crucial. That made us basically the only people believing in this sign.

So until then, there was still belief that the office of Najaf was aligned with Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan?

Yes. We thought that they were with Ahmed Al-Hassan. But the events following the sign changed everything. It was actually precisely this hadith that proved that they were not with Ahmed Al-Hassan. The truth was unveiled. Ahmed al-Hassan came out, and he actually revealed himself to Aba Al-Sadiq who was then able to expose the cursed office of Najaf. He told him about the corruption of the office and all of their lies. The accusation was explicit: The people that were in the office were the usurpers. They were the liars. They were not with Ahmed Al-Hassan for years; since 2007 actually. And Ahmad Al-Hassan provided evidence to show that they had usurped his right.

If I may ask, how did this first encounter between the Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan and your group occur?

After this sign took place - the death of King Abdullah - by only a few weeks, people who were from the 12 actually came into contact with Aba Al-Sadiq (the 12 companions of Ahmed Al-Hassan who met in person with Imam Al-Mahdi Mohammed ibn Al-Hassan on the night of the 23rd of January 2015). This marked a turning point, this is where the connection, the first physical encounter with Ahmed Al-Hassan, took place. At that moment, the prophecy was no longer theoretical.

How did you live this transition? Did you notice a change in Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq? The question would be, how was it to live in the intimacy of the future prophesied Mahdi before and after his status went from being more of a guiding brother to the actual revealed companion of the will?

Before 2015, Abdullah Hashem was already known for his character. To be with Abdullah Hashem before 2015 was no different to being with him after in terms of his character. He opened his doors to the believers. When he made the announcement that the Yamani was here, anyone who believed was welcomed by Aba Al-Sadiq to join him in Egypt. His conduct reflected prophetic qualities. The way people describe the Prophet Mohammed in the hadith where they said that he was, for example, Al-Amin, or Al-Sadiq, the trustworthy, the truth, the truthful… this was also his character, Abdullah’s character. And people knew him by that, and this is why many people who were there, turned to him for advice, whether it was in regards to marriage, whether it was advice as a brother, whether it was advice in regards to religion, in regards to anything really, because he was the most knowledgeable from us. He knew all the hadith of the Ahul Bayt. He was well aware of the time that we were living in, and that hadn’t change.

It is clear and without a shadow of a doubt that no one on earth can debate him in anything whether they're Jews or Christian or Muslims, anyone who comes forward has no chance to debate against the knowledge that Aba Al-Sadiq has presented. Concerning his character, he's remained the same. He's remained the same loving person. What changed was the level of knowledge revealed. He’s revealed much greater knowledge today than he has before, and that's in large part due to his encounter with Imam Mahdi, his encounter with Ahmed Al-Hassan the Yamani. Through that encounter, he gained much more, you could say he gained the Holy Spirit. He gained more knowledge of God. He gained more, you know. You could say that he was awakened to the soul that was already within him. So he was awakened to his own truth and reality.

After that revelation, after the appearance of Imam Mahdi and the appearance of Ahmed Al-Hassan, certainly Abdullah Hashem was still the same, but did his role and the relationship between him and you and the brothers who were around him change? Or did it also remain the same ?

I think it has remained the same. If anything, we have always loved Aba Al-Sadiq, Abdullah Hashem, from day one. It is a testament to that love that we went to him, trusting him, even though we had never met him in person. We knew him from his works, and even from his appearance, that he was an important person, someone who would eventually fill the role of becoming the Mahdi. Many of us already believed it was within him. Whether we believed he was already the Mahdi or someone chosen by God, we already thought highly of him.

In terms of how our relationship with him changed afterwards, it also placed upon us the same burden that we must carry: the supremacy of God—guiding people to the truth and standing by him throughout all the fitnas and trials he was facing.

This was true both before he was announced as the Mahdi and even more so afterward. Many of those trials had already come from the authorities in Egypt. He was already dealing with problems, with fitna, and with governments trying to force us out of the country, and he was always at the forefront. After he was announced as the Mahdi by Ahmed Al-Hassan, he remained the same in character. 

What we can say changed for us at the time was that this responsibility was also placed upon those who were with him. The mission became collective. It became, more than ever, our duty as a community to establish this divine just state, a duty that we carry on striving for to this very day and until it will be established. 

The Imam was known, God had already pointed out to us who the Imam of the time was, so now it was time to act.