Early Days of Imam Mahdi (AJ) Life( Part 2)

The days of the newborn baby

In this article, we will read about the ceremony of immolation of a sacrificial lamb for Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his Apparition!);

Performing the ceremony of "Aqiqah" (a prescribed ritual ceremony, seven day after the birth of a child; the parents offer a sacrifice to God and then shave the child’s hair and give alms to the destitute by the weight of the baby’s hair) for Imam Mahdi was a ritual that Imam Hassan respected and complied to it, happily.

When Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his Apparition) was born, Imam Hassan (pbuh) ordered his servants to immolate three hundred sheep for his son. In this occasion, one of the followers of Imam Hassan narrates: "I remember one day, Imam Hassan sent a sacrificed sheep for me and said that it was a sacrifice for his newborn son."

In another narration, one of the Imam’s servants said that when Imam Mahdi was born, all of them congratulated each other for this happy, joyful event.

One day, Imam Hassan summoned his assistant and ordered him to buy twenty five thousand kilos of bread, along with twenty five thousand kilos of meat. He was to distribute all these things to the poor families of Bani Hashim. Ibrahim Ibn idris narrated in his turn: "One day, Imam Hassan sent four sheep to me and in his letter to me, he had written:

"In the name of God, please, do immolate these sheep for your master Mahdi, who is also my son. And give them to your brothers and the poor families."

Hiding the news of Mahdi’s birth

Hamzat Ibn Abal-Fat’h narrated: "One day, a man came to my house and congratulated me because the birth of the newborn of Imam Hassan (pbuh); he then insisted that I should keep this news to myself, I asked him what was the name of Imam’s son?"

He replied: "Muhammad; and his surname is Abu ja’far."

The episode of the sneeze…

One of Imam Hassan’s servants narrated: "One night after the birth of our lord, I went to see Imam Mahdi. While I was watching him in his cradle, I suddenly sneezed and Imam Mahdi said tenderly:

"May God’s Grace be on thee!"

I was very excited about the fact that a baby had spoken to me! And a lot more, because he had asked God’s Grace for me! Then Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his Apparition) told me: "Do you like me to announce you good news?"

I said: "Yes my lord, I do!"

Imam Mahdi said: "Be aware that each sneeze will keep you away from a sudden death during the next three days."