Al-Ghaybah


Al-Ghaybah is a theological book by Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Jafar al-Numani on the subject of the occultation of the Twelfth Imam of the Twelvers, Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi. The aim of book returns to the doubtful atmosphere in that period and neediness to proving the occultation by reason and narration.

Author

Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Nu'mani was one of the eminent pupils of Shaikh Tusi, eminent Shia jurist and theologian. This book was written around 953 A.D. Nu'mani died in 970 A.D.

Motivation

Many doubts and skeptics existed during the period of Nu'mani about the occultation of Imam Al Mahdi. Many people were skeptics on the subject of Ghaybah. Nu'mani said that he saw that the Shia followers became perplexed on the event of occultation and he tried to save them from this perplexity. Therefore, he began to write a book on the subject of occultation of Imam Mahdi. He also tried to show that the doubt and ignorance of people originated from the concerns of worldly and mortal aims. There are many references to the characters and symbols occulted to Imam.