According to this doctrine, the Twelfth Imam entered ghaybah (occultation) — a state of divine concealment — in the 9th century. He is considered to be still alive and will one day return as the Mahdi, a messianic figure who will establish global justice.
There is only one man who has died and been resurrected to live forevermore — Jesus Christ.
There is only one man who will one day return as King of kings and Lord of lords to “establish global justice” — Jesus Christ.
Those making similar claims about any other person who has ever lived are dealing in counterfeit spiritual currency.
In his Palm Sunday homily, Pope Leo XIV explicitly that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,” quoting Isaiah 1:15: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.”
The Pope is counting on the biblical illiteracy of Christians when he isolates this verse from Isaiah without regard to its context and uses it as a universal proclamation against all war for all time.
Isaiah chapter one is specifically referring to the idolatrous and exceedingly sinful nation and people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Isaiah 1:4 (KJV) – Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Of course God heard and answered the prayers of His prophets, kings and others during their wars and delivered victory into their hands. Just read the Bible.
Moses & Joshua — Israel defeated Amalek when Moses interceded (Exodus 17).
Joshua at Jericho — Victory came and God commanded the battle (Joshua 6).
David — Before fighting the Philistines, David repeatedly asked, “Shall I go up?” and God answered (2 Samuel 5:19).
Jehoshaphat — God delivered Judah miraculously when they prayed and worshiped (2 Chronicles 20).
Twelver Shi‘ism (the dominant Shia branch in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and elsewhere) teaches that there are twelve divinely appointed Imams. The line ends with the Twelfth Imam, also called the Hidden Imam or al‑Mahdi, who is believed to be alive but concealed by God until the appointed time.
What Twelver Shi‘ism Actually Teaches
Twelver Shia Muslims believe that God appointed a line of twelve Imams, beginning with Ali and ending with Muhammad ibn al‑Hasan al‑Mahdi, born around 870 CE. According to this doctrine, the Twelfth Imam entered ghaybah (occultation) — a state of divine concealment — in the 9th century. He is considered still alive and will one day return as the Mahdi, a messianic figure who will establish global justice.
For many people, the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims can feel confusing, but it actually begins with a very simple historical question: Who should have led the Muslim community after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 CE?
Sunni Muslims believed leadership should be chosen by the community, and they supported Abu Bakr, a close companion of Muhammad. Shia Muslims believed leadership should stay within the Prophet’s family, beginning with Ali, his cousin and son‑in‑law. What started as a political disagreement eventually grew into two distinct traditions with their own practices, scholarship, and spiritual leadership structures.
Over time, Sunnis developed a system where no single leader holds divine authority. Instead, religious understanding comes from scholars and four major schools of interpretation. Shia Muslims, especially the Twelver branch, believe in a line of Imams—descendants of Ali—who carry spiritual guidance and authority. These differences shape how each community approaches religious leadership, law, and devotion, even though both share the same core beliefs about God, the Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad.
Today, Sunni Muslims make up the vast majority of the global Muslim population—about 85 to 90 percent. Shia Muslims represent roughly 10 to 15 percent worldwide, forming significant communities in places like Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Pakistan.
The most notable Shia‑majority nation is Iran, where about 90 percent of the population follows Twelver Shi’ism. This identity became central to Iran’s culture and religious life beginning in the 16th century under the Safavid dynasty.
Prayer is a wrestling match with the Almighty, not a friend request on Facebook. It’s not about getting something, it’s about being something. Prayer is a hard admission made to your Maker about the deeply wicked condition of your heart and a request for Him to help correct that situation daily.
It’s not a wish list thrown up into space. It’s not a lunch order off a menu given to your waiter, Jesus, expecting Him to ask, “Would you like fries or cottage cheese with that?”
Prayer is asking God to turn you inside out and upside down. It’s opening the door to your heart and allowing your Heavenly Father to illuminate the dark corners there and fill the empty spaces with substance.
Prayer is having the honesty to ask the Creator of the universe for a resurrected heart and a majestic character, not for a pile of money, a new car, a better job, or a cuter girlfriend/boyfriend.
Prayer is earnestly asking for the wisdom to know what’s right and the courage and strength to carry it out. Prayer is seeking to do God’s will, not whining for Him to do yours.
It is praise and thanksgiving.
Pray with the tongues of men and of angels. Pray for others.
On Monday I posed a simple question: What is the point and purpose of the resurrection of Jesus Christ if believers go immediately to heaven when they die?
Now let’s ask a similar question which also deserves a logical, biblical answer: What is the purpose of the so-called “Rapture” if believers who have died are already in heaven shouting, “Hallelujah!”, flying around playing harps, and dancing on streets of gold with previously deceased loved ones?
If your answer is that the soul has to be reunited with the physical body, then I would love to see the plain, definitive scriptural basis for that theory. Plain and definitive proof texts, not theological and logical contortions invented to make the Bible say what you want it to say.
So, here’s a question that deserves serious consideration and a logical, biblical answer: What is the point and purpose of the resurrection of Jesus Christ if believers go immediately to heaven when they die?
Why would “He is risen!” hold any special meaning if the faithful are already dancing and singing, alive and well in heaven from the moment of their own death?
If the immortality of the soul is true, then there is no reason for God to raise Jesus from the dead, because death would hold no power or sting over us. Easter Sunday becomes meaningless if the resurrection isn’t a once‑in‑human‑history, glorious, miraculous event that announces to creation that death does not have the final say.
If all believers are immediately and individually transferred to heaven after they breathe their last breath, then Jesus being made alive again after three days isn’t just ho‑hum—it’s three days of being unnecessarily dead.
He walked and talked in His resurrected body with two, just two, of His followers on the Road to Emmaus. Probably the most remarkable and intimate Scripture teaching ever.
Just take a few minutes to read the account from Luke 24:12-35 and meditate on it.
The Road to Emmaus
“But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
And He said to them, “What things?”
So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.”
