The Silence Between the Lines: What the Pulpit Isn't Teaching About the Reappearance

Reflecting on the forgotten teachings of the Imam’s return, and why internal transformation and independent thought and study must take center stage.

In all the years I’ve listened to sermons and lectures, one thing has remained constant: the repeated message that when the living Imam (atfs) returns, he will establish justice in a chaotic world. It’s always about justice. About the disarray of the world and the divine order that will follow.

But what does that teach us now? What do we do with that message on a daily level?
It feels abstract. Conceptual. Distant. And that in itself is a red flag.

What’s more alarming is this: I’ve never heard the hadith that says “This is Islam?” from the pulpit.
Never.

I only ever came across it in certain authentic books I’ve read—books not widely quoted, yet deeply rooted in our tradition. That’s when the questions began to rise for me.

If people will question the Imam’s teachings when he returns, asking “This is Islam?”, then what exactly have we been taught all this time? And who has been shaping that narrative?

It makes you think—maybe that hadith isn’t emphasized because it raises uncomfortable questions about the institutions that teach us. If the Imam’s Islam looks different from what we’ve been taught, then it casts a long shadow over religious education systems, over the frameworks we’ve inherited and been trained to trust.

To be clear—this is not a critique of wilayat al-faqih or the leadership. The Rahbar himself has critiqued the system in his own visits, calling for a deeper emphasis on ethics and spiritual formation. My concern lies with the institutions of education that choose to prioritize external order over internal transformation.

Because when sermons become more about rules, law, and political frameworks, they leave no space for the discomfort of real inner growth. That discomfort is necessary. It’s where awakening happens. It’s where the Imam’s true return will be felt—not just in society, but in the self.

So maybe the problem isn’t that the guidance isn’t there.
Maybe it’s just hidden. Silenced. Between the lines.

And maybe it’s time we learned how to read between them.

DO YOUR OWN STUDY ABOUT THE ERA OF THE REAPPEARANCE!!!!