Historical Background
Hasan al-Askari died in 874 CE without his son’s existence being publicly known or confirmed to most Shia. The circle of those who had seen the child was small, and reports varied. After Hasan al-Askari’s death:
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874-941 CE (Minor Occultation): Four men served successively as the Imam’s safir (ambassador): Uthman ibn Sa’id al-Askari, his son Muhammad ibn Uthman, Husayn ibn Ruh, and Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri. These four carried letters to and from the Imam, collected religious dues, and answered questions on his behalf.
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941 CE (Beginning of Major Occultation): Just before his death, the fourth agent Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri received a final letter from the Imam stating that no fifth agent would be appointed. The Imam would remain hidden until Allah permitted his return.
The Ismaili Relationship to This Doctrine
Ismaili tradition does not accept the Twelver narrative of the twelfth Imam’s occultation. Ismailis hold the Imamate passed through Ismail (Ja’far al-Sadiq’s son) to Muhammad ibn Ismail and then through a continuous chain of visible (and sometimes concealed) Imams to the present, currently represented by His Holiness Mawlana al-Hakim Aga Khan, the 49th Imam. The Ismaili Imam is present, not absent.
The Imam’s presence — even if physically in a different location — is the essential Ismaili theological claim distinguishing it from the Twelver occultation doctrine.
The Quranic Basis for Ghayba
Twelver scholars cite Quranic precedents for living absence: Khidr (in the Musa narrative), whose continued existence is accepted; Isa, who is believed alive in the heavens awaiting descent; and Idris, raised to a high station (19:57). The pattern: certain servants of Allah exist outside the normal conditions of human mortality by divine will.
See also: Ahl Al Bayt, Seerah Hasan Askari, Seerah Jafar Al Sadiq, Signs Of Qiyamah, Musa And Khidr, Quran Sciences