Sign of Imam Mahdi's Arrival (Part 2)

he only way to determine whether or not this person is from God ? I thought about that, and I thought about, well, what other way could it be ? Could a physical appearance be a way of determining whether or not a person is a proof of God ?

We find that Socrates (peace be upon him), who was one of the 124 prophets and messengers who were sent to humanity, one of the most brilliant minds to have ever lived, even till today universities and students study his thoughts and his teachings and materials.

This great philosopher was described in the narrations as being extremely ugly. They stated that he had a nose which resembled the nose of a boar or a pig. He had lips that were like the lips of a donkey. They said he was overweight.

He let his hair grow long, even though the enemies of his people had their hair long. And rather, his people—their ideals or understanding of what beauty was—were these muscular, well-built individuals that you see in the statues of ancient Rome and Greece, Athens. So to disregard Socrates and his brilliance on the basis of his appearance, I think would be a grave mistake, because he proved that he was the most knowledgeable of his people at that time.

And Socrates came to his people with the doctrine of the Republic, and that the ruler is the philosopher king, and he fulfilled the criteria of what it is to be a prophet or a messenger. Imam Ali, he came to the people and he was, according to many of the narrations, short and overweight ; he had a belly.

And he was balding ; he was not attractive. He was the opposite of the images that they have of him today that they sell in his name, making profit off of him in Karbala and Najaf and the Shia world. And yet his appearance has nothing to do with whether or not he's the truth or not the truth.

And in fact, one of the narrations of the Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them) say that the proof of God is not known by his outward appearance. And so now we know that the outward appearance is not a way of determining whether or not he is truthful or not truthful.

Well, what if the person, I thought, was unhealthy ? What if he was diseased ? What if he was sickly ? What if he was struck with cancer, or struck with leprosy, or another illness ? Would this be a sign that God is not satisfied with this individual, or a sign that he's cursed, or a sign that he's not from God ?

And I found in the Old Testament the story of a prophet named Job, alayhi salam, whom was struck by God with a disease that caused him to have boils and caused there to be worms that infested his body, and caused him to give off a putrid smell, to the point that the people in the town took his carcass and threw him out with the trash. And they considered that God was angry with him.

And yet, this was not a way of determining whether or not Job was truthful, because Job was a prophet, and he remained a prophet, and God gave him back and restored his health. So, proofs of God can be struck with illnesses and diseases.