Narrations of " the living apparent Imam" and the occultation of the twelfth Imam

According to Imamiyyah, the proof of God against the people is not perfect without an imam, so there is always an imam on the earth as the proof of God and the earth does not remain without an imam, but it is not necessary for the imam to be always apparent but he can live hidden from the people. There are several authentic narrations which prove this fact. On the contrary, there are authentic narrations signifying the necessity of the imam’s being apparent all the time. Initially, these two groups of narrations seem to be contradictory. The present research aims to reconcile between these kinds of narrations and also to reply to Ahmad al-Katib who tries to reject the idea of the existence of the twelfth Imam referring to these narrations. According to Shi’a, being apparent is not a necessary condition of an imam at all and the narrations containing the word “apparent”, whether concern the usual condition of the Muslims’ society, not when they are taken with the wrath of God or it has an especial meaning like dominant or specified and does not deny the occultation of the Imam at all.