Typology of Shiite argument in Mahdavi traditions (the answers to the doubts raised by Ahmad al Katib)

One of the arguments for the existence of Imam Mahdi is the reasons taken from religious traditions or the Hadiths from the Innocent Twelve Imams. The reasons for the existence of Imam has been sought to deny the existence of Imam by the author of the book the author of Al-Imam Al-Mahdi: A Historical Fact or a Philosophical Hypothesis (Ahmad al Katib, 2007). According to his claims, the arguments and narratives of Shia scholars on the Absence of Imam are null and void, because the traditions cannot inform us of something before it happens and to be a miracle. The proofs can be attributed to the Imam's Absence if only Imam Hasan Askary and his son can be shown to have existed essentially. The Shiite scholars also admit that there must be proof of existence initially and then any argument to his Absence. Therefore, he claims, the traditions relating to Absence can never prove the existence of the Twleve Imam in the first place. The Shiite scholars in the beginning also argued only to prove his existence and they would not talk about his absence. The traditions relating to the two period of Absences did not appear until Nomani's time. This research explains the different ways Shiite clerics have argued for the Absence, using the Absence traditions and seeks to show that the problem Katib has stated, is due to his misrepresentation of the word and meanings of Shiite scholars. Shiite Imam never use the Absence traditions for the purpose of proving the very existence of Mahdi. Katib's counter-argument for the Absence also relies upon this fundamental error. Also, contrary to his claim, Shiite scholars have expressed the Absence from the beginning, and the writers before Nomani have also brought traditions relating to Absence. Therefore, that claim is also invalid and unacceptable.