Regarding the issue, Ahl al Bayt1 (pbu th) presented some reasons for The Occultation:
1- Protecting the Imām (mGehr)’s life from the enemies’ dangers/ detriments.
[In this relation,] Zurārah2 narrated from Imām Ṣādiq (pbuh):
إِنً لِلْقَائِمَ غَیْبَۀِ قَبْلُ ظُهُورِهَ قُلْتَ وَ لِمُ قَالَ یَخَافوِ أَوْمَىبِیَدِهِ إِلَىَ بَطْنِهُ قَالزُرَارَۀَ یَعْنِیاَلْقَتْل
Indeed, the Qā’im will be absent before his appearance.
(ʿIlal al-Sharāyiʿ, Volume 1, Page 246)
I wondered, “Why?” He stated, “He should be afraid.” He gestured with his hand to his chest. And by “زُرَارَۀ he meant, killing. [Imām Zamān (mGehr) will become a martyr a time after the Emergence. But because before that, God doesn’t want him to be murdered].
2- Not pledging allegiance with [all] rulers.
[In this regard,] Imām Ḥasan (pbuh) narrated:
مَامِنَّاَّ أَحَدَ إِالُ ویَقَعِ فِیٌ عُنُقِهِ بَیْعَۀِ لِطَاغِیَۀَّ زَمَانِهُ إِالاَلْقَائِماَلَّذِیُ یُصَلِّیِ رُوحاَللَّهُ عِیسَىَ اِبْنِ مَرْیَمعَلَیْهُالُ سَّالَم
خَلْفَهَ فَإِنَّ اَللَّهَ عَزَّ وجَلُ یُخْفِیَ وِالَدَتَهُ وُ یُغَیِّبَّ شَخْصَهَ لِئَالٍ یَکُونلِأَحَدِ فِیَ عُنُقِهٌبَیْعۀَ إِذَاخَرَ
All of us, The Imāms, have to pledge the allegiance with [even] the violent contemporary rulers, but the Qā’im (mGehr) whom Isā ibn Maryam [Jesus (pbuh)] will pray behind him [after the Emergence]. God will hide his birthday. So he will hide. As he will not pledge any allegiance, when he emerges. (Ikmāl al-Dīn wa Itmām al-Niʿma, Volume 1, Page 315)
3- Testing people by God:
To distinguish the faithful from the hypocrites, the holy Quran reads:
أَحَسِبْ النَّاسأَنْ یُتْرَکُواأَنیَقُولُواْ آمَنَّاوَهُمَ لَایُفْتَنُون،،ْوَلَقَدَ فَتَنَّاْ الَّذِینْ مِنَّ قَبْلِهِمُ فَلَیَعْلَمَنَ اللَّهَ الَّذِینصَّ دَقُوا
وَلَیَعْلَمَنَالْکَاذِبِین.
(Surah ‘Ankabut, Verses 2& 3).
Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, We believe, and not be tried? And certainly, We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars.
4- Punishing people
Regarding this issue, Amīr al Mu’menin (pbuh) stated:
.َوَّ اِعْلَمُواَ أَنَ اَلْأَرْضالْ تَخْلُوٍ مِنِ حُجَّۀَّ لِلَّهَ عَزَ وَّجَ لَّ وَ لَکِناَللَّهُ سَیُعْمِیخَلْقَهْ عَنْهَاَ بِظُلْمِهِمْ وَ جَوْرِهِمْ وإِسْرَافِهِم
عَلَىأَنْفُسِهِم
And you know that the earth will not be empty of the proof of God [Imām Zamān (mGehr), but soon the people will be blind [cannot see him], because of their oppression, transgression, and extravagance (Nuˈmai, Al- Qaybah Volume1, Page 141).
1- It refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muḥammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islām to all descendants of the Banu Hāshim (Muḥammad’s clan) and even to all Muslims. In Shi’a Islām, the term is limited to Muḥammad, his daughter Fātimā, his cousin and son-in-law Alī ibn Abi Ṭālib, and their two sons, Ḥasan and Husayn (pbu th). While all Muslims revere the Ahl al-Bayt, it is the Shia Muslims who hold the Ahl al-Bayt in the highest esteem, regarding them as the rightful leaders of the Muslim community after Muḥammad. The Twelver Shi’as also believe in the redemptive power of the pain and martyrdom endured by the members of the Ahl al-Bayt, particularly Husayn (pbuh).
2-Zurārah ibn Aʿyan (about 690-768 AD) was a famous companion of Imām Bāqir, Imām Ṣādiq, and Imam Kadhim (pbu th). He evolved the theory that the knowledge of God is an obligation on every believer and cannot be attained without an Imām designated by God, and thus complete obedience to the Imām is a religious duty
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