Who Is al-Mahdi?

According to Twelver Shī‘as Muhammad al-Māhdī (الإمام محمد بن الحسن المهدى) also known as Hujjat ibn al-Hasan (15th Sha‘bān 255 AH - unknown date[1] ; approximately July 29, 869 - unknown date) is the final Imām of the Twelve Imams and the Māhdī, the ultimate savior of humankind. Other Shī‘ah schools, along with Sunnīs, do not consider ibn-al-Hasan as the Māhdī. Twelver Shī‘as believe that al-Māhdī was born in 869 and has been hidden by God (referred to as the Occultation) to later emerge with Jesus in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world.

Birth and early life according to Twelver Shi'a

Twelver Shi'as believe that Mahdi was born in 869 AD as Abu'l Qasim Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn ‘Alī. His mother, Her Greatness Narjis (Melika), was a Byzantine princess who pretended to be a slave so that she might travel from her kingdom to Arabia. [4] [5] His father, Hasan al-Askari, is believed to have been the eleventh and penultimate Shi'a Imam. Shi'as believe that his birth was kept a secret due to the persecution that the Shi'a were facing during this time at the hands of Al-Mu'tamid, the Abbasid Caliph.[6][7]

To support Imam Mahdi's claim, Twelver Shi'as quote the following Hadith: "I and `Ali are the fathers of this nation; whoever knows us very well also knows Allah, and whoever denies us also denies Allah, the Unique, the Mighty. And from `Ali's descendants are my grandsons al-Hasan and al-Husayn, who are the masters of the youths of Paradise, and from al-Husayn's descendants shall be nine: whoever obeys them obeys me, and whoever disobeys them also disobeys me; the ninth among them is their Qa'im and Mahdi." [8] (These Hadiths recognized as authentic only by some Sunnis)

The eleventh Shi'a Imam Hasan al-Askari died on 1 January 874 AD (8th Rabi' al-awwal, 260 AH)[6] and since that day, his son Mahdi is believed by Shi'as to be the Imam, appointed by God, to lead the believers of the era. The most popular account of al-Mahdi in Shi'a literature is taken from his father's funeral. It is reported that as the funeral prayer was about to begin, al-Mahdi's uncle, Jafar ibn Ali approached to lead the prayers. However, al-Mahdi approached and commanded, "Move aside, uncle; only an Imam can lead the funeral prayer of an Imam." Jafar moved aside, and the five-year-old child led the funeral prayer for his father. It is reported that it was at this very moment that al-Mahdi disappeared and went into ghaybat, or occultation.[citation needed]

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Significance of the Twelfth Imam

Some hadith indicate significance to the twelfth generation of descendants of the prophet Muhammad.

A hadith from the Shi'a text (Kitab Al-Kafi) containing a conversation between the first Shia Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib and a man named al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, as well as a Hadith in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim in which Muhammad speaks of Twelve Successors. (see Hadith of the Twelve Successors)

From Sahih Bukhari:

Narrated Jabir bin Samura: I heard Muhammad saying, "Islam will continue to be strong to twelve Muslim rulers (who will rule all the Islamic world)." He then said a sentence which I did not hear. My father said, "All of them (those rulers) will be from Quraish." [9]

In a hadith widely regarded as authentic, Muhammad said,

Even if the entire duration of the world's existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before the Day of Judgment, God will expand that day to such a length of time, as to accommodate the kingdom of a person out of Ahl al-Bayt who will be called by my name and my father's name. He will then fill the Earth with peace and justice as it will have been filled with injustice and tyranny before then.[10]

Period

The period of occultation (ghaybat) is believed to consist of two parts:
Ghaybat al-Sughra or Minor Occultation (874-941) is the shorter of the two periods, during which deputies of the Imam maintained communication to the rest of the world.
Ghaybat al-Kubra or Major Occultation began 941 and is believed to continue until a time decided by God, when the Mahdi will reappear to bring absolute justice to the world.

Minor Occultation


During the Minor Occultation (Ghaybat al-Sughra), it is believed that al-Mahdi maintained contact with his followers via deputies (Arab. an-nuwāb al-arbaʕa). They represented him and acted as agents between him and his followers.

Whenever the believers faced a problem, they would write their concerns and send them to his deputy. The deputy would ascertain his verdict, endorse it with his seal and signature and return it to the relevant parties. The deputies also collected zakat and khums on his behalf. For the Shia, the idea of consulting a hidden Imam was not something new because the two prior Shia Imams had, on occasion, met with their followers from behind a curtain.

Shia Tradition hold that four deputies acted in succession to one another:
Uthman ibn Sa’id al-Asadi
Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Uthman
Abul Qasim Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti
Abul Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri

In 941 (329 AH), the 4th deputy announced an order by al-Mahdi, that the deputy would soon die and that the deputyship would end and the period of the Major Occultation would begin.

The 4th deputy died six days later and the Shi'a Muslims continue to await the reappearance of the Mahdi. In the same year, many notable Shi'a scholars such as Ali ibn Babwayh Qummi and Muhammad ibn Yaqub Kulayni, the learned compiler of al-Kafi also died.


Major Occultation
 
The name of Imam as it appears in Masjid Nabawi

According to the last letter of al-Mahdi to Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri "from the day of your death [the last deputy] the period of my major occultation (al ghaybatul kubra) will begin. Hence forth, no one will see me, unless and until Allah makes me appear."[citation needed] Another view is that the Hidden Imam is on earth "among the body of the Shia" but "incognito." "Numerous stories" exist of the Hidden Imam "manifesting himself to prominent members of the ulama."[11]

Reappearance

Twelver Shi'as cite various references from the Qur'an and reports, or Hadith, from Imam Mahdi and the twelve Shi'a Imams with regard to the reappearance of al-Mahdi who would, in accordance with God's command, bring justice and peace to the world by establishing Islam throughout the world.

Mahdi is reported to have said:

Shi'as believe that Imam al-Mahdi will reappear when the world has fallen into chaos and civil war emerges between the human race for no reason. At this time, it is believed, half of the true believers will ride from Yemen carrying white flags to Mecca, while the other half will ride from Karbala, in Iraq, carrying black flags to Mecca. At this time, Imam al-Mahdi will come wielding God's Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane, Zulfiqar (Arabic: ذو الفقار, ðū l-fiqār), the Double-Bladed Sword.

Shi'as believe that Jesus will also come with the Imam Mahdi to destroy tyranny and falsehood, and to bring justice and peace to the world. [12]


The 12th Imam is known by many titles and nicknames in Shia Islam, including:
Al-Mahdi
Al-Muntazar (the Awaited one)
Al-Qaim (the Hidden one)
Sahab uz-Zaman (the Master of the Age)
Imam-e-Zaman (the Leader of the Age, or alternatively, in Persian, the Leader of the Earth)
Wali al-'Asr (the Guardian of the Era or alternatively, the Guardian in the Twilight [of man])
Imam al-Hujjah (the Leader of Proof [of Allah's justice])

Sunni view

The majority of Sunni Muslims do not consider the son of Hasan al-Askari to be the Mahdi nor to be in occultation. However, they still believe that he will be from the Prophet's family, more specifically from Ali and Fatima's descendants. Sunnis believe that the Mahdi has not yet been born, and therefore his exact identity is only known to Allah. Aside from the Mahdi's precise, genealogy, Sunnis accept many of the same hadiths Shias accept about the predictions regarding the Mahdi's emergence, his acts, and his universal Khilafat. Sunnis also have a few more Mahdi hadiths which are not present in Shia collections, such as the following:

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri(RA) narrated that the Prophet(SAW) said:

Our Mahdi will have a broad forehead and a pointed (prominent) nose. He will fill the earth with justice as it is filled with injustice and tyranny. He will rule for seven years. (Abu Dawud, Sahih, Vol. 2, p. 208; Fusul al-muhimma, p. 275)

Shia books do not explicitly mention the Mahdi having a pointy nose.

Other Sunni hadith regarding the Mahdi are virtually identical to their counterparts in Shia books:

Umm Salamah said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon Him) say: ‘The Mahdi is of my lineage and family…’

(Sunan Abu Dawud, 11/373; Sunan Ibn Maajah, 2/1368).

Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri said:

The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon Him) said: "He is one of us…"

— Reported by Abi Na’eem in Akhbaar al-Mahdi, see al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer, 5/219, hadith 5796.

In the light of traditions and interpretations, the personality of the Promised Mahdi would be as such:

It is said "predictions and lore concerning the Mahdi abound"[9] Among them are that the promised Mahdi would be a Caliph of God and that to make a covenant with him is obligatory. He would belong to the House of Muhammad and would be in the line of Imam Hussein. His name would be Muhammad and his family name would be Abul Qasim, his father's name would be ‘Abdu’llah [rather than Hasan], and he would appear in Mecca. He would protect the Muslims from destruction and would restore the religion to its original position.

Sunnis also believe that Jesus will return alongside the Mahdi, with the only difference being that they disagree with the Shia regarding exactly who the Mahdi is.

Scholarly observations

Some scholars, including Bernard Lewis[13] also point out, that the idea of an Imam in occultation was not new in 873 but that it was a recurring factor in Shia history.

Later, Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, the grandson of the Imam Nizar, and Taiyab abi al-Qasim were believed by their followers to have gone into occultation as well.

[1] A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004. pp. 159.
[2] al-Qurashi, Baqir Shareef (2006). The Life of Imam al-Mahdi. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. pp. 40.
[3] A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004. pp. 160.
[4] The Expected Mahdi
[5] Online Islamic Courses
[6] a b The Imams

[7]Mahdi and the manner of his occultation
[8]Ikmal of AlSaduq
[9]Sahih Bukhari 89.329
[10]Sahih Tirmidhi, V2, P86, V9, P74–75.
[11]Momen, Moojan, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Yale University Press, 1985, p.199
[12]Sahih Muslim, bab nuzul 'isa, Vol. 2; Sahih Bukhari, kitab bad' al-khalq wa nuzul 'isa, Vol. 4
[13] The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam, Bernard Lewis, pp. 23, 35, 49.