Uprising of al-Khurasani

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The Uprising of al-Khurāsānī (Arabic:خروج الخُراسانيّ) is a sign of Imam al-Mahdi’s (a) reappearance. This is an uprising that will be led by a person from Khorasan simultaneously with al-Sufyani’s and al-Yamani’s uprisings. Some researchers believe that al-Khurasani has black flags, and his army will defeat al-Sufyani under Shu'ayb b. Salih’s commandership.

There are disagreements between researchers on Mahdism about the black flags. Some believe that the black flags are the same as Abu Muslim al-Khurasani’s flags in his uprising against the Umayyad government. Others believe that they refer to the uprising that occurs before Imam al-Mahdi’s reappearance.

Al-Sayyid al-Khurasani

An uprising by a person from Khorasan is mentioned as a sign of Imam al-Mahdi’s reappearance in the relevant hadiths.[1] The term "Khurasani" has its sources in hadiths about Khorasan, the eastern land, and a man who starts an uprising with people of Khorasan.[2]

These hadiths do not mention al-Khurasani’s characteristics, including his prophetical descent (being a Sayyid).[3] However, in his book, 'Asr al-zuhur (The age of reappearance), Ali al-Kourani claims that, in Sunni[4] as well as later Shiite sources, al-Khurasani is said to descend from Imam al-Hasan (a) or Imam al-Husayn (a), and is referred to as "al-Khurasani al-Hashimi".[5] Because of this, he is also known as al-Sayyid al-Khurasani.[6] Moreover, these sources provide further descriptions of al-Khurasani, including a mole on his right cheek and his right hand.[7]

Is al-Khurasani’s Uprising a Sign of Reappearance?

The uprising by al-Khurasani is a sign of Imam al-Mahdi’s reappearance along with Heavenly Cry (a voice from the sky), murder of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Uprising of al-Sufyani, and al-Khasf al-Bayda'.[8] According to a hadith attributed to Imam al-Sadiq (a), al-Khurasani, al-Sufyani, and al-Yamani will simultaneously start uprisings, in the same year, in the same month, and on the same day.[9] According to hadiths, al-Khurasani’s uprising starts from the east (eastern parts of Islamic lands) and will proceed toward Iraq.[10] The Encyclopedia of Imam al-Mahdi casts doubts on the reliability of the chains of transmissions of these hadiths.[11]

Black Flags and al-Sayyid al-Khurasani

Main article: Black Flags

The parade of Black Flags is the uprising by people who hold black flags in eastern lands, which is mentioned in some hadiths as a sign of reappearance.[12] According to some hadiths, the flags belong to youths from Banu Hashim in Khorasan, who accompany Shu'ayb b. Salih in his uprising.[13] Some Shiite researchers believe that the black flags are those of Abu Muslim al-Khurasani’s uprising against the Umayyad government, which led to the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate.[14] Others hold that the flags point to an uprising that occurs before Imam al-Mahdi’s reappearance.[15]

The author of 'Asr al-zuhur says that al-Sayyid al-Khurasani has black flags, the commander of his army is Shu'ayb b. Salih, and a war breaks out between his and al-Sufyani’s army, in which the latter is defeated.[16] Al-Sayyid al-Khurasani pledges his allegiance to Imam al-Mahdi (a).[17]

This account was disputed on the grounds that, in the book 'Asr al-zuhur, a recourse is made to hadiths from Ibn al-Hammad’s al-Fitan, in which al-Khurasani does not appear. Moreover, al-Fitan is not deemed reliable by Shiite scholars, because many of its hadiths were not issued by the Infallibles (a).[18]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Nuʿmanī, Kitāb al-ghayba, p. 290.
  2. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 243; Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī, vol. 7, p. 447.
  3. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 242.
  4. ↑ Mirwazī, al-Fitan, p. 214.
  5. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 242.
  6. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 147, 205, 234.
  7. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 242.
  8. ↑ Nuʿmanī, Kitāb al-ghayba, p. 290.
  9. ↑ Nuʿmanī, Kitāb al-ghayba, p. 255,256.
  10. ↑ Nuʿmanī, Kitāb al-ghayba, p. 255,256.
  11. ↑ Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī, vol. 7, p. 445-447.
  12. ↑ Nuʿmanī, Kitāb al-ghayba, p. 251.
  13. ↑ Mirwazī, al-Fitan, p. 214, 216; Ibn Ṭāwūs, al-Tashrīf bi l-minan, p. 120.
  14. ↑ Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī, vol. 6, p. 64,65; Ṣadr, Tārīkh al-ghayba, p. 453.
  15. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 242, 243.
  16. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 242.
  17. ↑ Kūrānī, ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr, p, 137.
  18. ↑ Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī, vol. 7, p. 445-448.

References

  • Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Al-Tashrīf bi l-minan fī al-taʿrīf bi l-fitan known as Malāḥim wa al-fitan. 1st edition. Qom: Muʾassisat Ṣāḥib al-ʾAmr, 1416 AH.
  • Kūrānī, ʿAli. ʿAṣr al-ẓuhūr. First edition. Maktab al-Aʿlām al-Islāmī, 1408 AH.
  • Mirwazī, Naʿīm b. Ḥammād al-. Al-Fitan. Edited by Majdī b. Manṣūr. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya; Manshūrāt-i Muḥammad ʿAlī Bayḍūn, [n.d].
  • Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Muḥammad. Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī. Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1393 Sh.
  • Nuʿmanī, Muḥammad b. Ibāḥīm al-. Kitāb al-ghayba. First edition. Tehran: Maktaba al-Saduq, 1397 AH.
  • Ṣadr, Sayyid Muḥammad. Tārīkh al-ghayba. Beirut: Dār al-Taʿāruf, 1412 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Ghayba. Edited by ʿIbād Allāh Tihrānī and ʿAlī Aḥmad Nāṣiḥ. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmīyya, 1411 AH.
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