Imam Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Mahdi (a): Difference between revisions

After his uprising in [[Akhir al-Zaman]], Imam al-Zaman (a) will rule the world. According to hadiths, the period of his reign is from 7 to 303 years. In most of the Sunni hadiths, the period is 7 years,<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Dalāʾil al-imāma'', p. 469-480; Ibn Ḥanbal, ''Musnad'', vol. 3, p. 17.</ref> and in Shiite hadiths, it is mostly over 10 years. According to some Shiite hadiths, his reign will be 7 years with each year being equal to 10<ref>Ṭūsī, ''Kitāb al-ghayba'', p. 474.</ref> or 20 years.<ref>Fattāl al-Nīshābūrī, ''Rawḍat al-wāʿiẓīn'', p. 264.</ref> According to other hadiths, the length of the reign depends on the Divine Will, and so it is not known. The most popular view among the Shi'as is 19 years.<ref>Nuʿmānī, ''al-Ghayba'', p. 353-354.</ref>

It was widely believed in the period of [[Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a)]] that the Shi'as were expecting the uprising of his son. However, the [[Abbasid]] government was looking for the Imam's (a) son to arrest him. Thus, Imam al-'Askari (a) did not publicly show his son to anyone, even his followers, except for a few of his close companions and relatives. Thus, when the Imam (a) was martyred, no one knew that the Imam (a) had a child (except those few). (More about this in section regarding the secrecy of his birth and the reactions of the Abbasids.)

Moreover, Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a) only mentioned his mother, [[Hudayth]], in his will because of the political circumstances. Thus, in the two years after the Imam's (a) martyrdom, some Shi'as believed that in the absence of Imam al-Zaman (a), Hudayth is a surrogate for the position of [[imamate]].

Immediately after Imam al-'Askari's (a) martyrdom, his close companions under the leadership of [['Uthman b. Sa'id al-'Amri]] (d. 265/878 or 280/893) announced to the Shiite community that Imam al-'Askar (a) had a son who is now his successor as the Imam. [['Abd Allah b. Ja'far al-Himyari]] said: I asked 'Uthman b. Sa'id al-'Amri about the name of Imam al-'Askari's (a) successor. Al-'Amri replied: "you are prohibited from asking his name, because the King (the Caliph) thinks that Imam al-'Askari (a) has left no son and his heritage is divided (between his mother, brother, and sister). If his name is mentioned, they will try to find him. So, do not ask his name."

Although the close companions of Imam al-'Askari (a) had clarified about his successor, the Shiite community—many Shi'as in [[Iraq]] and [[Transoxiana]]—were confused. For instance, after the martyrdom of Imam al-'Askari (a), they sent someone to [[Medina]] to inspect about the existence of the Imam's (a) son, because they had heard that Imam al-'Askari's (a) son was sent by his father to Medina. It is also reported that Abu Zayd [[Ahmad b. Sahl al-Balkhi]], a scholar in the period of the [[Minor Occultation]], went from [[Khorasan]] to Iraq to look for the Imam's (a) son. He looked for him for years.

There was a disagreement in the house of Imam al-'Askari (a) as well. Hudayth, Imam al-'Askari's (a) mother, and Hakima, the Imam's (a) paternal aunt, believed that the Imam (a) had a son who was the new Imam, but the only sister of Imam al-'Askari (a)—the only other child of [[Imam al-Hadi (a)]] in addition to [[Ja'far b. 'Ali b. Muhammad]] and perhaps Ja'far's full sister—supported Ja'far.

Shi'as serving in high-ranking governmental positions were also divided in this regard. For instance, the [[Nawbakht Family]] supported the existence and the imamate of Imam al-'Askari's (a) son, recognizing [['Uthman b. Sa'id]] and his [[Muhammad b. 'Uthman|son]] as [[Special Deputies]] of Imam al-Zaman (a).

The leadership crisis in this period was so serious that some people abandoned the [[Imamiyya]] and joined other Shiite and non-Shiite sects. Some people denied the death of Imam al-'Askari (a) and took him to be the Mahdi, and some others believed in the [[imamate]] of Sayyid [[Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Hadi|Muhammad]], the son of [[Imam al-Hadi (a)]] and denied the imamate of Imam al-'Askari (a).

Still others believed in the imamate of [[Ja'far b. 'Ali b. Muhammad|Ja'far]]. Ja'far tried hard to propagate himself as the Imam. After the demise of Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a), he claimed the heritage of his brother although their mother was still alive, and this was against the rulings of inheritance in Islam. He also encouraged the rulers of the time to search the Imam's (a) house to find his son, and with Ja'far's cooperation, one of Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari's (a) bondwomen was arrested and closely monitored to see if she was pregnant. Moreover, Ja'far offered to annually pay 20,000 [[dinars]] as a bribe to an Abbasid agent so that he confirms Ja'far's imamate.

: Of the sects we mentioned, in our time, that is in 373/983, only the Twelver Imamiyya has survived, that is, those who believe in the imamate of Hasan's son who is the Prophet's (s) namesake, and are certain about his life and survival until the day in which he will begin an uprising with his sword.

: In the Name of God the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. I learned that a group of you have disputed about the religion and are confused about the guardians of your affairs (that is, the Imams). Have you not seen how God selected guardians for you since the time of Adam, peace be upon him, until the previous Imam so that you can refuge to them? God has raised flags with which you could be guided. Whenever a flag disappears, another appears, and whenever a star goes down, another rises. When God took him (that is, Imam al-'Askari) to Himself, you thought that the Exalted God has annihilated His religion and cut off the link between Him and His creatures. It has never been like this, and it will never be like this until the [[Resurrection]] when God’s affair shows itself. The previous Imam, peace be upon him, has passed away. And his will and his knowledge and his succession lie in us, and no one disputes us about his position except a sinful unjust person.

[[Al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] (d. 413/1022) in his ''[[al-Irshad]]'' and [[al-Tabrisi]] (d. 1154) in his ''[[A'lam al-wara]]'', and some other prominent Shiite [[fuqaha]] (jurisprudents) and [[muhaddiths]] as well as many historiographers have subscribed to the first view, taking the Minor Occultation to be 74 years.

: O 'Ali b. Muhammad al-Samuri! You will die within 6 days. So, finish your works and do not recommend anyone as your successor, because the second Occultation has now started, and there will be no Reappearance until God permits.

After al-Samuri's death, the connection through Special Deputies came to an end and the Occultation entered a new phase. This phase of the Occultation came to be known in recent sources as the [[Major Occulation]]. According to most Shiite sources, the 4th deputy died in 329/941, but [[al-Shaykh al-Saduq]] and [[Fadl b. al-Hasan al-Tabrisi]] take it to be in 318/930.

The issue of Imam al-Zaman was an old issue in Islam, and in particular, Shiism. Since the Reappearance of Imam al-Zaman was promised by [[the Prophet (s)]] himself, the name, "Mahdi", was since then well-known. Even before the Imam’s (a) birth, tens of books were written about him by the Shi'as. After the Imam’s (a) birth, many other books were still written about him. Thousands of books have so far been written about difference aspects of the Twelfth Shiite Imam. Here are some of the most reliable such books:

* The material for writing this article has been mainly taken from [http://fa.wikishia.net/view/امام_مهدی_عجل_الله_تعالی_فرجه امام مهدی عجل الله تعالی فرجه] in Farsi wikishia.

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