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

In different sources, supplications, and [[ziyaras]], the Twelfth Imam of the Shi'as is characterized with different [[kunyas]] and titles, the best-known of which are: al-Mahdi ({{ia|المَهدی}}, guided), Ṣāḥib al-Zamān ({{ia|صاحب الزمان}}, the owner of the time), Muntaẓar ({{ia|مُنتَظَر}}, expected), Baqīyyat Allāh ({{ia|بَقیّة الله}}, what remains with [[Allah]]), Muntaqim ({{ia|مُنتَقِم}}, avenger), Maw'ūd ({{ia|مَوعود}}, promised), Khātam al-Awṣīyā' ({{ia|خاتَم الأوصیاء}}, the last successor), Ghā'ib ({{ia|غائب}}, hidden), Ma'mūl ({{ia|مأمول}}, hoped), and Muḍṭarr ({{ia|مُضطرّ}}, distressed). Another well-known title of Imam al-Zaman (a) is "Qa'im" ({{ia|قائم}}, upriser or standing) upon the hearing of which the Shi'as stand up and put their hands on their heads, as practiced by [[Imam al-Rida (a)]].<ref>Ṭabrisī al-Nūrī, ''al-Najm al-thāqib'', vol. 1, p. 165-265.</ref>

Imam al-Zaman's (a) mother is referred to in different ways: Narjis, Susan, Saqil or Sayqal, Haditha, Hakima, Malika, Rayhana, and Khamt.<ref>Khudāmurād Sulaymān, ''Farhangnāma-yi mahdawīyyat'', p. 371.</ref> In general, there are four accounts of her life and characteristics. According to a [[hadith]] cited by [[al-Shaykh al-Saduq]] in his ''[[Kamal al-din wa tamam al-ni'ma]]'',<ref>Ṣadūq, ''Kamāl al-Dīn wa tamām al-niʿma'', vol. 2, p. 417.</ref> Imam al-Zaman's (a) mother was a Roman princess. And in other hadiths, her life story is not mentioned and it is only said that she was trained and raised in the house of [[Hakima bint Imam al-Jawad (a)|Hakima]], the daughter of [[Imam al-Jawad (a)]].<ref>Ṣadūq, ''Kamāl al-Dīn wa tamām al-niʿma'', vol. 2, p. 424.</ref> According to a third group of hadiths (cited by [[al-Mas'udi]] in his ''[[Ithbat al-wasiyya li l-Imam 'Ali b. Abi Talib (al-Mas'udi)|Ithbat al-wasiyya]]''),<ref>Masʿūdī, ''Ithbāt al-waṣīyya'', p. 272.</ref> Imam al-Zaman's (a) mother was not only raised in the house of [[Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a)]]'s paternal aunt, but was also born there. The last group of hadiths has a fundamental difference with these three groups. According to these hadiths, Imam al-Zaman's (a) mother was a black bondwoman.<ref>Nuʿmānī, ''al-Ghayba'', p. 163.</ref> The first three groups of hadiths can be considered as complementary, but the last one cannot be reconciled with them. However, some scholars have tried to reconcile the last group of hadiths with others by taking it to be concerned with Imam al-Zaman's (a) nurse.<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 51, p. 219.</ref>

According to some other hadiths, the center of Imam al-Zaman's (a) government will be [[Kufa]],<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 53, p. 11.</ref> the center of his judiciary will be the [[Mosque of Kufa]],<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 53, p. 11.</ref> and the [[Mosque of Sahla]] will be the place where he will reside<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 3, p. 495; Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 52, p. 318; Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 3, p. 380. </ref> and distribute the [[Treasury|Bayt al-Mal]].<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 53, p. 11.</ref>

[[Al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] (d. 413/1022) in his ''[[al-Irshad]]''<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 340. </ref> and [[al-Tabrisi]] (d. 1154) in his ''[[A'lam al-wara]]'',<ref>Ṭabrisī, ''Iʿlām al-warā'', vol. 2, p. 259.</ref> 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.

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.<ref>Ṣadūq, ''Kamāl al-Dīn wa tamām al-niʿma'', vol. 2, p. 503; Ṭabrisī, ''Iʿlām al-warā'', p. 417.</ref>

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