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Muhammad al-Mahdi
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Muhammad al-Mahdi
Muhammad al-Mahdi (Arabic: محمد بن الحسن المهدي, romanized: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justice and redeem Islam.
Hasan al-Askari, the eleventh Imam, died in AH 260 (873–874), possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. Immediately after his death, his main representative, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi, claimed that the eleventh Imam had an infant son named Muhammad, who was kept hidden from the public out of fear of Abbasid persecution. Uthman also claimed to represent Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation. Other local representatives of al-Askari largely supported these assertions, while the Shia community fragmented into several sects over al-Askari's succession. All these sects, however, are said to have disappeared after a few decades except for the Twelvers, who accept the son of al-Askari as the twelfth and final Imam in Shia Islam, remaining in a state of occultation.
Uthman was followed by three more agents, collectively known as the Four Deputies, who were regarded by the Twelver community as representatives of Muhammad al-Mahdi. This period, later termed the Minor Occultation, ended after about seventy years with the death of the fourth agent, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri (d. 940–941). He is said to have received the final letter of Muhammad al-Mahdi shortly before his death. The letter predicted the death of Abu al-Hasan in six days and announced the beginning of the complete occultation, later called the Major Occultation, which continues to this day. The letter, ascribed to Muhammad al-Mahdi, added that the complete occultation would continue until God granted him permission to manifest himself again in a time when Earth would be filled with tyranny.
The Twelver theory of occultation crystallized in the first half of the fourth century AH (tenth century AD) based on rational and textual arguments. This theory, for instance, sets forth that the life of Muhammad al-Mahdi has been miraculously prolonged, arguing that the earth cannot be void of the Imam as the highest proof of God. In the absence of the Hidden Imam, the leadership vacuum in the Twelver community was gradually filled by faqīh "jurists". It is popularly held that the Hidden Imam occasionally appears to the pious. The accounts of these encounters are numerous and widespread among the Twelvers.
Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Askari, the eschatological savior in Twelver Islam, is known by many titles, including al-Mahdi (lit. 'the rightly guided'), al-Qa'im (lit. 'he who will rise'), al-Montazar (lit. 'the awaited'), Saheb al-Zaman (lit. 'lord of the age'), al-Gha'ib (lit. 'the hidden'), al-Hojja/Hojjat Allah (lit. 'the proof [of God]'), Sahib al-Amr (lit. 'lord of the cause'), Sahib al-Haqq (lit. 'lord of the truth'), Baqiyat Allah (lit. 'the remnant of God').
The title al-Qa'im signifies the rise against tyranny, though a wahid (lit. 'alone') hadith from the sixth Shia Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq, connects this title to the rise of al-Qa'im after his death. As a wahid hadith, this report is not viewed as reliable by experts, writes the Shia Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (d. 1699), especially because it contradicts the Twelver belief that the earth cannot be void of Imam at any time, as the hujjat Allah (lit. 'proof of God') on the earth. Majlesi also suggests that death might be meant figuratively in this hadith, referring to the forgotten memory of al-Qa'im after his long occultation.
Abdulaziz Sachedina notes that the titles Qa'im Al Muhammad and Sahib al-Amr have more of a political emphasis than the eschatological title al-Mahdi. The title al-Hujja, on the other hand, highlights the religious function of the savior. Indeed, every Shia Imam is viewed as hujjat Allah, the (highest) proof of God, through whom the inner meanings of the Quran become accessible after the death of the prophet. This title is more pronounced for the twelfth Imam, however, possibly because of a related hadith from the tenth Imam, Ali al-Hadi.
Until their deaths, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams (Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively) were held under close surveillance in the garrison town of Samarra by the Abbasids, who are often responsible in Shia sources for poisoning the two Imams. The two Imams witnessed the deterioration of the Abbasid caliphate, as the imperial authority rapidly transitioned into the hands of the Turks, particularly after al-Mutawakkil (March 822 – 11 December 861).
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Muhammad al-Mahdi
Muhammad al-Mahdi (Arabic: محمد بن الحسن المهدي, romanized: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justice and redeem Islam.
Hasan al-Askari, the eleventh Imam, died in AH 260 (873–874), possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. Immediately after his death, his main representative, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi, claimed that the eleventh Imam had an infant son named Muhammad, who was kept hidden from the public out of fear of Abbasid persecution. Uthman also claimed to represent Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation. Other local representatives of al-Askari largely supported these assertions, while the Shia community fragmented into several sects over al-Askari's succession. All these sects, however, are said to have disappeared after a few decades except for the Twelvers, who accept the son of al-Askari as the twelfth and final Imam in Shia Islam, remaining in a state of occultation.
Uthman was followed by three more agents, collectively known as the Four Deputies, who were regarded by the Twelver community as representatives of Muhammad al-Mahdi. This period, later termed the Minor Occultation, ended after about seventy years with the death of the fourth agent, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri (d. 940–941). He is said to have received the final letter of Muhammad al-Mahdi shortly before his death. The letter predicted the death of Abu al-Hasan in six days and announced the beginning of the complete occultation, later called the Major Occultation, which continues to this day. The letter, ascribed to Muhammad al-Mahdi, added that the complete occultation would continue until God granted him permission to manifest himself again in a time when Earth would be filled with tyranny.
The Twelver theory of occultation crystallized in the first half of the fourth century AH (tenth century AD) based on rational and textual arguments. This theory, for instance, sets forth that the life of Muhammad al-Mahdi has been miraculously prolonged, arguing that the earth cannot be void of the Imam as the highest proof of God. In the absence of the Hidden Imam, the leadership vacuum in the Twelver community was gradually filled by faqīh "jurists". It is popularly held that the Hidden Imam occasionally appears to the pious. The accounts of these encounters are numerous and widespread among the Twelvers.
Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Askari, the eschatological savior in Twelver Islam, is known by many titles, including al-Mahdi (lit. 'the rightly guided'), al-Qa'im (lit. 'he who will rise'), al-Montazar (lit. 'the awaited'), Saheb al-Zaman (lit. 'lord of the age'), al-Gha'ib (lit. 'the hidden'), al-Hojja/Hojjat Allah (lit. 'the proof [of God]'), Sahib al-Amr (lit. 'lord of the cause'), Sahib al-Haqq (lit. 'lord of the truth'), Baqiyat Allah (lit. 'the remnant of God').
The title al-Qa'im signifies the rise against tyranny, though a wahid (lit. 'alone') hadith from the sixth Shia Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq, connects this title to the rise of al-Qa'im after his death. As a wahid hadith, this report is not viewed as reliable by experts, writes the Shia Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (d. 1699), especially because it contradicts the Twelver belief that the earth cannot be void of Imam at any time, as the hujjat Allah (lit. 'proof of God') on the earth. Majlesi also suggests that death might be meant figuratively in this hadith, referring to the forgotten memory of al-Qa'im after his long occultation.
Abdulaziz Sachedina notes that the titles Qa'im Al Muhammad and Sahib al-Amr have more of a political emphasis than the eschatological title al-Mahdi. The title al-Hujja, on the other hand, highlights the religious function of the savior. Indeed, every Shia Imam is viewed as hujjat Allah, the (highest) proof of God, through whom the inner meanings of the Quran become accessible after the death of the prophet. This title is more pronounced for the twelfth Imam, however, possibly because of a related hadith from the tenth Imam, Ali al-Hadi.
Until their deaths, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams (Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively) were held under close surveillance in the garrison town of Samarra by the Abbasids, who are often responsible in Shia sources for poisoning the two Imams. The two Imams witnessed the deterioration of the Abbasid caliphate, as the imperial authority rapidly transitioned into the hands of the Turks, particularly after al-Mutawakkil (March 822 – 11 December 861).
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