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Mahdism (Persian: مَهدَویّت, Arabic: المهدوية) in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam, derived from the belief in the reappearance of the Twelfth Shiite Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, as the savior of the apocalypse for the salvation of human beings and the establishment of peace and justice. Mahdism is a kind of messianism. From this perspective, it is believed that Jesus Christ and Khidr are still alive and will emerge with Muhammad al-Mahdi in order to fulfil their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world.

Mahdism in Quran

Many verses of the Quran are related to Mahdism, such as verse 105 of Al-Anbiya Surah:

«وَ لَقَدْ کَتَبْنَا فیِ الزَّبُورِ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّکْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ یَرِثُهَا عِبَادِیَ الصَّالِحُون»
"Certainly We wrote in the Psalms, after the Torah: ‘Indeed My righteous servants shall inherit the earth’."

— "Al-Anbiya, 105", Quran

The commentators have considered the fulfillment of the promise mentioned in the verse at the time of the reappearance of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi. Also, verse 5 of Al-Qasas Surah:

«وَ نُرِیدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلیَ الَّذِینَ اسْتُضْعِفُواْ فیِ الْأَرْضِ وَ نجَعَلَهُمْ أَئمَّةً وَ نجَعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِین»
"And We desired to show favour to those who were abased in the land, and to make them imams, and to make them the heirs"

— "Al-Qasas, 5", Quran

Some have considered the interpretations of this verse to be related to Muhammad al-Mahdi and others have considered it to be related to the return (Rajʽa) of the Imams and the return of the government to them. Verse 55 of Surah An-Nur:

«وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِینَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنکمُ وَ عَمِلُواْ الصَّلِحَتِ لَیَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فیِ الْأَرْضِ کَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِینَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَ لَیُمَکِّنَنَّ لهُمْ دِینهَمُ الَّذِی ارْتَضیَ لهَمْ وَ لَیُبَدِّلَنهُّم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا یَعْبُدُونَنیِ لَا یُشْرِکُونَ بیِ شَیْا وَ مَن کَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَالِکَ فَأُوْلَئکَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُون»
"Allah has promised those of you who have faith and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the earth, just as He made those who were before them successors, and He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and that He will surely change their state to security after their fear, while they worship Me, not ascribing any partners to Me. Whoever is ungrateful after that—it is they who are the transgressors"

— "An-Nur, 55", Quran

Also it is known to be related to Mahdism issues. Some have considered the fulfillment of the promise mentioned in the verse at the time of the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi and some have considered the community mentioned in the verse to be achievable only at the time of the reappearance of Muhammad al-Mahdi.

Mahdism in Twelver branch

The Shiites of the Twelver branch of Shia Islam believe that according to the divine promise, a descendant of Muhammad, Prophet of Islam or his namesake, the ninth child of the descendants of Husayn ibn Ali, will appear with the epithet of "Mahdi" and will spread justice throughout the earth.

According to this belief, Mahdi, the son of Hasan al-Askari (the eleventh Shiite Imam), was born in 870 CE. Upon the death of his father, while he was still a child, after the early years of his Imamate, he disappeared and would only contact his followers through his four successive deputies. The period of the so-called minor occultation or first occultation, in which Mahdi was not in direct contact with the people, only through his special deputies, which was mostly in contact with the Shiites. According to official tradition, in 940 CE, the fourth and last delegate received a final letter signed by the hidden Imam in which he declared that henceforth and "until the end of time," no one will see him or be his representative, and that whosoever declares otherwise is no less than an imposter. Thus a long absence began, the so-called major occultation or second occultation.

Some late Shiite scholars who have questioned or rejecting Mahdism include Abolfazl Borqei Qomi, Heidar Ali Qalmadaran Qomi, and Mohammad Hassan Shariat Sanglaji.

Among the present scholars who have worked on Mahdism is Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani. He has two important works in this field, Selected Trace About the Twelfth Imam and Imamate and Mahdism).

Mahdism in other Shiite branches

One of the events that spread the idea of Mahdism was the sudden death of Ismail, the son of Ja'far al-Sadiq (the sixth Imam of the Shiites), in 762 CE, who, according to the Isma'ilism Shiites, had previously been appointed as the seventh Imam of the Shiites. Although most Shiites gathered around Ja'far al-Sadiq's other son, Musa al-Kadhim, a minority of Shiites did not accept Ismail's death, claiming that Ismail was still alive and hiding himself. According to them, Ismail is the absent Imam. With the rise of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, the epithet of "Mahdi" was attributed to the first Fatimid caliph and his successors, citing hadiths narrated by the Isma'ilists and other sources. However, the Isma'ilists expect the seventh Isma'ili Imam to appear under the name of Qa'im at the end of time.

In the Zaidi Shi'ism sect, who do not consider the Imams to have superhuman powers, belief in Mahdism is very inconspicuous. Throughout history, many people have been considered as "Mahdi" or claimed to be alive and absent. One of them was Husayn ibn Qasim Ayani, the leader of a sect branching out from Zaidi Shi'ism, called the Husaynieh sect. A group denied his death and claimed him as "Mahdi" and believed that he would return. But this beliefs about these people is not recognized by the Zaidi Shi'ism majority.

Mahdism in Sunni branch

According to Reza Aslan, with the development of the Mahdism doctrine among the Shiites, Sunni jurisprudence scholars tried to distance themselves from belief in the Mahdi. According to Wilferd Madelung, despite the support of belief in the Mahdi by some important Sunni traditionists, belief in the Mahdi has never been considered as one of the main beliefs of Sunni jurisprudence. The Mahdi is mentioned in Sunni beliefs, but rarely. Many prominent Sunni scholars, such as Al-Ghazali, have avoided discussing this issue. Of course, according to Madelung, this avoidance was less due to disbelief in the Mahdi and more (according to Reza Aslan) due to wanting to avoid disputes and social riots.

There are exceptions such as Ibn Khaldun in the book "Muqaddimah" who openly opposes belief in the Mahdi and considers all hadiths related to the Mahdi to be fabricated. There are different views among the traditionists and scholars who have dealt with the Mahdism issue. The epithet of "Mahdi" has been mentioned many times in the book "Musnad" by Ahmad ibn Hanbal (founder of the Hanbali school of Sunni jurisprudence — one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam, and also one of the four Sunni Imams) and various hadiths about the signs of the reappearance of the "Promised Mehdi" (and Jesus in his cooperation) mentioned there. Ahmad ibn Hanbal has narrated in his work that:

Sufyan ibn ʽUyaynah from Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud, narrated a hadith from Abdullah ibn Masud from the Prophet Muhammad:
«لا تقوم الساعة حتی یلی رجل من اهل بیتی، یواطی ء اسمه اسمی.»
"The resurrection will not take place until a man from my family namesake with me emerges."

— Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad

In mentioning the importance and validity of Ahmad ibn Hanbal's "Musnad" among the Sunnis, it is enough that Taqi al-Din al-Subki writes on page 201 of the first volume of "Tabaqat al-Shafeiyah":

"Ahmad ibn Hanbal's Musnad is one of the basis of Muslim beliefs"

— Taqi al-Din al-Subki, "Tabaqat al-Shafeiyah", 1st volume, p. 201

Also Al-Suyuti, a Sunni Egyptian Muslim scholar, has discussed the validity of Ahmad ibn Hanbal among Sunnis in the introduction to the book "Jam al-Javameh". Ali ibn Abd-al-Malik al-Hindi, the author of Kanz al-Ummal, says in that book:

«کل ما فی مسند احمد حنبل فهو مقبول»
"What is in the book "Musnad" of Ahmad ibn Hanbal is accepted by the Sunnis."

— "Kanz al-Ummal", 1st volume, p. 3

In some hadiths in Sunni books, "Mahdi" is the same as "Jesus Christ", while in other narrations there is no mention of the identity of that person, or it is said that "he rises with Jesus." The Mahdi is also mentioned as one of the descendants of Husayn ibn Ali, the descendants of Hasan ibn Ali or the son of Hasan al-Askari, the twelfth Imam of Shiites. Throughout history to the present day, there have been long debates among Sunni scholars about the "savior" role and the "political" role of the Mahdi.

But according to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the Sunnis believe that the Mahdi is from the family of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam and will emerge with Jesus in the end times. He also writes that the belief in the coming of the Mahdi is so strong among Muslims that throughout history, especially in times of pressure and hardship, has led to the emergence of claimants of "Mahdism". Contemporary Sunni writers such as Abd al-Muhsin al-Ibad, Muhammad Ali al-Sabuni, and Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz have also referred to the hadiths attributed to the Prophet of Islam about the Mahdi and the savior of the end times in their books and speeches, and have considered these hadiths trustworthy because have been mentioned frequently by different narrators.

According to Denise Spellberg, the concept of "Mahdism", although not one of the main Sunni beliefs, has been considered by Sunnis throughout history. In 1881, Muhammad Ahmad claimed to be the Mahdi in Sudan and started an uprising that was suppressed in 1898 by British forces. Belief in Mahdism spurred uprisings in the west and north of Africa in the nineteenth century. In 1849, a person named Bo Zian led an uprising in Algeria against the French tax system and the occupation of his country by the French under the name of Mahdi.

Political Mahdism

Abdolkarim Soroush is one of the few thinkers who has analyzed the relationship between Mahdism and politics and presented a new perspective on Mahdism. He believes that political Mahdism has historically manifested itself in politics in at least four ways:

• The theory of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist: The theory of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, which is incompatible with democracy, is the child of political Mahdism. Political Mahdism justifies the special privileges of Faqīhs for government in the theory of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist. Political Mahdism, based on the theory of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, presupposes the "supreme Faqīh" as the deputy of Muhammad al-Mahdi and gives the same authority to the "supreme Faqīh" in power and possession of the properties of the Muslims population, that the absent Imam has.
• The theory of monarchy on behalf of the Imam of the Safavid kings: Another form of political Mahdism throughout history that Abdolkarim Soroush refers to has been the theory of "monarchy on behalf of the Imam of the Safavid kings." This theory was in fact the political theory of the Safavids. This theory is also clearly in conflict with democracy.
• Hojjatieh's theory of political impracticality: Another form of political Mahdism mentioned by Abdolkarim Soroush is the theory of political impracticality during the absence and condemn all the governments before the emerge of the "Imam of Time" as usurper. Throughout history, many Shiite Faqīh have advocated this theory, and before the Islamic Revolution, this view was propagated by the Hojjatieh Association.
• The theory of revolutionary Islam or the "Waiting, a protest school": According to Abdolkarim Soroush, another form of Mahdism that is not very compatible with democracy is the theory of "Waiting, a protest school" by Dr. Ali Shariati. Shariati appears in the article "Waiting, a protest school" as a utopian and historian who believes in the determinism of history, who has a pragmatic approach to waiting for Mahdism to change the current status and achieve his desired utopia.

See also

• Occultation (Islam)
• Second Coming

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External links

• Dictionary - definition of Mahdism
• Definition of Mahdist - followers of al-Mahdī
• Mahdism and Islamism in Sudan
• Millenarianism and Mahdism in Lebanon
• Mahdism: Islamic Messianism and the Belief in The Coming of the Universal Savior
• From Mahdism to Neo-Mahdism in the Sudan
• Islam: The Doctrine of Mahdism

v t e Twelver
Principles	Tawhid Prophecy Imamate in Shia doctrine Akhirah Adalah
Ancillaries	Salah Fasting in Islam Khums Zakat Hajj Jihad Enjoining good and forbidding wrong Enjoining good and forbidding wrong Tawalli Tabarri
Beliefs	Imamate in Shia doctrine Mahdism Occultation (Islam) Minor Occultation Major Occultation Waiting Reappearance of Hujjat Allah al-Mahdi Rajʽa Succession to Muhammad Bada' Intercession Tawassul Taqiya Ismah Taqlid Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist Nikah mut'ah The Three Testimony Shia Jurisprudence
The Fourteen Infallibles	Muhammad Ali Fatimah Hasan ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad al-Baqir Ja'far al-Sadiq Musa al-Kadhim Ali al-Ridha Muhammad al-Jawad Ali al-Hadi Hasan al-Askari Muhammad al-Mahdi
Companions of the Prophet	Men Salman the Persian Miqdad ibn Aswad Abu Dharr al-Ghifari Ammar ibn Yasir Bilal ibn Rabah Ja'far ibn Abi Talib Malik al-Ashtar Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Aqeel ibn Abi Talib Uthman ibn Hunaif Kumayl ibn Ziyad Owais al-Qarani Abu Ayyub al-Ansari Jabir ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abbas Abdullah ibn Masud Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib Yasir ibn Amir Uthman bin Maz'oon Abdullah ibn Ja'far Khabbab ibn al-Aratt Usama ibn Zayd Khuzaima ibn Thabit Mus'ab ibn Umayr Malik ibn Nuwayrah Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh Women Fatimah bint Asad Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb Zaynab bint Ali Umm Kulthum bint Ali Asma bint Umais Umm Ayman Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib Sumayyah bint Khabbat
Scholars	Consensus companions General Maraji Tradition Maraji Mujtahids Faqihs Mystics Philosophers Commentators Muhaddiths
Events	Mubahala Event of Ghadir Khumm Saqifah Fadak Omar at Fatimah's house Uthman Battle of the Camel Battle of Siffin Battle of Nahrawan Battle of Karbala Battle of Fakhkh Baghdad Scholars Conference Camp Speicher massacre
Verses and Hadiths	Verse of brotherhood Obedience verse Verse of ikmal al-din Warning verse Feeding verse Informing verse Verse of purification Quintuple verse Good wilderness verse Event of mubahala Verse of mawadda Verse of light Verse of walaya Hadith of Jaber Hadith al-Thaqalayn Hadith of the Ark Hadith of Golden Chain Event of Ghadir Khumm Hadith of Fatima tablet Ahl al-Kisa Hadith of position Hadith of astronomy Hadith of blocking the doors Hadith of the city of knowledge Hadith of warning
Dua and Decorum	Du'a Arafah Dua Al-Ahd Du'a Kumayl Du'a Nudba Dua Allahumma kun li-waliyyik Du'a al-Faraj Ziyarat of Arba'een Ziyarat Ashura Qadr Night Mid-Sha'ban Mourning of Muharram
Books	Quran Nahj al-Balagha Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya The Four Books Al-Istibsar Kitab al-Kafi Tahdhib al-Ahkam Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih Book of Fatimah Mus'haf of Ali The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays Wasa'il al-Shia Bihar al-Anwar Al-Ghadir Mafatih al-Janan Majma' al-Bayan Tafsir al-Mizan Sahifah of al-Ridha List of Shia exegesis books List of works attributed to Shia Imams Shia bibliography
Holy Places	Masjid al-Haram Masjid Al-Aqsa Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Al-Baqi' Imam Ali Shrine Imam Husayn Shrine Al-Kadhimiya Mosque Al-Askari Shrine Imam Reza Shrine Al-Abbas Shrine Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque Fatima Masumeh Shrine Shah Cheragh Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine Great Mosque of Kufa Al-Sahlah Mosque Jamkaran Mosque Bab al-Saghir Cemetery Wadi-us-Salaam Mosque Imamzadeh Tekyeh Hussainiya Mahdieh
Holy Days	Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Adha Muhammad's first revelation Mawlid Eid al-Ghadir Mid-Sha'ban Fatimiyya Muharram Tasu'a Ashura Arbaʽeen
Sources of Ijtihad	Quran Hadith Reason Consensus
Related	Anti-Shi'ism Shia–Sunni relations Sufism and Shia List of sects and religions of Islam Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam

v t e Mahdism
Life	Descent: Narjis (mother) Hasan al-Askari (father) Mahdi: Muhammad al-Mahdi Occultation Minor Occultation Major Occultation Reappearance Rajʽa
Names	Baqīyat Allah Al-Qa'im Al Muhammad Muhammad al-Mahdi ʾImām al-ʿAsr
Four Deputies	Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Uthman Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri
Places	Attributed to Mahdi: Samarra Holy Crypt Al-Sahlah Mosque Jamkaran Mosque Great Mosque of Kufa Mahdieh Related to Reappearance: Vadi Yabes • Jerusalem • Bayda • Wadi-us-Salaam • Al-Sahlah Mosque
Ziyarats	Dua Al-Ahd Du'a Nudba Ziyarat Ale Yasin Dua Allahumma kun li-waliyyik Du'a al-Faraj
Reappearance signs	Uprising of Sufyani The voice from sky Al-Yamani Seyed Khorasani Seyyed Hassani Al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah Battle of Circesium
Related works	al-Ghayba (al-Nu'mani) al-Ghayba (al-Tusi) Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Nima Dar ol-Salam Najm ol-Saqeb Al-Eabqary Al-hasaan Al-Malhama Al-Kubra Bihar al-Anwar Makyal al-Makarem Asr al-Zohour Sahifeye Mahdieh Selected Trace in the Twelfth Imam Tauqiat Kalam al-Mahdi
Savior in other religions	Christ Saoshyant Paraclete Mitra Hoshider Hoshider Maah Krishna Vishnu
Reappearance related persons	Sufyani Sheysabani Abqa As'hab Seyyed Qomi Seyed Khorasani Shu'ayb bin Salih Al-Yamani Muhammad ibn Falah Mesri Seyyed Hassani Al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah
Mahdi claimants (Motamahdi)	Abu Mohammad Shari'ee Muhammad Nurbakhsh Qahistani Muhammad Ahmad Báb Al-Hallaj Ibn Nusayr Mohammad ibn Ali Shalmaghani Abu Taher Mohammad ibn Ali ibn Helal Ahmad ibn Helal Karkhi Mohammad Jounpoori Ahmad al-Hassan Mohammad Qahtani Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Seyyed Qazanfar Vaziri Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi
Other claimants	Claimants of the Deputy: Abu Mohammad Shari'ee • Ahmad ibn Helal Karkhi • Ahmad al-Hassan • Shalmaghani Claimants of the Reappearance personalities: Ahmad al-Hassan
Sects	Zaidiyyah Kaysanites Waqifite Shia Isma'ilism Mohammadieh Bábism Baháʼí Faith
Related concepts	Islamic eschatology Apocalypse Al-Masih ad-Dajjal Waiting Events after Reappearance Waiting, a protest school Reappearance is very close Prohibition of Determine the Time of Reappearance

v t e Bábism
Founder	The Báb
Prominent people	Letters of the Living Mullá Husayn Táhirih Quddús Bahá'u'lláh Subh-i-Azal
Key scripture	Arabic Bayán Persian Bayán Kitabu'l-Asmá' Writings of the Báb
History	Shaykh Ahmad Shaykhism Baháʼí Faith
Resultant groups	Azali - Baháʼí Baháʼí–Azali split
Other topics	Teachings Calendar Pilgrimage

• Mahdism
• Hujjat Allah al-Mahdi
• Imams
• Islamic eschatology
• Islamic terminology
• Twelve Imams