MUHAMMMAD AL MAHDI:

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī (Arabic: محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is trusted by the Twelver Shia to be the remainder of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will arise toward the finish of time to lay out harmony and equity and recover Islam.

Hasan al-Askari, the 11th Imam, kicked the bucket in 260 AH (873-874 CE), perhaps harmed by the Abbasids. Following his passing, his fundamental delegate, Uthman ibn Sa'id, guaranteed that the 11th Imam had a baby child named Muhammad, who was kept stowed away from general society out of dread of Abbasid oppression. Uthman likewise professed to address Muhammad, who had entered a condition of occultation. Other nearby agents of al-Askari to a great extent upheld these declarations, while the Shia people group divided into a few factions over al-Askari's progression. This large number of groups, be that as it may, are said to have vanished following years and years with the exception of the Twelvers, who acknowledge the child of al-Askari as the twelfth and last Imam in occultation.

Uthman was trailed by three additional specialists, aggregately known as the Four Agents, who were viewed by the Twelver people group as delegates of Muhammad al-Mahdi. This period, later named the Minor Occultation, finished after around seventy years with the passing of the fourth specialist, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri (d. 940-941). He is said to have gotten the last letter of Muhammad al-Mahdi right away before his passing. The letter anticipated the demise of Abu al-Hasan in six days and reported the start of the total occultation, later called the Significant Occultation, which proceeds right up 'til now. The letter, credited to Muhammad al-Mahdi, added that the total occultation would go on until God conceded him consent to show himself again in when the earth would be loaded up with oppression.

The Twelver hypothesis of occultation solidified in the principal half of the fourth century AH (10th century CE) in view of judicious and literary contentions. This hypothesis, for example, presents that the existence of Muhammad al-Mahdi has been wonderfully delayed, contending that the earth can't be drained of the Imam as the most elevated evidence of God. Without the Secret Imam, the authority vacuum in the Twelver people group was bit by bit filled by faqīh "law specialists". It is prominently held that the Secret Imam every so often appears to the devout. The records of these experiences are various and inescapable among the Twelvers.

Titles

See too: hujja

Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Askari, the eschatological deliverer in Twelver Islam, is known by many titles, including al-Mahdi (lit. 'the appropriately directed'), al-Qa'im (lit. 'he who will rise'), al-Montazar (lit. 'the anticipated'), Saheb al-Zaman (lit. 'master of the age'), al-Gha'ib (lit. 'the covered up'), al-Hojja/Hojjat Allah (lit. 'the evidence [of God]'), Sahib al-Amr (lit. 'master of the reason'), Sahib al-Haqq (lit. 'ruler of reality'), Baqiyat Allah (lit. 'the remainder of God').[1][2]

The title al-Qa'im implies the ascent against tyranny,[3] however a wahid (lit. 'alone') hadith from the 6th Shia Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq, associates this title to the ascent of al-Qa'im after his passing. As a wahid hadith, this report isn't seen as solid by specialists, composes the Shia Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (d. 1699), particularly in light of the fact that it goes against the Twelver conviction that the earth can't be drained of Imam whenever, as the hujjat Allah (lit. 'confirmation of God') on the earth. Majlesi likewise recommends that passing may be implied metaphorically in this hadith, alluding to the failed to remember memory of al-Qa'im after his long occultation.[4]

Abdulaziz Sachedina noticed that the titles al-Qa'im and Sahib al-Amr have to a greater degree a political accentuation as opposed to the eschatological title al-Mahdi.[5] The title al-Hujja, then again, features the strict capability of the savior.[6] For sure, every Shia Imam is seen as hujjat Allah, the (most elevated) verification of God, through whom the internal implications of the Quran become open after the demise of the prophet.[7] This title is more articulated for the twelfth Imam, notwithstanding, conceivably in light of a connected hadith from the 10th Imam, Ali al-Hadi.[7]

Authentic foundation

Until their demises, the 10th and eleventh Shia Imams (Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, separately) were held under close observation in the post town of Samarra by the Abbasids,[8][9] who are in many cases mindful in Shia hotspots for harming the two Imams.[10] The two Imams saw the weakening of the Abbasid caliphate,[11] as the royal authority quickly changed under the control of the Turks,[12] especially after al-Mutawakkil (Walk 822 - 11 December 861 CE).[13]

Contemporary to the 10th Imam, Caliph al-Mutawakkil savagely indicted the Shia,[14][15] somewhat due to the restored Zaydi opposition.[16] The prohibitive strategies of al-Mutawakkil towards the 10th Imam were subsequently taken on by his child, al-Mu'tamid, who is accounted for to have held the 11th Imam detained at home with no visitors.[17] All things considered, al-Askari is known to have predominantly spoken with his devotees through an organization of representatives.[15][18] Among them was Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi,[19] who is said to have camouflaged himself as a merchant of cooking fat to stay away from the Abbasid specialists, thus his epithet al-Samman.[20]

Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai recommends that these limitations were put on al-Askari in light of the fact that the caliphate had come to be aware of customs among the Shia world class, anticipating that the 11th Imam would father the eschatological Mahdi.[21]

Progression to al-Askari

Hasan al-Askari passed on in 260 (873-874) without an undeniable heir.[22][23] The demise of the 11th Imam isolated his devotees into a few groups and made far reaching disarray (hayra),[24][25] especially in Iraq.[26] Following the passing of al-Askari,[27] his primary specialist, Uthman ibn Sa'id,[28] guaranteed that the Imam had a newborn child, named Muhammad,[29][27] who was kept stowed away from general society out of dread of Abbasid persecution.[25] As the nearest partner of al-Askari,[30] this statement by Uthman was to a great extent upheld by different delegates of al-Askari.[29][31] The people who acknowledged the imamate of this Muhammad later framed the Twelvers.[32]

Some others held that the imamate stopped with al-Askari and the Waqifites kept up with that the 11th Imam would later reappear as the eschatological Mahdi. Others presumed that Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi, a departed sibling of al-Askari, probably been the genuine Imam. However others acknowledged the imamate of Ja'far al-Zaki, one more sibling of al-Askari.[33] Some accepted that the twelfth Imam would be brought into the world toward the finish of time to a relative of al-Askari,[34] and some left the Shia community.[35]

This large number of orders, notwithstanding, are said to have vanished inside 100 years aside from the gathering that proceeded to turn into the Twelver Shia.[32][23]

Birth and early existence of al-Mahdi

Al-Askari Place of worship in Samarra, Iraq, 2017. This is where the 10th and eleventh of the Twelve Imams, Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, are covered.

At the point when al-Askari passed on without leaving a conspicuous beneficiary, the practices and expectations credited to before Imams were to a great extent the reason for the presence of the child of al-Askari as the twelfth Imam;[36] see Twelver regulation of occultation.

With respect to the subtleties of his introduction to the world, Twelver sources report that the child of al-Askari was brought into the world around 255 (868).[37][38] He was named Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, a similar name and kunya as the Islamic prophet,[37][39] however he is all the more ordinarily known as Muhammad al-Mahdi (lit. 'the properly guided').[40] His birthdate is given differently,[27] yet most sources appear to settle on 15 Sha'ban,[36] which is commended by the Shia for this occasion.[41] The Twelver records portray that, with the exception of a couple of believed partners, the presence of al-Mahdi was kept mystery since the Abbasids looked to take out the child of al-Askari, whom persevering reports depicted as a savior.[41][42] Hussain composes that the baby probably been shipped off Medina, where al-Askari's mom lived.[43]

The introduction of al-Mahdi is much of the time contrasted in Twelver sources with the introduction of Moses in the Quran, who was supernaturally saved from the pharaoh.[44] As a youngster Imam, al-Mahdi is likewise frequently contrasted with Jesus, since both are seen as the evidence of God (hujja) and both talked with the backing of a grown-up while still a child.[45]

Al-Mahdi is said to have been brought into the world to Narjis, a slave-young lady whose name is given by different sources as Sawsan, Rayhana, Sayqal,[46][37][47] and Maryam.[48][41] The initial three are names of blossoms and were reasonable given to her by her proprietor with regards to the act of the day.[48][41] Her starting point is recorded as the Byzantine Domain or Nubia,[41] and a few records express that she was purchased fortunately by a specialist of al-Hadi, who perceived by perceptiveness in her the future mother of al-Mahdi.[41][47] Along these lines, the itemized records of Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi and Shaykh Tusi portray Narjis as a caught great girl of the Byzantine head and a devout lady who found out about her future association with al-Askari in a dream,[49][37] however these records have been depicted as hagiographic.[41][50] Perhaps the right record is given by al-Mufid,[36] who composes that Narjis was a slave young lady brought up in the place of Hakima Khatun, girl of Muhammad al-Jawad (the 10th Imam) and fatherly auntie of al-Askari.[44][36]

Abbasid response

The demise of al-Askari in 260 (873-874) followed a concise sickness, during which the Abbasid al-Mu'tamid sent his PCPs and workers to go to the Imam.[19] Thinking about that al-Askari didn't have an undeniable heir,[39][25] it has been proposed that the caliph expected to intently screen al-Askari from inside his residence.[39][51][41][29] After the passing of al-Askari, there are reports that his home was looked and the ladies were inspected for pregnancy,[29][51] potentially in the desire for finding his heir.[29] A female worker of al-Askari