TIPS 3.20

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The Savior Of Islam ……… al-Mahdi

The term Mahdī or al-Mahdi (divinely guided one) has come to denote a messianic figure whose presence will usher in an era of justice and true belief immediately before the end of time. The theme more or less is similar to that of Christianity, complete with seven years of tribulation. The word, Mahdi, does not occur in the Qurʿān but is a strictly honorific title applied by the earliest Muslims to the man they called the Prophet Muhammad and first four caliphs. The meaning of the term was further developed by the Shīʿīs, who applied it to Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafīyah (a son of the caliph ʿAlī) who organized a revolt in 685. A Shīʿī sect later came to revere this “rightly guided one” and deny his death, believing him to be in hiding. Other events in the history of Shi’ism paralleled this example — the Twelfth Imam, Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī, who disappeared in 878, was designated a Mahdī — and so the idea evolved of a messianic deliverer (al-mahdī al-muntaẓar, the awaited Mahdī) who would return to champion the cause of his adherents.

Although the idea of a Mahdī came to play a central part in Shīʿī belief, it enjoyed no such recognition in Sunnī Islam, where trust in the consensus of the learned and faith in the community’s capacity for self-reform made such a figure doctrinally unnecessary. Rather, the concept took hold strictly in popular Sunnī belief during the early centuries of political unrest. Supporting various contenders in their claims was a large and growing body of prophetic traditions (ḥadīth) regarding the Mahdī.

Certain common themes run through these developing traditions: the Mahdī will be of the Prophet’s family, he will bear the Prophet’s name, and his father will bear the Prophet’s father’s name (i.e., he will be called Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh); he will appear when the world has reached its worst state of affairs; his reign will be a time of natural abundance, and he will spread justice, restore the faith, and defeat the enemies of Islam; miraculous signs will accompany his manifestation; and he will be generous and distribute the wealth. On many matters the traditions disagree, allowing a broad range of interpretation. In general, the Sunnī notion of a Mahdī was more that of a restorer of the faith than of an incarnation of Allah as in Shīʿī belief, and the Mahdī would be chosen for office rather than returning from hiding. Important vehicles for the spread of this idea were the writings of various Ṣūfī sages, including the influential Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 1240).

Attesting to the popularity of the Mahdī idea is the abundance of claimants to that title in Islamic history. Muḥammad ʿUbayd Allāh (d. 934), the first Fāṭimid caliph, came to power in North Africa through a manipulation of Mahdist expectations and Shīʿī sentiment. Manifesting himself at Jabal Māssa in the Maghrib — thereafter an expected site of the Mahdī’s appearance — he claimed descent from the Prophet’s daughter Fāṭimah and was alleged to be the brother of the hidden Twelfth Imam. The founder of the Almohad reform movement in the twelfth century, Muḥammad ibn Tūmart (d. 1130), also claimed to be the Mahdī with descent from the Caliph ʿAlī. In particular, the arrival of the thirteenth Islamic century (1785–1883 AD), which had long been expected to be of great messianic importance, increased Mahdist belief. During that period at least three leaders of reform movements in West Africa — Shaykh Usuman dan Fodio of Sokoto, Shaykh Aḥmadu Bari of Masina, and al-ḤājjʿUmar Tal of the Tukolor empire — exploited Mahdist tendencies to launch their jihāds. Expectations of the Mahdī’s arrival from the East attracted waves of West African emigrants to the Nile and facilitated the rise and success of the Sudanese Mahdī Muḥammad Aḥmad (d. 1885).

Several Mahdīs meanwhile arose in Egypt, leading uprisings against French occupation and Egyptian government rule. By the end of the nineteenth century, Mahdist revolts against European imperialism were almost commonplace, occurring for example in India, Algeria, Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria. Common to all such movements was the perceived corruption of Islamic ideals and the nefarious influence of Western political and cultural hegemony. More recently, such thinking inspired the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque of Mecca by a Saudi Arabian Mahdī, and Shīʿī criticism of the American-led “new world order” has also been couched in Mahdist terms. Given the emotive power of messianism and the flexible conditions of the Mahdī’s appearance, claims to that authority may be expected wherever Islamic interests are perceived to be threatened.

Signs Of The Appearance Of Imam al-Mahdi

The signs of the appearance of Imam al-Mahdi are the collection of events that will occur before the coming back of Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi. The signs are classified as uncertain or certain signs. The hadith of Ja’far al-Sadiq mentions that the face of Imam al-Mahdi will be visible on the Moon.

The Certain Signs

According to some Shi’a narrations, there are five certain signs that will occur prior to the reappearance of the twelfth Imam. The hadith of Ja’far al-Sadiq mentions these signs: “there are five signs for our reappearance: the appearance of Sufyani and Yamani, the loud cry in the sky, the murder of a pure soul (Nafs-e-Zakiyyah), and the earth swallowing (a group of people) in the land of Bayda.”

Appearance Of Sufyani

According to some narrations Sufyani, one of the descendants of Abu Sufyan, will arise before Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi’s reappearance. He has been depicted as an outwardly devout man that will take care to remember Allah at all times. But in reality he will be the most wicked man in the world. He will upraise during the Rajab. After he realizes that Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi has reappeared, he will send away an army to fight him. Some books say that the army of Sufyani before getting to the army of Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi will sink into the earth in the Bayda, the area between Mecca and Medina. The appearance of Sufyani is mentioned in both Shi’a and Sunni narrations.

Appearance Of Yamani

In some narrations, the appearance of Yamani is mentioned as one of the certain signs of twelfth Imam’s reappearance. The fifth Shi’a Imam, Muhammad al-Baqir, described Yamani in detail in a hadith:”… among these individuals (Sufyani,Yamani and Khorasani) the Yamani is the closest to guidance, for he calls the people to join the Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi. When he rises, the trading of weapons will be prohibited for every Muslim. When he rises, join him immediately, for his flag is the flag of guidance and prosperity and no Muslim should oppose it. Any one who does so will go to Hell, because the Yamani calls to the right path.” Some sources mention that the Yamani and the Khurasani will be allied against the Sufyani.

The Loud Cry In The Sky

The third certain sign that is mentioned in the above narration is the loud cry in the sky. According to tradition two cries will be heard. In the first of them Gabriel will call the name of Al-Qa’im and his father and say that truth is with Ali and his Shi’a. All people will hear Gabriel’s cry in their own language. In a tradition of Ja’far al-Sadiq that is narrated by Zurarah ibn A’yan, it is said that after this cry Satan will call certainly, so and so and their followers are victorious ones and his meaning is a man from Banu Umayya. He adds that the person who make the first cry says the truth.

The Murder Of Nafse Zakeyyah

A pure soul or Nafse Zakeyyah is one of the descendants of Husayn ibn Ali. He will be murdered and is without any sin or crime. According to many narrations, he is the envoy of Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi to Mecca before his reappearance. When he will arrive to Mecca and say his message, the people of Mecca slay him around the Kaaba.

Earth Sinking In The Land Of Bayda

The sinking of Sufyani’s army into the earth is a certain sign of reappearance of Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi. In addition to above-mentioned hadith of Ja’far Sadiq, in a hadith Ali ibn Abi Talib mentions that Sufyani’s army will sink on the earth.

Uncertain Signs

There are many signs in the tradition whose occurrence is dependent on certain conditions. These signs are uncertain signs. Some of them:

Solar eclipse in middle of the month of Ramadhan and lunar eclipse in the end of that month;
Seeing fire in the sky;
Successive wars and death of many people in the world;
Creation and development of science and knowledge in Qom;
Increasing injustice and corruption in the world;
The coming of fitna (tribulations) and removal of khushoo’ (fearfulness of God, taqwah, reverence, etc.);
The coming of 30 Dajjals, each one of them presuming himself an apostle of God;
A person passing by a grave might say to another: I wish it were my abode;
The loss of honesty, and authority put in the hands of those who do not deserve it;
The loss of knowledge and the prevalence of religious ignorance;
Frequent, sudden, and unexpected deaths;
Increase in pointless killings;
Acceleration of time;
Rejection of Hadith;
The spread of riba (usury, interest), zina (adultery, fornication), and the drinking of alcohol;
Widespread acceptance of music;
Pride and competition in the decoration of mosques;
Women will increase in number and men will decrease in number so much so that fifty women will be looked after by one man;
Abundance of earthquakes;
Frequent occurrences of disgrace, distortion, and defamation;
When people wish to die because of the severe trials and tribulations that they are suffering;
Jews fighting Muslims;
When paying charity becomes a burden;
Nomads will compete in the construction of very tall buildings;
Women will appear naked despite their being dressed;
People will seek knowledge from misguided and straying scholars;
Liars will be believed, honest people disbelieved, and faithful people called traitors;
The death of righteous, knowledgeable people;
The emergence of indecency (obscenity) and enmity among relatives and neighbors;
The rise of idolatry and polytheists in the community;
The Euphrates will uncover a mountain of gold;
The land of the Arabs will return to being a land of rivers and fields;
The Romans will form a majority amongst people;
People will increasingly earn money by unlawful (Haram) ways;
There will be much rain but little vegetation;
Evil people will be expelled from Al-Madinah;
Wild animals will communicate with humans, and humans will communicate with objects;
Lightning and thunder will become more prevalent;
There will be a special greeting for people of distinction;
Trade will become so widespread that a woman will help her husband in business;
No truly honest man will remain and no one will be trusted;
Only the worst people will be left; they will not know any good nor forbid any evil (i.e. No one will say there is no god but Allah);
Nations will call each other to destroy Islam by any and every means;
Islamic knowledge will be passed on, but no one will follow it correctly;
Muslim rulers will come who do not follow the guidance and tradition of the Sunnah. Some of their men will have the hearts of devils in a human body;
Stinginess will become more widespread and honorable people will perish;
A man will obey his wife and disobey his mother, and treat his friend kindly while shunning his father;
Voices will be raised in the mosques;
The leader of a people will be the worst of them;
People will treat a man with respect because they fear the evil he could do;
Much wine will be drunk;
Muslims shall fight against a nation who wear shoes made of hair and with faces like hammered shields, with red complexions and small eyes;
The emergence of the Sufyani within the Syria region;
The truce and joint Roman-Muslim campaign against a common enemy, followed by al-Malhama al-Kubra (Armageddon), a Roman vs. Muslim war;
The Black Standard will come from Khorasan, (see Hadith of black flags) nothing shall turn them back until it is planted in Jerusalem;
Qur’an will be forgotten and no one will recall its verses;
All Islamic knowledge will be lost to the extent that people will not say “Lā ilāha illā llāh” (There is no god but Allah), but instead old people will babble without understanding, “God, God;
People will fornicate in the streets “like donkeys;”
The first trumpet blow will be sounded by Israfil, all that is in heaven and earth will be stunned and die except what God wills, and silence will envelop everything for forty undetermined periods of time;
There will be disagreement concerning succession. Then a man will emerge from Madina. He will hurry to Makkah, and the people of Makkah will come out to him and urge him and try to force him to accept the Bai’aa;
Mecca will be attacked and the Kaaba will be destroyed;
A pleasant breeze will blow from the south that shall cause all believers to die peacefully;
The Moon will split in two, but non-believers will insist it isn’t happening for real;
There are two groups of ummah whom God will free from the fire: The group that invades India (Ghazwa–e–Hind), and the group that will be with Isa bin Maryam.

Mahdi – Qualifications

The Events Of The Uprising Of al-Mahdi

According to Ja’far al-Sadiq, the sixth in the chain of the twelve imams of the Shia, al-Mahdi will appear on a Friday. Muhammad al-Baqir also emphasizes on the day of Ashura being the day of the uprising. His reappearance will be announced from the heavens. Muhammad al-Baqir says regarding the reappearance of Mahdi, “The Mahdi (‘a) will rise up at a time when the helm of affairs would be in the hands of tyrants.” Ibn Tawus, Malahim, p. 77.

The World Before The Advent Of Mahdi

Muhammad al-Baqir said: Mahdi will not rise up except at a time full of fear and dread. Prophet Muhammad said, “After me the caliphate will rule; after the caliphs, the emirs will come, followed by kings, and after them tyrants and oppressors will rule, then the Mahdi will reappear.”

Religious Conditions

Muhammad in one of his hadith, narrates the religious condition of Islam saying that it will be such that Muslims will be Muslims just for namesake, people will not recognize Allah and people will not know what is monotheism. Mosques will loose their importance. More attention will be given to the beautification of the structure devoid of the main aim of providing guidance and enlightenment. The plight of religion will be such that it will be sold at a miserable price. Believers in the morning will turn into infidels by evening. The rulings of the Quran will be denied. Muhammad said: “A period will come to pass for my ummah in which nothing will be left of Islam but its name, and there will be no trace of the Qur’an but its form and outline. The Muslims will be called Muslims in name but of all the people they will be the most alien to Islam.” The Ulama who are supposed to be the protectors of God’s religion and the ones who guide the people will be ready to compromise with the tyrant kings and the self-centered rulers. Muhammad says in this regard,“The jurists (fuqaha) of those days will be the worst jurists under heaven. Sedition and chaos will start from them and will also return to them.”

Social Conditions

The social condition would be such that the powerful will oppress the weaker.

People will be afflicted by immodesty and family insecurities;
The most inhumane behavior will not be considered as indecent and gradually will become a normal act;
Corruption and immorality will no longer be considered as indecent rather it would be counted as something natural and normal;
People will be encouraged to have fewer children due to economic problems and lack of facilities;
The number of women will exceed the number of men.

The hadith of Muhammed says in this regard:

Men will die and women will remain.
The aggressive and dominant powers of the world will cause insecurity to the weaker nations and their rights will be violated;
Horrifying crimes such as executing young boys;
Burning children by dipping them into molten liquids;
Cutting human beings into pieces by axes and iron saws;
Molesting women;
The fetus by slitting their wombs.

The extent of the loss of Islamic values can be predicted by Muhammad’s hadith, “The Day of Resurrection will not commence unless a woman would be openly taken away from her guardian in broad daylight and be molested in public in the middle of the road and no one would condemn and prevent this. The best among the people is he who will say: ‘I wish you would have gone a bit away from the middle of the road and done your work!’” On enquiring about the time of the reappearance of Mahdi, Muhammad al-Baqir replied, “It will be at the time when men would resemble women and women would act like men; at the time when men would suffice themselves with men (i.e. they would do sodomy), and so would women with other women (i.e. they would engage in lesbianism).”

Economic Conditions

With frequent wars;
Corruption;
Bad governance;
The economic condition will globally decline;
Scarce and untimely rains will affect agriculture;
Fruits and crops will be destroyed;
Water bodies may dry up leading to famine;
Due to the lack of agricultural products, a recession in trade will prevail;
Inflation will rise, leading to the inadequacy of income;
The condition of poverty and starvation will be such that people will barter their daughters and wives in exchange for a small amount of food.

Insecurities

People would wish for death upon seeing the brutality of each other;

One of the companions of the prophet narrates a hadith in this regard “Verily, a time shall come upon you when man will wish for his death although he would not be under the pressure of poverty and indigence.”

Slavery will prevail;
Epidemics may occur frequently;
Before the advent of Mahdi ‘Red Death and White Death’ may occur frequently.

Red Death refers to war killings and White death means a plague. The whole of the world would be in despair and disappointment and people would not find any place to take refuge. A hadith of Muhammad al Baqir the fifth Imam of the Twelver Shias indicates the truth about the situation. “You will not see him while waiting for him except at the time when you become like a dead she-goat under the clutches of a fierce animal for which it makes no difference how she was brought. At that time there would be neither a place away from aggression where you could go nor a sanctuary where you could seek refuge.”

War And Bloodshed

Before the reappearance of the Mahdi:

Mass killings will increase;
There will be massive bloodshed;
Usurpation of the property will be regarded as lawful;
The whole of the world will be afflicted by the war in such a way that while it subsides in a certain area, it will ablaze in another area.

According to a hadith of Muhammad, no one would be free from the sedition of the end times. It would start from Syria turning towards Iraq spreading to the whole of the Arabian peninsula. A hadith from [Ali] adds in this regard, “Mahdi will not appear unless one-third of the people are killed; another one-third die, and the remaining one-third survive.” A number of people will die due to contagious diseases caused by chemicals and biological weapons used in the war.

They World After The Advent Of Mahdi

When the Mahdi finally assumes control of the government:

The world will for some time have been in a state of utter turmoil:
Several Governments and political parties will have failed to provide peace;
There will be no security:
There will be no economic improvement in the world;

The Mahdi’s government will be just in such a manner that the living will wish that their dead could come alive to live under a governance of such blessed peace and tranquility. Kufa will be the political capital of Mahdi. He will reside in Al-Sahlah Mosque where all the Prophets have visited in the past. All the believers will visit the city of Kufa. Muhammed al Fadil says in this regard, “The Day of Resurrection will not come to pass unless all the believers gather in Kufah.”

Justice and Equality

Mahdi will fill the earth will justice and peace as it is filled with injustice and oppression. The people of the Torah, Zabur, Injeel, and Qur’an will be judged according to their respective books. All the heavenly books will be presented in their original form.

Economic Condition

The earth will unveil all its hidden treasures and they would be visible to all. The rivers will start flowing due to regular rainfalls, The famine situation will change and the vegetation will flourish. The farms will yield crops for starving people. Even the desert regions like Mecca and Madina will turn into vegetation and there will be palm-groves all over the area. Zakat and khums will be equally distributed amongst the people. In his governance, the rulers will be generous and will bestow the people with abundance. Prominent Shi’a scholar Mohammad Baqer Majlesi in his famous book Bihar al-Anwar interprets a hadith “Come and take those things for the sake of which you used to sever relationships, shed blood and commit sins. He will give wealth such that no one before him had ever done.”

Religious Conditions

The religion of Islam will be accepted wholeheartedly. It will be de-voided of any innovations and irreligiousness. People will live a long life free of disease and ailments. Due to their long life, they will have too many children.

Science And Technology

Mahdi will introduce new aspects of knowledge. It will reach its peak in the era of Mahdi. There will be advancements in the field of communications to such an extent that people will be able to find solutions on their palms. With regard to the development of transportation, Muhammad al-Baqir says in this regard that Mahdi will ride on the clouds with the help of thunder and lightning (i.e., electricity). This hadith interprets that there will be major advancements in the field of transportation. Imam as-Sadiq said:

“Knowledge and learning are twenty-seven letters, and everything that the prophets have brought is only two letters; so, now, the people are unaware (of these letters) except (juz’an) these two. When our Qa’im rises up, he will bring out the other twenty-five letters, spreading and extending them among the people. He will also attach the two letters and a total of twenty-seven letters will be distributed among the people.”

It can be deduced from this hadith that although mankind progresses in terms of knowledge and learning, in the period of Mahdi it will suddenly attain growth and expansion by thirteen times that amount.

Occultation

Occultation refers to the belief of the twelve Shias that Mahdi has disappeared by the permission of Allah and that he will reappear on His command. According to Shi’a teachings, Mahdi has had two occultations: The Minor Occultation, which lasted sixty-nine lunar years, and the Major Occultation, which continues to the present day. During the Minor Occultation, Mahdi communicated with the Shi’a through the four deputies, but during the Major Occultation this communication does not exist and the Shi’a must refer to the scholars for their religious needs. The period of the minor occultation started after the death of his father. Only some trustworthy believers and righteous persons could meet him.

Reasons For Occultation

Because of the social and political restrictions and security threats that the Imams were increasingly facing after the Abbasid Caliphate, he was concealed from the eyes of the enemy just like his great grandfather Muhammed was concealed from the eyes of the Quraysh. Mahdi was sent to occultation so that he does not have the oath of allegiance of the tyrant rulers on his neck. Mahdi himself says in this regard. “Verily each of my ancestors had the oath of allegiance, upon their necks, of their contemporary tyrant rulers. But I will reappear at such a time that I will not have any tyrant’s allegiance upon my neck.” The Shi’a claim that the occultation of the Mahdi is a test of their belief in him.

People Claiming To Be The Mahdi

The following individuals (or their adherents on their behalf) have claimed to be the Mahdi:

The first historical reference to a movement using the name of Mahdi is al-Mukhtar’s rebellion against the Umayyad caliphate in 686 CE, almost 50 years after Muhammad’s death. Al-Mukhtar claimed that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, a son of the fourth caliph, Ali, was the Mahdi and would save the Muslim people from the rule of the Umayyads. Ibn al-Hanifiyyah himself was not actively involved in the rebellion, and when the Umayyads successfully quashed it, they left him undisturbed;
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985 – 13 February 1021), founder of the Druze sect;
Ibn Tumart (1080-1130) founder and religious leader of the Almohad Caliphate in Morocco and Al-andalus;
Muhammad Jaunpuri (1443–1505), founder of the Mahdavi sect;
Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli (1559–1613), from the south of Morocco, was a Qādī and religious scholar who proclaimed himself mahdi and led a revolution (1610–13) against the reigning Saadi dynasty;
The Báb, (`Alí-Muḥammad Shírází), from Iran, founded a new religion in 1844 A.D. (1260 A.H) that came into opposition with the clergy of the time. In 1850 he was executed by firing squad in the town of Tabriz;
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) claimed to be both the Mahdi and the second coming of Jesus in the late nineteenth century in British India and founded the Ahmadiyya religious movement in 1889;
Muhammad bin abd Allah al-Qahtani was proclaimed the Mahdi by his brother-in-law, Juhayman al-Otaibi, who led over 200 militants to seize the Grand Mosque in Mecca in November 1979. The uprising was defeated after a two-week siege in which at least 300 people were killed;
Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja’far al-Sadiq;
Musa al-Kadhim (according to the Waqifite Shi’a);
Muhammad ibn Qasim (al-Alawi);
Yahya ibn Umar;
Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi;
Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (according to Messiah Foundation International);
Wallace Fard Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam;
Seydina Imamou lah Al Mahdi, founder of the Layene community in Dakar Senegal in 1883. He ruled for 40 years and was replaced by Insa Ibn Mariam at the age of 33. Insa ruled for 40 years;
Muhammad Bayazeed Khan Panni (1925-2012).

False Claimants To Al-Mahdi

Even a cursory examination of people throughout history who have claimed to be the Mahdi will reveal that the conditions prior to his return and the appropriate actions, knowledge, and behavior of the real Imam have not been met. However, many people have been deceived, and more will be deceived by false claimants in the future.

People have been falsely claiming to be the Mahdi since the time of the Umayyads up to the present. One of the earliest recorded false Mahdis was Salih bin Tarif, kind of Berghouata, who claimed to have a new Qur’an in the Berber language. He ordered fasting in the month of Rajab instead of the month of Ramadan and ordered ten daily obligatory prayers instead of five, and made various other changes to religion.

Perhaps the most recent claimant, said to be a 36-year-old Saudi man named Sami, mounted the podium at the Haram in Mecca and proclaimed himself to be the Mahdi. His claim is but one of several in Mecca in the past several months. Some of the claimants have been mentally ill, and others have had political motives, but political unrest in the Arab world and the world in general certainly are associated with a rise in numbers of false Mahdis.

The Shi’a Hadith collections include exegesis of Qur’anic verses pertaining to the return of the real Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance). Verse 2:148 (“Hasten to do good works. Wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together; verily Allah has power over all things.”) is said to be describing some of the events at the time of the return. In The Qa’em in the Qur’an by Sayyid Hashim Al-Bahraani, some of the signs and events leading up to the return are described in detail.

Some traditions from Imam Baqir tell believers not to join any group or movement or believe in any claimant until all these signs happen within a one-year period:

A portion of the mosque in Damascus is destroyed. The people of Syria will be divided into three groups, one of which will follow Sufyani.
Apostate Turks march through Damascus and on to Hijaz. Greeks arrive near Tel Aviv in Ramla, and there is fighting in all Arab lands.
A leader of one of the Syrian factions, who will be called Sufyani, will rise with a great army and will focus on killing the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) and their true followers. In Kufa, he will crucify and kill Shi’as.
Sufyani will send soldiers to Medina hunting for the Twelfth Imam and will kill a man there, but the Twelfth Imam will remain unharmed. Part of Sufyani’s army will go to Mecca, where the earth will collapse on them.
The Twelfth Imam will pray at the Haram and will call out a passage that begins, “O people! We ask Allah to help us against those who oppressed us and usurped our rights…” (For the rest, refer to the book The Qa’em in the Qur’an).
313 men and 50 women will join the Imam and his minister there without any prior appointment, from all over the world. He will get an army of ten thousand men.
The Imam will have with him “the covenant, the flag, and the sword of the Prophet.”
A caller will call and announce the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam and will mention him by name and the name of his father and mother, and this call will be heard by everyone on Earth.

Another tradition describing the conditions in the year before the rising of Imam Mahdi is relayed via Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and is associated with verse 2:155 in the Qur’an. (“We shall surely try you with something of fear, and hunger, and loss of wealth, and lives, and fruits; and give glad tidings to the patient ones.”) Imam Sadiq said that there will be general hunger in Syria and hunger in Kufa specific to the enemies of Ahlul Bayt, and they will starve. Syrians (people of Shaam) will be afraid of the rising of the Twelfth Imam.

These traditions usually end with a warning that others will rise with similar claims, but only the true Imam (as) will have the covenant, flag, and sword of the Prophet, and only his call will be heard everywhere on Earth. He will of course be the direct descendant of the Holy Prophet and will be recognized further by his supreme knowledge and piety inherited from his forbearers.

People who are uneducated about true religion and the signs of reappearance, and those who fail to understand the status of Ahlul Bayt, as well as those who panic or see doomsday at every turn with impatience, are more vulnerable to misguidance than those who endure with patience, cling to the rope of guidance, and continually pursue education on these matters. In our era, an undercurrent that the time of the reappearance is drawing near has been growing. In previous eras of unrest, similar currents gained strength and then waned, but some contend this time is different. Shaykh Ibraheem Zakzaky, a prominent Islamic scholar, imprisoned in Nigeria says:

“The time could be very near, or it may be that every man alive today will go to his grave before it comes. The time is not known, and anyone claiming to know the time is a liar, so we must be vigilant and look after ourselves with this understanding.”

What makes these men to be false claimants of al-Mahdi? One of the unmentioned “Certain Signs” of the Mahdi …… he could not die. These men all died. Fully Noted.

Combine what you now have about the Mahdi, Islam’s Savior, along with the 1,500 year theory, and you can now understand why Islam is on a march to control the world.

The only way for a Muslim to gain salvation is to control the world by the time al-Mahdi arrives on or before the 1,500 years arrives ……… which according to Islam’s timeline of approximately 2110 — 85 years from 2025.

Remember, this is what Muslims believe about their salvation, the Mahdi, and the end times.

This is not what I believe, but rather what Islam teaches.

For more information on al-Mahdi and other topics, see SECTION 600: THEOLOGY & ESCHATOLOGY, below.

Section 600: Theology & Eschatology

I know this is a lot to try and keep up with, but remember, you can says send me an email or IM me on Facebook and I’ll do my best to answer any questions you may have.

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