<\/p>\n
Shia Islam: The Awaited Imam. All Muslims believe in the prophecy that a reformer will come to usher in an age of global justice. This doctrine cannot be denied by anyone with an understanding of the Qur\u2019an and the traditions of the Prophet (s.a.w.a).<\/p>\n
Muslim traditionists are unanimous in saying that the Prophet foretold the coming of a global reformer to fill the world with justice, put an end to hostilities and implement the true teachings of Islam on a worldwide scale. Through the advent of this awaited Imam, God fulfils His promise to bring about justice in the world. To that effect, we highlight the following two verses of the Qur\u2019an as the basis for this belief:<\/p>\n
\u2018Allah 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. And whoever is ungrateful after that \u2013 it is they who are the transgressors.\u2019 (Q24:55)<\/p>\n
\u2018Certainly We wrote in the Psalms, after the Torah: \u201cIndeed My righteous servants shall inherit the earth.\u201d\u2019 (Q21:105)<\/p>\n
Muslims believe that the appearance of this awaited Imam will prepare the way for the establishment of a global Islamic government and the restoration of the dignity of the Muslim world. The only point of difference between Muslims is that while the Sh\u012b\u02bfa say the awaited Imam is the son of their Eleventh Imam, al-\u1e24asan al-\u02bfAskar\u012b, born on the 15th of Sha\u2019ban 255\/869. According to the Sh\u012b\u02bfa, the Imam was raised by his father for six years. During this time, Imam \u1e24asan al-\u02bfAskar\u012b granted many people the honour of seeing his son and said that he would succeed him. The birth of Imam al-Mahd\u012b was discussed by Imam al-H\u0101d\u012b and \u02bfAbd al-\u02bfA\u1e93\u012bm \u1e24asan\u012b.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, most Sunn\u012b scholars say the Awaited Imam will belong to the progeny of F\u0101\u1e6dima (a.s) but that he has not yet been born. Some Sunn\u012b a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth have identified the Imam\u2019s father as \u02bfAbd All\u0101h. However, there are a minority of Sunn\u012b scholars who have acknowledged the Awaited Imam\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n
Some Sunn\u012b scholars have authored books about Imam al-Mahd\u012b. Some of them are as follows:<\/p>\n
\u1e62if\u0101t al-Mahd\u012b, by Ab\u016b Na\u02bf\u012bm al-I\u1e63fah\u0101n\u012b<\/p>\n
al-Bay\u0101n f\u012b Akhb\u0101r \u1e62a\u1e25ib al-Zam\u0101n, by al-Kunj\u012b al-Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b<\/p>\n
al-Burh\u0101n f\u012b \u02bfAl\u0101m\u0101t Mahd\u012b \u0100khar al-Zam\u0101n, by Mull\u0101 \u02bfAl\u012b Naq\u012b<\/p>\n
al-\u02bfUrf al-Ward\u012b f\u012b Akhb\u0101r al-Mahd\u012b, by Jal\u0101l al-Din al-Suy\u016b\u1e6d\u012b<\/p>\n
al-Qawl al-Mukhta\u1e63ar f\u012b \u02bfAl\u0101m\u0101t al-Mahd\u012b al-Munta\u1e93ar, by Ibn Hajr<\/p>\n
\u02bfAqd al-Darar f\u012b Akhb\u0101r al-Im\u0101m al-Munta\u1e93ar, by Shaykh Jam\u0101l al-D\u012bn Dimishq\u012b<\/p>\n
Sh\u012b\u02bfa scholars have authored more detailed books about Imam al-Mahd\u012b, his birth and his Imamate. We mention only two of the most important ones here:<\/p>\n
Muntakhab al-\u0100th\u0101r f\u012b Akhb\u0101r al-Im\u0101m al-Th\u0101ni \u02bfAshar, by Grand Ayatollah Lu\u1e6df All\u0101h \u1e62af\u012b Gulpayg\u0101n\u012b.<\/p>\n
al-Mahd\u012b \u02bfInd Ahl al-Sunna, a collection of quotes from more than 40 Sunn\u012b scholars about the birth of Imam al-Mahd\u012b printed in two volumes in Beirut.<\/p>\n
No Sunn\u012b scholar has entirely rejected the traditions about Imam al-Mahd\u012b because they are so many and nobody can call their authenticity into question. Ibn Khald\u016bn (d. 808\/1406) is the only major figure to cast doubt on the issue of Imam al-Mahd\u012b because of his lack of access to Islamic sources. A Moroccan scholar, Mu\u1e25ammad \u1e62idd\u012bq al-Maghrib\u012b, has written a book criticizing Ibn Khald\u016bn\u2019s views on the issue of the Mahd\u012b.<\/p>\n
In 1400\/1979, extremist Wahhabis led by Juhaym\u0101n al-\u02bfUtayb\u012b staged an armed takeover of the Holy Sanctuary of Mecca. He and his armed men took control of the sanctuary and introduced a man with them as Imam al-Mahd\u012b, calling on worshippers to pay allegiance to him. The occupation and violence lasted for several days until the Saudi government intervened by sending military troops backed by artillery fire and tanks. The insurgents were killed or arrested. In the aftermath of this takeover, Saudi preachers began to deny the existence of Imam al-Mahd\u012b. Some media supported them in this regard, but some knowledgeable Saudi scholars of traditions insisted that belief in Imam al-Mahd\u012b was a pillar of Sunn\u012bsm. They even wrote books on the topic, amongst which Bayn Yadayy al-S\u0101\u02bfa is the best one.<\/p>\n
In this book, we read: \u2018The doctrine of the Mahd\u012b is not only mentioned in one or two a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth, or in one or two narrations that can be easily ignored. These narrations have been referred to in different books. There are 80 of them and confirmed by hundreds of scholars.\u2019<\/p>\n
So why should we reject these narrations? Are they all unfounded? If that is true, one can easily call into question all the other a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth narrated from the Prophet. I don\u2019t see any disagreement about the advent of Imam al-Mahd\u012b or the world\u2019s need for such a reformer. The difference between Muslims is only over one point: Namely is he already born or will he be born later on? To that effect, many people have claimed to the Mahd\u012b, but their claims could not be taken seriously.<\/p>\n
How can anyone reject the a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth pertaining to Imam al-Mahd\u012b while some of them have been mentioned in the \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 collections of Bukh\u0101r\u012b and Muslim? Muslim quotes J\u0101bir b. \u02bfAbd All\u0101h as saying: \u2018I heard the Prophet say: \u201cA group of my community will wage jih\u0101d on the right path and will remain victorious until the Day of Judgment. Jesus son of Mary will descend and the leader of my community will ask him to lead the world and he will reply: \u2018Some of you must lead some others and this is a characteristic of this community.\u2019 (Muslim, \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25, 1\/59, Cairo edition).<\/p>\n
Other traditions make clear that this event will occur after the appearance of Imam al-Mahd\u012b and that Jesus will accept the leadership of Imam al-Mahd\u012b.<\/p>\n
In another \u1e25ad\u012bth, the Prophet is quoted as saying: \u2018What will your condition be when Jesus son of Mary descends and your Imam is amongst you?\u2019 (Bukh\u0101r\u012b, \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25, tradition no. 3449). This is another distinguishing feature of Imam al-Mahd\u012b; a messenger of God accepts him as his leader!<\/p>\n
A full discussion of the birth, occultation, longevity and philosophy of Imam al-Mahd\u012b is beyond the scope of the present volume. However, many reliable books have been authored since the time of Shaykh al-\u1e62ad\u016bq.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shia Islam: The Awaited Imam Shia Islam: The Awaited Imam. All Muslims believe in the prophecy that a reformer will come to usher in an age of global justice. This doctrine cannot be denied by anyone with an understanding of the Qur\u2019an and the traditions of the Prophet (s.a.w.a). Muslim traditionists are unanimous in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19863],"tags":[19763,19692,20154,19669,20155],"class_list":["post-11718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shia-beliefs","tag-ayatollah-sobhani","tag-shia-islam","tag-shia-islam-history-and-doctrines","tag-shia-studies-world-assembly","tag-the-awaited-imam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}