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special specifications of imam al-mahdi (as)

in the previous part, i provided extensive traditions from thesix authentic sunni collections concerning the fact that imamal-mahdi (as) who is different than jesus (the messiah) will comeand he is the descendant of the prophet (pbuh&hf) and hisdaughter fatimah (as). the traditions further illuminated thefact that jesus (who was a great prophet) will pray behind al-mahdi(who is a divinely appointed imam). also i gave some of the fatwaof sunni scholars which state that the belief in "the mahdiof the house of the prophet" is one of the islamic tenetsfor "ahlussunnah wal jama'a", and any one who deniesit is either ignorant or an innovator.

in this part however, i would like to talk about some specialattributes of imam al-mahdi which are not acknowledged by mostsunnis.

imam al-mahdi's identification

the shia believe that imam al-mahdi is the only son of imam hasanal-askari (the 11th imam) who was born on the 15th of sha'ban255/869 in samarra, iraq. he became the divinely appointed imamwhen his father was martyred in 260/874. imam al-mahdi went intooccultation (disappearance; leaving among people while he is notidentified) at the same time. he will re-appear when allah wills.more specifically:

on the other hand, most sunnis are not so sure that he has beenborn yet! they believe he will be born some time before his mission.the name of imam al-mahdi is muhammad (which is the same as whatthe shia believe). there is, however, one sunni report which addsthat the name of the father of imam al-mahdi is abdullah. nowlet us see what is the argument of each side:

q1.

some sunnis question the shia that how a five year old boycan become the imam of mankind ?

first, we must question whether or not in the history of religion,the phenomenon of young leaders has a parallel. undoubtedly, thereis. the quran strikes a number of examples which are worthy ofmentioning:

we have the example of jesus (as) who became prophet and spoketo people when he was a baby in the cradle:

"but she pointed to the baby. they said: 'how can we talkto one who is a child in the cradle?' he said: 'i am indeed aservant of allah. he has given me scripture and assigned me aprophet, and he has made me blessed wherever i be, and has enjoinedon me prayer and zakat as long as i live.'" (quran 19:29-31)

thus jesus (as) became prophet and received revelation and bookwhile he was less than two years old!

furthermore, in few verses before, quran mentions the case ofprophet yahya (john), to whom allah (swt) said:

"'o yahya! take hold of the book with might,' and we gavehim the appointment (of prophethood) in his childhood." (quran19:12)

so if a two-year old boy can become a prophet and receives revelationand scripture, then why cannot a five-year old boy become an imam?

the third example is prophet solomon (sulayman) who was appointedby allah the heir of his father, david (dawud), and became theking of his community while he had not reached the age of puberty.

have you ever heard of prodigies? they are kids between the agesof four to 18 that exhibit signs of exceptional skills that areusually found in highly qualified adults only. here are some examplesfrom the modern history:

john stuart mill (1806-73), a 19th-century english philosopherand economist, advocated utilitarian reforms in his many writingsand as member of parliament. a child prodigy, mill had masteredgreek by the age of 7 and studied economics at the age of 13.his works express his social thought with great clarity and thoroughness.(the bettmann archive).
the french thinker, mathematician, and scientist blaise pascal(1623-62) has been credited not only with imaginative and subtlework in geometry and other branches of mathematics, but with profoundlyinfluencing later generations of theologians and philosophers.a prodigy in mathematics, pascal had mastered euclid's elementsby the age of 12. pascal invented and sold the first calculatingmachine (1645).
wolfgang was the greatest musical child prodigy who ever lived.he began composing minuets at the age of 5 and symphonies at 9.
beethoven's own talent was such that at the age of 12 he was alreadyan assistant to the organist christian gottlob neefe, with whomhe studied.
sarah caldwell, born maryville, mo., mar. 6, 1924, is a conductorand producer. a child prodigy in both mathematics and music, beforereaching the age of ten.

while not exhaustive, the list serves the purpose of demonstratingthat this phenomenon occurs naturally among normal human beingsfrom all walks of life. therefore, scientifically speaking, itis quite possible that a child demonstrates abilities that adultscan not. also religiously speaking anything allah desires willhappen no matter how strange. indeed allah (swt) asserts unequivocallyin quran that if he wanted something, all he has to do is to sayto it is: "be! and it will be!".

q2.

every human is mortal. then, how can imam al-mahdi (as) liveso long?

yes, every one but allah is mortal, and in fact, imam al-mahdiwill pass away too. but the difference is the length of life inthis world. the holy quran and the prophetic traditions informus that some people have had/have long life in this world. thusthe possibility of the occurrence of such phenomena is confirmedby the religion of islam.

are you aware that according to the quran (see 29:14), prophetnoah has just been prophet for 950 years? his age should havebeen even more than that because we should add his age beforeprophethood to the above number.

do you agree that prophet jesus (as) is still alive? he is, infact, 1995 years old by now. of course, he is not living on theearth. he is rather in the heavens, and according to the muslim'sbelief, he will come back to the earth, and will pray behind imamal-mahdi (as).

do you agree that al-khidr (as) is still alive? quran mentionsthe story of his meeting with prophet moses (as). he existed beforethe time of the prophet moses (as), and as such, al-khidr (as)is now more than 3000 years old! he lives right here on the earth,but we can not recognize him (fairly similar to the case of imamal-mahdi). he serves allah (swt) as one of his agents.

the hanafi scholar, sibt ibn al-jawzi, in his book "tathkiratal-khawas al-ummah", pp 325-328 gives the names of 22 peoplebelieved by muslims to have lived various ages from 3,000 downto 300 years! no doubt! allah has the ability to give a very longlife to his servants, but he also has assigned a death time foreveryone (including the above mentioned individuals) which canbe very soon or very late.

moreover, scientifically speaking, there are no objections whatsoeverto the extended life span assertion. a group of scientists conducteda series of experiments at the rockefeller institute in new yorkin 1912 on certain "parts" of plants, animals, and humans.these scientists included dr. alex carl, dr. jack lope, and dr.warren lewis and his wife, among others. among the experimentsconducted was one that directly treated the nerves, muscles, hearts,skin, and kidneys of human beings. these organs were not connectedto a human body; they were independent organs that were perhapsdonated for the experiment. it was concluded by the scientiststhat these "parts or organs" can continue to live almostindefinitely as long as they are nourished properly, and as longas they are shielded from external negative interactions likemicrobes and other obstacles that might inhibit the growth ofthese organs; furthermore, the assertion was made that the cellswould continue to grow normally under the above conditions, andthat the growth is directly related to the nourishment provided.again, aging had no effect on these organs, and they grew everyyear without any signs of deterioration. the scientists concludedthat these organs will continue to grow as long as the patienceof the scientists themselves is not exhausted, causing them toabandon the nourishment process.

q3.

where is imam al-mahdi (as) now?

imam al-mahdi disappeared in 260/874 when he became imam. thelast time that he was seen, was in the cellar of his father'shouse in samarra, iraq. that is why it is rumored regarding shiathat they believe al-mahdi is in the cave!!!

some sunni historians ignorantly attributed that shia believeal-mahdi is hiding in the cellar. shia do not believe that imamal-mahdi is in the cave or cellar! he was just seen there forthe last time. he can be anywhere allah wishes. however one thingis clear is that he lives on the earth among people while peopledo not perceive. if that cellar has become famous as "cellarof occultation" (sardab al-ghaybah), it is because it wasmade so by the non-shi'i sources. there is no mention of suchname by the shia scholars. imam al-mahdi (as) may sometimes livein one place and travels around the world, just the same as thecommon belief of muslims about al-khidr (as). (for more detailssee kashf al-ghummah, by abul hasan ali ibn musa al-irbili, v3,p283; kashf al-astar, by mirza husain al-noori, pp 210-216).

second, with regards to the occultation of al-mahdi (as), thequran does not rule out such an occurrence at all. again, theexamples of jesus (as) and al-khidr (as), who are both in occultation,are worthy of mentioning.

q4.

why did imam al-mahdi (as) disappear?

the above question shares the same answer with the following twoquestions:

q4.b.

why does not imam al-mahdi (as) appear now?

q4.c.

when will he (as) come?

there are many reasons behind it. the most important reason ofit will be disclosed when imam al-mahdi (as) will appear. however,i mention few reasons that i know.
1.a very easy answer would be: this is allah's will. his willis based on his infinite wisdom. the appearance of imam al-mahdisolely depends on the decision of allah. he knows best how toact. the question might be as naive as asking: why some peopleare black and some are white? why some are beautiful while othersare not? this is allah's decree.

2. a better answer (which also answers why some are beautifuland others are not, etc.) would be: it is a test. allah couldsend all people to paradise directly. but he didn't, because hewanted to test us. (the test of allah is actually a test thatproves the facts for ourselves as witness, otherwise allah hasthe foreknowledge of everything). only those who are obedientto allah deserve paradise. now, allah is testing us that how wereact in the sinful environment. if somebody preserve himselfin today's world has much more reward than if he does that atthe time when imam al-mahdi appears, because at that time theenvironment will be absolutely healthy and it will be much easierto preserve oneself. this was just one aspect, however. rememberthat only imam al-mahdi will have an opportunity to conquer thewhole world. even our prophet (pbuh&hf) could not do that.so the difficult test was for all era and was not just for us.

3. imam al-mahdi (as) will come as soon as people become readyfor him. people throughout the history were never ready. theykilled prophets, and imams one after the other. however allahcontinued to send prophets till he finally sent prophet muhammadwho brought the last message at the time when the evolution ofthe mind of human being reached its maturity, and thus allah providedthem with the most complete and final religion. after that therewas no need to send a new message. thus he sent guides (imams)who preserved and explained the message during the time of tribulation,for people. they also did that, and we are proud that we havehad imams like imam ja'far al-sadiq (as) who explained all aspectsof jurisprudence, etc. he had a golden opportunity of teachingduring the clashes between the umayad and the abbasids. duringthat short period when the tyrants of both sides were busy witheach other, the imam was teaching jurisprudence and theology inclasses with as much as 5000 students. (no need to mention thatabu hanifa was one of his students). now the time is for action.but unfortunately the majority of people were/are reluctant tofollow the right path, and instead, they opposed and killed theimams of ahlul-bayt, and treated them in the same way that theirancestors treated the prophets. (even prophet muhammad said: "noprophet was ever annoyed as much as me"). the situation willcontinue till such time when people realize that they need a divinelyappointed imam who rule over them since they can't solve theirproblems by themselves. when this happens universally, and whenpeople become frustrated and disappointed from any type of "ism"(way of life, ideology), and when all raise their hands for help,then people are then ready for him. they will not kill him likethey did with the others, nor do they treat him unjustly. theywill rather accept him. of course, this will not happen till peopleof the word undergo much heavier afflictions, world-wide wars,mass destructions by satanic powers (such as dajjal and sufyani)which are not difficult to foresee in a near future.

4. imam al-mahdi will come when all types of ideologies are testedand they fail. at that time people will understand that they donot have any more solution and they will accept the solution ofimam al-mahdi easily. for instance, look at communism which cameto practice in russia 100 years ago. people of the world at thattime thought that this would be the best way of life which guaranteesthe prosperity of mankind. but to their surprise, it crashed recentlyfrom within itself showing that this solution is failed in practice.now some people think that capitalism may solve their problemscompletely. this system is also about to crash, because the wholesystem is based on interest (riba). the situation has reachedto the point that people of the usa have the heaviest debt inthe world. the studies even show that people here will never beable to pay their debt in full. and this was just from economypoint of view. people also suffer from other type of corruption,lust, and lack of spiritualities, etc. such system is subjectto crash sooner or later, one way or another. and when all typeof ways of life showed their deficiency in practice, people will,then, honor the truth.

5. imam al-mahdi (as) will come when he has 313 top virtuoushelpers become available. imam al-mahdi can not govern the worldwith no helper, minister, etc. the communities should generatethese top individuals. in fact, non of our other 11 imams hadsuch number of high rank followers. let me give you two examples:

before his demise, prophet muhammad (pbuh&hf) instructed imamali (as) that if the number of his followers loyal to him (afterthe demise of the prophet) exceeds 40 men, he should use forceto restore his right and take the power, otherwise he should keepsilent since the only remaining pious people would be killed withoutbeing able to help islam. unfortunately, the number of peoplewho remained loyal to imam ali (as) did not reach to this amount,at that crucial moment. another example:
sahl ibn al-hasan al-khurasani who was one of the followers of ahlul-bayt in khurasan (a province in iran) came to medina to meet imamja'far al-sadiq (as). sahl al-khurasani said: "o son of the messengerof allah! you are of the imams of ahlul-bayt. what prevents you fromgetting your right (i.e., the rule) while you find more than onehundred thousand shi'a who are ready to fight for you?" the imam (as)asked him to sit down, and then ordered to turn on the oven that wasin the house. after the oven became very hot and turned red, the imam(as) said: "o khurasani step into the oven and sit in it." thekhurasani said: "my master, o son of the messenger of allah! do notpunish me by fire and make it easy for me." at this time, harun al-makki (ra) entered the room, and after the greetings exchanged, theimam (as) told him to put down his shoes and to sit down inside theoven. he did so and the imam (as) started talking to sahl aboutkhurasan as if nothing has happened. after some time, the imam (as)said: "o khurasani stand up and look inside the oven." sahl lookedinto the oven and saw harun sitting cross-legged inside the fire. thenimam al-sadiq (as) asked harun to come out of oven and he came outhealthy with no burn or injury. at this time, the imam (as) askedsahl: "how many individuals do you know in khurasan like this man?"sahl replied: "by allah, not even one." the imam (as) confirmed hissaying and said, "we do not rise at this time when we do not even havefive helpers (like him). we know better about the proper time." (al-bihar, v47, p123, hadith #172; also in manaqib by ibn shahr ashub)
the traditions state that imam al-mahdi needs 313 followers whichare not only sincere and faithful, but also possess supreme knowledgeand wisdom. imam al-mahdi should also have another 40,000 faithfulfollowers who will fill the secondary positions. these peoplewill not fall out of sky! it is up to us to educate our communitieswhich could help to bring up such people, by first starting fromour family, and friends, then school, then city, and then countryto the extent our ability. we should however start from ourselvesto avoid sin and to acquire more knowledge and wisdom and becomemore obedient to allah.

q5.

the shia state that the mother of imam mahdi (as) was a bondwoman.isn't it shameful that he (as) should be born to a slave-girl?

the answer would be in the form of the following questions: wasn'thagar (as), the prophet abraham's wife, a bondwoman? did she notbear isma'il (ishmael) (as), whom the prophet muhammad (pbuh&hf)is a direct descendant of? if it is acceptable for the prophetmuhammad (pbuh&hf), the seal of prophethood, to be a descendantof isma'il (as) who was born to a bondwoman, then why should thatbe shameful for imam al-mahdi (as)?

the imam al-mahdi's mother was narjis and was a roman captivewho was bought by imam al-askari (as) and then was married tohim. she actually saw the lady fatimah (as) in dream who toldher to travel near the border where the muslim army were fighting,and to become captive, and to be sold to the agent of imam al-askariwho would be waiting for the arrival of the captives to the city.

i need to mention that the birth of al-mahdi (as) was an eventsurrounded with secrecy, because the abbasid authorities knewthat the mahdi who is to bring about a revolution is going tobe the son of the eleventh imam of ahlul-bayt, and were awaitinghis coming to capture him for execution. owing to that, imam hasanal-askari (as), the mahdi's father, could not behave conspicuouslyby revealing who the mother of the mahdi (as) was. notwithstanding,what has created the confusion among the critics of the shia isthe fact that imam al-askari (as) did not refer to her with onename. a variety of names were used in an effort to fool the authorities,and to prevent them from recognizing who she was. that was partand parcel of the plan to protect the mahdi (as). had the father(as) been slightly negligent in protecting his son, it is clearthat al-mahdi (as) would not have survived. the story of birthof imam al-mahdi is like that of the moses. all the women in thehouse of imam al-askari were being regularly inspected by femalespecialists of the abbasid to find out if anyone has become pregnant.in fact, the word "al-askari" became the title of thefather of imam al-mahdi, because he was forced to live insidean army base so that his house could be under full control ofthe authorities. similar to moses's mother, the mahdi's motherdid not have any sign of pregnancy to the last hours. but no doubtthat what allah wishes will certainly take place.

given these adverse conditions and hardships, the birth of theimam (as) was kept in utmost secrecy, that even the followersof imam al-askari (as), did not know of the time of the birthof al-mahdi (as). only very few close associates were notified.the obvious contention was that the birth of imam al-mahdi (as)constituted a direct threat to the continuance of the corruptgovernment to rule. this situation is best understood when werefer back to the first few years of islam when the prophet (pbuh&hf)preached the religion in utmost secrecy among a few loyal followers.the prophet (pbuh&hf) feared for the lives of these believersand, as such, he forbade them from revealing any information thatmight jeopardize the entire mission.

q6.

who was the father of imam al-mahdi (as)?

the shia along with some sunni scholars believe that his fatherwas imam hasan al-askari (d. 260/874). below i have included thename of 31 sunni scholars who confirm this fact. the overwhelmingmajority of prophetic traditions about imam al-mahdi (some ofwhich i mentioned in the previous part) state that the name ofimam al-mahdi is the same as the name of the prophet (i.e., muhammad).however there exists a single sunni report that has an additionalphrase concerning that "his father's name is also similarto that of the prophet's father (i.e., abdullah)." this extraphrase does not exist in all other reports transmitted by theshia and the sunni traditionists who narrated the hadith. moreover,the extra phrase in some shi'i traditions is in the form of: "hisnickname is the same as the prophet's nickname (i.e., abul qasim)"which is correct. in fact, sunnis narrated that:

the messenger of allah said to ali: "an issue will be bornto you whom i have gifted him with my name and my nickname."

sunni references:

the single report which has the additional phrase (that his father'sname is the same as that of the prophet's father) has been probablyfabricated by abdullah ibn al-hasan (muthanna -- the second) ibn(imam) al-hasan (as). abdullah (d. 145/762) had a son named muhammadwho called him "nafs al-zakiyyah" and the mahdi. (seeibn taqtuqa, al-fikr fi al-adab al- sultaniyyah, pp 165-166).abdullah used all his power and wealth to support the revolt ofhis son. abdullah concealed his son several times during the umayadperiod when there was still no danger for him. when he was askedwhy he did this, he said: "what an idea, their time has notcome yet." (murooj al-dhahab, by al-mas'udi, v6, pp 107-108).in the first letter that muhammad wrote to the abbasid caliph,al-mansoor, he wrote: "from muhammad ibn abdillah, the mahdi,..." (tabari, v3, p29, ibn kathir v10, p85, ibn khaldoon,v4, p4).

muhammad ibn abdillah started his claims at the end of the ruleof the umayad caliphs. muhammad became powerful and tried to gainthe support of the last umayad caliph who was marwan ibn muhammad(132/750), but the caliph did not pay attention to him:

abul abbas al-falasti said to marwan: "muhammad ibn abdillahis striving to gain the power for he is claiming to be al-mahdi".marwan replied: "what does he have to do with me? (the mahdi)is not him, nor any of his father's descendants. he will be theson of a slave woman."

sunni references:

when marwan said that al-mahdi (as) is not one of his father'sdescendants, he meant the descendants of imam al-hasan (as), foral-mahdi (as) is the descendant of imam al-husain (as) and isson of a slave woman (umm walad). even marwan was aware of thesetraditions because of which he did not pay attention to muhammadibn abdillah. this shows that the true versions of traditionsfrom the prophet were wide-spread at that time.

there is also a possibility that the fabrication of that extraphrase was done the abbasid caliph, abdullah al-mansoor, who calledhis son the mahdi:

muslim ibn qutaybah said: "mansoor called me and said: muhammadibn abdillah rebelled and he called himself the mahdi. by allahhe is not. i will tell you something else which i have told noone before, and will tell no one after you. by allah my son isnot the mahdi either,... but i did so to make a good future forhim."

sunni references:

also the caliph al-mansoor fabricated the following "tradition":

ibn abbas (allegedly) said: "these four are from us ahlul-bayt:al-saffah, al-mundhir, al-mansoor, and al-mahdi."(recorded by al-hakim).

it is clear that by fabricating the above reports, al-mansoorwas sorting the chain of abbasid caliphs and included his nameand the name of his son, mahdi, among ahlul-bayt! ibn abbas (ra)never uttered such words, and he himself is not among ahlul-bayt,let alone those abbasid tyrants.

from all above it can be seen that the fabrication of the reportwhich includes that extra phrase, could be reconciled on muhammadibn abdillah and/or the abbasid caliph, al-mahdi. this is notthe place to examine the hadith critically, but merely to pointout the historical background of it.

as i mentioned, some sunni scholars rejected that single report.the following are the name of some sunni scholars who wrote thatimam al-mahdi has already been born, and is the only son of imamhasan al-askari (as), and he is alive and in occultation, andwill re-appear to establish the government of justice. with this,they are in agreement with the shia. their names are: 1. kamal al-din ibn talha, in his book "matalib al-su'aalfi manaqib aal al-rasool"

2. sulayman ibn ibrahim al-qundoozi, al-hanafi (known as khawajahkalan), in his book "yanabi' al-mawaddah" who has alsoestablished from important sunni sources that love for ahlul-baytis the only right path and the islamic way of life.

3. abu abdullah muhammad ibn yusuf ganji, al-shafi'i, (d. 658ah), the author of "al-bayan fi akhbar sahib al-zaman"and "kifayah al-talib".

4. shaikh nooruddin ali ibn muhammad ibn sabbagh, al-maliki,from mecca, in his book "al-fusool al-muhimmah", pp310,319.

5. ahmad ibn ibrahim ibn hashim al-baladhuri is one of the greatscholars and traditionists who also asserts the imamat and occultationof the twelfth imam in his book called "al-hadith al-mutasalsil"

6. ibn arabi (muhyiddin muhammad ibn ali ibn muhammad al-arabi),al-hanbali, in his book "al-futuhat al-makkia" (chapter366) discusses a detailed account of the birth of al-mahdi, sonof al-askari (as), and of his re-appearance before the day ofresurrection.

7. ibn khashab (abu muhammad abdullah ibn ahmad ibn ahmad ibnkhashab), has given a detailed account of the twelfth imam inhis biographical book called "tawarikh mawaleed al-a'immawa wafiyatihim"

8. shaikh abdullah sha'rani (d. 905 ah), the celebrated sufi,in his work "yaqaqeet", chapter 66, deals with the birthand the occultation of the twelfth imam. also he extensively talksabout imam al-mahdi (as) in his other book "aqa'id al-akabir".

9. shaikh hasan iraqi who accepts the twelfth imam, praises sha'ranias a pious and a learned ascetic, and narrates the story of sha'rani'smeeting with the twelfth imam.

10. sayyid ali, known as khawas, the teacher of sha'rani, alsoa believer of the twelfth imam, confirms what shaikh hasan assertedabout the meeting of sha'rani with the twelfth imam.

11. nooruddin abdul rahman ibn ahmad, known as mulla jami, inhis book shawahid al-nubuwwah (the evidence of prophethood ofmuhammad) gives an account of the birth of the twelfth imam andhis statement is in complete agreement with the shia records.

12. muhammad ibn mahmood al-bukhari, al-hanafi, known as khawajaparsa in his book "fasl al-khitab" gives the accountof the birth, occultation, and re-appearance of the twelfth imam.

13. shaikh abdul haq dehlawi, in his book "jazb e qulub",narrates the statements of hakima, the daughter of the ninth imamwho was asked by the eleventh imam, imam al-askari, to stay withnarjis, mother of the last imam during the night at the end ofwhich she gave birth to her son.

14. sayyid jamaluddin husaini muhaddith who is the author of thecelebrated book "rawdhat al-ahbab". according to dayarbakri, mulla ali qari, abdul haqq dehlawi, "rawdhat al-ahbab"is one of the reliable sources of reference. the author mentionsthe twelfth imam in the most reverential terms. he states:
the auspicious birth of the pearl of the vicegerencyand the precious form of the mine of guidance took place on the15th of sha'ban in the year of 225 ah at samarra. he has describedthe imam in the following words:

15. al-arif abdul rahman sufi, in his works "mir'at al-asrar"(the mirror of mysteries) gives a detailed account of the birth,and the occultation of the twelfth imam.

16. ali akbar, son of asadullah maududi, in his book mukashifaat(visions), which is a commentary on "nafahat al-uns"by abdurrahman jami, asserts the existence of the mahdi as beingthe pole of guidance after his father imam hasan al-askari, whowas also the pole of guidance and imamat.

17. malik al-ulama dulatabadi who is a well known scholar, inhis work "hidayat al-saada" has confirmed the imamatand the occultation of al-mahdi.

18. nasr ibn ali jahzami nasri, one of the most reliable reportersof traditions whom khateeb al-baghdadi has praised him in hisworks on history, and yusuf ganji al-shafi'i, in his book manaqibhas introduced nasr as one of the masters of al-bukhari and muslim.nasr asserts the existence of:
qa'im aale muhammad (the 'support' among the familyof muhammad), the one among the imams of the house of the prophet(pbuh&hf) whose duty is to establish islam throughout theworld.

19. mulla ali qari, one of the greatest traditionists, in hisfamous book, "mirqat", talks about imam al-mahdi aftermentioning the celebrated statement of the holy prophet (pbuh&hf)that after him there would be twelve successors (caliphs). mullaali states whether they are in power or not makes no differenceas they are the rightful imams.

20. kazi jawad sibti was a christian but later became a muslim.he wrote "baraheen sibtiyya" (proofs forwarded by sibti),which is a refutation of the christian writers. he narrates theprophecy from ashaya (joshua) concerning the coming of a man fromthe chosen branch of the chosen lineage of adam who would be theseat of the spirit. in other words, he will be filled with thespirit of wisdom, sympathy, justice and knowledge and he willbe god fearing. god will bestow on him a sound and glorying reasonand make him firm. his judgment would be based on hearing an externalevidence, but he will have a guided insight about everything andjudge people according to what they really are in their hearts.he further states that his method of judgment is peculiar to himand has not been adopted by any prophet or vice-regent of god.the muslims are unanimous that the mahdi of this description shallbe descendant of fatimah, daughter of the holy prophet (pbuh&hf).particularly the view of the shia seems to be real interpretationof this real prophecy.

21. sibt ibn al-jawzi, al-hanafi, (shams al-din abul mudhaffaryusuf), the author of "tathkirat al-khawas", pp 325-328gives the names of 22 people believed by muslims to have livedvarious ages from 3,000 down to 300 years! he also writes aboutthe twelfth imam as follows

22. abu bakr ahmad ibn hasan al-bayhaqi, the famous shafi'i jurist,has confirmed the birth of the son of al-askari and his beingas the expected mahdi.

23. shaikh sadruddin, known as hamavi, who has written a bookabout the last imam of the house of the prophet (pbuh&hf).he quotes a tradition of the holy prophet (pbuh&hf) as follows
prophet (pbuh&hf) said: "the learnedone among my followers are in the rank of the prophets from amongthe children of israel", also referring to the twelve naqeeb(chiefs)of the children of israel (see quran 5:12). but the lastwali, who is the last of the successors of the prophet (pbuh&hf)and who is the twelfth wali in the chain of awliaa, is al-mahdi,"sahib al-zaman", his appellation and title should notbe used for any one else.

24. shaikh ahmad jami, (as quoted by qundoozi, author of "yanabial- mawaddah", and qadhi noorullah author of "majalisal-mu'mineen") has composed the following poem:

myheart is fine and bright with the love of haydar
next to haydar,al-hasan is our guide and leader.
the dust beneath the shoesof al-husain
is the eyeliner (surmah) for my eyes.
al-abideen,the ornament of all devotees
is like a crown on my head.
al-baqiris the light of both my eyes.
the religion of ja'far is trueand the path of musa is right.
o, loyal, ones: listen to mepraising the king of kings (al-ridha)
who is buried in khurasan.
a particle from the dust of his tomb is the cure of all pains
leaderof men of faith is al-taqi, o dear muslims
if you love al-naqiin preference to all other people,
you have done the thingwhich is proper and right.
al-askari is the light of the eyesof both adam and the world.
where can be found, in the world,
such a chief in command like al-mahdi?

25. shaikh amir ibn basri has composed an eulogy called qasidahtayya. the composition contains theosophical lore, maxims, mysticalpoints, and matter of etiquette. here are some lines quoted:

o'imam al-mahdi! how long will you be hidden?
oblige us, o' ourfather, with your return!
we feel sad the waiting time isprolonged.
for the sake of thy lord, bless us with your audience.
o the pole of being! hasten, o our beloved!
return, sothat we may enjoy the sight.
surely, it is a great a pleasure
fora lover to meet his beloved after a long absence.

26. husain ibn hamdan al-husaini, in his book "al-hidaya"mentions the twelfth imam, the master of time, as the son of theeleventh imam hasan al-askari.

27. the well known biographer, ibn khallakan in his book "wafayatal-a'ayan", has given a brief account of the birth of theimam.

28. ibn al-azraq, as quoted by ibn khallakan, asserts the existenceof the twelfth imam.

29. ibn al-wardi the historian, in his work asserts the birthof the son of al-askari in 255 ah.

30. sayyid mu'min shablanji in his work "noor al-absar"gives the genealogy of imam muhammad al-mahdi (as), the twelfthimam.

after these and many more, those who deny his birth and his presentlife have no proof against those who have accepted this fact,while they still recognize the correctness of traditions aboutimam al-mahdi. the messenger of allah (pbuh&hf) said:

"he who dies not knowing the imam of his era, has died thedeath of al-jahiliyya (days of ignorance; the era before islam)."
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