Library Islam Islam: Faith, Practice & History Part I: Beliefs Lesson 18 4. The Hidden Reformer
4. The Hidden Reformer
- Details
- Hits: 2084
4. The Hidden Reformer
We have at least three hundred ahadith from the Prophet and from five Imams about Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.). From these ahadith, it is clear that the Mahdi is the ninth son of Husayn bin ‘Ali; that his father is Hasan al-‘Askari and his mother is Nargis Khatun; that his name is the same as that of the Last Prophet; that the Mahdi would be born during his father's lifetime in Samarra; that his father would die when he would be young; that he will live as long as God wished it; that he will re-appear and the world will be filled with justice and equality at a time when there will be injustice everywhere.
And when he comes —may God hasten his appearance— he will lean against the Ka‘bah and cry out and call for his followers, who will number 313 persons. Prophet ‘Isa (Jesus) will come from the heaven down to the earth, and will pray behind the Mahdi. The Twelfth Imam will enforce the commands of Islam all over the world; and the earth will be like heaven.
There are many ahadith related by the Shi‘a and Sunni scholars on many aspects connected with this great Imam, and these are mentioned in books like BihÄru ’l-AnwÄr of ‘AllÄmah Majlisi (d. 1010 AH) and Muntakhabu ’l-Athar of Shaykh Lutfullah as-Safi.
When we look at the ahadith on this subject, we come to realize the ahadith mentioning al-Mahdi (a.s.) have been narrated most frequently, and that there are few subjects in Islam which have been mentioned in hadith so often. Thus, in this light, anyone who believes in Islam and its Prophet must necessarily declare his belief in the existence of the promised Mahdi who is now in occultation.
Now we shall relate two ahadith on this issue from the famous Sunni book, YanÄbi‘u 'l-Muwaddah:
1. The Prophet said, “Al-Mahdi is a descendent of mine. He will be in concealment, and when he manifests himself, the earth will become filled with justice just as it was previously filled with injustice.”
2. Salman al-Farsi says that he went to the Prophet when Husayn bin ‘Ali was sitting in his lap and the Prophet was kissing his eyes and mouth, and then the Prophet said to Husayn, “You are a chief, son of a chief, and the brother of a chief; you are an Imam, son of an Imam, and the brother of an Imam. You are the Proof (hujjah), son of a proof and the brother of a proof; you will be the father of nine proofs of whom the ninth will be the qÄ'im (one who will establish the divine rule on this earth).”
