Muhammad al-Mahdī

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The Jamkaran Mosque , where the Mahdi is expected to return.

Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi ( Arabic محمد بن الحسن المهدي, DMG Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ) is, according to the doctrine of the Twelve Shia, the twelfth imam who lives in secrecy and whose return is expected for the end times . The Twelve Shiites consider him the Mahdi (literal translation: “the rightly guided one”) in the sense of the Savior as a messianic figure. The concept of the expected imam Muhammad al-Mahdi is a central element of belief of the Twelve Shia, which the Sunnis reject as heresy in the form of the hidden twelfth imam .

Origin of the Twelve Shiite Mahdī faith

The Mahdi belief gained a foothold very early in the Shia . So in the year 685 in Kufa al-Muchtār ibn Abī ʿUbaid proclaimed the Alid Muhammad ibn al-Hanafīya to be Mahdi and carried out a large-scale uprising against the Meccan caliph ʿAbdallāh ibn az-Zubair in his name . Later, the Shiites of the Emperor believed that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafīya had been raptured and would soon return. This model of the rapture, absence, and expected return of the Mahdī was later adopted by other branches of the Shia and repeatedly transferred to different people throughout history.

When the eleventh Imam of the Imamites , Hasan al-ʿAskarī , died in 874, a period of uncertainty broke out among his followers because of great differences of opinion on the question of succession. The Imamite community split into numerous groups. One of these groups was of the opinion that Hasan al-arAskarī had left a young son as his successor, who, however, had been raptured in the same year for protection from enemies. This view became the official teaching of the Twelve Shiites. Most of the sources on which this doctrine is based state that this son was born on a 15th Shabān , but the information about the year of birth varies. According to some it was the year 255 of the Hijra (869 AD), according to others 258 (872 AD) or 261 (875 AD).

Concealment and Return of the Imam

According to the belief of the Imamites, Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdī lives on in secret. For four generations he is said to have kept in contact with the community through ambassadors - this time the Imamites call the "little absence" ( al-ġaiba aṣ-ṣuġrā ). In the year 941 of the Christian calendar he then withdrew completely. Since then, the period of “great absence” ( al-ġaiba al-kubrā ) has continued.

A central component of Shiite doctrine is also the belief in the return of the Hidden Imam together with ʿĪsā ibn Maryam ( Jesus of Nazareth ) as the savior (Mahdi) and innovator of humanity, who should complete Muhammad's work. Various people have claimed to be the twelfth imam or his second coming in the past. Particularly noteworthy is the bab .

According to the state documentation center of the Islamic Revolution, signs of the imminent return are “world poverty, the spread of diseases such as AIDS and the accumulation of natural disasters such as earthquakes ”. The Mahdi should a dried-up fountain in Dschamkaran at Qom in Iran emerge and then a large-scale structural complexity along Avenue proceed to compete to his rule. The expected event attracts many tourists and pilgrims; Jamkaran is said to be more important as a place of pilgrimage than Mashhad .

Nickname

Since his followers wanted to avoid his existence being known, they did not pronounce his first name Muhammad and used pseudonyms such as:

  • al-Mahdī ("the guided")
  • Abū l-Qāsim , ("father of al-Qāsim"), Kunya , whom he shared with the Prophet Mohammed .
  • Sāhib az-zamān ("master of time")
  • Sāhib hādhā al-amr ("master of this command")
  • Sāhib ad-dār ("master of the house")
  • Sāhib as-saif ("master of the sword")
  • Imām az-zamān ("keeper of time")
  • Imām al-ʿasr ("Imam of Time")
  • al-Huddja min āl Muhammad ("Evidence from the family of Muhammad")
  • al-Qā'im ("the rising one")
  • al-Ghā'ib ("the one who hides ")

Role in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran

The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1979 even names the twelfth imam as the actual head of state . According to this view, the supreme legal scholar elected from the circle of religious scholars rules in place of the twelfth Imam until his return from secrecy. Accordingly, the vicarious rule of the supreme legal scholar becomes Persian ولايت فقيه, Called DMG Welāyat-e Faqīh . The concept goes back essentially to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and forms the legitimation for the theocratic elements in the constitution.

Quotes

"In the Islamic Republic of Iran, during the absence of the raptured 12th Imam - may God that he comes as soon as possible - the leadership mandate (Imamat) and leadership authority (welayat-e-amr) in the affairs of the Islamic community is available to the just, God-fearing, brave legal scholars who are informed about the requirements of the time, capable of leadership to [...] "

- Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979

“When that day [of peace] comes, the last promise of all religions will be fulfilled through the appearance of a perfect human being who is the heir of all prophets and pious men. […] Oh God Almighty, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your final triumph [by the emergence] of what has been foretold, the perfect and pure human being who will fill this world with justice and peace. "

- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

literature

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Cf. Madelung: Art. "Mahdī" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. V, p. 1231a.
  2. ↑ See Heinz Halm: The Schia . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt, 1988. p. 25.
  3. ↑ Cf. Der Islam I - From the origin to the beginnings of the Ottoman Empire , Fischer-Weltgeschichte 1968, p. 344. 873 is given as the year of death.
  4. ↑ See Haar: "Muḥammad al-Ḳāʾim" in EI² Vol. VII, p. 443a.
  5. ↑ welt.de of May 26, 2010
  6. ↑ A light enveloped me until the end of the speech - The dangerous messiah complex of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mahdī, Muhammad al-
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mahdī, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al- (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION hidden twelfth Imam of the Imamite Shiites
DATE OF BIRTH on July 29, 869
DATE OF DEATH 9th century or 10th century