Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:39, 1 February 2004

The Mahdi is a man that is believed by the Muslims to come at the end of the times.

Shia Muslims believe that the Mahdi is alive but in hiding. He is active in everyday life, and can be asked for help and will only reappear to the public at the end of the world. The Mahdi was actually born in 868 and his being alive is a miracle of God, some people believe. One famous story of Muhammad al-Mahdi comes from his father's funeral. As the funeral prayer was about to begin, his uncle, Jafar bin Ali got ready to lead prayers. However, Muhammad al-Mahdi came out and told his Uncle that: “set aside uncle, only an Imam can lead the funeral prayer of an Imam”. Jafar set aside, and the five-year old child led the funeral prayer for his father. Immediately after, he went back into his house and disappeared. Jafar had denied the existance of Muhammad al-Mahdi, and that he in fact claimed the Imamate for himself. For seventy years after his last appearance which is called "Short Absence" (Gheibate Soghra), he used four "nawwab"s (representatives) who maintained contact with the Mahdi, and communicated for him. Upon the death of the last nawwab, Imam Mahdi started his "Great Absence" (Gheibate Kobra) until God orders him to re-appear to the public.

The Mahdi will appear during the last days of the world, and will precede the second coming of Jesus, who Muslims believe to be the messiah. The two are different individuals, but they will work together to fight evil in the world and to cement justice on Earth. Mahdi means "the guided one" and he will reappear from Mecca. He will not defeat the false Messiah, known as Dajjal though, that will be done by Jesus who will slay the pretender. Once Dajjal is defeated, Mahdi will initiate the true islamic government on Earth and science, ethics, justice and wealth will reach its practical-extreme points on earth. According to some traditions, Jesus will get married and have a family, and there are claims that when he demises a grave is dug for him next to Muhammad's in the Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

Some hadith about the Mahdi give the following information believed by Sunnis:

Ali ibn Abu Talib, the decendent of the prophet Muhammad, reported that the Prophet Muhammad said, "Even if only a day remains for Qiyamah to come, yet Allah will surely send a man from my family who will fill this world with such justice and fairness, just as it initially was filled with oppression."

According to other reported sayings of the Prophet Muhammad some of the features of al-Mahdi are:

• He is tall
• He is fair complexioned
• His facial features is similar to those of the Prophet Muhammad
• His character is like that of the Prophet Muhammad
• His seems to be like a fourty year old man at the time of his emergence
• He receives Knowledge from Allah (God)
• He is innocent like prophets

It is said that one of the signs which will indicate the emergence of al-Mahdi will be that in the month of Ramadan prior to his emergence an eclipse of the sun and moon will occur. This has never happened before in history . Only the year 2005 stands out uniquely when a Solar and Lunar eclipse would both occur during the month of Ramadan and will be visible from Middle East and Arabia.

The title has been claimed by various individuals in history, including Muhammad Ahmad who founded a short-lived empire in Sudan in the late 19th century.