AL-IMAMU ‘L-MAHDI الامام المهدي
Lit. “The well-guided Leader.” Umm Salmah relates that the Prophet said, “Strife and disputations will be created among men when a Khalifah shall die and this shall be in the last days. And a man of the people of al-Madinah will come forth and will flee from al-Madinah to Makkah, and the men of Makkah will come and try to make him Imam by flattery, but he will not be pleased. Then men shall acknowledge him as Imam. Then an army from Syria shall advance against him and this army shall be engulphed in an earthquake at Bada’ab, between Makkah and al-Madinah. Then when the people shall see this the Abdai, i.e. the Substitutes or good people [ABDAI.] will come from Syria, and a multitude from al-Iraq. And after that a man shall be born of the Quraish, of the tribe of Kalb, who will also send an army against him i.e. al-Mahdi; but he shall be victorious. Then he will rule people according to the laws of Muhammad and will give strength to Islam upon the earth, and he will remain on the earth seven years. Then he will die, and Muslims will say prayers in his behalf.”
The Shi’ahs believe that al-Mahdi has already come and is still concealed in some part of the earth. For they suppose him to be the last of the twelve Imams, named Muhammad ‘Abdu ‘l-Qasim [SHI’AHS.], who will again appear in the last days. The Shi’ahs say that Muhammad said, “O ye people, I am the Prophet and ‘Ali is my heir, and from us will descend al-Mahdi, the seal of the Imams, who will take vengeance on the wicked.” (Harjatu’l Quiub, p. 342.)
Lit. “The well-guided Leader.” Umm Salmah relates that the Prophet said, “Strife and disputations will be created among men when a Khalifah shall die and this shall be in the last days. And a man of the people of al-Madinah will come forth and will flee from al-Madinah to Makkah, and the men of Makkah will come and try to make him Imam by flattery, but he will not be pleased. Then men shall acknowledge him as Imam. Then an army from Syria shall advance against him and this army shall be engulphed in an earthquake at Bada’ab, between Makkah and al-Madinah. Then when the people shall see this the Abdai, i.e. the Substitutes or good people [ABDAI.] will come from Syria, and a multitude from al-Iraq. And after that a man shall be born of the Quraish, of the tribe of Kalb, who will also send an army against him i.e. al-Mahdi; but he shall be victorious. Then he will rule people according to the laws of Muhammad and will give strength to Islam upon the earth, and he will remain on the earth seven years. Then he will die, and Muslims will say prayers in his behalf.”
The Shi’ahs believe that al-Mahdi has already come and is still concealed in some part of the earth. For they suppose him to be the last of the twelve Imams, named Muhammad ‘Abdu ‘l-Qasim [SHI’AHS.], who will again appear in the last days. The Shi’ahs say that Muhammad said, “O ye people, I am the Prophet and ‘Ali is my heir, and from us will descend al-Mahdi, the seal of the Imams, who will take vengeance on the wicked.” (Harjatu’l Quiub, p. 342.)
Based on Hughes, Dictionary of Islam
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