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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Principles of the Shi’ite Creed Lesson 29: The Twelfth Imam And The Fourteenth Infallible Figure, The Promised Mahdi, The Imam of The Age The arrival of a universal savior, who will transform the face of the earth and replace a world of oppression and tyranny with one of justice and fairness, has been raised in all the divine religions and their scriptures.

The great Prophet, according to both Shi’ah and Sunni narrations, has said, “When the world is overflowing with tyranny and oppression (and the human society is teeming with savage predators) my eleventh son who bears my name, Muhammad, and my nickname, Abu’l-Qasim, will emerge and put an end to all the iniquities and spread true Islam across the world.” The characteristics of the twelfth Imam, Hadhrat Mahdi, have been described in both Shi’ah and Sunni narrations; here we cite some of them: He descends from the Prophet, ‘Ali, Fatimah and Husayn.

He is the ninth descendant of Imam al-Husayn, the sixth descendant of Imam al-Sadiq, the fourth descendant of Imam al-Ridha and the immediate son of Imam al-Hasan ‘Askari. He has two periods of absence, the first one is short but the other will be very protracted. His second absence will be so prolonged that those who are not steadfastly faithful, will gradually lose faith. His lifetime will be very long.

When he emerges, he will fill the world with justness and fairness and will establish a divine rule throughout the world. These qualifications and many more have been recorded in hundreds of Shi’ah and Sunni narrations lest people be taken in by those who might introduce themselves as Mahdi by trickery and deception and be diverted from the straight path. The twelfth Imam, Mahdi (‘a) was born in 255 or 256 in Samarra.

Until his father’s demise in 260, many people saw him as a child at Imam al-Hasan ‘Askari’s household and noticed the marks of greatness and leadership in him. Imam al-Hasan ‘Askari (‘a) also reminded people of his prospective leadership on any propitious occasion. Since 260, when his father passed away, he was concealed from the sight of people (because the ‘Abbasi rulers intended to kill him and were firmly determined to detain him).