ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Promised Savior: An inquiry into the imamate of Imam Mahdi (as) from the viewpoint of Muslim thinkers Part 3: Question of Mahdawiyyat and Doubts about it Taftazani's strange opinion A great Sunni theologian, Sa'ad al-Din Tatazani says: Imamite Shias are of the view that Muhammad bin Hasan Askari, being afraid of his enemies, has hidden himself from people's eyes. According to them, like Noah, Luqman and Khidr he also lives a long life.

This is while other Islamic sects deny what Shias claim, for going into hiding for such a long time without being effective at all is something that is unbelievable. Moreover, it is useless to appoint a person with such a long occultation as an imam. Had there been such an imam, he should have been present among people.

Thus it is not true to say – as it is said by some – that Jesus Christ will follow Mahdi in prayer or vice versa.[^1] An Apt Answer If such questions are raised as intellectual concerns looking for answers, they are welcomed. I wish this was the case and we would observe moral values while holding our discussions. Though some Sunni scholars have observed these moral rules others like Ibn Taymiyya in his al-Minhaj has violated them.

In a chapter devoted to Mahdi, he has made use of foul language and impolite terms. To deal with his ill-treatment of Mahdi is of course in need of an independent study. To pay a glance at some instances of such an approach reference has to be made to the examples that were given in the beginning of this work. Being under the influence of Ibn Taymiyya, some contemporary writers have also followed the same disgusting approach while dealing with the question of Mahdi.

Instead of observing moral rules, they accuse Shias of telling lies. It is even more regrettable that some people read these books and make efforts to spread their content. The fact is that those who propagate against Mahdi are somewhat skeptic about the traditions on Mahdi. They are either skeptic about the tradition that specifies the 'twelve imams' or else are refusing to accept the tradition that says that he who does not know the imam of his time dies the death of ignorance.

This model of discussion is good as far as the rituals of debate are concerned. They insist on their opinions rejecting thus the traditions available in their books.