The Noble Qur’an in several chapters has announced this and...

The Noble Qur’an in several chapters has announced this and hundreds of prophetic traditions have related the world’s adoption of Islam and the government of justice and establishment of complete security in the land after the reappearance of the promised Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return), who is from the descendents of ‘Ali and Fatimah (peace be upon her) and shares the name and agnomen ( kunya ) of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

Belief in the appearance of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return) with the mentioned qualities is something which has been mentioned in Islam’s primary texts. According to consecutively-narrated ( mutawatir ) traditions, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) has given news of this blessed event and requested his ‘ ummat (community) to be in wait of that consequential day.

Though the issue of appearance is deduced from the general tidings pertaining to Islam’s becoming supreme in the world and truth overcoming falsehood, this does not mean that the issue of appearance is solely a concept deduced from the purport of traditions, since the text and very words of narrations point to it independently, and most of the faithful rely one these very texts that explicitly point to the appearance of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return) and its signs.

Once it is known that the foundation of the existence of this belief is the general tidings and texts of traditions, it can be said that historical conditions and events that occurred after the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had no role in its coming into existence. This is because the origin of this idea is the era of prophecy and the traditions related to it exceed one thousand traditions, which are narrated in books traditions, commentary, and many other books.

Prominent Sunni scholars have also written independent books about it, and books written more than twelve centuries ago by the greatest experts and researches of Islamic sciences clearly indicate that the person of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) gave tidings about the issue of the appearance of the Promised Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return), and his companions, the followers ( tabi`in ) of the companions, and after them other generations of people have narrated them.

[^1]: Surah al-Baqara (2), Verse 124: “When his Lord tried Ibrahim by words, then he completed them.” Previous…