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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Survey Into the Lives of the Infallible Imams Chapter 8, Part 2: The Promised [Maw‘ud] al-Mahdi *** “Allah hath promised those of you who have faith and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them succeed (the present rulers) on the earth, just as He made those who were before them succeed (others), and He will surely establish for them their religion which He hath approved for them, and will give them in exchange security after their fear.

They serve Me. They ascribe no thing as partner unto Me. And those who disbelieve henceforth, they are the miscreants.”*** 1 In continuation to the discussion, we had regarding the holy being of Hujjat ibn al-Hassan; we shall also dedicate this meeting to the discussion of the same issue. Our discussion will be based on historical facts.

Those who have no information in this regard, especially the people who do not believe in the fundamental principles of the Shi‘ah ideology, think that belief in Mahdism dates back to the middle of the third century AH, which is the time of the Imam’s birth. I want to tell you about how and where this topic began and whether it has been specifically explained or not.

Mahdism in the Qur’an and in the sayings of prophets Firstly, this matter has been spoken about in the Holy Qur’an in the most explicit way in the form of general glad tidings. Whoever studies the Holy Qur’an will see that in numerous verses the Holy Qur’an has mentioned that the outcome that is derived from the holy being of the Imam of the Time is something that is definitely going to take place in the future.

One such ayah is, “Verily, we have written in the Scripture, after the Reminder: ‘Indeed My righteous servants shall inherit the earth’.”2 Allah says in the Qur’an that We have in the past (after dhikr where they have said it means) written in the Psalms, after announcing it in the Torah [Zabur] that, “Indeed My righteous servants shall inherit the earth.” 3 This does not pertain to a specific area or city.

Thought is as extensive as the earth: the earth will not always be in the hands of the powerful oppressive tyrants. This is a temporary matter. In the future, the pious will be the leaders. They are going to rule the whole earth. There is not even the slightest shred of doubt in this issue.