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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Shi'ite Encyclopedia (chapter 2-3) Special Specifications of Imam Al-mahdi (as) In the previous part, I provided extensive traditions from the six authentic Sunni collections concerning the fact that Imam al-Mahdi (AS) who is different than Jesus (the messiah) WILL come and he is the descendant of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) and his daughter Fatimah (AS).

The traditions further illuminated the fact that Jesus (who was a great Prophet) will pray behind al-Mahdi (who is a divinely appointed Imam). Also I gave some of the Fatwa of Sunni scholars which state that the belief in "the Mahdi of the House of the Prophet" is one of the Islamic tenets for "Ahlussunnah wal Jama'a", and any one who denies it is either ignorant or an innovator.

In this part however, I would like to talk about some special attributes of Imam al-Mahdi which are not acknowledged by most Sunnis. Imam al-Mahdi's Identification The Shia believe that Imam al-Mahdi is the only son of Imam Hasan al-Askari (the 11th Imam) who was born on the 15th of Sha'ban 255/869 in Samarra, Iraq. He became the divinely appointed Imam when his father was martyred in 260/874.

Imam al-Mahdi went into occultation (disappearance; leaving among people while he is not identified) at the same time. He will re-appear when Allah wills. More specifically: * His title is "al-Mahdi" which means "The Guided One." * His name is Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan (AS). * His lineage, traced back to Imam Ali (AS), is: Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Musa Ibn Ja'far Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn al-Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib (AS).

On the other hand, most Sunnis are not so sure that he has been born yet! They believe he will be born some time before his mission. The name of Imam al-Mahdi is Muhammad (which is the same as what the Shia believe). There is, however, one Sunni report which adds that the name of the father of Imam al-Mahdi is Abdullah. Now let us see what is the argument of each side: Q1. Some Sunnis question the Shia that how a five year old boy can become the Imam of mankind ?

First, we must question whether or not in the history of religion, the phenomenon of young leaders has a parallel. Undoubtedly, there is. The Quran strikes a number of examples which are worthy of mentioning: We have the example of Jesus (AS) who became prophet and spoke to people when he was a baby in the cradle: "But she pointed to the baby.