Therefore...

Therefore, by reason of inner necessity and determination, the future will see a day when human society will be replete with justice and when all will live in peace and tranquillity, when human beings will be fully possessed of virtue and perfection. The establishment of such a condition will occur through human hands but with Divine succour. And the leader of such a society, who will be the saviour of man, is called in the language of the hadith, the Mahdi.

In the different religions that govern the world such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Islam there are references to a person who will come as the saviour of mankind. These religions have usually given happy tidings of his coming, although there are naturally certain differences in detail that can be discerned when these teachings are compared carefully.

The hadith of the Holy Prophet upon which all Muslims agree, "The Mahdi is of my progeny," refers to this same truth. There are numerous hadiths cited in Sunni and Shi`ite sources from the Holy Prophet and the Imams concerning the appearance of the Mahdi, such as that he is of the progeny of the Prophet and that his appearance will enable human society to reach true perfection and the full realization of spiritual life.

In addition, there are numerous other traditions concerning the fact that the Mahdi is the son of the Eleventh Imam, Hasan al-Askari. They agree that after being born and undergoing a long occultation the Mahdi will appear again, filling with justice the world that has been corrupted by injustice and iniquity.

As an example, `Ali ibn Musa ar-Rida (the Eighth Imam) said, in the course of a hadith, "The Imam after me is my son, Muhammad, and after him his son `Ali, and after Ali his son, Hasan, and after Hasan his son Hujjatu'1Qa'im, who is awaited during his occultation and obeyed during his manifestation.

If there remain from the life of the world but a single day, Allah will extend that day until he becomes manifest, and fill the world with justice in the same way that it had been filled with iniquity. But when?

As for news of the `hour;' verily my father told me, having heard it from his father who heard it from his father who heard it from his ancestors who heard it from `Ali, that it was asked of the Holy Prophet, `Oh Prophet of God, when will the "support" (al-Qa'im) who is from thy family appear?' He said, `His case is like that of the Hour (of the Resurrection).