Abstract

     The issue of Imam al-Mahdi is one of the most important Islamic issues, which has been characterized by the magnificence of its scientific content and the renewed controversy about it, due to the scope of the research in this issue, we chose to study the concept only that we sought to clarify at both the Imamate followers, and the Abbasid authority, until the year (334 A.H, 945 A.D), which concedes with the date of Buwayhies quest on Baghdad.

     In this thesis, we have studied the life of Imam Mahdi based on the real history written in many different Islamic sources, so we mentioned his hidden birth and the political atmosphere around him back then, as well as his name, bloodline and moral qualities, in addition to his up growth under his father Imam Al-Askari “PBUH”, then we mentioned a part of his attributions when he took the Imamate position after the martyrdom of his father “PBUH”, which we named “the public life”, which is new term we used instead of the traditional one “the minor absence”. This biography ends in 329 A.H and was followed by the “hidden life”, a new term that we used instead of the “great absence”.

     We also stated the most important basis by the Imamate followers in the Mahdism doctrine, as we explained in their first document, which is the Holy Quran, the elements contained in the idea of Imam Al-Mahdi, then the verses of the Prophet Muhammad “PBUH” about the issue of this Imam, as well as the verses and narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt Imams who established the doctrine and explained its concept that was intended for it to be driven from its correct Islamic path.

  The study dealt later with the true Islamic concept presented by the Imamate followers in the issue of Al-Mahdi, as they believe that this doctrine is the genuine Islam, and the inclusions penetrated it via some religious groups or political authorities do not strip its authenticity or take it out of its Islamic frame, while this doctrine is a completion and sustainability to the Imamate at the same time, which is a completion to the last prophecy itself, as we have also shown that the return of Al-Mahdi, and the descent of Jesus are inevitable imperatives that must be occur at the end of time in order to fulfill the divine promises mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and have not yet been fulfilled.

     Finally, the study dealt with the concept of Al-Mahdi from the prospective of the authority, in which we have shown that it came contrary to the original Islamic concept of this idea completely, as the Abbasid authority has sought to distort the concept in a way that suit its political ambitions, claiming that Al-Mahdi is a part of its alleged divine right to rule, despite the fact that this authority does not believe in Al-Mahdi, yet claimed that in order to win the Islamic peoples on its side, benefiting from the poor religious, social and political conditions in the Islamic countries to promote this alleged right, and since the promised Al-Mahdi is the last hope of the oppressed and vulnerable Muslim peoples at all times and places, therefore, the Abbasid authority continued to multiply the individuals of Al-Mahdi to turn the only Islamic Mahdi preached for the end of time, several Mahdis, to keep its authority lasts.